Sermon Archive
To Speak Out Against Kings
To Speak Out Against Kings © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church March 29, 2026 By 1980, El Salvador was overrun with paramilitary groups: death squads, who roamed the country assassinating people in the name of “traditional values”, and “law and...
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...
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...
To Live Like a River Flows
To Live Like a River Flows © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church February 22, 2026 People often wonder how a minister creates a sermon. Frankly, the minister often wonders this herself. But people tend to be curious about the process: how we find...
Jame Baldwin: On Love and Salvation
James Baldwin: On Love and Salvation Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church February 15, 2026 He could have grown to adulthood consumed with hatred. In fact, he harbored great anger at the way his country treated him and other marginalized people....
To Take Back Our Land Again
To Take Back Our Land Again © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church January 18, 2026 As I was writing this sermon yesterday, I heard that there was a large-scale protest taking place in Minneapolis, the city most recently targeted for authoritarian control of...
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...
Upcoming Services
Gloucester UU joins Rockport and Essex for worship this Sunday at First Univ of Essex, or on Zoom.Sunday August 23rd 10 am Stronger Together with Rev. Tess BaumbergerJoin us for a service about how we can be stronger by working together, using the symbols of spinning threads and weaving tapestries. The service will include a simple ritual, poetry, and meditations on the power of collaboration.To join us via Zoom please visit uuessex.org and click on the Zoom link. If you’re coming in person, there is some street parking or you can use the municipal lot. Coming from Gloucester you would go past the church and take your first left onto Martin Street, then go left again on Shepherd Street. Please know the central spots in the lot are reserved for boat and trailer parking during the summer. If you go up the stairs at the end of the lot, you can cross the parking lot and make your way to the church.
Recent News
Living the Ineffable
Living the Ineffable Service, August 2, 2026, Jim Seavey, Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church Responsive Reading: These Roses, # 556 in Singing the Living Tradition These roses under my window make no...
Sunday Aug 9
Brunch Church, Sunday, 10:00 a.m. Join us for readings, conversation, and delicious food at a special August service. A few times each year we gather informally in the Social Hall to hear from one another. Everyone is welcome, and if it's your first time visiting,...
Sunday Aug 2
Living the Ineffable, led by Jim Seavey with music by Andy Soll. Worship is in-person or at the livestream link below. Please join us at 10am. Everyone is welcome! Livestream link- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIeJfO72kLh-gAtZZT-QOng/live