Your Weekly Link – News and Updates 11/24/2022

Your Weekly Link – News and Updates 11/24/2022

Table of Contents

  • This Week in Worship
  • Message from Rev. Lisa
  • This Week in Religious Exploration
  • Events and Meetings
  • News and Announcements
  • Volunteer Opportunities
  • Beyond First Parish

This Week in Worship

“Reframing Abundance”

Worship Assistant: Penelope Partridge

Greeter: Elise Henricks

Ushers: Jeff Stoodt & John McLaughlin

Social Hour: Lisa White & Jeff Stoodt

Music: Tim Steele

Audio: Atticus D’Alessandro

Sunday’s offering will go to the service and ministry of First Parish.

Masks are optional for vaccinated people in the meetinghouse; masks are still required for those who have not been vaccinated. Respect and consideration should be given to all regardless of their masking choice.

The morning news today broadcasted another mass shooting, this time in a Walmart in Chesapeake, Virginia. Already reeling from the news this past week of the shooting in Club Q in Colorado Springs, days after the shooting at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and the stabbing of students in the University of Idaho, we can become numb to the ways of our present culture, overwhelmed by the violence, hate and desperate acts of misery and isolation.

 There have been more than 600 mass shootings so far this year in the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive.  Mass shootings are defined as events when four or more people, not including the shooter, are injured or killed. The Washington Post lifted up this morning that not a single week in 2022 has passed without at least four mass shootings.

 This is our culture. This is a part of who we are. Until we recognize that we are prone to violence in the only country in the world with more civilian-owned firearms than people…and those are the guns we know about…we will go nowhere in cultivating a less murderous nation.

 Yes, it’s not only about the guns. There are many roots to the violence, but we must end or countermand the inane denial of the danger of guns, especially the guns that facilitate massive carnage.

 And right now, today, what can we do? We can look to the roots of violence, which center around various forms of isolation one to the other. We can recognize the spectrum of symptoms from lonely despair to murderous hate, rooted in the loss of understanding that we are connected, each to the other. We can cultivate gratitude and appreciation, healthy ways to grieve, courageous ways to include the other, patient ways toward difference, and determined ways to dismantle hate.

 May tomorrow’s Thanksgiving celebration inspire you to strengthen ways that heal instead of harm, ways that include instead of isolate, ways that facilitate bonds instead of divisions. We are capable of a different way of being.

This I pray. 

Rev. Lisa

Music For Sunday

This Sunday Daon Drisdom will be offering a lullaby from Chile, as sung by the Araucanian Indians, and arranged by Jacqueline B. Hairston. This lovely arrangement was originally written for soprano Kathleen Battle. Claudia Wellington, Pat Neves, Jennifer Mulqueen and Amy Kavadlo will sing a Cherokee version of “Amazing Grace”.

Religious Exploration

On Sunday, November 27th, will be a multi generational service. No classes will meet but we encourage children and youth to join us in the meetinghouse for worship.

Infant & Child CPR babysitting course offered December 28 & 29 from 9:00am-12:00pm open to girls & boys ages 11-15 years old. Cunningham Hall (75 Edge Hill Road) Cost is $30.

Hands on 2 day training with a Fallon Ambulance certified instructor

  • Certification in Infant and Child CPR
  • Infant and Child CPR card
  • A babysitters bag complete with a flashlight, mini first aid kit and family interview forms

LUNCH (PIZZA AND DRINKS WILL BE PROVIDED on Thursday)

**Limited Space Available**

MILTON RESIDENTS ONLY!

Registration:

Please be advised that we are now only taking on-line registrations for all of our programs. They are on a first come first serve basis. Please register early.

To access the online registrations click here

Events and Meetings

The Milton Residents Fund gratefully accepts financial or gift card donations throughout the year to assist families and individuals who are experiencing a financial crisis. We especially need gift cards during November and December to respond to holiday gift requests for those requesting additional assistance with the purchase of food or basic necessities, and teens/young adults/parents and seniors who have requested help with a holiday gift, sneakers, bedding or winter clothing. The following would be particularly helpful: grocery (Shaw’s or star market work best), target (as they sell everything), Dicks Sporting Goods (for athletic needs of teens,) Gamestop as several older youth have only listed video games on their holiday wish list, TJ MAxx/Marshall’s or Amazon. All else would also be gratefully accepted. Generally we distribute in increments of $25 and $50.  Donations can be left in the grey box in the church hallway. Provide the donors name and mailing address if a tax donation letter is requested.”

Regards,

Noreen K Dolan, MSW, LCSW

Fund Coordinator

Milton Community Concerts is offering a very unique way to kick off the holiday season this year, on Saturday, December 3rd at 7pm. White Snake Productions is producing four newly-composed musical dramas highlighting four different cultural holiday celebrations in “Let’s Celebrate”. This will be a sneak-preview of an event which will be opening in Boston the following week that was just listed in the Boston Globe as one of the top ten holiday concerts of the season. Tickets are “Pay As You Can”, and all net proceeds will go to support the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center.

The first piece, “A Braided Light” tells the story of a woman recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s as she looks forward to the arrival of her family in time for their celebration of Havdalah, a Jewish ritual marking the end of Shabbat. “Firecrackers” takes place during the Spring Festival as a new lunar year is celebrated in China and around the world. “Samiir’s Feast” tells the story of Samiir, who came to America after escaping death in Somalia, and is celebrating his first Christmas in America, while remembering Eid al Adha, a holiday he last celebrated with his mother back home. “Rosa” tells the story of an adopted child, separated from her family at the Mexican border, who learns her origin story after making an offering on the Day of the Dead.

For more information visit https://www.miltoncommunityconcerts.com/

HOLIDAY BLUES BRUNCH

Saturday, December 17

10:30 am – 1:00 pm

Location: Home of member Deb Alsebai

More details on sign-up genius.

The holidays are heightened times. This can mean deep grief, loneliness or a sense of isolation. Let’s gather for some good food and fellowship. We’ll socialize and share coping ideas, including some programming offered by Rev. Lisa. This is a time to honor together however we are this holiday season. Please sign up on the below link for planning purposes. All ages welcome.

Sign up Genius Link

News and Announcements

First Parish would like to thank you for donations to the following organization:

Nov. 6th- UU Urban Ministry $ 717.38

Volunteer Opportunities

Fair Foods

Fair Foods is a non-profit program that rescues fresh produce that would otherwise be wasted and uses it to feed our communities. We volunteer together unloading and sorting food and packing bags once a month.

The next volunteer date is Saturday, December 10th.

If you want to volunteer, please sign up on Sign up Genius by Thursday

evening before the event. Start time and locations vary depending on Fair Foods’ needs, but typically start at 8:30 a.m. at their warehouse at 70 Amory Street in Roxbury.

Sign up here!

Other volunteer opportunities are also available at Fair Foods, especially on Friday and Saturday mornings. Contact Tony Dutzik at tdutzik@gmail.com or 617-291-4685 with any questions or for more information.

First Parish Milton volunteers provide bagged lunches to MainSpring adult shelters in Brockton twice a month on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays. Members of the Social & Environmental Justice committee will make the delivery to Brockton.

Volunteers are needed to acquire food and pack 10 lunches and deliver to the church between 12:45 pm-1:00 pm on Delivery day. One team lead drives all the lunches to the shelter in Brockton. Please note how many meals you are making in comments. We are looking for 70 lunches for each delivery day. Lunches should include sandwich, fruit, drink, snack/chips and sweet/cookies.

The next delivery day will be on Wednesday December 7th and then every other Wednesday throughout the year. We will meet in the lower parking lot between 12:40 and 1:00 PM.

If you haven’t made lunches in a while OR if you are a new volunteer, sign up on MainSpring Sign Up Genius or contact Pat Gallivan at pl.gallivan@verizon.net for more info.

Thanks to all the volunteers that have made this program a success for more than two years !!

Sign up here

Looking to assemble a group of volunteers to cook and serve an evening meal at MainSpring or Father Bill’s sometime this Winter/Spring.

Contact Pat Gallivan at pl.gallivan@verizon.net if interested.

Beyond First Parish

Another Milton Grows Event

“Let’s Compost! What are you waiting for?”

Tuesday, Nov. 29, 6:45 p.m

Milton Public Library (MPL) 

Keyes Room (lower level – accessible)

476 Canton Avenue

Milton Grows is a year-long MPL initiative focused on gardening and sustainability in collaboration with The Friends of MPL and Sustainable Milton. Local duo Tucker Smith and Sita Cochran will cheerlead for home composting. It will be interactive, enthusiastic, and educational, with lots of show and tell to inspire you and your family. Free to all.


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, 9:30 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: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090d44aca728a02-sunday1

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