BISMARCK-MANDAN UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST FELLOWSHIP

WHAT TO EXPECT

Many people don’t know what to expect from UU services. Indeed, Unitarian Universalist worship styles vary by congregation and even within congregations. Some congregations’ worship is contemporary and high tech. Some congregations’ worship is traditional and formal. Some feature exuberant music while some include long periods of silent reflection. Our congregation’s worship strives to be uplifting and inspiring. 

From time to time, worship services incorporate holiday celebrations, multigenerational plays and pageants, longer musical performances, child dedications, and coming-of-age ceremonies. We offer childcare and learning programs for children and youth. Our Sunday services run from September through May with programming, events, and fellowship connections over the summer.

THEMED MINISTRY

Our Bis-Man UU utilizes themed ministry with the help of Soul Matters Sharing Circle. Themed ministry invites us to deepen spiritual exploration, fosters connections within our congregation and the larger UU community, and inspires creativity in worship, music, and storytelling, making for a vibrant and accessible spiritual life.

Centering services, religious education, & small groups around a shared monthly theme creates an interconnected experience that resonates throughout our congregational life, fosters engagement across all ages, and helps us engage in our UU tradition of shared ministry.

Our themed ministry offers an opportunity to mindfully connect with and delve into our UU values. Coupling a Shared Value to each monthly theme allows us to find the richness in the theme, the value, and the connection between them.

This also offers us an opportunity to deepen into our own practice, the practice that goes beyond Sundays and beyond these walls. Each month we encourage individual exploration of the theme as we simultaneously carry the theme together in our fellowship every Sunday.

ELEMENTS YOU MIGHT FIND IN A UU SUNDAY SERVICE

• Words of welcome

• Lighting a flaming chalice, the symbol of our faith

• A multigenerational segment, such as a “Story for All Ages”

• Music, both instrumental and vocal and in a variety of styles

• A time for lifting up the joys and concerns of the congregation

• A meditation or prayer

• Readings—ancient or contemporary

• A sermon given by a professional minister, a guest speaker, or a member of the congregation

• An offering, collecting financial donations for the congregation or for justice work in the community

SUNDAY SERVICE IDEAS

While our Sunday Services surely have a rhythm, we love to incorporate "non-traditional" services including music, movement, meditation, community art, and more. If you have an idea for a topic, speaker, or project for a Sunday Service please contact our Program Coordinator, Sonda Sauers, at programming@bismanuu.com. She would love to hear from you!