Silence: A Long Song and Hymn

Date:  October 25, 2026
Speaker:  Rev. Jacquie Robb
Length:  16:33

In this cacophonous world, there seems little room for silence. In our busy and productive lives, there seems little need for silence. Yet all thoughts, all words, all action, come from and returns to a deep well of silence within each of us. And when we only drink from that well without replenishing it, we lose something essential and precious in our lives. Rev. Jacquie recently returned from a 7 day silent retreat and will share with us some of what she noticed.Note: Fall Congregational Meeting right after Church! 

Fear is Not the Truth

Date:  October 18, 2026
Speaker:  Rev. Amy McCormick
Length:  12:21

There are many times when Rev. Amy’s work as a mental health therapist crosses over into ministry and vice versa. In a month where the focus is on the theme of courage she couldn’t help but react to an article titled: Fear is Your Teacher, Not the Truth, by Jessica Joines. “So many of us go through life, believing everything fear has to say. And aligning our lives to it. We engage with it as truth and construct much of our lives based upon it. When it fact, the energy of fear simply exists to show us what needs to be healed within us…” Or maybe it means nothing at all except a medication prescription is in order. Let’s explore together the experience and meaning of fear in a religious and ethical life. 

Frybread, Cedar Branches, and Courage

Date:  October 11, 2026
Speaker:  Rev. Amy McCormick
Length:  13:16

On this Indigenous People’s weekend Rev. Amy will reflect on experiences in Indigenous spaces like “Healing the Wounds of Turtle Island” and the “Matriarch Gatherings” at the Land Peace Foundation. As white, non-native people how can we best honor and respect the teachings and rituals of those who were here long before us, who are here still, whose wisdom and way of life carry the desire to protect our earth and steward its creatures sustainably. 

A Spell Against Stagnation

Date:  September 27, 2026
Speaker:  Rev. Amy McCormick
Length:  14:56

      The title for this week’s service was originally coined by John O’Donahue. Maria Popova was inspired to write this in response:      "There are moments in life when we are reminded that we are unfinished, that the story we have been telling ourselves about who we are and where our life leads is yet unwritten. Such moments come most readily at the beginning of something new. To begin anything — a new practice, a new project, a new love — is to cast upon yourself a spell against stagnation. Beginnings are notation for the symphony of the possible in us. They ask us to break the pattern of our lives and reconfigure it afresh — something that can only be done with great courage and great tenderness, for no territory of life exposes both our power and our vulnerability more brightly than a beginning." Let us explore the implications inherent in these words for ourselves, our faith, and our country. 

My Spiritual Journey

Date:  September 20, 2026
Speaker:  Andrea Watkins
Length:  10:28

In another instance of getting to know one another a little better, Andrea Watkins offers her spiritual journey with special emphasis on her relationship with her mom. This service will offer moments of resonance and good music, a time to be grateful to share deeply in the truths of our lives through Andrea’s story. 

Forgiveness and Fresh Starts

Date:  September 13, 2026
Speaker:  Rev. Amy McCormick
Length:  16:47

Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement, falls on September 20 this year. It is a time to begin again, to practice giving and receiving forgiveness. Join Rev. Amy as she explores the nature of forgiveness and the power of fresh starts and new beginnings. She says" "I think there is something so powerful about people gathering together in friendship and fellowship. We carve out this space each week to be nurtured and inspired by one another's presence, by music and story and prayer. Each week is an opportunity to start again renewed by our time together and hopefully more prepared to face the days ahead."

Gathering Resilience

Date:  September 6, 2026
Speaker:  Rev. Vanessa Titang
Length:  14:28

This Sunday we have the Rev. Vanessa Titang with us. Rev. Vanessa was one of our Collaborative Ministerial Interns in 2019-2020 and she is now an active community Minister affiliated with our Ellsworth congregation and doing Justice ministries throughout our state. Recently she was here in Belfast leading a “Countering Christian Nationalism” workshop with the Rev. Jodi Hayashida. 

All Brave Things

Date:  August 30, 2026
Speaker:  Rev. Amy McCormick
Length:  19:19

Rev. Amy focuses on a message of awe and courage, hoping this will call us all into a deeper understanding of ourselves and our actions in the world. She shows a 45-second video at 10:45, and she finishes with a video of a choir singing the Lord's Prayer in Swahili.

My Spiritual Journey

Date:  August 23, 2026
Speaker:  Lawrence Reichard
Length:  9:10

     Come join us this Sunday in getting to know the spiritual journey of another of the interesting and entertaining members of our congregation, Lawrence Reichard who writes:      "My life's spiritual journey has been a long, strange trip, with something of a political bent to it.  It has accompanied me in my travels, and it has woven together elements of Catholicism, Quakerism, and Lutheranism - and I look forward to sharing it.”Come join us this Sunday as we worship and as we hear what I hope will be the interesting tale of my life's spiritual journey, which will wander through strains of Quakerism, Catholicism and Lutheranism. As I wrote in my journey's tale, it has been a long, strange trip – and I invite you to join me on that trip.  So, come, let us worship together.