This Week in Worship

Sunday, March 1 @ 10:30 am in the Meetinghouse

Worship led by Jeff Stoodt

The Hope-y Change-y Thing

This congregation is so lucky to have such talented pool of worship associates and this Sunday Jeff and others will lead our service, a communion service will follow.

Interim Thoughts from Rev. Hank Peirce

There is history in every crack and crevice of this place. When I write that I am not speaking in big lofty terms, I mean that the historical files and records of First Parish are stashed away in every random spot in these building. I spent a few hours earlier this week with Dave Leggett as we looked through musty file cabinets in the basement, in drawers in the church office, in one of the closets in my office and around that cluttered space outside of the youth room. In each of those areas, and in many others are the “archives” of the this community. We found letters from the early 1800s stacked next to photos of a Christmas party in 1981.

The history of this church is the history of the people of Milton, and will someday be your history as well. We found records of events and of discussions that went on seventy years ago that are still going on today and which would probably help the congregation in better understanding the situation if you had the information. So I will at some point this spring call folks together to help find a space for First Parish’s history and to help organize this amazing collection of stories that make up who this congregation was, who it is and who it will become.

Peace,

Rev. Hank

The Worship Theme for March is Brokenness

March 1st The Hope-y Change-y Thing Jeff Stoodt

This congregation is so lucky to have such talented pool of worship associates and this Sunday Jeff and others will lead our service, a communion service will follow.

March 8th Maggi’s Son
The Ten Commandments say to honor our parents, yet Jesus tells us something very different. As most of our formation occurs in our families of origins, it is often from those experiences of childhood where we need to heal ourselves and from there go and affect the world around us.

March 15th UU Urban Ministry The Rev. Susan Chorley
This Sunday we will be blessed with the preaching of the Rev. Chorley who is the Senior Program Director at the Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry. Our church has long been associated with this important ministry in the city of Boston most recently through the Jericho Road Project.

March 22nd The Art of Wrestling
“The scriptures tell of Jacob spending all night wrestling with and angel. How many nights have you spent awake struggling with issues that seem to have a hold on you? And how do you know when you are through?”

March 29th Palm Sunday: From Nomads to Pilgrims
How do we transform ourselves from individuals to a religious community? How do we put together our broken lives in a way that not only serves us, but God? This is the journey we are on from nomads to pilgrims.

Note on Parking – We expect continuing challenges with Sunday parking until the snow melts substantially. Please consider looking for alternate spaces in the Town Hall/Fire Department area if you are able bodied. We hope that our spaces will be used by those that need to have the shortest walk to the church.

Religious Exploration

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Children’s Church

• K – 7th graders will begin the month with a worship service in the Children’s Church.
• 2nd grade Passages will meet in their classroom.
• 8th graders in the OWL Program will go directly to class.
  Owl will meeting in the Parlor from 10:00am – 11:30am.
• Youth Chat will meet in the youth room upstairs. Youth Group is meeting at noon.
• The Nursery is available for children ages 4 and younger.
• Classes begin promptly at 10:30

Neighboring Faiths (7th grade Religious Exploration Class) Update:

The spring semester is off to a good start studying Judaism. We had a good turn out and an informative session with Rabbi Benjamin this past Sunday.

This SATURDAY (2/28) Neighboring Faiths will be attending a Temple service. They are currently held at the Congregational Church across the town green from First Parish. Please plan to have the kid’s meet us in front of the main church doors at First Parish at 10:30am and we can walk over together. Any adults who would like to join us are welcome. We plan to stay for an hour of the service from 10:45- 11:45am and we should be back by noon.

There will be no Sunday meeting of Neighboring Faith’s this weekend but 7th graders are invited and encouraged to attend Children’s Church.

Thanks to the teachers, students and parents involved in making Neighboring Faiths such a vibrant class this year!

​Youth Group Happenings

Spring Youth Group Events

First Event: March 8th – We are hosting coffee hour! Youth and parent volunteers should get there at 8:30 with the snacks they sign up for on the signup sheet. Everyone should sign up for at least 1 or 2 things!

News and Announcements

Saturday, February 28

Looking for Volunteers to Serve Dinner at Father Bill’s

First Parish is signed up for cooking/serving at Fr. Bills this coming Saturday night and we could use some help for a few hours.

I will buy all of the food and deliver it to the Shelter on Friday night.

What we will need: three or four people to arrive at Fr. Bill’s around 2:30 to prepare the salad and help put the lasagnas in the ovens. You will be finished around 6PM and no clean-up is required.

Please contact me if you can help.

Thanks!

Pat Gallivan

First Parish Milton Orientation/New Member Class

Saturday, March 14 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Please join us for First Parish Milton Orientation. You will learn more about Unitarian Universalism, historic First Parish Milton (including a tour), and hear more about the path to membership here as well as your sharing of your experiences so far. Evites were mailed to those of you who recently completed a yellow visitor card. Check your email. Please email Kiki if you are interested in attending or need more information. Rev. Hank Peirce and Kiki Giatis will be facilitating the program.

Sad News – John Garland, a member of First Parish, who passed away on Saturday, February 21, 2014 after a long battle with cancer. John is survived by his wife, Clare. Notes and cards may be mailed to Clare Garland, 27 Spafford Road Milton MA 02186. May we keep his family and friends in our hearts and prayers at this time.

It’s Time to Pledge! First Parish Stewardship Campaign Ends March 1

The good news is that the Stewardship Team has extended the deadline for pledges until March 1. So if you’re still digging out from the snowstorms, there is still plenty of time to pledge. Doing it is easy. You may have received a pledge form in the mail, and if not, there are plenty available at church.

You can drop off your pledge form at church, send it by mail, or make your pledge on-line on the website, If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact Tony Dutzik, Kiki Giatis, or any member of the Stewardship Team.

All the best,

Tony Dutzik
On Behalf of the Stewardship Team

Kiki’s Corner

The UUA “is excited to announce the new design of UUA.org. The fresh look and feel will help to better communicate who we are, what we do and why it matters.” Check it out – this is a good resource for anyone that is interested in learning more about our denomination, resources for congregational leaders, and more.

Snow closing notifications for First Parish Milton.

We have established where we place office closing or worship cancellations. Here are the details of where we post. During the week, the campus and office are closed on the same days as the closing of the Milton Public Schools.

• Channel 5, WCVB television. Look for First Parish – Milton. Check their website if you want to get automatic, direct notification through the TV station.
• Check our website. We put a banner on the home page with closing information.
• Check our Facebook page. First Parish Milton UU. We will post notes on there.

Say Thank You. Kevin Harnden has done a magnificient job with keeping the walkways clear and making sure the campus has been plowed by our vendor. We are having some other small issues in the building – please be careful with the Meetinghouse and Parish Hall doors. They are not working well and we are having difficulty finding a permanent fix. We know we are having a small, intermittent leak in the hallway outside of the ladies room.

The Link – Submission Deadline Tuesdays at 5 pm. Please email the information to both Kiki and Miriam to ensure it makes the publication. Please note your announcement may be edited due to space constraints. We encourage brevity (one to two paragraphs max.) The Link goes out as an email blast on Thursdays and generally posted on our Facebook page: First Parish Milton on Facebook and our website by Saturday.

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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!