First Unitarian Society of Ithaca services are held in person Sundays at 10:30 am. We are located at the corner of Aurora St. and Buffalo St (306 N. Aurora Street). The church does not have a parking lot, but there is free parking on the nearby city streets on Sundays and the Town of Ithaca allows us to use their lot on Sundays (on Buffalo Street, directly across from the church). Masking is optional

Join us after service at Coffee Hour in the church parlor for a time of connection.

Sunday Services will also be Live Streamed from the sanctuary on our YouTube Channel. If you are unable to attend in person, we would love for you to join us virtually! Just click on the link above each Sunday at 10:30 am (or you can watch it later at your convenience).

Our services feature inspiring words, music, and stories exploring themes in a multigenerational context. We are excited to welcome you! Information about upcoming services is listed below. View Past Services.

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June Services

Sunday June 4 – Choosing Joy

Emily Richards, Director of Congregational Life and Religious Exploration

The opportunities for joy exist in abundance if we choose to take them. How do we find happiness and delight in the midst of hardship and turmoil? And when we do find those opportunities, how do we open ourselves up to the endless possibilities that love and beauty bring to our own lives and each other? How do we choose joy? Celebrations Associate: Jens Wennberg
Special music by FUSIT Choir

Sunday, June 11, 10:30 am– Annual End of the Year Picnic and Flower Communion
Stewart Park (large pavilion)

Join us at the Stewart Park large pavilion for the final service of the church year and the Flower Communion. After service, we will enjoy a potluck lunch together. Please bring your own plates and utensils. 

Flower Communion is an annual ritual that celebrates beauty, human uniqueness, diversity, and community. In this ceremony, everyone in the congregation is encouraged to bring a flower, which is placed in a shared vase. The flowers are blessed and redistributed. This ceremony represents how the presence of each one of us changes our community and is also changed by our community. The ceremony also symbolically represents the different gifts that we each bring to the community.

Special music by FUUsion, our house band

Summer Services

Every Sunday at 9:30 AM, June 18 – September 3

All are welcome to enjoy a stimulating series of sermons and discussions given by members and friends of the church as part of an abbreviated UU service. Offered in the morning coolness of the parlor, many find it the perfect way to keep in touch with the wide-ranging views of their fellow congregants. Coffee and tea provided following the service. We hope to see you there!

June 18 – Nancy Miller, “Reproductive Injustice: Where are our Moral Obligations.”
June 25 – Alice McDowell, “It’s Not Your Fault: Original Sin through a Buddhist Lens.”
July 2 – Marty Hiller, “Being Exceptional.”
July 9 – Preston Wilson, “The Power of Popular Music.”
July 16 – David Schwartz,”Requiem for New College.”
July 23 – Wren Tuatha, “The Arts in Public Discourse.”
July 30 – Sue Roenke, “Growth Through Mothering.”
Aug 6 – Amie Hamlin, The Benefits of a Plant-based Diet.”
Aug 13 – Don Barber, “Capitalism Is Our UU Challenge.”
Aug 20 – David Salomon, “Going Back: Art, Family, Memory, and Myth Along the
Hudson River.”
Aug 27 – Judy Jones and Matt Franke-Singer, “Medical Debt.”
Sept 3 – John Gaines, “With the Best of Intentions.”