Visitor Information
Whoever you are and whoever you love, whatever your faith or the flags of your heritage, whatever your abilities, you are welcome at Northlake!
Our building is located in Kirkland, WA, just a few blocks south of downtown, but during the coronavirus time, our services and all activities are being held online, on Zoom. Sunday services are held at 10:30 am. Here’s what to expect:
Before Sunday Morning
Before the service, download and install Zoom (https://zoom.us/download).” (On a smartphone or tablet, go to the app store and download the free Zoom teleconferencing app.) Here’s a tutorial on how to join a meeting, and you can even do a practice meeting there. This is a basic guide to some of the controls you can use during a meeting.
Pre-Service Gathering
The first time you attend, you will be asked to REGISTER with your name and email address. You can do this right before the service, or a few days before at your convenience.
You are welcome to join us fifteen minutes or so before the service. Just like an in-person service, this is when everyone is arriving in the “room”, saying hi to each other, sharing news of the day, commenting on the beautiful flowers blooming outside and so on. You are welcome to join the conversation, or listen in quietly. We have a greeter who watches for new names and faces, who may send a chat message to say hi. We encourage you to share your camera, so we can see your face, and label your image with your real name. Although we do understand that some people would prefer to observe anonymously, there have been incidents of people visiting online church services with the goal of being offensive. Seeing your name and face reassures us that you’re here to participate positively in our service.
The Service
At 10:30, we mute everyone, and the service begins. Members of our congregation and staff present from their homes. We will welcome everyone to the service, then we may share a reading or a meditation. Here are sample readings from past services. Here is a sample meditation, led by our minister, Rev. Nancy Reid-McKee.
We will offer a “Time for All Ages” which is a children’s story-time, typically led by our Director of Lifespan Religious Education, Margaret Rogers. Here is a puppet show from a recent service.
Margaret may also offer the children suggestions for art projects or other activities they could do while their parents “attend” the service.
We will sing two or three hymns. We can’t sing in unison on Zoom, sadly, due to lag in the audio. So, we have a song leader who sings the hymn. The rest of us are on mute, but sing out loud in our own homes. Although it may seem silly, many of our members share that they still find joy in singing “together.”
We have a time for sharing Joys and Sorrows, where members of the congregation have emailed in good news that they would like to celebrate or news of things that are weighing heavy on their hearts that they would appreciate the support of their community with carrying.
Then, we have a sermon, typically offered by Reverend Nancy, but we do have a guest speaker about once a month.You can find recordings of recent sermons on our podcast, available on all major podcast providers. Here is a video of a sermon from May 2020.
The service ends between 11:15 and 11:30. You are invited to stay after the service for more informal conversation, similar to the time before the service.
Children are invited to attend a separate Children and Families Zoom gathering at 9:30 am. Youth (6th-12th grade) are invited to join our Youth Group zoom at noon. To get connection information, please contact Margaret Rogers, Director of Lifespan Religious Education.
Other Ways to Connect
Northlake is a busy and active community, with lots of virtual events every week, including Daily Chalice gatherings, weekly “Happy Hours”, weekly story times for the kids and more. There are many additional ways to get involved at Northlake. (Note: not all activities are available at this time. All activities that are being held are on Zoom. Nothing in-person.)
At Northlake, our common values are based on the Seven Principles of Unitarian Universalism, and are inspired by sources as diverse as science, poetry, scripture, and personal experience.
If you have any questions about visiting us for the first time, or would like the link for an upcoming online service, please contact the office at 425-822-0171 or by email.