Rev. Lauren Smith, who joined First Parish in Wayland in August, said she didn’t consider becoming a minister until her late 20s. As an undergraduate, she studied theater arts at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She later moved to Massachusetts to work as a fundraiser at Harvard College. During that time, she became a regular at Arlington Street Church, a Unitarian Universalist congregation in Boston.
“Being part of the church was life-saving,” she said. “At the time, I felt I was on a trajectory toward a half-lived existence, and I wanted more. ASC offered me a place to reflect on my life and a place to serve. I volunteered weekly at a Friday night meal program primarily for unhoused folks, began a meditation practice, and served as a worship associate.”
She said she had strong colleagues at Harvard, but “the work didn’t light me up.” According to Smith, the turning point came when the Arlington Street minister asked her, “Have you ever thought about ministry?” She said she admitted she had, and he told her he had his eye on her.
“That exchange was just the affirmation I needed,” she said.
A year later, she enrolled at Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, Calif. “It was all part of a journey toward a life that I love and recognize as my own,” she said.
First Parish is her third congregation; she’s also served congregations in Portsmouth, N.H., and San Mateo, Calif. Before coming to Wayland, Smith was director of stewardship and development for the Unitarian Universalist Association in Boston.
“Our congregation is excited to welcome Rev. Lauren as our new minister,” said First Parish Church Committee Chair Susan Keyes. “In a few short weeks, we are impressed by her complete commitment to the importance of community and of living out our deeply held values in the ways we treat each other and in the wider world. Rev. Lauren brings a new voice and a unique perspective to Wayland’s tapestry of faith communities, and we are already energized by the prospect of growing into the future with her.”
Asked how she envisions her role at First Parish, Smith said she hopes the church will be “a hub for community connection and community service, a gathering place for spiritual sustenance, arts events and justice work. We will be a true meetinghouse for Wayland and beyond, with many ways to connect, find healing, grow and serve. Church congregations offer opportunities to connect with others who care about the world — people who come together to make the world a better place. And they are among the last remaining multi-generational communities to which many people have access.”
Smith also shared a little-known detail from her past: while studying theater in college, she played Sister Boxer in James Baldwin’s play “The Amen Corner.” Sister Boxer, she explained, is “a rather poisonous figure who has it in for the minister of her small Harlem congregation, launches a rebellion and drives the minister from the church.”
“Ironic, in retrospect,” she said.
Smith is married to the Rev. Chris Holton Jablonski, a Unitarian Universalist minister at the First Church in Belmont. They have three children ages 18, 15, and 11.
