Please note: The church has been experiencing internet issues. We are in the process of solving the problem but please be patient with connectivity issues that may transpire before a tech can solve the issue next week. WiFi in the Parish House is not functioning for the time being.
Our Mission is to encourage diversity and mutual acceptance and work for positive change in ourselves and our community.
"We envision a congregation in which we practice the principles of our faith. We seek to enjoy peaceful reflection and inspiration in intellectually and spiritually satisfying church services. We aim to embrace the people and efforts of our church community by supporting our children and their programs, our committees and their goals, our staff and their efforts on our behalf, and each other."
Human beings are works in progress that mistakenly think they’re finished.
Daniel Gilbert
April Services - Welcome to the Gift of Interdependence
Registration is not required. Tap "Register Now" to see service details.
See everything happening at UUNB on the website calendar!
Did you miss Sunday service? Watch it here!
The Women's Center is where survivors begin a journey to safety, hope, and empowerment.
What does it mean to be a people of Transformation?
March 31: Easter - The Change from Sad Hearts to Hopeful Hearts; Remembering that Bad Times Won’t Last Forever, The Egg We Need by Anne Howard (UUA)
“Transformation: We adapt to the changing world. We covenant to collectively transform and grow spiritually and ethically. Openness to change is fundamental to our Unitarian and Universalist heritages, never complete and never perfect.”
We are sad to announce the death of Alfredo DeLa Torre on March 23, 2024. He was a former member and long-time friends of Bill Bennett. Our deepest sympathies to Bill and Al's family.
Thrift Shop Update
New to Thrift Shop
Two large vintage tool type wooden chests
Bath towel sets
Curtains
Child wooden rocking horse
Don't forget the winter half price sale - All men's and women's jackets and coats, shoes and boots. It's still cold out!
Great News! The Thrift Shop now has its own phone and extension: 508-994-9686 ex. 12
This Saturday!
We are STILL looking for volunteers for this event. This is a huge opportunity to show off our church and what it can bring to the community through social justice initiatives, RE, the food pantry, and our Thrift Shop. So far, Karen and Jessica are the only ones here for this event - no one volunteered. If you can come by and help out please do. Set up starts at 9:00 AM and we will need help cleaning up after the event.
Yoga classes start on April 13 at 10 AM. Please check the calendar for specific dates: April-June. After June 15, classes will take place every Saturday.
CHRISTOPHER SWANSON completed his yoga teacher training at the Kripalu School of Yoga in Stockbridge, Massachusetts and is a Yoga Alliance certified RYT-200 hour yoga teacher with over a thousand hours of personal practice.
Having experienced the transformative power of a regular hatha yoga practice in his own life, Christopher is motivated to share this practice in the local community, with a focus on embodied wisdom, compassionate presence, and generous action.
Please arrive 10 minutes early to settle in. The length of the class will be 60-70 minutes.
We are looking for vendors to set up in the yard during the 40th Annual Jazz service on June 30, 2024. The fee to set up is $35 and is open to anyone selling handmade items. Please share this with artisans you may know and support.
Relationships are at the core of our organizing work and we’re excited to deepen our 2024 program with more opportunities for powerful collaboration. All change happens through collective work. Let’s harness our power to show up in force in 2024 and beyond.
On March 14, more than 700 folks joined our UU the Vote 2024 launch and you can check out the recording below.
UUA NEWS
Celebrating UU Women in History
Fannie Barrier Williams (1855-1944)
After moving to the South to teach and experiencing more discrimination than she had faced growing up in the North, Fannie Barrier Williams became passionate about working for the rights of African American women. A Unitarian, she was one of the first leaders to identify housing segregation and limited employment opportunities as crucial issues for racial justice. Through her many speeches and co-founding of interracial organizations, she championed the rights of African Americans and worked to ensure their recognition and inclusion.
Olympia Brown (1835-1926)
Olympia Brown was one of the first women ministers whose ordination was recognized by any religious denomination.
Sophia Lyons Fahs (1876-1978)
Without Sophia Lyon Fahs, UU religious education would not be what it is today. Fahs revolutionized the way traditional religious education was taught, making complex theological concepts and history more accessible and exciting for a younger audience through storytelling, painting, and other forms of creativity and self-expression. Fahs wrote 40 books and served as editor of Children’s Materials for the American Unitarian Association. Living to the age of 102, Fahs never ceased in her quest for knowledge and innovation.
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911)
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was a prolific writer, lecturer, and reformer. She wrote many books of poetry with strong anti-slavery themes, as well as a novel about African American life during Reconstruction republished by Beacon Press. A writer for the African Methodist Episcopal church and member of the Unitarian church, Watkins once refused to give up her seat on a Philadelphia streetcar. When the conductor refused to take her money at the end of her ride, she threw it on the floor and left. She was undoubtedly a courageous and powerful voice for justice.
Cecilia Payne Gaposchkin (1900-1979)
Cecilia Payne Gaposchkin was the first woman to receive tenure and the first to chair a department in the faculty of arts and sciences at Harvard University. An astronomer, she discovered that hydrogen is millions of times more abundant than any other element in the universe. Along with many more scientific breakthroughs, she also taught Sunday school at First Parish in Lexington, MA. During a time when the sciences were even more dominated by men than they are today, her persistence and brilliance made incredible strides for women in the field.
Margaret Moseley (1901-1997)
UU Margaret Moseley was denied entrance to every nursing program in Boston because of her race, so instead she became a civil rights activist. She founded a consumer cooperative and served on the board of the Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts as well as founding member of Freedom House, a leader of the anti-McCarthyism movement in the 1950s. She also helped form NAACP chapters throughout Cape Cod. The second UU Community Cooperative house in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood will be named for Moseley.
Our Promises
Each person is important.
Be kind in all you do.
We help each other learn.
We search for what is true.
Each person has a say.
Work for a peaceful world.
The web of life’s the way.
Build the beloved community, free from racism and oppression.
First Unitarian Church in New Bedford
71 8th Street, New Bedford, MA 02740
(508) 994-9686
Administrator ext. 10
Minister ext. 13
Karen cell: (508) 441-9344
Board Members & Officers
Steve Carmel, President
Charles Morgan, Vice President
Deborah Carmel, Treasurer
Cora Peirce, Clerk
Trustees
Committee Chairs
Staff
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