Reclaiming the Welfare of the City: A Revival for Racial Reconciliation
Join us for a multi-day revival featuring vibrant music, powerful preaching, creative expression, and multi-racial community building, with church partners across the city. October 3rd at Mount Zion Baptist Church, 7pm Rev. Yolanda Norton, founder of GATE and the...
Bible Presentation – Letter to Families 2023
Dear Parents of 3 year olds and 1st graders, Every year, the Children's Ministry at University Congregational UCC gives a Bible to our 3-year-olds and 1st graders. We are excited for your child to receive their Bible. We plan to present these Bibles to your children...
How to set up a recurring gift in our new system
We are currently migrating our giving platform to a new system, called Abundant Giving. This will integrate with MyUCUCC, so you will still be able to log in and see your gifts with no change. We will also still use MyUCUCC to register and pay for events. Please...
UCUCC Fall 2023 Covid-19 and health guidelines
Effective 9/01/2023 Throughout this pandemic, we have been cautious in our responses and always paying attention to the science and the most vulnerable in our community. We have worked toward inclusion in our worship services and prioritized accessibility. As we head...
Church Health Task Force Report to the Congregation
The results of the church health survey are in! We are so grateful to all who took time to share your thoughts on what’s important and what should be our path forward. Please take a few minutes to read the report. Forums are planned for this fall both in-person and...
131st Annual Report (2022-2023)
The Bible is a collection of individual stories that describe encounters with God. By itself, each story is unique; a singular event, an individual perspective, one piece. There are multiple gospels because we can’t learn the whole of who Jesus is from just one...
Overview of Church Organizational Changes
Below is an overview of church organizational changes, including the pastoral Leadership Team portfolios, excerpted from the forthcoming 131st Annual Report. For the past few years, UCUCC has been on a deliberate journey of self-reflection and transformation. This...
Report from the Asset Enhancement Task Force
In May 2022, the Church Council formed the Asset Enhancement Task Force (AETF) to examine UCUCC asset usage and expansion to meet both short-term and long-term challenges facing our church. Underlying big questions like “what is our money for?” is the core conviction...
Updated Covid-19 Guidelines, Spring 2023
Effective 4/22/2023 Throughout this pandemic, we have been cautious in our responses and always paying attention to the science and the most vulnerable in our community. We have worked toward inclusion in our worship services and prioritized accessibility. Here are...
Join us for a day of mediation and contemplative prayer, Saturday, May 6 | 9 am – 4 pm | Whidbey Island
You are invited to spend a day in quiet contemplation on Whidbey Island to nurture your spirit and experience the deep calm that meditation offers. In a one-day retreat led by Northwest meditation teacher Kurt Hoelting and practitioner Virginia Felton, we will explore...
Deaths in our community
Kevin Fuerstenau Born: January 10, 1961 Died: February 19, 2023 Kevin was a beloved member of the UCUCC choir and is greatly missed. She was hospitalized for a virus that attacked her heart in January of this year and despite a valiant battle, was not able to recover....
Birth Announcement
Oscar William Cruz Born: March 8, 2023 Welcome to the world Oscar! Oscar arrived 5 weeks early to join his precious family. Congratulations to parents Emily & Manny Cruz. Oscar weighed 4lbs 8oz. Oscar joins big sister Valentina. Baby and Mom are doing well, and we...
Seabeck All-church Camp – July 9-14, Seabeck Conference Center
Over the next couple months, the Seabeck Committee will introduce to a few people who love Seabeck, and will share some reasons why they think you should join them this summer at camp! More information about camp, including the brochure and registration forms, is...
UCUCC Annual Meeting, May 21, 2023
All are welcome to attend the 132nd Annual Meeting of University Congregational United Church of Christ, after worship on Sunday May 21st, 2023, either in person or online. We will be celebrating our 70th year in the building, voting on our slate of council members...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Solar Panels on UCUCC
Submitted by Nancy Hannah for Sacred Earth Matters As a Creation Justice church, UCUCC is committed to reducing our carbon footprint. Sacred Earth Matters has been interested in what this really means in hard data relating to the solar panels we installed on the roof...
November Special Offering: Global Hunger
Our November special offering focuses on the worldwide hunger crisis which now threatens to turn into famine for many. Hunger is extreme in too many locations, and has been substantially increased by the war in Ukraine. Food, fuel, and fertilizer usually shipped to...