Join us for worship at 8:30 a.m. in -person in historic Trinity Chapel or in-person at 10:30 a.m. in our main sanctuary.
Or join us online at 10:30 a.m. HERE for the Sunday, December 26th Live Stream
The 10:30 service can be viewed online: HERE
A copy of September 30th Thursday Thoughts can be viewed: HERE
September 30th
Dear Congregation:
And the Table Will Be Wide: A Blessing for World Communion Sunday
And the table will be wide.
And the welcome will be wide.
And the arms will open wide to receive.
And we will come as children who trust there is enough.
And we will come unhindered and free.
And our aching will be met with bread.
And our sorrow will be met with wine.
And we will open our hands to the feast without shame.
And we will turn toward each other without fear.
An we will give up our appetite for despair.
And we will taste and know of delight.
And we will become bread for a hungering world.
And we will become drink for those who thirst.
And the blessed will become the blessing.
And everywhere will be the feast.
-Jan Richardson.
Rev. Dr. Barbara Kershner Daniel
Senior Pastor
Evangelical Reformed United Church of Christ
bkdaniel@erucc.org
301-662-2762
or, join us online at: https://boxcast.tv/view/sunday-October 3rd-2021-698690
The 10:30 service can be viewed online: HERE
A copy of September 23rd Thursday Thoughts can be viewed: HERE
Dear Congregation:
On vacation with my German friends, Ali and Christiane, we visited the Techno Museum in Winterthur, Switzerland. Truth be told, we would not have chosen this kind of museum but it as a Monday and all the other museums were closed.
The first floor of the museum contained hands on experiments with electricity and magnets, while that was fun, the second floor was of even greater interest with exhibits challenging how we see.
Several exhibits had geometric figures on discs that you could rotate. The signs on the exhibits told us that the geometric figures on the discs take on a life of their own as they spin around. Our brains attempt to process this ever-changing information and will construct figures that do not actually exist. “Whenever our sensory receptors transmit conflicting information to our brain, it faces a pro
blem of interpretation. It tries to solve this dilemma by relating what we see to what we already know. If that doesn’t really fit together, it can lead to perceptual delusions. Conflicts rise when we see something that does not correspond to our prior knowledge. Then there can be misinterpretations and we can succumb to a deception. (Swiss Science Center Technorama)
In many ways, it feels like our world is spinning more and more out of control. Bombarded by more and more images, data, pieces of information, could it be that our brains are having difficulty seeing what is actually right in front of our very lives?
The ancient practices of our faith – praying, singing, reading scripture, worship — are meant to bring our focus back to the one who unconditionally loves us. We step away from the spinning of the world, for a few moments to refocus and to remind our hearts and brains of the truth that will set out feet on solid ground, our eye son the life and teachings of Jesus.
Rev. Dr. Barbara Kershner Daniel
Senior Pastor
Evangelical Reformed United Church of Christ
bkdaniel@erucc.org
301-662-2762
The 10:30 service can be viewed online: HERE
A copy of September 16th Thursday Thoughts can be viewed: HERE
September 16, 2021
Dear Congregation:
At the May 2021 annual meeting of the congregation, we voted to become a Creation Justice Church and the UCC has recognized our commitment to consider environmental and justice issues in all our actions and decisions. The Green Team has been working with every committee and group of the church to consider their practices and activities through the lends of creation justice.
What has that meant? Using glass cups for communion and yes, that means washing them, thereby reducing our use of plastic. Reducing waste including the elimination of disposal cups, plates and utensils. We have started to use the real plates, glasses, cups, and utensils at fellowship events again. We have teams of members who work in the community garden as part of the efforts of the Frederick Food Security Network. We spend time outside gathering for walks and other activities to acknowledge the gifts of air, water, trees, and plants.
These are just a few of the tangible efforts we have made, and are making, to recognize the gifts of creation and our responsibility in caring for the planet.
This Sunday, the Green Team has planned a variety of opportunities for us to name and embody our commitment to God’s creation. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth and all that sustains life. Creation was God’s first act of love. We love God through our acts of love and respecting, honoring, and not abusing God’s love gift of creation.
In May we adopted this language as part of our larger Creation Justice statement:
“We, the members of this congregation, realize that God has given us an amazing planet on which to live. This planet is shared by the rest of humanity and will be shared with future generations as well. As such, it is our responsibility to care for this precious gift and keep it healthy for those who will come after us. Being good stewards of our environment will be at the forefront of our thinking as we plan for, and carry out, our ministries”
May it be so.
Rev. Dr. Barbara Kershner Daniel
Senior Pastor
Evangelical Reformed United Church of Christ
bkdaniel@erucc.org
301-662-2762
The 10:30 service can be viewed online at:https://boxcast.tv/channel/bzioh0xyyacgq5fmjnoi
11:30 a.m. Virtual Fellowship: https://zoom.us/j/153605864?pwd=M2VSRjZsRDdFd1Q4bms0RExzam5SUT09&status=success PW: 007681
First Sunday in Lent
During the Season of Lent, we reflect on what it means to journey through life as God leads us. The first lesson this morning, Genesis 9: 8-17, is the first description of a covenant in the Bible. God promises Noah never again to destroy the earth. After a period of preparation and testing in the wilderness, Mark 1: 9-15, Jesus begins his ministry, proclaiming the good news that God’s reign is breaking into the world in a new way.
THANKSGIVING SERVICE AT ERUCC
Join us for a pre-recorded Thanksgiving Service that will be available for viewing on You Tube. The service includes our traditional Thanksgiving hymns such as “America the Beautiful,” as well as a reading of a President’s Thanksgiving Proclamation.
Join us for Sunday worship in person or online at https://boxcast.tv/view/sunday-1030-service-415027
In Exodus 17:1–7 , the people of Israel ask, “Is God with us, or not?” This is an understandable question when people are struggling in a wilderness of uncertainty. God answers through a guiding cloud, the crossing of the Reed Sea, and by providing manna and water for the journey. How does God continue to say, “Yes, I am with you“?
In Matthew 21:23–32, Jesus faces religious authorities who refuse to take a stand either way. Jesus responds to this time of testing by declaring the importance of standing with God’s truth, regardless of the consequences.
CLICK HERE to read your Thursday, September 10, 2020 Thursday Thoughts.
Dear Congregation:
I am grateful for an energetic group of ERUCC members and friends who have committed themselves to getting people to the polls this November. The UCC encourages its members and congregations to engage in voter registration drives, candidate forums, providing information on how to vote and in this year, the process for obtaining mail-in ballots.
The Rev. Traci Blackmon, Associate General Minister of Justice & Local Church Ministries for The United Church of Christ, writes: “For people of faith, the public arena we know as ‘politics’ represents much more than the partisan politicking we see on the news. It is a means by which we live out the commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves. Scripture reminds us over and over that building right relationship in human community and with God’s creation is an act inseparable from our relationship with God. So, it is important for faith communities to engage in nonpartisan voter education and empowerment programs that help us reflect on our collective life and work to uplift the common good through the political process.”
No matter your opinion or political affiliation , your voice – your vote – matters and you deserve to be heard.
CLICK HERE for the Sunday, August 16 Bulletin
Psalm 133 offers the subversive claim that to live in unity with kindred – human and all of creation — is to experience the blessings of God.  A Gentile woman’s persistent and unconventional actions move Jesus to break down the barrier between Jew and Gentile. As told in Matthew 15:10–12, 21–28, her faith in God, who works through human activity, changes things for the better.
CLICK HERE for livestream
