Last month, your Two-Services Task Force rolled out our draft proposal to adjust our Sunday morning schedule so that we can make room for even more people. Now, it’s official! On September 8, the first weekend after Labor Day, we’ll launch the new schedule. Here are the details:
- First service: 9-10 a.m., featuring music from our WUU solo performers of all ages.
- Middle Hour: 10-11:15 a.m., with religious education classes for children & youth. We’ll also be developing programs for adults during this time.
- Second service: 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m., featuring our WUU choir.
With these changes, we’ll be welcoming our young people into both services. Here’s what we’ll be offering for families:
For infants and toddlers, we’ll provide free nursery care throughout the morning, 9 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
Children up to age 12 will begin in the main worship service. After the Wisdom Story (children’s time, about 15 minutes into the service), any kids who wish may go to free childcare, with a focus on fun outdoor play.
- Kids who attend the first service will be able to go right from childcare to religious education classes and rejoin their families after class. If they prefer, kids can also stay in the main service and go to classes after the service.
- For families who attend the second service, we’ll ask parents/guardians to pick your children up after religious education classes and come to the service as a family. After the Wisdom Story, kids may either go to childcare or stay for the rest of the service.
Youth aged 13 and up are invited to stay in the main worship service. This will be a change for many of our youth! We’re excited about the opportunities this will create for youth to get more connected with the congregation as a whole, and with the practice of going to Sunday worship which is so meaningful to many of us.
Adults are invited to come to either service. We hope as many of you as possible will try out the first service, as we pursue our goal of making more room for newcomers at 11:15. During the Middle Hour, we’ll have our social time in the gathering hall. Occasionally, we’ll schedule congregational meetings and conversations during this time. We’ll also be developing religious education opportunities for adults.
All of us on the Task Force are grateful for all the feedback you’ve given us along the way. Here are the key changes and additions we’ve made to the plan based on what we’ve heard from congregants:
- YRUU meeting space: We will move nursery care into the preschool room, thus freeing up the current nursery room to be repurposed as a room for YRUU (the high school group) on Sunday mornings and other small groups and meetings throughout the week. This change will also make the Little Sanctuary available for programs for adults on Sunday mornings.
- Responding to a parental concern that their teens may resist going to the main service: Rev. Laura plans to talk with the teens over the summer and invite them to covenant with her to try it out for a while. She will invite them to choose the service topic (keyed to the monthly theme) once a month.
- Parking needs: Dave Neiman and Roger Guernsey have volunteered to organize a task force to explore increasing the number of parking spaces on campus. This work will begin over the summer.
- Kickoff weekend: We’re planning a celebratory Ingathering weekend, Sept. 6-8, with an all-congregation party Friday night. The new Sunday schedule will launch on Sunday, Sept. 8 with all-ages Water Communion services, special music, and a pancake breakfast in between the services. Don’t miss it!
The work of our task force is now complete. But our staff and lay leaders will be working out lots of details over the summer to get ready for the launch date. If you have any questions about what’s happening, or if you’d like to help in any way, please contact Rev. Laura (revlaura@wuu.org) or Austen Petersen (austen@wuu.org). We’d love to hear from you.
We thank everyone who has offered feedback, ideas, questions, and support over the past year. We’re excited to launch this experiment in September so that our congregation can live out our spirit of welcoming even more fully. See you there!
Your Two-Services Task Force,
Eva Burke, John Chowning, Lesa Craig, Rachel Delbos, Rev. Laura Horton-Ludwig, Paul Luchsinger, Austen Petersen, and Janna Roche