This Week in Worship

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

First Parish Milton

The other day a clergy friend and I were explaining to a member of his church why preaching on Mother’s Day is so difficult. The short version is that while the rest of the year church members are happy to recognize that the minister is the expert on many things, but not on mothers. Or they are not an expert on the mother of every member of the congregation, and no matter how great a sermon it may be, someone will be disappointed. It was a fun conversation where we speculated on the many types of mothers in each congregation. This Sunday many of us will be taking part in a walk put on by one of the most amazing mothers I have ever met, Tina Chéry.

Most of you know the story of how Tina started the Mother’s Day Walk for Peace after her son Louis D. Brown was killed in a crossfire of rival gangs in 1993. Her vision and her tenacity have changed countless lives, and this Sunday we get a chance to help and honor her, and I believe all mothers, in bring peace to our city and our world.

I look forward to seeing many of you on Sunday,
Peace,

Hank

The Worship theme for May is Transcendence

May 10th Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day March then return to First Parish where a service will be held.

May 17 A Year in Review

The Annual Meeting will follow the service.

May 24 Memorial Day

This service is still coming together more information will be forthcoming in the days ahead.

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 10, 2015

• Multigenerational Service
• All Children are invited to attend the worship service
• The Nursery is available for children ages 4 and younger.

Youth Group Happenings…

Congratulations to the Coming of Age class of 2015.

They did a great job this past Sunday during the Coming of Age Worship Service.

Josie Cousineau, Ruby Baker-Poveromo, Will Macmillan, David Casaz, Max Dutzik Henricks, and Grady Stoodt

Care Packages to our College Youth a Hit!

Thank you, Caring Committee and Youth Group for gathering funds and treats to send care packages to our First Parish college youth. We are hearing from some moms that the students were delighted and touched to receive the packages.

News and Announcements

Milton Community Concert is Saturday, May 16 – “Sing for Your Supper”

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.

• May 16th at 5:30 Member’s Potluck (Parish Hall)
• at 7 pm – Milton Community Concert (Meetinghouse)
• May 17 – Annual Church Meeting & Membership Sunday after worship
• 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

The Mother’s Day Walk for Peace in Dorchester

Sunday May 10, 2015

This is a First Parish Milton tradition to both walk and donate.

Founded in 1996 by the parents still grieving a recent loss of their son to violence, the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute has been a healing center, a training resource, and an education program for the city of Boston and surrounding communities. As a leading resource for families, crisis management protocol for professionals, and curriculum development for children, the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute has a well deserved reputation as an innovative leader for peace. The Mother’s Day Walk for Peace is the major fundraiser for the Institute.

CLICK HERE to sign up! It’s a great community event and wonderful opportunity to put our faith in our feet!

Meet at 7:30 am at church to carpool over, or meet us at Town Field that day. For questions, contact Elise Henricks.

$223 more to go! — We have reached 85% ($1,277) of our donation goal of $1,500.

Upcoming Parish Business – Mark your Calendar

Sunday, May 17 – Annual Meeting at noontime

Join us for worship in the morning that will include welcoming new members to the congregation. Warrant mailed to members May 7. It will also be available on the Members’s Page of the website shortly.

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

The Parish Committee invites Committee Chairs and members to the All Church Council. 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. There are still committee openings at this time. Feel free to contact me in the office or Chris Pitt, Ruth Hannon and Chris Clifford from the Parish Committee.

General Assembly 2015 – Portland,Oregon

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 some minimal 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.

This year delegates will be voting on:

Changes to the finance leadership on the UUA Board. Bylaw changes regarding the governance structure of districts and regions. The draft Statement of Conscience Reproductive Justice. Proposed limitations to UUA Presidential election campaign finances. Other measures included in the GA Agenda and brought to the floor during GA.

For more information, visit the section about GA delegates on our website uua.org.

“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

REMINDER: Notices for The Link must be submitted by 5pm each Tuesday and sent to both office@fpmilton.org and director@fpmilton.org. 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 are all busy this time of year. Committees are gathering annual reports, planning for the fall, searching for new members and bidding farewell to outgoing members. Our Religious Exploration program is in full swing. The Annual Meeting preparations have been underway for more than two weeks. Parish Committee and Finance have been working to finalize the budget. All of this is on top of the week to week work we all do here. So be aware of how busy many of us are. This will be the pattern for the next 6 – 7 weeks. Then we get to enjoy and celebrate the last worship of the program year and church picnic on June 21st.

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!