Rev. Lisa Ward has been our settled minister since August of 2016. Ordained in 1992, Rev. Lisa has served congregations in New York City, Queens, White Plains, NY and Harford County, MD. A graduate from Union Theological Seminary in NYC, she has engaged in social justice initiatives throughout her career… 
Table of Contents
- This Week in Worship
- Weekly Column – guest writer!
- RE
- Events
- Social & Environmental Justice
- Actions for Justice and Democracy (COMING UP SOON)
This Week in Worship
“The Interview”
Dan offers thoughts on how we
stay sane in an insane time.
Claudia gives us music by Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon
Please join us for service at 9:30am.
Please join us for service at 9:30am.
Led by: Dan de Angeli
Worship Assistant: Penny Partridge
Music: Claudia Wellington
Audio: Nicholas Miller
Please log in at 9:20, to give some lead time for the service at 9:30. 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.
This week’s offering will be given to the service and ministry of First Parish.
Rain, Rain, Go Away!
by Susan DeMinico, Church Administrator
The news reported that Boston has received 6 inches of rain in the last 12 hours. Roadways are deluged, highways shut down, and many, many basements are flooded. In years past, this amount of rain would have, for certain, caused me a small amount of panic over where we’d find water in the First Parish basement. For those that have been around a few years, you know that we would often have water intrusion in the stairwell by the social worker door, by the nursery school windows, in the activity room, and/or in the basement of the meetinghouse. Every rain storm seemed to cause water somewhere. But not today.
In the past 6 years, First Parish has spent a good amount of money on a decidedly not flashy topic: infrastructure.
When I first started at First Parish, there was one, non-commercial grade sump pump for the entire basement of First Parish. It made sense at the time. But as the building utilization grew, and climate change became more apparent by the year, we saw more renters, and more water, and therefore- more issues. Building and Grounds, with the support of the Parish Committee and the Climate Action team, began chipping away at projects, year over year, to fix the water intrusion issues.
We installed a commercial grade sump pump with an alarm in the activity room. We installed a dual commercial grade sump pump in the landing of the social worker entrance. In the Meetinghouse we installed grates that lead to a sump pump, and again, installed a powerful sump pump to get water out. We repaired and replaced columns in the Meetinghouse basement, to make sure that our structural support was sound, after many years of water and humidity. We make sure the gutters and drains get cleaned annually, so water is able to flow properly. We’ve regraded the land where we had water intrusion, so the water now slopes away from the building. We installed new, triple pane windows in the Link that are not only incredibly energy efficient, but keep leaks at bay.
Today, after 6 inches of rain- there’s not one bit of water intrusion in the building. No wet meetinghouse basement, no puddles. Just humming sump pumps and dry floors. An incredible effort of many dedicated church volunteers to make this building a safe place to worship for many more years. Bravo!
Religious Exploration
Susannah Bales, our new Director of Lifespan Faith Exploration, started this week. Her email is REDirector@fpmilton.org
Stay tuned for information and welcome Susannah!
News & Announcements
Upcoming Summer Services 9:30am (in Meetinghouse except as noted with *)
Summer Services start on June 15th at First Parish Milton UU 9:30 AM (in Meetinghouse except as noted with *)
7/20 Cynthia Guise and Didi Emmons: What Is the UUA Animal Ministry?
7/27 Penny Partridge & Tasha Bello: Looking Both Ways at 80
8/3 Steve Yakutis & Friends: Songs of Protest* (in Children’s Church)
8/10 Elise Henricks: Walking Our Labyrinth* (in courtyard)
8/17 Chris Clifford: Blue Hills Forest Bathing* (location TBA)
8/24 Lisa White: Music from Our Hymnals
8/31 Penny Partridge: Navigating in the Sea of Dementia
Join us online from anywhere; but if you can, please come in person.
* Not available online
Annual Pledges
First Parish’s fiscal year stated 7/1, meaning that all pledges received after 7/1 will go to this fiscal year. If you want to finish paying last year’s pledge, please just drop me a note, or put a note in the memo line of a check. We will take care of correctly applying the cash. We do ask that you get any FY25 pledges in ASAP (no later than 7/11) as we do want to close the “old” fiscal year.
If you’d like to alter your monthly amount, and need help, we are happy to do so. Please just email Susan at manager@fpmilton.org
Social & Environmental Justice
UU Mass Action Capital Campaign
This year, members of the First Parish Milton Social & Environmental Justice committee have worked actively with UU Mass Action on Immigration Justice, Climate Action, and Democratic Advocacy. We have been impressed with their deep insights and dedication to this work! They are conducting a critical year end capital campaign and need our help.
From Rev Jo Murphy:
“In these uncertain times, we recently learned that two major grants we depend on will not be renewed, due to reasons outside of our organization’s control. This will leave us with an unexpected $90k shortfall for FY26. As a result of this shortfall we are launching ‘Dreaming Beyond Crisis: An Emergency Capital Campaign.’
Though we may be at financial loss, at this moment UU Mass Action is doing some of the most powerful, effective work in our organization’s history.
How to Give:
Donate online to the campaign!
No donation too small! Thanks for considering
Bike Drive with Bikes Not Bombs: Success!
We are pleased to report that we collected almost 50 bikes for the bike drive in June. Several “Non fixable” bikes were eliminated and recycled but the rest were packed into the BnB van.
Special thanks to our local volunteers for helping the BnB team to “flatten” bikes by removing pedals and turning handlebars so bike could be tightly packed for shipping -the bikes are now on their way to new homes in El Salvador!
Great work Tony Dutzik, Owen McGonagle, Jim May, Mary Blanchette, and Moss Brown!!
Special thanks to the mighty BnB team: Sara and John!
Actions for Justice and Democracy
Eleventh hour calling for democracy
Friday July 11th, 6:00 PM
The Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit
525 River Street, Mattapan
We will assemble with our neighbors across the Neponset River this month to stand out for Democracy. Bring yourselves, signs, flags, and sound-makers of choice — and a potluck item (dish or drink) to share at the Bridging Dinner afterwards, if you would like to stay. Show up! Show that we are resolved and resilient in challenging times.
This is a family-friendly event. Consider carpooling from Milton although there is parking at CHS in Mattapan Square. Spread the word! Remember, this event repeats monthly. Monday, August 11 will be the next date (returning to First Parish in Milton).
THE REV. ZENETTA ARMSTRONG RETIREMENT CELEBRATION WEEKEND
Dinner – Saturday July 26, 2025, 2:00 PM – 5:30 PM
Holy Eucharist – Sunday July 27, 2025, 10:30 AM (see attached flyer)
All events will be held at
The Church of the Holy Spirit, Mattapan
*See flyer below
DATE CHANGE : Good Trouble Lives On standout on THURSDAY, July 17
STAND OUT FOR OUR DEMOCRACY
Next week the standout will be held on Thursday instead of Wednesday. We are supporting a national Indivisible standout in honor of Rep John Lewis
Click here to schedule an appointment
Rev. Lisa Ward:
Study Leave: June 23-June 30
Vacation: July 1-14
Vacation: July 28-August 10
Study Leave: August 11-18
Susan DeMinico: Summer Hours for July and August
In office on Tuesday &Thursday – Off Mondays and Fridays, 1/2 day remote Wednesdays.
Vacation: June 23rd-June 30th
Vacation: August 8th-18th
Tim Steele
Returning in September
Susannah Bales
Starting 7/7/25
Sherri Moldaver
In office Monday thru Thursday 8:30am-1:30pm
Vacation: July 14th-16th
Vacation: August 4th-August 7th
Kevin Harnden
Monday-Thursday 8am-11am
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 – 1:00 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
SIGN UP GENIUS (formerly known as the Planner)
The link to SignUp Genius is: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090D44ACA728A02-57884860-20252026#/
You can sign up for one our our Sunday volunteer positions.