Worship With Us!
Welcome, and thank you for visiting First Unitarian Church online. We celebrate religious diversity and welcome people from all religious or areligious backgrounds. Dress is casual, so please come as you are. Worship begins at 10:30 and typically runs 60-75 minutes. Check out the directions page for parking and handicap access details. The learn tab has information
about our religious education.
We look forward to meeting you!
This Week
Sunday, April 28 at 10:30am, in person or online via Youtube
“Four Cather Tableaux”
Presented by the Bel Canto Duo
Commissioned by the National Cather Center for the 150th celebration of the American author Four Cather Tableaux were inspired by Cather's poetry, essays & fictional work. Bel Canto Duo's soundscape breathe life into Cather's evocative portrayal of life on the prairie in the late 19th century.
The work opens with Nebraska: Pre-Settlement, an excerpt from Cather's essay, "Nebraska: The End of the First Cycle". Dramatic, Copland-esque intervals bring to life Cather's powerful imagery depicting the Great Plains. The first theme morphs into a Lakota Sioux-inspired melody that fades away on the wind - a musical depiction of the Pawnee being forced to give up their lands and departing Nebraska for Indian Territory in Oklahoma.
A slow sunrise, Dawn was inspired by Cather's "A Lost Lady" and incorporates instrumental text painting of dawn on the prairie with sweeping melodies depicting native grasses, wildflowers and birds. It concludes with the cello foreshadowing the bookend of the day - Dusk.
​
Drawing from “Prairie Spring,April Twilights & Other Poems", Dusk weaves its magic through lush, lyrical poetry that Cather employs so skillfully. Mesmeric cello lines incorporate arpeggiated chords reminiscent of a classical guitarist, with sensuous English horn interweaving seamlessly -transporting the listener into an otherworldly state.
Nebraska: Post-Settlement channels the joy of Cather's selection from "One of Ours". It portrays the exhaustion of harvest & agrarian society in the 1880s. The oppressive, stifling heat of late-July transitions from a minimalist, solitary English horn to a joyous, energetic fanfare that fades away as the sun rises again.
​
More information about Bel Canto Duo:
Lifelines collide - brought together by friends, a shooting star & an open mic night, Bel Canto Duo was founded in 2016 by looping artist & cellist, David Downing, and English horn specialist, Darci Griffith Gamerl. Bel Canto’s mission is to create meaningful connection by providing world-class classical-crossover music in an entertaining & engaging format. The group combines their minimalist, cross-genre compositions with classical music favorites and healing music therapy.
​
YouTube page for livestream:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg3uthKVVYfWS55zpRTv8LA​
​
The Order of Service may be downloaded on Sunday morning. Worship begins at 10:30am and typically runs 60-75 minutes.
​
Elementary and middle/high Sunday School classes begin after the Time for All Ages portion of our service. Children of all ages are always welcome to attend the full service with their families in our sanctuary. Childcare is offered during our Sunday services for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.
​
Our Share the Plate Recipient for the month of April is NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness). NAMI is a grassroots organization dedicated to education, support and advocacy with anyone whose life has been touched by mental illness. Click here to donate.
​
Visitors are invited to fill out a Visitor Form to get on our e-list and learn more.
Land Acknowledgment
It is appropriate to acknowledge that the First Unitarian Church of Omaha occupies the traditional treaty lands of the Omaha and Otoe-Missouria Tribal Nations whose sovereignty existed long before the state of Nebraska. We would also like to express our respect to the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, the Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska, and over 170 other tribes represented within the Omaha area.