Category: Sunday Services

On Sunday, February 4, Lay Reader Dan Tinen will lead our service, delivering the next in his monthly series of sermons. The service will begin at 10 am, and Dan will be live at the church (instead of coming to us by videoconference from his home in Seattle). Although he will speak from the First Parish pulpit, the service will also be available on Zoom. To participate via Zoom, please send an e-mail to fpnorthfieldma@gmail.com for a link.

More details:

“But, How Do You Know?”
Openness to new ideas is a hallmark of liberalism, and of Unitarian Universalists in particular. But in a time when artificial intelligence is making it harder and harder to trust even our own eyes and ears, how can we distinguish reality from delusion while understanding that absolute truth may be the most dangerous delusion of all?

Lay Reader Dan Tinen will lead the 10 am service at the church. Participants may also join the service on Zoom.

Rev. Melissa Carvill Ziemer

The proposed revision to the Unitarian Universalist statement of Principles and Purposes puts love at the center and offers us the vision that the spiritual discipline of love is how we can live all our other values. Come join us as we explore the liberating and liberatory power of putting love at the center. Our service for all ages will be held at 10am on Sunday January 21, in person at First Parish in Northfield and also via Zoom. To participate via Zoom, please send an e-mail to fpnorthfieldma@gmail.com for a link.

In honor of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose holiday we celebrate on January 15, First Parish will present a service titled “The Man, the Dream, the Movement”. The service was written by Rev. Clyde Grubbs and Mary Jane Holden, and adapted by Erika Hewitt. It uses readers to tell the story of the Civil Rights movement as it unfolded over the course of a decade. The worship components center black voices as an intentional effort to decenter whiteness. Led by Ann Linge, members of the First Parish congregation will participate in the service. The service begins at 10 am, at the church and on Zoom. To participate via Zoom, please send an e-mail to fpnorthfieldma@gmail.com for a link.

Frank Capra’s beloved 1946 movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” presents a character who continually defers his dreams for the benefit of others. This Sunday Dan Tinen will examine George Bailey from a psychological viewpoint, and consider whether it is possible to have too much of an admirable character trait.

Due to the predicted snowfall Saturday night and Sunday morning, our church service, led by Dan Tinen, will take place by Zoom videocall. The church building will remain closed while we gather in our homes, coffeehouses, or other Internet-accessible locations to link together at 10 am on January 7.

To participate via Zoom, please send an e-mail message to fpnorthfieldma@gmail.com for a link.

Rev. Melissa Carvill Ziemer will lead tomorrow’s service using the theme “Come, Winter.” Join us for this multigenerational celebration of the Winter Solstice. We will welcome the turning of the year and open our hearts to that great mystery in which we all live and move and have our being. 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 via Zoom, please send an e-mail message to fpnorthfieldma@gmail.com for a link. {photo credit: Fiona Bird}

Join us this Sunday for a morning of exceptional music and thoughtful concern about peace, love, and conflict. Eveline MacDougall returns to our pulpit with her guitar, violin, and stories. This time she will bring fellow musician John Clark, a noted composer, arranger, and performer on the French horn and bass. 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 via Zoom, please send an e-mail message to fpnorthfieldma@gmail.com for a link. All will be welcome.

“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.