Worship Everywhere, NC is a ministry and internship project of Unity Moravian Church (Lewisville, NC), St. Paul United Methodist Church (Winston-Salem, NC) and Luther Seminary (St. Paul, Minnesota).
Every Sunday we will worship at 11 AM with our churches, live streamed on Facebook and YouTube. Every Saturday we will worship at 10 AM somewhere in Lewisville, Clemmons or Winston-Salem. Most locations will require some hiking. A few locations will include some hills and stairs. We will worship regardless of the weather (only exception is if there are dangerous driving conditions including severe storm watches or warnings.) Worship will always include scripture, prayer and Holy Communion. On nice days, there may be a short message and some music. You can view our upcoming service dates, times, and locations on our website.
Lent is a time of sacred preparation, beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending on Easter Sunday. Before we can celebrate the Resurrection on Easter Morning, we must walk the road to the cross with our Lord during Holy Week. For Moravians, Holy Week is a time when we remember the last week of our Lord’s earthly life. We observe this time using the Readings for Holy Week book, which represents a harmony account of the sufferings, death, resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ as it is found in the New Testament. Moravians have shared a version of this moving collection for more than 250 years and continue to use it in services leading up to Easter each year.
Our 2021Holy Week Services will be online each night beginning Monday, March 29 through Friday, April 2. They will begin at 7:00 pm. Please join us virtually for these meaningful services, which will also include special music each evening.
Copies of Readings for Holy Week, including large print editions, are available for those who do not have their own copy. Call the office at (336) 945-3801 or stop by the mailboxes during office hours to borrow a copy on the honor system. Limited digital versions are available. Email the office for more information.
On Maundy Thursday (April 1), we will observe Holy Communion. You can come by and pick up prepackaged bread and cup at the church between 5:30 PM and 6:30 PM on Maundy Thursday OR you may use your own bread and cup as we partake together virtually.
OnGood Friday (April 2), we will experience a Tenebrae service. “Tenebrae” is the Latin word meaning “darkness.” The service of Tenebrae as practiced in most Protestant Churches is an adaptation of medieval Roman Catholic practices for each of the days of Holy Week dating back to the ninth century. In Protestant use, this is a single service typically held at night on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday. The service involves segmented reading of the trial, sentencing, execution, death, and burial of Jesus. After each segment of the story is read, a candle is extinguished. Worshipers leave in darkness and silence to ponder the impact of Christ’s death and await the celebration of the coming Resurrection. This year’s Good Friday service will feature musical selections from Reserved Parking, Unity’s worship band.
We invite you to join us online for a special Easter service on Sunday, April 4, at 11:00 AM.
How to join us online:
Look below for links to join or view Unity’s worship service livestream for Holy Week services (7:00 PM Eastern Monday through Friday) and also each Sunday at 11:00am ET. You’ll find bulletins on our Order of Worship page.
Many of our worship participants will watch the livestream on YouTube via their smart TV (nothing like a big screen) and log on to Facebook to offer greetings and comments during the service. Our service recordings are also available for later viewing on both Facebook and YouTube.
If you received an untrimmed candle in your 2020 Lovefeast-to-go kit, it is simple enough to “trim” the candle, so it’s bright red “ruff” gaily wraps around the beeswax light.
While you’ll find our printed directions helpful, this simple video tutorial, brought to us by our friends at Friedberg Moravian Church in Winston-Salem, N.C. may be all you need!
About the Moravian Lovefeast Candle
From the beginning, the small, lighted candles distributed to Moravians in America were made from beeswax. Beeswax, considered the purest of all animal or vegetable waxes, suggested the purity of Christ. The candle, giving its life as it burned, suggested the sacrifice of the sinless Christ for sinful humanity.
Over time greater emphasis came to be placed upon the candle as representing Christ, the Light of the world and the light shed by the burning candle suggesting our Lord’s command, “Let your light shine,” a concept summed up in the children’s hymn:
Jesus bids us shine/With a clear, pure light/Like a little candle/Burning in the night.
Until the end of the nineteenth century, only the children received candles, and this is still the case in some churches. Giving candles to the whole congregation has become an accepted and beautiful part of the Christmas Eve vigils in many places. The grownups are permitted to share in the childlike joy of the Savior’s birth, to become children again, if only for a brief moment. When everyone lived within walking distance of the church, the children tried to keep the candle burning until they reached home, where it would be used to light the candles on the Christmas tree.
The traditional beeswax candle continues to be a central part of Moravian Christmas celebrations. While there are local variations—the size of the candle, how its base is trimmed, how they are presented during Christmas Eve services—the light of the beeswax candle remains a powerful symbol of the light Jesus brought to the world.
Adapted from an article by Lee Shields Butterfield which originally ran in the December 1962 issue of The Moravian.
When I think about the early church and how people gathered for worship, it seems this pandemic has sent us back to the first ways of doing church: the household. The “Pause Button” has been pushed on us. We are limited in contact with the wider gathering, but that should not limit community with God and with others. We have been forced to slow down; to see what matters most. It’s possible we could come out of this closer to our Creator and closer to creation itself. We could come out of this with new passion, and clarity for our purpose as a congregation in Christ’s Holy Church.
This pandemic has forced us to innovate, to be creators ourselves. Maybe God is showing us the essentials of “church” in this pandemic.
Will we be wiser in our dealings with one another?
Will we have conversations we would never have had before?
Will we sense the Lord’s Spirit on the move shaping our attitudes and guiding our thoughts for the future?
When Judah was overrun by the Babylonian Empire resulting in the total loss of their economy, their youth and young adults carted off to slavery, their temple and most other buildings were destroyed, the people were devastated and did not see hope for a future. The prophet, Jeremiah believed otherwise. If I change “Babylon” to “coronavirus,” might we hear what those ancient people of faith heard from their prophet and leader about their future?
“The Lord says, ‘When coronavirus’ time is over, you will more clearly see my concern for you and I will keep my promise to bring you back home. I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for. Then you will call to me. You will come and pray to me, and I will answer you. You will seek me, and you will find me be-cause you will seek me with all your heart.’” (Jeremiah 29)
The Rev. Barry Foster is pastor of Unity Moravian Church, Lewisville, NC. Join in our livestreamed worship on Sundays via Facebook or YouTube.
The phrase: “Do not be afraid” appears in the Bible 365 times—one for everyday of the year. That means that we can get up every morning of the year and recite this phrase. (Well, except February 29th during a Leap Year.)
And then, there is this great passage in Proverbs that states: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10) To have no fear, is much easier “said” than “done.” In fact, I don’t believe it is humanly possible to have no fear. This is how we are wired. Some psychological studies show that about 10 percent of adults suffer from one or more phobias. The real number is probably higher.
Most of us fear snakes, alligators, and grizzly bears – which makes evolutionary sense. We couldn’t survive as a species without a healthy fear and respect for nature. Their has been a wide acceptance for exposure therapy, which asks patients to come face to face with their deepest fear – over and over again– until it eventually helps to extinguish it.
I have done some research and gathered a few modern day phobias that caught my eye:
Agoraphobia: Literally translated from the Greek, as the fear of the marketplace or crowed places… today it might be called the fear of Walmart.
Rhytiphobia: Fear of getting wrinkles.
Homilophobia: Fear of sermons. (I know some who have this)
Ephebiphobia: Fear of teenagers.
Anuptaphobia: Fear of staying single.
Coulrophobia: Fear of clowns.
Catagelophobia: Fear of being ridiculed.
Nyctophobia: Fear of darkness.
Necrophobia: Fear of death.
There are two kinds of fear : Fear that is good, which keeps us from driving 100 mph, or other foolish things that you can think of. And fear that is harmful, like a phobia that paralyzes us and keeps us from doing things we could or should do.
Conquering fear is not simply a matter of self-determination, it is a matter of dependence on a power that is bigger than us, a power that is more powerful than our fears. And this power must be one that we trust and are willing to accept. We may not understand why God allows disease and evil to exist alongside of love and joy and happiness… but, as followers of Christ, we put our faith in what he said and how he lived.
When you think about it, Christians have a strange image of God: A naked, bleeding man dying on a cross. Now, some might react to this and say that this is not their image of God. But, “Christ and him crucified” is our confession of faith. The symbol which the writer of Revelation uses, portrays Christ as a slain lamb that is alive. Which is basically illogical. But, symbols aren’t supposed to be logical— they are supposed to point to a message and at the same time, offer a hopeful identity to those who embrace the message. So how do we interpret this symbol? What question is God trying to answer by giving us a crucified
man for a God? If Saint Paul is correct in his statement that Christ “became sin” to free us from “our sin.”
What, then, is our sin? (Romans 8: 3) One answer is: Our inability to deal with our fear – our fear of failing, losing, being rejected, suffering and dying. Often, in our efforts to conquer our fear, we convince ourselves that we are not as bad as “those other people”, but actually better. This can lead to seeing others as “less”, even to the point of agreeing to exclude them from society if it means we benefit. (Cain and Abel retold)
With the world gripped in the fear of the coronavirus and the fear of what we are losing because of it, we might be careful not to let our fears take over and look for blame wherever we think we can justify it. In our desire to be saved from our sin (fear), we might be careful not to scapegoat others, finding it easy to leave the most unfortunate ones behind.
Maybe that’s why Jesus says two things to so many that he healed and relieved of suffering: First, “Your sin is forgiven.”
And second, “Your faith has made you whole.”
Saint Paul says to his congregation in Ephesus: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own
doing; it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2: 8)
The way through is always much more difficult than the way around. Cheap religion gives us the way around by touting the sin of others, and elevating our status with the Almighty. True religion give us the way through. Jesus did not take the way around. Jesus went through and did not find blame either with God or with his perpetrators—he loved them.
Christian mystic, Saint Catherine of Genoa in her collection of “Spiritual Dialogues” wrote: “Why Jesus, is there so much pain on the earth? Why do people have to suffer?” And Jesus answers her: “Catherine, if there were any other way I would have thought of it a long time ago.”
Saint John says, “In Christ, love has been perfected among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment; for
in this world we are just like Him. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives our fear, because fear involves punishment.
The one who fears has not been perfected in love. We love because He first loved us.” (1st John 4: 17 – 19a)
May God perfect us in love, so our fear may be removed.
I am currently reading a book by Gil Rendle called Quietly Courageous which is making an impression on my thinking as we go through this anxious time. He speaks of the wilderness time that Jesus goes through to determine what God is calling him to be and to do. When Jesus returns from the wilderness, he proceeds, not like John the Baptist, not like Judas Maccabees, not like other Messiah figures of Israel’s history, but quietly developing disciples and communities that are built on loving relationships.
Jesus’ core message was that God loved them, God forgives them, God accepts them, even in the midst of their infirmities. Jesus showed this by loving, forgiving, healing and accepting—especially the ones that other communities found unacceptable. The communities that were established on the concept that “Doing unto others as you would have them do to you,” is significantly different than the popular concept of “Do what you want as long as you don’t stop others from doing the same.”
In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus is teaching about how this “Godly Community” will act toward one another: If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
He also told them a parable: Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher.
(Luke 6: 32—36, 39—40)
How can we be “Quietly Courageous” as we seek to live in community during this time? Might I suggest one small way… can we begin calling it “Physical Separation” instead of “Social Separation?” We are created to be social. We just have to find new ways to continue loving, giving, healing, forgiving as we do our best to remain physically separated for the needed time.
Jesus’ teachings were meant for his time and his community, but we can learn and benefit from his words of wisdom—especially during this coronavirus lock down. The season of Lent was created from the examples in Jewish history when the people found themselves in the wilderness. The wilderness is a place where we may not go voluntarily. And when we find ourselves there, we do not know how long it will last or in what ways we will be changed because of it. While in the wilderness, two questions are needed answering: 1) How will we now be with God? 2) How will we now be with one another?
The first example was Noah and the story of the flood. When nature forces us from our homes and communities, God will be with us as we rebuild. The covenant God makes with us is realized.
The second was the Exodus, and the responses are found in the Ten Commandments and in the organization of the 12 tribes.
The third was the Babylonian conquest, destruction of the Temple, and exile of the community. The responses are found in the Levitical Code, the rebuilding of the temple, and synagogue communities which held the people together in remote areas.
In the New Testament, the fourth example is Jesus’ wilderness experience. And the community’s response to Jesus was to form communities we have called the church, which opened the message of Jesus and God’s grace to those outside of Judaism. A very courageous endeavor indeed!
Maybe this pandemic is our generation’s “wilderness” and we are asked to answer the questions: How will we now be with God? How will we now be with one another?
Maybe this is our time to be quietly courageous.
I end with a prayer from William Sloane Coffin of Riverside Church, which was written during the sixties when our country was torn. It was introduced to me by one of my pastoral mentors and I believe it is needed today:
O God, whose mercy is ever faithful and ever sure, who is our refuge and our strength in time of trouble, visit us we plead, for we are a people in trouble. We need a hope that is made wise by experience and is undaunted by disappointment. We need an openness about the future that shows us new ways to look at new things, but does not unnerve us. As a people, we need to remember that our influence is greatest when our power seemed to be weak. Most of all, we need to turn to you, O God, and our crucified Lord, for only his humility and his strength can heal and free us. O God, be our sole strength in this time of trouble. In the midst of anxiety, grant us the grace to count our blessings: especially health, food, sleep, one another, a spring that is bursting out all over, a nation which despite all, has so much to offer so many. Help us, O God, to see our failures as lessons to learn and to grow, our losses of finances as a way to find renewable resources, our mental anguish as a sign to stop and observe Sabbath rest, and our close encounter with death as a means to appreciate and celebrate life. Send us forth into a new week with a curious mind, and a free and joyful spirit looking for all the ways the Holy Spirit is showing your glory among us. Amen.
-The Rev. Barry Foster is pastor of Unity Moravian Church, Lewisville, NC.
August 1 Update – The Delta variant of COVID 19 is spreading rapidly through the U.S. – and Forsyth county is regarded as a high transmission area. The Delta variant is far more contagious and dangerous than the original version we dealt with last year.
In keeping with the CDC guidance and the guidance from our Provincial Elders Conference, the Unity Moravian Church Board has decided to temporarily impose additional safety measures in our worship setting, to protect one another and those who cannot be immunized, especially children under 12 and those with suppressed immune systems.
We will continue to worship in person and continue with our livestream of worship as well. But for the next few weeks, we will ask everyone to wear a mask or face covering while in the sanctuary, whether you are vaccinated or not. We will continue social distancing. Thank you!
The Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippians, “Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.” – Philippians 2:4
June 28 Update – Revised Guidelines: As of Sunday, July 4, 2021, Unity Moravian will no longer require masks or social distancing for those who have been vaccinated against COVID-19. We do encourage those who have not been vaccinated to continue the practices of social distancing and mask wearing.
The practices we use for our worship gatherings will also apply to any small group gathering. Committees and small groups have the freedom to decide whether they will meet in person, by Zoom, or use a hybrid combination of both. We do now have equipment to enable you to have hybrid meetings. Please reach out to Caleb Carter, office administrator, to schedule meetings at the church, and let him know if you’ll need assistance with technology.
We still ask that you inform the church office should you or someone in your household test positive for COVID-19 after having been at Unity’s physical location for any gathering or event, inside or outside, small or large.
We will use July and August to fully prepare for children and youth programming so that all the issues surrounding leadership, space and the vaccination of children can be fully considered and assessed.
As we move forward as a community of faith, we urge caution, respect, and understanding as we all navigate changes in what have become our normal practices during the pandemic. We encourage everyone to make decisions that are best for them and their families, whether the decision is to return to the sanctuary for worship or to continue to participate by livestream.
We will continue to monitor virus transmission, public health data, and official recommendations, and will make revisions to our guidelines as needed.
Questions? Please contact the church board. Thank you!
As more people are vaccinated, it becomes possible for us to return to more of our favorite activities and to the company of our brothers and sisters in Christ here at Unity. We do need to remain vigilant in our efforts to protect and care for one another. We are confident that we all will make decisions that are best for ourselves and our families, whether we return to church for indoor worship or continue to participate online.
We are trying to achieve a balance that recognizes the changing environment, enables more people to participate in worship and other church activities, and still cares for all, especially the most vulnerable among us. These revisions to our guidelines for gathering will go into effect this Sunday, May 30:
All limits on attendance and capacity are lifted, while we continue to prioritize distancing.
We’ll simply sign in on arrival on Sundays, so we may do any needed contact tracing. We’ll no longer use the online advance RSVP system.
More pews are available for distanced seating.
We’ll wear masks when we are together in the sanctuary for worship regardless of vaccination status.
We’ll participate in liturgy and song during worship as we feel comfortable. (Yes, that means we can sing with our masks on!)
For now, other church activities (small groups, meetings) should also follow these revised guidelines. Our leaders will continue to adapt and revise our guidelines as needed. We still livestream our services each week on Facebook and YouTube, so you can always experience our worship from wherever you are!
May 21 Update: We are excited to host a few members inside our sanctuary this weekend! If you missed the Thursday deadline to RSVP, you can still show up Sunday morning and we’ll do our best to seat you. Please review theSeven Guidelines for Safe Gathering to which we will adhere when we worship in our sanctuary. We are aware there are changes from the CDC and the Governor to consider, but we will stick with our original plan through May 23rd. The Regathering Team will meet on May 24th to discuss and make any necessary recommendations to the board regarding how any these changes and any new guidance from the Provincial Elders Conference might affect our current plan.
Please enjoy this creative music video featuring Reserved Parking, Unity’s worship band, and some very special members, as they share our original guidelines!
April 7, 2021: The Church Board appointed a Regathering Team to determine how we might regather safely in the church building for worship, small group meetings, and other church activities. The team has come up with a plan that is designed to provide the best worship and ministry experiences that we possibly can have, while also doing all that we can to keep everyone safe.
Prior to regathering in person in the sanctuary for worship, we will be offering a few outdoor worship experiences. Please be looking out for details of these services in the coming weeks. Our target for regathering for worship in the sanctuary is Pentecost Sunday on May 23. Please be aware that this date for worship in the sanctuary is dependent on being able to safely gather. If the numbers of cases in our area increases, we will adjust our plans as necessary. We will continue with our online worship experiences via Facebook Live and our YouTube channel.
See our Guidelines for Safe Gathering below.
“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.” Acts 2:1 And we look forward to being all together in one place for worship and other ministry!
Services and Events
Currently, our worship service and special events are being held online, rather than at Unity Moravian Church’s physical location in Lewisville, NC. Our hope is to be able to gather together in our sanctuary for 11:00 AM worship on Pentecost (May 23), but for now, we believe we can continue to learn and grow as a church by worshiping together virtually and with family. You can still invite your friends by sharing this page. Regardless, we intend to offer a vibrant, hybrid (online AND offline) ministry that includes those of us who gather onsite and those who join us online. Mark your calendar for some outdoor experiences too! We’ll hold drive-in worship on Sunday, April 25 and May 9, 2021.
Groups and Meetings
We are now holding group meetings at Unity’s physical address, and we also encourage groups to continue supporting, praying for, and caring for each other remotely. Groups are asked to reserve space in advance through the church office and to follow our Seven Guidelines for Safe Gathering. Small group leaders will want to review the specific guidelines for them (see above). Small groups certainly may choose to use virtual tools (such as Facebook groups, Google Hangouts Meet, Zoom, WhatsApp, and Skype) to continue meeting. All members and friends of Unity are invited to attend our Wednesday evening Virtual Time of Fellowship using Zoom video conferencing technology. There is also a small group Bible study offered online on Tuesday evenings. If you’d like the login information for either event, please email us.
Giving Our financial needs remain constant and you still have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others by supporting the ministries of Unity. Give online through the Moravian Ministries Foundation Giving Portal or mail a check to 8300 Concord Church Road, Lewisville, NC 27023. More information is available on our giving page.
Prayer
Prayer is an integral part of our lives as followers of Jesus. The Unity Prayer Partners lift up to God the needs of the Unity Church family as well as others in the larger Moravian Church and the world. Consider joining our Prayer Team: email us. Submit your prayer request: fill out the Prayer Request Form
