Led by our minister, Tom Rosiello, and our DRE, Michele Cote, this service will be oriented towards our children. We will have lots of them participating as we act out the Christmas Story and create a Christmas Tableau. Our Junior Choir and Youth Singers will be performing, and there will be familiar carols for all to sing. We will conclude this service with the traditional candle-lighting ceremony.
Past Services
Saturday, December 24th, 2016
Christmas Eve Family Service Saturday 4:00 PM in the Sanctuary
Sunday, December 18th, 2016
11 AM in the Sanctuary
We will dispel the darkness of the season with lively music and the presentation of our Annual Mummer’s Play under the leadership of Pat Sorn and Janet Beatrice. This is a great family service with lots of children participating. Worship will be led by Minister, Tom Rosiello, Director of Religious Education, Michelle Coté, Music Director, Mike Pfitzer, and Organist/Pianist, Sanghee Kim.
Sunday, December 18th, 2016
at 9:00 am in the Community Room~the 11 AM service will be in the Sanctuary
At the end of Unitarian Charles Dickens’ "A Christmas Carol," he writes of the transformed Scrooge, "It was always said that he knew how to do Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge." While the mummers are setting up for the 11 AM service we will gather in the community room around the Christmas tree. We will share excerpts from Dickens’ famous story, thoughts on how to "Keep Christmas Well” and familiar carols and other music of the season.
Sunday, December 11th, 2016
Vesper Service 5:00 PM
On last year's trip to your partner church in Transylvanina, Romania, Mike Pfitzer, our music director, discovered a wonderful Christmas Cantata which will be the featured piece in this service. This very special Candlelight Vesper service will include a beautiful string orchestra prelude and The First Parish Adult Choir with guest soloists accompanied by a string orchestra and organ. Worship will be led by The Rev. Tom Rosiello. Mike Pfitzer will be directing the music and Malcolm Halliday will be our guest organist. The service will also include carols for all to sing and a reflection on the music offered. This musical service is our holiday gift to the greater community. Please let people in the community know about it and bring your friends and neighbors.
Sunday, December 11th, 2016
The Christmas story is a sweet narrative about the long awaited birth of a child and his promise for the future. However, embedded in that story are some very powerful messages about exclusion, inequality, power, and peace. This morning we will look at the Christmas story through a social justice lens and apply it to the political climate and struggles of our time.
Sunday, December 4th, 2016
As the days get shorter many religions celebrate holidays with a message of hope for the future. The Christian season of Advent, the 8 days of Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and the Solstice all emphasize how the light of hope shines even in the darkest of time. Over the past few weeks many have found hope hard to find. Together we will explore the season’s message of hope. In this morning's worship we will also mark the start of this year’s "Coming of Age"program for our high school youth. The services will be led by our minister, Tom Rosiello, and feature beautiful music for the Advent season.
Sunday, November 27th, 2016
ONE SERVICE AT 11 AM
Rev. Laura Randall will be our guest minister this morning at 11 AM. We are living through tumultuous times. The desire to disengage and hide from hard truths is a strong one. Yet, we are part of a long tradition of people who stand up for what is right, giving voice to the voiceless, even when it is not always the easy thing to do. What are we, as people of faith, being called toward today? Join us as we explore what it means to walk toward trouble instead of fleeing from it in order to transform our hurting world. Rev. Laura Randall is the Legacy Campaign Director at our Unitarian Universalist Association, helping individuals and congregations nurture the faith we love through planned giving. She is the Affiliate Community Minister at the Unitarian Universalist Area Church in Sherborn, Massachusetts, serving the broader community through ministries of stewardship and chaplaincy. Laura is a chaplain with AseraCare Hospice and serves on the board of Healing Moments Alzheimer's Ministry. Laura lives in Medford, Massachusetts with her husband, Luke, and their dogs.
Sunday, November 20th, 2016
THANKSGIVING SUNDAY
Together, as an inter-generational community, we will give thanks. We will sing traditional Thanksgiving hymns and be treated to a bounty of beautiful music from our FPC choirs and musicians of all ages. Our minister, Tom Rosiello, assisted by our director of religious education, Michelle Cote, and many of our children and youth, will lead the service. It will include the traditional ritual of breaking and sharing of bread which will be baked for us by the junior youth group. Please bring non-perishable food and toiletries to the service to be collected and donated to the Stow Food Pantry.
Tuesday, November 15th, 2016
Autumn is a time of both great beauty and some sadness. It calls up many memories and emotions. In this intimate candle light service, we will reflect on the fall season in words, music, and silence. You are invited to bring a poem or short reading that captures this season for you to share in the service. Margi Nasemann will provide the music on the auto harp. Vespers is a 45 minute service that is the perfect way to end the day. Rev. Tom Rosiello and Mike Pfitzer will lead worship.
Sunday, November 13th, 2016
FPC's former intern minister, Ilene Gillispie, will return to share some wisdom from her experiences working with veterans. She is currently serving as a Chaplain Resident at the Veterans' Affairs Medical Center in Durham, NC and will focus on lessons she has learned working in intensive care, hospice, and mental health units. She and Rev. Tom Rosiello will lead worship together and music will be provided by Mike Pfitzer, Sanghee Kim with the FPC Adult Choir at the 11 AM service.
