Rev. Marta Morris Flanagan, Lead Minister, preaching Worship service given April 20, 2025 Reading from "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front" by Wendell Berry, read by Rev. Marta Morris Flanagan and Rev. Tricia Brennan, Adjunct Minister Prayer by Rev. Tricia Brennan https://firstparish.info/ First Parish A liberal religious community, welcoming to all First gathered 1739 Come and celebrate in this complex time! On Easter Sunday Lead Minister Rev. Marta Flanagan will preach, the First Parish Choir will offer seasonal music, along with the Boston University Brass Quintet. During worship children pre-K to grade 6 will enjoy easter egg hunts and then return to the sanctuary for a sharing of matzah and grape juice with the entire congregation. As in the past, communion will be offered during our Easter service. First Parish has no creedal tests for involvement. Our communion is an open table. All are welcome. We each bring our own interpretations of the sharing of bread and wine. Our blessings will be translations of the Hebrew spoken every Friday Shabbat in Jewish homes. In keeping with Passover, the elements of our communion will be matzah and grape juice. 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. For April 2025, the Giving First recipient is Community InRoads. Community InRoads‘ mission is to partner with and support non-profits serving the Lawrence and Haverhill, Massachusetts area by providing them with pro bono, professional expertise. Their goal is to empower and contribute to the capacity and gifts of the women, men, and youth living, working, and studying in those communities by fostering a sustainable network of effective non-profits dedicated to social justice and economic equality. Community InRoads is dedicated to fostering an effective network of nonprofits so that the men, women and youth in the Lawrence and Haverhill area have access to the resources they need to reach their fullest potential. They provide consulting, training, and board development opportunities at no cost to nonprofit leaders and boards of directors, so that they in turn can better serve community residents. 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.

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