June 2, 2019 – By the Riverside, in Spirit – Unitarian Universalist Church

Our annual “Down by the Riverside” worship service had to the canceled for the first time in 13 years because of flooding. Instead, the same multi-generational service was held outdoors on Sunday, June 2, 2019 in the Memorial Garden behind the church.

Peter and Casey Holmes, Alan and Carol Arnold and Scott Denson led the service, the main focus of which was an interactive portrayal of our modern creation story: The Journey of the Universe from the Big Bang to the present – a journey into grandeur that no previous generation could have fully imagined.

There was an excellent turnout for the service, as shown in the slideshow photos below. Click the arrows to see the next or previous photo.

From left, Scott Denson, Peter Holmes and Alan Arnold finished leading the sing-along prelude, "Summertime."
Congregants greeted each other during the welcome.
Peter Holmes presented the opening words from the introduction to "Journey of the Universe" by Brian Thomas Swimme and Mary Evelyn Tucker.
The journey through time began with a portrayal of human lifetime from 100 years old to children.
Next the journey looked back 2000 years from Jesus to the present.
Here the span depicted was from the first homo sapiens 200,000 years ago, the first woolly mammoths 150,000 years ago, and the first polar bears 72,000 years ago to Jesus.
This timeline represented the first humanoids 2.6 million years ago, the homo erectus 1.5 million years ago, and the first homo sapiens 200,000 years ago.
Stretching the timeline back further: Dinosaurs, 235 million years ago; birds, 150 million years ago; mammals, 115 million years ago; the dinosaur die-off 65 million years ago; the first monkeys and apes 35 million years ago; the first humanoids 2.6 million years ago; and the first homo sapiens 200,000 years ago.
From the beginning: The "Big Bang" 14 billion years ago; star formation 13 billion years ago; galaxy formation 12 billion years ago; the Milky Way Galaxy 8 billion years ago; the Sun and Earth 4.5 billion years ago; the first cells 4 billion years ago; the Moon 3 billion years ago; sex 1 billion years ago; dinosaurs 235 million years ago; and homo sapiens 200,000 years ago.
Alan Arnold read the Invocation by John Seed.
Congregants danced during the singing of Hymn #311, "Let It Be a Dance We Do."
One of the ushers, Allie Gassman, passed the collection plate during the singing of Hymn #162, "Gonna Lay Down My Sword and Shield."
Congregants finished singing "Gonna Lay Down My Sword and Shield" as the other usher, Connie Ordway, right, looked on.
In this and the next three photos, as a substitute for the traditional chucking of stones into the river at "Down by the Riverside," congregants threw sticks into the woods.