First Parish Church in Beverly, Unitarian Universalist

First Parish Church in Beverly, Unitarian Universalist Zoom Services are at https://zoom.us/j/92762405253. Our congregation believes in the power of love, service, and community.

First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church in Beverly, Mass., founded in 1667, is home to New England's first Sunday School and holds services Sundays at 10:30 a.m. As a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association, our covenant affirms and promotes the inherent worth and dignity of every person; justice, equity, and compassion in human relations; and the goal of world community with peace, li

berty, and justice for all. We are an open religious community that welcomes any and all seeking spiritual nourishment. We celebrate the diverse nature of each individual’s spiritual journey, while also holding steadfast in our belief that there is a unity which binds all of us together and which makes us one. As we recite in the pews of First Parish every Sunday, “Love is the spirit of this church, and service its law. This is our great covenant: to dwell together in peace, to seek truth in love, and to help one another.”

05/29/2026

Beverly Porchfest organizers are delaying the musical event from Saturday to Sunday due to expected rough weather. Our musicians are not available on Sunday, so First Parish Church will not be participating this year. We thank everyone for their participation in preparing for this event and wish the best for all participants.

05/29/2026

First Parish Church is proud to be the staging area for the mid-week protest held every Wednesday. This week the weather was ideal for hanging out and expressing dissatisfaction with the state of the world. Feel free to stop by any Wednesday after work or school and join the gang. And if you like live music, swing by 225 Cabot Street around 4 o’clock on Saturday and enjoy the musicians who are bringing Porchfest to the center of town.

Porchfest comes to downtown Beverly! This Saturday from 4 until 6 p.m. the Ryal Side tradition spreads into downtown Bev...
05/26/2026

Porchfest comes to downtown Beverly! This Saturday from 4 until 6 p.m. the Ryal Side tradition spreads into downtown Beverly and First Parish Church is proud to host live music on our porch. Beverly native Satch Kerans joins Beverly's own Jeff Norcross for a couple of hours of live music. And it's FREE.
Here's the lineup for you to get your summer music groove on Saturday:
12-4pm Ryal Side performances
4-6 Downtown sets - Including First Parish Church
6-8 Hale Farm headliner concert w/ Rule of 3 Experience

We are closed on Friday, May 1, 2026 for the General Strike across the country. Please read the statement below from our...
05/01/2026

We are closed on Friday, May 1, 2026 for the General Strike across the country. Please read the statement below from our Board.

See first comment for text for screen readers.

04/28/2026

First Parish Church in Beverly offers a safe space to talk about religion and the world we live in.

What do trans joy, anthropomorphic crosses, and 1970s musical theatre have in common? Join us for this Easter service wh...
04/02/2026

What do trans joy, anthropomorphic crosses, and 1970s musical theatre have in common? Join us for this Easter service where we explore tellings of the Easter story beyond the gospels, find a message of hope for today, and remind ourselves why this ancient story has endured. We'll hear the familiar tale from new angles and fill our morning with joy.

This next Women’s History Month note takes us from Hale Hall in the basement of First Parish Beverly Church to the Great...
03/27/2026

This next Women’s History Month note takes us from Hale Hall in the basement of First Parish Beverly Church to the Great Lakes and to Central America. In the 1980s and 90s a youngster named Julia came to the church with her family and she learned about “tolerance” and “putting yourself in someone else’s shoes.” She went to college in Michigan and took on an internship with a health program in El Salvador called Associacion Pro-Salud Rural (ASAPROSAR.) She worked on various projects during her time in El Salvador and came back to Beverly with numerous experiences and stories and a mission to raise the awareness and generate support for the health projects she had been involved with during her internship. Ultimately the ASAPROSAR Development Fund was founded here in Beverly and for more than a quarter century fundraising has helped improve the health and wellness of people in Santa Ana, El Salvador. Over that time more than $1.25 million dollars have been raised thanks to the young woman who put herself in someone else’s shoes.
Check out the first comment below to see whatever became of the young organizer.

03/17/2026

Our continuing series of Women's History Month posts from First Parish Church in Beverly, the oldest church in Beverly and part of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA.) In 1975 Lucille Shuck Longview from the First UU Parish in Lexington, Massachusetts attended the United Nations Women’s Year conference, where she realized religion was one of the obstacles to equality for women. The language used by religions caused women everywhere to be overlooked and undervalued. She started a movement to change the language used within UUA churches, editing phrases like “the dignity of man” to “the dignity of all people.” Over the next several years the church’s principles were revised and the hymnal was totally revamped to reflect a more inclusive view that emphasizes values like justice, equity, and compassion, to build a diverse and expansive community.

In honor of Women’s History Month and Beverly’s 400th birthday, First Parish Beverly is sharing stories about women in o...
03/05/2026

In honor of Women’s History Month and Beverly’s 400th birthday, First Parish Beverly is sharing stories about women in our city, our state and our faith who have helped shape our lives and our communities.
Did you know that the first Sunday School in New England was part of the program at First Parish Church in Beverly? Hannah Hill and Joanna Prince offered classes back in 1810 in a house at the corner of Front and Davis Streets. Our resident historian Charles Wainwright writes: “Misses Hill and Prince, both taught private school during the week and in the summer of 1810 they gathered a company of about 30 neglected children who were playing about the wharves on the Sabbath in a chamber of Miss Prince’s house.” By 1822 that number has grown to 214 boys and girls. And while we don’t call it “Sunday School” any longer, we still joyfully welcome children to join our services every Sunday morning.

March is Women’s History Month. And this year is Beverly’s 400th birthday. And First Parish Church on Cabot Street is th...
03/03/2026

March is Women’s History Month. And this year is Beverly’s 400th birthday. And First Parish Church on Cabot Street is the first church in Beverly. So we figured Beverly should be aware of some of the significant events in the history of our church, our city, our state and our country that were impacted because women were involved.
For example, First Parish Church was founded in September 1667 as an outgrowth from the Salem church. The new church had to have a substantial number of people to be considered its own church and not part of the Salem Church. According to historical records, “51 male and female residents professed their faith, and pledged their Covenant in their new Parish Church.”
Without the names of those women, First Parish Church might have never been established and the distinctive yellow church on Cabot might not be one of the most recognizable buildings in downtown Beverly today.

Address

225 Cabot Street
Beverly, MA
01915

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