Welcome to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Medford’s Website!
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Our Church Staff

Rev. Hank Peirce
Minister
Minister’s Study: 781-396-7309
Esther Rosado
Director of
Religious Education
Thom Lissey
Music Director
Thanks for taking a moment to check us out. Our Sunday morning worship service starts at 11:00 a.m. Many of our members gather in the sanctuary at 10:45 a.m. to partake in Morning Song. Morning Song is a lovely way to get those vocal chords limbered up.
You will find our congregation to be on the casual side of things. We are very child friendly, with an extensive religious education program and a nursery for toddlers during our services.
We have been welcoming visitors through our doorways since 1630 and we have found we always have room for a few more. We are also a very social-minded and community-oriented congregation. We warmly invite you to browse around our website. It has been designed with you in mind.
Come join us every Sunday at 11:00 a.m.
Join us for our next service on November 8th
“Talking About Money”, Rev. Hank Peirce. I am giving away money today, I really am. I will be giving away a couple of hundred dollars to members and friends of the church for a couple of reasons which I will talk about in the service. But mostly I will be doing it so that we can loosen ourselves up to talk about money.
Events and Announcements
Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m. – Adult Educution Class : Spirit in Practice. This curriculum was created to help Unitarian Universalists develop regular disciplines, or practices, or the spirit – practices which help us connect with the sacred ground of our being, however one understands it. Please sign up in Benker Hall.
Wednesday, November 4th, 6:00 p.m. – Special event at Goddard Chapel, Tufts University. The Rev. Scotty McLennan, Dean for Religious Life at Stanford University, will be discussing his new book, Jesus was a Liberal: Reclaiming Christianity for All. Scotty is a Unitarian Universalist minister and long time friend of our church, from the days when he was chaplain at Tufts. This event is free.
Friday, November 13th, 7:00-9:00 p.m. – Game Night. Come to this evening of fun for community members and friends of all ages. Play games from your childhood as well as games of today’s children! Bring your own favorite game, play someone else’s favorite ... or just come and socialize.
November 15th Sunday Service: “Labor in Pulpit”, Steve Schmidt. Every seven years Unitarian Universalist ministers gather in a different North American city for a Convocation, This year we are in the Canadian capital of Ottawa, Ontario. Divinity student Steve Schmidt will fill in while Rev. Hank attends the conference.
November 22nd Sunday Service: Thanksgiving and Harvest Communion, Rev. Hank Peirce. Today we not only celebrate the bounty of our lives but give thanks for the hard work that has gone into making this bounty. The service will be followed by our annual Thanksgiving potluck meal. Please come and share some of your favorite foods with us after the service.
Friday, November 27th, 7:30 p.m. – Come hear the UU Church of Medford choir at Huntington Theater. Our Choir is one of those chosen to sing on stage preceding the Huntington Theater’s production of A Civil War Christmas. We will perform a program of seasonal music (UU style) featuring the original version of “Jingle Bells” written by our own James Pierpont. Former UUCM music director Russell Tripp will accompany us. We will start at 7:30, preceding the 8:00 p.m. show.

If anyone wants to come, you can order tickets for that date at a 50% discount online or at the box office. Use the Promotional Code CHOIR. Please contact Nancy Kurtz (nckurtz@gmail.com or 781-391-5157) for more details. And if you would like to join the choir for this event, come meet after the service on November 1. The more the merrier!
November 29nd Sunday Service: “It’s Not YOUR Birthday”, Rev. Hank Peirce. The “It’s Not Your Birthday” project started two years ago and we will piggy-back on those successes. The aims are to help us to learn to control our personal spending, contribute funds to local charities, teach our children the importance of giving as opposed to just getting, and help our environment by cutting down on waste. It will help us in regaining control of our religious lives, declaring that the holidays are Holy Days and that they belong to those who follow them – not those wishing to make money off of them.
What We Believe / The Living Tradition Which We Share
Rev. David O. Rankin wrote a summary of what he thought were ten essential UU beliefs, which are presented by the Unitarian Universalist Association:
  • We believe in the freedom of religious expression. All individuals should be encouraged to develop their own personal theology, and to present openly their religious opinions without fear of censure or reprisal.
  • We believe in the toleration of religious ideas. All religions, in every age and culture, possess not only an intrinsic merit, but also a potential value for those who have learned the art of listening.
  • We believe in the authority of reason and conscience. The ultimate arbiter in religion is not a church, or a document, or an official, but the personal choice and decision of the individual.
  • We believe in the never-ending search for Truth. If the mind and heart are truly free and open, the revelations which appear to the human spirit are infinitely numerous, eternally fruitful, and wondrously exciting.
  • We believe in the unity of experience. There is no fundamental conflict between faith and knowledge, religion and the world, the sacred and the secular, since they all have their own source in the same reality.
  • We believe in the worth and dignity of each human being. All people on earth have an equal claim to life, liberty, and justice - and no idea, ideal, or philosophy is superior to a single human life.
  • We believe in the ethical application of religion. Good works are the natural product of a good faith, the evidence of an inner grace that finds completion in social and community involvement.
  • We believe in the motive force of love. The governing principle in human relationships is the principle of love, which always seeks the welfare of others and never seeks to hurt or destroy.
  • We believe in the necessity of the democratic process. Records are open to scrutiny, elections are open to members, and ideas are open to criticism – so that people might govern themselves.
  • We believe in the importance of a religious community. The validation of experience requires the confirmation of peers, who provide a critical platform along with a network of mutual support.
We, the members of the Unitarian Universalist Association convenant to affirm and promote:
  • The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
  • Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
  • Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
  • A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
  • The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
  • The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
  • Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
The living tradition which we share draws on many sources:
  • Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life;
  • Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love;
  • Wisdom from the world's religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life;
  • Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;
  • Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit.
  • Spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.
These principles and sources of faith are the backbone of our religious community.