Sermon Archive
Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia: The Feminine Face of God Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church March 1, 2020 In the sixth century of the Common Era, a church was built in Constantinople by the order of the Roman Emperor Justinian and the Empress Theodosia. The church was the...
To Rise, To Reach a Little Deeper
To Rise, To Reach a Little Deeper Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church February 16, 2020 “It is that time and place to remember those who came through the long night to witness another sunrise.” (Qiyamah Rahman, in Voices from the Margins, p. 14-16.) This is...
32407 + 34902
Sermon: 32407 + 34902 by Rev. Julie Lombard Flashing back to a solidarity march for immigration that happened in August for families being separated at our borders and caged children, at a time when some parents were dropping off a kid at college where they will live...
More Cautious Than Courageous
More Cautious Than Courageous Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church January 19, 2020 “I felt we would be supported by the white church,” lamented Martin Luther King Jr. in his 1963 Letter from a Birmingham Jail. He thought white clergy would rise up in support...
The Land That Never Has Been Yet
The Land That Never Has Been Yet Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church January 12, 2020 “Let America be America again, the land that never has been yet.” (Langston Hughes, Let America be America Again) Truly, it feels as though this is an extraordinarily...
Forgotten Wholeness
Forgotten Wholeness Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church January 5, 2020 “Wholeness is never lost, it is only forgotten.” (Rachel Naomi Remen, in Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories that Heal, New York, Riverhead Books, 1996: p. 108.) Maybe it’s impossible to...
Joy, Anyway
Joy, Anyway Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church December 24, 2019 “Joy to the World!” The song, and its generous, lavish, wish for joy for all people, is 300 years old this year. It has come to us across times of famine and plenty, of war and peace,...
My Heart Shall Sing
My Heart Shall Sing Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church December 15, 2019 This past Wednesday one of the very first things I saw after I woke up was that Time Magazine’s 2019 Person of the Year had been announced. The award was given to Greta Thunberg,...
First There is Awe
First There is Awe© Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church December 8, 2019 Early in my seminary days, I had a conversation with a fellow student about how we experienced the divine, the numinous, the ineffable, or whatever name you might want to give that...
Opening to Love
Opening to Love Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church November 17, 2019 There was a great turnout on Wednesday evening at Jalapenos Restaurant down the street. It was World Kindness Day, and our local Kindness Project, conceived and spearheaded by our...
Choosing Attention in an Era of Distraction
November 10, 2019 Sermon: Choosing Attention in an Era of Distraction Rev. Sue Koehler-Arsenault, Guest Preacher Martha’s of today, you who are worried and distracted by many things, and all of us, consider Mary, who sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to what he...
To Finally Stand Still
To Finally Stand Still Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church November 3, 2019 I’ve been living in my ‘new’ house for just over two years now. It has been a long time since I have moved to a new home, and I’ve been very aware that it takes a long time for...
Upcoming Services
A New Song for America, led by Reverend Janet Parsons with music by Steve Lacey. Our theme for September is Beginnings. What might a new beginning look like for the United States?
Worship is in-person or at the livestream link below. Please join us at 10am. Everyone is welcome!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIeJfO72kLh-gAtZZT-QOng/live
WEATHER CONCERNS
We are watching the predicted storm closely but it's too soon to decide whether Sunday's service will need to be cancelled or moved onto Zoom. We will send out a Constant Contact update either Saturday evening or first thing Sunday morning: watch your inboxes! If the service moves onto Zoom, the link will be included in that email.
Above all, please decide always to do what is safest for yourself!
Recent News
Making the World Come Alive
Making the World Come Alive © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church March 15, 2026 Most years I dread the month of March. It’s not really winter, and not quite spring. The clean brightness of the snow recedes and leaves mud and dead leaves and gray...
Sunday March 15
Making the World Come Alive, led by Reverend Janet Parsons, with guest musician Andrew Glennon. This is a time of waiting: for spring, for peace, for coming to life again. How can we make room for holiness to emerge? Worship is in-person, or at the livestream link...
The Beginning of Devotion
The Beginning of Devotion © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church March 8, 2026 In one of his most famous passages explaining his decision to live alone in the Concord woods for two years, Henry David Thoreau wrote, “I went to the woods because I...