Author: First Parish Northfield, Unitarian

“It is never too early or too late to care for the well being of the soul”   -Epicurus

The subject of this Sunday’s Chalice Circle will be ‘Sacredness in Everyday Life’ and how we cultivate spiritual growth in our lives. We will examine and reflect on our own spiritual growth, and share our stories, experience and thoughts about the 3rd Principle: “Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations.” Jennifer and David Smith will lead this service of reflection and sharing beginning at 10 am at the church.

Join Rev. Melissa Carvill Ziemer this Sunday for a celebration of the spiritual practice of generosity. During this service for people of all ages, we will reflect upon and practice generosity together.

Please bring an item to contribute to our altar of abundance. Here are some ideas to spark your imagination. Perhaps you might bring a cheerful pumpkin, a simple squash or a small bag of beautiful apples, a small jar of jam or honey, a loaf of bread, a bar of chocolate or any other small lovely item you’d like to share with someone else. Consider also whether you might bring some money or a check to contribute to a special collection. The special collection will be split between two organizations – we will give half to the Northfield Food Pantry and half to Doctors Without Borders. And when our service ends you will be invited to select an item from the altar that you did not bring to take home with you. (Don’t worry if you can’t bring something, we will have extras to share!).

All are welcome to participate in the service at 10am at First Parish Church, corner of Parker and Main Streets in Northfield or on Zoom. To participate on your own via Zoom, please send an e-mail message to fpnorthfieldma@gmail.com for a link. All will be welcome.

To an increasingly secular world, religion seems more like a source of conflict and war than a source of peace. To the extent that that is true, it is when religions get attached to or obscured by old resentments and hatreds. On Sunday, November 5th, Dan Tinen will look at universalism through the perspective of current events. All are welcome to participate in the service at 10am at First Parish Church, corner of Parker and Main Streets in Northfield or on Zoom. To participate on your own via Zoom, please send an e-mail message to fpnorthfieldma@gmail.com for a link. All will be welcome.

Some of our First Parish children/youth are planning a winter clothing drive. We were inspired to start this drive because we saw an article in the Greenfield Recorder about the winter clothing needs of the immigrant and refugee community living at the Days Inn Emergency Shelter in Greenfield. You can see in the article that there are 143 individuals living in the shelter including people of all ages – infants, toddlers, children, youth and adults. All sizes of coats, boots, hats, scarves, gloves, mittens, snow pants etc. are welcome. Please bring new or clean, used clothing in good condition to First Parish by Sunday, November 5. We will donate all the winter clothing to the shelter and any items that are not needed by the residents of the shelter will be donated to those who can use them. Meanwhile, join us this Sunday, October 29th at 10:30am, as the Unitarian Universalists of Gettysburg joins with three other UU congregations for another edition of Fifth Sunday Fellowship. At First Parish Northfield, corner of Parker and Main Streets, we will Zoom online with other parishioners at the church starting at 10:30. To participate on your own via Zoom, please send an e-mail message to

fpnorthfieldma@gmail.com for a link. All will be welcome. The Unitarian Universalists of Gettysburg will lead the service and talk about the importance of dismantling racism, and how love really is at the center of it all.

For Sunday, October 22, a Chalice Circle discussion will focus on our shared humanity. The First Principle that Unitarian Universalists affirm and promote is the inherent worth and dignity of every person. In these troubling times, how can this acknowledgement of our shared humanity offer us hope and a call to action? Ann Linge will lead the service at 10 am at the church, corner of Parker and Main Streets in Northfield. All will be welcome. As is our practice for Chalice Circle services, there will not be a Zoom call this Sunday.

During tomorrow’s Chalice Circle service, Rev. Melissa Carvill Ziemer will gather with any children and teens who would like to engage in community care.  Our care for our congregation will be to prepare for and set up coffee hour.  Our care for our community will be to plan a community service project in support of individuals and families living in temporary shelters.  We will make signs and posts to invite members of the congregation and community to participate in the project.

Our Inheritances, Rev. Melissa Carvill Ziemer

with music offered by Lynne Walker and Ann Linge

What are some of the things you have inherited from your ancestors (of all types) that shape your life? We will explore this question by reflecting on our own lives, our shared faith and our shared experience of being human at this time. If you have a physical item that reminds you of a value or commitment you inherited from your ancestors that is important to you, consider bringing it with you. We will create an altar of words and objects as part of our worship. The service begins at 10 am at the church, corner of Parker and Main Streets in Northfield, and on Zoom. To participate via Zoom, please send an e-mail message to fpnorthfieldma@gmail.com for a link. All will be welcome.

As we approach the Halloween season, Tony Stavely will lead a Sunday service tomorrow with the title “On the Nature of Spirit, Or What and Who Are We Anyhow?” Beginning at 10 am, Tony will consider what it is that may inhabit us in life and survive us in death, and two trinities that swim or float in our culture beside Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: body, mind, and spirit; id, ego, and superego. Perhaps such trinities too can be viewed after all as unities. The service begins at 10 am at the church, corner of Parker and Main Streets in Northfield, and on Zoom. To participate via Zoom, please send an e-mail message to fpnorthfieldma@gmail.com for a link. All will be welcome.