Sept 8

Service of Ingathering--Water Ceremony
As we begin our new program year, our worship will include a ritual of ingathering commonly used in UU churches--the Water Ceremony. Please bring to the service a small container of water which is a reflection of a meaningful story from your summer weeks. The source of the water might be almost anything--let your imagination have wings. We will blend our offerings of water as symbolic of our joining ourselves in community to begin a new program year and then will save the water for use in other ceremonies during the year.
Worship Leaders: Rev. Dr. Barbara Whittaker-Johns, Rev. Carlton Smith, and Tina Schultz.

Sept 15

"Love Never Ends"
Yom Kippur and a remembrance of September 11 will be part of our service theme and special music.
Worship Leaders: Rev. Dr. Barbara Whittaker-Johns (sermon) and Rev. Carlton E. Smith..

Sept 22

"To Tell the Truth"
Worship Leaders: Rev. Carlton E. Smith (sermon) and Rev. Dr. Barbara Whittaker-Johns.
Carlton will respond to your questions about his perspectives on ministry and his interim year as assistant minister here at Arlington 11:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Parlor.

Sept 29

A special recognition and celebration of the musical creativity, talent and inspiration given to us by Kenneth Seitz,
as he concludes his long and fruitful tenure as Music Director of First Parish.
Worship Leaders will include members of the Music Committee, the First Parish Choir, and Rev. Dr. Barbara Whittaker-Johns. Musical Offerings will include a selection by the Children's Choir.

Oct 6

"Youth Sunday: Where are the youth and young adults?"
This service will look at what it is like to be a young adult UU and ask the questions: Why are so many UUs dropping out of the movement after high school and what can we do as a congregation to help? Ananda Robinson will offer testimonies from her own life and those of other young adults.
Worship leaders: Ananda Robinson and Reverend Barbara Whittaker-Johns

Oct 13

"I Think So...": Reflections on Vagueness
Worship Leader: Rev. Carlton Elliott Smith.

Oct 20

"Transforming Narratives"
Why are narratives, stories, such a powerful source of inspiration and compassion as we seek to be of use in our lifetime in the world? What are the narratives particular to First Parish, to you and your hopes?
Worship Leader and Sermon: Rev. Dr. Barbara Whittaker-Johns, with members of the Social Justice Discernment Committee.

Oct 27

"Día de los Muertos: Honoring our Ancestors"
To this intergenerational service, you are invited to bring both pictures of loved ones who have passed away, as well as objects which are significant to you; these ofrendas, or offerings, will be placed on the traditional altar during the service.
Worship Leaders: Ananda Robinson, Ministerial Intern, and Rev. Carlton Smith, with Rev. Dr. Barbara Whittaker-Johns.

Nov 3

"Spiritual Lessons from Nature on the Giving and Taking of Life"
.

Nov 10

"In a Family Way"
Worship Leader and Sermon: Rev. Carlton E. Smith.

Nov 17

"A Net for Catching Days"
In this service, we will explore a renewal of our routines and structures for joining together at First Parish to be of use in the world.

Nov 24

"Make a Joyful Noise"
This service will celebrate sound as a form of Thanksgiving. The children's choirs will be singing.

Sunday, December 1, 2002

"Gaia, Mother Earth, and the Oneness of Everything"
A worship service with musician Jim Scott, sponsored by the Celebration and Services Committee.

Sunday, December 8, 2002

"Angels Among Us"
As traditional symbols of comfort and tidings of joy, especially in the Christmas season, angels are often imagined as beings. Another way of understanding the meaning of angel is as an activity, a message of comfort and joy, which arises from the natural fabric of the universe, from the events of our days, if we but pay attention.

Sunday, December 15, 2002

Choir Sunday: "This is a time"

Sunday,
December 22, 2002

Holiday Pageant -- The Holly and the Ivy
Intergenerational Christmas Eve Candlelight Service on the 24th

Sunday,
December 29, 2002

"Come Mark the Flight of Time"
Worship Leader: Rev. Carlton E. Smith

Sunday,
January 5, 2003

"The Miracle of Breath"
This sermon will examine the miracle of breath: how it is understood by several world religions, and how we can deepen our awareness of our own breathing in a way that can lead us toward wholeness.
Worship leaders: Ananda Robinson and Rev. Carlton E. Smith.

Sunday,
January 12, 2003

"Crossing Borders, Blurring Lines"
The beginning of the new year is a chance to rethink assumptions we have made about ourselves and our world. What if boundaries that seem impossible to pass through are not, and the divisions between us are not as permanent as they seem?
Worship Leader and Sermon: Rev. Carlton E. Smith with Ananda Robinson.

Sunday,
January 19, 2003

"Swimming to the Other Side"
Why do we gather together in religious communities anyway? How do we help each other cross the streams of flowing events in our lives to get to the other side? The currents of life can be strong and swift. The rocks, undertow, and waterfalls that are thrown in our path can be overwhelming at times. Come and reflect on how being faithful spirits living together, we can swim to the other side.
Worship Leader: Butch Redding, Parish Manager.

Sunday,
January 26, 2003

"Are We There Yet?"
: Tales from the Journey Toward Wholeness
Bill Gardiner and Marta Valentin of the UUA Anti-Racism Team join members of First Parish's Anti-Racism Committee in sharing their individual experiences of encountering, negotiating, and sometimes overcoming racism in institutions.
Worship Leader: Rev. Rev. Carlton E. Smith and the Anti-Racism Committee.
Flowers given by the Sharff family in loving memory of Donna's parents, Mickey and Jack Smith.

Sunday,
February 2, 2003

"All Shall Be Well"
The Christian mystic Julian of Norwich sang, in the midst of the Plague in the mid-fourteenth century, these words:
But all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well....God said not "Thou shalt not be tempested, thou shalt not be travailed, thou shalt not be diseased," but said "Thou shalt not be overcome."
Using these words and related music, I hope to offer a few reflections from my January sabbatical month on matters of faith and the state of the world.
First Parish Strings will play at this service.
Worship Leader and Sermon, Rev. Dr. Barbara Whittaker-Johns.
Intergenerational Sharing led by Butch Redding.
Flowers given by Pauline and Jerry Hallee in loving memory of their parents and daughter.

Sunday,
February 9, 2003

"Religion as Language"
The service will be connected thematically with the Lay Ministry Symposium, on "Encouraging Each Other's Spiritual Growth," which follows in the afternoon. As we search for an understanding of our diverse religious backgrounds, for ways to encourage each other, and for what unites us in the midst of our religious diversity, it can be helpful to think of our diversity more as differences in language than as concrete differences of belief. I feel there is a lot of empathy which can emerge from casting our differences as differences in the language in which we first sought the meaning of life (the rituals, stories, institutions, ways of naming the sacred). And I hold onto a hope that such empathy might one day move whole cultures away from hatred, violence and fear and toward reconciliation with those of different faiths.
The Chalice Lights and Chalice Singers will perform at this service.
Worship Leader and Sermon: Rev. Dr. Barbara Whittaker-Johns, with Rev. Carlton E. Smith.
Intergenerational Sharing led by members of the Lay Ministry Program.
Flowers given by Carol and John Chamberlain in loving memory of Carol's parents, Emily, and Jack Saunders.

Sunday,
February 16, 2003

"Conversations That Heal: Speaking with Love"
This sermon will consider the ways in which something as simple as a conversation can help us heal the world; how the power of words, when spoken from a place of love (even when we hurt), can move us toward wholeness.
Worship leader: Ministerial Intern Ananda Robinson.
Flowers given by Jennifer and Scott MacGregor in celebration of family and friends.

A More than 18 minute gap! Who knows what happened to these services?

Sunday, May 25, 2003

Honoring Our Ancestors
From the ancestors of our families and friends to the ancestors of our Spirituality, we honor and remember our past, those we value and cherish.
Worship Leader: Ron Hersom (sermon).

Sunday, June 1, 2003

Send Us A Minister; Any Minister Will Do
Beginning with sharing the origins of these words from the culture of rural Maine , the service will offer anecdotal reflections on ministry "from the field" at First Parish, in the world, as engaged in by clergy, and by all of us together. The service will include a Ceremony of Appreciation for Religious Education teachers.

Sunday, June 8, 2003

Coming of Age and Flower Communion
This, our last Sunday of the program year will include our traditional Flower Communion and Coming of Age Ceremony. Please bring flowers to share. Come celebrate our eighth-grade youth as they share their credo stories and our graduating high school students as they cross into greater independence and responsibility. The first part of the service is for all ages. During the second half, there will be a special program in the Chapel and the Bailey Room for pre-K through fifth grade. The sixth-grade to eleventh-grade classes are invited to stay for the whole service. As is our custom, there will be no spoken announcements or candles during this service.
Worship leaders: Rev. Carlton E. Smith, Rev. Dr. Barbara Whittaker-Johns, and Tina Schultz, Director of Religious Education.

Sunday, June 15, 2003

The Door of Compassion
Worship Leader and Sermon: Rev. Gail Berger
Gail is an ordained UU minister who graduated from Harvard Divinity School several years ago. She is engaged in "on-call" ministry on a part time basis. She is an Affiliated Minister with the North Shore UU Church in Danvers, and is a proposal writer for a local environmental engineering firm. For the third summer in a row, Gail will be on call for help with urgent pastoral needs of church members at First Parish, in addition to the support offered by members of the Lay Ministry Program.

Sunday, June 22, 2003

Protect the Children
An exploration of vulnerability of children and youth within churches, and some ideas on preventing harm and loss.
Worship Leader and sermon: Rev. Carlton E. Smith.

Sunday June 29, 2003

Service of the Living Tradition
This week's service will be the GA ceremony "Service of the Living Tradition" held at the Fleet Center in Boston and "streamed" into the Vestry by Internet so that those who cannot attend the service can view it locally. Our own Rev. Carlton E. Smith will be one of those ministers recognized for having completed their probationary period of three years and entering full recognition as Unitarian Universalist ministers. The UU children's choir, with four participating children from First Parish, will be heard.