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
What do we do with mass funerals for elementary school children? Where do we go with our heartbreak? How is it that this madness prevails, this violence persists, this denial perpetuates? When is it time to wake up, to transform, to come together as a people honoring life?
No answers in this column, and abiding with you. No fixes in these thoughts, and resolved to keep on keeping on.
What is clear to many, and I believe many more each day, is that the shootings are symptoms of a sickness in society, one that pervades systemically through centuries of conditioning. We need to expand our understanding of our addiction to violence and power over others. We need to notice, deep in our bones, the chronic disregard for life that reveals itself in policy and profit, in irresponsible blame and demoralizing inequities.
We need this awareness in our bodies and being. Gestures like the stand out for justice on May 25th, when hundreds knelt for 9 minutes and 29 seconds, create body wise moments to feel the utter disregard for life that murdered George Floyd. That witness done countless times nationwide for 2 years has contributed to an incremental shift in our consciousness. Witnessing to the devastations of violence and inequity is increasing with broader and wider calls for change. We are seeing, in the mirror of global response, that the United States is indeed exceptional as a “free nation” in its violent and oppressive tendencies.
We are at a tipping point calling us to this reckoning. We do have the capacity to transform society. We must make the choice every day for a new way of being, incrementally revolutionizing values for peace and justice for all.
Believe in your capacity, in the joining of many, to find a way out of this madness and into a life affirming, justice seeking humanity.
In Faith, Rev. Lisa
This Week in Worship
“Celebrating Blessings”
“In the universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between them, there are doors.”― William Blake
Facilitated by: Rev. Lisa Ward
Worship Assistant: Christopher Clifford
Music: Tim Steele
Audio: Brynne Mershon
Social Host: Tucker Smith & Natalie Monroe
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 given to Courageous Conversations. Courageous Conversations Towards Racial Justice is a dialogue-centered initiative on racism and privilege, designed to address racial healing, equity, and justice in our community.
This Week in Religious Exploration
This Week in Religious Exploration
This week, our Soul Matters class celebrates our last meeting of the school year. We will be reading Intersection Allies by Chelsea Johnson and talking about upcoming Pride celebrations and all the ways we can be allies. Look for a registration form for next year’s RE classes in this space next week!
This Week in Music
This Sunday the Meetinghouse Choir will be singing “Wherever You May Go”, by Timothy Bushong. Jennifer Sgroe will be singing an unusual arrangement of a familiar Shaker tune, “Simple Gifts”.
Milton Community Concerts
SING FOR THEIR SUPPER RETURNS ON SUNDAY, JUNE 12!
Where else can you hear an opera singer sing a number from HAMILTON? Milton Community Concerts presents its final concert of the year on Sunday, June 12 at 3pm, a free benefit concert for the Milton Residents Fund and the Milton Food Pantry. The seventh annual “Sing For Their Supper” will feature ten outstanding opera singers from all over New England, including Portland, ME and Hartford, CT. All are donating their time and talents as they each present one opera aria and one musical theater piece. We hope you can come!
Events and Meetings
All Church Council
The semi-annual All Church Council meeting is scheduled for Friday, June 3rd at 6:00pm via ZOOM.
Everyone is welcome, but all Committee Chairs are especially encouraged to attend.
Adaptive Change Meeting with RE Transition Specialist, Lily Rappaport
We have the opportunity to meet with a Religious Exploration Transition specialist at our next meeting to focus on ways to envision building and growing our Religious Exploration Programming as an integral part of our faith community. This will be a zoom gathering, to be held Saturday, June 4th 4:00 pm-5:30 pm. Lily Rappaport is a Senior Consultant for the Guild of Interim Religious Educators (GIRE).
The team would like to invite anyone in the Parish to attend & observe/participate in our work/conversations.
Open Trustees Meeting
Sunday, June 5, 12:00 in The Library
All are welcome to attend the First Parish Trustees meeting in person or by Zoom to learn about the church’s endowment and how it is managed to support our mission.
June 11th HOUR CALLING CLIMATE STANDOUT
Saturday, June 11 (postponed to Sunday if stormy)
6:00 p.m. gathering; 6:11-6:22 “Calling the Alarm”
First Parish Milton UU, 535 Canton Avenue
Standout for climate justice and action everywhere, starting here as a community. If you attended Matt Meyer’s percussion workshop on May 11, summon your inner drummer, bring your instrument, and come. Extra signs available. Spread the word. Sponsored by First Parish and Sustainable Milton.
Flower Communion
Sunday, June 12
This is a time when congregants bring a flower to share. We gather the flowers in the beginning of the service, then invite people to bring home a different flower, as an offering of shared beauty and blooming!
First Parish Annual Picnic!
Sunday, June 12 12:00 pm-2:00 pm
It is almost the end of our church year and we will be gathering to celebrate our community AND send off Rev Lisa on her sabbatical on June 12th from 12:00 pm-2:00 pm
We are having a Pot Luck Picnic this year. To help us be sure we have enough food, can you please use this Sign-up Genius link to let us know what tasty treats you can bring?
We will have food, fun as well as a few surprises…
Hope you can be there! Please reach out to Leslie with questions: lesliecmacpherson@gmail.com
First Parish Yard Sale
The First Parish Yard Sale is back and will be held on Saturday, June 18th, 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. We need volunteers! Please email Jen Pinkus (jennifer.pinkus@gmail.com) if you can help out:
· staff the donation hours (see below)
· setup on Friday
· staff the yard sale tables on Saturday
· clean up on Saturday afternoon
And don’t forget to pull together all your donations for the sale. Please note that there are some things we can’t accept:
· electronics – computers, TVs, cables
· stuffed toys
· upholstered furniture, unless in mint condition
· textbooks and encyclopedias
Due to the limits of space and volunteer resources, we are only accepting donations from the First Parish community.
Donations can be dropped off at the Parish Hall on any of these days.
· Sun, June 12, before or after church
· Mon, June 13, 4pm-7pm
· Tues, June 14, 10am-noon
· Wed, June 15, 3pm-6pm
· Thurs, June 16, 10am-noon; 4pm-6pm
The Racial Justice Focus Group
The Racial Justice Focus Group invites all to celebrate Juneteenth at the Eustis Estate on Saturday, June 18th (see announcement below). Stay tuned for more details about time and place to meet on the Estate.
News and Announcements
Worship Committee – SUMMER SERVICES
Please come in person, when you can, to our hybrid summer services. It’s so supportive of the people who put them together with a lot of care and heart. But come however you can. We will have a screen that shows lay leaders and other participants those of you who have come via livestream. That will be new this summer and will help us feel more connected.
Meanwhile, we hope you will be intrigued by the themes of this summer’s services (some of them still working titles):
“Full Hearts: Juneteenth, Fathers, Friendship”, Simple Gifts – Lessons from the Shakers, Musings on Independence Day, Sing a Song into Prayer, Play, Musings on Creativity, Spiritual Lessons from Nature, Lessons from Basketball, Joy, What Membership Means to Me, “I’ll pick door #2, no, no, 3!” , Our Labyrinth.
*Please note: Apologies to Guy Pugh. I had absentmindedly substituted “Amish” for “Shakers” in his summer service theme until he brought up the mistake. – Penny Partridge
Please contact for more information: Penny (ppartridge@icloud.com) and Katie (katievhay@msn.com)
Volunteer Opportunities
Main Spring Lunch Program
S&EJ will be taking a break from organizing Mainspring lunch delivery starting in July HOWEVER we still have 1 more delivery date on June 15th so IT’S NOT TOO LATE to sign up!!!
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, June 25th.
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
Saturday Morning Walk
Join our Mattapan and Dorchester neighbors for a Saturday morning walk at Franklin Park. We will meet at the Golf Course entrance (1 Circuit Dr. in Dorchester) at 9:15 and begin walking at 9:30. These walks will take place from June 4 – Sept 24.
Please contact Cynthia Guise at clguise@comcast.net if you would like to carpool or need more information.
Courageous Conversations Towards Racial Justice – Book Club
We are so excited that for our next Book Club we will be reading Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s book “How to Be an AntiRacist” and offering tickets to see him in person where he will be talking about his new book “How to Be an AntiRacist”.
Book Club dates are Tuesdays, June 7, June 21, July 12 and July 26 and will be on ZOOM.
His book tour event is on Monday, June 27th from 7:30-9:00 at the Wilbur Theater in Boston. Tickets are $35 for orchestra seats and include a signed copy of his book. (1/2 price scholarships are available.) If you can not make the book tour you are more than welcome to join the book group and if you can’t make all the book club dates you are still welcome to attend the book tour event. (Car pooling is available.)
Please sign up for the Book Club and/or Book Tour at the following link
 |
|---|
LGBTQ+ Pride at the Old Ship Meeting House
Sunday June 12th, from noon – 3:00 pm
Front lawn at 90 Main Street, Hingham
Music, games, Snacks, Community and much more !
Folks of all ages are WELCOME.
Juneteenth Community Picnic
at the Eustis Estate
1424 Canton Ave. Milton
Saturday June 18th 2:00-5:00
Music, Food, Celebration
General Assembly (GA) is the annual meeting of our Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). Participants worship, witness, learn, connect, and make policy for the Association through democratic process. Anyone may attend; congregations must certify annually to have voting delegates
Multi-Platform General Assembly
General Assembly is the annual gathering of Unitarian Universalists, where we conduct business of the Association, explore the theological underpinnings of our faith, and lean fully into our mission and principles. That remains true even when we cannot gather physically. In 2021, GA had more than 4,000 registered attendees participate from remote locations around the world. Although we give up the face-to-face interaction and hugs that are prevalent when we meet in-person, we retain our dedication to community and make our experience more accessible and more environmentally sustainable.
In 2022, we will have the option of meeting online or in-person! For those who enjoyed the convenience and accessibility of remote participation, General Assembly will continue to offer virtual attendance with robust programming and enhanced delegate discussion tools. For those who have been missing the physical experience, GA 2022 will also feature face-to-face interactions, hanging banners, a browsable exhibit hall, meals with friends old and new, local site attractions, and more! Join us June 22 – 26, 2022 online or in-person in Portland, Oregon.
Registration for General Assembly 2022 in-person in here
Visit for https://www.uua.org/ga more information.
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.