By Margaret Carroll-Bergman — Correspondent
Outside Rev. Jennifer Johnson’s office at First Parish, there is a framed, enlarged photocopy of a letter. It’s from Henry David Thoreau to the town clerk, written in January 1841, and states, “I do not wish to be considered a member of the First Parish in this town.”
“Our youth groups will come to New England, and they will want to tour here,” said Johnson, the church’s new lead minister.
“I brought that out because I wanted them to see the memorabilia. I wanted to stay humble. Let’s explore the real tensions. We do really like to claim the Transcendentalists,” she said. “I think that is the current expression of Unitarian Universalism and Transcendental philosophy, and spirituality is where a lot of people are at — but that wasn’t how it went with the church institution in the 19th century.”
Johnson, 50, is the first woman to hold the position of “settled” or lead minister of First Parish in Concord, the country’s oldest and largest Unitarian Universalist congregation. She led her first service as lead minister in September.
Issues to ponder
Johnson is quick to point out that there have been women leaders in the church’s history, serving in lay and religious education and ministry roles, but not called into the senior ministry.
“My main orientation around that is curiosity,” she said. “Why? Why? I don’t mean that with any judgment; it’s just curiosity. Let’s learn from that. Does it have to do with embedded, sometimes subconscious or unconscious ideas about what a leader looks like or sounds like?”
Johnson entered the seminary in her early 40s — a mid-career move after a decade of working in the nonprofit world. She and her husband, David Pellegri, have two daughters, Amelia and Carly, who are now in college.
First Parish is Johnson’s third posting. She previously served as minister of First Parish in Bridgewater. Prior to that, she completed a two-year Learning Fellowship with the Church of the Larger Fellowship and its prison ministry program.
One of Johnson’s sermons to her new congregation focused on women’s voices, including her own appointment.
“There was an energetic response to my sermon,” said Johnson. “A lot of women were waiting for that kind of a sermon; it’s relevant for all people who are marginalized.”
Examining past and present
Separating fact from fiction, especially when telling the story of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, is something the congregation, with a long history of social justice work, will be addressing.
“I have a lot to learn from congregants here. The people in the congregation and in the community are so steeped in that history. We’ll be addressing [it] together as a congregation,” Johnson said.
“There’s been an active interest in who’s been left out of history, whose stories haven’t been told, what aspects of the story haven’t we told when it comes to our relationships with Indigenous people, who were here prior to us.”
Johnson recognizes the shared social isolation and trauma that young and old experienced during Covid. One of her goals will be a focus on community.
“Coming out of Covid and with the political divide and tension, we’ve had a shared experience of a collective trauma,” she said.
“People are needing spaces to name that and feel connected to each other.”
