Worship At United
Coming together for worship at United is like finding water in a dry and thirsty land. That’s why we do so, not only on Sunday mornings but midweek, too!
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Like a stream in the desert, worship can refresh and renew us. Each week it offers us God’s new life and hope, for ourselves and for this world. At United, worship is the center of our life together, from which everything else flows: outreach, education, care, among others.
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Whether on Sunday mornings, midweek, or other times, worship at United offers that new life in different ways. Sometimes – especially in the Sunday 8:30 AM service and the midweek contemplative services – worship is like the deep, still waters that God promises in the 23rd Psalm. In the later Sunday service, worship can be like a living stream, offering life in all kinds of ways. Similarly, like on Mardi Gras and Fiesta Sundays, worship is a river, full of life and surprises.
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At United, we believe all of us – regardless of age – need the living waters of worship. That’s why children and younger youth join in the first part of the late service each Sunday and why Children’s Ministry always begins with prayer and song. It’s also why we offer a number of “intergenerational” services for all ages throughout the year.
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We hope you’ll join us in worship at United. Together may we be renewed by the waters of life God offers us each week.
Worship in July
Spacious Skies and Mustard Seeds, Purple Mountain Grains of Sand
We continue our summer focus on Creation’s wisdom and the lessons to be learned from exploring God’s world all around us. We also start the month with the celebration of our nation’s 250th Birthday—and continue throughout the days that follow giving thanks for the beauty, bounty, and blessed wisdom of this land to which we belong.
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Worship This Month
O Beautiful, O Blessed
July 5
In his first Inaugural Address to the nation, President Abraham Lincoln appealed to “the better angels of our nature” to heal the divisions that were leading to war. This Sunday of the Nation’s 250th Anniversary, we’ll do what angels do – sing! Old songs, new songs, national songs, sacred songs, songs of different regions and centuries sung by people of different backgrounds, races, ethnicities. Songs accompanied by drums, guitars and mandolins or just the human voice. Songs that shaped – and continue to shape—our nation. Most of all, songs that call us all to heed the “better angels” of ourselves as a nation. The United Pickers musically lead this outdoor service that brings together both the 8:30 and 10:00 congregations.
10:00am
Outdoor Service
Abundance and Beauty Abound
July 12
The Prophet Isaiah proclaims the abundance and fruitfulness of God’s word – like the rain that nourishes the seed. (Isaiah 55: 10-33) The composer of Psalm 65:5- 13 sings that God’s love and care water the earth and gird the hills with gladness. Wonderful reminders on a day we share Communion—with the gifts of God’s good earth—in both services. We’ll also sing songs from around the world in celebration of Santa Fe’s International Folk Art Market.
8:30am Contemplative Communion
10:00am Sanctuary Service
(livestreamed)
All Creation Groans
July 19
8:30am Contemplative Communion
10:00am Sanctuary Service
(livestreamed)
The Apostle Paul was a city boy, but as a Jew, he also knew the legacy of the Torah and the Prophet when it came to understanding our right relationship with Creation. (Romans 8:18-25) Jesus was a village boy, but given the deep roots of his Jewish heritage, his parables were filled with images from the natural world, including a parable about pulling weeds. (Matt. 13:24-30) Both Paul and Jesus were honest about what creation can teach us about beauty and blessings, and also about life’s challenges and hardships.
Everything in All Creation
July 26
8:30am Contemplative Communion
10:00am Sanctuary Service
(livestreamed)
At first glance, Paul’s majestic statement in Romans 8 (31-38) that “nothing in life nor death, powers or principalities can separate us from the love of God” is an unlikely pairing with Jesus’ parables from Matthew 13 about the realm of God being like a catch of fish, a pearl, or a mustard seed. But perhaps Jesus was reminding his listeners (and us) that God is as close to us as these everyday miracles—the fish of the sea, the tiniest of seeds, and a precious jewel made from a grain of sand irritating an oyster.