Living with Loss

Rev. Megan
Berkowitz

Pastor Megan
February 13, 2026

New 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.

This group will gather and discuss personal experiences of past, present, and ongoing loss. Important themes will be woven throughout sessions as we share in silence and meditation, prayer, ritual, music, art, scripture, other readings, poetry, podcasts, and more as helpful tools through which we come to understand, process, and live with our loss. This group will not be focused on fixing or solving anything, but rather with understanding loss as a companion in our lives and with being companions to one another in our journeys.

We will begin meeting monthly in late March through June, take a break with just one Zoom meeting over the summer, and then resume in September. Meetings will last 90 minutes and will take place in person at church. We ask those who are interested to commit to the group (not necessarily every single session, but an intention to attend most months for continuity of community). If you are interested, please let us know your preference for days and times: Sundays 11:30-1pm, weekdays during the day, or weekday evenings.

This group will be led by Pastor Megan, Brita Gill-Austern, and Molly Owen-Kiritsy; Megan and Molly will begin the group this spring, and then Brita will join Molly in leading during Pastor Megan’s parental leave this fall. If you are interested, please send Pastor Megan ([email protected]) an email to let us know.

Peace,
Megan

Past Posts

From Me to You
Rev. Rich Chrisman
September 11, 2026
The genesis of us all.
Oh Lord, you made such a good start
having deemed Creation very good
But discovered soon
It wasn’t perfect
Not the human part anyway.
We went from a kiss to murder,
Learn More
From Me to You
Rev. Rich Chrisman
September 4, 2026
Hi UCW friends and members, my name is Rick Chrisman, and I am an old friend of yours, once upon a time a member, way back before Covid, when Stacy was still minister here. Way past retirement age, I’m just a preacher who has to have a congregation, so thanks for inviting me to fulfil my vocation with you, even if just for a few months. Learn More
From Pastor Megan
Rev. Megan Berkowitz
July 24, 2026
Big news from our partners at GBIO! The “Not with our money, Citizens!” Campaign has succeeded, and Citizens Bank has committed to severing ties with the private prison companies building and operating ICE detention facilities. Read more about it on the GBIO website: HERE
Learn More
From Pastor Megan: July 17, 2026
Rev. Megan Berkowitz
July 10, 2026
Introducing our Bridge Pastor
I am delighted to share that Rev. Rick Chrisman will be joining UCW as the parental leave Bridge Pastor this fall, from September 1st until my planned return at the start of Advent. Rev. Rick’s bio is below, though some of you may know him from a period some years ago when he was a member of UCW while serving as an interim pastor elsewhere. Closest to home for UCW, Rev. Rick has twice served as interim at the Eliot Church in Newton. Learn More
From Pastor Megan: July 3, 2026
Rev. Megan Berkowitz
July 3, 2026
We had a lovely first summer service this past Sunday! Though we won’t meet this upcoming Sunday, 7/5, summer services resume the following week, 7/12 at 10:00 a.m. Worship Committee Chair Julie Heffernan will lead us in worship that morning. And though Katie Brown-Bright is off from her role as Bridge Associate for Children, Youth, and Families for the summer and there’s no Sunday school, she did put together an amazing activity cart for kids to participate in worship (crafts, streamers for some liturgical dancing, and more!). Learn More
From Pastor Megan: June 19, 2026
Rev. Megan Berkowitz
June 19, 2026
I want to thank everyone who presented, contributed to, engaged in, and attended last Sunday’s Annual Meeting. You took seriously the invitation to let the Holy Spirit speak through you to others, and to you through others, and our church is better for it. For those who were not present, you can still engage with the Annual Meeting via the Annual Report, which we sent in this email last week, and by looking over the presentation from the Vision Team that was offered during the meeting: view HERE or click on image below.
Learn More
From Pastor Megan: June 12, 2026
Rev. Megan Berkowitz
June 12, 2026
My goodness, it has been a busy year at UCW! I hope you take some time to sit with and read the annual report for 2025-2026. Come to the Annual Meeting ready to discuss the budget and nominating slate, yes, but also to thank our committee chairs and members, to connect with someone over something you didn’t even know had happened at church this year, or to learn more about how you can get involved in different projects and programs. Learn More
From Pastor Megan: June 5, 2026
Rev. Megan Berkowitz
June 5, 2026
Though it turned out to be quite a hot night, it was a joy to join with Katie, members of the congregation, and our siblings from other affirming faith communities in Newton at the annual Newton Pride flag raising celebration and resource fair this past week. In a season in our country when the rights of LGBTQ+ people are under attack and public support for our rights is waning rather than increasing for the first time in decades, we gathered to remind ourselves and the world that LGBTQ+ people are deeply and beautifully woven into the fabric of our community. Learn More