First Church Unitarian

All Sermons

All Sermons

“For Love of Earth and All Beings”

May 17, 2020

Lots of great surprises in this one! Click on “show more” in the description at YouTube and you will see blue time stamps the allow you to go forward and back to particular worship elements. Don’t miss the great skit (Time for All Ages)… don’t miss learning about A Well-Fed World… Don’t miss the video made just for us by Maple Farm Sanctuary. And more!

“Mothering Sunday”

May 10, 2020

For Mother’s Day in our online-only worship, we explored “motherly love” and nurturing. After my remarks, there is a video with pictures submitted by members and friends of FCU of people who offered them motherly love, or to whom they offered such love. If you watch the video on YouTube, you can click on “show more” and use the blue time stamps to go forward (or back) to any particular worship element.

“Of Covid and Covenant”

May 3, 2020

Our online-only worship service on May 3, 2020 was “Of Covid and Covenant”. If you go to YouTube to watch, click on “show more” in the description. The time stamps (in blue) will enable you to move forward and back to any particular worship element. (Note: in the process of editing in the YouTube studio, I inadvertently deleted the Community Matters announcements by Lezli Whitehouse and the Reading of the Warrant by our Clerk, Lori Grant. I apologize! – Rev. Lara)

“Earth Day 2020”

April 26, 2020

A service in honor of the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day! Learn about Project C.U.R.E. during our virtual Share-the-Plate. See some great images during the Time for All Ages. Listen to Molly Lozeau’s playing. And watch my homily/video about the climate crisis in the time of Covid-19, and what it might mean. If you watch this video on YouTube, go down to the description and click “show more”. There you’ll see blue time stamps that will let you go to (or return to) any particular worship element.

“Suffragette Sunday” with The Artemis Singers

April 19, 2020

In honor of the 100th Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage in the USA, FCU’s Artemis Singers bring us “Suffragette Sunday”! If you go to the YouTube link and click on “show more” in the description, you will see the Order of Service with blue time stamps that will enable you to move forward or back to any particular worship element. Service description: “We look back at a time just after the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic and during World War I as women were finally able to get enough support to pass the 19th amendment of the United State Constitution. The women who led the movement inspire us by their courage, commitment, and persistence. In this service, we will hear the voices of the most prominent suffragettes and sing songs of the movement. The children join us in our virtual choir for the prelude and postlude.”

“Easter Somewhere Up the Road”

April 12, 2020

Our 5th online-only worship service, and the first-ever online-only Easter Sunday Service for First Church Unitarian in Littleton, Massachusetts! If you watch this on Youtube and click on “see more”, you can use the blue time stamps to skip forward (or back) to any particular worship element.

Maundy Thursday Service, with Tenebrae

April 9, 2020

First Church Unitarian in Littleton, Massachusetts, had a virtual Maundy Thursday Service (with Tenebrae) using the Zoom platform. This video begins with an original piece of music by FCU’s Music Director, Molly Lozeau (“Starlight Song” (c) 2020 Molly Lozeau). I light the chalice and welcome all. FCU Deacons Lynn Courtney, Andy Leyenaar, and Cindy Malley lead communion and much of the service, as is the FCU tradition.

“Of Plagues, Hardened Hearts, and Wandering in the Wilderness”

April 5, 2020

On April 5, 2020, the First Church Unitarian of Littleton, Massachusetts had its fourth online-only worship service during the COVID-19 pandemic. Before this service started, we showed a video (with original music by our Music Director) for the gathering time. You can see that video here. The service was titled “Of Plagues, Hardened Hearts, and Wandering in the Wilderness”. The topic was chosen in honor of Passover, which our Jewish siblings, friends and neighbors would celebrate the next week. If you watch the video on Youtube and go to the description, click on “See more”. There, you will see blue time stamps that enable you to move forward and back to any individual worship element.

“Spirit in the Sky, Full of Ghosts”

March 29, 2020

This is the third online-only worship service for First Church Unitarian in Littleton, MA. The title for my reflection this week came from an episode of Cosmos from a few years ago. William Herschel, an astronomer born in 1738, was “the first person to understand that a telescope is a time machine”. With a powerful telescope like Hubble, you can see not only incredibly far away, but also incredibly long ago; you can stand (or sit) on the earth and see an image from before the earth even existed! Even looking at the night sky with your naked eye, you can see celestial objects that might not exist anymore. My reflection considers some of the theological implications that come from the realities of looking up at “a sky full of ghosts”. If you watch on Youtube, go down to the description and click on “show more”. Then you can use the blue time stamps to go forward, or back, to any particular worship element.

“An Evolution of Love”

March 22, 2020

First Church Unitarian in Littleton, Massachusetts, has moved to online-only worship in this time of social distancing for Covid-19. We had planned to use Youtube Live with just the service participants, but we did not have that option this week. At the last minute, we switched over to an open Zoom format for the congregation. Below are the times if you want to skip ahead or go back to a particular worship element. The Order of Service: Prelude: Brian Tarbox on flute 0:00; Call to Worship: words of Lynn Ungar (read by Rev. Lara Hoke) 2:35; Chalice Lighting (Violet Malley) 4:32; Words of Welcome (Lara) 5:12; Time for All Ages: Aesop’s fable “Bundle of Sticks” (DRE Vicki Merriam) 7:25; Musical interlude (Music Director Molly Lozeau) 10:37; Special Guest Appearance by the Deacons (Andy Leyenaar, Cindy Malley, Lynn Courtney) 13:50; Offering – Virtual Share the Plate: COVID-19 Fund of the United Way of Mass Bay and Merrimack Valley (Guest: Lisa Rowan-Gillis) 18:17; Offertory (Molly) 21:48; Remarks (Short Sermon): “An Evolution of Love” (Lara) 23:16; (Prerecorded) Choral Interlude: The Church Choir 35:18; Improvisational flute (Brian) 37:25; Benediction 40:15; Postlude (Molly) 42:00