No matter who you are, or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here at University Congregational United Church of Christ. Young, old, sure of your path, or still searching --- we invite you to join us in imagining love and justice - as Jesus did - in acting to change the world.
Our in-person worship service starts at 10 am and includes hymns, prayers, scripture reading and a sermon. It usually lasts about an hour. During the 10 am service we also offer live-streaming to a nearby room that offers those with compromised immune systems to be more isolated. We also offer a separate space for children, with supervised play and crafts during the 10 am service. Sections of the 10 am service are programed into the 5 pm digital service, which is offered as a "vespers."
We are an inter-generational church and strive to be family-friendly, with an active ministry for children and youth. All ages are welcome in worship. We also offer nursery and child-care, Younger children begin the 10 am service with us and usually leave after about 15 minutes. Older children have the option of leaving for a special sermon time. Junior high and high school youth meet at 9 am and then often sit together in worship. Give us a call at 206-524-2322 for more specifics.
Wheelchair Access: The front entry is wheelchair accessible as are the rest rooms. Please don't hesitate to ask for assistance.
Since our vacation last week, I’ve been forced to rethink some long-held beliefs about what I consider very important issues. The first is pre-marital counseling. I’ve always felt that for most young couples, pre-marital counseling is a good idea.
When I meet with a couple, I make sure they answer huge questions like, Will we have kids? How many? Who is going to stay home and care for them? Will we raise them in a faith tradition? If so, which one? What marriages have we admired and want to emulate? How will we nurture our spiritual lives? What is your love language? Plain or peanut?
I’ve always thought that if you spend a fair amount of time discussing these questions, you will know pretty quickly if your future marriage is really going to last.
Well, forget all that.
Instead, I now suggest that a couple drive a car with manual transmission around the United Kingdom on one-track roads.* The more gorgeous (and hence distracting) the scenery, the better. If you’re confident that your relationship is solid, I will then throw in extra credit of round-abouts, frolicking lambs and/or Highland cattle with adorable bangs.
If this sounds like Scotland to you, then you are correct. My own almost 37-year marriage was strenuously challenged with this test which included the extra credit. I was exhausted at the end of every day. No, I was not behind the wheel, but I was driving—in my mind. I was also constantly calculating who would be injured most—me going over the cliff, or my husband in the head-on collision.
Not familiar with the term “one-track” road? It is a one lane road that has room for only one car. What if two cars are coming toward one another? They have what they call “passing places,” into which the closest driver is supposed to pull over to let the other pass. I truly thought these passing places were spots where people had died. You know—passed on. It made perfect sense since the speed limit was SIXTY MILES PER HOUR. 
Honestly, I cannot believe that I have any adrenaline or cortisol left in my body. The biggest challenge came at the end of the trip. The oncoming car who was going SIXTY MILES PER HOUR did not feel like pulling over into the passing place. That meant two cars in one lane. We had to suddenly pull way over onto the shoulder and the bottom of the car struck a large rock. It made a really loud noise—an end-of-the-world type of noise.
The noise was so big that I involuntarily shouted a really bad word with such force that it blew my husband’s hearing aid out of his ear. It went rocketing onto the wind shield and then bounced around the dash board like angry wasp.
Since the windows were down the passing car easily heard me and then he screeched to a stop. But he didn’t stay long—perhaps because he saw the flames shooting out of my eyeballs.
After my heart restarted and it was clear the car was fine, we looked at one another and laughed until we cried.
We drove on and then encountered something which then forced me let go of another long-held belief. I’ve always thought the phrase “breath-taking” was a ridiculous, over-used, illogical cliché. I vowed never to use it.
But then we came around a corner and I involuntarily exhaled and then gasped. I was just stunned at this beauty. Yes—it took my breath away. I whispered, “From whence cometh my help?” No, I did not actually remember that it was Psalm 121. But that night I looked it up.
Psalm 121
King James Version
121 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
2 My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
After reading it, all I can say is that I wish I had read it before we started our trip. Maybe I would have relaxed a bit. Of course the Psalmist does not mean nothing bad or hard will ever happen to us. But it does mean the Divine is right there, surrounding us—like hills.
*Drive on the left, steering wheel on the right, shift with your left hand.
OMG I’m really glad you are both ok and still laughed in the midst of the trauma! I’m also really relieved that we plan to travel mostly by train in Switzerland! I can’t imagine a manual with everything reversed and driving on the “wrong side” of the road. If it’s only a one lane road, I suppose there’s no right or wrong side. Your writing is the best!
Every single time I read one of your posts, my heart is lifted & I am nourished. I thank God for your ministry!
My favorite psalm amidst a favorite memory driving in northern England. Our marriage was on the rocks at each roundabout where we rarely agreed on direction. Almost to the 50 year anniversary and headed next week on a Norway tour where the tour director does the driving. Welcome home
Debra,
How could you know how much I (and imagine many others) needed a belly laugh..which this blog post totally provided. Thank you, as Lily wrote, for your ministry and stay safe.
Bless you once again, Debra. Your post is a delight and so real. You gotta keep this up!
Thank you Debra for this witty and charming post. My wife Debbie and I recently had a similar trip, three months of UK left hand stick shift driving on narrow roads (beware the Lake District!). Only when we narrowly escaped a Covid Chunnel closure and expiring visas on a ferry boat with our dog and rented a “normal” stick shift car in France did I realize . . . I hadn’t really slept soundly since that first wrong way roundabout.
Thanks for your great ideas and storytelling.