Author: Winnetka Congregational Church

  • All
  • Blog
  • Church News
  • Uncategorized

There’s an earworm song in the musical Moulin Rouge that, if you aren’t careful, will stick in your head for weeks on end. In it, the two main characters are singing the beginning of a flirtation (on top of a giant elephant, but that’s not the point of this story). Hoping to convince the aloof and beautiful Satine that love is worth the risk, our protagonist, penniless poet Christian, turns to the lyrics of popular...

Have you ever noticed how our favorite holiday songs are filled with images of peace? Silent nights. Fields of glistening snow. Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, lights turned way down low, stars brightly shining - song after song, we’re met with poetry that invites us to step out of the hustle and bustle of the world around us and just… breathe. These songs strike a chord because the moments of peace they picture feel like a...

Some mornings - maybe most of them - we wake up already in the middle of problems to solve.Before our bare feet hit the floor in the bedroom, we’ve scrolled through a few dozen headlines and social media updates. Our eyes squint to adjust to the glow of our small screens, their blue light flooding our pre-coffee minds with the entire world’s latest news. Here, in the early hours before we begin our long to-do...

“Love God. Love Neighbor. Two simple but difficult directives of our faith. By caring for our environment, we are doing both.”That’s Steve Huels, one of the leaders of our Green Team here at Winnetka Congregational Church. We had the chance to interview Steve this month, as well as fellow Green Team leader Jennifer Guy, about the environmental advocacy work they’re doing to care for the planet, for the neighborhoods and parks in our community, and...

Multifaith solidarity is something our congregation has been committed to for a long time. One of the ways we’ve lived that out is by offering our sanctuary to Congregation Hakafa to use on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. We’ve done this since 2016 and were privileged to do it again this year on September 6-7 for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. And on September 15-16 for Yom Kippur, the “day of atonement.”Because of the...

After worship this Sunday, we invite you to gather in the Churchyard for a time of remembrance of loved ones and those who served in the U.S. military. Flags will mark the resting places of those who served. If anyone wishes to wear a uniform, ribbon or other items representing their military service, or that of a family member, please do so. The Churchyard is a place of peace and reflection. You are welcome to visit at...

Starting Sunday, May 9 at 9 am, along with our continuing online worship option, we will be offering worship outdoors on our church’s front lawn (unless weather conditions move us indoors). This setting will offer us plenty of space, with our sanctuary’s beautiful front porch as a backdrop.Have questions? Here are three that we’ve heard…answered. If you have more, don’t hesitate to be in touch. Photo by BP Miller on Unsplash 1. What will outdoor...

This virtual challenge was inspired by one of the Winnetka Congregational Church Servants who decided she wanted to do something to give back during these strange and extraordinary times. Sparked by this motivation, a team of middle school and high school youth got together with our Outreach councilors to plan a virtual fundraiser to support The Harbour, a non-profit supported for many years by the church that offers immediate, stable and safe housing and support...

In this Advent season, it has been a church tradition to gather for the lighting of a beautiful tree on our front lawn. This year, we gathered virtually to view the lighting. We heard some humorous words of wisdom from Senior Pastor Jeff Braun as well....

New Trier Multifaith Alliance Interfaith Thanksgiving Service Hosted by Temple Jeremiah Tuesday, November 24, 2020Litany of Thanksgiving by the Rev. Jeffrey D. Braun One: Within the centering embrace of our shared worship, Many: Gather us, O God. One: Over and above the cacophony of cleaving impulses, partisanship, and parochialism into which humanity can and all too easily sink, Many: Attune us, O God, to the still-small, yet tectonic power of your unyielding call: to justice, to mercy, to love. One: Within the deep well of every human heart where joys and sorrows, despair and...