Sermon Archive
Reparations Service
Reparations Service. 2/18/24 Remarks Dick Prouty As you look around this sanctuary today and take in the wonderfully designed woodwork and stained-glass windows, how many of you are aware that this building was built in large part by the fortunes of families on Cape...
Confronting the Past, Creating the Future
Confronting the Past, Creating the Future © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church February 18, 2024 In April of 1862, at the height of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln signed a law giving freedom to enslaved people in the District of Columbia. This...
Toward a Truly Liberating Theology for UU’s
Toward a Truly Liberating Theology for UU’s © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church February 11, 2024 It was Dr. Paul Farmer, the late founder of Partners in Health, who introduced me to the concept of Liberation Theology. I was devouring Tracy Kidder’s...
The Stories Behind the Music
The Stories Behind the Music © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church February 4, 2024 Today is the time and the place to call upon the memories of the ancestors. Today we are hearing of heroes, and of giants. In the words of our author Qiyamah Rahman, “It is...
Love The Hell Out of This World
Love the Hell Out of This World © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church January 21, 2024 I read a story recently by the Reverend Susan Frederick-Gray, who just last June finished her term as the president of the Unitarian Universalist Association. She was...
Power Without Love…Love Without Power
Power Without Love…Love Without Power © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church January 14, 2024 It wasn’t until the election of 2016 that I fully came to understand the depth of the derision and dislike that conservative sectors of our country, actually,...
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...
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
Sunday March 1
Cultivating Joy as an act of Resistance, led by guest Reverend Wendy Page. Music by Steve Lacey. Worship is in-person, or at the livestream link below. Please join us at 10am! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIeJfO72kLh-gAtZZT-QOng/live
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...
Sunday Feb 22
To Live Like a River Flows, led by Reverend Janet Parsons. Since the time of the ancient Greeks we've been told that the only constant in life is change. As we continue our exploration of Resilience, this Sunday we will ask how do we face change? Music provided by...