We don emotional chainmail to protect against heartbreak, present a shiny façade to hide the embarrassing parts of our lives, think we need a shield to be strong. Yet deeply meaningful connection only comes when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable with each other. How can we find the courage to take off our armor?

As we see our government trying to erase Black history, LGBTQ history, and the stories of so many others of our forebears – whose struggles made what we love in this world possible – how can we fight to keep the truth alive? How can we make our own stories known?

As we look to our world and to our dearest ones, we often find our hearts both broken and filled with love at the same time. Join us this Valentines Day weekend as we seek to find meaning in the brokenness and ground ourselves in the love.

There are a thousand reasons to hold ourselves back – relationships can be complicated, commitments can be exhausting, getting involved can feel too risky. Yet bringing ourselves fully to the world – showing up for our communities, offering our skills and time and care to each other – is where we forge the deepest meaning of our lives. How can we build the courage to bring our imperfect selves fully to the work of justice and love?

What does it mean to prepare—not just for a moment, but for the long haul? Many of us sense that we are being called into sustained courage, care, and action. That kind of faithfulness asks more than urgency alone. It asks us to tend our bodies as well as our spirits, to strengthen our resilience, and to root ourselves—emotionally, ethically, and practically—for what lies ahead. This Sunday’s service invites us to reflect on how we get ready: how we keep our hearts open without burning out, how we ready our bodies to show up again and again, and how clarity—about our values, our responsibilities, and even our rights—can become spiritual grounding. Come as you are. Come weary, ready, or unsure. Together, we will practice what it means to get ready—faithfully, in solidarity, and in deep love.

It is said that “every storm runs out of rain,” and yet the storms of our lives can often feel endless. As we gather virtually together amidst the winter storm, how do we remember that even in the worst moments, the storm is passing over?

With so many civil rights and freedoms under simultaneous attack, many of us are struggling to hold onto hope that we might still build the beloved community of which Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke. Yet Dr. King too struggled with holding onto hope. How can his radical legacy strengthen our resolve and our movements today?

As the glow of the holidays fades and ordinary days return, many of us find ourselves tired, reflective, and wondering what comes next. This Sunday, we’ll explore what it means to practice resistance after Epiphany—not as urgency or burnout, but as resilience rooted in community, covenant, and care. Through reflection and ritual, we’ll consider how widening our sense of WE, tending small acts of repair, and honoring rest can become faithful practices for the season ahead. Our new Interim Assistant Minister, Rev. Christe Lunsford (they/them), will lead us as we slow the pace, reflect together, and begin what comes next—together.

The dream job, the perfect partner, the miracle cure – it is common for us to fall prey to thinking that if we could get that one part of our lives “just right” that everything else would fall into place. Silver bullet solutions rarely work – how can we rededicate ourselves instead to the regular tending to our minds, bodies, hearts, and souls?

At the end of a calendar year, following solstice, celebrating holidays alone, with friends, and with family, where are you finding hope? I’ll tell some stories and invite you to reflect on your own.

We gather on the Winter Solstice, as Hannukah nears its end, to reflect on the beauty of darkness in our lives and the gift of light. In this time of year, and this era of human history, where can we find hope within the darkness?

We will tell the story of Christmas as it relates to justice struggles today using fun costumes and a no-rehearsal-needed script. All Ages Choir, First Church Voices, will rehearse at 10am – all are welcome to come and learn the song for service that morning!