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.
Inviting you to Love & Justice Action this spring and summer!
Many of us are drawn to UCUCC by our faith-filled commitment to social and environmental justice. Sometimes for me that set of commitments seems like a mysterious black box, or like bright confetti scattered here and there, or like a project that belongs to someone...
Happy 70th Birthday to our building! ~Written by Jack Clark
March 8th, 2023 marks the 70th anniversary of the 1953 laying of the cornerstone in our “new” building. 70 years of worship, friendship, and community. In honor of the occasion, we asked some longtime community members to share their experiences about how they got...
The Sacred Spiral: A path to transformation
About this series: Theory of Change is a phrase that gets used, especially among non-profit organizations, foundations, and grant funders, to describe the methodology for promoting social change. The sacred spiral of organizing was developed by women of color looking...
About this series: Bumper sticker Theology
“Bumper sticker Theology: I can do all things through a verse taken out of context.” Think about the bumper stickers you see around town – a sports team, a band, an honor roll student, a stick-figure family, a funny joke. These are all indicators of something...
A Book Review of Just As I Am: A Memoir, by Cicely Tyson, 2021, Harper Collins
In her debut memoir, actor Tyson recalls her extraordinary life, as well as the racial and gender stereotyping, movie-business prejudice, and ill-behaved men that shaped her seven-decade career. She writes as if she is talking with you personally. One great anecdote:...
Sacred Earth Matters: At Home on an Unruly Planet – A book review
~ by Anne Dickerson The methane from flaring oil rigs and greenhouse gas emissions from our use of fossil fuel are recking havoc on our planet. Now Seattle resident Madeline Ostrander has written a stark account of four threatened communities which are trying to...
Mwanzo Update – Health Room
One of the problems people in Rabuor face is the lack of access to health care. Imagine you are sick or injured, but the nearest clinic is 6-10 miles away and you have no transportation. Or, you are the caregiver for 5 of your grandchildren – how do you get them in...
January Special Offering
The January, 2023 Special Offering supports the 45th Street Clinic and Neighbor Care. UCUCC has a long-term relationship with these organizations, and with the growth of our homeless population, our support meets critical needs. The 45th Street Clinic, located in the...
Thank you for your gifts!
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who sponsored Christmas Families this year and/or contributed to Offering of Gifts! Together we bought gifts for 75 Christmas Families children and grocery gift cards for their families through the Lake City Holiday Project. In...
January Events at UCUCC
A preview of some of our January events! Zoom links for hybrid or online-only events are available in your weekly email or by emailing zoom@universityucc.org. Men’s Supper Tuesday, January 3, 6:15 pm, Turner Lounge Please join the men in our community for a...
T3—Third Thursday Theologians
Every third Thursday of the month at 7:00 pm on Zoom, starting Jan 19. The Adult Education program of our Christian Formation ministry is introducing a new series of online classes in 2023. A variety of speakers are invited to engage our congregation in thoughtful and...
Volunteer Spotlight – Vince Santo Pietro
~written by Jack Clark In the spirit of thanksgiving, we celebrate the gifts of time and talent that our members give to the church. We are truly blessed by those who contribute to our mission and ministry by serving on committees, action teams, with our children and...
Christmas Week Worship Services
Longest Night - Wednesday, Dec 21, 7:00pm, Sanctuary and online In a time of year when the culture is full of glitter, we gather to acknowledge also the sacred darkness of the winter passage and such passages in our life and in the life of the world. It is an...
Mwanzo – Hope has a home here!
Our Mission: To cultivate opportunities through education and community-driven development in Rabuor Village, Kenya, and neighboring communities. If you’re reading this, you surely must be one of the beloved benefactors who have embraced our vision for a restored...
Endowment Grant Awarded to Elizabeth Gregory Home “Empowerment Space”
The John G. Lewis Endowment Committee is excited to announce the decision to grant this year’s endowment income of $5000 to a project with the Elizabeth Gregory Home (EGH). The Mission of EGH is “to provide a welcoming and respectful refuge where women (including...
Volunteers Wanted: Zoom hosts
Our church has some great technology to use Zoom for hybrid meetings and gatherings. We have five zoom spaces in all and demand for them is increasing. While they are not difficult to use, the operation is different from what people are used to at home, and people...
A reminder from your bookkeeping staff…
Please help us ensure that your contributions are credited appropriately. You are welcome to combine payments for more than one fund in a single check or payment; we just need to know each time how you would like the donation distributed. Just write the breakdown on...
UCUCC Childcare Board opportunities
Help make affordable, high quality child care happen! For decades, one part of our church’s Love and Justice Ministry has been the Child Learning and Care Center, and Trettin Drop In Preschool. These programs provide high quality, affordable full time and part time...
Children, Youth, and Families December 2022 News
Christmas Eve “Everyone’s Pageant” “Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere! Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born!” Calling all angels, magi, shepherds, sheep and other barnyard animals! It’s time to prepare for our ‘Everyone’s...
December Special Offering: The Christmas Fund—For the Veterans of the Cross and the Emergency Fund
You may remember that each year in December our special offering is devoted to the support of the Christmas Fund and the Emergency Fund of the United Church of Christ. The offering is directed toward aiding retired clergy and lay employees with supplementary checks...
December Immigrant Initiative update
Another year is drawing to a close and it seems like a good time to summarize the many accomplishments of the Hamidi family over the past year. On May 28th, the family moved into their current 4 bedroom, 2 bath apartment, and volunteer team members organized the move....
About our Land Acknowledgment Statement
~Gail Crouch We hear or say it together every Sunday: “We gather as guests of the Duwamish people on their traditional land that touches the shared waters of other Coast Salish tribes.….” Our Land Acknowledgement Statement has become an important part of how we open...
Asset Enhancement Task Force Update
AETF Committee Members: Ed Coleman, Don Guthrie, Carol Ingram, Joyce Jackson, Tim Kroll, Cristin Miller, Carol Nelson, Amy Roon, Kyna Schilling, & Kathy Williams As we wrap up the year, we are thankful for the work done by our many committees, staff and leadership...
Pledge Campaign 2022
THANK YOU! It has been a pleasure and honor to lead the pledge campaign for the first time this year. Stepping into this role has allowed me to deepen my relationship to you all and to my own commitment to UCUCC. THANK YOU! For your ongoing commitment to the work we...
Church Health Task Force …working to hear your voice
May you feel held. May you know you are not alone. May you know the presence of God’s peace in your life. These are prayers we hold for each other in trials of the spirit and in times of joy. We have been through so much change: the pandemic isolation and partial...
A death in our community Dec 2022
Lester Brown Born: September 21, 1941 Died: November 15, 2022 Lester died peacefully surround in love with his wife Carolyn by his side. The two joined UCUCC in 2012. They were looking for a progressive church and Lester especially liked the music here. Carolyn Scott...
Playground Garden Renovation
On October 1st and 2nd Paige and volunteers renovated the playground garden at the church. They pulled out all the overgrown plants and put in all native species such as yarrow, vine maple, evergreen huckleberry, Kinnikinnick and more. As well as replanted the...
UCUCC 2023 Budget Summary
On Sunday, November 20th, members of UCUCC gathered online and in the sanctuary for an annual meeting and budget vote. This year’s budget, unanimously recommended by the Church Council, included an unusual proposal: to cover a $173,000 deficit with a draw from the...
Advent and Christmas Worship at UCUCC
Advent Worship Series Our Advent theme is Harambee!, a Kiswahili word that is understood as let’s pull together! The word is on the coat of arms for Kenya and has been an important part of the political and cultural identity particularly since Kenyan independence in...
Volunteer spotlight – Lon and Anne Dickerson
~written by Jack Clark In this season of thanksgiving, as we wrap up our pledge campaign celebrating the financial gifts given to UCUCC, we also want to celebrate the gifts of time and talent that our members give to the church. We are truly blessed by those who...
Podcast from our Writer in Residence
Our Writer in Residence, Debra Jarvis, has been a hospital and hospice chaplain for over 35 years. Many times she walked out of a home or a hospital room and thought, "Everyone should have heard that conversation!" Her patients shared their wisdom, insight and...
Order a Cuetlaxochitl (Poinsettia) to brighten our Sanctuary for Christmas
Each year, we invite our church members to honor and remember friends and loved ones by contributing to our Advent display. Your contribution will help fill our Sanctuary with holiday spirit! We purchase plants from the Nathan Hall High School Horticulture and Urban...
November Visiting Preachers
In addition to some familiar faces, we have incredible visiting preachers lined up for this month, Rev. Traci Blackmon on November 6 and Rev. Paul Ortiz on November 13. November 6 - Service of Memory and Hope Ubuntu: A House of Prayer for All Preacher: Rev. Traci...
Worship in November
November greets us with the conclusion of our fall worship series, Ubuntu: I am because we are. Our texts look at the expansiveness of God’s love - a call to be a house of prayer for all peoples, a declaration to the Ethiopian eunuch that God’s blessing is for all...
Ubuntu and Our Guest Preachers
Recently the Pacific Northwest Conference UCC’s Dismantling Racism Task Force sent out an article entitled Welcoming our Black Brown Indigenous Asian and Pacific Islanders (BBIAPI) pastors and BBIAPI guest speakers to our predominantly white churches. It opens by...
Womanist Storytelling Project
A team from the Global Arts and Theology Experience returned to Seattle to worship with UCUCC as a transitional moment in our partnership with the congregation. In addition, we were also there to lay the foundation for the launch of GATE’s Womanist Storytelling...
Tent City 3 Requesting Donations
The residents of Tent City 3 have been guests in Lot C for over a month and will be with us through 12/17. TC3 provides a safe, secure, and caring community for people experiencing homelessness. Church members have asked how they can help. Here are two ways: 1....
Death Notices: Fall 2022
Muriel Saunders Born: July 2, 1932 Died: September 27, 2022 Muriel died peacefully on Tuesday, September 27th with Stephan by her side. She joined our church in October 2020 via online. Muriel had deep roots in the UCC, joining All Pilgrims Christian Church in 1949....
Afghan Immigrant Initiative Diaper Drive
We received a request for diapers from the Refugee Resettlement Organization (RRO) of the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia. More and more families are moving into our area who have small children and diapers, like most things, have increased in price so that already...
Book Review: Wild Seed
Wild Seed by Octavia E. Butler (1980) "A brilliantly mythic tale of primal archetypes and an iconic exploration of gender and eternity" proclaims the book. And it is. This is the story of two immortals, one who cannot die and one who cannot be killed. It starts in...