Toward Building the Beloved Community
How can we share our UU values with the broader community?
Archives: Services
When God/High Power Winks at You
A coincidence — sometimes a silly little thing — changes the course of your day or even your life.Is it by chance? Is it luck? Or a higher power communicating to you?
Gathered: A Flower Ceremony Service
It’s our final regular service of the year and we are coming together in our tradition of celebrating Norbert Čapek’s Flower Ceremony! Come build the bouquet in community, hear stories of resilience, and take with you a reminder of the joy of our congregation and the sustaining care we create. After the service join us as … Continue reading Gathered: A Flower Ceremony Service
Pride. Resistance. Joy.
It’s our annual Pride service! In 2025, the lessons of the early years of Pride are even more important. Resistance has become a tool for survival. Joy is how we care for our tender spirits. Come hear stories of resistance, joy, and queer faith as you celebrate yourself, your community, and your neighbors.
Milestones
Join us for our celebratory annual Milestones service! This year, as we celebrate graduates and those moving to a new phase of school, we also get to honor two of our Faith Development programs. First, we’ll launch the young group of My First Chalice participants as they receive their first flaming chalices. Then, we’ll honor … Continue reading Milestones
Keep Marching
What helps sustain us when the work of justice feels overwhelming or hopeless? If our movement ancestors could whisper encouragement to us, what might they say? Our guest minister, Rev. Joanna Lubkin, shares story and song to help us keep marching on. Rev. Joanna Lubkin is the Minister for Lifespan Learning at the UU Area … Continue reading Keep Marching
On Beyond Sunday School: Whole Church RE
Thirty years ago, most UU Religious Education programs focused on age-divided Sunday morning classes – the “Sunday School” model. Many congregations are finding that the old models don’t work well for these times. The focus is shifting to models that are “de-centering curriculum,” “post-curricular,” and “emergent faith formation”. Practically speaking, how do we move beyond … Continue reading On Beyond Sunday School: Whole Church RE
Then and Now
In the United States, Mother’s Day traces its origins to the work of peace and public health activists of the 19th century. Today, we reflect on Julia Ward Howe’s 1870 Mother’s Day Proclamation, both in its original language and in updated context for the 21st century. With our May theme of Imagination as our guide, … Continue reading Then and Now
This Faith We Build
Come celebrate our new members of First Parish Beverly with our annual welcome ritual! One beauty of our UU faith is that we expect that it is growing and changing with us and in response to the world around us. Together we’ll explore the ways we shape and co-create Unitarian Universalism within our congregation, when … Continue reading This Faith We Build
Plan For Joy
How do the Exodus story, Northern California, and a tambourine intersect? Come follow the traces of planning for joy, build some joy in our service, and look back on some beloved music memories of the past 65 years!