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Northshore Unitarian Universalist Church
A liberal, welcoming congregation serving the North Shore of Massachusetts since 1966

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Recent Services

Our Next Service – Democracy Means All

Due to the forecast of Inclement Weather, this service will be

ON-LINE ONLY

The planned performance of the Boston Music Center Bassoon Band will be rescheduled.

February 9 Service at 10:30 AM on Zoom 

Rev. Caro Barschow, Minister


Democracy has been called a great experiment when applied to a nation as large and diverse as the United States.  What do Unitarian Universalist values have to teach us about democracy in this moment?

Multi-Platform Service – Gender Diversity

February 2 Service at 10:30 PM in the Church and on Zoom 

Candice Waldron, Guest Speaker

Transgender people—especially trans youth—are being ruthlessly targeted by many wishing to gain political points. Gender dysphoria is a unique condition since it’s children themselves who diagnose the problem, putting parents on the frontlines of a battle they didn’t choose as they work to protect their children. Candace will discuss the importance of understanding gender diversity and having a heart of compassion in creating acceptance and safety for trans people in today’s climate of misunderstanding and fear. 

About the Speaker


Candace Waldron is a mother, a writer, a feminist and a crone with a theological degree and forty years of experience working to end sexual assault, domestic violence and elder abuse. As a cisgender white woman married to a Trinidadian man with two racially mixed children, she continues to learn about the multi-layered impacts of racism, heterosexism, and transphobia. Whether writing about how friends and family can support LGBTQ people, exploring the need to own our racist history so we can build an equitable future, or honoring nature and urging action on climate change, she embraces the values her mother taught: treat others the way you would like to be treated. 

Our Next Multi-Platform Service – Hope is an Action

January 26 Service at 10:30 PM in the Church and on Zoom 

Rev. Caro Barschow, Minister

Let’s investigate hope as a practice that grounds us simultaneously and powerfully to reality and possibility. We will draw wisdom from community organizers Mariame Kaba and Kelly Hayes, authors of Let This Book Radicalize You.

Today’s Diversity, Arts and Inclusion guest musician is Rising Star pianist Shriya Bhushan. She will perform selections including Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven and Chopin’s Fantasie Impromptu.

Shriya, age 15, is a high school student in Sharon. She started playing the piano at age four and currently studies at the Wellesley PianoStudio. She has entered and won a cash prize for best performance in her age  group at the Crescendo International Competition and in January of 2025 will participate in the Steinway Society of Massachusetts Competition.

Our Next Multi-Platform Service – MLK Sunday

January 19 Service at 10:30 PM in the Church and on Zoom 

Rev. Caro Barschow, Minister

The birthday of civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was established as a federal holiday in 1983. About 110 years prior the Civil War had ended. Black children born into slavery were freed and some were able to seek education. Public support for higher education for black students was tenuous. In Tennessee, Fisk University student singers decided to fundraise in support of their college by going on a concert tour. The influence of their decision will inspire you to take action for justice, equity and freedom in our times.

Our Next Multi-Platform Service – Communities of Care

January 12 Service at 10:30 PM in the Church and on Zoom 

Rev. Caro Barschow, Minister

Caring relationships are at the heart of our mission at NSUU. Our world is ever in need of more care. What stories do we tell about the meaning of caring? Let’s consider our role in creating communities of care that begin within and spread far and wide.  

Our Next Multi-Platform Service – Making Each Day Count

January 5 Service at 10:30 AM in the Church and on Zoom 

Rev. Dr, Rand Peabody, Speaker

The early days of a New Year offer a great time to take stock of our current doings, and to reflect on the changes or choices we’d like to make going forward.  This year, impending developments in our world invite such appraisal to an even greater degree.  Guest minister Rev. Dr. Rand Peabody will guide us through a unique way of constructing such considerations.

Here is a link to the Hymn “Let All Thinks Living Now”

Here is a link to “Add Subtract Multiply Divide”

Our Next Multi-Platform Service – The Precious Present

December 29 Service at 10:30 AM in the Church and on Zoom 

Edith Fenton, Speaker

We stand at the beginning of a brand new year. The past is behind us, the future ahead is unknown. Experiencing the joy of the present is more  important than ever. We must trust that as Martin Luther King Jr. said “The long arc of the moral universe still bends toward justice. The weight of the work helps it bend.” We can work together to contribute to that bending. Each of us will have time to reflect upon and write about our hopes for 2025. Your messages will be saved in the church office and returned to you at the end of 2025. For those on Zoom, please have paper and pencil for your thoughts.

Our Next Multi-Platform Service – O Glory

December 24 Service at 6:30 PM in the Church and on Zoom 

Rev. Caro Barschow, Minister

This service will invite reflection on notions of glory as we tell the Christmas story with Scripture, poetry and song. The NSUU Singing Group will lead Carols, including a candle-lit “Silent Night” featuring the NSUU Handbell Choir, under the direction of Judy Putnam, Music Director Emerita.

 

Our Next Multi-Platform Service – Honor the Winter Solstice

December 22 Service at 6:30 PM in the Church and on Zoom 

Rev. Caro Barschow, Minister

Featuring : The Essex Harmony

A contemplative evening service to honor the Winter Solstice.

The Essex Harmony is a Danvers-based acapella vocal ensemble that performs music of the “singing school” period of late 18th and early 19th century New England.

Because the predicted temps and wind for Sunday in Danvers at 7PM are 13 degrees with a 8-10 MPH wind = wind chill of 2 degrees, the service will be held indoors.

 

Our Next Multi-Platform Service – Winter Workshop Service

December 8 Service at 10:30 AM in the Church and on Zoom 

Religious Services Committee

We will celebrate the holiday season with our beloved service of Christmas carols, readings, and crafts. Make a swag with fresh winter greens, or create a scented pomander ball. There will also be a table with materials for wrapping our donations to the annual Giving Tree. Cider and festive snacks will be served.

*Fellowship Hour with refreshments will follow all Sunday services

 

Our Next Multi-Platform Service – Expansive Ambiguity

December 1 Service at 10:30 AM in the Church and on Zoom 

Gabrielle & Lil Montevecchi, Guest Speakers

Bonnie Anderson, Guest Musician

Protecting and Uplifting the Trans Community in the Framework of Unitarian Universalist Values

This service will be an investigation into how the values that we hold dear in Unitarian Universalism, specifically those of social justice and action, can be activated to protect the Transgender and gender-variant community. This talk will reflect on the teachings of past and present UU and trans thinkers, who we can look to for guidance in politically hostile and uncertain times. Guest Musician Bonnie Anderson will play selections for piano and flute.

 

Our Next Multi-Platform Service – Truth and Thankfulness

November 17 Service at 10:30 AM in the Church and on Zoom 

Religious Services Committee

The traditional story of Thanksgiving that we learn as children centers on the Pilgrims. But, in fact, without the help of the indigenous people they encountered in the New World, these migrants from Europe would likely not have survived. Our service moves the focus to some indigenous traditions of giving thanks. We will gather to in preparation for the holiday with Native American-centered prayers and readings, and will conclude our service with a communion of cornbread and cider.

 

Our Next Multi-Platform Service – Unlocking the Mystery of Music

November 17 Service at 10:30 AM in the Church and on Zoom 

Rev. Marie Lucca, Guest Speaker

Music has the power to increase our physical, emotional, and spiritual health in so many ways. Our guest speaker, the Reverend Marie Lucca, will remind us of how the spirit of music is threaded through our lives. Her talk will feature video interviews with a music therapist and a patient who credits music with helping in his recovery, plus a discussion of how music has affected our own lives. You’ll leave with some practical tips about how to use music to enhance your physical and emotional well-being.

 

Our Next Multi-Platform Service – Mending

November 10 Service at 10:30 AM in the Church and on Zoom 

Caro Barschow, Minister

Ryan Li, Guest Musician

When a garment is torn, it is in need of mending. What about a heart? A relationship? A nation? Come together to reflect on our torn places and discover words, music and prayers for mending and repair. We will be joined by guest pianist, Ryan Li.

Rising Star Guest Artist Series

Ryan Li (Pianist)
Ryan is a senior at Dover Sherborn Regional High School and plans to major in biomedical engineering in college. In addition to music, he is a member of his high school track team. This summer he started teaching at the Wellesley Piano Studio under the guidance of Andrea Kaiser, and he has become a patient, thoughtful and engaging instructor. Ryan has been studying for 10 years.

 

Our Next Multi-Platform Service – Hark! Listening to the Messages of the World

October 27 Service at 10:30 AM in the Church and on Zoom 

Religious Services Committee

Listening is an intentional activity. Today’s service will consider the ways we may listen mindfully, not just to other people but to the energies of music, nature, history, the words of literature or poetry, the messages of our ancestors, and other nuanced learnings from the many sources that call to our spirits. There is so much wisdom and meaning in the world around us!

 

Our Next Multi-Platform Service – Politics and Polarization

October 20 Service at 10:30 AM in the Church and on Zoom 

Caro Barschow, Minister

When we listen to public discourse, what we hear can be meant to inform, persuade or entertain. Other times, public speech is meant to control or silence. How do we learn to attune to the meaning beneath the words on the airwaves and in publishing? As election day approaches, we will consider the role of resistance and empathy when in the current political landscape.

 

Moving Towards an Indigenous Worldview

October 13 Service at 10:30 AM in the Church and on Zoom 

Claire Karl Müller, Speaker

Our planet faces so many crises, it can be hard to read the news. And yet, throughout the world, Indigenous nations hold out a different way of being. Guest speaker Claire Karl Müller (they/them) will speak to this vision, finding our personal stake in it and what UU Mass Action is doing with  Indigenous leaders here in Massachusetts to get there. Claire-Karl is coordinator of the statewide climate justice coalition Mass Power Forward, which they co-founded in 2015, as well as the UU Mass Action staff lead for Indigenous Solidarity. Find out more about UU Mass Action at  ww.uumassaction.org

 

Listening as a Path to Peace

October 6 Service at 10:30 AM in the Church and on Zoom 

Caro Barschow, Minister

Listening is a path to peace, yet it is a skill that few of us are taught. Beneath the definition of a spoken or written word, there is humanity to discover. What are some common mistakes that we make in listening? What are some techniques for learning to listen as a path to peace? This service will feature music by the NSUU Singing Group.

 

Soul Matters: How it Matters

September 29 Service at 10:30 AM in the Church and on Zoom 

Religious Services Committee

Soul Matters is a living curriculum, a deep resource centered on universal themes that matter to us as Unitarian Universalists. Month by month, these themes focus us on a spiritual value that our UU faith has historically honored and calls all of us to embody in our lives. This year’s overarching framework is “The Practices of Our Faith,” created to help us see our denomination as a lived faith that inspires us to act, live, and love our values out in the world. The Religious Services Committee will introduce Soul Matters and this year’s themes, and help us all think about what they mean to us as individuals and UUs.

 

Changing Seasons

September 22 Service at 10:30 AM in the Church and on Zoom 

Caro Barschow, Minister

Brendan and Erin Lo, Cello and Piano

*Rising Stars* Guest Musicians

Come for a celebration of the autumn equinox and reflection on how this new season invites us to trust change. We will be joined by guest musicians Brendan Lo on cello and Erin Lo on piano, playing selections from Brahms and Debussy. These siblings are the first performers in NSUU’s Rising Stars guest series featuring talented young musicians.

Following the service, return to the Sanctuary for a Talk Back conversation with Brendan and Erin Lo.

 

“Bring a Friend to Church” Service

September 15 Service at 10:30 AM in the Church and on Zoom 

Caro Barschow, Minister

An invitation can lead us down a new path. It is not uncommon for Unitarian Universalists to say that the first time they attended a UU Church was because a friend invited them. On this Sunday, worship will explore the art of asking. You are welcome to extend an invitation to a friend to come to church. Perhaps your friend would like to stay after to help complete Get Out the Vote Postcards. Or maybe join in a Sunday Stroll at 2pm. See the current “Good Things are Happening” for more details regarding Get Out the Vote: Do Your Bit to Promote Democracy

 

Ingathering Sunday: Water Communion

September 8 Service at 10:30 AM in the Church and on Zoom 

Caro Barschow, Minister

Each time we gather, we gather anew. This year, Ingathering Sunday invites us back into community after a summer break. The ritual of pouring water – symbolizing the vibrant energy of the summer season – into one vessel will center our service. You are welcome to bring with you to church a jar or bottle of water for the ritual, from your tap or from your travels. The NSUU Singing Group will sing with guidance and accompaniment by Judy Putnam.

 

Summer Services Schedule

There will be no weekly Sunday services June 30-Sept 1

The Religious Service Committee, Minister and Music Director plan Sunday Services at NSUU. This summer, the committee members and staff will take time off for rest and renewal.

Weekly Sunday services will resume on September 8th

Save the Date…

NSUU Midsummer Service

Sunday, August 4th

The Wisdom of Trees

Edith Fenton and Judith Putnam

10:30am

Together we will explore “The Wisdom of Trees” including readings, poetry, music and stories reflecting the world of trees around us all the time.  A walk in the woods, rest in the shade of a favorite tree, listen to the birds, feel the breeze…..take time to contemplate the deeper meaning of our planet, floating in a a vast universe. Trees provide so much to our world and this morning will allow us to experience that world for a little bit.  

Worship from UUA General Assembly – “Weaving Our Lives”

June 23 Service at 10:30 AM on Zoom 

Rev. Molly Housh Gordon, Worship Leader of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbia, MO

Rev. Caro will lead a NSUU Cares and Celebrations during this special Zoom only service

We are all tangled up together in a great web of life that is woven with beauty and hardship, love and loss, thriving and struggle. How do we tend well to the weaving so that all of us are held in care?

Rev. Molly Housh Gordon will be joined by Violet Vonder Haar, Jamila Bachelder, and a host of other ministers from around the US. Musicians include Natasha Steinmacher, Lea Morris, Francisco Ruiz; beheld, and Paul Winchester. Choirs from 8 churches, including First Parish UU in Lexington, MA.

*This will be NSUU’s final Zoom service prior to a summer break.

 

Music Sunday: Flower Communion

June 16 Service at 10:30 AM in the Church and on Zoom 

Caro Barschow, Minister
Ethan Hackett, Music Director

Holding a Flower Communion is an annual ritual that celebrates beauty, diversity, and community. This ritual entered our living tradition about 100 years ago at a Unitarian Church in Czechoslovakia. Bring to the Sanctuary a flower from your garden, or share from a common bouquet. This ritual will celebrate with music from the Singing Group, the Bell Choir and a four-hands piano performance by Ethan Hackett and Judy Putnam.

 

*This will be NSUU’s final in-person service prior to a summer break.

 

Fresh Starts

June 9 Service at 10:30 AM in the Church and on Zoom 

Caro Barschow, Minister

This month’s theme for worship is Renewal. Many of us have had fresh starts in our lives. Sometimes they come because we seek them and other times they surprise us. There are times we are hungry for change and other times that we resist it mightly. How does our spiritual life impact how we respond to the invitation to start anew?

 

Dancing with the Divine

June 2 Service at 10:30 AM in the Church and on Zoom 

Rumni Saha, Guest Speaker

In the sermon “Dancing with the Divine” Rumni Saha explores Nataraja’s dance of divine creation, destruction, and transformation, drawing parallels with the cycles of life and death as well as the interconnection of all things, the search for spiritual enlightenment, the quest for truth and the pursuit of justice which our Unitarian Universalist Principles uphold.

About the Speaker

Rumni Saha considers herself to be a proud Hindu, a fierce Unitarian Universalist, and a devoted Religious Humanist. She is an active member of the Unitarian Church of Sharon where she has lived with her family since 2001. Rumni was a long-time Public School Educator, a newspaper columnist, and a regular contributor to the Huffington Post before receiving a Master of Divinity Degree from Boston University School of Theology in May of 2023. She currently serves as the Hindu and the Unitarian Universalist Chaplain at Wellesley College. Rumni considers India, her home country, as having given her roots and her adopted country, her wings. 

 

From Heart to Hand: Creative Collage

May 26 Service at 10:30 AM in the Church and on Zoom 

Religious Service Committee

Art communicates with us at a deep level. Humans are makers, and making art is a part of us!  Join us in the sanctuary or online to answer that creative impulse by making your own paper collage project. 

Instruction and all materials will be supplied for those in the sanctuary; for those joining the service from home, you may want to have some creative materials at hand (paper, scissors, glue, magazine pages, journal, or any other creative project you would like to work on).

The Fight for Democracy

May 19 Service at 10:30 AM in the Church and on Zoom 

Rev. Caro Barschow, Minister

In their 2017 book Daring Democracy, co-authors Frances M. Lappé and Adam Eichen describe democracy movements around the world and anti-democratic economic and social forces. They highlight our political needs for personal agency, a sense of belonging, a sense of purpose in our community. These are spiritual needs, too. In today’s worship, we seek to understand: how does political life in today’s democracy meet—or not meet—our spiritual needs? 

Opening the Door to Ancestral Healing

May 12 Service at 10:30 AM in the Church and on Zoom 

Guest Speaker, Gina Tzizik

In May 2023, after 150 years, the Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache tribes of Oklahoma were allowed to view their tribal sacred items. Gina Tzizik was a guest and witness to families and tribal members reuniting with their sacred ritual artifacts. She will share pictures and stories from this two-day event.

 

Gina Tzizik is an Artist, educator, and early childhood teacher trainer. Gina’s art centers on spirituality, drawing inspiration from ancient texts, symbols, and rituals to convey timeless wisdom and sacredness. She holds a Master’s Degree in Jewish education from Hebrew College, Newton, MA, and a Master’s Degree in Montessori education from Endicott College, Beverly, MA, She holds an American Montessori Society Pre-Primary Certification and Torah Godly Play certification. She has extensive training in Reggio Emilia’s educational philosophy and has lived and worked in Italy, Germany, and the United States.

The Beauty in Difference

May 5 Service at 10:30 AM in the Church and on Zoom 

Rev. Caro Barschow, Minister

A monthly theme of pluralism invites us to celebrate that we are all sacred beings, diverse in culture, experience, and theology. What does it take to embrace our differences and commonalities with love, curiosity, and respect? This service will include an update on new language regarding pluralism proposed for the Unitarian Universalist Association’s Bylaws Article II, the statement of purpose and beliefs for our church’s denomination. 

No Contest

April 28 Service at 10:30 AM in the Church and on Zoom 

Rev. Caro Barschow, Minister

Good, better, best. Top 10 Lists. My Favorites. Greatest Of All Time. Ranks and ratings come easily to our human minds. What is the cost of this habit? Author adrienne marie brown says, “Humans are unique because we compete when it isn’t necessary. We could reason our way to more sustainable practices, but we use our intelligence to outsmart each other. We compete for fun, for ego.” Let’s consider together how and why competition can be in contest with our UU values of mutuality and interdependence. 

Annual Earth Day Service

April 21 Service at 10:30 AM in the Church and on Zoom 

NSUU Green Sanctuary Team

The NSUU Green Sanctuary Team presents our 11th tribute to Earth Day (established 1970).  Join us – in person or on Zoom – in commemorating this holiday with music, stories, and a presentation by long-time environmentalist Rep. Kristen Kassner of Massachusetts 2nd Essex District.