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
This Sunday will be my last worship service before a five month sabbatical. It’s been interesting piecing together the various ways I engage as minister with such a vibrant, creative and caring community. I’ll be sending out an email early next week to walk through how things will be covered.
Hopefully, within a week, I’ll have readied the office for our sabbatical minister, the Rev. Tricia Brennan, who will begin her ministry here August 15 and stay through November 15. Many of you have already met Tricia. We are blessed with the opportunity of her ministry for those three months.
The summer worship schedule is exciting. I have no doubt that life-giving wisdom and story telling will be shared in our lay-led worship services. Many thanks to Penny Partridge and Katie Vhay for organizing the schedule.
Many people ask me what I will be doing in these five months. In short, I will be spending time in the summer letting my soul catch up: decompressing, and paying attention to my body and spirit. For the fall I’d like to take a deeper dive into interdependence. I believe Unitarian Universalism has much to offer the larger faith consciousness in the practice of our 7th principle. I also believe our species will not survive if we ignore the natural fact of interdependence. All of what we do effects systems of relating. How can we promote this awareness?
I enter this sabbatical with much gratitude for your support and welcome. I look forward to what you all will discover with and for one another while I am gone.
Blessings Be, Rev. Lisa
This Week in Worship
“Blessings Abound”
Facilitated by: Rev. Lisa Ward
Worship Assistant: Joe Ayoub
Music: Tim Steele
Audio: Nina Truog
Greeter: Peter Schneider
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 go towards a new wayside pulpit for First Parish.
Our wayside pulpit is the primary messaging spot on our campus. It is rotting, the message area is small and difficult to read, and changing the message is a project.
We have estimates for a dynamic new sign that is larger and has easily changeable lettering.
This will help draw attention to our community and what’s happening here: one week we can advertise our Outdoor Christmas Pageant on Christmas Eve, another week we can let folks know about an upcoming Milton Community Concert, and the next, we can endorse a social justice cause.
We’ve raised money through the Chocolate Auction and committee donations, and we hope to raise the rest through this Sunday’s offering. Thank you.
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Starting Sunday, June 19th, Summer Worship will start at 9:30 am
A new zoom link will be sent next week.
This Week in Religious Exploration
This Week in Religious Exploration
Sunday will be a multi-generation service; all ages are welcome. Children, Middle School and High School: Programming will resume next fall. Wishing all families a summer full of moments of connection, beauty, and spiritual renewal!
If you have not yet registered your child for next year’s RE program, please click below to do so. If you are interested in volunteering with the RE program, please contact the office.
This Week in Music
This Sunday Grace Allendorf will be singing a solo by Lui Collins called “Blessed”. Guest soloist David Won will be singing two selections with texts by E.E. Cummings: “I thank you God” by Scott Ward, and “I carry your heart” by John Duke.
The final concert of Milton Community Concert’s 2021-22 season will take place this Sunday, June 12th at 3pm, the seventh annual “Sing For Their Supper”. This FREE benefit concert will raise money through a free-will offering for the Milton Residents Fund and the Milton Food Pantry.
Come to hear some of New England’s finest singers singing both opera arias and musical theater favorites (including a song from HAMILTON).
For more information, visit www.miltoncommunityconcerts.com
Events and Meetings
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!
Question Box Sermon
Sunday, June 12
This Sunday’s sermon will come alive through your questions! We will collect questions during the beginning of worship to be responded to, spontaneously, by Rev. Lisa during the sermon time. What might you want to ask Rev. Lisa about UUsm, ministry or faith principles? Come bring your questions
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 will be held next Saturday, June 18th, 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. We’re very excited to bring back this fun event,and to raise funds for First Parish and promote reuse and recycling. Would you like to join us? We still need volunteers to
· 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
See you there!
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.
Elyse is planning on starting in person on Monday, June 27th! She is going to try to do a hybrid class for people who don’t want to come in person, or can’t. There will be a zoom option as well.
The room is large and airy and feels Covid-safe, so please join us!
News and Announcements
Worship Committee – SUMMER SERVICES Schedule
An hour earlier – 9:30am! – in the Meetinghouse and on Zoom
6/19 Penny Partridge and Franc Graham- Full Hearts: Juneteenth, Fathers, Friendship
6/26 Guy Pugh and Steve Yakutis- Simple Gifts: Lessons from the Shakers
7/3 Jeff Stoodt and Lisa White-Reflections on Father’s Day
7/10 Jennie Mulqueen and Amy Kavadlo- Sing a Song into Prayer
7/17 Dianna Wilson- Play with Music
7/24 Owen Hartford and Penny Partridge- Musings on Creativity
7/31 Lisa White and Elise Henrick- Spiritual Lessons from Nature
8/7 Joe Ayoub and Amy Kavadlo- Lessons from Baseball
8/14 Katie Vhay and Tracey Robinson- Joy
8/21 Leslie MacPherson and Jonah Beukman- What Membership Means to Me
8/28 Tom Kemp and Chris Clifford- “I’ll pick door #2, no, no, #3!”
9/4 Elise Henrick and Penny Partridge- Our Labyrinth
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 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
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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
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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.