Life Passages
Life Passages at the First Unitarian Society
The First Unitarian Society is honored to host significant events in the lives of our own members as well as members of the larger community.
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Weddings
Our senior minister, the Rev. Dr. Kendyl Gibbons, and the Society’s current ministerial intern, are available to officiate at weddings and covenantal unions. Working together with the minister, couples are invited to participate in designing a ceremony that is meaningful in the context of their spiritual life and values, reflecting their individual personalities and vision of the promises they are making. Wedding services are available to the larger community as well as to members; interfaith couples often seek our assistance because of our appreciation for diverse faith traditions. While membership is not required for weddings performed at FUS, fees for non-members will differ from those for members.
An initial meeting should be scheduled well in advance of your wedding date, in order to check the 
calendar and to enable the minister and couple to become acquainted with each other. Successive meetings may then be arranged to plan the elements of your ceremony. Due to time constraints, Dr. Gibbons does not normally officiate at weddings held elsewhere than the FUS facilities, but interns or other clergy may be available for these services. Use of the FUS facilities for ceremonies conducted by other officiants may be arranged at the discretion of the senior minister.
While we do not offer catering services for weddings, attractive space is available in the building for reception events with outside catering.
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Memorial Services
The staff and facilities of the Society are also available for families planning a memorial gathering in honor of one who has died. Through meeting with family members, an observance is created that honors the personality and life story, as well as the wishes and beliefs, of the deceased in a meaningful and healing way. The services of the minister or ministerial intern are contingent on scheduling, and most likely to be available if there is some flexibility about date and time when contact is first made. As with weddings, memorial services are offered to the larger community as well as Society members, with a differing scale of fees. We respect non-traditional methods of disposition, including cremation, green burial, and donation to medical science. Graveside or interment ceremonies can also be arranged, either separately, or in conjunction with a memorial service.
Light refreshments following a memorial event may be arranged by the FUS Alliance.
The First Unitarian Society offers a monthly Ceremony of Healing and Grieving for members and friends.
Baby Namings
The Society holds periodic Dedication ceremonies as part of the Sunday morning Assembly for members who wish to have their children welcomed into our community, and intend for them to grow up among us. Participation in a Dedication service is generally appropriate only for those who are or intended to become members of FUS. These ceremonies do not constitute Christian baptism.
Private rituals of Naming, or Blessing, are available to non-members, and may take place either in the home, or at the Society’s facility. These celebrations will be constructed in consultation with the parents, and may include elements of family tradition or various ethnic cultures. They may be for an intimate group, or a larger gathering. If Christian baptism is desired as part of such an event, a participant may perform that ritual as one element of the ceremony. Please be in touch with the minister to explore arranging for a baby celebration.
