Wisdom Beyond Ourselves, by Rev. Erica Federspiel Richmond, Parish Minister, worship service October 13, 2024

Rev. Erica Federspiel Richmond, Parish Minister

Worship service given October 13, 2024
Prayer by Loren Gomez, Worship Associate
https://firstparish.info/

First Parish
A liberal religious community, welcoming to all
First gathered 1739

Using Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book, “Braiding Sweetgrass,” Rev. Erica will explore how theological pluralism came to be a priority in Unitarian Universalism and what Indigenous wisdom might teach us today.

Offering and Giving First

The Giving First program donates 50% of the non-pledge offering each month to a charitable organization that we feel is consistent with Unitarian Universalist principles. The program began in November 2009, and First Parish has donated over $200,000 to more than 70 organizations. This Sunday half of the offering supports Native Land Conservancy of Mashpee, MA, founded in 2012, is the the first land trust east of the Mississippi led by Indigenous people. Their mission is to "protect sacred spaces, habitat areas for our winged and four-legged neighbors, and other essential ecosystem resources to benefit Mother Earth and all human beings."

The remaining half of your offering supports the life and work of this Parish. To
donate using your smartphone, you may text “fpuu” to 73256. Then follow the directions in the texts you receive.

About our Lead Minister: Rev. Marta Flanagan began her ministry as our twentieth called minister at First Parish in the fall of 2009. She is a genuine and forthright preacher. In conversation she is direct and engaging. She speaks of prayer with as much ease as she laughs at human foibles. We call her “Marta.” Marta is a religious liberal, a theist, a feminist, and a lover of the woods. As a student of American history at Smith College she was captivated by the stories of social reformers who were motivated and sustained by their faith. That led her to consider the ministry and to study at Harvard Divinity School from where she was graduated in 1986. She was the first woman minister in the city of Salem, Massachusetts, serving at the First Universalist Church there (1987-1997). She served in a co-ministry at South Church (Unitarian Universalist) in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, (1997-2005) from where she is minister emerita. Marta served as interim minister in Montpelier, Vermont (2008-2009). She is trained as a spiritual director. For three years she lived in the Vermont woods practicing voluntary simplicity and the spiritual life. Marta enjoys the vitality of First Parish and our strong sense of community. She celebrates the yearning for depth and the desire to make a difference in the world that she finds here.