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!

Each of us tries to do our best with what we have each day – do our best with our skills, and our energy, and our resources, and our loved ones. Yet so much of life is out of our control. We may hate the places in life where we feel helpless, and yet we know there is meaning to be found everywhere. Where might we find meaning when we have no power to create change?

Join us in a musical service as we celebrate the holiday with hymns, songs, and poems of gratitude and appreciation!

It is easy to feel gratitude when we are happy and life is going well. But how do we find gratitude when it feels like the world is not on our side, when we can’t make ends meet, when “triumph and failure intertwine”?

There is an old belief that this time of year is when the “veil” between the physical and spiritual worlds is at its thinnest – the time when the living and the dead are able to feel each other’s presence. This is part of what has given rise to traditions of Samhain, Halloween, All Souls Day, Dia de los Muertos, and more. Join us as we honor our departed ones with an All Souls ritual, and reflect on our connections to those who have gone before.

“Home” is a metaphor for so many important things – from safety, to comfort, to stability, to family. Yet feeling “at home” in our world is hard for so many of us when we face oppression, are not accepted for who we are, or literally do not have a safe or stable place to live. Join us as we reflect on how to find “home” within ourselves no matter where we are, and work for a world where all people can have a safe and affordable home.

“Can’t go over it, can’t go under it, we have to go through it” chants the refrain of the well-known children’s story, “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt.” When we are facing difficult circumstances, how do we find our way to the other side?