March 2012 by Paul M.
This review represents only MY experience and understanding of First Church and its liturgy. By way of introduction, I don't consider myself a Christian, and for years avoided church because I was turned off by the Christian creed. (For those unfamiliar with the UU tradition, UU churches are noncreedal, something I find refreshing.) I've been attending First Church since 2008, and love it. First, I'd like to respond to and hopefully clarify prior observations about the church's Christian influence. From my understanding, UU churches range broadly with regard to their liturgical influences. While there is a Christian influence in the liturgy, we typically do not refer to "Christ," or anything that invokes the Trinity (we are, after all, Unitarians). References to Christ per se occur at Christmas and Easter. They also occur during the short communion services held monthly after the main service for those who choose to partake in them. To be clear, while we refer regularly to Jesus the teacher, the holy man, and the revolutionary, we do not refer to Jesus dying for our sins. We also do not refer to the virgin birth, the resurrection, and so forth, all of which were prominent elements of my Congregational/UCC background. But enough of what we are NOT. I'd also like to comment on what I find First Church to be, and why I keep coming back: I like that the sermons, readings, and other thematic content in the services draw from a broad range of spiritual and secular traditions. I find our cross comforting as a pleasant holdover from childhood and as a meaningful object of meditation. I like reciting the Lord's Prayer as one reminder of how to live ethically. I like our use of "God," because there is no expectation that everyone believes in God or that everyone's conception of God is the same. I love our choir, our soloist, and our historic organ. I love seeing our beautiful children enjoy our religious education program. I love our beautiful and historic building. I appreciate the contrasts among different components of our worship services. I find our minister, the Rev. Terry Burke, to be wise, warm, and wonderful, active politically, and very kind. And as James pointed out in his review, we are very friendly, which is important to me. Our congregation is spirited, caring, and energetic. I would recommend that anyone researching churches go back several times to any church they are investigating. One service is simply not enough to get to know a church community's strengths, challenges, and "feel." My experience of church changes from week to week depending on my mood, what else is going on in my life, and the flow of energy around me. In closing, I feel very much at home at First Church in Jamaica Plain and am proud to be a member.
