Sunday Worship Services
Join us every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. in our classic New England sanctuary for worship services. Our services engage the mind, body and spirit with beautiful music, spiritual themes, stories for all ages, and time for contemplation and prayer. Children begin in the sanctuary with their families and then are excused for faith development programs which run concurrently. Nursery care is available for the youngest, and babies and children are always welcome to remain in the service with their caregivers.
You can also join us live online, or view any of our past services on our YouTube channel.
Worship Online
During our service, we share prayers from our community. Fill out the form below to submit a prayer to be read during Sunday's service.
Worship theme: Inclusion
Our theme for February and the first week of March is Inclusion. At First Unitarian Church, we strive to make sure everyone feels included. We are a Welcoming Congregation, meaning we are proud of our inclusion of LGBTQ+ folks. We'll explore how we can use language to offer a generous welcome, listen to understand other people's truths, and question what might be limiting our understanding of human diversity.
Sunday mornings 10:30AM
View past services, music, and children's stories on our YouTube channel
Sunday, February 16, 2025 YouTube Livestream: https://youtube.com/live/aOTfmm6bzng?feature=share
Climbing Out of the Hells We Make: A Guided Tour
Our Universalist ancestors rejected the idea of divine punishment, perhaps recognizing that humans are far more efficient at punishing one another. This Sunday, we’ll explore the hellscapes of exclusion — from 21st-century educational and political institutions to Biblical exile and 14th century Italian burn books — and consider what these interlocking journeys reveal about the power of inclusion and connection. The Rev. Janet Newton Thibodeau is our guest preacher.
Rev. Janet lives on Martha’s Vineyard, having accidentally relocated there from her native New Mexico with her Islander wife. She parents two free-spirited kids, teaches high school English part-time, and both feeds her spirit and practices public theology through perfectly imperfect open-mic performances. While she’d never suggest that her adopted homeland shares some characteristics with historic hellscapes — apparently, she just did.
Service Music: Our adult choir will be singing "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" this morning as well as a song by Taizé composer Jacques Berthier. James Haupt will be on piano and organ.
Faith Development: We will have all ages programming where we will be focusing on loving ourselves and creating positive affirmation mirrors.
Sunday, February 23, 2025
The Vocation of Marriage
The romantic feeling of love is just one part of the energy that sustains a lifelong partnership. Marriage and commitment take cooperation, mutual understanding, grace, and ongoing consent. Abigail and Amos Bronson Alcott, who tried to establish a commune at Fruitlands, will be our guides for this Valentine's Day sermon. The Rev. Sarah C. Stewart preaching.
Sunday, March 2, 2025
Meeting Each Other Face to Face
Listening to another person is one of the greatest gifts we can give them. Listening honors another person's reality, acknowledges their inherent worth and dignity, and accepts the truth that none of us knows everything. The Rev. Sarah C. Stewart preaching.