Led by Mike Pfitzer, Director of Music, FPC

From the hymns we sing in church, to playing an instrument while growing up, to being a concert attendee, many of us have been touched by music's moving power in our lives. Have you ever connected with a beautiful melody or an entrancing instrument? Are you ever moved by the combination of a favorite poem and a choral anthem or solo song? Do you ever feel inspired by singing a hymn that connects to a message from a service or a sermon? At these services, we will explore the many ways in which music moves us. The Youth Choir at 9 AM and the Adult Choir at 11 AM will help steer our journey, members of our congregation will share the ways in which music has impacted them, and we'll sing many of your favorite hymns. If there's a hymn you'd like to hear in particular, please let Mike know by Feb.8. (music@fpc-stow-acton.org)

On this first Sunday in February, “Generosity Sunday," we will once again celebrate the beginning of the annual Stewardship Drive which provides the resources to support our programs and expanded facilities.  Stewardship is a spiritual issue. It is a privilege which allows you to directly link your resources with your most dearly held values. You will have the opportunity to submit your pledge at the service. This year the service will be lay led by members of the Stewardship committee and others including Helen Jones, Michael Paladini, Rachelle Reisberg, Ann Sadler, Bob Selling, and Ann Walker participating. We will have jazz players at both services, and the choir is preparing some special pieces, including the Bruckner Locus Iste, which should make for a great Sunday!

Let us come and reflect on some of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s impacting words contained in his classic book of sermons, Strength to Love. Let us relish his voice as a visionary and as the eloquent preacher he was. Mightn’t some of his critiques directed towards his own Baptist churches apply equally to our own Unitarian Universalist congregations?

The Rev. Lilia Cuervo was the first Latin American woman ordained in our denomination. She pioneered full time ministry in Spanish in San Jose, At First Parish in Cambridge she also made history by being the first woman (and a Latina at that!) to be installed as a Parish Minister.CA. where she served for six and a half years. At First Parish in Cambridge she also made history by being the first woman (and a Latina at that!)to be installed as a Parish Minister. She just ended four years of very productive multicultural ministry there. She is a co-founder of the Latino/a UU Networking Association (LUUNA), and the initiator of, and a translator and contributor to, Las Voces del Camino, the Spanish language UU hymnal. She has led and co-led many worship services and workshops at GAs, Ministers gatherings, and District Assemblies. Her degrees include a Master of Divinity from Starr King School for the Ministry, a Master of Demography from Georgetown University, and a B.A. in Math & Physics from Women Teachers College, Bogota, Colombia.

In the Epiphany story, as told in the Gospel of Matthew, the magi are guided by a star on their journey through foreign lands to the place where Jesus was born. This Sunday we will explore what this ancient story of following a star could mean to us today. Do you have the equivalent of a star that guides you on your journey, always pointing you in the right direction?   What happens when we lose track of our star? Our worship will include Robert Frost's famous poem, "Choose Something Like a Star" read at the 9 AM service and sung in a beautiful setting by Randall Thompson at 11 AM.  The Rev. Tom Rosiello will lead worship. Mike Pfitzer and Sanghee Kim will be back providing the music.