In the poem, “Welcome to Holland” by Emily Pearl Kingsley she likens the discovery that your child has special needs to anticipating a wonderful trip to Italy. But then you find you’ve arrived at a less exciting destination: Holland. Eventually you learn to appreciate the experience of parenting a child who isn’t quite what you expected—a child who isn’t less, but different.

You’re all familiar with spiritual practices—activities of mind or body that we do deliberately and regularly in order to cultivate certain ways of thinking and acting until they become second nature. These practices include meditation, prayer, yoga and journaling. Riding with my son David is one of my spiritual practices.

James Gould taught in the Department of Philosophy at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake, Illinois, from 1988 to 2022. Born in Africa where his parents were missionaries working in religious education and leprosy healthcare; at age 17 he returned to his parents’ home country of Canada and later earned graduate degrees in both Philosophy and Theology. Today, Jim serves on the ethics committees for a hospital system and on the board of a disability services organization in Illinois.

• Speaker: James Gould
• Worship Leader: Leah Mikkelson

Children are invited to begin with their families in the service and then go to WonderLab activities after the story for all ages. After the service, everyone is invited to stay for coffee and conversation.

To Attend in Person

In accordance with CDC guidance, masks and vaccination are optional. We will ask you to sign in with your contact information for possible contact tracing. We ask you let us know if you find you have a COVID infection within a week of attending a service. 

To Attend Online

We conduct our services live on the Zoom platform to allow for a more interactive experience. You will need to have the free Zoom app on your device and have it updated to the latest version. www.zoom.us

Use this link to join us on Zoom.

Meeting ID: 828 9547 4284
Passcode: 989473

Topics: Compassion, Diversity, Love, Spiritual