Sermon Archive
To Lead with Love
To Lead with Love © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church January 7, 2024 We speak often about love. Love is, perhaps, the greatest force we know, perhaps the greatest mystery, ‘the only magic’ it was called in our reading earlier. So we think about it,...
The Risk of Birth
The Risk of Birth Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church Christmas Eve, 2023 In 1973, the poet Madeleine L’Engle wrote these words: “This is no time for a child to be born, With the earth betrayed by war & hate And a comet slashing the sky to warn That...
Saying “Yes” to Mystery
Saying “Yes” to Mystery © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church December 3, 2023 The other day the Washington Post reported that a lobsterman in Maine had pulled up a two-colored lobster. The lobsterman, named Jacob Knowles, was fascinated by his discovery and...
Completing the Gift
Completing the Gift © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church November 19, 2023 The poet Mary Oliver gave us this poem, called The Gift: Be still, my soul, and steadfast.Earth and heaven both are still watchingthough time is draining from the clockand your...
The Generosity of Attention
The Generosity of Attention © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church November 12, 2023 One of my fondest memories of relief trips to the Gulf Coast was the day in Pearlington, Mississippi, when we had two lunches. Both of which involved fried catfish. We...
Relinquishing Privilege
Relinquishing Privilege © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church November 5, 2023 I wasn’t sure that Darren Walker still had a job. After I finished reading his opinion piece in the New York Times, portions of which Pat just read, I looked him up on line to see...
The Thinning of the Veil
The Thinning of the Veil © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church October 29, 2023 In the fifth Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry and his friends find themselves dueling with wizards from the dark side, called the Death Eaters....
Midnight Rumblings on Mahogany
Midnight Rumblings on Mahogany © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church October 15, 2023 Unitarian and Universalist historians have always been a little bit squeamish about discussing the phenomenon of Spiritualism that swept the country in the 19th century....
A Little Beyond: Transcendentalism
A Little Beyond: Transcendentalism © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church October 1, 2023 The movement called Transcendentalism, began to emerge in the 1830’s, during a time of intellectual ferment, in a new nation full of new ideas, founded in revolution. It...
At-one-ment
At-one-ment © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church September 24, 2023 You have to really admire the Ziz; the giant mythical bird in the story I told a few minutes ago. He had a good heart and a good soul; he meant well and didn’t want to hurt anyone. And yet,...
Offering Belonging
Offering Belonging © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church September 17, 2023 A bit of a kerfuffle erupted at the Unitarian Universalist Association this past week. In its effort to welcome everyone into a new church year, the Communications staff at the UUA...
Where Waters Meet and Merge
Where Waters Meet and Merge © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church September 10, 2023 This past June, visiting Pittsburgh for the first time, I found myself drawn to the spot where the Allegheny and the Monongahela Rivers meet to form the...
Upcoming Services
Worship this Sunday is led by guest Reverend Wendy Page, with music by Steve Lacey.
Our service is in-person, or at the livestream link below. Everyone is welcome! Join us at 10am.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIeJfO72kLh-gAtZZT-QOng/live
Recent News
Sabbath as Resistance
Sabbath as Resistance Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church March 30, 2025 (adapted from original 1/3/16) “Let there be stillness in my heart for a moment, the balance point between breathing in and breathing out, like the pause of a dancer between movements in...
Trusting Hope
Trusting Hope © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church March 23, 2025 Well. What a year this past week has been. One thing has become clear over the past two months, and that is: we’ve been strapped into a roller coaster for a very long ride. Now, roller coasters...
Sunday March 30
The Forgotten Longfellow Rev. Norman Allen visits us from First Parish in Portland, ME, to share the transcendent wisdom of Rev. Samuel Longfellow - Henry Wadsworth's gay little brother. It was said of him, “he was good enough to be a saint and interesting enough to...