Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
Isaiah 6:8
The Reverend June Cooper led worship at Newton Highlands Congregational Church, UCC, on Sunday, November 16, 2025. She explained that the story of Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1-13) revealed a transformative moment when a powerful man was challenged by God to call out the injustices of his time.
“What are you going to do about it?” she paraphrased. “Attendance doesn’t mean presence.”
She explained that Isaiah eventually “imagined a place where the captives would be free, where people would not be taking away food from others, and where people would be willing to meet each other on a porch and have a conversation.”
The Reverend Cooper asked congregants to listen deeply to truth telling and to voices that may have been ignored. She cited James 1:19-20: “Listen with ears and understand with heart.”
She closed her meditation with a story of a time when civil rights leader Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King grew discouraged during the Montgomery bus boycott and prayed for guidance. She described how a God of encouragement urged Dr. King to stand up for justice, let go of fear, and be free in God.
For the offertory, the expanded Community Choir sang “A Thanksgiving Prayer.”
During fellowship time, the 62nd wedding anniversary of Mildred and Dick Hutchinson and the 60th wedding anniversary of Helen and Bill Lowery were celebrated with cake.
Over coffee, the Reverend Cooper led a conversation about her work with unhoused people in the Mass and Cass area of Boston.
