On April 27, we had a “Question Box Service,” where people in the congregation asked questions of me, and of Kate Sullivan, our Director of Religious Education. Kate and I addressed address as many of your questions as we could during the service. But we didn’t have time to consider every question. And for the questions we did address, we didn’t have time enough to give full and thoughtful replies. So next fall, I’m going to devote a series of sermons to consider your questions in more depth.
Here are the questions you gave to Kate and me on April 27. The questions appear within quotation marks. I’ve added comments in square brackets, like this: [ ] .
[I’ve grouped the following three questions together, because they all concern the future of our congregation. On Oct. 21, I’ll give a sermon titled ‘What Are Our Visions for the Future?”’]
“What will happen to the church after the older people can no longer come?”
“Where do you see our church in 15 years, and how will we get to that vision?”
“How do we connect better / attract new members?”
“How have you created this spectacular inclusive environment in our congregation?” [I interpret the “you” in this question to be in the plural, for it is everyone in the congregation who has created an inclusive environment.]
“Can we become a Green Congregation again?” [The Green Sanctuary program of the Unitarian Universalist Association is a certification showing a congregation has adopted best practices for environmental sustainability in its operations.]
“Yesterday I attended a United Church of Christ memorial service. The message of a better life after this one and rejoining loved ones after death is very appealing. What is the Unitarian Universalist answer to that?” [On Nov. 2, I’ll give a sermon titled ‘What about the Afterlife?’]
“How to deal with loss and unrelenting grief?” [On Sept. 28, I’ll give a sermon titled ‘What Do You Do with Grief?’]
[I’ve grouped the next two questions together, and on Jan. 25, 2026, I’ll give a sermon titled ‘Faith, Hope, and Kindness.’]
“Is it enough to have hope and be kind?”
“Your thoughts on faith — What is it? Is it religious?”
“Dan, when did you know that you were ‘called’ to ministry? Was it a journey — how purposeful, spiritual, challenging? Were there times when you were tempted to leave that journey?” [I don’t have a traditional calling like Christian ministers, and I hate talking about myself, so I have difficulty answering this question as asked. But I think there’s a broader issue here. In the past, many Protestant Christians believed that every single person has a calling. I think that would be great, if it could work in the real world. So on Aug. 31 — Labor Day weekend — I’ll give a sermon titled ‘Your Job as a Calling (No, Really).’]
“What’s a brief theological history of First Parish? It’s got to be an interesting story, going from a Puritan church to the non-creedal church we know and love today.” [On Nov. 30, I’ll give a sermon on exactly this topic.]
“When kids come home with questions about god/God, what should we say? How should we respond?” [On Oct. 26, I’ll give a sermon titled ‘What Do We Tell Kids about God, Death, etc.?’ Because she’s a developmental psychologist, Kate has a unique perspective on this, and I’ll try to figure out how she can address this topic with me.]
“What can we do about the reality that there is so much injustice and inequality in the world while we are surrounded by such abundance?” [This is a big huge question. I had already planned a sermon on homelessness on Sept. 24, and a sermon on White poverty on Oct. 5. Those two sermons will begin to address this big huge question.]
“The great truths of the teachings of Jesus that are common to all major religions in the world.” [This is another big huge question that I can’t possibly cover in just one sermon. But I’ll try to address this question on the Sunday before Christmas, in a sermon titled “Jesus, the Solstice, Diwali, and Hanukkah.”]
[The following two questions both address the question of what our worship services are the way they are — and how our worship services compare with those of other Unitarian Universalist congregations, as well as those of other religious groups. I’ll talk about this question in the Jan. 4, 2026, service, in a sermon titled ‘Alike and Unalike.’]
“In the Baha’i faith, there would be a spiritual talk and after the talk the leader would ask people to give their perspectives on the topic.”
“What about our service is most similar to other Unitarian Universalist congregations?”
“Where does honest dialogue begin in a time of such deep division?” [Another big huge topic. No, I don’t have the final answer. But in the service on Dec. 28, I’ll have us take a look at some practical tips for opening the door to honest dialogue.]
“Which came first, the chicken or the egg? (metaphorically)” [My metaphorical answer is: Yes. Actually, I can’t figure out how to address this question in a sermon. If I think of a way to do it, I’ll add it to the schedule of next year’s services.]