In the love of truth and the spirit of Jesus Christ
we unite for the worship of God and the service of humanity
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 Our Sunday morning worship celebrations at Epiphany Community
Church are typical of most Protestant services, with hymns, Bible readings,
prayers, and a sermon. Dress at Epiphany Community Church is casual but dignified. Most people arrive at church in clothes that they are most comfortable in. You don’t need to dress up to come! We do ask that participants in worship refrain from wearing perfume or cologne, to accommodate members and friends with chemical sensitivities and asthma. Like many Unitarian Universalist congregations, our worship opens with a “chalice lighting.” A flame within the common cup is a symbol of Unitarian Universalism, first used by the Unitarian Service Committee in the 1930s. It became more widely used by the denomination soon after the 1961 merger of Unitarians and Universalists. Beginning in the late 1970s, with the flaming chalice now established as the primary logo of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, many of our churches began to use this symbol liturgically, lighting a candle within a large, symbolic chalice at the beginning of worship and extinguishing it at worship’s conclusion. Epiphany Community Church’s logo is a cruciform flaming chalice backgrounded by a cross, emblematic of our identity as a Unitarian Universalist Christian community. We light our chalice and recite the congregation’s covenant, which gives voice to our purpose: “In the love of truth, and the spirit of Jesus Christ, we unite for the worship of God and the service of humanity.” After a word of welcome and a children’s message, the children are sung out to their own worship and learning activities. The remaining adults then gather into the spirit of prayer, offering our requests for our world and ourselves. This concludes with the prayer that Jesus taught, the “Lord’s Prayer” or the “Our Father.” At Epiphany, this prayer begins, “Our God, who art in heaven,” acknowledging our commitment to being inclusive in the language we use in worship. The readings for the day are then read. We follow the Revised Common Lectionary, joining with Christian communities throughout the world in meditating upon the same Scripture passages on the same Sunday. At Epiphany Community Church, you will also hear readings from world literature—novels, poetry, memoir—that help illuminate the day’s message. We recognize that the canon of Scripture is not closed, and that the Spirit continues to reveal God in many ways, in different places. We are committed to listening to the Spirit, wherever the Spirit is to be found: in our own lives, in the lives of faithful people of other religious backgrounds, and in the wisdom of all the world’s faiths. A time of silent meditation and reflection gives us a time to ruminate on what we have heard, and to allow us to pay attention to the Spirit within. The preacher then offers a message. Based on the readings and the needs of the congregation, the preacher’s message makes relevant the Word of God in our everyday lives. There is always something inspirational, practical, and thoughtful in the sermons you will hear at Epiphany Community Church. Recognizing that God bestows many gifts on us, we then offer a portion of those gifts to God for the work of our congregation. If you are visiting Epiphany for the first time, you’re not obligated to give money. Your presence among us for the first time is your gift to us! The service closes with a blessing, given by the preacher, and the extinguishing of our flaming chalice. Our outstanding choir provides much of the music for our Sunday morning program and leads the congregation in singing hymns. The repertoire of our music draws from many sources, but tends to be more contemporary than classical. On some Sundays, usually six or seven times throughout the year, we celebrate Communion, also known as Eucharist or the Lord’s Supper. We do this as a way of remembering and reenacting Jesus Christ’s table fellowship and ministry. You don’t need to be a member of Epiphany or of any church to participate in Communion. We use bread and non-alcoholic wine or grape juice in Communion. Although we celebrate Communion as a remembrance and a commemoration of Jesus’ ministry, at Epiphany you are free to interpret these elements for yourself. At Epiphany Community Church, we follow the Christian calendar with its seasons and celebrations, including Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost. We also observe typical Unitarian Universalist occasions. The first Sunday after Labor Day, for example, we have a Water Ceremony, where members and friends bring small amounts of water, symbolic of their travels and activities over the summer, and pour them into a common font. This commemorates our mingling and flowing together as a community, after many of us go our own way during the summer. This is the water that we use in baptisms and child dedications. In June, we participate in a Flower Ceremony, in which everybody arrives with a flower which is brought forth to decorate our worship space. At the end of worship, everybody is given a flower from the common bouquet. This ritual gesture of giving and receiving beauty was started in the 1920s by the pastor of the Unitarian church in Prague, in the Czech Republic. The best way to know what worship is like at Epiphany Community Church is to come and check it out. Our services vary from week to week, so be sure to come back a few times before deciding if Epiphany might become your place of worship. |
| Home Worship
Children's Worship Center
Beliefs Newsletter
FAQ Directions A message from the minister |
