Your Weekly Link – News and Updates 2/2/2017

Weekly Link 2-2-17

Church

This Week in Worship

10:30 a.m. in the Meetinghouse
Sunday, February 5, 2017
This month’s theme: Justice

Rev. LisaMessage from Rev. Lisa

With the beginning of a new administration in the White House, there has been quite a flurry of executive orders that signal many changes, disruptions of services and new administrative priorities. We are being called, if we are paying attention, to claim our values as a nation and create priorities from that value base. This starts in our own communities.

Many people are unsure of how to focus their energies: what to speak out on in resistance and what to affirm as a potentially positive change. What is definitely happening is that we can easily become scattered, over committed and out of balance in reaction to the rapid changes.

A UU colleague added an image to the approach of advocacy which many of us have framed as a “marathon”. She offered that we can also think of the work of justice, equity and compassion as a relay race, sometimes passing the baton to another in order to pause, reflect and regenerate.

As we come together as a faith community we can hone in on the values that compel our choices. We can center our strength of heart. We can find what action we want to take and affirm the actions of others when it’s time to reflect. We can stay in the flow of change with our voices resounding and our vision clear. Let us help each other to that grounding and that hope.

Blessings Be,

Rev. Lisa

Religious Exploration

Laurel Whitehouse
Director of Religious Education

What’s that laundry line doing in the bushes by Children’s Church? During the Children’s Church service on Prayer we discussed the Tibetan prayer flag tradition. We talked about the sayings or wishes on the flags carrying their message out to the world every time the wind moved the flags, in wider and wider circles of impact. The children then made their own prayer flags with their wishes for the world:

For all people to have a home
Peace for all
Rainbow design
Peace sign
Hearts for the world
May Jesus help you
Please be peace forever
Homes for everybody
Peace
No place for HATE
Hope that war will end
Let there be peace and love
May the world rest in peace and love

What’s happening in religious exploration this weekend?

  • Nursery care will be available from 9:00 am to noon for infants and toddlers.
  • Preschool children through grade 7 will attend the first part of the worship service in the Meetinghouse and then move to their classrooms. Please note that classes end at 11:40 am. Children will be walked over to join Social Hour in the Parish Hall and need to be met there by a parent.
  • Preschool through grade 1: Spirit Play in the Preschool classroom
  • Grades 2 through 5: Spirited Adventure in the Activity Room
  • Grades 6 and 7: Friends and Neighbors in the Primary classroom
  • Grades 8 and 9: Friday, February 3 – Our Whole Lives class will meet from 6:30 to 9:30 pm in the downstairs Activity Room,
  • Sunday, February 5 – Joining Youth Chat this week
  • Youth Chat will meet from 10:30 to 11:30 am in the Youth room upstairs. Youth Group will not meet this weekend.

Spaghetti Dinner and Game Night

Friday, February 3, from 6:00 to 8:30 pm. Don’t miss it! Youth Group-sponsored Spaghetti Dinner includes pasta, meatballs, salad and bread for $5 per person (gluten-free pasta available). Proceeds will help fund youth group participation in a spring service trip led by CityReach Boston. Stay after dinner to play games and nibble desserts sponsored by Membership.

We’ll have games for all ages available and you are welcome to bring your own to share. Fun for folks of every age!

Our Spirit Play Children Need Your Help

Our Spirit Play class is in need of adults to act as doorkeeper on seven Sundays this spring. After starting the service in the meetinghouse, the doorkeeper helps the children find their way to the classroom, joins them while they listen to a story, and then assists the storyteller as the children respond to the story with simple craft activities. It’s a great way to get to know some of First Parish’s preschool and kindergarten children.

We are hoping that many of you will be willing to act as doorkeeper for even a single Sunday morning, so that we can share our responsibility for our children as a community. If you would be willing to give your time on one or more Sundays this spring, please visit our Spirit Play Sign Up Genius and choose a date to help out. If you’ve never taught before, or haven’t taught recently, please also fill out a CORI check form and drop it off in the office in advance of your scheduled Sunday.

If you are interested in other teaching opportunities, or taking on a larger role in the education of our children and youth, please talk to Laurel Whitehouse or Bridget Sitkoff – we would love to include more voices in our program!

News and Announcements

InterPlay: Unlock the Wisdom of Your Body

When: Saturday, February 11 from 1 – 3 pm

Interplay is coming to First Parish! Rev. Lisa, a certified Interplay Leader, would like to start a monthly group at First Parish. Interplay is a way of engaging in community to inspire wisdom toward wellness through story-telling, movement, and play. All bodies of any ability are welcome. It is a way to release tension, find your groove and feel embraced in community. Try it for a couple of hours – wear comfortable clothes. Saturday, February 11, from 1pm – 3pm in the Parish Hall.

ANNUAL CHOCOLATE AUCTION FEBRUARY 12TH, 2017

Plan ahead – think NOW about what you might be able to contibute for the auction and prepare for what you want to bid in our Auction!

Please see the Announcement in our Order of Worship for Sunday or on the Information Tables in the Parish Hall Foyer and Stebbins Parlor.

If you have any questions at all, call or email your Humble Auctioneer, Chris Pitt.

SING FOR THEIR SUPPER RETURNS ON FEBRUARY 26TH

On Sunday afternoon, Februrary 26th at 3pm Milton Community Concerts presents the third annual “Sing For Their Supper”, a free benefit concert featuring ten outstanding opera singers from the Greater Boston community. All proceeds raised through a free-will offering will go to support the Milton Food Pantry and the Milton Residents Fund. All singers are donating their time and talents for this event, which will feature favorites from opera, musical theater, and the Great American Songbook. Singers featured have sung at the Metropolitan Opera, the Santa Fe Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, and at Carnegie Hall. Don’t miss this great opportunity to hear some amazing music right here in Milton and support two important local charities!

Stewardship News

Each week we will have a Faith in Action commentary from our various committees in The Link and Sunday Announcements leading up to Commitment Sunday, March 12.

Faith in Action – Spirit Play Teachers

We have had the pleasure of teaching Spirit Play for several years. It’s a curriculum that brings our faith, principles, values and the blessings of community to life for our youngest members. While the most important gifts the congregation can bring to children in its religious exploration program are a loving presence and modeling of the best of Unitarian Universalism, the resources used in teaching make a difference too.

Spirit Play is taught on the floor with students and teachers forming a circle. Likewise, much of the self-directed work the children do is best done on the floor. A rug would help keep the children comfortable. New storage would keep materials together and in good condition. Being able to purchase high quality materials for the stories, which are told with props, would make the experience more vivid and engaging for our young explorers. This would also allow the religious exploration committee and teachers to focus on building skills and deepening their understanding and competence with curriculum and spiritual formation, rather than recreating props for stories each year.

Warmest thanks for each of you and the gifts you share with First Parish Milton Melinda and Harris Collins

Social Action

Check out the Social Action Flyer on the Information Tables in the Parish Hall and Stebbins Parlor. Most Sundays, the Social Action Committee will also have information available on their table during social hour.

Social Action Committee Meeting is Sunday, February 5th at 8:30am in the Parlor! Hope to see you there!

UUUM

RENEWAL HOUSE – TOILETRY DRIVE Extended through February 12!

Join for our next volunteer date taking place on Saturday February 11, 2017. Other dates are March 11th, April 8th and May 13th.

Dialogue on Race

When: Sunday February 12 @ 5 – 9 pm

Come join the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Social Action Team, in coalition with Milton for Peace, on Sunday February 12, 2017, in our second of a monthly series of opportunities for deepening our understanding about the dynamics of race in society. Join us as we form connections and continue this important talk with a potluck dinner and discussion.

Please contact Debbie Alsebai or call 617-696-1276.

Kiki

Kiki’s Corner

As we have had a rise in activities, we are getting lots of requests for announcements for The Link and Announcements for the Order of Worship. Because we want everyone to hear the good news of so much happening, we have been publishing the full story and adding pages to our Order of Worship. However, in our 24/7 society, people do not read much after a 2nd paragraph.

If you have an event(s) coming up and want to figure out a church communication plan, email or call me. I am happy to work with you.

STAY CONNECTED

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

EVERY SUNDAY

Worship, 10:30am in the Meetinghouse

Silent Prayer & Meditation, 9:00am in the Children’s Church

THE SUNDAY PLANNER

Please consider volunteering for important Sunday worship positions like ushering, hosting social hour, providing flowers for worship, and lighting the chalice. Sign Up Here!

CHURCH OFFICE HOURS

  • Monday – Thursday 10:00 am – 3 pm
  • Other times by appointment

MINISTER OFFICE HOURS

  • Tuesday – Thurday 10:00 am – 3 pm
  • Other times by appointment

The Church office is closed on Fridays.