Worship

Sundays at 10:00 a.m.

300 Union Street
Northfield, MN 55057
507-645-7532

Photo album

Fighting Apostles Open Softball Season

You’ll want to be at Babcock Park at 5:00 pm on Sunday May 4 for the big season opener between our own Fighting Apostles and St. Dominic’s Blue Team.

Fighting Apostles spokesman Scott Richardson says St. Dominic’s is a tough opponent.  “They actually practice!” he said.

Families of team members were delighted that this year’s opener [...]

If You Love Me — April 27, 2008

If you are going to be Christian, you have to talk about Jesus.  I have learned that lots of people in our congregation are somewhat self-conscious (or even embarrassed) to talk much about him.  So in this sermon from April 27, 2008, I explored what it might mean to talk about loving Jesus ..

If [...]

3rd Annual Blessing of the Bikes

First UCC will hold it’s 3rd Annual Blessing of the Bikes on Sunday,  May 4 right after worship.  Bring your bike, trike, wagon, moped or motorcycle to be included in Sandy’s Blessing.   We’ll meet in the church parking lot.  Bring your friends and neighbors.  It’s a fun event and we always have a great [...]

Easter Blessings to our Orthodox Brothers and Sisters

Even though we are many weeks past our celebration of Easter, our brothers and sisters in the Orthodox traditions will be celebrating this Sunday, April 27!

The Orthodox tradition is rich in piety and liturgy.  I had the pleasure of worshipping at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in San Anselmo, California (pictured here), during my sabbatical in [...]

Kathy Baughman’s Ordination in Topeka

I had the pleasure of preaching at Kathy’s ordination on April 19, and of presenting her the gifts from our congregation — a beautiful red stole that Mary Wood brought home from Bethlehem, and a quilt filled with signatures and good wishes of members and friends.

She chose First Corinthians 13 as the text for [...]

A Quilt-ful of Good Wishes

Our good friend and former Pastoral Care Coordinator, Kathy Baughman, is being ordained on April 19 as a minister in the Unitarian Universalist Association.

I’ll be preaching the sermon for the ordination service, and Sue Mieska and I will be presenting this beautiful quilt that Tanya is holding in the picture.  There are 48 white [...]

Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble at First UCC

Last week it was African drums, this week it is the Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble from St. Olaf College.

I’m delighted to welcome this talented group of musicians to our worship service on April 20.  Led by St. Olaf faculty member Paul Niemisto, this group is unique in the upper Midwest — offering a special opportunity for tuba [...]

Drumming to a New Beat

Our April 13th service was energized by the Confirmation Class African Drum Choir.  Bob Gregory-Bjorklund and Kathy Kanazawa taught the group some basic rhythms, and they played to accompany our opening and closing hymns.

We also enjoyed our Spirit Voices Choir.  Along with leading the opening and closing hymns (with the drums), they sang “The Canticle [...]

Confirmation Sunday

We had a great morning on April 13, celebrating our 2008 Confirmation group.

These bright and curious youth, mostly 9th graders, have been meeting with their adult leaders on Sunday evenings since October. 

But it hasn’t just been meetings — they have been on retreat (to Camp Omega, near Waterville), visited other churches and places of worship, [...]

Awesome — A sermon for April 13, 2008

Reading the Bible can be like going into a time machine — we go back to another age when life was quite different than what we experience today.  In this sermon for April 13, 2008 — which was Confirmation Sunday in our congregation — I reflect a little about the particular kind of time [...]

Preaching on the Internet

Whatever else we have learned from the kerfuffle about the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and his impassioned sermons at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, it is clear that once a video is on the Internet, it is entirely out of the control of the person who is pictured.

We’ve been talking about podcasting (voice only) [...]

April Chronicle

April Chronicle