Worship & Sermons

  Sermon by Reverend Rebecca M. Bryan ​ Wherever you go, there you are. This aphorism derives from a stanza in a devotional book written by Thomas à Kempis in Latin in the 1400s. The book was entitled “The Imitation of Christ,” and the stanza goes like this:...

  Sermon by Reverend Rebecca M. Bryan ​ I met Mary Oliver when I was twenty-two years old. Well, I didn’t literally meet her, though I might as well have. I picked up a volume of her poetry in a small bookstore in Westport, Connecticut, near where I was working...

  Easter Homily by Reverend Rebecca M. Bryan ​ “If the Buddha had been born into the society in which Jesus was born, I think he, too, would have been crucified.”[1] Words spoken by the beloved Buddhist teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, or Thay. May he rest in peace. I...

  Sermon by Reverend Rebecca M. Bryan-as read by Mary McDonald ​ The children in the after-school program sat in a circle. They were drawing pictures of buildings, in the most spectacular of ways that six-, seven-, eight- and nine-year-olds do. One young boy said...

  Sermon by Reverend Rebecca M. Bryan ​ Last June, the members of the Men’s Group put their heads and wallets together and bought this sermon as their contribution at last year’s auction. It was a generous and brilliant idea. I was excited to imagine the sermon...

  Reflection by Reverend Rebecca M. Bryan ​ I want to start by talking with the children this morning. Children and youth, please raise your hand so I can see you.   How many of you children have ever walked past the church and thought to yourself, That’s my...

  Reflection by Reverend Rebecca M. Bryan ​ The first time I heard the heartbeat of the universe was during a period of intense and prolonged grief. We were moving from our family home where we raised our children and had developed deep ties over decades. I had...

  Sermon by Reverend Stan Barrett ​ There is more to grief – as there is to love – than meets the eye. Yes, grief’s roots reach to the depths of us, just as love touches our core. Each love carries echoes of previous loves, and any love of another implicates and...

  Reflection by Reverend Helen M. Murgida, Ed.D. ​ Many thanks to Reverend Rebecca for today’s theme of “The Faces of Grief” and for sharing this Sunday with the Pastoral Care Associates. I surprised myself when I volunteered and said, “I can talk about Prolonged...

  Reflection by Reverend Rebecca M. Bryan ​ “There is this natural place in grief where it really messes with your identity. You can’t remember where things are, miss meetings, and tell the same story over and over. “It’s so hard to keep on loving yourself when...

  Sermon by Reverend Rebecca M. Bryan ​ I had avoided the office for some time, choosing to work in the meditation room instead of in my home office, from which I had the led the congregation through COVID. I knew I was avoiding my office, but I ignored the...

  Sermon by Dr. Sandra Harbert Petrulionis Good morning! Thank you to Rev. Rebecca, Justin, and others for inviting and hosting me at this morning’s service. I’m excited to be in Newburyport for my very first visit. And I’m honored to be here on one of your...

  Sermon by Reverend Rebecca Bryan ​ When was the last time your heart skipped a beat? I apologize to those who have had medical conditions and scares. My question is meant to be poetic, not insensitive. I want to know when your heart last skipped a beat in...

  Christmas Eve Reflection by Reverend Rebecca Bryan ​ Peace. Peace is not the absence of challenges. Peace is not when everything goes the way we think it should. Peace is not an award and isn’t given for those who work the hardest or do as they are told to do....

  Christmas Eve Reflection by Reverend Rebecca Bryan ​ When people’s lives change, for instance when children go off to school for the first time or when a loved one dies, it is the ordinary things that are missed the most. It is the banging of the screen door as...

  by Reverend Rebecca Bryan ​ What is the nature of your homeland? Tell me what she taught you when you were very young. Did you learn of resiliency from the dandelion making her way through the seemingly impenetrable city sidewalk? Did you find yourself...

  by Reverend Rebecca Bryan ​ “Give us something to live for!” My friend was sharing the struggles she had been having with her teenager. Her heart was breaking for her child, for that child’s siblings, and for her parents who lived with them, all of whom were...

  Reflection by Tom Stites ​ YouTube video of full service: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AxcFv7doY4 Reading from Thich Nhat Hanh, followed by Reflection by Tom Stites, begin at 30:15 Reading Our reading this morning comes from the wisdom of Thich Nhat Hanh,...

  by Reverend Rebecca Bryan ​ ​Monday morning is usually one of my favorite times of the week. It is when I take my day off and spend time with my beloved equine animal friends – horses, donkeys, and mules, all of whom are finding sanctuary in a safe environment...

  by Reverend Rebecca Bryan ​ “Self-compassion,” my friend said. “I need to hear that sermon!” She went on to say, “I walk around sometimes wondering what is wrong with me. I seem to be the only person who doesn’t seem to know how to handle life.” I assured her...

  by Reverend Rebecca Bryan ​ Unitarian Universalists have a long history rooted in positive theology and constructive social change. We didn’t accept the concepts of original sin or predestination, the belief that it was determined at birth whether people would...

  by Reverend Helen Murgida, Ed.D. ​ Welcome! It is so good to be with you in person or through YouTube participation. One Sunday a year is dedicated to our Accessibility and Inclusion Ministry or AIM. AIM is a work in progress that embraces our FRS Mission and...

  by Reverend Rebecca Bryan ​ Over the last few years, being peaceful has become uncool. Around 2016, some of my liberal friends began to label being peaceful as “the easy way.” Not everyone felt this way certainly. Still, talking of peace, prayer, or inner...

  by Reverend Rebecca Bryan ​ It is indeed so good to be together this morning: to celebrate the beginning of a new church year, to welcome autumn, and to return to one another. We do this, as we do many significant things in life, through ritual, this morning,...

  by Reverend Rebecca Bryan ​ Tell me a story about when I was born, or when you and mom met for the first time, or how you became a doctor. Children love to hear stories, and they are not the only ones. We all love stories. Storytelling is an ancient art that...

  by Reverend Rebecca Bryan ​ When you’re young, time seems eternal, doesn’t it? Do you remember being in high school or perhaps college, or remember being a young parent? Do you remember when dreams were all you knew to think about, and nothing seemed...

  by Reverend Rebecca Bryan ​ My grandfather loved trains. His great-grandfather, my great-great- grandfather, operated steamboats up and down the Missouri River. My grandfather’s father, my great-grandfather, worked as a superintendent for the St. Louis Public...

  by Reverend Rebecca Bryan ​   When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least soundin fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great...

  by Nancy Kidd ​   Some time ago, I had a patient who was dying and was quite at peace with it. She told me she was grateful she had time to teach her husband how to make his oatmeal. As a hospice social worker, I have had the privilege of helping people do...

  by Reverend Rebecca Bryan ​   We are bookended by joy today, and who among us doesn’t need some joy right now? How wonderful it is to see the front lawn of our church filled with vibrant rainbow-colored Adirondack Chairs, made of recycled materials no...