Sermon Archive
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...
Always Connected
Always Connected © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church September 7 2025 I love living near the ocean. It fascinates me: beautiful and yet intimidating, grounding and yet constantly in motion. But each year I try to find my way to fresh water, to rivers and...
Watching for the Mischief-Makers
Watching for the Mischief Makers© Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church August 24, 2025 “Eat, coat. Eat.” Throughout human history, and across cultures, we have always enjoyed the imagination and the vitality of tall tales about the mischief-makers. These are...
Gaza: From Heartbreak Comes Courage and Inspiration
Presentation- Gaza: From Heartbreak Comes Courage and Inspiration Gloucester UU Church, August 10, 2025 Susan Nicholson, Ph.D., J.D. I. INTRODUCTION Those of you who know of my 20 year advocacy for Palestinian human rights will not be surprised I was deeply impacted...
What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?
What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? — Reflections For Our Time Honoring Frederick Douglass and Reimagining Freedom Today Introduction Thank you for gathering with me today. We meet not only to commemorate the birth of a nation, but to reflect on the complexities...
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
Returning from the Brink
Returning from the Brink © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church April 12, 2026 First Reflection: At the Brink It has been, perhaps, the most frightening week of recent memory. To find the equivalent, I found myself going back to September...
Sunday April 12
Returning from the Brink, led by Reverend Janet Parsons. This week began with a threat by the President to destroy a country. We stepped frighteningly close to the edge of disaster. How do we emerge from this crisis and restore our trust and faith in the future? Join...
Dying is the Opposite of Leaving
Dying is the Opposite of Leaving © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church Easter Sunday April 5, 2026 Today is a day of stories. We enter into this day, that we call Easter Sunday, thinking we know the story. But there are many stories, many layers, many...