Matt Meyer is an artist of percussion, knowledgeable and experienced in a variety of styles, including latin-jazz, Brazilian, folk, funk, Hiphop and pop. He is a graduate of Berklee College of Music and has studied in Cuba, Ghana, and Central America.

Reverend Anita has been a Unitarian Universalist minister for over 20 years, serving as the settled minister of Unitarian Universalist congregations in Canton, MA and Swampscott, MA, and currently serves as the interim minister in Northborough, MA

The Rev. John Gibb Millspaugh is nationally known (within Unitarian Universalism) for organizing 400 congregations to pass a UUA Statement of Conscience on food and environmental justice, for helping to develop one of the most popular TEDx Talks of all time, and for his national keynotes and workshops ranging from an hour to four days, all about the spirituality and practice of leadership.

John joins us from Medford, Massachusetts, where he lives with his wife Sarah and their four-year-old son. John began his work for Unitarian Universalism serving in the office of the President from 1997-2001 as he earned a Masters of Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

Since then his experiences have included serving UU congregations as a UU minister in California and Massachusetts for eleven years, and as District/Regional Director of Congregational Development for New England for two years.

Although John occasionally has to write about himself in the third person, he prefers amateur photography (which opens his perception to the beauty always nearby), playing guitar for his son (who is too young to let poor musical technique interfere with joy), performing magic (starting at age four and still fooling no one), meditating regularly (or at least regularly--and quite seriously--planning to meditate as soon as today, or no later than tomorrow or the day after), and most of all, authentic conversation with open-minded people who share an interest in lifelong learning and in serving something larger than themselves.

The Reverend Ellen Rowse Spero has served as our minister since August, 2002.

Ellen is a graduate of Brandeis University, University of Maryland (with an M.Ed in Special Education) and Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. She has served as the Assistant Minister at the First Parish in Lexington, MA, and as the Interim Minister at Hope United Church of Christ in Alexandria, VA. Before entering the ministry, she was a special education teacher in Alexandria, Virginia. She grew up as a Unitarian Universalist, attending the First Church Unitarian in Littleton, MA.

Justine Sullivan is currently serving as the interim minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick Maine.

Justine served as our Ministerial Intern from the fall of 2015 until June of 2017 while pursuing her Master of Divinity degree at Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago. Justine was ordained in 2017 by her home congregation of Northborough, Massachusetts.

Justine is a member of the UU congregation in Northborough, Massachusetts, where she lives with her spouse Dale.  Justine and Dale have been together since 1986 and legally married since 2004.  Justine has been a social worker and psychotherapist for the past 20 years and has worked as a congregational consultant and facilitator throughout New England.  In addition to serving in leadership positions in her home congregation, Justine served as president of the Clara Barton district board from 2012 to 2015

Matt Meyer is an artist of percussion, knowledgeable and experienced in a variety of styles, including latin-jazz, Brazilian, folk, funk, Hiphop and pop. He is a graduate of Berklee College of Music and has studied in Cuba, Ghana, and Central America.

The Reverend Ellen Rowse Spero has served as our minister since August, 2002.

Ellen is a graduate of Brandeis University, University of Maryland (with an M.Ed in Special Education) and Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. She has served as the Assistant Minister at the First Parish in Lexington, MA, and as the Interim Minister at Hope United Church of Christ in Alexandria, VA. Before entering the ministry, she was a special education teacher in Alexandria, Virginia. She grew up as a Unitarian Universalist, attending the First Church Unitarian in Littleton, MA.

Justine Sullivan is currently serving as the interim minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick Maine.

Justine served as our Ministerial Intern from the fall of 2015 until June of 2017 while pursuing her Master of Divinity degree at Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago. Justine was ordained in 2017 by her home congregation of Northborough, Massachusetts.

Justine is a member of the UU congregation in Northborough, Massachusetts, where she lives with her spouse Dale.  Justine and Dale have been together since 1986 and legally married since 2004.  Justine has been a social worker and psychotherapist for the past 20 years and has worked as a congregational consultant and facilitator throughout New England.  In addition to serving in leadership positions in her home congregation, Justine served as president of the Clara Barton district board from 2012 to 2015

Stephen Shick is Minister Emeritus of the Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson where he served as Senior Minister.  As a parish minister he has also served congregations in Haverhill, MA and Portland, ME.

Stephen was instrumental in establishing Community Ministry in our Association. He served our faith nationally as the founding Director of UU Peace Network and Director of the UU Service Committee's U.S. Programs Department. Before becoming a UU minister he was the founder and host of Consider the Alternatives, a national radio program carried on 400 commercial and non-commercial stations.  Stephen teaches the art of preaching with out notes and manuscript as part of a national program sponsored by the UU Ministers Association. His newest project is Momentary Meditations, a one minute nature and poetry meditation published weekly on YouTube. Stephen is author of two Skinner House books, Be the Change and Consider the Lilies. Stephen lives in Lexington with his wife JoAnn Mulready-Shick. They have three adult children, Sarah, Dora and Michael.

Laura has been an active volunteer and activist with UU Mass Action since 2011 and formally accepted her role as Acting Executive Director in April of 2014. She follows in the footsteps of the previous Executive Director, Jesse Jaeger, who provided three years of leadership and visioning that helped to grow UU Mass Action into a powerful organizing force.

Laura has been a Unitarian Universalist for over 20 years. During this time she has held many lay leadership roles, but her passion has always been for social justice. Her work has centered on hunger and homelessness, environmental justice, ending mass incarceration and immigrant rights.

Laura deepened her commitment to immigrant rights during a service learning trip with Boston New Sanctuary Movement to the Arizona/Mexican border in 2011.  She states, “Witnessing the conditions at the border first hand moves one from an intellectual understanding of the situation to a deeply felt comprehension of the pain that our nation’s economic, drug and immigration policy has created.”

In 2014, Laura traveled to Oaxaca, Mexico, as part of a Witness for Peace learning experience exploring the roots of migration.  In August 2014, Laura participated in the Pray for Relief action in Washington DC and was arrested with over 100 other interfaith activists calling for an end to deportations.  Laura has also been an active member UU Mass Action working group, EMIT (End Mass Incarceration Together) and helped to organize the buses for the Jobs Not Jails rally in April 2014.

Laura balances her community activism with her work as a Clinical Social Worker. She maintains a part-time private practice helping people who are healing from trauma.  She holds a Masters degree from Boston University’s School of Social Work and a Bachelor of Science with a major in management from Northeastern University.

Laura has been married for 26 years to Ken Wagner.  Ken also has a long history in lay leadership and he is a passionate ally in Anti-Racism/Anti-Oppression/Multicultural ministries.  Laura and Ken are both members of Allies for Racial Equity and are committed to anti-racism/anti-oppression/multicultural work. Laura and Ken have four beautiful children and are enjoying the recent addition of two wonderful grandchildren to their family.

The Reverend Ellen Rowse Spero has served as our minister since August, 2002.

Ellen is a graduate of Brandeis University, University of Maryland (with an M.Ed in Special Education) and Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. She has served as the Assistant Minister at the First Parish in Lexington, MA, and as the Interim Minister at Hope United Church of Christ in Alexandria, VA. Before entering the ministry, she was a special education teacher in Alexandria, Virginia. She grew up as a Unitarian Universalist, attending the First Church Unitarian in Littleton, MA.

The Rev. Jackie Clement is a recently retired parish minister who served UU churches in New England and Illinois. She now counts First Church Unitarian in Littleton as home. Before entering the ministry, Jackie worked as an engineer in the field of computer graphics.
She is the author of several UU publications and when not in the studio making art she serves as co-chair of the Ministerial Fellowship Committee, the body that grants credentials to our ministers.

Justine Sullivan is currently serving as the interim minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick Maine.

Justine served as our Ministerial Intern from the fall of 2015 until June of 2017 while pursuing her Master of Divinity degree at Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago. Justine was ordained in 2017 by her home congregation of Northborough, Massachusetts.

Justine is a member of the UU congregation in Northborough, Massachusetts, where she lives with her spouse Dale.  Justine and Dale have been together since 1986 and legally married since 2004.  Justine has been a social worker and psychotherapist for the past 20 years and has worked as a congregational consultant and facilitator throughout New England.  In addition to serving in leadership positions in her home congregation, Justine served as president of the Clara Barton district board from 2012 to 2015

Guest Minister Rev. Sophia Lyons. Rev Lyons currently serves as the Intern/Sabbatical Minister at the UU Church of Haverhill as well as year-round Island Minister on Star Island–one of the few Unitarian Universalist retreat and conference centers off the coast of Maine.

In 2019, she graduated with a Masters of Divinity from Boston University’s School of Theology–the alma mater of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and known to many as The School of the Prophets. Her life’s work, study and ministry has much to do with radical welcome and spiritual healing as a pathway towards collective liberation. She lives on the north shore of Massachusetts with her partner, Jason, and two daughters, Olive and Poppy.

Steve Zocchi has been the Music Director at First Parish since September of 2014.

Steve Zocchi is a pianist, guitarist, composer and music teacher from the Chelmsford area with over 25 years of teaching experience.  He received his BA in Piano Performance from UMass Lowell. He studied organ with Dr. John Ogasapian and served as his Assistant Organist at St. Anne's Church in Lowell from 1997-1999. Prior to coming to First Parish, Steve served as Music Minister at St. John's Episcopal Church in Lowell from 2000-2014. He has performed in numerous eclectic piano concerts at local venues, juxtaposing classical, jazz and original compositions. He studied jazz piano theory with Steve Hunt. Steve's latest release 'Piano Works and Play' as well as his previous CD 'Compositions and Improvisation' include both music composed in the classical tradition as well as improvised music in several genres. Steve lives with his wife, pianist/cellist Meghan Zocchi, and their three sons in Acton, MA.