Sermon Archive
We Fight for Roses, Too!
We Fight for Roses, Too! © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church January 11, 2026 The story began 114 years ago, on January 1, 1912. That day, a new law took effect in Massachusetts that reduced the number of hours in the work week for women, from 56 hours per...
Prepare Him Room
Prepare Him Room © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church Christmas Eve 2025 One of the most beloved of Christmas church traditions is the staging of Christmas pageants, when a community dresses up in costumes and retells the ancient story, complete with...
A Light for Dark Days
A Light for Dark Days © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church December 21, 2025 The Gospel of John tells us: “..the light was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:4b-5.) The year was 1993, over...
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...
Grief..And Gratitude
Grief…And Gratitude Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church November 2, 2025 Often when I am leading a memorial service, I tell the people gathered that “it is hard and important work” that we are doing together as we prepare to say goodbye to someone we love. In...
Fiercely Compassionate
Fiercely Compassionate © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church October 26, 2025 Times are hard in the city of Chicago these days. Since September 9, when the Department of Homeland Security launched what it named Operation Midway Blitz, over 1000 people have...
Proclaiming Democracy
Proclaimdem/rel101925 Rev. Art McDonald Oct 19, 2025 I’m one of those dinosaurs who still gets the daily newspaper, the Boston Globe, delivered 7 days a week. As a Latin American historian once wrote, I eat the newspaper for breakfast. A few months back, an article in...
Giving, Receiving, as Love Shows Us How
Giving, Receiving, as Love Shows Us How © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church October 12, 2025 It was almost exactly 10 years ago now, in November of 2015, to be exact, that presidential candidate Donald Trump openly mocked a reporter with a physical...
To Do More That Feel
To Do More Than Feel © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church October 5, 2025 One thing that has taken me completely by surprise in recent months has been a growing awareness that many voices on the political right are adamantly opposed to the moral value of...
Longing to Belong
Longing to Belong Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church September 21, 2025 Many years ago, as newlyweds, my husband and I relocated to West Germany for almost a year. Walter’s company transferred him, originally for six months, and off we went on an adventure;...
Outside of Nothing
Outside of Nothing © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church September 14, 2025 This past Monday, I was invited to a friend’s home with a group of colleagues to participate in a retreat. It was a beautiful day, spent largely outdoors, with an ideal blend of social...
Upcoming Services
Let the Mystery Be, led by Reverend Janet Parsons, with Andrew Soll, organist. This month we are exploring Curiosity and how important it is in our human lives. But when do we decide to not discover all the answers? Join us at 10:00 a.m.
Worship is in-person, or at the livestream link below.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIeJfO72kLh-gAtZZT-QOng/live
Recent News
This Curious Religion
This Curious Religion © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church May 17, 2026 People tend to think that it’s easy to be a Unitarian Universalist. After all, they like to tell us, we can believe anything that we want! What could be simpler? And the...
Sunday May 17
This Curious Religion, led by Reverend Janet Parsons, with Andrew Glennon, guest musician. We'll be talking about what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist, as we welcome our new members, and gather over lunch to talk about what our church means to us. It's a busy...
Siding With Love Podcast – Episode 5
Brand-New Podcast Episode #5 Has Arrived! "Siding With Love" is Gloucester Unitarian Universalist’s monthly podcast, co-hosted by the Rev. Janet Parsons and Carol Bousquet. We explore a range of ideas based on the theme of the month while centering on the principles...