This Week in Worship

Sunday, July 28, 2019

9:30am- 10:30am in the Children’s Church”Seeing the good in people- a necessary step in creating a diverse community”

Did you know that we are hardwired to be suspicious and critical of people who we judge are different from ourselves? There are tools we can use, to overcome this tendency, to help us become more open and welcoming.​

Facilitated by: Susan Batson

Worship Associate: Susan Batson

Musician: Emma Jean Moulton

Minister

Rev. Lisa Ward

minister@fpmilton.org

**This column was written in June to keep continuity through Rev. Ward’s vacation in July.  She will be back in the office on August 1st.**

Spiritual Practice #4 of the Link Summer Series: Mindful Walking

Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Buddhist monk, has written extensively on the practice of walking meditation.  It is the practice of walking just for the sake of walking, taking in your surroundings and sense of your body moving.  It’s a practice that allows for silence and savoring, with or without others.

Thich Nhat Hanh speaks of arriving with each step.  He offers the image of imprinting our gratitude and love on the earth, as if we are kissing the earth with our feet.  Another image he offers is to imagine a lotus flower opening under each step.

If walking is difficult or not possible, apply the same attitude of presence with your cane, walker, scooter or wheel chair.  Enter each movement into space imprinting love on the earth.

Blessings Be, Rev. Lisa

Religious Exploration

Summer RE and Youth Break: Formal youth and religious exploration programming will resume on September 8 when regular worship services start again. Enjoy your summer, and remember to make time for spiritual practices – especially practicing gratitude!

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

Events, News and Announcements

Civil Rights Heritage Trip 

Hale & Tucker Smith

For those who missed service on Sunday June 21, 2019, or, would like a copy,

click here for the Civil Rights Refernce Readings and Website.

Thursday evening silent prayer and meditation is cancelled starting August 1st and will resume in October.

                                                          Green Gleanings

‘TIS THE SEASON…

…..for fresh produce.  Eating locally-grown, seasonal fruits and veggies quickly after harvest/purchase is a good, green practice.  Patronize your local Farmers Market!  Milton’s is held Thursday afternoons on the town green behind Milton Village Post Office, off Adams Street — if you ride your bike AND wear a helmet, you’ll receive a $2 coupon to spend at a vendor, courtesy of Milton Bicycle Advisory Committee.  Here’s a link to a handy chart of what’s in season, provided by Sierra Club:

https://www.businessinsider.com/fresh-vs-frozen-fruits-vegetables-health-nutrition-2017-4

“Beans, beans, the magical fruit; the more you eat the more you toot.

Beans, beans, they’re good for your heart; the more you eat, the more you….” …hiccough?

So much for silly summer camp ditties.  Enjoy!

At our summer retreat, the Social Action Committee reframed our key themes for the coming year to include: 

Racial Justice

Economic Justice

Immigration Justice

Climate Justice (Our amazing Green Action Team will continue to take the lead on Climate Justice.)

We want to engage the congregation in  public service activities and advocating for real change in all these important areas. 

As we embark on learning more about immigration issues this year, I invite you to join us for MCAN’s monthly interfaith prayer vigil on Sunday July 28 from 2-3pmat 

ICE Detention Center – South Bay Correctional Facility

20 Bradston Street Boston, MA 02118

If you are interested in attending or want more info, please contact

Tracey Robinson at tdr02186@gmail.com

A small office project update- our phone system is currently not working correctly. It’s challenging to leave messages sometimes (it’s not a consistent problem), and we know the message on the answering service is outdated (we can’t change it!).

The good news is we’re installing a new Voice-over IP phone system in early August with all new phones. No more screeching phones, no more broken messaging service. Our phone service will be down for 1-2 hours on the day we make the transition; we will put the date in the link when we have an install date. Thank you for your patience!

Summer Projects

by Susan DeMinico, Office Manager

Meetinghouse restoration continues, as the team is moving around the tackle the front of the church. Expect to see the scaffolding there in the next week as the scraping starts. 

In other projects, Stebbins parlor- the parlor in the rear of the meetinghouse- was recently repainted and the ceiling repaired. We cleaned the antique rug in the parlor and are currently repairing and reupolstering the two antique chairs in the parlor, that were a gift to the church in the late 1800’s.  We’ve selected the fabric in the picture above- many thanks to Lynne Stack for her decorating expertise!

We hope you all come and appreciate the new Stebbins parlor in the fall!

Courageous Conversations

August Celebration and Concert

Thursday, August 15th from 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Parkway United Methodist

158 Blue Hills Pkwy, Milton, MA 02186

RSVP here

Join our potluck celebration of Courageous Conversations Towards Racial Justice. Invite friends and family to join our commemoration of our racial awareness work. There will be a free concert. Please bring a dish to share for the potluck.

Sign-up for Church Directory Photos!

First Parish members: More information will be coming about our new church directory but you can sign up for your photo session *now*. Each group will need about a half-hour for their session and we currently have three dates that we will be taking photos: August 6 and September 13 and 14. 

Please use this link to choose your spot:

https://booknow-lifetouch.appointment-plus.com/yr4jj9pk/

You can reach out to Leslie with your questions: lesliecmacpherson@gmail.com

Rev. Lisa Ward, Minister

Out the month of July and August 11-19 on study leave

Susan DeMinico, Office Manager

Tuesdays/Wednesdays 8:30-4:30, Thursdays 8:30-12:30pm

Megan Benders, Administrative Assistant

In the office on Tuesday-Thursday 11:00am-2:00pm

Laurel Whitehouse, Director of Religious Education

On vacation until August 10th

Sara Elizabeth Santa Cruz, Youth Advisor

Back in the Fall

Tim Steele, Music Director

Back in the Fall