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Sermon Archive

New Beginnings

New Beginnings Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church July 11, 2021   I chose this reading this morning (from John O’Donohue’s To Bless the Space Between Us) because I think a great deal about how this time is a new beginning for us.  It’s not a time we asked...

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A Tale of Three Americas

A Tale of Three Americas © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church July 4, 2021   I was taken by surprise the other day while I was driving down Route 128.  I was listening to an NPR interview with Keith Lockhart, the conductor of the Boston Pops, about plans for...

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Sermon June 20, 2021

Karl Frank, Sally Waite, Peggy Kimball June 20, 2021   Sally, Peggy, and I have all mentioned along the way a few of our daily spiritual practices, as how the poetry and prayers we brought to you, came to us.  If only it had come to us at the edge of the darkness...

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Liberation Is For Everyone

Charles Nazarian, June 13, 2021 In a unique celebration of Pride Month, we are enriched this morning by personal messages and songs by LGBTQ musicians Brian King, Deb Hardy with her wife Kerry Mullen, Kaedon Gray, Kerr Griffen, and soon by Johnny Blazes. The freedom...

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How Do You Tell Your Story

How Do You Tell Your Story? Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church May 23, 2021     Chimamanda Adichie came to the United States from her homeland of Nigeria in order to attend college, first at Drexel University and then at Eastern Connecticut State University....

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To Build a Church

To Build a Church Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church May 9, 2021   Sixty-one years ago this week, in May of 1960, representatives of the Unitarians and the Universalists met and voted overwhelmingly to consolidate their two denominations into one new...

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In the Beginning

In the Beginning   © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church May 2, 2021     There are so many stories.  The life of the world is held in our stories.  Our own lives are made up of stories, one after the other, flowing into each other, weaving our lives into the...

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Sermon for Earth Day Sunday

4.25.21 Sermon for Earth Day Sunday. Dick Prouty   Becoming?  What are we becoming because of the effects of climate change on our planet?  What can we become?        I’ve been working on climate issues locally since I retired from PA in 2015.    In 2015 we...

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Motion is the Reality

Motion is the Reality Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church April 18, 2021     I hope that you are able to think of yourself as a shimmering jewel, one of billions that together make up the universe.  Can you picture it?  What color would you be?   We Unitarian...

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Hope Rises

Hope Rises © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church April 4, 2021     I find that in recent weeks I have been thinking back frequently to last Easter.  I remember the almost heartbreaking hope we had, on that last Sunday together in March of...

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Tales of Liberation

Tales of Liberation Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church March 28, 2021     Passover   The story of Passover is an ancient one.  A famine in Israel forced the patriarch Jacob to lead his large extended family to Egypt, to reunite with his...

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A Year in the Life

A Year in the Life© Two Reflections Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church March 14, 2021   1)         A Year in the Life   Like many of my colleagues, and perhaps many of you, I have had a song stuck in my head this week: Seasons of Love, from the musical Rent. ...

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Upcoming Services

Building a House Called Tomorrow, led by Reverend Janet Parsons with music by Steve Lacey.  As we do each year, we'll reflect on why we create a church community, and how we support it. In a world that shifts daily, a church is meant to hold the center for us. How well can we hold it?

 

Worship is in-person, or at the livestream link below.

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIeJfO72kLh-gAtZZT-QOng/live

Recent News

New Life Begins in the Dark

New Life Begins in the Dark © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church December 14, 2025 There are many wonderful aspects of living on Cape Ann: the beauty and wonder of the ocean, the variety of places to explore on foot, with plenty of woods and fascinating rock...

Practicing Hope as a Verb

Practicing Hope as a Verb © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church December 7, 2025 “Imagine the world as a theater,” wrote author Rebecca Solnit. “Imagine the world as a theater. The acts of the powerful and the official occupy center stage. The traditional...

Sunday Dec 14

New Life Begins in the Dark, led by Reverend Janet Parsons, with Andrew Soll, guest organist. As we approach the shortest days of the year, we explore some new ways of thinking about darkness. How can we welcome it? Please join us at 10am, in-person or at the link...