Your Weekly Link – News and Updates 4/5/2019

Weekly Link 4/5/2019

This Week in Worship

Sunday, April 7, 2019

Worship at 10:30 am in the Meetinghouse

“Connecting with the Divine”

This Sunday

There are many ways that we can connect with the Divine.  Understanding which resonates with you is fundamental to forging your own spiritual path. On Sunday, we will explore connecting to the Divine and the essential element of faith in making this connection – and in every important aspect of our lives.  Special music by Claudia Wellington and Friends.

Each year, many members of First Parish join people from all parts of Boston for the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute’s Mother’s Day Walk For Peace.  This has been a tradition of First Parish for many years.  On Mother’s Day, starting at Town Field in Dorchester, people gather at 8 am to sing, advocate and walk with fellow citizens to lift up awareness and support for people who live with the death of a loved one due to homicide.  “Rise Up and Tip the Scale Toward Justice” is the theme for this year as supporters raise money, share stories, listen deeply and widely to the need for a more just and peaceful world.

The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute is a center of healing, teaching, and learning for families and communities impacted by murder, trauma, grief, and loss. The stated vision is to “work to create and sustain an environment where all families can live in peace and all people are valued.”

One powerful, hope-filled way to communicate that people are valued is to bring ourselves to each other’s stories: to walk with one another intentionally for shared strength and wellness.

Come join me and many other parishioners as we walk from Town Field in Dorchester to City Hall, bringing ourselves, our hearts and our walking shoes to a shared path dedicated to peace, healing and justice for all.

Stay tuned for details of the First Parish Walking Team: May 12th, 8 am.

Blessings Be, Rev. Lisa

Religious Exploration

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Nursery care will be available from 10:15 to 11:45 am in the Link hallway for infants and toddlers up to age 3.

On Sunday, April 7, all children from preschool through grade 8 will begin in the Meetinghouse and then move to the Children’s Church for a multi-age worship service celebrating the life of First Parish Milton and all that goes into each service and each congregational year. The children will be helping with a special Stewardship project as part of our morning.

Our Whole Lives Program: The Our Whole Lives program has finished! Class members and their parents met after the final session to celebrate their accomplishment together. Tremendous thanks to Amy Kavadlo and David Goodrich for facilitating the program all year. Their commitment of time, the energy they invested, and the enthusiasm they expressed each week was enormous and unceasing!

Register your child or youth! The Religious Exploration Committee requests all families to register your child or youth before attending classes. Please use this link to our online form: RE Registration Form (or paper registration forms are available on the RE bulletin board in the Link hallway).

Youth Yacking for April 7, 2019

10:00am – 11:30am Youth Chat: Arrive early and settle in with a hot beverage before the formal programming begins at 10:30. This week we will have Rev. Lisa visiting and will be discussing the upcoming spring youth activities and ideas for next year.

12:00 – 2:00pm CAT (Community Activity Time): Packing up care packages for First Parish Milton young adults who are in college or embarked on their path in other ways. We need all hands to help make our care packages special!

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Calling for donations to create care packages for First Parish Milton young adults!

For the fourth year, the Caring Committee and the youth group are once again teaming up to collect care package items for former high school youth group members. This would include youth who are now in college, recently enrolled and serving in the armed forces, completing a year of community service like AmeriCorps, or off on their own starting a first job.

Contributions of snacks, games, home-baked goods, or other treats for this age group will be collected at social hour until Sunday, April 7. Also, we would graciously receive monetary contributions towards postage costs and goodies! Please make out checks to “First Parish Milton” and put “Care packages” on the memo line.

If you would like to have your young adult to be a recipient, there will be a sign-up at coffee hour on 3/24 and 3/31 or you can send their name, address, and any dietary restrictions to Amanda Tobey at amandatobey@gmail.com.

The deadline for all donations is April 7. Packages will be mailed/delivered in early April.

MUSIC SELECTIONS

This week Claudia Wellington will be offering “Anthem of Sand” by Bob Dylan, and then will be joined by five other singers for “My Sweet Lord”, by George Harrison.

Events, News and Announcements

First Parish Committee Fair

Sunday, April 7

11:30am-12:15pm

Please join us for the Committee Fair during social hour in the Parish Hall after worship service on 4/7.

Interested in becoming more engaged with First Parish life, but not sure how? Don’t know what the different committees do? Wanting to put your talents to use in our community, but don’t know how?

Come learn about the diverse committees First Parish has! Service on church committees is a good way for people to get to know others who share similar interests and passions, to learn about how First Parish works, and to become more personally invested in our faith community. To learn about the important and meaningful work of our committees, please stop by the different committee tables and see what interests you. If you decide you want to join a committee, the committee chair can put you in touch with the nominating committee. The nominating committee will then add your name to the committee roster, for approval at the annual meeting.

Please help us welcome Maria Ware-McGuinness, who is our temporay adminsitrative assistant while Megan is on maternity leave. Her email address is the same as Megan’s- office@fpmilton.org

Please note that due to Maria working fewer hours than Megan, our church office hours are now Monday-Thursday from 10am-1pm.

The Caring Committee Needs Help!

The Caring Committee is looking for 4 new members. This committee facilitates care giving within the First Parish Community, providing such services as meal delivery, rides, emergency child care, and visits. As a member of the committee, you would not provide all of these services; rather, you would help to ensure that the need has been met. It’s a wonderful way to make new connections – whether you’ve been a member for 2 months or 20 years! We meet monthly. Direct questions/interest to Amanda at amandatobey@gmail.com

Bring a dish and join us after worship this Sunday in the Parish Hall for our

Committee Fair and Monthly Potluck Social Hour!

Planning Meeting for the First Parish Yard Sale 

Sunday, April 14 at noon in the Activities Room

Our second annual yard sale will be held on Saturday, June 22, from 9 am – 1 pm. Those of us who worked on or attended the event last year had a great time.  We’re looking forward to doing it again!    

This is one event, where “the more the merrier” is completely true.  We’re looking for volunteers.  Can you help by: 

  • joining the organizing committee
  • donating furniture, sporting equipment, toys, clothes, household goods, etc. that are in good shape but are no longer useful to you.
  • staffing the drop-off hours working at the yard sale
  • cleaning up after the sale and distributing the unsold items

Whatever you can do, we’ll appreciate your help!

If you want to get involved, but aren’t available for the April 14th meeting, email Jen Pinkus (jennifer.pinkus@gmail.com).

Keep watching this space for more information over the coming weeks.

First Parish has a new bike rack! Thanks to the building talents of Hale Smith, our bike rack is ready for riders! Thank you to Peter Schneider from the Green Team & Beth Gray-Nix from Building & Grounds for working together to make it a reality!

Circle Social

Springtime on the Porch — Good Friday, April 19, 5:30-ish 

Hosts: Tasha and Michael Bello

Wine, Cheese, Appetizers & Conversation — Bring something to share

6 adults; no resident pets; in Randolph (address/directions will be provided). Sign up on sheet on Membership bulletin board outside church library.

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Courageous Conversations is a monthly series of dialogue-centered programs on racism and privilege designed to address racial healing and justice in our town. Each month the Courageous Conversations leadership team in partnership with the Milton Interfaith Clergy Association brings together a diverse group of people representing a wide array of life experiences, circumstances, and choices. All events are open to the public—anyone can attend a meeting whether or not they have attended in the past.

Service Project: Blessing Bags

Topic: Join Courageous Conversations towards Racial Justice in a service project to assemble Blessing Bags for unhoused individuals. In addition to helping assemble the bags which is open to all family members young and old we are also looking for donations of individual sized personal care items like shampoo, conditioner, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, Qtips, bandaids, individual snacks and juice boxes.

When: Friday, April 19th, from 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM

Where: Parkway United Methodist Church, 158 Blue Hills Parkway, Milton, MA 02186

 Guest Speaker Byron Rushing

When: Wednesday, April 24, from 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Where: Milton Public Library, 476 Canton Ave, Milton, MA 02186

Topic: Byron Rushing will deliver an overview on the topic, “Slavery and the Culture of Race in the Americas: Amnesia and Anamnesis.”

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UUA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Spokane, Washington

June 19-23, 2019

“The Power of We”

General Assembly is the annual business meeting of our denomination, and it’s a whole lot more. Inspirational worship services, informative workshops, entertaining programs, and a bustling exhibit hall help make GA an unforgettable experience for the thousands of Unitarian Universalists that attend. Attendees leave with a renewed sense of energy, inspiration, and innovative ideas to take back to their congregations and communities.

Visit uua.org/ga for

• Programming Information

• Registration and Housing

• Financial Aid Information

• Volunteer Opportunities

Green Gleanings

By Susan DeMinico, Office Manager

One of my favorite summer activities with my kids is gardening. It’s not a terribly flashy activity- there’s no screen, the process long, the result can be fickle. So how do you get kids excited about gardening?

I recommend having your kids plan the type of garden you want together, or if land allows, giving them a small plot for themselves to be creative. Gardens don’t have to be the traditional beans/tomatoes/cucumbers. If your kids love pizza, make a pizza garden- grow tomatoes, basil and their favorite veggie topping. Grow a sensory garden-plant Mimosa plants (the leaves move when touched), morning glories, aloe, chamomile or lemon balm. Discover the magical properties plants have together! Plant a butterfly garden- try butterfly bushes for something to grow for many years (and attracts hummingbirds!); shasta daisies, marigolds, and black-eyed Susans are all colorful additions to any garden and butterflies love them!  Happy spring fellow gardeners!

Worship and Meditation at First Parish 

Sunday Worship Weekly

Worship, 10:30 am in the Meetinghouse

Weekly Meditation Offerings

Sundays, Silent Prayer and Meditation, 9am in the Children’s Church

Thursdays, Silent Prayer and Meditation, 7pm in the Children’s Church

STAY CONNECTED

Follow First Parish on Facebook and get updates, poems, announcements and more. You’ll be glad you did!

CHURCH OFFICE HOURS

Monday – Thursday 10:00 am – 2:00 pm

Other times by appointment

MINISTER OFFICE HOURS

Tuesday – Thursday 10:00 am – 2:00 pm

Other times by appointment

The Church office is closed on Fridays

Sundays through mid June

  • Worship, 10:30 am in the Meetinghouse
  • Choir Rehearsal (most Sundays) at 8:45 am
  • Silent Prayer & Meditation, 9:00am in the Children’s Church

EVERY THURSDAY

Silent Prayer & Meditation, 7:00 pm in the Children’s Church (Note new time)

SIGN UP GENIUS (formerly known as the Planner)

The link to SignUp Genius is: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090d44aca728a02-sunday1

You can sign up for one our our Sunday volunteer positions.