Table of Contents
- Message from Rev. Lisa Ward
- This Week in Worship
- This Week in Religious Exploration
- This Week in Music
- Events and Meetings
- News and Announcements
- Volunteer Opportunities
- Beyond First Parish
Message from Rev. Lisa Ward
Recently, I attended the final “Justice and Equity Advisory Committee” meeting after 18 months of gathering together at the behest of the Select Board of Milton. Our charge was “to review Town policies, procedures, and budgets for the purpose of advancing equity and justice for all.” We will be presenting our report on April 13.
It has been a privilege and substantive learning opportunity to explore the dynamics of DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) in the context of police & fire, affordable housing, schools/youths & families, and town government. Thirteen of us contributed to this committee and its report, including First Parish member, Chris Hart, who served as co-chair for much of the committee’s tenure.
This is only the beginning of an outreach that seems to be increasing among enough Milton residents to address issues of DEI more seriously. The work is sometimes painstakingly slow, and sometimes surprisingly uplifting. I remain impressed with the civic consciousness of Milton residents and feel fortunate to have begun serving in this town when substantive change has a chance of taking hold. May it be so.
Blessings Be, Rev. Lisa
This Week in Worship
“Awakening to Connection”
Facilitated by: Elise Henricks & Katie Vhay
Worship Associate: Penny Partridge
Music: Tim Steele
Social Hour Host: Marie-Laure Brown
Worship Services are hybrid.
Join us in person or on Zoom.
Please see the zoom link below. Please log in at 10:20, to give some lead time for the service at 10:30. 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.
Sunday’s offering will be dedicated to the service and ministry of First Parish
First Parish would like to thank you for March donations. We are lucky to have your support !
Stone House $485.54
Sunflower of Peace Foundation $1,293.27
This Week in Religious Exploration
We are continuing to collect your Guest At Your Table boxes. Please bring them to the library (next to the church office) this Sunday. You can count up what you collected and write a check for that amount, made out to First Parish, with GAYT in the memo line. Or you can bring your box of coins (we have some eager counters available). Thank you for your support and generosity.
Nursery care is available during worship till noon. All ages gather in the Meetinghouse for the beginning of worship. Children proceed to Religious Exploration classes after the Story For All Ages.
This Week in Music
This Sunday the Meetinghouse Choir will be singing an arrangement of “Morning Has Broken” by Jim Scott. The tune is a traditional Gaelic melody and the text is by Eleanor Farjeon. Daon Drisdom will be singing a solo by Ralph Vaughan Williams called “Let Beauty Awake”
Events and Meetings
The Yard Sale is Back!
Start your spring cleaning! After a 2-year hiatus, the First Parish Yard Sale is coming back. So, start organizing and cleaning your treasures for donation. We’ll be collecting items from June 4th – June 15.
The Yard Sale will be June 18th, 9:00 am to 1:00 pm
Much more to come…
Membership
Theater– Membership committee is putting together a group of First Parish Theater goers to attend “To Kill A Mockingbird” on Sunday, April 10 at 6:30 at the Boston Opera House. This is the stage adaptation of Harper Lee’s novel starring Richard Thomas as Atticus Finch. Limited Orchestra seats are available for $108 or $80 (Seniors& Students $70 or $50) and Mezzanine seats for $102, $80 and $65 (Seniors & Students $60, $50 or $40). Masks are required if you are not actively eating or drinking in the theater. Please email Debbie Alsebai at alsebai@verizon.net with the number of seats you would like to purchase and the price range you are interested in. Please also note if you would like to carpool.
Cooking Class– Our Cooking With Debbie and Steve event is CANCELLED for this Friday. Stay tuned for a rousing culinary gathering in the near future.
The UU Elevator Speech group concluded this week. Three amazing conversations were had, all of which were recorded. If you are interested in hearing what we talked about, you can reach out to Leslie. This will be offered again next year, so if you missed it this time, you will be able to take advantage in the future.
The Racial Justice Focus Group invites you to join us in understanding the Widening the Circle of Concern UUA report.
In a nutshell, the report, which reads more like a book than a report, is about addressing the White Supremacy Culture within Unitarian Universalism.
Explore with us why we are engaging in studying the recommendations in the report with the intent of taking action toward implementing the recommendations. For example, many UU churches, have placed BLM signs on their front lawns, now many are adopting or in the process of deliberating adoption of the 8th principle which is about building a “beloved” community and dismantling racism and other systems of oppression within ourselves and within our communities. These are great first steps, but what does it mean to actually “live” the 8th principle?
We meet on the 4th Wednesday of each month from 7-8:30PM. All are welcome. Contact Rev. Lisa for the zoom link: minister@fpmilton.org.
If you can’t stomach yet another zoom meeting, we encourage you to at least pick up a copy of the report to read on your own and provide suggestions or feedback on what recommendations speak to you. Several copies are available at the office. You can also access a pdf, with audio access, here: https://www.uua.org/uuagovernance/committees/cic/widening.
News and Announcements
Caring Committee
There will be a table at social hour on Sunday, April 3rd to collect any items and financial contributions for the packages that will be sent to our college aged youth in early April. We are hoping for any small food items or fidgets for the packages and funding to cover postage and small gift cards. Help us remind our youth that they are important to us.
Worship Committee-Summer Services
We now have some volunteers to lead summer services but need more – both old hands and adventurous newbies.
Please contact Penny Partridge (ppartridge9@icloud.com or 413-658-4717) and pick a summer Sunday. You could think of it as a slight extension of a Faith Reflection. What could be important to you to share with us?
Volunteer Opportunities
Social Hour Host Needed
Our in-person courtyard social hour is back. But we need hosts! It’s the simplest social hour ever and it’s so lovely to gather together after church.
Ushers and greeters are needed during service.
We have appreciated your help in the past and hope you can help again. Please sign up here if you are interested.
Main Spring Lunch Program
The next volunteer date is April 6th.
Our goal is to have a total of 95 lunches for delivery to The Evelyn House in Stoughton and the Mainspring shelter in Brockton. We are always looking for new volunteers so please signup in Signup Genius and indicate the number of lunches you plan to donate in the COMMENT field. For more details see the description on the Signup Genius page.
If you have questions or need to arrange early drop off, contact Peter Schneider at peterlschneider@gmail.com.
Fair Foods
Fair Foods is a non-profit program that rescues fresh produce that wwould 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, April 9th.
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.
Other volunteer opportunities are also available at Fair Foods on weekdays from early morning until mid-afternoon.
Any questions or for more information contact Tony Dutzik at tdutzik@gmail.com or 617-291-4685.
Beyond First Parish
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.