Join us for the Sunday Service!

In person and on Zoom ~ 11:00 am

Summer is a time of rich and intimate worship opportunities at Arlington Street. While our ministers and music director are on sabbatical, we enjoy services led by Unitarian Universalist guest ministers and lay leaders. We also relish welcoming visitors from all over the world, who come to see our beautiful sanctuary and the Tiffany Windows as well as to experience Arlington Street’s Sunday service. Following the service, there are both in-person and virtual coffee hours. Please join us this Sunday morning at 11:00 – all are welcome!

In Person:The Great Doors at 20 Arlington Street open at 10:30 and music begins at 10:45. Dress to be cool and comfortable; come as you are.

On Zoom: For those who would like to participate virtually, 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.

You are welcome here!

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

Summer Worship Schedule

 

6/16 ~ John O'Connor
6/23 ~ Alan Kemp
6/30 ~ Marie O'Brien
7/7 ~ Roddy Emley
7/14 ~ Lucy Humphrey
7/21 ~ Rich Abreu
7/28 ~ Pat Scanlon
8/4 ~ Rev. Ali Jablonsky
8/11 ~ Rev. John Gibbons
8/18 ~ kel alford
8/25 ~ Rebecca Reid
9/1 ~ Art Nava 

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Featured Events

Bek Zehr in Concert!
On My Way ~ a Journey of Coming Home

Saturday, June 29th ~ 4:00 PM Hunnewell Chapel and LiveStream on youTube

From Bek: In my journey of coming home to myself, I’m creating a series of fundraising concerts to support my gender-affirming care. You are invited to the first concert of this series! I am excited to bring my many communities together as I open my heart and celebrate my life. Arlington Street is an important piece of who I am, and I will always cherish the home I have found in all of you. Your support and unconditional love has been my lifeline throughout every chapter of discovering myself and my belonging. Because sharing my music is my avenue for fully expressing myself, I’m excited to offer this concert with each and every one of you. Thank you for everything!

Light refreshments will be provided. The suggested donation is $20, and all proceeds to benefit Bek's gender affirming care. Donations can be made at https://gofund.me/ea9f6b75

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Weekly Events

Monday Mettā

Every Monday ~ 12:00 pm (Zoom)
Led by Philip Roberts (with assistance from Connie Scanlon and Al Ingram)

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!

Poems to Go On

Every Monday ~ 4:00 pm (Zoom)
Led by Darrell Waters and Alan Kemp

"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 and a little background about the poet. 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 Sharon Gentges and the Arlington Street Sangha

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?)

We're reading Jack Kornfield's A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life. For our gathering on June 25th, please read Chapter 7 “Naming the Demons.” 

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 Queen Cheryl (with assistance from Sharon Gentges)
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.

Summer Tea for Times of Change

Every Wednesday ~ 5:00 pm (Zoom)

Led by Rev. Ali and Rev. John

"Something's lost, but something's gained, in living every day." Join Rev. Ali and Rev. John in the ASC Zoom room each Weds at 5:00 pm as we all navigate a season of change together. Bring your tea or favorite beverage and be together in community. We need one another. All are welcome!

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. Please email Office@ASCBoston.org for Zoom access. All are welcome!

Arlington Street Writes!

Every Thursday in June and August (on hiatus in July) ~ 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 or participate by phone by dialing (929) 205-6099. The meeting ID is 833 4627 6104.

Ingathering Sunday

Sunday, September 8 th ~ 11:00 am (In Person and on Zoom)

Mark your calendar for our annual Ingathering celebration! Rev. Beth, Mark David Buckles, and the Arlington Street Choir return from summer sabbatical, and we’ll welcome our new transitional minister, Rev. Parisa Parsa. Let’s kick off the 2024-25 church year together!

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Meet our new transitional minister

Welcome Rev. Parisa Parsa!

We are delighted to introduce our new transitional minister, Rev. Parisa Parsa. Rev. Parisa will begin her work at Arlington Street on August 1st. In the meantime, you can learn more about her here. Thank you to our fabulous interim minister search committee – Alan Kemp, Connie Scanlon, Sandy Dixon, and Tom Anderson for all of your hard work. Let’s prepare to give Rev. Parisa a warm welcome!

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Covenant 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.

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Get Involved

Call for Volunteers!

The Tiffany Visitors Center is open for the season! In the summer months, hundreds of visitors come from across the country and around the world to experience our landmark sanctuary and enjoy the beauty of our exquisite Tiffany stained glass windows. Please help us welcome these guests by volunteering as a greeter. No experience is necessary and scheduling is flexible. This is a fun way to give service and to help fund our critical building preservation effort! If you’d like to be part of it, please contact Jeff Fogleman, our congregational administrator, at office@ASCBoston.org or (617) 536-7050. Thank you!

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 or bring your own (a minimum of two dozen flowers is perfect for our huge space). Please email our congregational administrator, Jeff Fogleman (office@ASCBoston.org,) to claim your date! Thank you!

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.