We are an Open and Affirming Congregation
Whoever you are and wherever you are on life’s journey, you 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
Errors, Real and Imagined
Who can detect one’s own errors? – Psalm 19:12 (NRSVUE)
Presumably when the psalmist asks who can detect one’s own errors, what they have in mind is how easy it is to think you’re righteous when in fact you’re really screwing up. And of course, we all know people like that. We’ve all also been people like that.
Honestly, though, for many the bigger problem is knowing which errors we’re truly guilty of and which ones we’re only afraid we are. Are we actually messing our kids up, or are we just worried we are? Are we in fact bad friends, or are we scared we might be? Does everyone at the office think we’re weird, or lazy or bad at our jobs, or are we just worried they do? Did that thing we did render us unlovable even by God, or are we just worried it did?
“Clear me from hidden faults” is the next line of the psalm, but for many of us, some other prayer might be better. “Clear me from imagined faults,” maybe, or “Show me which of the long list of faults in my head aren’t real.”
Who can detect one’s own errors, and who can detect what’s just some BS our nasty inner critic, or our anxiety, or our trauma, is serving up for funsies today?
This kind of discernment is what the church is for, of course. Trusted friends, too. And therapists. The world may be full of guilty people pretending to be innocent, but to me it seems at least as full of innocent people thinking they’re guilty.
Prayer
Who can detect one’s own errors? Not me. Show me what I need to be shown. Amen.
About the AuthorQuinn G. Caldwell is Chaplain of the Protestant Cooperative Ministry at Cornell University. His most recent book is a series of daily reflections for Advent and Christmas called All I Really Want: Readings for a Modern Christmas. Learn more about it and find him on Facebook at Quinn G. Caldwell.
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.
