Rev. Megan
Berkowitz
Rev. Amy
Clark Feldman
Pastor Amy
October 13, 2023
We pray for all who are in harm’s way.
We hold them in our hearts.
We hold all the children in our hearts.
We hold all the elderly and the vulnerable in our hearts.
Our fate is bound up in theirs.
We pray for all who have died; may their lives be for a blessing.
We pray for all who work for an end to this killing and violence.
We pray for our friends and neighbors who are mourning,
who are afraid, who wait for news.
God, with all the desperation of our hearts we plead:
may it be true that peace will yet come.
For all that cannot be fully expressed in words,
when words have poor power, we still pray.
Amen.
A chaplain’s interfaith prayer in war
Beloved, I had another reflection planned for today, but it has been hard for me, as I’m sure it has been for you, to turn my heart and mind away from the heartbreak of the war in Israel and Palestine. My prayers have been especially with my Jewish family, friends, and colleagues, some with loved ones in Israel, and others deciding as late as this morning whether to send their children to school given antisemitic threats and calls for violence here in the US. At times like this, we turn to our faith looking for answers and hope. The answers may not always be clear, but in our faith, a way forward towards hope, compassion, and peace does always emerge. In gathering together, praying together, grieving together, wrestling with our faith and discerning how to move forward in love together, there is always hope.
This week’s scripture reading is the story of Ruth and Naomi, two women from different lands and religions who reach across their differences with a love that changes history. The Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO), of which UCW is a part, sent a note to clergy this week – not a statement, but a call for each of us in that very diverse group to stand alongside one another in a common place of grief. The note said, “More is called for than shared grief, of course, but shared grief is one way to offer and receive solidarity in this season, even amidst our differences. And it is one opportunity to practice love in the service of justice.” Come this Sunday to worship with hope, pause and pray for peace, and consider where love is calling you. There is much work to be done, dear church. May we do it together with God’s guidance.
With Blessings and Peace,
Pastor Amy
Peace,
Amy
Past Posts
- From Pastor Megan
Rev. Megan Berkowitz
April 10, 2026 I hope you’ve had a chance to read the results of the first phase of our vision process, which have been sent out over the last week and a half or so. If you haven’t, please do; there are links to all four documents below. After worship this Sunday, 4/12, and Sunday 4/26, the Vision Team will lead a conversation about your responses to the vision process and we will begin to form a sense of our strategic priorities moving forward. Please join us at 11:30 a.m. in Littlehale! Learn More - From Pastor Megan: April 3, 2026Rev. Megan Berkowitz
April 3, 2026 Holy Week blessings to you all! We have a very special service planned for Sunday morning, with guest musicians, an abundance communion table, and, of course, Easter Egg Hunt to follow (including rain plans!). It is such a joy to gather together for Easter each year: to remember the gifts of our faith, the triumph of new life in God over violence and death, the accompaniment of Christ through our greatest sorrows and greatest joys. I hope you will join us, and bring family or friends who could use a little Good News this week. Learn More - From Pastor Megan: Marce 27. 2026Rev. Megan Berkowitz
March 27, 2026 It’s fitting that the next round of No Kings protests is happening tomorrow, with Palm Sunday following just after; Palm Sunday, after all, was a protest against the ways of Roman kings and a triumphal presentation of another way of leading the community, in the path of God’s promise. Learn More - From Pastor Megan: March 6, 2026Rev. Megan Berkowitz
March 6, 2026 Alongside its themes of wilderness journeys, Lent is traditionally a season of repentance – of turning from harms and returning to God and to God’s call on our lives. As winter (finally, hopefully) turns into spring, so too are we given a chance for renewal, for new growth, for new life. Learn More - Living with LossNew Supportive Group for Adults beginning at UCW this Spring All of us live with loss in our lives in so many ways: the death of spouses, children, parents, and other loved ones; the loss of our own or loved ones’ capacity due to illness and aging; the loss of work or other roles that give us a sense of meaning and purpose; and so many more losses. If you are in a season of living with loss and would like to be in supportive spiritual community with others, please join us. Learn More
- From Pastor Megan: February 13, 2026Rev. Megan Berkowitz
February 13, 2025 Have you been following the Olympics? This year, a dear friend of mine is in Milan covering the Games as a journalist for the Associated Press, so I’ve been following the news and also her reports from being present there. It has been a lifelong dream of mine to go see the Olympics in person and having a close friend there is almost (almost…) as good. Learn More - From Pastor Megan: February 6, 2026Rev. Megan Berkowitz
February 6, 2025 It is time to begin turning our hearts and minds to Lent — and what a year to return to the themes of repentance and repair, of wandering the wilderness, of death and new life. Our theme for worship and community life in Lent this year will be “Tools for Survival in the Wilderness,” and we’ll reflect on how the ways we learn to survive in the literal wildernesses (and I know there are some hiking, camping, backcountry skiing, and other outdoor enthusiasts in this congregation!) teach us about how to survive the metaphorical wildernesses of our time. More to come in worship, of course. Learn More
