Arlington Street Church, Unitarian Universalist. Gathered in Love and Service for Justice and Peace. 351 Boylston Street, Boston, MA

 

Join us for Church this Sunday

In person and on Zoom ~ 11:00 am

In Person: Following the science, we strongly encourage you to be vaccinated and keep your boosters up to date. The sanctuary is mask-optional. Please click here for more on our latest COVID safety protocols.

On Zoom: For those who would like to participate in Sunday Worship on Zoom, please meet us in the Arlington Street Zoom Room! Join with video at tinyurl.com/ASCZoom or participate by phone by dialing (929) 436-2866. For either option, the meeting ID is 895 886 6876.

Join the Arlington Street Zoom Room

Download the Order of Service

Fill the Virtual Collection Plate

Submit Candles of Joy & Sorrow

Make a Pledge for 2024-25

Watch Past Sermons and Full Services


Covenent Renewal

A Personal Reflection from John O'Connor

offered on Sunday morning, February 11th, 2024

For the past 34 years, Arlington Street has been my spiritual home. In stormy times, it has been a place of shelter. I remember in 1990, standing at this very podium, offering my very first candle. I was shaking with rage. A group of us had just attended an AIDS fundraiser in the South End when were attacked by a gang, wielding broken bottles and bats, screaming anti-gay slurs. Several ended up in the hospital with serious injuries. And so I, a young lawyer, ended up as a witness in a Federal Hate Crimes trial. And Arlington Street was my support.

Arlington Street has also been a community of joy and celebration. I never expected I’d be a bride in a traditional church wedding . . . well, sort of traditional!

And Arlington Street has been a community of learning, where I have been challenged to become the best possible version of myself. Whoever would have thought that the angry young lawyer who came up to this pulpit 34 years ago would later decide to go to Divinity School to study for the ministry?

For those of you new to Arlington Street, stick around . . . There’s magic in this place.


Weekly Events

Every Monday ~ 12:00 pm (Zoom)

Led by Rev. Kim

Come for a half hour of Mettā (lovingkindness meditation), sending lovingkindness to ourselves and to the world. No meditation experience necessary. Bring your open heart!

Join with video at tinyurl.com/ASCZoom or participate by phone by dialing (929) 436-2866. For either option, the meeting ID is 895 886 6876.

Poems to Go On

Every Monday ~ 4:00 pm (Zoom)

Led by Rev. Kim

"You can use a poem the next time your life threatens to become too crowded or too empty, or too anything, to give you some feeling of order or companionship. A spell against 'chaos and old night.' I hope some of these will do you some good." ~ Vermont poet James Hayford Please come whether or not you think you like poetry! Feel free just to listen or bring a favorite poem. We'll have the opportunity to read aloud and share what these poems mean to us. All are welcome! Join with video at tinyurl.com/ASCZoom or participate by phone by dialing (929) 436-2866. For either option, the meeting ID is always 895 886 6876.

Please come whether or not you think you like poetry! Feel free just to listen or bring a favorite poem. We'll have the opportunity to read aloud and share what these poems mean to us. All are welcome!

Join with video at tinyurl.com/ASCZoom or participate by phone by dialing (929) 436-2866. For either option, the meeting ID is 895 886 6876.

Buddha's Belly ~ The Buddhist Book Discussion

The 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month ~ 6:00 pm (Zoom)

Led by Rev. Kim

Are you curious about Buddhism? Buddha's Belly gatherings are an opportunity to read books by contemporary Buddhist teachers and discuss The Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, the Four Heavenly Abodes, the Five Hindrances ... and to ask your burning questions about meditation (e.g., where do I put my legs?). Tonight, we'll begin our discussion of Jack Kornfield's A Path with Heart:  A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life.  Please read "A Beginning" (up to Chapter I).  

Join with video at tinyurl.com/ASCZoom or participate by phone by dialing (929)436-2866. For either option, the meeting ID is always 895 886 6876.

Arlington Street Meditation Center

The 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month ~ 7:00 pm (Zoom)
Led by Rev. Kim
Our gathering includes seated meditation, a brief reading from Buddhist teachings, and conversation. Beginners and experienced meditators from all traditions (or none!) are warmly welcome. If you'd like to print out the words to the Mettā (Lovingkindness) phrases, which we repeat together at the close of the Arlington Street Meditation Center gathering, you'll find them here. If you don't, no worries; even if you don't know them as we begin, you'll know them by the time we finish!

Join with video at tinyurl.com/ASCZoom or participate by phone by dialing (929)436-2866. For either option, the meeting ID is always 895 886 6876.

Tea with the Ministers

Every Wednesday ~ 4:00 pm (Zoom)
Led by Rev. Kim and Rev. Beth

Make a cuppa, find a comfortable seat, and come take a civilized late afternoon break with your ministers and one another. Our next discussion prompt is “What world events had the most impact on you when you were a child?” All are welcome!

Join with video at tinyurl.com/ASCZoom or participate by phone by dialing (929) 436-2866. For either option, the meeting ID is always 895 886 6876.

Kundalini Yoga Class

Every Wednesday ~ 6:00 pm (Zoom)

Led by Jean Ko Stewart

Experience fun exercises and poses, breathing techniques, chanting, meditation, and deep relaxation in this unique class. Moving energy through your body brings positive change and growth. There is a $10 charge that goes to the church. All are welcome!


Note: This class is NOT in the Arlington Street Zoom room. Please email Office@ASCBoston.org for Zoom access. 

Arlington Street Writes! Hosted by Trisha Zembruski

Every Thursday ~ 5:00 pm (Zoom)

Led by Trisha Zembruski

Trisha invites you to the spiritual practice of writing inspired by Zen meditation, based on Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones. No writing experience necessary – all you need is paper, pen, and willingness! All are welcome!

Note: This meeting is NOT in the Arlington Street Zoom room. Join by video at tinyurl.com/ASCWrites.

The Wednesdays: Louise Glück

Wednesdays, March 27, April 10, April 24 12:30-2:00 pm ~ Arlington Street Zoom Room

Louise Glück won the Nobel prize for literature in 2020. Professor Alan Helms and Rev. Kim invite you to join us in exploring three of her most successful books: The Triumph of Achilles, Ararat, and The Wild Iris. She’s a poet of many talents, with a keen eye for nature (“Early summer: fog covers the mountains. / Under each tree, a doily of shade”); a hardscrabble philosophy (“Why love what you will lose? / There is nothing else to love”); and a telling way with metaphor (“The brave are patient. / They are the priests of sunrise”). In the first three gatherings, we’ll discuss those three books, in that order; the fourth will be devoted to readers' choice.

Our text: Louise Glück, Poems 1962-2012 (There are many used copies at Amazon, starting at $7.00).

Discover a Secret Treasure: Come Ring the Steeple Bells!

Every Sunday morning ~ 10:30 am

Meet in the back of the sanctuary

Installed in 1860, the bells in the Arlington Street steeple were played until the United States entered WWII, after which they were neglected and nearly forgotten.

George Whitehouse didn't forget. Twenty years later, he and a friend restored the bells in secret. On Christmas Eve of 1961, people coming to services were surprised and delighted when "O Come, All Ye Faithful" rang out across the city, played on bells they didn't even know existed.

For many years now, the bells have largely been the domain of George (Master of the Bells) and Doc (Assistant to the Master of the Bells). They are pleased to announce the formation of the Arlington Street Bellringers Guild! Their aim is to foster a cadre of people they will train to become experienced bellringers and who will learn to do small repairs.

To ring the bells, you need to be able to climb three flights of steep stairs, be possessed of an elementary sense of rhythm, and be available a half hour before some Sunday services.

At 10:30 on any Sunday morning, please meet Doc at the foot of the staircase to the left as you enter the sanctuary so you can climb up into the belltower all together! Questions? Contact Doc at kinnerc@gmail.com.

Flowers on the High Pulpit

Would you like to make a gift of flowers for the entire congregation to enjoy on a Sunday morning? You can make your dedication in memory, in honor, or in celebration of someone or something you love. You can have flowers delivered orbring your own (a minimum of two dozen flowers is perfect for our huge space). Please email office@ASCBoston.org, to claim your date! Thank you!





ALL SOULS


A Campaign for the Preservation of Arlington Street Church

Letter from Kim

Nine-year-old River Lark-Riley’s inaugural ringing of the steeple bells last Sunday (when he also climbed above the ringing room all the way to the very top of the spire)! Thanks to Doc Kinne, Assistant to the Master of the Bells, and to River’s mom, Liz!


Dearly Beloved,

After graduating from college in Vermont, I moved to Boston with everything I owned packed in the trunk of my grandfather’s Dodge Dart. In a “gap year” between college and divinity school, I went to work as a canvasser and community organizer for Massachusetts Fair Share and, later, Local 925. My biggest passion, though, was the Clamshell Alliance; our goal was to shut down New Hampshire's Seabrook nuclear power plant with nonviolent civil disobedience.

When the very long days were over (my friend Vjosa Dobruja says, “We’ll sleep when we’re dead”), we’d take the red line to Harvard Square and pile into a little underground club called The Idler. If we were lucky, we’d get some tables all the way up front and crowd the stage, waiting for the folksinger who was writing the songs about our work and our lives — Fred Small. We must have driven him mad — we knew every word and sang along, loudly. But we were very loyal fans.

Fred had started his career as an environmental lawyer; now he was playing at every march and rally, heir to the likes of Pete Seeger, who loved his songs. Before long, he and I were friends — good friends. I performed Fred’s wedding and he sang at mine. Eventually, we wooed him from his Episcopal upbringing to Unitarian Universalism, and then to our ministry.

I could say a lot more about Fred, but you’re going to have the opportunity to experience him for yourselves this coming Sunday. Rev. Fred Small, our Community Minister for Climate Justice, will be in the pulpit, preaching a sermon called Be Not Afraid … and leading the congregation both in the hymn Comfort Me and the song he wrote that has become no less than an anthem at Arlington Street as well as so many other places: Everything Possible. Come be inspired by my brilliant, passionate old friend and plan to sing along — the seats are way more comfortable than at the Idler!

Joining Rev. Fred are collaborative pianist Hyunju Jung and Director of Music Mark David Buckles, leading the Arlington Street Choir. Soprano Hannah Shanefield opens the service singing Victor Hugo and Abbie Betinis’ Be Like the Bird

Be like the bird that,
Pausing in her flight awhile on boughs too slight,
Feels them give way beneath her — and sings —
Knowing she hath wings.

The choir sings May Swenson and Gwyneth Walker’s I Will Be Earth. Mark David and Rev. Joanna Lubkin will sing Alex Wong and Amber Rubarth’s (The Paper Raincoat) Don’t Be Afraid.

Following the service, the Interim Minister Search Committee is hosting a hybrid open forum. In anticipation of my retirement in June, they write, “[We’re] working on hiring an interim minister, with the expectation of an August 1st start date. You likely have many questions, lots of comments, and a wide range of feelings about the process into which we are entering. We really want to do this transition right, and we would like to do this important work together as a congregation. We want you to be part of this new chapter, and not just hear about it, or have it happen to you…. [At the forum,] the committee will discuss the search process in more detail… Bring your questions, your comments, and your feelings. We welcome them and you.” So many thanks for their leadership to Alan Kemp, Connie Scanlon, Sandy Dixon, and Tom Anderson.

Rev. Fred Small sings,


You can be anybody you want to be
You can love whomever you will
You can travel any country that your heart leads
And know I will love you still.
You can live by yourself
You can gather friends around
You can choose one special one
And the only measure of your words and your deeds
Will be the love you leave behind when you’re done.

Faithfully yours, with love,
Kim

p.s. Doc Kinne, Assistant to the Master of the Bells, sends along this update on what’s happening in the bell tower (like the choir, this is an in-person offering):

Meetings of the Arlington Street Bellringers Guild (Keepers of the Phillips Chime) begin at 10:30 on Sunday mornings. Please meet Doc at the stairs leading to the left-hand (Boylston Street side) balcony to climb to the bell tower together.

The membership includes Rev. George G. Whitehouse, Founder, Campanologist, and Master of the Bells; Doc Kinne, Assistant to the Master of the Bells; Patrice Keegan, Assistant Bellringer; River Lark-Riley, Apprentice Bellringer; and Ty Kannegieter, Apprentice Bellringer. In addition, included in the membership list in perpetuity is Mary Alice (Woody) O’Kane, Bellringer Emerita, of Blessed Memory. Thank you, Doc!

p.p.s. Once again, thanks to our Interim Minister Search Committee for this information on the search process review for you to review n advance of Sunday’s open forum.

UUA Interim Minister Search Overview

* Most interim ministries last 24 months, though occasionally the ministry may be longer or shorter.

* An interim minister assists the congregation in moving beyond its last ministry and equipping itself for a new, different ministry. This preparation involves helping the congregation look at practices that may or may not be serving them well, assisting through the emotional process of transition, setting sights forward, and connecting the congregation to needed resources.

* An interim search committee of three to five members is appointed by the Board (Prudential Committee).

* The interim minister is hired by the Board of Trustees.

* The search for an interim minister takes place in April and May of each year for an August 1st start.

* The Interim Search Committee completes a search profile on the Unitarian Universalist Association’s Ministry Search System. The search profile is completed by mid-April. The profile includes: ~ draft ministerial agreement (approved by the board) ~ a congregational budget ~ a copy of the by-laws ~ covenants or policies around behavior or expectations of congregations ~ a couple of orders of service ~ several newsletters ~ recent board minutes ~ search team bios

* Interim ministers review all search profiles in the last week of April (4/26/24) and decide where to apply

* Names of applicants (up to six) will be released to the Search Committee on 4/28/24

* The Search Committee will conduct interviews in the two-week consideration window

* Offer date/offers extended by Search Committee to interim ministers on 5/15/24

* Confidentiality of applicants is essential. This means that only the Search Committee members know who is applying.

* The Board must trust the team it assembles to make hiring decisions (including ranking applicants and making a verbal offer once matched).

* Ministers need to be able to trust that their identities will be held in confidence by the search team throughout this process.

Source: Unitarian Universalist Association Transitional Ministry Handbook

Covenant Renewal in our beloved spiritual community: All In! photo credit: Mary Gillach



 


To read Rev. Kim’s pastoral letters to the congregation, please click here.

Our Shared Responsibility During the Global Pandemic

Friends, these are extraordinary times that call for extraordinary generosity. Many income-generating events and rentals have had to be cancelled or postponed, putting a huge strain on the Arlington Street budget. Our ministers and staff are continuing to work; our goal is to continue to pay them. Please help sustain the church by making a special online gift or by texting GIVE to (617) 300-0509. Also, please consider setting up automatic payments via bank transfer or credit card to pay your pledge. Our treasurer, Liz Teixeira, (treasurer@ascboston.org) would be happy and grateful to assist you with this process! Together though apart, we can thrive! Thank you for your steadfastness and support!

  Unitarian Universalism

  If you are new to Unitarian Universalism,
  “Voices of a Liberal Faith — Unitarian Universalists”

  is a great introduction. Click here to watch
  this ten minute video!

 

 

 

Support Arlington Street Church

Please consider making a secure donation to further the work of Arlington Street Church in the world.

Thank you for your support!

It's Sunday Morning at 11
Do You Know Where Your
Spiritual Community Is?

Join us this Sunday in person or on Zoom. Senior Minister, Rev. Fred Small's sermon is "Be Not Afraid." All are welcome!

Arlington Street Church is a Welcoming Congregation.

Candles of Sorrow & Joy

Candles can be submitted online by Arlington Street Church members and friends and will be included in our weekly Candles of Sorrow & Joy ritual during the Sunday morning worship service.

Click here to fill out an online Candle Card.

Sermon Archives

Give and Take
Read   Watch  
[March 5, 2023]

The Light’s Bounty on Familiar Things
Read   Watch  
[December 11, 2022]

Enlightenment to Follow
Read   Watch  
[December 4, 2022]

Enjoy recordings of past services and sermons by visiting our podcast, YouTube channel, and Worship Archives.

ASC Sermon Podcast

Click here to subscribe to our podcast!

Click to open in iTunes.


These podcasts are made possible by the generosity of the congregation of Arlington Street Church.

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Welcome to AmazonSmile!

Thank you for supporting Arlington Street Church! If you're shopping on Amazon, always start at smile.amazon.com, type in Arlington Street Church, and Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases! Thank you!

  

Welcome to Arlington Street Church

asc churchWelcome to Arlington Street Church, gathered in love and service for justice and peace. We're so glad you found us! Unitarian Universalists believe that personal experience, conscience, and reason are the final authorities in religion. Instead of subscribing to a single religious creed or doctrine, we keep an open mind to the religious questions people have struggled with in all times and places, and we honor a diversity of answers. Join us! All are welcome!


Newcomers

Virtual Tour Now! Take this 360° virtual tour of our sanctuary and chapel.

Get Married! We have beautiful settings for weddings and commitment ceremonies, and conveniently located space for meetings and events for reasonable fees!

Visit Our Facebook Page!
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ArlingtonStreetChurch.

Join Us! Browse our web site to learn how to participate at Arlington Street Church! And here are some directions to Arlington Street Church. Come visit us!

Register for Snapshot E-Newsletter. There’s no easier way to stay in touch with all the activities at Arlington Street Church.

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Covenant of Right Relations

Thanks to our wonderful friends across the river at First Parish in Cambridge (Unitarian Universalist) for sharing their Covenant of Right Relations with us! With the guidance of our Transformation Team for Racial Justice, we're beginning to consider how to make it our own. Click here to read.Your insights are welcome! Please email Transformation@ASCBoston.org.