Services at 10:00 A.M. on Sundays
The mission of First Parish is to sustain a safe home for our spiritual growth and to support each other as we put our beliefs and principles into action.
Upcoming Services
April 6, 2014, Justice Sunday
Justice is Planting a Seed
Annual Sap Communion
Susan-Lynn Johns, Worship Leader
Janice Luce, Musician
When was the last time you committed an agricultural act? Think carefully . . . you don’t have to farm or garden to do it—you merely have to eat. In his essay, “The Pleasures of Eating,”Wendell Berry reminds us that “Eating is an agricultural act. Eating ends the annual drama of the food economy that begins with planting and birth.” We are an integral part of the business of the planting, growth, and harvesting of food as animals and plants literally become a part of our own bodies. Unitarian Universalists, through our understanding of food justice and ethical eating, are engaging with an added dimension of food sovereignty in local communities and around the world. Susan-Lynn will talk about the idea of food sovereignty, how it relates to food security and sustainability, and how we as UUs can practice agricultural justice.This Sunday we will once again have our traditional New England Sap Communion as we share the bounty of our maples.
April 13, 2014
Striking a Balance
Susan-Lynn Johns, Worship Leader
Janice Luce, Musician
In her reflection on climate change last month, Susan-Lynn focused on the future and the difficult days we have ahead of us in preserving our planet. But this doesn't mean we need to live in a state of perpetual fear or despair. The present moment can provide us with the strength and joy to carry on without forgetting what we need to do to insure we have a future.Buddhism has taught the concept of mindfulness for centuries. Can we tap into this idea and create a peaceful interior life despite the chaos presented to us by the 21st century?
April 20, 2014, Easter Sunday,
A Resurrection State of Mind
Susan-Lynn Johns, Worship Leader
Mary & Ken Michelli and Janice Luce, Musicians
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow suggested that “All things must change to something new, to something strange.” Although we seldom think of it this way, we are all constantly changing aswe live each new day and deal with the joys and woes that each presents. How are you chang-ing? Are you stuck in the mire of mundane transformation or are you allowing yourself to riseto the transcendent, often giddy heights of strangeness? Susan-Lynn ponders the meaning of resurrection in our everyday lives.
April 27, 2014
Holocaust Remembrance Day
Righteous Among the Nations
Susan-Lynn Johns, Worship Leader
Ken & Mary Michelli and Lisa C. Erwin, Musicians
Let us remember: What hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor but the silence of the bystander . . . Let us not forget, after all, there is always a moment when moral choice is made . . . . And so we must know these good people who helped Jews during the Holocaust. We must learn from them, and in gratitude and hope, we must remember them.
In 1953, Yad Vashem was established in Israel as the world center for documentation, research,education and commemoration of the Holocaust. One of its principal duties is to convey thegratitude of the State of Israel and the Jewish people to non-Jews who risked their lives to saveJews during the Holocaust. In 1963 the center’s Remembrance Authority embarked upon a worldwide project to grant the title of Righteous Among the Nations to the few who helped Jews in the darkest time in their history. As a Fellow of the Cohen Institute for Holocaust and Geno-cide Studies, Susan-Lynn will talk about two amazing Unitarians who are two of only threeUnited States citizens who have been awarded this distinguished honor.
April 6, 2014, Justice Sunday
Justice is Planting a Seed
Annual Sap Communion
Susan-Lynn Johns, Worship Leader
Janice Luce, Musician
When was the last time you committed an agricultural act? Think carefully . . . you don’t have to farm or garden to do it—you merely have to eat. In his essay, “The Pleasures of Eating,”Wendell Berry reminds us that “Eating is an agricultural act. Eating ends the annual drama of the food economy that begins with planting and birth.” We are an integral part of the business of the planting, growth, and harvesting of food as animals and plants literally become a part of our own bodies. Unitarian Universalists, through our understanding of food justice and ethical eating, are engaging with an added dimension of food sovereignty in local communities and around the world. Susan-Lynn will talk about the idea of food sovereignty, how it relates to food security and sustainability, and how we as UUs can practice agricultural justice.This Sunday we will once again have our traditional New England Sap Communion as we share the bounty of our maples.
April 13, 2014
Striking a Balance
Susan-Lynn Johns, Worship Leader
Janice Luce, Musician
In her reflection on climate change last month, Susan-Lynn focused on the future and the difficult days we have ahead of us in preserving our planet. But this doesn't mean we need to live in a state of perpetual fear or despair. The present moment can provide us with the strength and joy to carry on without forgetting what we need to do to insure we have a future.Buddhism has taught the concept of mindfulness for centuries. Can we tap into this idea and create a peaceful interior life despite the chaos presented to us by the 21st century?
April 20, 2014, Easter Sunday,
A Resurrection State of Mind
Susan-Lynn Johns, Worship Leader
Mary & Ken Michelli and Janice Luce, Musicians
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow suggested that “All things must change to something new, to something strange.” Although we seldom think of it this way, we are all constantly changing aswe live each new day and deal with the joys and woes that each presents. How are you chang-ing? Are you stuck in the mire of mundane transformation or are you allowing yourself to riseto the transcendent, often giddy heights of strangeness? Susan-Lynn ponders the meaning of resurrection in our everyday lives.
April 27, 2014
Holocaust Remembrance Day
Righteous Among the Nations
Susan-Lynn Johns, Worship Leader
Ken & Mary Michelli and Lisa C. Erwin, Musicians
Let us remember: What hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor but the silence of the bystander . . . Let us not forget, after all, there is always a moment when moral choice is made . . . . And so we must know these good people who helped Jews during the Holocaust. We must learn from them, and in gratitude and hope, we must remember them.
In 1953, Yad Vashem was established in Israel as the world center for documentation, research,education and commemoration of the Holocaust. One of its principal duties is to convey thegratitude of the State of Israel and the Jewish people to non-Jews who risked their lives to saveJews during the Holocaust. In 1963 the center’s Remembrance Authority embarked upon a worldwide project to grant the title of Righteous Among the Nations to the few who helped Jews in the darkest time in their history. As a Fellow of the Cohen Institute for Holocaust and Geno-cide Studies, Susan-Lynn will talk about two amazing Unitarians who are two of only threeUnited States citizens who have been awarded this distinguished honor.
