Welcome

Welcome to First Religious Society, a place where you will be welcomed regardless of your age, religion, race, gender, sexual orientation, or socio-economic status. A place where you can grow spiritually, morally and intellectually. Join us as we celebrate our 300th anniversary.

Welcome

Welcome to First Religious Society, a place where you will be welcomed regardless of your age, religion, race, gender, sexual orientation, or socio-economic status. A place where you can grow spiritually, morally and intellectually. Join us as we celebrate our 300th anniversary. 

Welcome

Welcome to First Religious Society, a place where you will be welcomed regardless of your age, religion, race, gender, sexual orientation, or socio-economic status. A place where you can grow spiritually, morally and intellectually. Join us as we celebrate our 300th anniversary. 

OCTOBER MINISTRY THEME: BEGINNINGS

Annual Ministry Theme: Life

SUNDAY, October 5, 2025

Gong Service

SERVICE STARTS

AT 10:30AM

Sunday, October 5, 2025
Gong Service
10:30am with livestream on YouTube

Our October Ministry Theme is Beginnings, and perhaps the best way to begin anything is to center in the authenticity of who you are. To help us do that, we welcome back Zach Field this Sunday. Rev. Rebecca will join Zach in the service and Alan Seale will provide additional music.

Zach is the owner and instructor of Zach Field Drums & Music. He started ZFDM in 1999 after teaching percussion at a local school district and at the collegiate level. Zach holds a Bachelor of Music Performance degree from UMass Lowell. He is the founder of Plum Island Pans (a steel drum band), the Gong Meditation Project, and the creator of the drum teaching software, Drumroom.

“In out-of-the-way places of the heart, where your thoughts never think to wander, this beginning has been quietly forming, waiting until you were ready to emerge.” –John O’Donohue

September 18, 2025

Dear Members and Friends,

As many of you know, this summer was a time of deep discernment for me. It became clear that the time has come for me to move on to the next chapter in my ministry. This church year will be my last year as your settled minister. This has not been an easy decision.

Our shared ministry has been exquisite. It is both tender and brave, forward-looking and honoring of the past. Together we have weathered many changes within and beyond our church and thrived while doing so. To read the full letter and a message from Parish Board Chair Bob Higgins, click HERE.

The Latest News & Events

Join the Candlelight Chorale!

Join the Candlelight Chorale!

We welcome singers to join the Candlelight Chorale which will rehearse on Sundays, beginning October 26, from 1-3pm, at FRSUU. Our annual Candlelight Service will be held on Sunday, December 21.

Yankee Homecoming Book Sale

Yankee Homecoming Book Sale

Clean out your bookshelves and donate your books for the annual FRSUU Book Sale! Adult and children’s books, games, and puzzles are welcome. Drop off your items on June 29, before and after worship, or in the Parish Hall on Thursdays from 9:30-11:30am. The Book Sale...

On Tyranny Read & Discussion

On Tyranny Read & Discussion

Sundays, October 26, November 2, November 11, LMH Main Room, 4-6:30pm. How do modern democracies fight tyranny? On Tyranny, by historian Timothy Snyder, presents "Twenty Lessons" of provocative modern history essential for American citizens to understand this process...

Centering Prayer Group

Centering Prayer Group

Wednesdays, May 28 - July 9 Centering Prayer Group LMH Room A, 10-11am Join Rev. Jane Tuohy and Cynthia Tolbert for a Centering Prayer Group on Wednesdays at 10am in Lower Meetinghouse Room A through July 9. Centering Prayer will be on hiatus after July 9 for the...

2025 FRSUU Road Trip Raffle!

2025 FRSUU Road Trip Raffle!

Want to get away? Enter the 2025 FRSUU Road Trip Raffle!  Grand Prize (Value up to $2,500): imagine a weekend at a 5-star hotel in Boston, staying slop-side at your favorite mountain, relaxing in an oceanfront suite on the coast of Maine...wherever you'd like to go!...

29th Annual Mother’s Day Walk for Peace

29th Annual Mother’s Day Walk for Peace

Sunday, May 11 Town Field Park, Dorchester, 8am Join our FRS Walk Team and be home in time for your own Mother's Day celebration! Great exercise, great fellowship! The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute offers healing programs to prevent cycles of retaliatory violence....

Exploring Elderhood Together: Have a SEAT!

Exploring Elderhood Together: Have a SEAT!

Thursday, May 15, 2025 Exploring Elderhood Together: Have a SEAT! LMH Main Room, 1-2:30pm Exploring Elderhood Together invites you to our last program of this church year. FRS’s Nancy McCarthy will lead us in a set of functional fitness moves. Functional fitness...

Rev. Rebecca’s Book Launch

Rev. Rebecca’s Book Launch

Sunday, May 4, 12-2pm, Sanctuary and Lower Meetinghouse Join us for the launch of Rev. Rebecca's new sermon book, Guided by Love: A Minister's Thoughts on Love, Hope, and Justice! Rev. Rebecca will read from her book and host a Q&A in the Sanctuary. A reception...

Tour the FRS Campus and Buildings

Follow our drone footage as we fly to the top of FRS’s steeple featuring a glass-eyed gilded weathercock which overlooks downtown Newburyport and Merrimack River. From there, you’ll get a first-hand look at our campus grounds and the interior of our meetinghouse and Sanctuary which dates back to 1801. Rev. Rebecca, our Senior Minister, welcomes you and ALL who seek a place of spiritual community and faith here. Organ music provided by former Director of Church Music Justin Murphy-Mancini on our 1834 Joseph Alley organ. Piano music provided by Director of Church Music Nick Place. We close with a view of the bell from the foundry of Paul Revere and Sons bell.

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