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
Follow Me, Already
Jesus said [to Peter], “Feed my sheep. I’m telling you the very truth now: When you were young you dressed yourself and went wherever you wished, but when you get old you’ll have to stretch out your hands while someone else dresses you and takes you where you don’t want to go.” And then he commanded, “Follow me.” – John 21:18-19, abridged (MSG)
I can’t know why Jesus dropped this unsettling non-sequitur into the middle of a post-resurrection lesson about redemption and discipleship; it doesn’t track at all.
But I do know something about conversations that don’t track, and chances are you do, too.
Truth is, there’s never a good time to tell a dear one you’re taking the car keys because it’s no longer safe for them to drive. And there’s no easy way to move a beloved elder from the cherished home where they made a family to a strange place where no one knows their name.
Maybe the point of Jesus’s seemingly tangential remark has to do with the importance of following. No matter how much we’re in charge of now, the day is surely coming—for many of us, anyway—when it will be all we can do to follow the guidance of those who love us. We’ll need to trust that they will not lead us astray.
Given that, it’s never too early to learn how to follow; it’s ever-timely to realize the freedom that following can bring. Liberated from the burdens of leadership, we can focus on loving and feeding, tending and nurturing the precious ones entrusted to our care.
There are enough books about leadership to fill an ocean, but not so many on the art of following. May we write them with our lives.
Prayer
Good shepherd and wise teacher, may I learn to follow your ways of love.
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.
