This marked First Parish’s 18th year of supporting REACH, an agency in Waltham dedicated to the safety, healing, and empowerment of survivors of domestic violence. Each year, we decorate a tree with paper candy canes featuring gift wishes from mothers and their...

The Gift of Mystery We live in a culture that loves to conquer mysteries. For us modern folks, the unexplainable is simply a lock to be picked, a code to be cracked, a puzzle to be figured out. But what if mystery isn’t just something to solve? What if it’s also...

On two Sundays in November, First Parish shared half the total offering collected during Sunday services with organizations that support the LGBTQ+ community. On Nov. 5, half our collection went to OUT MetroWest, which builds community for LGBTQ+ youth. On Nov. 19, we...

First Parish recently added two ADA-compliant tables to our grounds, located under the trees adjacent to the west side of our building. As part of a Visioning Project last year, congregants suggested more initiatives to share our campus with the larger Wayland...

Colorfully dressed “rainbow scarecrows” on the First Parish front lawn honor October as LGBT History Month, National Coming Out Day on October 11, and International Pronouns Day on October 18. Organized by the First Parish Welcoming Congregation Committee, children...

On October 7, a First Parish group carpooled into Roxbury to join a Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry tour of the trees of John Eliot Square. The Square was the site of the Roxbury town center after its founding in 1630. The group enjoyed a stroll around this...

From October 8-22, the children in our Spiritual and Ethical Exploration for Kids (SEEK) program are collecting diapers to donate to A Place to Turn food pantry. The kids will kick off the drive by making a collection box together. If you are not a parishioner and...

The Gift of Heritage This month we explore the gift of heritage in our lives. This word can mean many different things in different contexts. Of course there is the heritage we receive from our blood relatives and DNA ancestors. This is often an important part of our...

The First Parish Pantry Gardeners had a productive summer, planting FEDCO Nor’eastern Pole Beans (2 oz for $7.00), which consistently yielded a basketful of beans, every week, for the two South Middlesex Opportunity Council (SMOC) shelters the team supports. During...

Welcome to our month of Welcoming! This year our overarching worship theme is a simple one: What does it mean to be UU? Ok, maybe it’s not so simple. But it is an important question and one that I invite you to explore together this year. To do this we will be...

In August, the Rev. Deborah Bennett joined First Parish in Wayland as our Interim Minister. Rev. Bennett comes to us from Emerson Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Marietta, Ga., where she served as Minister for the past four years. She and her husband Jim lived...

In remembrance of those who went before us and who helped forge our futures. PASSAGES By Jill Burrows Today, we trod on hallowed ground, following in the footprints of those who preceded us, and who - like angels - are with us now. The mother, who during her ship's...