Rev. Fred Small, Guest Minister, preaching

Worship service given May 25, 2025
Prayer by Bill Licea-Kane, Worship Associate
https://firstparish.info/

First Parish
A liberal religious community, welcoming to all
First gathered 1739

The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence," wrote Trappist monk and peace activist Thomas Merton. "The frenzy of our activism neutralizes our work for peace. . . . It destroys the fruitfulness of our own work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful." As we work together for social and environmental justice, how do we remain grounded in a peaceful spirit? Rev. Fred Small asks, what can we learn from trees?

A Unitarian Universalist pastor, singer-songwriter, and former environmental lawyer, Rev. Fred Small serves as Minister for Climate Justice at Arlington Street Church, Boston.

Offering and Giving First

The Giving First program donates 50% of the non-pledge offering each month to a charitable organization that we feel is consistent with Unitarian Universalist principles. The program began in November 2009, and First Parish has donated over $200,000 to more than 70 organizations. For May 2025, Massachusetts Bail Fund will share half of the plate. Massachusetts Bail Fund (MBF) pays bail to secure freedom from pre-trial incarceration so that those who cannot afford their bail can be in their community to fight their case. Pre-trial freedom allows individuals, families, and communities to stay productive, together, and stable. Massachusetts jails are filled with people awaiting trial simply because they cannot afford bail. Sitting in jail on bail leads to longer incarceration times, lost jobs, lost housing, and devastating disruption to families.

The remaining half of your offering supports the life and work of this Parish. To donate using your smartphone, you may text “fpuu” to 73256. Then follow the directions in the texts you receive.

About our Lead Minister: Rev. Marta Flanagan began her ministry as our twentieth called minister at First Parish in the fall of 2009. She is a genuine and forthright preacher. In conversation she is direct and engaging. She speaks of prayer with as much ease as she laughs at human foibles. We call her “Marta.” Marta is a religious liberal, a theist, a feminist, and a lover of the woods. As a student of American history at Smith College she was captivated by the stories of social reformers who were motivated and sustained by their faith. That led her to consider the ministry and to study at Harvard Divinity School from where she was graduated in 1986. She was the first woman minister in the city of Salem, Massachusetts, serving at the First Universalist Church there (1987-1997). She served in a co-ministry at South Church (Unitarian Universalist) in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, (1997-2005) from where she is minister emerita. Marta served as interim minister in Montpelier, Vermont (2008-2009). She is trained as a spiritual director. For three years she lived in the Vermont woods practicing voluntary simplicity and the spiritual life. Marta enjoys the vitality of First Parish and our strong sense of community. She celebrates the yearning for depth and the desire to make a difference in the world that she finds here.