Your Weekly Link – News and Updates 6/4/2020

Weekly Link 6-4-2020

This Week in Virtual Worship

Sunday, June 7, 2020

Grace Abides”‘ ZOOM LIVE-STREAM WORSHIPPlease see the zoom link below. Please log in at 10:20, to give some lead time for the service at 10:30. A zoom greeter will admit you into the zoom room. You will be muted, but you can communicate through the chat box. If you do not have zoom on your computer, please download it ahead of time. It is free.

Our YouTube account is First Parish in Milton UU.

Please subscribe by hitting the subscribe button on our Youtube channel and you’ll get notifications of when new videos are posted.

Please be on the lookout for an Order of Worship which will be emailed to you on Friday, 6/5.  We’ve added the offering to the service with a new way to give- text to giving! 

Sunday’s offering will go to Campaign Zero​​.

You can donate anytime between June 4th and June 7th. See below for  text donation instructions.  It will be good to worship together. Do join us on Sunday if you can.

Below in the Link:

1. Minister’s Message

2. RE Message

3.  Sunday Donation Info

4. Milton Stand Out Against Racism

5. Volunteers Needed

6.  Meditation Info

Minister

Rev. Lisa Ward

minister@fpmilton.org

What a week this has been.  Layers of emotional and spiritual disturbances every time we tune into the news.  All important to witness.  All a load on top of the continued navigation of our life with Covid-19.  I think about parents, as well, facing another layer of processing the news with and for our children.  What do we say to our children, people ask.  For that matter, what do we say to anyone? What, indeed, do we even say to ourselves about the persistent truth of racial violence?

I think the general advice we can find about helping children face traumatic, fearful or anxiety provoking news can apply to us all, with age appropriate strategies.  We know, for example. that avoiding the topic is not healthy,  nor a solution, and neither is staying silent.  Some parents, especially of black and brown adolescent sons, must offer what is known as “the talk”: articulating strategies to de-escalate encounters with police.  Some parents do not have the luxury of mere philosophy and hope for change.  Some are trying to keep their youth alive.  So avoidance is not an option for any of us.

There is much advice on the internet to guide these difficult moments. Choose one or two that resonate for you and your loved ones, according to their ages.  Here are a few general ways in to start: 

Ø  It is important to recognize and admit that we do not have all the answers, that, in fact, it is not up to any one of us to have all the answers.  Racism is another kind of ailment pervading our lives that will take all of us to remedy.  The assurance of working together and finding others who will work together toward solutions can help.  Right here in Milton we have Courageous Conversations toward Racial Justice: https://www.courageousconversations-milton.org/

Ø  Allowing for the emotions, questions, and fears to be expressed clears the way for facing this together, making it real, and not impossible to address.  Allowing for and holding the reactions goes a long way to communicating the ability to cope, and the welcome to work through these times together. 

Ø  Finding assurance in our potential to learn, to heal and to encourage a more just, loving world can help. “Small” stories of kindness, coping and discovery remind us that we have resources within us even when the news is so overwhelming. 

Ø  Keep the dialogue open, the wonder about solutions alive, and the truth something to welcome.

Let us help each find the way through for all.  This I pray.  Amen.  Rev. Lisa

Religious Exploration

The Passages Program will meet online on June 7 at 9:45 am. The final celebration for the children in this much-loved program will be held during the worship service on June 28.

Online options for Children and Middle Schoolers: We are offering multiple short virtual programs throughout the week to help families feel connected to each other and to the heartbeat of First Parish Milton. 

Storytime: Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4:00 pm

Show & Tell: Wednesdays at 4:00 pm

Middle School Hangout: Mondays and Wednesdays at 7:00 pm

See the RE family newsletter for more information about each option and the Zoom links to join in. Each session is password protected, participants will be admitted via waiting rooms, private chat will be turned off, and screen sharing will be restricted to the co-hosts. We will ensure that two adults are present before children or youth are added from the waiting rooms. Please let Laurel know if you need the family newsletter.

~ Our bodies may not be touching, but our hearts are still connected.

Coming of Age will meet online on June 7. Youth and their mentors are invited from 1:00 to 2:30 pm on June 7. The Coming of Age service will be held on Sunday, June 21, at the regular worship time of 10:30 am.

Virtual Youth Chat: All youth should have received Zoom links to join Youth Chat online each week. Each session will give youth an opportunity to connect and share what is on their hearts and we will play fun group online games. Please let Laurel know if you need the link info.

Weekly sessions are on Thursdays at 7:30 pm.

Events, News and Announcements

Last Sunday’s Donations

Last Sunday, we collected donations for the United Way’s Neponset Neighbors Together Fund . Thanks to your generosity, we were able to donate $1,940.71

From today 6/4 through 6/7, we are accepting donations for Campaign Zero.

Campaign Zero supports analysis of policing practices across the country, research to identify effective solutions to end police violence, technical assistance to organizers leading police accountability campaigns and the development of model legislation and advocacy to end police violence nationwide.

HOW TO GIVE: Simply text (617) 539-7576 with the amount that you’d like to give. Do not add words, simply put the amount. You’ll get an automatic text message back, asking you to do a 1-time set up to create an account with your credit card/debit number. After the one time set-up, you can simply text the number with an amount to give, and it’ll be automatically debited from the account of your choosing. This is contained and safe — it goes directly to a designated First Parish account. We will write one check of the compiled donations to the organization.

Milton Stand Out Against Racism

WHEN:  Thursday, June 4th 6:00pm

WHERE:  Blue Hill Parkway from Canton Ave. to Mattapan Square

WHAT:  Stand socially distanced on sidewalks or median wearing masks or stay in your car on either side of the Parkway.  Signs and chalk art are encouraged !

6:00PM-Stand in Solidarity Against Racism

6:15PM-Take a Knee as person next to you kneels (creating a wave) in Remembrance

6:24PM-Contemplative silence-what is your intention

6:30PM-Disperse

Organized by Courageous Conversations Towards Racial Justice and Milton Interfaith Clergy Assoc.

So far we have prepared and delivered over 500 bagged lunches and the need continues to be just as urgent.  A few more volunteers are needed to help prepare bagged lunches for MainSpring on June 17th & July 1.  Friends of First Parish are welcome to join in too. 

For more information or to sign up, contact Peter Schneider at peterlschneider@gmail.com