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May 3, 2026

Easter was full of joy and now as we enter May, we turn our focus to the season of celebrations. We gather to celebrate Mother’s Day, graduations, weddings and Memorial Day. The church also celebrates the Day of Pentecost as the birthday of the church. At Hope Church we decorate with red and orange to signify the flames of Spirit and we sing Happy Birthday to the church. This year Pentecost will be on May 17th.

On that first Pentecost, people without a common language were able to understand each other. Today, that same Spirit brings together people from a variety of backgrounds and each with our own life story. Each of us is in a different place on our faith journey. We rejoice that through the gift of the Spirit we can embrace our uniqueness and celebrate unity.

So let us celebrate the birthday of the church on Pentecost but let us also discern where God’s Spirit is moving today, both in and outside Hope Church and the church universal. We celebrate the Spirit giving life, creating something new, renewing what is old, and letting go of what is worn out. The Spirit has sparked creative energy across the ages and today it allows us to dream new dreams about how to be the church in 2026 and moving forward.

As we enjoy our celebrations this month, let us remember the birthday of the church, let us never stop praying the ancient prayer of the church: “Come, Holy Spirit, Come!” Let us continue to open the doors and windows of our hearts and welcome God’s love to flow through us.

Click here to download this week's order of worship.

The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a distinct and diverse community of Christians that come together as one church to join faith and action. With over 5,000 churches and nearly one million members across the U.S., the UCC serves God in the co-creation of a just and sustainable world. The UCC is a church of firsts, a church of extravagant welcome, and a church where "…they may all be one" (John 17:21).

The Church of Firsts

Since 1957, the United Church of Christ has been the church of firsts, weaving God’s message of hope and extravagant welcome with action for justice and peace. Together, we live out our faith in ways that effect change in our communities. The UCC's many "firsts" mean that we have inherited a tradition of acting upon the demands of our faith. When we read in Galatians: "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus"—a demand is made upon us. And so we were the first historically white denomination to ordain an African-American, the first to ordain a woman, the first to ordain an openly gay man, and the first Christian church to affirm the right of same-gender couples to marry. We were in the forefront of the anti-slavery movement and the Civil Rights movement. Our response to the demands of our faith is woven into the history of our country.

A Church of Extravagant Welcome

Today, we continue to change lives throughout the world. We work alongside more than 200 mission partners. We labor ceaselessly to fight injustice, in the United States and abroad. We instill our vision into our youth and young adults, forging leaders who will imagine new dreams. And we sustain and develop church leaders, pastors, and our local churches to live their faith in exciting new ways. We believe in a God that is still speaking, a God that is all-loving and inclusive. We are a church that welcomes and accepts everyone as they are, where your mind is nourished as much as your soul.

We are a church where Jesus the healer meets Jesus the revolutionary, and where together, we grow a just and peaceful world.