Recent Services

Caro Barschow, Minister

James Giessler, Executive Director North Shore Alliance of LGBTQ+ Youth

These are difficult days to be queer in America. Violence against LGBTQIA+ people is on the rise and legislatures across the country are enacting draconian measures that will severely impact members of the LGBTQ+ community. Queer young people are acutely aware of today’s political climate and often feel like they are living their lives in the crosshairs. It is no wonder that the rate of suicide continues to be inordinately high among queer youth.

With a mission to “honor, respect, educate, and empower LGBTQ+ youth,” the North Shore Alliance of LGBTQ+ Youth (aka NAGLY) seeks to protect, preserve, and enhance the lives of North Shore LGBTQ+ youth. NAGLY Executive Director, James Giessler, will share more about the work of NAGLY and what LGBTQ+ youth need in order to thrive in today’s climate.

Religious Services Committee

How do you define generosity? Is it celebrating the success of others without envy or resentment? Simone Weil says, “attention is the rarest form of generosity”. Or perhaps real generosity is doing something nice for someone who will never find out. During this service we will have opportunities to recall and share stories of generosity we have given and received. This service will be presented by members of the Religious Services Committee.

Jud Woldskill – Guest Speaker

Where a river meets the ocean is known as an estuary. An estuary, in other words, is not one thing or another; it’s where two things meet. What if we cultivated an estuary theology–a theology of the in-between place? Could it help us build the Beloved Community?

Jud Wolfskill (he/him) is a candidate for ministry with the UUA and a graduate of Boston University School of Theology.

Ryan Li, Guest Musician

Ryan Li is a junior, attending Dover Sherborn Regional High School. He started playing the piano when he was six, while living in Minnesota. When he was 11, his family moved to Dover, MA, and that is when he began his studies with Andrea Kaiser at the Wellesley Piano Studio. She remembers being so impressed by his early training with Rozauna Nuguid.  

This year, Ryan is tackling some very challenging pieces, including ” Piano Sonata Number 21 by Beethoven, Chopin’s “Grande Waltz Brillante” Opus 18, “Suite Bergamasque” by Debussy, a Bach Toccata and Joe Hisaishi’s “Summer”. He will play the first part of the Waldstein, the Grande Waltz and Summer on November 19th, and then head to Andrea’s to play the Toccata in her Fall Student Recital entitled “A Tribute to Bach” at 4:30 pm.

Ryan isn’t quite sure what he wants to do in the future, but he is confident that music and the piano will always be a part of his life. That being said, Ryan’s favorite subject in school is science, and he hopes to pursue something in that field in college. Besides playing piano, Ryan enjoys going to the gym, running, and eating good food. Ryan’s younger brother, Aiden, is also a student of Andrea’s, and he, too. is turning into a fine musician. He will turn pages for Ryan.

You can view several earlier performances of Ryan and Aiden on Andrea’s website: www.pianolessonswellesley.com. Scroll down the homepage and click on the recent videos.

Rev. Caro Barschow, Minister

To live in the spirit of abundance fits into our values as Unitarian Universalists. How can abundance inform how we give and receive in the conversations we have with one another? This service will inspire and equip you to listen and speak from a place of abundance, a place of generosity in action.

Rev. Caro Barschow, Minister

Perhaps we’ve considered generosity when it comes to an exchange of tangible gifts. What does generosity mean when it is part of a Unitarian Universalist covenant? Practicing generosity in relationships involves trust and care. Let’s delve into Generosity, one of the values proposed in the revision of UUA Bylaws Article II, the UU Principles and Purposes.

Rev. Marshall Hawkins – Guest Speaker

We live our lives with the best of intentions. We have plans and dreams for ourselves. Some of them come true and some do not. All of us experience some failures and disappointments. The question for us is not “Can we get through life without some failures and losses?” Because we can’t. The question is, “Can we remember that we still get a second chance?” And remember that it is never too late for a new start.

Rev. Marshall Hawkins is a hospice chaplain and Community Minister affiliated with the UU Church of Jamaica Plain, Boston.

Rev. Caro Barschow, Minister

Our ancestors are ones who have gone before us. This service of remembrance will invite us to reflect on the lives of loved ones that have died in the past year. You may wish to bring a memento or photograph of a loved one to display for a ritual of remembrance.

Dillon Bustin Guest Speaker

Jacqueline Schwab, Guest Musician

Making reference to Emerson’s essay “The Over-Soul.” Dillon will briefly compare Emerson’s idea of a living, spiritual universe with the concept of Brahman in Hinduism and also two theories in contemporary astrophysics: implicate order and panpsychism.

Dillon Bustin is a musician, playwright, and essayist. He and his wife Martha have been members of UU congregations in Bloomington, Indiana; Hingham and Harvard, Massachusetts; and Rockland, Maine. He was educated in American Studies at Indiana University with a special interest in New England Transcendentalism, graduating from the Institute for Folklore and Ethnomusicology.

Jacqueline Schwab graduated from the New England Conservatory with a major concentration in piano improvisation. She has taught at dance music workshops throughout the United States and also enjoys working with individual students. Known for her performances with the ensemble “Bare Necessities” as well as solo concerts, she has also collaborated on projects with individual singers including Dillon Bustin in the song cycle “American Renaissance.”

Rev. Caro Barschow, Minister

What does covenant mean in the context of our church, of our denomination? Learn about the heritage and the future of covenants in Unitarian Universalism, with special consideration given to the proposed changes to the covenant among congregations found in Article II of the UUA Bylaws. 

Rev. Caro Barschow, Minister

Are we from places, people, memories? George Ella Lyon’s poem “Where I’m From” has sparked many people to reflect on the question, “where are you from?” Come to this service to learn some of Rev. Caro’s answers and consider your own responses.

Rev. Danielle Di Bona, Guest Speaker

The Rev. Dr. Danielle Di Bona has served Unitarian Universalism for over 30 years and is the 2018 recipient of the Award for Distinguished Service to the Cause of Unitarian Universalism, and the 2004 recipient of The Melvin Hoover “Beloved Community Award” for outstanding service to Communities of Color in Unitarian Universalism. In her retirement Rev. Di Bona serves as the Palliative Care chaplain at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, Massachusetts.

Rev. Caro Barschow, Minister

Welcoming breath into the body anchors contemplative and transformative practices across religions. Medical research indicates focused breathing lowers an individual’s stress and improves overall health. What happens when people breathe together? This service explores how breath can deepen our relationships.

Potluck and Welcome Reception Sunday. September 17th 11:30 a.m.

Celebrate the spirit of welcome this month with a back-to-church potluck and welcome reception for our new staff members, Rev. Caro Barschow and Music Director Ethan Hackett. Bring a favorite dish or treat to share, and enjoy a potluck lunch with NSUU friends. Hal Morse will be coordinating, if you would like to volunteer with set-up and clean-up, please reply to HalMorse7@msn.com

Ingathering Water Service 

Rev. Caro Barschow, Minister

Each time we gather, we gather anew. Ingathering service is a recommitment to our community and an acknowledgement of what has changed us in the summer months. We reconvene at this end of summer, pouring water – symbolizing the vibrant energy of the summer season – into one vessel. Come share in this ritual and come share in this community, as we prepare ourselves for the turn of season and deepening into church life. If you wish, you may bring a container of water from home or travel.

“Ever Willing: Becoming the People Our World Needs”

This service will be streamed only

There will be no in-person gathering at Northshore Church.

The pandemic has wrought change and created uncertainty for institutions, like our Unitarian Universalist congregations, and our wider world. Who and what are we becoming, individually and collectively? Our GA Sunday service explores these themes as we gather in community to celebrate the best of who we UUs are.

Join us on June 18th for a very special service “Rise Up Singing: Spiritual and Gospel Music.” Our last official service of the year will be an opportunity to reflect on the history behind this type of music and time to actually sing many of them. The Singing Group will lead us in singing some of the selections and, in addition, members of the Essex Harmony Choral Group will also share their voices. In spite of all the heaviness that comes with this reflection, we’ll have the wonderful experience of being lifted up by our singing and hearing these precious songs throughout the service.

June is PRIDE month; celebrating the many ways people express gender and sexuality in our culture – many of which transcend cultural norms; male and female.  Learning from each other and expanding our understanding of the full range of human experience is an important way Unitarian Universalists can honor the worth and dignity of all people.  Finding a spiritual home where you feel seen in the fullness of your humanity is what being a Welcoming Congregation is really all about.  The UUA is inviting congregations to recommit to widening their circle of inclusion.  We’ll hear from ideas about how NSUU might do that from participants in a workshop series of Transgender Inclusion in Congregations.  

Join us for a very special celebration of the 100th Anniversary of this tradition that has deep roots in our Unitarian Universalist faith. Each of us is a unique flower with gifts of great beauty to share. When we bring them together there is great beauty in the unity enhanced by our diversity. So, bring a flower or two to add to the collective beauty of the bouquet that is Northshore Church. We’ll honor the unique gifts of several very special people including volunteer recognition.

This service will begin with the completion of the Annual Meeting; the important business of electing a new Board of Directors and Officers for the coming year.  

This service will provide space for stories of love and loss, strength and resiliency in the face of adversity. There are lessons in these stories about the value of remembering well in a world where change, loss and love are the nature of life. 

As the days lengthen, the light and warmth of the sun beckon, calling us out into the natural world.  As we take to the waterways and trails, many of us feel a sense of both of the power of nature and of our place in it – feeling just our right size. 

And after the service……..

NORTHSHORE UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE CONGREGATION

SUNDAY, MAY 21, 2023 AT 11:45 AM

Mothering is an art that transcends gender and genetics. This morning we’ll celebrate mothers and mothering; all the ways we nurture and are nurtured by others throughout our lives.

Who’s your favorite superhero? April 28 is “National Superhero Day”; created by employees at Marvel to honor those who serve and protect and resist evil in the pages of comic books and on the big screen. We all have heroes in our lives – some of them are more famous then others. The idea behind superhero day is to honor those who serve, protect and resist evil. No matter who your favorite hero is, honoring the real and fictional people that inspire us is something to celebrate. Capes are optional!

Special Musical Guest; Morgan Beckford, vocalist

Join us for a celebration of spring through poetry and song. We don’t always know where our strength comes from but this time of year the light and warmth of the sun certainly provide an energy for renewal. Breath deep and take in the sights and sounds of life abundant. 

Morgan Beckford, originally hailing from Memphis, Tennessee, has been singing as long as she can remember. Beginning with children’s choir at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church at age 6, her passion for singing has taken her through a variety of genres, including a capella, musical theater, jazz and American songbook repertoire, and mostly, classical voice and opera.

Now that she has relocated to the New England area, she’s been thrilled to perform with both the Theater Offensive and Petrichor in cabaret performances; she is also a staff singer at Trinity Church Boston in Copley Square. 

When not onstage, Morgan has worked in arts administration as an Education and Outreach Coordinator and Summer Conservatory Director for Opera Memphis, a Fellowship Coach and Partnerships Coordinator for the Memphis Music Initiative, and the Chief Programming Officer at the Community Music Center of Boston. Currently, she serves as the Silkroad Connect Director of the Silkroad Ensemble.

Why are you here at NSUU now? Each of us has gifts to share that can have a huge impact, gifts that only we can give. Hebrew scripture tells the story of Esther, an unlikely queen who uses her gifts to free her people. What will you do with your gifts? Perhaps, as Esther’s uncle famously says to Esther, “Who knows but that you have come to this place for such a time as this.” As we “Spring into Action” let’s contemplate the gifts each of us brings to a time such as this, a time bright with promise for a new chapter in the life of this congregation.

As Black History month draws to a close, we’ll look at love as a motivating force for seeking justice. Dr. King defined love as, “The greatest force in the universe. It is the heartbeat of the moral cosmos. He who loves is a participant in the being of God.” How do we harness that force for justice? 

Gina Tzizik is an artist and educator whose work is informed by her study of Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism. Gina’s talk will focus on her experience and research of the power of the work Chesed – Loving-kindness (pronounced Hess-ed) from the Tree of Life or sefroit (the sefirot are described as channels of divine creative life force or consciousness through which the unknowable divine essence is revealed to humankind).

Guest musicians Judith Ahrens, Cello and Douglas Kramer, Clarinet will be providing the music for the service.

Chesed offers us the opportunity to contribute a part of ourselves to the world. We offer our unique spark of individuality in action when we give selflessly. Each act of kindness (no matter how small) has the potential to impact humanity with the energy of goodness, positively and in light.

Pieces of Light, Gina Tzizik, 2022

An artist reception will follow the service with refreshments and sale of her prints, giclee limited edition, and original prints. 10% of the proceeds will be donated to the church.

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. 

What is essential is invisible to the eye.”

from The Little Prince

by Antoine de Saint Exupèry

As Valentine’s Day approaches, a day devoted to love, it seems fitting to explore what it means to love. There are many kinds of love; self-love, parental love, friendship, romantic love – the love that extends to all beings. What’s the common denominator? Perhaps it has something to do with seeing with the heart. 

The Religious Society of Friends (known commonly as Quakers) stress simplicity in living and believe there must be a vital and sustained connection between worship and daily life. Quakers and Unitarian Universalists share many religious principles. This service will explore some of the Quaker philosophy and will offer an opportunity to participate in one of the essential practices, silent worship.

Unitarian Universalism is a living tradition. As such we’re called to review our principles to ensure they and we remain relevant. Our principles were last revised in 1987 when the 7th principle affirming and promoting the interconnected web of all existence was added. More recently there has been discussion about adding an 8th principle addressing racism. Other changes have been proposed in different forums. The UUA has appointed a commission to do a wholesale review of our 7 Principles. This service will include a review of their progress to date, the process by which changes will be made and how we can be more involved.