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Northeast
Iowa
UU Fellowship
PO Box 382
Decorah, IA 52101
Service location:
Bethania
Church
113 N. Mill St.
Decorah, Iowa
Phone:
Sue Otte, Miniserial Outreach
563/382-3137
Ruth Jenkins, Bord Chair
563/382-5580
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Sunday
Services and Programs
Our
Fellowship meets every Sunday at Bethania Church on the grounds
of Vesterheim Museum, in Decorah (see directions below). Sunday
meetings alternate between a more traditional service with music
and a program/discussion dealing with chosen topics in more depth.
We begin our time together at 10:00 a.m. with snacks,
beverages, and socializing.
At 10:30 we begin our service
or program/discussion.
Services
include the chalice lighting, fellowship singing (we use the UUA
hymnal, Singing the Living Tradition), readings, a sharing
of joys and sorrows, and a 20- minute presentation, sermon, personal
reflections, and/or time for discussion.
Programs/discussions
include the chalice lighting, sharing of joys and sorrows, and more
in-depth presentations with time for substantial discussion. These
programs generally do not include music.
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Programs
and guest speakers vary widely in their formats and subject matter, so
visiting our Fellowship once will most likely not give you a complete
picture of how we do things; please come visit us at least once-- and
then come again!
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Upcoming
Services
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May
4 - Join us for a brief service followed by the Annual Meeting of our Fellowship.
(We promise you'll be home in time for your noon meal). A few weeks ago
4 of our members traveled to Omaha to attend the Prairie Star District Conference
of the UUA. They'll make a few remarks about what's going on in our district,
and maybe tell about a few ideas they picked up during their weekend. They
went all the way to Omaha.......let's hear what they have to say.
May 11 - The annual Flower Communion
Service, Mother's Day and the Dedication of Olivia Rose, daughter of Betsy
Peirce and Ketel Paulsen. (The flower communion service is an old tradition
in the church begun in 1923 by Czech pastor Norbert Capek. Wanting to
find a ritual to heal and bind together members who had come from many
different religious traditions, he came up with the idea of sharing what
was around them in the natural world-flowers. Each member brings a flower
to place in a communal vase, and at the end of the service members take
a different flower home.)
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Past
Sunday Service Programs
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| Service
Location |
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The
historic Bethania Lutheran Church, 113 N. Mill St., Decorah, Iowa
(in the Open Air Division of Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum)
Bethania Lutheran Church was built in 1903 near Northwood, North Dakota,
to serve a Norwegian-American farming community. The church architecture
is typical of those that serves rural commuities in the early 20th
century. The furnishings are original, including work by pioneer artisan
Østen Pladsen and immigrant painter August Klagstad. Disbanding
in 1988, the congregation gave Vesterheim the chancel furnishings
by Pladsen and Klagstad. Vesterheim purchased the pews, other original
furnishings, and the building. It was moved to Decorah in 1992. In
1994 the church was opened as a part of Vesterheim’s Open Air
Division. |
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| Driving
Directions to Bethania Church |
| Coming from Highway
9 at the stoplight for 9 and Short St.,
turn onto Short St. (by the Kwik
Star station) and follow it around as it curves left and becomes Mechanic
Street. Follow Mechanic Street to Water Street, turn left onto Water
and go one block, then right on Mill Street. You will see Bethania
Church on the left side just down the block. |
Coming
from College Drive, follow College Drive as it curves and becomes
West Water Street, go one block
beyond the curve until you come ot the first stoplight (Mill St.).
Turn left (north) on Mill St. and you will see Bethania Church on
the left side just down the block.
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