WORSHIP TOGETHER

WHEN AND WHERE

We Worship Sunday mornings at 10:00 In-Person and Online.

Find the link for online worship in our ENews or on facebook.

And, you can also sign up to receive our weekly ENews here.

Our campus is at 15 Overbrook Pl, Asheville, NC 28805

Our phone number is 828-575-9050.

An Asheville NC Church: Who We Are

Land of the Sky United Church of Christ is an emerging, progressive faith community seeking to serve the still-speaking God by living justly, loving abundantly, and walking humbly in the ways of Jesus.

We are young and old, gay and straight and in between.  We are single and partnered, happy and sad, confused and inspired.  We are street smart and college-educated.  Some of us can’t pay our bills and others have more than enough to share.

We are God’s people.  We are the Body of Christ. And you are so welcome here.

Here’s what we’re into – and why:

  • Love: We believe God’s love, grace, and mercy are the most powerful things in the universe. We want to embody it. We teach it, from cradle to grave. We believe God is love and those who know love know God, and so we want our kids to know love, and to define God as love.

  • Radical Jesus: We believe Jesus is incredibly radical, breaking all kinds of boundaries with his Sabbath-healing, women-touching, tax-collector communing, and more. Jesus is not one who tried to conform to social niceties, who excluded or hated others, who promoted war or war on the poor. Jesus lives in solidarity with those on the margins, and when we preach, teach, or share his Way we want to lift up how radical he is, a reality that gets lost in so many churches.

  • Social Justice Rooted in Repair and Restoration: If you try to cut all of the verses out of the Bible that deal with economic/social justice, our Scripture would be hole-y instead of Holy! God is deeply concerned about issues of justice, and so we are as well. Our denomination – the United Church of Christ – has been a pioneer in the contemporary Christian tradition on justice issues from race and class to gender and sexual identity. We partner with individuals, organizations, and other churches in Asheville NC to make a difference. We take risks for justice!

  • Creating Beloved Community in our Midst: The Christian faith has managed to convince so many that the most important thing about living is where you go when you are dying. We focus a lot on how we can live into the Divine kingdom (which Jesus said is within us) in the here and now. How can we live out the eternal life we have in Christ – today?

  • Welcoming Questions and Mystery: We are thinking people who also love that God is beyond our thoughts and imagining. So we yield to the mystery that is an inherent part of our faith, and believe that asking good questions can humble us, shape our journeys, and eventually lead us to new truth. Are you seeking? Your questions and explorations are welcomed here.

  • Expansive Images, Inclusive Language: Because God is always beyond words, we love to creatively play with images, language, and metaphors for God that surprise and delight us. Inclusive language means we balance our gendered metaphors/language of God as male with those of God as female. Expansive images move beyond gender and imagine God as beyond any binary we humans have created. God is always more.

We hope this gives you a snapshot of who Land of the Sky UCC is, what we’re into, and how you might make this your Asheville NC church home. If you want to learn more, we invite you to explore our entire website – and please stay in touch via our email updates, so you don’t miss a thing!

What to expect

Our worship service is at 10:00 am, both in person and online. In-person masking protocols are based on current transmission rates. Find the link for online worship in our weekly e-news or on facebook. (Don’t receive the e-news yet? Sign up here!)

Our congregation is fairly casual, so wear whatever makes you feel most yourself. We offer communion the first Sunday of each month, which is also Share the Feast Sunday, when folks are invited to bring food to donate to MANNA food bank.

We celebrate communion at an “open table,” historically we have received communion by the ancient practice of intinction which means that all are welcome to come forward to tear a piece of bread from the common loaf and dip it in the cup; juice, wine, and gluten free bread are all available. Upon returning from the pandemic we will use adapted measures, providing individual elements that include juice and a gluten-free cracker ensuring we can honor the needs of all.

The flow of our worship includes words of welcome, music, the reading of Scripture, a sermon, sharing our joys and concerns, prayer, and a closing blessing.  Worshiping with us, we hope you will encounter warmth and welcome, authenticity and thoughtfulness, drawing near to God who is made known to us in love.  Our music is a mix of piano and guitar, inclusive hymns and songs from the wider world.  Our worship is often seasoned with the sounds of the many young children who are part of our community.

AFter worship, we offer Adult and Kids Spiritual Formation beginning at 11 am during the Programming Year. We hope to return to regular coffee time and fellowship in the Fellowship Hall following worship in the coming months, but for now offer this on special holidays and Communion Sundays.

As an open and affirming congregation, we welcome LGBTQ+ individuals and families into the full life and leadership of our community.

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What to Expect with Kids:  

While the pandemic is still active we are holding kids’ programming in the Fellowship Hall or in the kids’ classroom wing under the Fellowship Hall during the worship service.

Children of all ages are welcome in worship. Worship bags for readers and non-readers are available for your child’s use during the service; you can find them in the sanctuary lobby. Nursery care is available for kids three and under from the beginning of the service, located in the Kids Wing on the bottom level of the education building. Our nursery is staffed by consistent, professional child care workers who are background checked and paid a living wage.

Toward the beginning of the service, we offer a “Time With Kids,” welcoming our children of all ages to come forward to hear a message especially for them. Following the Time With Kids, our children choose between the Relax Room and the Run use. We use our outdoor playground when we can (in inclement weather they meet in a downstairs classroom). We ask first-time parents to escort their kids into the narthex following Kids’ Time and check-in with one of our child care staff.

Children may remain in worship, and we ask that parents help in fostering worshipful behavior as their children grow.

We offer Spiritual Formation classes for older kids and youth as well after worship at 11am. Click here to learn more about our Kids’ & Youth Ministry.

Questions? Contact our Kids’ & Youth Ministry Coordinator:  kids@landoftheskychurch.org.

we are currently in phase 4 of our covid protocols.

We take care with our COVID protocols. We are in Phase 4 for Hybrid Worship.

  • Masking Optional, but encouraged

  • Masking Section will be on Eastern side of the Sanctuary. for those who prefer to be seated by other masked individuals.

  • You may mask anywhere you would like.

  • If you are not well, stay home, please. Utilize hybrid options.

  • This is monitored and will be linked to the CDC transmission rate and hospitalization numbers. Masking will shift from optional to mandatory if transmissions are not LOW.

  • Please mask while visiting the office, per request of staff.


Thankful for photography by our incredibly talented folks: Spaces: Maggie Shackelford and Headers: April Tarjick