Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver Spring
Sunday Services
Please join us on Sunday mornings for uplifting and thought- provoking worship.
See upcoming sermon topics listed below.
We hold two worship services, at 9:30 and 11:30 a.m., for most of the year. The second service is interpreted in American Sign Language.
During the summer months, from Father's Day through Labor Day, one service is held at 10:30 am. These services are interpreted in American Sign Language.
Large-print Orders of Service may be obtained from an usher.
Please join us in the Community Hall between services for an informal coffee hour, starting between 10:30 - 10:45.
We offer nursery care and religious education classes for youngsters through Grade 5 during both worship services. All children and youth through High School age meet during the 11:30 am service. Your children are also welcome to join you during worship services.
Upcoming Worship Schedule:
August 8
Earth-Centered Spirituality: The Contemplative Mind
Stephanie Hall
CUUPS forms one of the largest umbrella groups for Earth-centered spirituality in the US. Like all other Unitarian Universalists, those that identify themselves as part of Pagan or Earth-centered spirituality are diverse. There are many different spiritual paths among Earth-centered people. Often these people have more than one religious affiliation: they are UU and they are members of one or more other spiritual groups. Beliefs often vary widely among individuals even within these groups. One common theme, however, is that Earth-centered spiritual practice is strongly experiential. This talk will focus on a central part of these experiential spiritualities: the ways that different states of the contemplative mind, from meditation to trance, are being explored by groups within this spiritual movement. Some history of attitudes towards contemplative states and what science is now teaching us about them will also be discussed as a way of coming to a better understanding of these spiritual practices that are simultaneously ancient and modern.
August 15
Transitions: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
Carol Thomas Cissel
How do you handle life’s transitions? What happens when the pathway in front of you splits and offers a new direction? Are you open to the wonder of fresh possibilities and revolutionary change? On August 15, UUCSS member Carol Cissel will riff on mid-life transitions, following your heart, asking for support and embracing the opportunity that change often brings. Carol is a new seminarian at Wesley Theological Seminary. She lives in Berwyn Heights , MD , has three adult children and one demanding (but loveable) cock-a-poo pup named Max.
August 22
Love and Hatred in Troubled Times
Richard Wiener
Mr. Wiener lived as a Jew under the Nazi regime from 1933 to 1939 and experienced persecution on a daily basis. He experienced the destruction of his home, the arrest of his father and the deportation of his grandparents. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, he returned to his hometown and initiated reconciliation with his former Hitler Youth classmates. This October, he will become an honorary citizen of the town from which he had to flee as a child.
August 29
Becoming Earth Warriors
UUCSS Children and Youth
As Unitarian Universalists, we covenant to affirm and promote respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part, but what does that really mean? What can and should we do as UUs to protect and defend our planet? This summer’s RE program has explored these questions. In this service for all ages, led and planned by our children and youth, we will share what we have learned and contemplate together those questions we have not yet answered.
September 5
Overcoming Indifference: Making the Population Connection in a Crowded World.
John Seager
With the number of people on earth increasing by more than 80 million annually, overpopulation threatens the quality of life for people everywhere. John Seager will talk about Population Connection, formerly known as Zero Population Growth, the national grassroots population organization that educates young people and advocates progressive action to stabilize world population at a level that can be sustained by Earth's resources. John Seager is president and CEO of Population Connection. Formerly with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, he also served as Chief of Staff, for U.S. Representative Peter H. Kostmayer, a liberal Democrat who represented suburban Philadelphia in Congress for 14 years. He holds a BA in Political Science from Trinity College in Hartford, CT.