January 4, 2026
remembrance
“Remembrance Service”
January 7, 2024
- Anna Fadden
- Cindy Malley
- Monica Pilman
- Rev. Lara Hoke
- Thea Shapiro
- "I Live My Life in Widening Circles" (poem) by Rainer Maria Rilke
- death
- remembrance
- Time for All Ages
Our annual Remembrance Service, remembering those loved ones we lost in the last year, as well as babies born in the past year.
“Remembrance Service”
January 8, 2023
- Bill Duston
- Cindy Malley
- Karen Tucker-Barisano
- Monica Pilman
- Rev. Lara Hoke
- Thea Shapiro
- afterlife
- death
- new life
- remembrance
- Time for All Ages
- Tree of Life
An annual tradition… we remember those we’ve lost in the past year and celebrate new life too.
“Remembrance Sunday”
January 2, 2022
- Bill Duston
- Cindy Malley
- Martha Childs
- Monica Pilman
- Rev. Lara Hoke
- Thea Shapiro
- afterlife
- death
- new life
- remembrance
- Time for All Ages
An annual tradition: on the first Sunday of the new year, we remember those we lost in the past year, and celebrate those born in the past year. Co-led by me (Rev. Lara) and the Deacons.
“Remembrance Sunday”
January 3, 2021
- Andy Leyenaar
- Bill Duston
- Cindy Malley
- Rev. Lara Hoke
- Tatum Joy Hammer
- coronavirus
- covid-19
- death
- online worship
- remembrance
- Time for All Ages
It is a tradition of FCU to have a “Remembrance Sunday” on the first Sunday of the new year, remembering those we lost in the past year, as well as welcoming those who were born in the past year. We light candles to remember, and to welcome. The Deacons co-lead the service.
“Web of Life”
January 5, 2020
“Remembrance Sunday” is an annual FCU tradition when we light Candles of Love and Memory to recall irreplaceable family and friends who died in the past year. We also light Candles of Hope and Joy to celebrate children dear to us who were born in the past year. This video shows the end of the service, where I share an excerpt from “Charlotte’s Web” by E. B. White and a brief sermon, “Web of Life”.
“Remembering the Astronauts”
January 6, 2019
- Rev. Lara Hoke
- Collected Poems of Robert Hayden
- astronauts
- death
- mortality
- remembrance
- Robert Hayden
This reading (the poem “Astronauts” by the great Robert Hayden) and my short sermon (“Remembering the Astronauts) were shared at the end of Remembrance Sunday. Remembrance Sunday is an annual FCU tradition; the congregation lights Candles of Love and Memory to recall irreplaceable family and friends who died in the past year as well as Candles of Hope and Joy to celebrate children dear to us who were born in the past year. Errata note: The beautiful line in Hayden’s poem is “once Absolute Otherwhere” (not “Everywhere”, as I mistakenly say a couple of times in this video.) My apologies! Read his gorgeous poem at this link.
On Being Remembered
January 7, 2018
A few weeks ago, I attended a Memorial Service for a woman named Nori. She was about 10 years my junior and had died from pancreatic cancer. Nori discovered Unitarian Universalism by way of the Nashua UU Church in the early years of my ministry there, and very quickly became involved in the life of the congregation. I felt honored to be her minister.