Love God
Grow Together
Serve the World
Worship Services
We live stream our Sunday Worship.
SUNDAYS
Worship + Kids Club & Youth Group 10:00 AM
135 E Larch St, Rhinelander, WI 54501
COMMUNITY HOUR
Enjoy coffee and conversation following worship.
Join us online for livestream worship on our Facebook page.
We are an open and affirming congregation, where no matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey—you are welcome here.
We live stream our Worship.
Lenten Observances
Ash Wednesday, February 18, 2026
12:00 p.m. here, First Congregational UCC Rhinelander
6:00 p.m. First United Methodist Church, 724 Arbutus Street
Palm Sunday, March 29, 2026
10:00 a.m. In-person and Facebook worship
Maundy Thursday, April 2, 2026
6:00 p.m. Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, 21 W. Timber Drive
(This service will include a dramatization)
Good Friday, April 3, 2026
6:00 p.m. First United Methodist Church, 724 Arbutus Street
Easter Sunday, April 5, 2026
10:00 a.m. In- Person and Facebook worship
Brunch to follow
Join us online for livestream worship on our Facebook page.
We are an open and affirming congregation, where no matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey—you are welcome here.
Next 7 Days of Events
Light and Liberation
The Lord is my light and my salvation—so why should I be afraid? – Psalm 27:1 (NLT)
Fear is a big word. And quite an intimidating word, to say the least. So intimidating that many of our fears are intensified by our fears of facing fear head on.
Looking soberly at all the gruesome details of some living nightmare, the psalmist arrives upon two solutions found in his faith: light and liberation.
I’m not an avid fan of horror movies, but I’ve never seen a threat posed in any of them that the dynamic duos of light and liberation could not remedy.
We need light to see danger in all its dark, deceptive dimensions. And we need liberative agency, which doesn’t take us out of danger, but delivers us from the desperations and despairs of danger.
In the hearts of believers, it was dim on that dismal day after the horrible execution of their Messiah. Yet, through the ominous shadows of death and grief, burning embers of compassion gave light to the pathway toward Joseph’s tomb. When blessedness is burned to the ground, only love for what has been lost can light the way forward.
The emptiness of the tomb signaled a void at the very core of evil itself, a hollowness in the hole of hell. A vivid reminder that for believers, the shadows of death are just that: mere shadows, to be walked through.
The tomb was the worst consequence the forces aligned against Christ could offer. It kept money and material at the top, it kept the marginalized and the disenfranchised at the bottom, and it held salvation hostage by threatening death to anyone who dared to elevate love above law.
The believers found liberation from their worst fears in the light of that empty tomb. And they not only lived through the horror. They found new life in it.
Prayer
Lord, in the real-life horrors we face, thank you for light and liberation. Amen.
About the AuthorKenneth L. Samuel is Pastor of Victory for the World Church, Decatur, Georgia.
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.
