Magnolia UCC

Games Gathering
2025-09-24 16:00 - 18:00 (America/Vancouver)
Join us for a gathering of board games in Pilgrim Hall.
Yahtzee, Parcheesi, Scrabble, and rummikub are just a sampling of what we will have available for everyone. Please feel free to bring additional games you enjoy.
Snacks will be provided and you are welcome to bring your beverage of choice.
Hope to see you there!

Community Movie Night - Inside Out 2
2025-09-26 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Vancouver)
Join us for our second Community Movie Night! We’ll be projecting Inside Out 2 on the big screen in Pilgrim Hall. Magnolia United Church of Christ is located at 3555 W. Magnolia. Entrance for movie night is on Eastmont Avenue around the corner. Bring your blanket and pillow for a cozy experience (chairs will be available as well), non-perishable food item, and suggested donation of $5 per person for the Ballard Food Bank! Pay at the door or just show up to enjoy. Snacks (popcorn and other treats) and drinks provided as well as a raffle for movie themed prizes.
Invite your friends and neighbors to these special community events that will benefit one of our amazing partner organizations doing great work in our community!

Learning Forum: Dementia Friends Information Session
2025-09-28 11:30 - 12:30 (America/Vancouver)
Plan to join us on Sunday, September 28th after a time of Fellowship (in-person or via Zoom) to learn more about Dementia in our families, friends and communities. Our speaker will be Jenny Roben from the Dementia Friends Association, an international movement that is committed to changing the way people think, act, and talk about dementia.
The session will be an informal 60 minute information session to increase awareness around what dementia is (and is not) in an effort to reduce stigma and make communities more dementia friendly and to answer questions and provide support for any who have questions about dementia or caring for someone with dementia.
Plan to attend!
If you are joining us on zoom, here is the link.

Meeting: 833 2247 5085
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Chair Yoga
2025-10-01 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-10-08 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-10-15 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-10-22 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-10-29 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-11-05 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-11-12 10:00 - 11:00 UTC
Interested in maintaining or even regaining strength, flexibility, balance, good posture, inner awareness, and a relaxed body & mind? PHEW…! That’s sure a lot! Well, you can! Just join us each Wednesday a.m. in Pilgrim Hall at 10:00 am for chair yoga. No experience is necessary. Just wear loose clothing and your first lesson is Free. Then a one-time $15 fee is requested to help pay for the great videos on the big screen. Hope to see ya soon!

Memorial Service for Rev. Carson
2025-10-05 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Vancouver)
Join us as we gather on Saturday in the Parlor at 1:00 p.m. for a time of remembrance for our beloved Reverend Carson. There will be time for ritual, sharing, story and comfort. Please feel welcome to attend. If you are unable to attend in person, we will provide a link to a recording that you may view later.

Bible Study: The Clobber Passages and Beyond; What Does the Bible Really Say about the LGBTQ+ Community?
2025-10-07 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-10-14 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-10-21 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-10-28 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-11-11 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Vancouver)
This special Bible Study will take a look at the bible passages that have historically been used to both demonize and regulate the LGBTQ+ community. We’ll look at translations, context and biblical scholarship. We’ll also take a look at other passages that have the potential to broadly challenge traditional biblical approaches for the LGBTQ+ community.
Here is a general overview of the class (no need to read ahead any of the scriptures we’ll study, we’ll review them together in class):

Week 1 (10/7) -Bible Basics/Sexuality Basics, Creation and the Rainbow
Week 2 (10/14) -Sodom and Gomorrah, Esau and Jacob, Joseph and his Technicolor Coat
Week 3 (10/21) -Leviticus, Ruth and Naomi, David & Jonathan, Eunuchs in the Ancient World
Week 4 (10/28) -Isaiah, What’s in a Name, Danial
Week 5 (11/4) -Jesus and Homosexuality and Gender, Matthew 19, The Story of the Centurian
Week 6 (11/11) -John and Looking again at Nicodemus and the Beloved Disciple, Acts and the Ethiopian Eunuch
Week 7 (11/18) -Paul, Romans, 1st Corinthians/1st Timothy, Galatians
Week 8 (11/25) -Overflow Week if needed

Please plan to attend!
Join Zoom here

Meeting ID: 886 6340 8940
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Service of Lament for the Earth Evening Service via Zoom
2025-10-08 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Vancouver)
The more that we are aware and alive, the more keenly we feel the threats to our fellow beings — the extinction of species, their loss of habitat, and the despoiling of dwelling places by powerful forces which threaten the extraordinarily diverse and resplendent world which we share with all that lives and breathes along with us. It takes courage to touch the places inside ourselves where these truths live — those thoughts and feelings that likely keep many of us up at night, but are too often held inside us, in a space both alone, and lonely.
A Service of Lament is a sacred gathering big enough to hold all of those feelings. Lament is not only personal, but also profoundly communal. Throughout history, lament has been the way hurting communities have held on to their humanity and hope. Lament gives us language to mourn injustice without losing sight of God’s promise of deliverance. It keeps us from being crushed by grief or consumed by rage. It allows us to make room for however we are feeling, while also engaging in community and connection that keeps our humanity and hope first and foremost.
Please join us on Wednesday, October 8th for this special service as we gather for prayer and ritual in community and with our God to share our feelings in order to move towards life, to seek hope, and to gain strength for the work we know awaits us.
Plan to join us on Zoom

Meeting ID 852 7400 7510

Security Passcode [REDACTED]

Fall Work Party
2025-10-11 09:30 - 11:00 (America/Vancouver)
Plan to attend this Saturday morning work party to help keep our grounds looking so amazing! Starting at 9:30 on Saturday, October 11th, we’ll meet outside the church and be assigned garden maintenance projects. Plan to work outside so wear weather appropriate clothes, gardening gloves, and bring your garden tools!

Book Group
2025-10-13 18:30 - 20:30 UTC
This month, the book group gathers in the Parlor to discuss Martyr by Kaveh Akbar

Upcoming books are:

Nov 10: Trust, Hernan Diaz,
Dec 8: The Humans, Matt Haig
**All the books are available through the Seattle Public Library

Sacred Silence
2025-10-15 11:00 - 23:30, 2025-10-22 11:00 - 23:30, 2025-10-29 11:00 - 23:30, 2025-11-05 11:00 - 23:30, 2025-11-12 11:00 - 23:30 (America/Vancouver)
Each week we gather in the Parlor at 11:00am on Wednesday for a time of sacred silence, time to still our minds and join together in creating sacred space in silence. Join us for this powerful time of community and prayerful being.

Book Study - ‘The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World’
2025-10-19 11:15 - 12:15 (America/Vancouver)
The book we will use for our October Season of Creation Book Study is “The Serviceberry” by Robin Wall Kimmerer (author of “Braiding Sweetgrass). In this book, Kimmerer “considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy. Gift economy being a system in which goods and services are given freely between people rather than sold or bartered. Our current economy is rooted in scarcity, competition, and the hoarding of resources – which actively harms what we love. Kimmerer shows us a model based upon reciprocity rather than accumulation, where wealth and security come from the quality of our relationships, not from the illusion of self-sufficiency. Because the Serviceberry’s relationship with the natural world is an embodiment of interconnectedness and gratitude and an example of a gift economy, it is more restorative and creates abundance as the gift moves through the system.”
After worship on Sunday, October 19th, we will have a discussion of the book and consider what came up for us from the book, what insights we gathered from the book, and what learnings we may take out into the world. In Person in the Parlor.

Zoom Pub Theology
2025-10-22 19:00 - 20:00 UTC
This month’s question is ‘What can humans learn from dogs in the realm of love and joy?’ and more broadly ‘What can humans learn from all animals in the realm of love and joy?’.
So, grab a drink and join in the conversation! Join on Zoom. (Meeting ID: 886 8245 6539, Passcode: [REDACTED]

Special Worship Experience - Blessing of the Animals
2025-10-26 10:00 - 11:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Pastor Marci will be blessing our special animal companions for all the gifts they offer to our lives and our hearts. If you would like to have your special animal receive a blessing you can bring your animal loved one on a leash or in a carrier to church for the morning’s service. Pictures of beloved current and past animal companions welcome as well! On that day we will also be wrapping up our collection for animal food for the Ballard Food Bank.

Salmon Dinner Fundraiser
2025-11-01 17:30 - 20:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Magnolia UCC, 3555 W. McGraw Street, Seattle, WA, 98199
Our annual Salmon Dinner returns this fall on Saturday, November 1st at 5:30 pm! We will once again direct ALL net proceeds to charities, each championed by a member of our Congregation. The charities we are supporting this year are:

Lambert House empowering lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth through the development of leadership, social, and life skills.
Divine Alternative for Dads Service helping keep families together by creating healthier fathers and families by stopping the cycle of family violence.
Doney Coe Pet Clinic taking care of pets of those who are homeless.
Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition providing resources, knowledge, and action to build more just environmental futures while working to clean up the Duwamish River.
Sacred Streets tending to our neighbors who are relegated to living on the edges of society with spiritual care, grief support and an ecosystem of hospitality.
Interbay Village providing safe temporary dorm beds, tiny cabins, meals and food services, homeless outreach services, and referral to service providers.

You can reserve your dinner by accessing this link. You can submit your registration online through that link or contact Diane Wheeler diane.wheeler1@comcast.net or Cheryl at the office contact@magnoliaucc.org / 206-283-1788 to register and make payment arrangements.
Dinner is $30 per person and you can choose from salmon, chicken or vegan.

Bring cash for the beverage bar (wine, beer, and soft drinks, $5, $5 and $2 respectively)!
Bring your check or cash or credit card for the dessert dash—the main fundraiser event!
Consider dressing in the Back to the 60s theme – get groovy baby!

Can’t attend? Consider making a donation to go towards MUCC’s beneficiaries by clicking here!

“We the People: A Brief Owner’s Manual to the U S Constitution" - 1st Session
2025-11-06 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Vancouver)
Coming in November the MUCC community will have the opportunity to freshen up our knowledge about a critical and timely subject…the American Constitution. Greg Russi (beloved son of Julie and Bernie Russi), is currently teaching an overview course on the Constitution at Colorado Mountain College and has offered to share parts of that class with our community. The first class in this three-part series will focus on a general overview of the Constitution (and be in-person in the Parlor), the second session will focus on the 1st Amendment, and the last session will focus on the 14th Amendment. Come prepared with your questions!
Plan to attend!
Zoom Link

Meeting ID: 853 2044 9408

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Book Group
2025-11-10 18:30 - 20:30 UTC
This month, the book group gathers in the Parlor to discuss Trust by Hernan Diaz,
Last book of the year will be:

Dec 8: The Humans by Matt Haig

**All the books are available through the Seattle Public Library
