Sunday Services
Sunday Services at begin at 10:30am and end around 11:45am. You can join us in person or on Zoom.
In person, at 67 South Randolph Avenue, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601.
On Zoom, using your computer, tablet or smartphone: https://zoom.us/j/327711271. On your phone, dial in at +1 646 558 8656. If asked, enter Meeting ID: 327 711 271,
Upcoming Sunday Services
PROGRAM COMMITTEE
The Program Committee is responsible for those Sunday Services not conducted by a minister, approximately two Sundays a month. Our services can take many forms: guest ministers or speakers, panel discussions, multigenerational, musical, poetical, theatrical, meditative, experiential. We hope to encrich, enliven and expand perspectives and spirits.
JULY 28, 2024: CHRISTIANITY BEFORE CONSTANTINE
Conrad Schnakenberg
Join Conrad as he explores the history of Christianity until the Council of Nicea in 325 CE, which he assures us contains some surprises.
AUGUST 4, 2024: LUGHNASAD
Spiral Web
AUGUST 11, 2024: NATURAL HELPERS PROGRAM - A WAY TO VALUE OUR CHILDREN
Geri Willmott and Anne Lancellotti
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AUGUST 18, 2024: TELLING OUR STORIES
Joe Cosentino
What do early cave etchings, Bible stories, Native American dances, African American hymns, Buddhist chants, Stonehenge, and Roslyn Chapel all have in common? In each case people told their own stories. Holy books are simply stories written by people in tune with the God-force, spirituality, the muses, and their own emotions. It is imperative for our health, longevity, and future generations, including our own family members, that we relate our own stories. Published author Joe Cosentino will discuss embracing self-empowerment and inner awareness to begin the journey of sharing your personal story by the end of the service.
ON ART: AUGUST 25, 2024
Larry Decker and Rick Foster
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SEPTEMBER 1, 2024
SEPTEMBER 8, 2024: INGATHERING WATER CEREMONY
Rhianna Mirabello with Spiral Web
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SEPTEMBER 15, 2024: AGING AS A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
Diane Diachishin
What steps can we take to cultivate a more positive view of growing older? Aging does not so much require the physical courage of high climbing or dangerous sailing or swimming with jellyfish. It requires spiritual courage. This service explores the notion of becoming fierce with the reality of aging. It is a look into reframing aging with purpose, joy, and spiritual courage.
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What to Expect on Sunday Mornings
During the pandemic, we met exclusively on Zoom. Since we resumed meeting in-person, our services have been hybrid, with some of us in person and some on Zoom. Occasionally, due to weather or other events, we meet just on Zoom, but we try to let people know as soon as possible when that is going to happen.
Sunday services typically include opening words, welcome & announcements, the chalice lighting, an opening song, "Words For All Ages," the singing of the children to their classes, the sharing of joys & concerns, the passing of the collection plate (accompanied by a hymn), the sermon or activity, an opportunity for congregational reflection, a closing song, and closing words.
On two Sundays a month, children and youth stay in the sanctuary for the first twenty minutes of the service. "Words for All Ages," usually in the form of a story, often told by the Minister, concludes their time in the sanctuary, and they are then released to go to Sunday School. Once or twice a month, there will be a multi- generational service when the children and youth remain in the room and we all worship together.
From time to time, we actually have an activity and even make things during a service. These services are a real opportunity to engage with the world around us in a tangible way, whether it is making meals for those experiencing food insecurity, connecting with the environment more directly. Such services also serve to forge interpersonal bonds between congregants. Below is a photograph of birds happily feasting on all-natural bird feeders made during our March 17, 2024 service, A Host of Sparrows.
Following the worship service is the Fellowship Hour, a social hour during which refreshments, including Fair Trade coffee and tea, are served. On the third Sunday of every month, we also host Third Sunday Lunch. Every other month, this lunch takes place at a local restaurant, while on the other Sundays it's pot-luck or something simple at the Fellowship.
Hospitality Hour
Since 2002, we have been participating in the Interfaith Program of a very special fair trade coffee company called Equal Exchange. It is the only coffee we serve during hospitality hour following the Sunday service.
Equal Exchange is a for-profit Fairtrade worker-owned, cooperative headquartered in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Equal Exchange distributes organic, gourmet coffee, tea, sugar, cocoa, and chocolate bars produced by farmer cooperatives in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Founded in 1986, it is the oldest and largest Fair Trade coffee company in the United States. Dedicated to concepts of economic justice, the highest paid employee of Equal Exchange may not make more than four times what the lowest paid employee receives.
Essentially, Equal Exchange brings together the producer and the consumer in an equitable and meaningful way. The middleman (in the case of coffee, called Coyotes), and establishes a more direct connection between the producer and consumer.
