Highwater Church -a UCC congregation

Loving our neighbors - including relatives, coworkers, acquaintances, strangers - as ourselves is no simple task.

Pieface Showdown

Making Blessings Bags with NAMA Connect Youth.

A Prayer for Healing of our Country:
Gracious God, thank you for the blessing of living in a country where “liberty and justice for all” are core values, one where we have the privilege of electing our leaders.

Guide us to make wise decisions in the election and to choose leaders who will seek to be just, kind and humble.

Finally, help me to be part of the solution to polarization, and not part of the problem. Lead me to be kind and curious and to treat others as I want to be treated. Help me to love my neighbors. In Jesus’ name, Amen

Photo credit: Tim Pennington Photography (Pastor Gladys's brother)

Join us today for the final Sunday in our "Do Unto Others" series, where we explore our shared values that united us across political divides. Worship at 8:30 & 10:30am.

Prayer
God, there are so many areas where we find delight in the devices of secrecy and control. Give me the courage to turn on the light, even when my eyes have adjusted to the dark.

Exposed Exposing evil is risky business. But the greater threat is the deadly silence of those who consistently sacrifice moral conscience on the altar of social order.

Don't forget to set your clocks back before going to bed Saturday night.

Let us continue into the unknown future with hope that we can survive, we can thrive, together - no matter the outcomes of a divided world.

Prayer
Make injustice vulnerable again.

Slaying Dragons We need stories to tell us the impossible can be accomplished. To make us brave. And bold. Because there are dragons everywhere.

Let's just see what can happen when we turn up the volume of kindness and treat others as we would hope to be treated.

Prayer
Great Grappler, wanna wrestle?

Unmasked After Jacob wrestles God to a stalemate (Genesis 32), he limps away a new man, knowing his life is forever changed. Of course. When you tangle with God, you can bet on it.

We are people first, "the populace," not positions.

Prayer
For the ones who have fed us so well, and who teach us to trust in the promise of abiding love, thanks be to God.

Taste and See : For the ones who have fed us so well, and who teach us to trust in the promise of abiding love, thanks be to God.

What we put into the world is part of the ongoing creation of the world. #

Prayer
Healing Friend, guide us to naturally rejoice in it all, every single day. Amen.

Make Your Bed What does it take for us to rejoice daily in both the miraculous and the mundane?

As we live on uncommon ground (because the reality is that common ground is sometimes not possible), what can we do to keep tending to one another as "kin" worthy of respect despite our differences?

Prayer
For my unique place at the table, right next to everyone else, thank you. Amen.

Stone You are a precious, unique, beloved child of God! Just like the rest of humanity. God has your name written on the palm of their hand! Right next to everybody else’s.

We are called to respect by tending to one another - regarding each other, considering each other - early and often.

Prayer
God of grace and mercy, your goodness is beyond measure! Let me not devalue it by measuring it on any earthly scale.

Begrudged Blessings Jealousy over God’s goodness is as old as Cain and Abel, a long-lingering thorn in the side of faith. We begrudge one other’s blessings at our own peril, risking bitterness and greed.

Today begins week 4 of "Do Unto Others" — a campaign for kindness that we are excited to bring to our community! This campaign is an invitation to consider how we want to be treated, and how we treat others, even those with whom we disagree. What’s
possible when our community leans into kindness? Join us as we come together to find out! Worship at 8:30 & 10:30am Sundays.

Prayer
Holy One, who hears our prayers, grant me a listening heart.

Call and Response Maybe you, too, have waited for something good to pass by. Maybe you, too, have cried out for acknowledgment. Maybe we, too, can be like Jesus who stops to respond to people’s cries.