Worship at First Parish
Sunday services are held at 10:00 a.m. from September through early June. During the summer months, from mid-June through the end of August, we offer smaller, more informal services led by lay members of the congregation in the Parish House, the building behind the meetinghouse (the name historically used for our church building).
Children from kindergarten and older attend the first fifteen minutes of the service, which includes a story or message for all ages. The children are then dismissed to attend Sunday School classes in the Parish House while the service continues. Preschool children attend Sunday School classes during the entire service, and a nursery is available in the meetinghouse for infants and toddlers.
Visitors
It can be hard to attend a new church for the first time. We all remember how it felt, and so we try to make our visitors feel welcome and comfortable, not only during the service, but afterwards during our coffee hour downstairs. We have a newcomer’s table where you can find friendly folks waiting to welcome you and answer your questions, as well as written materials to take home for more in-depth exploration. Our ministers also lead group information sessions each year for people new to Unitarian Universalism, a great way to learn more about our denomination and to meet others new to our church.
What to Expect on Sunday Morning
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•Services begin at 10:00 a.m. and last about an hour. They are usually led by one of the congregation’s two ministers, assisted by lay leaders and others.
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•Services are held in our sanctuary, the large room on the second floor of the meetinghouse (the historic name for our church building). When you arrive, an usher will give you an order of service, and you are free to sit anywhere you like. While awaiting the start of the service, some people sit quietly while others chat with those with or around them in the pews.
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•At 10:00, a small chime in the front of the room signals that the service is about to begin. The chime is struck by a member of the church’s governing board whose turn it is to open the service that day. This person begins the service by greeting everyone and making a few brief announcements.
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•The service begins with a musical prelude; the minister offers opening words; and then one or more members of the congregation — a different person or group each week, designated in advance — lights a chalice at the front of the sanctuary, a ritual common to contemporary Unitarian Universalist congregations. The chalice lighter offers a sentence or two about the meaning of that day’s chalice flame.
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•Then comes the first of the two or three hymns, sung standing by those who can.
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•Children five years old and older attend the first fifteen minutes of the service, and after the hymn there is a story or message for all ages, after which the children leave for Sunday school classes in the Parish House (the building behind the meetinghouse) or, on some Sundays, for other special activities.
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•Each week one layperson has a minute or two at that point to offer what's called the Last Announcement — a chance to focus attention on a particular upcoming church activity or event.
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•From then on, the order of service elements may vary week to week, but before the hour is over there will almost always be a prayer or meditation, before or after a time of silence; two choir pieces, during one of which the morning's collection of (voluntary) offerings is taken; sharing of personal joys and sorrows of members, who come forward to a floor microphone and who may light a candle on the table in front of the pulpit (this part is overseen by one of the congregation's lay ministers); often a reading; a sermon which usually lasts about twenty minutes, and may be on any of a wide range of topics of spiritual, social, or interpersonal interest; and then the final hymn, the closing words or benediction, a short choral response, and a postlude. To get a sense of some typical sermons, visit the Sermon Archive.
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•First-time visitors may be startled when just before the final verse of the final hymn, the other members of the congregation simultaneously turn to face the back of the room, where the minister is now standing to give the benediction. The congregation sings the last verse of the hymn facing the back of the sanctuary, and remains standing for the benediction and choral response. There are a number of interesting theories about the origin or the meaning of this tradition, and it is a great conversation starter during coffee hour!
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•During the postlude, the minister and lay minister of the morning greet people as they leave through the door at the back of the sanctuary. People can also leave by the stairs at the front of the room. Some congregants choose to stay in the sanctuary to listen to the whole postlude.
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•After the service, there is a chance to socialize downstairs over coffee and light refreshments.
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•In the summer, services are lay-led and take place in a room at the end of the first floor of the Parish House, the building behind the meetinghouse. They also begin at 10:00, and are followed by socializing. The structure varies week to week, but is generally informal.
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What to Wear on Sunday Morning
Wear whatever you like to our Sunday service. You will see people dressed in jeans and sweaters, or dresses, or coats and ties, and everything in between. There is no way to get this wrong. Come as you are.
Other Opportunities for Worship
Directions
We are located in Wayland’s Town Center District, at the intersection of Routes 20 and 27/126 across from the Wayland Safety Building.
