First Congregational Church-UCC Saugus

05/31/2026

05/31/2026

“The Road to Home,” for comfort, for patience, for safe journeys

05/31/2026

“The Road to Home,” for safe journeys, for patience, for peace.

05/26/2026

FEEL THE WARMTH OF SPRING! And stretch too!
Yoga tonight at First Congregational Church Saugus, 300 Central Street, Saugus at 6:30pm. Only $10!
Join your friends and neighbors and shake off the cold and the damp and reach for the sun!

05/25/2026

La Chapelle. 92nd Division. Ted.

Rita Dove
1952 –

(September, 1918)

This lonely beautiful word
means church
and it is quiet here; the stone
walls curve
like slow water.
When we arrived the people were already gone,
green shutters latched and stoops swept clean.
A cow lowed through the village,
pushing into our gloves her huge
sodden jaw.

It’s Sunday and I’m standing
on the bitter ridge of France, overlooking the war.
La Guerre is asleep. This morning early
on patrol we slipped down through
the mist and scent of burning woodchips
(somewhere someone was warm)
into Moyenmoutier,
cloister of flushed brick and a little river
braiding its dark hair.

Back home in Louisiana the earth is red,
but it suckles you until you can sing
yourself grown.
Here, even the wind has edges.
Drizzle splintered around us; we stood
on the arched bridge and thought
for a moment of the dead we had left
behind in the valley, in the terrible noise.

But I’m not sad—on the way back
through the twigs I glimpsed
in a broken windowbox by the roadside
mums:
stunned lavenders and pinks
dusted with soot.
I am a little like them,
heavy-headed,
rough curls open to the rain.

“La Chapelle. 92nd Division. Ted.,” from Collected Poems 1974–2004, W. W. Norton, 2016. Originally published in American Smooth, W. W. Norton, 2004. Used with permission of the author.

05/25/2026

“Mine Eyes have Seen the Glory.” For those who served and made the ultimate sacrifice, may they rest now in the arms of God and may perpetual light shine upon them.

05/25/2026

On this Memorial Day, we give Thanks and Honor to those who gave their service and their lives for our democracy and our freedom.
This is the prayer we offered yesterday in church. We offer it today with all our hearts.

MEMORIAL DAY PRAYER

Veterans carry within their hearts the stories and scars of war. Many continue to battle unseen wounds of trauma and loss. On this Memorial Day, we honor their service and ask God to bless them with strength, healing, and peace. Their courage and sacrifice are living witnesses to faith and duty. As a nation, and as members of Christ’s body, we owe them gratitude, prayer, and support as they journey toward wholeness in both spirit and body.
Lord Jesus, Prince of Peace, we pray for harmony among all nations. Turn hearts away from hatred and vengeance, and guide leaders toward mercy and understanding. Heal divisions that cause suffering, and let Your peace reign where war once raged. Fill the world with Your Spirit of love and reconciliation, that all may live as brothers and sisters. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.