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First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church
Order of Worship
January 4, 2026
Centering Thought
“Letting go is not the same as aversion, struggling to get rid of something. We cannot genuinely let go of what we resist. What we resist and fear secretly follows us even as we push it away. To let go of fear or trauma, we need to acknowledge just how it is. We need to feel it fully and accept that it is so. It is as it is.
Letting go begins with letting be.”
– Jack Kornfield
Ingathering Chimes
Prelude: “We Three Kings”
Welcome and Announcements: Neil Harmon, Worship Committee
Chalice Lighting: Rosemary McMullin
Call to Worship: “This New Year” – Rev. Ellen Rowse Spero
(by Addae Ama Kraba, adapted)
Hymn #83 in Singing the Living Tradition: “Winds Be Still”
First Parish Covenant
Leader: Rick Warner
We, the members of First Parish of Chelmsford, Covenant together to sustain and strengthen our beloved community by:
Honoring and celebrating the Spirit of Life
Nurturing all souls in our search for truth and the sacred
Caring and being present to one another in our joys and sorrows
Bearing witness through service to justice and peace
And being good stewards of our congregation,
our heritage, our Unitarian Universalist principles, and our Earth.
Offertory: Pachelbel Canon – Johann Pachelbel
Joys and Sorrows
A Time for Meditation and Prayer
Congregational Response: “Spirit of Life” (w/m Carolyn McDade)
Spirit of Life, come unto me.
Sing in my heart all the stirrings of compassion
Blow in the wind, rise in the sea
Move in the hand, giving life the shape of justice
Roots hold me close, wings set me free
Spirit of Life, come to me, come to me.
New Year’s Ritual: “Releasing the Year Behind Us, Welcoming the Year Before Us”
(adapted from Erika Hewitt and Michelle Collins)
Hymn #16 in Singing the Living Tradition: “‘Tis a Gift to be Simple”
Benediction & Extinguishing of the Chalice: “Already Breaking Through” by Michelle Collins
Postlude: “Ode to Joy” from Symphony #9 Ludwig van Beethoven
Many Thanks to this Sunday’s Volunteers:
Music: Ishan Bhattacharya, Sunand Bhattacharya & Frances Killam
Flowers: Rosemary McMullin
Worship Tech: Aggie Brennan
Online Chat Host: Joan Coyne
Ushers: Nancy Kaelin, Cheryl Wilson & Ron Deschenes
Social Hour: Marilyn Milano & Rosemary McMullin