Order of Service

“Credo Reflections: After 10 Years”

Melanie Cohn-Hopwood, Worship Leader

Our worship leader this week, Melanie Cohn-Hopwood, says: “I was asked to participate in a credo service over a decade ago; it was the first one since Rev. Marta Flanagan had been hired. I spoke about the hope I would find in spring flowers after a long sad winter that followed the death of my mom and a client. I thought I might reflect on that credo, and see if it still resonates and in a sense, ‘update’ it for the present day. Being a ‘motherless mother’ has been a big part of my identity over this past decade since I spoke. My kids were about 6 when she died; they are now 17. As they move towards young adulthood, and I work to launch them, I’ve had other dark and hard winters. I hope to answer the question of ‘How does one hold on/get through when it feels like there will never be another colorful spring again?'”

During the summer our Zoom-only worship is led each week by a member of our congregation. Melanie Cohn-Hopwood is a Jewish UU (or “Jewnitarian”), a social worker, parent to two awesome teenagers, someone who loves to make things with her hands and a person who strives to have fun with the process and not worry about the outcome. She putters with pottery, sewing, writing and other art forms, and her fantasy getaway is a cabin in the trees with a stream nearby.