First Universalist Society in Franklin, FUSF, enjoys an 11.6 acre campus. While much of the land is preserved in its natural woodland state, we do enjoy our landscaped grounds and the special places that offer us spiritual respite.

The Memorial Garden was designed by two of our congregants and made a reality by the generosity of our members. The Garden solidifies FUSF’s permanence on this site. Its design includes paver walks with memorial engravings, granite benches, and a focal point sundial, all surrounded by graceful trees, blooming shrubs, and flowers. The intent of the Garden is not just to offer a final resting place for FUSF members and their loved ones, but to provide a quiet place for contemplation at the edge of our beautiful pine grove.

The Pine Grove is a three-acre woodland. It offers us a wonderful natural setting for our nature based religious education program and to gather and share community while surrounded by the sights, sounds, and smells of nature’s splendor. Within the pine grove is a stone labyrinth.

The Labyrinth is an ancient spiritual tool with one path leading to the center and back out again. It is a sacred space where one walks with an open heart and an open mind. The twists and turns provide for a calming walk and/or a reflective journey. The vision for our outdoor labyrinth originated in 2006 after the FUSF labyrinth ministry hosted its first annual New Year’s Eve indoor labyrinth walk. There was the desire to create a labyrinth that would be available to the general public year round. FUSF congregants built the 7-circuit Classical Labyrinth in 2008 with the generous funding of a Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation’s Community Spirit 9/11 Mini-Grant. We invite and welcome all to walk this labyrinth. It is located within our beautiful pine grove and open to the general public.

Thomas Lazinski Memorial Pathway provides handicapped access from the parking lot to the Memorial Garden. The path was the Eagle Scout project of Thomas Cerier, a life-long member of FUSF. Members, friends, and community business helped make this path a reality. It fulfills the scout’s desire to help create something beneficial, meaningful, and permanent for FUSF which has so positively impacted his life.

Peace Garden is located at the entrance to our meetinghouse. Here, a peace pole and its nearby bench offer us not only a place to relax under the birch trees, but a reminder of our ongoing mission for peace.