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An adventurous mind, a broken open heart, and busy hands — all three form the center of our liberal religious faith. Without dogma or doctrine, we gather to explore world religions, plumbing for enduring universal truths that can guide us to becoming better, more loving people. Then we put faith into action: registering voters by mail, visiting prisons, connecting to the UU Urban Ministry, building relationship with local activists, supporting refugees and asylum-seekers, and working to stop climate catastrophe.

Since finding my voice as a student minister at First Parish Lincoln in the 1990s, I have gone on to serve this vision for liberal religion in congregations and faith groups on both coasts — and on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Plus I served the UUA as the national Online Strategist, earned a PhD in digital media for community engagement, and raised three kids.

These days I happily serve a a thriving small-medium congregation in the Boston surburbs, and sometimes I wonder about returning once again to the pretty white church in the center of Lincoln. Is now the time for such a move? Is Lincoln the place for me to build for future of our liberal faith?

Sermons

Service videos from 2018 to 2021 available at tinyurl.com/MUUCvideos

Watch “Unlock Your Heart” September 17, 2017

“Cultivate Hope” August 20, 2017

“Changing the Narrative” August 13, 2017

 

About Rev. Susanne

Currently the minister of the Melrose Unitarian Universalist Church in Melrose, MA. Rev. Susanne Intriligator holds a masters in divinity from Harvard Divinity School and a doctor of philosophy in Digital Media for Community Engagement from Bangor University in Bangor, Wales. She lives with James, her husband of 22 years and a professor at Tufts, and her three children.

Susanne’s Resume

Susanne’s Religious Journey and Call to Ministry

What Others Say About Susanne

 

 

Worship

Worship is the living center of parish life and ministry. It is where and how and when we unite as a community, connect with one another, gather inspiration, and recommit to our deepest values.

Creating meaningful worship is a sacred responsibility and a deep joy.

Rev. Intriligator is pleased to provide samples of worship materials she has created. For more, see Sermons.

New Member Welcome, November 2017

Sample Prayer: Thanksgiving, 2017

This coming week many of us will gather with family and friends, people with whom we may have long and complicated relationships. It helps to prepare.

Let us enter into the spirit of prayer or meditation.

Dear Spirit, Great Mystery that has blessed us with Life, help us to feel grateful.

We give thanks in this moment for lungs that breathe in and out, for hearts that beat, for bodies that work.

We give thanks for this coming holiday, however and with whomever we will spend it. We give thanks to be alive, to be able to mark the day in whatever way we choose.

We give thanks for all our previous Thanksgivings, however they were. We give thanks for family, for friends, for those who gather around us in body or in spirit, in flesh or in memory.

We give thanks for all those people who came before us, who — flawed and damaged as they were — loved us into being, shaped us into who we are now. We remember with gratitude.

We give thanks for mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers — they did their best.

We give thanks for wacky uncles and rebellious aunts, for rambunctious cousins and unexpected guests.  We give thanks for overcooked stuffing and dry birds, for burnt rolls and over-sweet pies and even for sinks full of dishes. We give thanks for long car rides, dashes through airports, parades and football games and endless rounds of Monopoly.

We give thanks for the awkward conversation, the strained pause, even the slammed door. We give thanks for disagreements that forced us to grow and move and evolve.

We give thanks for all of it. All of it. For all these wild and hungry people – our family, our friends, our congregation — people just as flawed as we are, all dealing with more than we can see, all part of a larger whole, every last one doing their best.

We give thanks for the glory of being alive. We give thanks for Thanksgiving.

Amen