We are an Open and Affirming Congregation
Where no matter who we are or where we are on life's journey...we are welcome here.
Worship Services
We live stream our Sunday Worship.
SUNDAYS
Worship 10:00 AM
135 E Larch St, Rhinelander, WI 54501
FELLOWSHIP TIME
Enjoy coffee and conversation following worship.
At a time when religion is too often portrayed as narrow-minded and exclusive, we are raising our voices for alternative vision. One where God is all-loving and inclusive. Where the Church of Jesus Christ welcomes and accepts everyone as they are. Where your mind is nourished as much as your soul. Where Jesus the healer meets Jesus the revolutionary. Where together we grow a just and peaceful world.
Every visitor is also invited to share in the Sacrament of Holy Communion on the first Sunday of each month. We live stream our Sunday Worship to our Facebook page. You are welcome to join us on Facebook on Sunday or view it anytime during the week. Join us by clicking on the Facebook page above.
See you here!
Next 7 Days of Events
Silver and Gold
Then I saw another portent in heaven, great and amazing: seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is ended. – Revelation 15:1 (NRSVUE)
When our adult children and their families arrive for Christmas, our favorite soundtrack for the season is Sufjan Stevens’ Songs for Christmas, his homey recordings as much a part of our blended family traditions as grits casserole, Swedish meatballs, and cornflake cookies. We sing along with his raucous, joyful “O Holy Night,” until we are hoarse.
When Sufjan released another seasonal compilation, Silver and Gold, my musician son was excited to give it to me. But it is not the same. The soundscape is eerie, even threatening.
It is Revelation Advent.
These angels embody the end of God’s wrath, but only because it is the end of the world as we know it.
Sometimes it takes an apocalypse to make space for a new beginning: the end of a job, a marriage, or a dream. These angels force a renovation of our self-understanding. The glorifying of old ways must do more than diminish. Until that glow flickers out, we cannot perceive the glimmer of something new.
While I hesitate to look for these angels, I know at certain times in life we must confront their existence and hear their discordant tones and feel the angry heat or the disapproving chill they bring. I have done it, and I will again.
Our hope lies not in noisy games at the dining room table or a cozy rewatch of It’s a Wonderful Life, but in the disruptive possibilities of a new life to come.
Prayer
Holy One, open us to your righteous anger toward the world as it is and your in-breaking vision for the world as it should be. Amen.
About the AuthorMartha Spong is a UCC pastor, a clergy coach, and editor of The Words of Her Mouth: Psalms for the Struggle, from The Pilgrim Press.
ABout UCC
A church of firsts and of extravagant welcome. A church where "they may all be one" (John 17:21).
The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a distinct and diverse community of Christians who come together as one church to join faith and action. With over 5,000 churches and nearly one million members across the U.S., the UCC serves God in the co-creation of a just and sustainable world.
Since 1957, the United Church of Christ has been the church of firsts, weaving God’s message of hope and extravagant welcome with action for justice and peace. Together, we live out our faith in ways that effect change in our communities. Our church works to help make a difference in local, national and global communities.
