This Week in Worship

Sunday, May 17 @ 10:30 am in the Meetinghouse

First Parish Milton

In 2004 the Boston Archdiocese of the Catholic Church needed to 85 churches, whether due to low attendance on Sundays or the lack of priests or both, the leadership in Boston made this move. One of these churches was St. Frances X. Cabrini of Scituate, but unlike many of the others members and friends have put up a fight in court and in their church. For the last 11 years more than 100 members have sat vigil, worshiped and prayed to keep their church open.

Often we forget the power of our congregational polity. We forget the privilege that others long ago fought so hard for and others are fighting for even today. It is a gift to have and run our own churches, deciding its direction, electing leaders and next year calling your own minister. This Sunday is of course the annual meeting, a time when we get to exercise the franchise. I hope to see all of you there.

See you in church,

Rev. Hank

The Worship theme for May is Transcendence

May 17: A Year in Review
The Annual Meeting will follow the service.

May 24: Memorial Day
I promised an update on what we will be doing on the 24th. I am thrilled to let you know that next week we will be holding a very special service. We will be starting off as we always do at the church at 10:30, the service will last half-an-hour. Then you are invited to join me at the Milton Cemetery where we will have a service of remembrance for the first ministers of our church who are buried there.
More details to come in next week’s Link.

May 31: Acquaint Thyself…
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s famous Divinity School Address made 175 years ago set the American religious world on its ear, with his idea that we should get to know God ourselves. Why did this idea that is now at the center of our faith scare so many?

We will also be recognizing those who completed of the Our Whole Lives curriculum.

Religious Exploration

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Only 3 more classes left in the formal church year!

Spirit Play Pre K-1st grade go directly to their class, down stairs in the activities room.

SGM 3rd – 6th Graders will begin in the sanctuary before being dismissed to their Religious Exploration class.

Passages 2nd graders will meet in their classroom.

Neighboring Faiths 7th Graders will meet in the library.

Youth Chat will meet in the youth room.

The Nursery is available for children ages 4 and younger.

News and Announcements

Next Milton Community Concert is Saturday, May 16

“Sing for Your Supper”

Potluck for Church Members at 5:30

On Saturday evening, May 16th at 7:00 First Parish and Milton Community Concerts are proud to present a benefit concert to support the Milton Food Pantry and the Milton Residents Fund. This FREE concert is called “Sing For Their Supper” and will feature an amazing array of vocal talent from all over New England performing opera, operetta, and musical theater favorites. An offering will be taken to support these charities.

A potluck dinner for church members and their guests will take place prior to the concert. A nice time of year to connect with your First Parish pals, enjoy great eats (no doubt) then stay for the concert in support of a cause all dear and near to our hearts. Remember to bring a food donation along with your pot luck offering.

Annual Meeting – Sunday, May 17 – at noon

The warrant was mailed, the annual report iwill be up on the Member’s Page (login members, password miltonuu) by Friday, May 15th. There will be light refreshments available before the meeting and childcare is available. Members of the congregation vote on the items of the warrant but we encourage all to come and listen to the business of First Parish.

All Church Council – Friday, May 29 6:30pm

The Parish Committee invites Committee Chairs and members to the All Church Council. We ask that two members of each committee (usually the chair and one other member) attend. If you are curious about what an All Church Council is and not on a committee, you are welcome to join the gathering. This is a great event if you are new to committee work, know what is ahead for First Parish or have recently become a Committee Chair.

General Assembly 2015 – Portland,Oregon – June 24 – June 28

First Parish in Milton is entitled to 4 delegates at this year’s General Assembly. The Parish Committee voted to have our minister select delegates. There is also funds available to defray some registration costs. You may be an onsite delegate or an offsite delegate. Please email Hank or Kiki if you have registered for GA and are interested in being a delegate.

To learn more about offiste delegates, see information below from the Unitarian Universalist Association.

All delegates need to be registered for GA, whether they will be voting on-site in Portland or as off-site delegates.

• May 17 – Annual Church Meeting
• May 24 – Rev. Hank Peirce preaching
• May 29 – All Church Council
• May 31 – OWL Youth Presentations during the service
• June 7 – 10:00am Union Sunday at First Congregational
• June 14 – RE Sunday, Passages Presentation & Children Celebration
• June 21 – Flower Communion, last Sunday of formal church year, church picnic
• June 24 – General Assembly in Portland, OR begins

“Choose or Be Chosen” Returns to First Parish

Friends: As you know, this past year has been a year of big changes for First Parish. Our efforts to keep a regular slate of ushers, Social Hour sponsors and flower-providers has had mixed success. To keep these important aspects of life running smoothly, the Worship Committee, in conjunction with the Hospitality Committee and the Flower Committee has decided to return to our earlier model of commitment and volunteering: Choose or Be Chosen.

Starting this Sunday, there will sheets for signing up that will include Sundays for our next worship year which beginnings in September. If every able member signs up for at least one Sunday of ushering, one Sunday of Social Hour and one Sunday of flowers, our next year will run much more smoothly. Sign-ups will continue through the end of May. Any spots not filled by that date will then be “drawn” by members of each committee and the entire calendar will be posted.

We are excited to bring this back to First Parish. If you have any questions, please speak with Leslie MacPherson Artinian or any member of the Worship Committee. Thank you all for everything you do.

Kiki’s Corner

Congratulations to all those connected with Mother’s Day Walk for Peace. Unofficial counts say First Parish Milton had 40 walkers. Donations made to the Walk exceeded $2,000.00. Well done.

Before we know it, it will be June 21 and we will be celebrating the last worship service of the program year and enjoying the church picnic. Our Religious Exploration progams have 3 more classes. So we are all looking ahead to summer. Some things to put on your to-do list about church:

1. Take a look around the Parish Hall foyer and Narthex for items you might have left behind over the course of the last few months. By the end of July, we will dispose of these items. Also if you have been contacted about cleaning out areas of the church, please do it sooner than later. We appreciate the help. We have limited storage and we are holding on to items that have not been used in a few years.

2. Send updated phone, email and address information to me so the directory will be as up-to-date as possible.

3. Consider attending summer services. They will be held in the Parish Hall each Sunday from the end of June through Labor Day. We hope to publish a list of the worship topics.

4. If you are a Committee Chair, please let both Miriam and I know when you are scheduling your committee meetings. We are planning to work on a consolidated calendar and want to know what others are planning in the year ahead.

5. Express your gratitude to those that have served in lay leadership this year. They have done a good job of keeping things moving along during this first year

REMINDER: Notices for The Link must be submitted by 5pm each Tuesday. Please keep the notice to one paragraph. We welcome a small graphic or photo. This deadline allows us some time to review the information, and prepare The Link and the Order of Worship. Community Events are listed if there is room available. Depending on the length of the announcement, it may be edited to fit our space limitations. We need to have the deadline met and the email sent to both email address to assure that your announcement is in The Link and Sunday Announcements. We aim to have The Link finalized by noon on Thursday as well as having announcement printed by then. The office is closed on Fridays. We expect to publish a weekly Link during the summer months.

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!