by Kent French, February 15, 2024
This Lent (February 14-March 30) our worship and Church School curriculum follows A Sanctified Art’s Wandering Heart series, reflecting on the sometimes mercurial discipleship of Peter and the words of a favorite hymn, “Come, O Fount of Every Blessing.” Jesus’ first disciples were everyday people: minding their own business, mending their nets, supporting their families, worrying about expenses, paying their taxes, fretting about the future. First and foremost among them was Peter. He’s a compelling guy, often impulsive, leaping before he looks, getting it wrong at least as much as he gets it right, making promises he can’t keep. Much… Read More
by Kent French, February 08, 2024
This Lent (February 14-March 30) our worship and Church School curriculum follows A Sanctified Art’s Wandering Heart series, following the sometimes mercurial discipleship of Peter and the words of a favorite hymn, “Come, O Fount of Every Blessing.” This is the last Sunday before we launch once again into the season of Lent, those 40 days when we commemorate Jesus’ days in the wilderness and seek to deepen in our own faith and spiritual practices. This Sunday, we’ll offer a prelude to Lent, as we lean into the Wandering Heart series described above (check out the link). Often, before the… Read More
by UPB Editor, February 07, 2024
Ash Wednesday Wednesday, February 14 7pm Worship in the Chapel Learn more Lenten Discernment Class Sundays, February 25, March 3, 10, 17 5:30-8pm in the Parlor Sunday, March 24, 12:30pm in the Parlor Learn more Lenten Dinner Church Music and worship over a shared sacred meal. Thursdays, February 22, 29, March 7, 14, 21 5:45pm Doors open in the Parlor 6:00-6:45pm Worship Learn more Palm Sunday Sunday, March 24 11am Worship in the Sanctuary and on YouTube Maundy Thursday Thursday, March 28 7pm Worship and Communion in the Sanctuary and on YouTube Good Friday Friday, March 29 7pm Tenebrae Worship… Read More
by UPB Editor, February 01, 2024
Join us for worship on Wednesday, February 14 at 7pm in the Chapel as we celebrate this ancient ritual to help us remember that each of us is made of finite material, inspired and animated by the breath of God. Contact Senior Pastor Kent French at kent@upbrookline.org or Associate Pastor Amy Norton at amy@upbrookline.org…. Read More
by Amy Norton, February 01, 2024
January 21-February 4, our worship continues following our Church School curriculum from the autumn, Seeking Peace Together, as we learn in worship alongside the youngest members of our community. We had just chosen the hymn In the Bleak Midwinter for our Advent midweek worship when we turned to planning some of our post-Christmas Sundays, and noted humorously the seeming incongruence of “Celebrating the Harvest” during the depths of the “Bleak Midwinter.” The text this week forms the basis of the holiday of Sukkot, or the Festival of Booths, that our Jewish siblings still celebrate to this day. In part a… Read More
by Kent French, January 25, 2024
January 21-February 4, our worship continues following our Church School curriculum from the autumn, Seeking Peace Together, as we learn in worship alongside the youngest members of our community. Peacemakers join God in caring for the Earth. On Sunday, we will revisit the second Creation story in Genesis (chapter 2, verses 4-23) and imagine what it would have felt like to wake up in the original Garden of Eden: What would we notice? What would surprise us? Where would our sense of wonder go? How does this original, primal wonder inform our relationship with this Earthly garden today? How much… Read More
by Kent French, January 18, 2024
January 21-February 4, our worship continues following our Church School curriculum from the autumn, Seeking Peace Together, as we learn in worship alongside the youngest members of our community. This Sunday, we pick up where our Church School curriculum left off in November, pre-Advent and Christmastide. And we start back in with a radical concept of wartime hospitality and a doozy of a biblical story to ground us (2 Kings 6:8-23). The story is so strange to our modern sensibility, that it comes across like creatively re-imagined history, with a whole lot magical realism thrown in. And yet, as we… Read More
by UPB Editor, January 16, 2024
After a multi-year hiatus, the Souper Bowl Chili Sale is returning. On Saturday, February 10, the Hearts and Hands Ministry Team will gather in the kitchen off Willett Hall to cook the chili, make cornbread and bake desserts. Come join us anytime between 9am-2pm to cook and socialize with others. After church on Sunday, February 11, we will sell the food and the proceeds will go towards the matching funds for United Parish’s grant award from the National Fund for Sacred Places. Contact heartsandhands@upbrookline.org…. Read More
by Amy Norton, January 11, 2024
Dear Ones, I hope you will join us at 9:45am downstairs in Willett Hall on Sunday for our annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Intergenerational Morning of Service! There are service activities for every age and ability (drawing, scrubbing, tying, painting, connecting, and more!), and every little bit helps! Afterwards, in worship (also in Willett Hall), we’ll be delving into this year’s theme from The King Center: “It Starts With Me”. We’ll hear two stories of unlikely individuals called to join a movement they knew nothing about; and thanks to their leaps of curiosity, ended up making a whole… Read More
by Kent French, January 04, 2024
For this Advent and Christmastide, we are deepening into the question of How Does a Weary World Rejoice? You can follow along with daily devotionals on our Facebook and Instagram pages. Worship this Sunday, January 7, is in Willett Hall, while our Sanctuary is being painted. Please check our website and emails about the status of worship in light of the coming snow storm. We began this series by acknowledging our weariness and we conclude with trusting our belovedness; ultimately, our joy is rooted in the fact that we belong to God. In the story of Jesus’ baptism (Luke 3:15-22),… Read More
