Sermon Archive
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...
What’s in A Poem?
Order of Service – August 27, 2023 What's in a Poem? Gloucester UU's Write Poetry Worship leaders Pat Johnson, Mern Sibley, Andrew Soll Introduction to the Poetry Service – What’s in a Poem? (Pat Johnson) Poems I: To everything there is a season For a...
Disrupt Church
Disrupt Church © Reverend Janet Parsons Gloucester UU Church August 13, 2023 At our UU General Assembly back in June, there was a lot of conversation about the future of church. We all know and acknowledge that church attendance is down everywhere. The pandemic...
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
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...
Sunday March 29
To Speak Out Against Kings, led by Reverend Janet Parsons. On this Palm Sunday, with a country rife with conflict, we will look at the lessons of prophets, ancient and modern. What do they have to tell us? Music provided by Andrew Glennon and our choir. Worship is...
Deb Hardy and Friends Benefit Concert – May 2
Deb Hardy and Friends Benefit Concert featuring Brian King and Alyce Underhill Saturday May 2nd, 2pm-4:30pm Tickets $15 at the door, all proceeds benefit the church. For details go to debhardymusic.com