This Week in Worship

Sunday, March 27 – Easter – Intergenerational Service @ 10:30 am in Meetinghouse

Behind the pulpit, where church members rarely tread, there is a small table and two chairs. Sitting on that table are our hymnals and a small framed prayer by Rev. Vivian Pomeroy, minister of this church for 30 years. During this Holy Week as I prepare the sermon and hope I haven’t forgotten anything I think to think of this prayer and it’s placement on this table that only the minister sees. I like to believe it is a blessing towards those who fill this pulpit. As we enter this season when you will finally get a chance to meet the person who may become your next minister, it’s nice to think that there are a few extra blessings floating around. Here’s the prayer.

“God of our life, we thank thee for beautiful little things which we never dreamed could make us happy, and for the way the stars shone on long hard stretches of the road we had to tread…Bless our future days to courage in our own troubles and kindness in the troubles of others. Bless our work to a little splendor and our homes to great loving. Bless our country to responsible freedom and our world to new hope. Forgive our sins against thee and against one another; and lead us gently down the years, out of the good that is into the better that is yet to be. Amen.”

I hope to see you and yours over the next few days at church. My family and I wish you the most joyous of Easters!
Rev. Hank

P.S. Don’t forget the Easter Egg hunt after the service.

Religious Exploration

Looking for Gently Used Books particularly board books

This spring, the children in our religious exploration program are partnering with

Cradles to Crayons to collect books for children in need and to help sort and package items at the Cradles to Crayons warehouse. You can help both by bringing a new or gently used children’s book (board books are especially needed) to church between now and April 3rd. Contact bridget@sitkoff.net for more information.

Thanks,
Bridget Sitkoff

Easter Sunday March 27

• No childcare in the nursery. The nursery room will be open if you and your child need a quiet space.
• The First Parish Easter Egg Hunt after he Easter Service.
• Organized by the Youth Group
• Save the date: First Parish’s annual Passover seder will be held on Wednesday, April 27th at 6:30pm. Look for an evite with more details in the weeks to come!

Stewardship

Your pledge will help determine our plans for worship, social action, religious exploration and so much more … and provide a strong foundation for our next settled minister.

Please pledge today!

Pledges as of March 24, 2016: $188,284.00 representing 67 households

News and Announcements

Looking for Cooks and Servers for Father Bill’s

March 26 — Dates in April also available

We are looking for cooks/ servers on the following dates: 3/26, 4/9 and 4/23. There is some flexibility on the ages of teens allowed in the kitchen. They prefer age 18, but with great supervision we could allow 17s, 16s and maybe 15’s.

Please contact Pat Gallivan if you can help.

Mark your calendars!

When: Saturday, April 2nd · 7 – 11 PM

First Parish Silent Auction FUNraiser!!

Please join your FP community for a really fun event, with music, friends (old and new), fun activities, and some amazing auction items for every pocketbook – both large and small. We will have:

• Six different vacation homes
• Season tickets to Boston Baroque
• Gift certificates to all the local restaurants
• Yoga packages

And because we’re UUs, we have a variety of parties to choose from:

• a beer tasting party
• a painting party
• a karaoke party; and
• Several catered dinner parties

The proceeds for this event will go towards closing the gap in our operations budget – so while we’re having fun, we’ll also be helping our church to have a healthy financial future! Can’t beat that!

P.S. It’s not too late to donate items. If you have something to offer, please contact Ruth Hannon.

Meditation has moved to Thursdays at 7pm

Come enjoy quiet contemplation or meditation in our lovely children’s church for 30 minutes. We meet Sunday’s at 9am and Thursday evenings at 7:00.

We would love to see you tonight or any other Thursday!

Questions? Contact Tracey Robinson.

“IT’S STRINGTIME” At First Parish  — Sunday, April 3rd

Symphony Hall come to Milton! On Sunday, April 3rd at 4pm Milton Community Concerts presents BSO violinist Bonnie Bewick Brown, Boston Pops cellist Jennifer Lucht, and pianist Timothy Steele in an entertaining and virtuostic program of classical and fiddle music. Tickets are $20 general, $10 seniors 65 and over, Free for 18 and under. See miltoncommunityconcerts.com for more information.

Family Friendly Volunteer Opportunity!

Next Date: April 16

Please join us the 3rd Saturday of every month (April 16, May 21, June 18) at 9:00 AM at First Parish Milton’s parking lot. We will then caravan into Roxbury to help unload, sort and distribute fresh produce to an underserved community. This is a family-friendly event… kids of all ages are welcome. Feel free to stay for 30 mins or 3 hours!” Very happy to report 15 First Parish volunteers for March!

Politics and Church from Rev. Hank. (From the Link in February 2016)

Well the first voting in the 2016 presidential race is just beginning and as always I know that all of you are interested and passionate about the electoral process. As I may have mentioned before, no religious group in the United States votes in as high a percentage as Unitarian Universalists do. This makes being a religious leader with such a passionate group of folks exciting. However, we do need to be aware that who and what you are passionate about may not be the same as the person in the pew next to yours. This applies to national, state and local elections.

This is not to say that First Parish should be a politics free zone. Each of us should feel free to speak to our friends about what and who we are passionate about, what we can’t do is to try and recruit folks to support a person or a party, nor can we try and rally a bunch of folks formally or informally at church events. For tax reasons the church can’t be a campaign site for a politician or a political party and can’t be seen as partisan. Of course the church can speak out on referendums because these are moral issues. So just remember that we want to be respectful of all the diversity of beliefs in our church, not just the religious ones.

Social Justice News – from First Parish in Bedford, MA

Sunday, April 3 @ 3:00 pm

First Parish in Bedford
Unitarian Universalist
75 The Great Road,

On the Bedford Town Common — Bedford, Massachusetts invites you to a workshop with:

Debby Irving (Racial Justice educator and author of
Waking Up White)

Reception and booksigning follows workshop

This is It!

By March 28, your Search Committee hopes to have completed its discernment and to have made a decision on the one ministerial candidate that we will presented to the congregation. Please keep us in your thoughts as we approach our decision.
If the chosen candidate accepts our offer, we start planning the week-long visit when the candidate meets the congregation and the staff, and organizes the worship for two Sundays.

Candidating Week is scheduled for the week of April 24th through May 1st.

Candidating Week therefore starts on the second Sunday of the school vacation. Please plan accordingly. At the conclusion of the candidating week, the congregation will be asked to put in a yes-or-no vote, after the service.

You must be a member of First Parish to participate in this important vote. If you have questions about whether you are a “member” of First Parish, please contact Miriam or Kiki. If you are considering becoming a member, please read the information in Kiki’s Corner below.

Thanks for your trust in this important task.

Debbie Alsebai, Charlie Franich, Franc Graham, Elise Henricks, Jim May, Brigitte Miller, and Tracey Robinson

How to Make a Pledge

• Electronically (Via our webpage)
• Go to www.fpmilton.org
• On Home Page – Click on Members Page
• Login: Enter username and password (if you do not know it, please contact us).
• Scroll down on Left Side until you find Donations
• Then click on Online Pledge Form
• Top of the page reads: Stewardship FY2017, Financial Commitment
• Complete the form

The old fashion way (Paper)

Alternatively you can complete a paper pledge form and return to the office via snail mail 535 Canton Ave., Milton, MA 02186 or drop off in the gray box outside the office in person. Pledge forms are available in the narthex, the Parish Hall foyer, and on the bulletin board next to the office.

Questions? Check with Kiki Giatis

Kiki’s Corner

Happy Easter, Happy Spring

The spring is a time for UU congregations to gather for a variety of annual meetings.

First Parish Milton is no different. Our own annual meeting will be May 15. The Mass Bay District is April 23 in Lexington , MA. The UUA General Assembly is June 22 – 26 in Columbus Ohio.

The Parish Committee is already preparing for the Annual Meeting on May 15, 2016 after worship. Committee Chairs have already been asked to prepare their annual reports. We are already working on identifying committee needs for next year. If you may have interest in committee work as a way to share your talent with the congregation, please let me know. You may also contact Chris Pitt or Chris Clifford. You must be a member of the congregation to vote at the Annual Meeting.

First Parish in Milton is part of the Massachusetts Bay District (MBD). Our own Melinda Collins is a member of the board of directors and offered a reflection about the UUA and the District during worship in February. The Annual Meeting of the Mass Bay District will be held from 9 am – 1pm on Saturday, April 23 at First Parish Church in Lexington, MA. Our congregation may send up to three voting delegates. Please let me or Melinda know if you want to be a delegate. You may register for the event through the following link:

https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07ec6w5f0e267e322a&oseq=&c=&ch=

UUA General Assembly (aka GA) is in Columbus, OH from Wednesday, June 22 through Sunday June 26,2016. Milton is authorized a number of voting delegates for the business meeting. There are lots of special programs for Youth and workshops for all. There is lots of information the uua website. The link to register is HERE. Please let me or Chris Pitt know if you are interested in being a delegate.

REMINDER: Any forms or notes you want to leave should go into the gray box next to the office. This includes pledge forms, caring committee forms, notes for Kiki or Miriam, checks that did not make the offeratory. This insures that your papers are getting to us.

STAY CONNECTED

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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!