Blue Christmas 2025- Order of Service
Land Acknowledgement Words of Welcome and Explanation Fear Not The Pain Gathering Prayer~A Celtic Prayer – David Adam(We all read the bold together.)From chaos and emptiness,From loneliness and lifelessness,All: Come, Creator, Come.From void and shapelessness,From the abyss and awfulness,All: Come, Creator, Come.From fearfulness and hopelessness,From weakness and dreadfulness,All: Come, Creator, Come. Fear Not The Pain […]
Advent and Christmas Calendar 2025
Calendar Join us this winter season as we work through a justice-focused Advent and Christmas calendar, created by Rev. Lauren Sanders, Spiritual Care Manager (Prairie Band Potawatomi/mshkodéni bodewadminwen, Kickapoo Nation of Kansas/kiikaapoa, African American/Black). Together, we’ll learn about the Doctrine of Discovery and the harmful influence and impact it has had and continues to have […]
Advent Bible Study Series: Part 5
As part of the FIRST UNITED Advent and Christmas Calendar, Rev. Lauren Sanders, Spiritual Care Manager, has prepared a five-part Bible study series. The short Bible studies are to meant offer ways to engage in group or individually. The Canaanite Woman Said What She Said. The story of the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21–28 offers […]
Advent Bible Study Series: Part 4
As part of the FIRST UNITED Advent and Christmas Calendar, Rev. Lauren Sanders, Spiritual Care Manager, has prepared a five-part Bible study series. The short Bible studies are to meant offer ways to engage in group or individually. David’s Land Conquests The stories of King David’s military victories in the Hebrew Bible have long been […]
Advent Bible Study Series: Part 3
As part of the FIRST UNITED Advent and Christmas Calendar, Rev. Lauren Sanders, Spiritual Care Manager, has prepared a five-part Bible study series. The short Bible studies are to meant offer ways to engage in group or individually. Joshua’s Curious Narrative How do we make sense of the contradictions of total conquest by the Israelites […]
Advent Bible Study Series: Part 2
As part of the FIRST UNITED Advent and Christmas Calendar, Rev. Lauren Sanders, Spiritual Care Manager, has prepared a five-part Bible study series. The short Bible studies are to meant offer ways to engage in group or individually. Torah & the Promised Land What does it mean to be promised land that other people live, […]
Advent Bible Study Series: Part 1
As part of the FIRST UNITED Advent and Christmas Calendar, Rev. Lauren Sanders, Spiritual Care Manager, has prepared a five-part Bible study series. The short Bible studies are to meant offer ways to engage in group or individually. Dominion or Protect: Genesis 1:26 and 2:15 What does it mean to be made in the image […]
National Day of Action for Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People – A Liturgy
Prepared by Rev. Lauren Sanders, Indigenous Spiritual Care Chaplain, FIRST UNITED (Prairie Band Potawatomi/mshkodéni bodewadminwen, Kickapoo Nation of Kansas/kiikaapoa, African American/Black) “‘Liturgy’ is a Greek word, meaning ‘work of the people.’ Uniting our voices around a common action and commitment is sacred. This liturgy was created to be used in United Churches and can be […]
Advent and Christmas Calendar 2024
Calendar This winter season, you’re invited to join us for justice-focused Advent & Christmas. The Spiritual Care team has put together an Advent & Christmas Calendar, focused on Indigenous Housing Justice. Together, we’ll learn how racism, colonization, and housing systems in Vancouver/the unceded and ancestral lands of the Xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), Səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) contribute to […]
Lenten 2024: Art Challenge
Lent is a time of prayer and fasting and a time to explore new spiritual practices. One of the most basic spiritual practices that humanity has is our feelings and emotions. To help us explore and work through complex emotions that accompany grief, Lauren Sanders, Indigenous Spiritual Care Chaplain, is hosting an art challenge for […]