To Become Our True Selves

It is getting harder to find the spaces where we can courageously explore what it means to be our true selves, and be celebrated on that journey. First Parish is one of those places. 

Join us for our Pride celebration this Sunday as we celebrate the joy of being unapologetically and wholly us! With music from our choir and reflections from congregants and Rev Sophia. Rev. Sophia Doescher is preaching.

How To Preach a Sermon with Flowers

Legend has it that the Buddha once “preached” an entire sermon without speaking. Instead, he held up a lotus blossom and let the flower speak for itself. Similarly, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus invited his followers to consider the meaning of “the lilies of the field.” Once a year we celebrate a communion of flowers. If these flowers could speak, what would their urgent message be to us?  Rev. Rob Hardies preaching.

Coming of Age Service

In Unitarian Universalism, we celebrate the capacity in all of us to form our own beliefs in the lifelong journey of the spirit. Because of this, one of our most closely held traditions is that of our Coming of Age service, an opportunity where we invite teens in our congregations to share their own Credos with the community. Please join us for this special service where celebrate the young people in our congregation, learn from their wisdom, and reaffirm their welcome place in the First Parish Cambridge community.

To Mourn Is To Resist

What does it mean to be free as democracy crumbles? How might our mourning instruct our resistance? Join us this Memorial Day Sunday to remember the liberation at the center of our faith, with powerful music from the First Parish Gospel Choir. Rev. Sophia Doescher preaching. 

We spend much of our lives grasping at the world, reaching for things we believe will fulfill us and make us happy. A few years back, I broke both arms in a bike accident, leaving me unable to grasp. My frustration eventually gave way to a question: What if the greatest fulfillment in life comes not from grasping the world, but from allowing ourselves to be held by it? Rev. Rob Hardies preaching.

Unitarian Universalists believe that any religion worth its salt ought to make a difference in the world. But in these times of upheaval, when so much that we value in our country seems to be unraveling, it can be a struggle just to pay attention, let alone take some kind of action. Maybe our faith has something to say about how to face the challenges of this moment without burning out. Join us this Sunday! Rev. Kathleen McTigue preaches.

We often speak about speaking truth to power, but what about singing truth to power? Protest music has been a richly explored tradition, both in our own Unitarian Universalist faith and in justice-seeking communities across the globe. For centuries, humans have felt this power of singing as good and true, and that torch has now been passed to us. Join us this Sunday for a celebration of music and meaning, of song and of truth. Ministerial Intern Valentin Frank preaches.

"The Great Turning" is a paradigm shift coined by Buddhist activist Joanna Macy. She describes it as shift from an industrial growth society, focused on consumption and destruction, to a life-sustaining civilization. This is made possible by doing the "work of re-connecting", work that we as Unitarian Universalists are called to do. Join us for our Earth Day celebration, as we reimagine and claim our place in this Great Turning.  Rev. Sophia Doescher preaching.

Our Religious Exploration program will have special Earth Day celebrations in the classrooms. Our teachers are preparing special lessons to give gifts back to the earth for all she has done for us, telling stories, singing songs, and offering gratitude.

Sometimes life brings us to tears. But can those same tears also point us back to life’s blessings? What can we learn from our tears? What do they teach us? What do they mean? Rev. Rob Hardies preaching

Join us for a sermon by Rev. Mary Margaret Earl, Executive Director of UU Urban Ministry. She will lead us in reflecting on navigating the overwhelming noise and news without losing sight of our work for justice.

Biography
The Rev. Mary Margaret Earl has served as Executive Director and Senior Minister of the Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry for 11 years. In this ministry, she works for racial justice and to strengthen connections between UUs and the Roxbury neighborhood where the UUUM operates. She has served on the leadership team of Moral Movement Massachusetts, the Roxbury Cultural Network, and the search committee for the Roxbury Community College president. Prior to her arrival at the UU Urban Ministry, she spent 10 years at a faith-based nonprofit in RI serving the homeless community, She is past president of the Board of the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, recipient of the Heroes of Faith Award from the Rhode Island State Council of Churches for her interfaith work, and received a Courage of Conscience award from the Peace Abbey in Sherborn, MA. She is a longtime vegan committed to standing up for nonhumans.

Late in the day on Easter, the disciples were walking along the road when they encountered their rabbi Jesus—whom at first they failed to recognize. The story suggests that Easter is not complete—new life is not possible—until we can see in another’s countenance, the face of a friend, or even the image of God. Rev. Rob Hardies preaching.

Link to video of the sermon

As the poet Naomi Shihab Nye wrote, "The river is famous to the fish, the loud voice is famous to the silence, the cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birds." As we go through life, we cannot help but to be famous to the people and communities we spend time with and leave our imprint on, whether it through our words or our actions. The question then remains, if we cannot help but be famous for something, what fame, no matter how small, do we want to be known for? Ministerial Intern, Valentin Frank preaches.

Link to video of the sermon

Do you or your loved ones find yourselves spending too much time staring into the black screens of your smartphones, doom scrolling through the news and the social apps? Are you looking for more meaningful connections? If so, you are not alone! According to former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, loneliness and social isolation are a public health crisis. Luckily, there is a solution. Come explore the wisdom of the ancients on the life-affirming value of cultivating friendships. We are never too young or too old to make a new friend. Rev. John O’Connor preaches.

Bio for Rev. John O’Connor:

Rev. John has been an active member of Arlington Street Church in Boston since 1990. John graduated from Harvard Divinity School in 2022 and then served as the Intern Minister at First Church in Belmont. He was then ordained at Arlington Street Church where he currently serves as the Community Minister for Good Works. John’s work centers on pastoral care and counseling, social justice organizing, and serving as a guest preacher at many of our local UU congregations. Outside of church, John is an avid reader, and when time permits, he noodles around a bit on the piano.

Link to video of the sermon

Our lives are rarely simple and often overwhelmingly complex. We are quick to fix, to solve, to save - to rush past what is difficult on our way to something sweeter. But what if the full flavor of being alive comes from welcoming every taste?  In the midst of it all, what does it mean to truly savor life? Sophia Doescher preaches.

Link to the sermon

Someone said to me recently: “Rob, I feel like the church is the only place I can believe in love anymore.” How do we keep loving when love itself strains credulity? Perhaps this is precisely what our faith calls us to embrace: a Love Beyond Belief. What might such a love mean for our lives and our world? Rev. Rob Hardies preaching.

Link to the SERMON

Legend has it that the great religious reformer Martin Luther was once asked what he would do if he knew the world would end tomorrow. He answered: “I’d plant a tree today.” What can this brief story teach us about hope, grief and love in the face of the climate crisis and other losses? How do we love what we may one day lose? Rev. Rob Hardies preaching.

Link to the sermon

Hymn writer Harry Emerson Fosdick expresses the longing of our hearts in a time marred by fear: Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, for the facing of the hour, for the living of these days. Increasingly, our daily lives and our moment in history call on us to be courageous. But where does courage come from? And how can we become more brave? Guest Minister, Rev. Lauren Smith preaches.

Link to the SERMON

In Unitarian Universalism, we often speak about the love at the center of our values and principles, the love that guides us. But what is this thing we call love? And what if we don't all agree? Join us this morning to hear members of First Parish's Young Adult Group reflect on the meaning of Love in this heartbreaking world. Assistant Minsiter Sophia preaches. 

Link to the SERMON

Since the pandemic, facial coverings have become a regular—and now sinister—feature of American life. Once a staple of PPE, masks are now a significant element of urban streetwear, protest culture, and, chillingly, federal “law enforcement.” My concern about masks is as much about what they hide as what they reveal. What they reveal about who we’ve become, and how we’ve allowed ourselves to be governed. What’s the meaning of a mask? Rev. Rob Hardies preaching.

Link to the SERMON

Our spiritual ancestor Thoreau wrote: “Heaven is under our feet.” With these words he encourages us in our religious search to “get our head out of the clouds,” as it were, and discover the sacred all around us. What does it look like to build a spirituality not from thin air, but from the solid matter of our beautiful world. Rev. Rob Hardies preaching.

Worship on ZOOM Only at 10:30 am  

The City of Cambridge has issued a Snow Emergency Parking Ban beginning at 10:00 am tomorrow, therefore, in-person worship at First Parish is cancelled.  Instead we will gather at 10:30 am on Zoom (Meeting ID 155 025 783).  Guest preacher, Phoebe Eckart-Lee will deliver a morning message and Assistant Minister, Sophia Doescher will assist with the rest of the service.  

We will hew out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope. – Martin Luther King, Jr. 

In his I Have a Dream speech, Dr. King speaks of a faith that allows us to fashion hope from despair. What is this hope born of despair? And what are the practices by which we chip away at our mountain of despair until all that remains in our hands is small, sturdy stone called hope? Rev. Rob Hardies preaching.

Once upon a time, there were people who believed wealth and power could be hoarded and kept forever. And once upon a time, there were those who knew how to take it back: the tricksters, the mischief-makers. How might we be the mischief-makers of our time? Sophia Doescher preaches.

Video Recording

The psychiatrist Rachel Naomi Remen writes, “What we do to survive is often different from what we need to do in order to live.” And the religious life is an invitation to live life fully and abundantly—to not merely survive but to thrive. After a year of collective hunkering down and survival, how can we reclaim our lives and thrive in the New Year? Rev. Rob Hardies preaches.

Video Recording

Please join us at 4 pm on Christmas Eve for our annual Candlelight Service of Lessons and Carols. The First Parish Choir is preparing some beautiful music for this service, and I will offer a Christmas homily. Invite your friends and family to join us for this special celebration! Our earlier start time allows you to return home in time for Christmas Eve meals and celebrations.\

Video Recording

On the winter solstice, on the shortest and darkest day of the year, it is easy to dwell on all the things that make us fearful and and uncomfortable in the dark; so instead, let us respond with joy. Come join us for an intergenerational service to ring in the new solar year with smiles on our faces and music in our hearts. Valentin Frank preaches

Video Recording

Christmas Play December 14

Follow Mary, Joseph, and the donkey on their journey to the place where they welcome new life and light! We warmly invite you to join us for our annual Christmas Play at First Parish, produced by the RE Team and enacted by our children and teens. This year we will offer three magical advent stories, along with musical accompaniment directed by Kenneth Griffith and narration by Rob Hardies. There will be baby lambs, wise shepherds, angels, a stubborn ox, and Christmas Mice! 

Too often peace feels elusive and fragile, outside of our control, beyond our understanding. It is tempting to look for a peace we can truly know so that we can cultivate it in our lives. So what do we do when the only peace we find is one we cannot know?

Video Recording

At the holidays, some of us will dust off recipes handed down from our families: instructions for making holiday meals, cookies and other treats. Our families also pass down recipes of faith, instructions and models for what it means to be a person of faith. How do we relate to and reckon with the religion we inherited from our families in ways that allow us to develop a life-giving spirituality of our own? Rev. Rob Hardies preaches

"Come with whatever seed of faith you can muster, and listen…” -Enfleshed Liturgies

Join us for a celebration of faith and doubt through story and song. Matt Meyer will reflect on a high stakes wager, a secret doubt, and what it takes to stand up to bullies in heaven and earth. 

Matt is an itinerant troubadour and worship leader who has led hundreds of services for UU congregations across the country. He has a degree in hand drumming and serves as Director of Community Life for Sanctuary Boston.