What's happening at Spirit of Peace (SOP) NOW?

This week's activities:
Christmas Eve/Candlelight Service | Saturday, December 24 | 6:00 PM | @ Our Sister Church, Community UCC (4443 Hunnicut Dr.
NO SOP WORSHIP SERVICES Christmas Day (10:30 AM) or New Year’s Day | Community UCC, our sister church, will be observing morning services those days. So if you’re in town and wish to attend church, please come to Community for a joint service, similar to the service we enjoyed on Easter. |
Other Announcements:

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT Pastor Gary's Prayers from Sunday Worship Services HERE. You can also find his sermons at this LINK.
South Central Conference 2012 ONA Convocation: An Annual Gathering of Pastors and Members of the South Central Conference Open & Affirming Churches and People Who Want to Know More about ONA | 21 January 2012 | 9:30 AM – 3:30 PM | Church of the Savior (an Alliance of Baptist-UCC Congregations), 3402 Little Elm Park Trail, Cedar Park, TX, 78613| Keynote Speaker: Andy Lang, Executive Director, UCC Coalition for LGBT Concerns | In past years this workshop was sponsored solely by Spirit of Peace, but this year its sponsorship is expanding with a conference organizing committee which includes 2 members from SOP. Glenda and Gary have been appointed by our Conference Minister, Doug Anders. It was agreed at the last SOP council meeting that having the conference involved would give more prestige to the event and bring in additional participants. You can download a registration form & letter here: ONA2012ConvocationRegistrationFormP1.pdf, ONA2012ConvocationRegistrationP2.pdf & ONALetterAboutONAConvocation2012.pdf
SOP Library aka Tom’s Totable Tomes | Tom updated the list of SOP library books. | We have updated the list of SOP Library Books, especially on religious subjects, with a wide range of perspectives – all the way from Bishop John Shelby Spong and Peter Gomes to Philip Yancey and Rick Warren. If you see something you’d like to check out, let Tom know and he’ll lend it to you the next time you come to church. You can also read more about the library and the reviews Tom has posted about many of the selections HERE.
SOP has a Facebook page HERE.
Any of you who is on Facebook can enter “Spirit of Peace” in the search window of his or her page and go to SOP page. Once there you can click on “like.”
If you can volunteer to be a Greeter, Sunday School Teacher, Worship Leader, Worship Space “Setter-upper” or Refreshment Provider some Sunday, please add your name to the signup sheet at church.
If you, your family or a friend is grieving the loss of a loved one, fighting disease or recuperating from an accident, please let either one of the following members know: Pete at dskelley@satx.rr.com or Cylia at semmering@aol.com. Spirit of Peace cares and we want to help you in any way we can.
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Are
you looking for...
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.
Then you've
come to the right place!
Sundays
| 5:00 PM |Worship & Children's Sunday School | Fellowship Hall
@ First Unitarian Church
Acting Pastor:
The Reverend Gary W. Bagley

Office Hours: 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM, Monday - Thursday, Community UCC Pastor's Office (4443 Hunnicut)
SOP Phone Number: 210.403.9084 (This is the new number for Spirit of Peace; if Pastor Gary doesn't answer, please leave a message and he'll return your call.)
Church Address:
First UU Fellowship Hall
7150 West IH 10, San Antonio, TX
Phone: 210.403.9084 (If no answer, please leave message)
Email: spiritofpeaceucc@gmail.com
Facebook Page: HERE
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 Immediate Past Moderator (aka President)
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.
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 Rev. Gary Bagley at 210.403.9084 or spiritofpeaceucc@gmail.com or our immediate past pastor, The Rev. Rita Wilbur, at cell # 832.332.3906, or merrywandering@yahoo.com.

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 the church by Email, spiritofpeaceucc@gmail.com.
Something
SPECIAL!
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Spirit
of Peace Church is cited in this book on
"Progressive Christianity at the Grass Roots" published by Polebridge Press.
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 "ambitiously
intellectual" adult study groups.
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