Many Different Beliefs,
One Loving Community
ABOUT FIRST PARISH OF NORWELL
First Parish of Norwell is a liberal church in dialogue with the religious questions of the modern world, yet still honoring the best within our Judeo-Christian heritage. Recognizing no distinction of class, sex, nationality, race, age, or sexual orientation, ours is a Welcoming Church that stresses the need for community amidst the impersonality of the secular world. First Parish of Norwell is a member church in the Unitarian Universalist Association.
First Parish of Norwell is a distinguished New England congregation serving the area including Norwell, Hanover, Marshfield, Hanson, Hingham, Scituate, Pembroke, and other South Shore towns for more than 381 years.
OUR MISSION
First Parish of Norwell is a religious community where adults, youth, and children can evolve spiritually, morally, and intellectually through worship, education, and service to the community and the world. Recognizing no distinction of class, sex, nationality, race, age, or sexual orientation, we are a welcoming congregation that stresses the need for community amidst the impersonality of the secular world.
We unite to:
Create a safe place in which to nurture our spirituality and celebrate life's passages.
Provide a place where all persons are accepted and respected and can find mutual care and support.
Welcome and gather strength from diversity.
Sustain and promote Unitarian Universalist principles and purposes and participate in the larger fellowship of the Unitarian Universalist Association.
Be a forum for the discussion of contemporary issues and a catalyst for social action.
Support outreach to the community, to both children and adults, and through educational and artistic programs of both the performing and fine arts.
This mission is grounded in a nearly four-hundred-year history as a congregation.
THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES
The members of our church support the Seven Principles of the Unitarian Universalist Association:
1st Principle: The inherent worth and dignity of every person
2nd Principle: Justice, equity, and compassion in human relations
3rd Principle: Acceptance of one another and encouragement of spiritual growth in our congregation.
4th Principle: A free and responsible search for truth and meaning
5th Principle: The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large
6th Principle: The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all
7th Principle: Respect for the independent web of all existence of which we are a part
OUR CONGREGATION
First Parish of Norwell is a distinguished New England congregation serving the area for 381 years. More than 100 active members and friends of our church come equally from Norwell and the neighboring towns of Hanover, Marshfield, Hanson, Hingham, and Scituate, among others. Our congregation is one that is diverse in interest, age group, and theological perspective.
Our Minister
Reverend Susan Chorley
Rev. Chorley joined First Parish of Norwell in 2020 and as Senior Pastor, she is responsible for worship, outreach, and pastoral care of the congregation.
“I am thrilled by this opportunity to serve in a ministry with such a rich history and deep commitment to building community across differences, in a time when so many of us have a deep sense of isolation and alienation. The good people of First Parish have welcomed me in and are poised and ready for expanding the care and tending of a community church to providing nourishment and respite to anyone who has been left out or left behind.”
Before joining First Parish of Norwell, Rev. Chorley’s ministry focused primarily on issues related to domestic violence as well as restorative and reproductive justice, including serving for 13 years with the Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry in Roxbury, MA, as well as congregations in Seattle, WA, San Francisco, CA, and Durham, NC.
Rev. Chorley is an active advocate for those often overlooked by society at large, having cofounded both the Massachusetts Restorative Justice Collaborative and Exhale, a national post-abortion counseling talk and textline, as well as personally founding “Partners in Faith,” a roundtable for those engaged in faith-based organizing around intimate partner violence.
Trained at the American Baptist Seminary of the West for her Master of Divinity and the Graduate Theological Union for her Master of Arts in Feminist Theology, Rev. Chorley was ultimately ordained at the First Baptist Church in Beverly, MA, in 2005. Rev. Chorley is currently in Preliminary Fellowship with the Unitarian Universalist Association and her previous ordination is recognized by the denomination.