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Regular Worship & Sunday School followed by Refreshment & Conversation | Sunday, June 28 | 5:00 PM | First Unitarian Fellowship Hall

Soulforce & Atticus Circle Last Sunday of Solidarity | June 28 | Groups of LGBTQ and allied people around the country will attend worship services at a church of their choice - a church that is not welcoming and affirming of openly LGBTQ members and guests. | Go to http://www.soulforce.org/sos for more information or to sign up.

For more announcements, please go to the following link: weeklynewsbrief.html.

a UCC church in San Antonio? Learn more about the United Church of Christ (UCC) at www.ucc.org.

a progressive Christian church in San Antonio? Look at our Progressive Christianity web page.

an Open & Affirming (ONA) congregation in San Antonio?
Check out our Open & Affirming Ministry web page.

a San Antonio congregation seeking justice and peace?
Refer to our Peace & Justice Ministries web page.

a pastor who performs marriage ceremonies for committed couples regardless of sex, race, gender or orientation? Read "Why get married?" below.

The you've come to the right place!

Sundays | 5:00 PM |Worship & Children's Sunday School | Fellowship Hall @ First Unitarian Church

Address: 7150 West IH 10, San Antonio, TX (210.403.9084 or cell # 210.748.4449)

Location: Southeast of the Interchange of I 10 West & Loop 410 North on the I 10 access road in the Fellowship Hall of the First Unitarian Universalist Church.

Map: Click HERE.

After worship, please stay for refreshment and conversation.

An Identity Statement from Our Moderator (aka President)
February 13, 2008
Floyd J., Moderator 2008 - 2010

In the section of the phone book where churches are divided up based on denomination, size, or whatever criteria, Spirit of Peace could be listed in the "miscellaneous" category. Although we are affiliated with the UNITED CHURCH of Christ, we are made up of people who come from a myriad of Christian traditions, some conservative and some liberal. People in our church were raised Methodist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Pentecostal, Unitarian, or weren’t really raised with any religious background. We are a small congregation and share a belief that there is no exact formula to being a “good Christian.” While our faith is at the cornerstone of our lives, we do not believe faith and fact should always be in opposition and look at the Bible and its teaching using current Biblical scholarship, reason, and (sometimes) a sense of humor. Although we are a “liberal” church, we do believe people can disagree about issues such as stem-cell research, homosexuality, and what exactly are family values in good conscience, and we do not discriminate if someone’s beliefs are not ours verbatim. Therefore, if you were shunned from your previous church because you didn’t want to picket outside a Planned Parenthood clinic or didn’t feel like going on a hunger strike to save the sea cucumber, we will not judge you. We are an Open and Affirming (ONA) church, meaning that we welcome people of all sexual orientations and gender identities to be a part of our community without asking that it be at the expense of being who they really are. We also try to make an impact in the greater San Antonio area by contributing to our community when and how we are able to. Overall, in a city where faith seems to be measured by church size, income of tithes, and how you vote, we are proud to be the deviants and invite you to come deviate with us.

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Why get married?

For better, for worse,
for richer, for poorer,
in sickness and in health,
till death do you part.

These poetic words define the purpose of marriage as companionship through all
the trials of life. Marriage takes two unrelated people and makes them a family
that vows to stay together and care for one another, no matter what life throws
at them.

A wedding does not give couples anything they do not already possess. They
already have the love, the relationship, even the commitment to one another. But
a wedding is a public declaration, made in the company of family and friends,
before God. It is an outward expression of the invisible love that binds two
people together. As such, it is a sacred event.

When it comes to marriage, Spirit of Peace Church does not discriminate on the
basis of race, religion, gender, or orientation.

On July 4, 2005, the General Synod of the United Church of Christ passed a
resolution on "Equal Marriage Rights for All."

"We recognize and affirm that the covenantal values that are essential to the
Gospel are central to how we understand marriage in this time. We also recognize
and affirm that all humans are made in the image and likeness of God, including
people of all sexual orientations, and God has bestowed upon each one the gift
of human sexuality. Further, we recognize and affirm that, as created in God's
image and gifted by God with human sexuality, all people have the right to lead
lives that express love, justice, mutuality, commitment, consent and pleasure.

Therefore let it be resolved that the Twenty-fifth General Synod of the United
Church of Christ affirms equal marriage rights for couples regardless of gender
and declares that the government should not interfere with couples regardless of
gender who choose to marry and share fully and equally in the rights, responsibilities and commitment of legally recognized marriage."

For more information on marriage ceremonies, please contact our pastor, The Rev. Rita Wilbur, at 210.403.9084, cell # 210.748.4449, or sopucc@sbcglobal.ne.t

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Through the South Central Conference, our congregation is a part of Texas Impact, a state-wide, religious grassroots network that educates Texans about public policy and advances public policies in Texas that are consistent with universally held social principles of the Abrahamic faith traditions. The South Central Conference of the United Church of Christ is a member organization of Texas Impact. Through the UCC as a denomination, we have a voice with lawmakers in Austin.

Learn more about Texas Impact and how you can be involved at http://www.texasimpact.org

Please click on the following link to view a video of the Rev. Jerry Leggit, of Peacebubble fame, interviewing members and friends of Spirit of Peace on Sunday, February 25: THE VIDEO

For additional information...

Please contact Reverend Rita Wilbur by phone (210.403.9084) or by E-mail (sopucc@sbcglobal.net).

Something SPECIAL!

Spirit of Peace Church is cited in this book on
"Progressive Christianity at the Grass Roots" published by Polebridge Press.

Please right click on the picture to the left & select "open link" to read more about this new release. Our church is held up as a model progressive church, open and affirming to GLBT folk, and seriously involved in justice and peace issues. The author also commends our ever growing Children's Sunday School class and "ambitiously intellectual" adult study groups.