First Parish in Needham Logo

23 Dedham Avenue
Needham, MA 02492

Sermons

Most Recent Sermon

What the World Needs Now

 

Sunday, February 19, 2023

at 10:30am (live streamed from the Sanctuary)

Darrah Bryans leading

 

When disasters happen, earthquakes, mass shootings, a cancer diagnosis, we often say that we will keep those harmed in our thoughts and prayers. This is a nice thought, but the words feel empty. This Sunday we will be challenging ourselves to reconceptualize the idea of prayer: how can we keep prayer from feeling empty, is it still prayer if we don’t believe in god, what would meaningful prayer look like?

 

Previous Sermons

Get Rooted, Get Ready!

  April 24, 2022 10:30 am, prerecorded on YouTube/Zoom and streamed into the Parish Hall   “It will take all of us, working with all of us… doing what none of us can do alone” –All of Us, the new climate hymn by Dana Clark   Our faith calls us into...

read more

Easter Sunday

  April 17, 2022 10:30 am, live streamed from the sanctuary Rev. Catie Scudera leading   For our one Easter service this year, we’ll reflect on our Unitarian and Universalist Christian ancestors who invested in an “Easter Sunday faith” (as opposed to a “Good...

read more

We Don’t Talk About…

  April 10, 2022 10:30 am, in person and live streamed from the sanctuary Rev. Catie Scudera   In the Disney film Encanto, we meet the Family Madrigal who are given magical powers, but struggle with the effects of intergenerational trauma. Notably, the...

read more

Peace (& Poetry) Be Upon You

  April 3, 2022 10:30 am, Live streamed from the Parish Hall Rev. Catie Scudera leading   At the start of both National Poetry Month and the holy time of Ramadan, we will celebrate the long and inspiring history of Islamic poets. We’ll hear from better-known...

read more

Gender Abundance

  March 27, 2022 10:30 am, live-streamed from the Parish Hall Reverend Catie Scudera   In celebration of Trans Day of Visibility, we honor the abundance of human gender identity and expression and explore how, in modern times, our culture became so stuck in...

read more

Music Sunday

  March 20, 2022 10:30 am; prerecorded and streamed to YouTube, Zoom, and the Parish Hall Laura Nevitt leading   Come to the Parish Hall or join on YouTube or Zoom for our annual Music Sunday! This year, our Music Sunday will celebrate the vernal equinox....

read more

Two Years Later

  Sunday, March 13, 2022 10:30 am, Live Streaming from the Parish Hall Rev. Catie Scudera and Jenna Crawford  co-leading   In this service, co-led by Rev Catie and Jenna, we’ll mark the second anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Needham and Metro...

read more

Rest in Power

  February 27, 2022 10:30 am, Live Streaming from the Parish Hall Rev. Catie Scudera   Almost exactly ten years ago, a black teenager named Trayvon Martin was returning to his father’s fiancée’s home with a pack of Skittles when he was stalked, shot, and...

read more

Not Calling, Whispering

  February 20, 2022 10:30 am, Live-streaming from the Parish Hall Jenna Crawford, Ministerial Intern   At times for some of us, the idea of a “calling” can seem inaccessible, out of reach, or even intimidating. What does vocation look like for those of us...

read more

Prophetic Imperative

  February 13, 2022 10:30 am live-streaming from the Parish Hall Rev. Catie Scudera   Retired Euro-American UU minister Rev. Dr. Dick Gilbert articulated that Unitarian Universalists have a “prophetic imperative” to serve and co-create the greater good....

read more

Voice of Vocation

  February 6, 2022 10:30 am live-streaming from the Parish Hall Rev. Catie Scudera   As we kick off our month on the theme of Calling, Rev. Catie will draw on the work of modern Euro-American Quaker author and activist Parker Palmer, as well as other...

read more