This Week in Worship

Sunday, April 24th @ 10:30 am in Meetinghouse

Rev. Lisa Ward, Preaching

From Interim Minister, Rev. Hank Peirce

Friends if you missed last Sunday’s clean up, you missed a great time. We had a wonderful brief service and then we rolled up our sleeves and got First Parish squeaky clean. It was a wonderful community outing with people of all ages working together and claiming this place as their own. The entire church looks, smells and even feels better, thanks to everyone who took part in getting the church spruced up for the Rev. Lisa Ward’s candidating week.

And speaking of the candidating week, I hope all of you take the opportunity to meet with Rev. Ward a few times during her week here. The search committee has planned a great week with lots of opportunities to hear and meet her, so please take advantage of that. There is lots of excitement and maybe even a little nervousness mixed in so remember that and if you are feeling anxious, take a break, all will be well. I will see you once the candidating week is over.

Lastly please join with me in extending our deepest sympathies to Anne Walters whose mother, Pat, died this past weekend. We will be holding the funeral for Pat Walters at the church this Friday morning at 11:00.

Peace,

Rev. Hank

Religious Exploration

Sunday, April 24 – One Room Class Room

• Children pre-k through 8th grade will start in the Sanctuary before being dismissed to attend an all ages class lead by Anne Principe
• No Youth Activities
  (but Youth are encouraged to attend the worship service)
• The nursery is open for children 4 and under.

Rev. Lisa Ward is Our Ministerial Candidate

Rev. Lisa Gail Ward comes to us from the great state of Maryland, where she has served the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Harford County in Churchville, Maryland for 17 years. She completed her studies for her MDiv at Union Theological Seminary in New York in 1991, after which she served congregations in New York City, Queens, and White Plains, NY, before being called in 1998 to be an extension minister in Harford County, MD. Extension ministry is a program of the UUA which seeks to assist congregations whose viability is in question. Rev. Ward worked so successfully with the UU Fellowship of Harford County for three years that the community then called her to be their settled minister. She’s been there ever since.

For more information on Rev. Lisa Ward follow the link to her website: uurevlisaward.weebly.com

Candidating Week Schedule

Candidating Week Schedule

Candidating Week is Sunday, April 24 through Sunday May 1st. Our Ministerial Candidate, Rev. Lisa Ward will preach on both Sunday, April 24 and Sunday, May 1.  On May 1, after the worship service, members of the congregation will vote on whether to call the candidate to be our next settled minister.

Congregation-Wide Events

• Monday, April 25th — 10am—12noon—Tea with candidate at Debbie Alsebai’s home.  Please contact Debbie at alsebai@verizon.net.
• Wednesday, April 27th — 4pm—6pm—An Afternoon Chat with Rev. Ward at First Parish.
  Please contact Charlie Franich at pemaquid@aol.com
• Wednesday, April 27th — 6:30pm—9pm—First Parish Seder Meal in the Parish Hall. RSVP to your Evite.
• Thursday, April 28th — 12noon—2pm—Lunch with candidate at Bebe Williamson’s home. Please contact Charlie Franich at pemaquid@aol.com for more info.
• Thursday, April 28th — 6:30pm—7pm—Meditation in the Children’s Church (no RSVP required)
• Thursday, April 28th — 7pm—9pm (or so) —Open Meetings with the Worship Committee (at 7pm) and the Religious Exploration Committee (at 8pm) with Rev. Ward in the Meetinghouse (all are welcome, just show up).
• Friday, April 29th — 1pm—3pm—A Hike in the Blue Hills, starting point TBD.  Contact Tracey Robinson at tdr02186@gmail.com.
• Friday, April 29th — 6:30pm—9:30pm—All-Church Potluck Dinner in the Parish Hall.  RSVP via the Evite.

And feel free to contact any of the Ministerial Search Committee with suggestions about how to make Candidating Week a rich experience for all of us.

Debbie Alsebai       alsebai@verizon.net
Charlie Franich      pemaquid@aol.com
Franc Graham        fgraham@law.harvard.edu
Elise Henricks        elisemhenricks@gmail.com
Jim May                jimrmay@comcast.net
Brigitte Miller        miller.brigitte@gmail.com
Tracey Robinson     tdr02186@gmail.com

News and Announcements

First Parish’s annual Passover seder will be held on Wednesday, April 27th at 6:30pm. Please RSVP to the Evite. This is an intergeneration gathering. Rev. Ward is planning on being there.

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 participated in March.

Join in the celebration of the coming of Spring following the service and voting: Sunday, May, 1

Members of the Great Blue Hill CUUPS Chapter will lead a pagan ceremony in the Courtyard and invite you to join in the dance around the Maypole. Bells and noisemakers welcome!

Great Blue Hills CUUPS, Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans

http://www.mothersdaywalk4peace.org

We invite you to participate in the historic 20th Annual Mother’s Day Walk For Peace. Peace isn’t simply the absence of violence; peace is the presence of healing, reconciliation, and accountability. The Mother’s Day Walk is a celebration of our potential to create communities where all families can live in peace and all children are valued. More than that, the Mother’s Day Walk is a commitment to do the work necessary to bring that vision of peace to life. We are walking to raise $600,000 so that we can sustain the Peace Institute as a center of healing, teaching, and learning for families impacted by murder, grief, trauma, and loss. You are an important part of the peacemaking process: when you invest in survivor-led, solution-drive programs and services—you interrupt cycles of violence. Walk with us toward peace!

REGISTER HERE

Sunday, May 8, 8am-11am. *

This year’s walk is re-routed to City Hall where it will conclude with a Rally for Peace. Please note that it is a different, extended route this year that may preclude your joining the service at FP Milton. Perhaps some will be able to join for part of the walk. They are also asking for folks to wear PURPLE this year!
Walking with you is our prayer…we hope you will join us!

REMINDERS:

Committee Chairs: Committee Annual Reports are now due. Please send your report to both Miriam and Kiki. The Annual Report and Warrant are currently being compiled.

• First Parish, Milton Congregational Meetings
• Sunday, May 1 , Vote for next Settled Minister
• Sunday, May 15, Annual Meeting
• UUA General Assembly — Wed. June 22 – Sun. June 26 – General Assembly, Columbus, OH

“Choose or Be Chosen” for next year September 2016- June 2017

SIGN UP IN THE PARISH HALL BEGINNING SUNDAY< APRIL 17 through MAY 22

You may choose now or be assigned later

Friends: As you know, this has been a good year for First Parish. Last spring, we revived our Choose or Be Chosen model for organizing our slate of ushers, Social Hour sponsors, and flower-providers – and it worked beautifully! Things have been simple and smooth. During the year, one detail that the Worship Committee got feedback about was a lack of children and families lighting our chalice on Sunday mornings, which we are addressing in the sign-up for next year. We are including chalice lighting in our slate and ask that next year, families and couples light our chalice as a group at the start of worship.

Please sign up in the Parish Hall during Sunday social hour for one Sunday each of ushering, providing flowers, being a Social Hour host, and lighting the chalice. Sign-ups will continue through May 22. Any spots not filled by that date will then be “drawn” by members of each committee and the entire calendar will be posted. Like last year: first come, first served. If you choose your Sundays in the next month, you should be able to pick the weeks that will work best for you.

We are so happy with the way everything ran this year, and we want our new minister to come to First Parish knowing that all details for next year are already in place. If you have any questions, please speak with Leslie MacPherson Artinian or any member of the Worship Committee. Thank you all for everything you have done this year!

Leslie MacPherson Artinian, Chair, Worship Committee
lmacpherson@hds.harvard.edu

Happenings around town…

• GREEN HOMES FAIR
• Hosted by SUSTAINABLE MILTON
• Saturday APRIL 23, Noon – 4
• CUNNINGHAM HALL
• 75 Edge Hill Road, Milton

For more info check out their website: www.sustainablemilton.org — Raffles, exhibitors, children crafts, animals, music and more

Kiki’s Corner

Happy Birthday, First Parish Milton. The First Parish in Milton was founded on
April 24, 1678, when 12 members of the First Parish in Dorchester gathered and signed a new covenant in Milton.

Need a check during the first two weeks of May? Please get any requests request for reimbursement or other need) in by Thursday, April 21. David Leggett, our treasurer and authorized signatory, will be away for the first two weeks of May. So we will be processing checks the last week of April and then not again until the week of May 16. Special Circumstances? Please send an email to director@fpmilton.org and treasurer@fpmilton.org to describe.

Ask not what your congregation can do for you but what you can do for your congregation (a bit of a steal from a famous inagural address) Committee members wanted. We are trying to check in with folks both currently serving on committees or we think might be interested in joining a committee. We are always looking for champions of a church-wide project. So if you want to be part of lay leadership, please let me know and we will see if we can connect you with the right folks. Caring Committee, Religious Exploration, Building and Grounds are groups that are definitely looking for some more talent to join them.

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!