Recent Sermons
Speak your Truth in Love…
In a country where hateful rhetoric is being flung back and forth on social media one has to wonder where is the “high ground?” How can we speak our minds and share our beliefs in meaningful ways that are not offensive or aimed to exclude rather than include? This Sunday join, Rev. Dr. Marjorie Matty in finding ways to share our beliefs in patient and peaceful ways.
read moreIngathering: Water is Change…
Water is Change – Water is an important part of our lives. The human body is comprised of at least 60% water. We need it to sustain our lives, to bathe, wash everything and to cool or warm us on occasion. We float on water for recreation or travel. Water flows and wears surfaces and seeps into and around obstacles, it is flexible like no other material. At First Parish of Sudbury, we honor water at the time of our fall ingathering, September 8th. We encourage you to bring a small amount of water with you to worship, as an acknowledgment of...
read moreOur Annual Poetry Jam
The First Parish Annual Poetry Jam is coming up on Sunday, August 25th! Each year we end our summer services with a morning of poetry reading. All poems are welcome. They might be funny or profound. They could be classics that you memorized years ago or free verse you saw on the internet yesterday. Unknown poets join with those whose names are virtually synonymous with poetry. If you write poetry, we’d love to have you share your own work. If you wake up Sunday morning and realize you forgot to find a poem, don’t worry. We’ll have a variety...
read moreGod of Dirt: A Meditation on Intimacy with Nature — Lane Williamson
As children we feasted on lying in the grass watching ants carry big loads, on the swing going higher and higher in anticipation of actually touching those clouds; we carried endless curiosity into exploring the way the frog zipped his tongue out – so fast – and caught the fly; and we passionately cared when the blue robin’s egg fell from the nest, or the baby squirrels lost their home because a tree was cut down. What happened to us? We grew up – and away – from intimacy with nature. Our loss. Retrieve some of that...
read moreWhat Is It About Guns – Seth Kaplan
Seth will be talking about why guns occupy the position they do in our society, how this is evidenced in the level of gun violence in America, and what this boils down to in his life.
read moreLughnasadh! — The Earth Centered Group
Join the First Parish Earth Centered group as we celebrate Lammas, also known as Lughnasadh and First Fruits, comes from the Anglo-Saxon hlaf-mas, “loaf-mass”. It is a Cross Quarter Day, along with Halloween, Groundhog Day and May Day, half way between the solstices and the equinoxes. It is the first of the three harvest festivals and celebrates the reaping of the grain. In Gaelic traditions it is called Lughnasadh in honor of the Celtic blacksmith god Lugh.
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My Year of No Shopping – Leslie Bryant
Leslie Bryant will be speaking about her ongoing “year of no shopping”, how it has impacted her thoughts on consumerism and influenced her behavior in a manner that allows her to be more mindful and more able to share her resources of time and money with her community.
read moreWhat Is Church For? A Dialogue. — Tom Yelton
What is church for? What is it not for? What is life for? The service will not have a sermon or lecture. It will use the format called Bohm Dialogue which emphasizes respectful listening and balanced, synergistic sharing. For more details about how Dialogue works, please see this intro. Basically we will sit in a circle with a talking stick in the center. Whoever wishes to speak on the topic “What Is Church For?” will take the talking stick (or ask for it if they need help) and return it to the center when done speaking. Bohm...
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