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Please visit the church office if you would like a copy of past sermons
in hardcopy format. Members and friends can access past sermons online from our password protected
sermon archive page.
We gather to celebrate a successful Stewardship Campaign and to show our support for our ministries and the volunteers that keep those ministries alive by their gift of service to others. The idea of service to others is one that crosses theological and non-theological boundaries alike. It is a gift without end and worth taking a moment to look at and honor. Come and celebrate the abundance we create and share together. It is also Share-the-Plate Sunday and our recipient this month is Heifer International.
During the canvass period our worship services support stewardship among our church community with sermons and member testimonials. You can read the sermons and testimonials on the Supporting Stewardship in our Worship Services page in the password protected section of our website.
Get your animal and outside noises ready for a great story, we’ll need all your help as we celebrate spring on this Easter service. Everyone will also help decorate our barren tree with the sign of fertility and new life – eggs! Please decorate an egg or two (or three!) and bring it along to church. The best eggs to hang are real eggs with the liquid center blown out, and then decorated. Paint it, glitter it, sticker it, marker it—anything beautiful! For more information please see the April Newsletter.
Our ecumenical sunrise worship Easter morning with First Baptist Church of Littleton and the Congregational Church of Littleton will be on Telephone Hill. Directions: From Littleton Common, take Goldsmith Street (by the Baptist Church) 2-3 miles, then take the driveway on your right up the hill with the large tower. Rev. Marta and Peter Ersland, Chair of the Deacons will be participating.
All are invited to participate in First Church Unitarian's annual Passover Seder Potluck in the Downstairs Dining Room at 5:30 p.m., Saturday, April 7th. The ceremony starts at 6:00 p.m. with dinner immediately following. We’ll read from the Haggadah, share good food, and ensure that there's fun for young and old alike. Please sign up in the Vestry and let us know what you can bring to share; recipes are available if you'd like advice on what to prepare. Contact Karen or Peter at seder@fculittle.org if you have any questions.
The traditional First Church Unitarian communion service commemorating the Last Supper celebrated by Jesus with his Apostles will be held in the Sanctuary. You are invited to join Rev. Marta and the Deacons in this community sacrament.
Our beloved Senior Youth Group will bring us along with them on a journey discovering the joy and laughter in life, even when difficult things fall in our path. This will be an uplifting service full of song and story and smiles.
We welcome spring with the kick-off of our annual stewardship campaign to acknowledge our outrageous abundance! This year we pose the question "Where does First Church Unitarian fit in your life?"
During the canvass period our worship services support stewardship among our church community with sermons and member testimonials. You can read the sermons and testimonials on the Supporting Stewardship in our Worship Services page in the password protected section of our website.
Hear stories of how the women of this church have worked toward their goals of supporting charity, the church, and each other, while having a good time doing it. Our Share the Plate recipient this Sunday is the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network or R.A.I.N.N, an anti-sexual assault organization working with local rape crisis centers across the U.S.
In our seventh installment of our year-long exploration, we look at how we practice, in our everyday lives, absolute equality of all human beings or not. Our exploration is based on the book "Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life" by Karen Armstrong.
In a recent memorial service, slides were shown of the person's life, some of important events, prompting these questions to those present, "What slides are missing in your life that you would like to experience? What are events the event you hope to have and freeze in a picture? Who would you want in those pictures with you?"
In our sixth installment of our year-long exploration, we look at how we speak to one another, how and what we say can impact others around us. Our exploration is based on the book, "Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life" by Karen Armstrong.
We will be joined by the Justice Ministries Coordinator of the Clara Barton District, Meck Groot. As Justice Ministries Coordinator, Meck works with district staff to inspire, support and equip congregations doing congregationally-based justice ministry for Beloved Community. Our Share-the-Plate recipient is Unitarian Universalist Association's Standing on the Side of Love campaign. A workshop will follow this service.
At this Multigenerational service we will stand together. We will support all people. We will Stand On The Side Of Love. We will explore what that really means. How do we stand on the side of love? "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. After the service there will be a Multigenerational Religious Education experience for anyone who would like to take part.
The 2012 General Assembly has been determined to be a justice-focused assembly. As such it is potentially paradigm shifting, because for all the people seeking justice and working toward justice the underlying current is that Unitarian Universalism can be a sanctuary for all.
Join us for this multigenerational service as we laughingly celebrate community together by learning about laughter yoga and seriously welcome are newest members.
A service presented by Dan Richards, Music Director
In our fifth installment of our year-long exploration, we look at how little we actually know about compassion. Our exploration is based on the book, "Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life" by Karen Armstrong. It is also Share-the-Plate Sunday and our designated receiver is the Lowell Boys and Girls Club.
It is possible, if we are lucky, that we might have a sighting of a young adult or two at this service. If not, we will pose the question and explore: Where have they all gone?
Join us for our annual tradition of honoring those close to us who have died this past year, and celebrating those born within our church community.
Looking for a brief respite in this hectic, stressful season? Join us for a low key, relaxing hour of fellowship, led by the Deacons. No candles, no offering; just music, meditation, and a Christmas story or two.
The Candlelight Service features the Ceremony of Light, in which the sanctuary is darkened and each participant holding a candle passes the flame until the entire sanctuary is again filled with light. This service also includes readings and carols sung by the congregation, the Mixed Choir, and the Artemis Singers. ˇFeliz Navidad! Merry Christmas!
Our traditional nativity tableau performed by children with scriptural readings and carols sung by the congregation. Share the magic!
Let's be together for a festive service full of song, merriment and joy (we will light the last Advent candle for Joy!). We will sing songs of celebration and tell the stories that will make your heart sing and your belly laugh. And since the fourth installment of our year-long exploration of "Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life" by Karen Armstrong, is compassion in action, let's not forget others who are in need by bringing a pair of new mittens to decorate the Sanctuary tree and turn it into a Mitten tree.
Join us as we gather at the darkest time of the year to open ourselves to the gifts of the Winter Solstice. We gather together in a circle as a spiritual community to honor the darkness and to welcome the eternal return of light, life, love, and hope.
How is it possible that grief, of any kind, can actually be good for you? Well, perhaps not good for you, but good if you give yourself the literal breathing space to go through it, not around it, especially during one of the harder times of the year – the holidays. We light the third candle Advent, that of Peace.
A new Unitarian Universalist tradition that began on Facebook in 2007 is beginning to take hold. But what exactly is it? Come and find out so you can decide if you too would like to honor it. On the heels of lighting last week’s first Advent candle of Hope, we continue with the second candle, that of love.
In our third installment of our year-long exploration, we move beyond compassion for ourselves and our world, and look at how empathy and mindfulness are at the essence of living a compassionate life. Our exploration is based on the book, "Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life" by Karen Armstrong.
Our annual multigenerational service to give thanks will include our cornbread and juice communion. This is also Share the Plate Sunday and a Littleton High school senior will speak about his project to help Liberians through Rebuild Africa.
Topic: Giving Thanks in Difficult Times. Join Rev. Marta and Chair of the Deacons for this annual service brought to you by the churches in the Littleton Council of Churches. This year the service will be held at The Congregational Church of Littleton, 330 King Street, Littleton.
Music is an essential element of many religious traditions, from chants to hymns. It touches us in ways that are difficult to express in words alone. Come join your voice with the Mixed Choir, Artemis Singers, and Firehouse Band as together we experience music as spiritual practice.
Don't Forget: Daylight Saving Time Ends - Fall Back 1 hour on Nov 6, 2011
What exactly are folks near and far occupying? Is it space, time, hearts, minds, spirits? Is this a creative movement or a destructive movement? Both: because one needs the other? In this season of Thanksgiving, is there a place for gratitude amidst all the rage?
We will go on an adventure through Halloween, Samhain and Day of the Dead. Harvesting, celebrating and remembering. Let's take a moment to stop and think about our world, what we can give, and what we receive. This service invites costume, song and movement. If you have a dear soul you would like to honor (human or animal), we encourage you to draw a picture or bring in a photo, so you can put it on the altar we will build together. So cast aside those Sunday clothes and come in a costume befitting a day like today.
In our second installment of our year-long exploration of compassion, we move beyond the history and definition of it and turn the lens toward having compassion for ourselves (the hardest of all!) and our world. Our exploration is based on the book, "Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life" by Karen Armstrong.
For an idea to spread (and become sticky) you have to be able to remember it long enough to accurately share it with someone else, this is an updated view of what was once called the "UU elevator speech." But how do we make our message stick? We also join with our UU brothers and sisters around the country to make Association Sunday a success. This year's theme is "Celebrating Excellence in Ministries." In addition, with this week's share the plate offering we acknowledge a year of your generosity. Thank you!
What does the choice of a word mean for how we think about and celebrate a holiday? Come on an exploration of the new history of the time of Contact and learn how words have shaped our thinking and how that relates to our current political climate.
Hot off the press and having shared them at the Church Council gathering, we will take a look at the church themes this year that will inform our ministries, with a specific focus on stewardship. If we say stewardship is what we do all year long, than how come we only talk about it in the spring?
Ever since Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. brought to life the concept of “Beloved Community” Unitarian Universalists have been using the term and struggling to achieve it. But what might our congregational life be like if we used it as our moral compass, above and beyond our Principles and Purposes?
The first of a year-long series based on the book "Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life" by Karen Armstrong. Because Armstrong believes we are addicted to our non-life affirming behaviors, she has created this "step program" toward living a compassionate life - the one thing she believes will help this world. This year we will have the opportunity to learn and practice these compassionate ways of being.
Every month on the third Sunday of the month we donate our loose offerings to a worthy cause. The first Share-the-Plate Sunday will be September 18th. Donations will go to an organization that provides relief to communities in Africa struggling with the effects of food insecurity and civil unrest.
This fall, at our Homecoming Service, we will be repeating a ritual Water Communion as we have for several years. Please bring a small amount of water representing a meaningful experience of your summer. Perhaps it will come from a vacation trip. Perhaps it will come from your home. You will be asked to write a few words of explanation and what direction your water came from. These thoughts will be shared as our water and our lives come together again at First Church Unitarian for the 2011/2012 church year.
Past Services 2011-2012
Please visit the church office if you would like a copy of past sermons
in hardcopy format. Members and friends can access past sermons online from our password protected
sermon archive page.
Celebration Sunday – Service to Others - April 15, 2012
10:00am Sunday serviceWe gather to celebrate a successful Stewardship Campaign and to show our support for our ministries and the volunteers that keep those ministries alive by their gift of service to others. The idea of service to others is one that crosses theological and non-theological boundaries alike. It is a gift without end and worth taking a moment to look at and honor. Come and celebrate the abundance we create and share together. It is also Share-the-Plate Sunday and our recipient this month is Heifer International.
During the canvass period our worship services support stewardship among our church community with sermons and member testimonials. You can read the sermons and testimonials on the Supporting Stewardship in our Worship Services page in the password protected section of our website.
A Multigenerational Easter Sunday Celebration - April 8, 2012
10:00am Sunday serviceGet your animal and outside noises ready for a great story, we’ll need all your help as we celebrate spring on this Easter service. Everyone will also help decorate our barren tree with the sign of fertility and new life – eggs! Please decorate an egg or two (or three!) and bring it along to church. The best eggs to hang are real eggs with the liquid center blown out, and then decorated. Paint it, glitter it, sticker it, marker it—anything beautiful! For more information please see the April Newsletter.
Easter Sunrise Service - April 8, 2012
6am Sunday Sunrise ServiceOur ecumenical sunrise worship Easter morning with First Baptist Church of Littleton and the Congregational Church of Littleton will be on Telephone Hill. Directions: From Littleton Common, take Goldsmith Street (by the Baptist Church) 2-3 miles, then take the driveway on your right up the hill with the large tower. Rev. Marta and Peter Ersland, Chair of the Deacons will be participating.
Passover Seder - April 7, 2012
5:30pm Saturday ServiceAll are invited to participate in First Church Unitarian's annual Passover Seder Potluck in the Downstairs Dining Room at 5:30 p.m., Saturday, April 7th. The ceremony starts at 6:00 p.m. with dinner immediately following. We’ll read from the Haggadah, share good food, and ensure that there's fun for young and old alike. Please sign up in the Vestry and let us know what you can bring to share; recipes are available if you'd like advice on what to prepare. Contact Karen or Peter at seder@fculittle.org if you have any questions.
Maundy Thursday - April 5, 2012
7pm Thursday serviceThe traditional First Church Unitarian communion service commemorating the Last Supper celebrated by Jesus with his Apostles will be held in the Sanctuary. You are invited to join Rev. Marta and the Deacons in this community sacrament.
Smiling in the Face of Adversity - Learning to Laugh When You Get Kicked- April 1, 2012
10:00am Sunday serviceOur beloved Senior Youth Group will bring us along with them on a journey discovering the joy and laughter in life, even when difficult things fall in our path. This will be an uplifting service full of song and story and smiles.
Stewardship Sunday - Mar 25, 2012
10:00am Sunday serviceWe welcome spring with the kick-off of our annual stewardship campaign to acknowledge our outrageous abundance! This year we pose the question "Where does First Church Unitarian fit in your life?"
During the canvass period our worship services support stewardship among our church community with sermons and member testimonials. You can read the sermons and testimonials on the Supporting Stewardship in our Worship Services page in the password protected section of our website.
The Alliance Then and Now - Mar 18, 2012
10:00am Sunday serviceHear stories of how the women of this church have worked toward their goals of supporting charity, the church, and each other, while having a good time doing it. Our Share the Plate recipient this Sunday is the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network or R.A.I.N.N, an anti-sexual assault organization working with local rape crisis centers across the U.S.
Compassion - Developing Concern For All- Mar 11, 2012
10:00am Sunday serviceIn our seventh installment of our year-long exploration, we look at how we practice, in our everyday lives, absolute equality of all human beings or not. Our exploration is based on the book "Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life" by Karen Armstrong.
Slides of Life - Mar 4, 2012
10:00am Sunday serviceIn a recent memorial service, slides were shown of the person's life, some of important events, prompting these questions to those present, "What slides are missing in your life that you would like to experience? What are events the event you hope to have and freeze in a picture? Who would you want in those pictures with you?"
Compassionate Listening and Speaking - Feb 26, 2012
10:00am Sunday serviceIn our sixth installment of our year-long exploration, we look at how we speak to one another, how and what we say can impact others around us. Our exploration is based on the book, "Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life" by Karen Armstrong.
Beyond the Pale - Feb 19, 2012
10:00am Sunday serviceWe will be joined by the Justice Ministries Coordinator of the Clara Barton District, Meck Groot. As Justice Ministries Coordinator, Meck works with district staff to inspire, support and equip congregations doing congregationally-based justice ministry for Beloved Community. Our Share-the-Plate recipient is Unitarian Universalist Association's Standing on the Side of Love campaign. A workshop will follow this service.
I Will Go With You - Feb 12, 2012
10:00am Sunday service; Multi-Generational family serviceAt this Multigenerational service we will stand together. We will support all people. We will Stand On The Side Of Love. We will explore what that really means. How do we stand on the side of love? "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. After the service there will be a Multigenerational Religious Education experience for anyone who would like to take part.
Unitarian Universalism as Sanctuary - Feb 5, 2012
10:00am Sunday serviceThe 2012 General Assembly has been determined to be a justice-focused assembly. As such it is potentially paradigm shifting, because for all the people seeking justice and working toward justice the underlying current is that Unitarian Universalism can be a sanctuary for all.
Laughter’s Healing Gifts - Jan 29, 2012
10:00am Sunday serviceJoin us for this multigenerational service as we laughingly celebrate community together by learning about laughter yoga and seriously welcome are newest members.
Misappropriation - Jan 22, 2012
10:00am Sunday serviceA service presented by Dan Richards, Music Director
Compassion - Jan 15, 2012
10:00am Sunday serviceIn our fifth installment of our year-long exploration, we look at how little we actually know about compassion. Our exploration is based on the book, "Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life" by Karen Armstrong. It is also Share-the-Plate Sunday and our designated receiver is the Lowell Boys and Girls Club.
Keeping Our Cultural Integrity - Jan 8, 2012
10:00am Sunday serviceIt is possible, if we are lucky, that we might have a sighting of a young adult or two at this service. If not, we will pose the question and explore: Where have they all gone?
Remembrance Sunday - Jan 1, 2012
10:00am Sunday serviceJoin us for our annual tradition of honoring those close to us who have died this past year, and celebrating those born within our church community.
Christmas Story and Song - Dec 25, 2011
10:00am Sunday serviceLooking for a brief respite in this hectic, stressful season? Join us for a low key, relaxing hour of fellowship, led by the Deacons. No candles, no offering; just music, meditation, and a Christmas story or two.
Christmas Eve Candlelight Service - Dec 24, 2011
7pm Saturday evening serviceThe Candlelight Service features the Ceremony of Light, in which the sanctuary is darkened and each participant holding a candle passes the flame until the entire sanctuary is again filled with light. This service also includes readings and carols sung by the congregation, the Mixed Choir, and the Artemis Singers. ˇFeliz Navidad! Merry Christmas!
Holiday Pageant - Dec 18, 2011
5pm Sunday afternoon Holiday PageantOur traditional nativity tableau performed by children with scriptural readings and carols sung by the congregation. Share the magic!
Celebrating the Winter Solstice and the Holiday Season - in every way! - Dec 18, 2011
10:00am Sunday serviceLet's be together for a festive service full of song, merriment and joy (we will light the last Advent candle for Joy!). We will sing songs of celebration and tell the stories that will make your heart sing and your belly laugh. And since the fourth installment of our year-long exploration of "Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life" by Karen Armstrong, is compassion in action, let's not forget others who are in need by bringing a pair of new mittens to decorate the Sanctuary tree and turn it into a Mitten tree.
Yule Service - Dec 17, 2011
7pm Saturday evening serviceJoin us as we gather at the darkest time of the year to open ourselves to the gifts of the Winter Solstice. We gather together in a circle as a spiritual community to honor the darkness and to welcome the eternal return of light, life, love, and hope.
Good Grief - Dec 11, 2011
10:00am Sunday serviceHow is it possible that grief, of any kind, can actually be good for you? Well, perhaps not good for you, but good if you give yourself the literal breathing space to go through it, not around it, especially during one of the harder times of the year – the holidays. We light the third candle Advent, that of Peace.
Chalica, Celebration of the Flame - Dec 4, 2011
10:00am Sunday serviceA new Unitarian Universalist tradition that began on Facebook in 2007 is beginning to take hold. But what exactly is it? Come and find out so you can decide if you too would like to honor it. On the heels of lighting last week’s first Advent candle of Hope, we continue with the second candle, that of love.
Empathy and Mindfulness - Nov 27, 2011
10:00am Sunday serviceIn our third installment of our year-long exploration, we move beyond compassion for ourselves and our world, and look at how empathy and mindfulness are at the essence of living a compassionate life. Our exploration is based on the book, "Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life" by Karen Armstrong.
All Ages, All Thanks, All Ways - Nov 20, 2011
10:00am Sunday serviceOur annual multigenerational service to give thanks will include our cornbread and juice communion. This is also Share the Plate Sunday and a Littleton High school senior will speak about his project to help Liberians through Rebuild Africa.
Interfaith Thanksgiving Service - Nov 20, 2011 - 7pm
7pm evening serviceTopic: Giving Thanks in Difficult Times. Join Rev. Marta and Chair of the Deacons for this annual service brought to you by the churches in the Littleton Council of Churches. This year the service will be held at The Congregational Church of Littleton, 330 King Street, Littleton.
Music as Spiritual Practice - Nov 13, 2011
10:00am Sunday serviceMusic is an essential element of many religious traditions, from chants to hymns. It touches us in ways that are difficult to express in words alone. Come join your voice with the Mixed Choir, Artemis Singers, and Firehouse Band as together we experience music as spiritual practice.
Occupying What - Nov 6, 2011
10:00am Sunday serviceDon't Forget: Daylight Saving Time Ends - Fall Back 1 hour on Nov 6, 2011
What exactly are folks near and far occupying? Is it space, time, hearts, minds, spirits? Is this a creative movement or a destructive movement? Both: because one needs the other? In this season of Thanksgiving, is there a place for gratitude amidst all the rage?
Appreciating What Life Has to Offer Us - Oct 30, 2011
10:00am Sunday serviceWe will go on an adventure through Halloween, Samhain and Day of the Dead. Harvesting, celebrating and remembering. Let's take a moment to stop and think about our world, what we can give, and what we receive. This service invites costume, song and movement. If you have a dear soul you would like to honor (human or animal), we encourage you to draw a picture or bring in a photo, so you can put it on the altar we will build together. So cast aside those Sunday clothes and come in a costume befitting a day like today.
Compassion for Yourself and Your World - Oct 23, 2011
10:00am Sunday serviceIn our second installment of our year-long exploration of compassion, we move beyond the history and definition of it and turn the lens toward having compassion for ourselves (the hardest of all!) and our world. Our exploration is based on the book, "Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life" by Karen Armstrong.
Making Unitarian Universalism 'Sticky' - Oct 16, 2011
10:00am Sunday serviceFor an idea to spread (and become sticky) you have to be able to remember it long enough to accurately share it with someone else, this is an updated view of what was once called the "UU elevator speech." But how do we make our message stick? We also join with our UU brothers and sisters around the country to make Association Sunday a success. This year's theme is "Celebrating Excellence in Ministries." In addition, with this week's share the plate offering we acknowledge a year of your generosity. Thank you!
Columbus Day or Indigenous People's Day? - Oct 9, 2011
10:00am Sunday serviceWhat does the choice of a word mean for how we think about and celebrate a holiday? Come on an exploration of the new history of the time of Contact and learn how words have shaped our thinking and how that relates to our current political climate.
Planting Seeds Now - Oct 2, 2011
10:00am Sunday serviceHot off the press and having shared them at the Church Council gathering, we will take a look at the church themes this year that will inform our ministries, with a specific focus on stewardship. If we say stewardship is what we do all year long, than how come we only talk about it in the spring?
Beloved Community - Sept 25, 2011
10:00am Sunday serviceEver since Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. brought to life the concept of “Beloved Community” Unitarian Universalists have been using the term and struggling to achieve it. But what might our congregational life be like if we used it as our moral compass, above and beyond our Principles and Purposes?
Compassion - Sept 18, 2011
10:00am Sunday serviceThe first of a year-long series based on the book "Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life" by Karen Armstrong. Because Armstrong believes we are addicted to our non-life affirming behaviors, she has created this "step program" toward living a compassionate life - the one thing she believes will help this world. This year we will have the opportunity to learn and practice these compassionate ways of being.
Every month on the third Sunday of the month we donate our loose offerings to a worthy cause. The first Share-the-Plate Sunday will be September 18th. Donations will go to an organization that provides relief to communities in Africa struggling with the effects of food insecurity and civil unrest.
Homecoming Sunday - Sept 11, 2011
10:00am Sunday serviceThis fall, at our Homecoming Service, we will be repeating a ritual Water Communion as we have for several years. Please bring a small amount of water representing a meaningful experience of your summer. Perhaps it will come from a vacation trip. Perhaps it will come from your home. You will be asked to write a few words of explanation and what direction your water came from. These thoughts will be shared as our water and our lives come together again at First Church Unitarian for the 2011/2012 church year.