Exciting news: OUUC is going to begin offering two worship services each Sunday morning! Starting January 12, 2025, there will be an early service at 9 am (onsite only), a late service at 10:45 am (also available on Zoom & YouTube), and the after-service forum will move to 12:15 pm (both onsite and online as always). Watch this video message from Rev. Mary, and find even more details in text below:
If you’ve been onsite in the OUUC sanctuary on Sunday morning lately, you know that we are wonderfully full and sometimes overflowing. This is a time when many are seeking a community where they can be welcomed, connected, and of service. What a delight that so many people find OUUC is that place!
To have ample space for everyone to join us on Sunday mornings, we will begin offering two Sunday morning services starting on January 12, 2025.
This is the schedule:
8:45 am Nursery opens for children, prelude begins
9:00 am – 10:00 am Worship (onsite only) with nursery care and children’s class
10:00 am – 10:45 am Coffee and reflection onsite
10:15 am – 10:30 am Nursery is closed for a break
10:30 am Nursery opens for children, prelude begins
10:45 am – 11:45 am Worship (online and onsite) with nursery care and children’s class
11:45 am – 12:15 pm Coffee and reflection onsite and online
12:00 pm Nursery closes
12:15 pm – 1:15 pm Practice together/Forum (onsite and online; childcare only available upon request — please give one week’s notice) — First service attendees are encouraged to join the Forum via Zoom or return to OUUC.
1:00 pm – 4:30 pm Our Whole Lives (OWL) (Spring 2024 only)
This is an exciting time for OUUC! It was almost five years ago, on March 13, 2020, that the world shut down for Covid and we went to one service. Now, we’re ready to open our doors wide and live our mission to welcome. This schedule is an experiment that we’ll review in June 2025. Then, we’ll ask for feedback from everyone about how it is going. It will be an adjustment, so let’s give it a good trial.
To make this work, we’ll need to add to the many hands that help make Sunday morning happen:
- If you can help in the kitchen to offer coffee, beverages and snacks, please talk to a member of the kitchen crew or reach out to Rev. Sara. (This hospitality will be even more important after the second service and before the forum!)
- If you are able to welcome others as a greeter and usher, please contact Jen Sabel or Rev. Sara.
- There are two easy ways to support the technology of our services: One is online support on Zoom during the second service (can be done remotely!), and the other is the soundboard for either service. If you can help, contact Tech Coordinator Teresa Madsen.
- And, if you have other ideas on how you can help to make Sunday mornings even more welcoming, please reach out to Rev. Mary.
On November 19, the OUUC Board of Trustees approved adding funds to the current year budget to cover the cost of an additional service through June 30, 2025. Those costs are for additional honoraria for guest speakers, and additional childcare and tech staff for the second service. The cost of two services will be included in the stewardship and budget requests for the 2025-26 congregational year, which begins on July 1, 2025.
