Church Service

What evolutionary purpose is served by living so long after our reproductive years are done? This service explores the spiritual and social fertility of every life stage in a beloved community, an inclusive fertility especially enhanced in our later years. Not likely to be a grandparent himself, JD Stillwater takes the opportunity to scrutinize the […]

For millennia mystics and prophets have told us that “All is one” and yet we feel ourselves surrounded by separation, antagonism, and isolation! With help from some intrepid dung beetles, science ambassador JD Stillwater takes us on a tour of findings from mainstream science that reveal an underlying wholism in everything from human bodies to […]

A service in honor of Indigenous Peoples Day weekend. One of our culture’s foundational myths is about ownership, security, and permanence. In the natural world and indigenous cultures, these are aberrations! JD offers a bit of science, some personal experiences, and a Talking Heads song as puzzle pieces toward a new, more vulnerable humility grounded […]

What are we, crazy?! Some aspects of our inherited cultural system are clearly harmful to our planet, our descendants, and our own humanity. How did this happen? The study of trauma and the science of epigenetics offer clues. In the context of our damaged and dysfunctional culture, acting with honor for our ancestors, respect for […]

What are we, crazy?! Some aspects of our inherited cultural system are clearly harmful to our planet, our descendants, and our own humanity. How did this happen? The study of trauma and the science of epigenetics offer clues. In the context of our damaged and dysfunctional culture, acting with honor for our ancestors, respect for […]

What are we, crazy?! Some aspects of our inherited cultural system are clearly harmful to our planet, our descendants, and our own humanity. How did this happen? The study of trauma and the science of epigenetics offer clues. In the context of our damaged and dysfunctional culture, acting with honor for our ancestors, respect for […]

What are we, crazy?! Some aspects of our inherited cultural system are clearly harmful to our planet, our descendants, and our own humanity. How did this happen? The study of trauma and the science of epigenetics offer clues. In the context of our damaged and dysfunctional culture, acting with honor for our ancestors, respect for […]

Underlying the human world of strife and separation is an oft-neglected landscape of commonality between faiths: the natural world. At precisely the time when our religious and political divisions threaten the existence of life on Earth, science offers a sweeping interfaith vista filled with revelations and insights as spiritually meaningful as ancient scriptures. Read as […]

Earthquakes - the ground literally moving under our feet, or out from under us, shaking our world and crumbling edifices we thought strong and permanent. Earthquakes are an apt metaphor for … lots of things lately. In the right context, even a major earthquake can be harmless fun. Really! Science Ambassador JD Stillwater shares some seismic science […]

Spring is a time of rebirth and renewal. Easter, whose name comes from the pagan celebration of Ostara, celebrates Spring within the Christian theology of resurrection and the defeat of death. Science offers a springtime way of thinking about death and resurrection, one infused with hope, renewal, legacy, even rebirth. In-person and streamed here.

Description: Social polarization is a natural, predictable phenomenon. So is manure. JD Stillwater recounts a profound event of peace-making and innovation that happened one afternoon long ago in a warehouse full of manure. The technology required for understanding and group intelligence is simple and ancient. Manure is optional.  Stream.

Ancestors - everyone has them, and (spoiler alert!) most of them are dead. Euro-American culture isn’t very good at death; we are so scared of death we’ve perverted the one day each year our ancestors set aside for remembering them to instead focus on giving children candy and expressing our fear with giant inflatable spiders. […]

Some aspects of our inherited cultural system are clearly harmful to our planet, our descendants, and our own humanity. How did this happen? The study of trauma and the science of epigenetics offer clues. In the context of our damaged and dysfunctional culture, acting with honor for our ancestors, respect for ourselves, and love for […]

We earthlings are caught up in an intimate and ancient dance with the sun, a dance that shaped our cultures, our religions, and our selves. Science Ambassador JD Stillwater explores this deep intimacy between astronomy and spirituality, and our annual path through the wheel of the year.  Stream.

We earthlings are caught up in an intimate and ancient dance with the sun, a dance that shaped our cultures, our religions, and our selves. Science Ambassador JD Stillwater explores this deep intimacy between astronomy and spirituality, and our annual path through the wheel of the year. 

New research into the experience of awe reveals that awe makes us feel small but deeply connected, and how this in turn makes us better people. With help from some well-timed lightning strikes (and no help from Siri or Alexa), we’ll explore what’s known about awe’s effects on us, and how it can benefit humanity. […]

In this sequel to Part 1, waterfalls cascade us deeper into the science of awe, including: the wonderful word “eudaemonia”; the gifts of people who are pre-disposed to experience awe; and the relations between awe, wonder, spirituality, and ambiguity.  Stream.

In this explosive service, JD explores how awe can be manipulated for better and worse, in recreation, politics, education, and war. We will probe the boundary between awe and horror, and consider things that snap, crackle, pop, and echo through culverts, saxophones, and history.  Stream.