by Kent French, October 12, 2023
This autumn, our worship follows our Church School curriculum, Seeking Peace Together. We are learning in worship alongside the youngest members of our community. How do you perceive God? Is God a hard-driving, task-master who always gives you the impression you come up short? Or a kind, loving, benevolent, generalized feeling, like the air on a warm summer day or a comforting morning mist? Is God in the feeling you get from music that moves you down to your core? Is God like Santa Claus, keeping a list of when you’re naughty and nice, and rewarding you accordingly? Our perceptions… Read More
by UPB Editor, October 10, 2023
For over 35 years, United Parish has opened our doors to the community for Thanksgiving Dinner on Thanksgiving Day at 1pm. This time is for those who may be new to the Boston area or those who want to share a meal with the community or those who may need a bit of help in providing Thanksgiving for themselves or their family. And for all those in between, all are truly welcome at the United Parish table. When: Thursday, November 23, 2023 at 1pm (doors open at 12:30pm) Where: 15 Marion Street, Brookline, MA. Downstairs in Willett Hall at United… Read More
by UPB Editor, October 10, 2023
It’s time to sign up for the Community Thanksgiving Dinner that we host on Thanksgiving Day. We extend a community-wide invitation to this annual dinner, which brings in around 175 people every year. For many, this is their only chance at a family-style traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Therefore, we need many volunteers and lots of food donations. We have opportunities for people to donate food, flowers, kitchen items, and their time helping with set-up, cooking, and clean-up. To sign up to VOLUNTEER, click here. **UPDATE**: Thank you so much for your interest. As of the morning of 11/10 – we… Read More
by Christine VanDeWege, October 06, 2023
This autumn, our worship follows our Church School curriculum, Seeking Peace Together. We are learning in worship alongside the youngest members of our community. Two weeks ago, Pastor Kent shared a message about Nicodemus’ encounter with Jesus, as told in the book of John, chapter 3. This week, I will be teaching and preaching about a companion story that follows in John, chapter 4, when the Samaritan woman encounters Jesus at the well of Jacob. The author of the book of John, who opens this gospel with images of light and darkness, contrasts Nicodemus’ midnight meeting, with all the darkness and… Read More
by Kent French, September 28, 2023
This autumn, our worship follows our Church School curriculum, Seeking Peace Together. We are learning in worship alongside the youngest members of our community. Throughout his teaching and preaching ministry, Jesus used lots of metaphors to explain what it means to live a faithful life, connect with God and bring about the realm of heaven: sowing good seed on fertile soil, the exponential growth potential of a mustard seed, light shining in the darkness, separating sheep and goats. Sometimes these metaphors are so strong, clear and durable that I wonder how we can improve upon them or understand them any better… Read More
by UPB Editor, September 22, 2023
After a hiatus due to COVID, we are thrilled to be able to bring back a beloved United Parish tradition to share with our community. We will be holding the Community Thanksgiving Dinner on Thursday, November 23 at 1pm. As you may remember, we extend a community-wide invitation to this annual sit-down dinner, which brings in around 175-200 people every year. For many, this is their only chance at a family-style traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Therefore, we will need many volunteers and lots of food donations. We will have opportunities for people to donate food, flowers, kitchen items, and their time… Read More
by UPB Editor, March 22, 2023
March 22, 2023 On Thursday, March 16, 17 parishioners from United Parish joined more than 300 interfaith partners and legislators for a political action on the steps of the Massachusetts State House, as part of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization’s (GBIO) push for: • $8.5 billion for the decades of deferred maintenance of some 43,000 public housing units, • doubling the annual budget for public housing operations, from $82 million to $184 million, • new sources of funding for truly affordable housing for low-income folks (including for returning citizens), and • local passage of the MBTA Communities Act to remove zoning barriers to more… Read More
by Amy Norton, October 27, 2022
This autumn, our worship follows our Church School curriculum, Seeking God Together. We are learning in worship alongside the youngest members of our community. In Sunday’s Gospel story, we hear a story of ten men with skin diseases (assumed to be leprosy) who ask Jesus for help. The story explains that “when Jesus saw them, he said, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ As they left, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw that he had been healed, returned and praised God with a loud voice. He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. He was a… Read More
