This Week in Worship

Sunday, September 20 Worship @ 10:30 am in Parish Hall

I spent part of last Saturday night at the orientation meeting for the youth group and their parents. My part of the meeting was to talk about the role of covenants in our faith tradition and then to help the parents of the youth to write a covenant of support and conduct for themselves. Traditionally understood a covenant is a contract of sorts between equals with God as the guarantor, it is expressed in many ways and in our tradition it comes from the Hebrew Scriptures. To help illustrate this I pulled out about 20 copies of the Bible and had parents and youth take turns reading the Ten Commandments passage in from the Book of Exodus.

This exercise reminded me of the importance of the covenant in this church. From the first one written in the 1600s all the way to the one which hangs in the Parish Hall today. Through all those years the phrase “walking together” has been used to describe our way of being together. We may have different theologies, different backgrounds and life experiences, yet when we join this congregation we agree to be together through all of the changes that occur in our lives and the church’s.

This past Sunday was such a joy and so many people worked so hard to pull it off. I am grateful for all who came, took part and celebrated this notion of walking together, even if they didn’t know they were.

See you in church,
Rev. Hank

Religious Exploration

Sunday, September 20th — One – Room – Classroom

This coming Sunday we will have a special One – Room Classroom for kids in Pre-K through 8th grades. Children will be creating chalices to take home. Please have your child wear an old t-shirt or something they wouldn’t mind getting paint on. Kids will begin in the sanctuary and then will be song out to their class.

• The Nursery will be available for children 4 years and younger
• No Youth Chat or Youth Group this week. All Youth should attend the Sunday service.

First Day of Religious Exploration Classes and Youth activities is Sunday, September 27

If you haven’t registered your child or youth, please register them today!

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Calling all Babysitters!

We are putting together our 2015 – 2016 babysitting team and we are looking for youth who are interested in babysitting one to two Sunday mornings a month. If you are interested in babysitting and have taken the babysitting course please email me. We will be having an informational meeting Sunday, September 27th at 9:30am.

Thank you,

Miriam Saavedra

Religious Educator

News and Announcements

Have you done your Congregational Survey yet? Don’t put it off: Complete it now!

First Parish Orientation

Saturday, September 19, 2015

9:00 am – 12 noon

The class will be held in the Parlor and childcare is available. Join us to learn more about Unitarian Universalism and this church in particular. We will be running two more Orientations this program year. If you plan to come and haven’t sent an RSVP, please email us.

MABON Celebration – September 19 at 7 pm

The Autumnal Equinox falls on September 23, marking the first official dayof Fall in the northern hemisphere and the pagan holiday known as Mabon. Night and day stand equal in duration. Long, hot summer days and warm breezes are replaced by shorter days that have a crispness in the air and a chill in the night as the Old Sun God returns to the embrace of the Goddess.

The holiday is named after the Welsh God, Mabon, son of Earth Mother goddess Modron. Mabon is the second of three harvest festivals and, in the rhythm of the year, it is a time of rest, celebration and thanksgiving after the hard work of gathering the crops.

Please join the Great Blue Hill CUUPS Earth-Centered group on Saturday, September 19th at 7 PM at First Parish for our Mabon celebration of “reaping what we sow,” both literally and figuratively. We will gather to reflect on the previous year, share our successes (likened to bringing in the harvest), assess which crops, projects, or dreams didn’t come to fruition and honor this time of balance. Bring along a seasonal dish to share. Blessed Be…

Questions? Please contact Mark Whall @ 617 282 4075.

ALL CHURCH COUNCIL

Sunday, September 27 @ noon

The Parish Committee invites Committee Chairs and their members to the next All Church Council Sunday September 27 from noon till 2PM. This is a great event if you are new to committee work, want to know what is ahead for First Parish or have recently become a Committee Chair. We would like to focus on what an “ideal” budget might look like for your committee so please bring and share your ideas. Please share with anyone interested in getting to know others who do so much for FP Milton.

THE RETURN OF THE HARVEST SUPPER!

Saturday, October 3 @ 6:00 pm

Do you have fond memories of the First Parish Supper? We think it’s time to make some new memories like that! In one of the best First Parish traditions, the Hospitality Committee is bringing back this time honored event on Saturday, October 3rd, from 6-10PM. This is for the whole family. The dinner will be pot luck. A wine cocktail hour (BYOW), a special yoga program for the kids, music by Joel Hiller and other special stuff. An evening of good food, good company and good conversation. . More details will be available after church on the 20th and the 27th as well as sign-ups Please come, we want you there!!

The Search is On!

The Congregational Survey is now live. We ask that each member and friend of First Parish and youth who have completed Coming of Age please put aside some time to complete the survey now. the survey will close October 4th.

45 questions (including six open-ended questions), approximately 30-60 minutes is what we’re asking for. Your responses to the survey are a critical component for the congregational profile that will be viewed by ministers seeking to lead a new congregation. We want EVERYONE to participate. This is your chance to be heard. All survey responses are anonymous. There is now a PDF version of the survey available FOR VIEWING ONLY on the members page of our church website. You may use this version to preview only. Please complete you actual survey on Survey Monkey at the link above.

And please plan to participate Sunday, October 18, 2015, 12-3 PM in our Beyond Categorical Thinking Workshop. Significant parish participation is important in attracting the best ministerial candidates.

Look for more information about the Search Process at Church this Sunday – a new bulletin board is being populated.

Two-way communication between the MSC and the congregation is essential to the success of our search. Please contact any of us if you have thoughts to share or questions.

Warmly…

Your Ministerial Search Committee:

Debbie Alsebai, Charlie Franich, Franc Graham, Elise Henricks, Jim May, Brigitte Miller, and Tracey Robinson.

Mark your Calendars!

• October 4 – Final date for taking Ministerial Search Committee Survey
• October 18 12 – 3 pm – Beyond Categorical Thinking Program

Kiki’s Corner

It was great to see everyone this past Sunday. We were joined by a number of newcomers as well as many members and friends of the congregation. Great way to start the program year.

Our fabulous Hospitality Committee has done their annual kitchen clean up and cleans out. They have found a variety of items that do not belong to the First Parish kitchen. The items are in the back corner of the kitchen. Please take your items home. We will do this for a couple of weeks and then recycle.

Now that we are in program year mode, most Sundays, I often have meetings either before and/or after worship. It is a really busy time. If you have something specific you want to speak with me about, please let me know ahead of time so we can schedule some time to chat. I will need to know ahead of time. Feel free to leave a message the white board next to my office. Also if you have any forms for pledge payments, Social Media Release form, RE Registration please put in the Gray Box outside of the Office or in my inbox in the Library. We appreciate your efforts to get things accomplished on Sunday mornings. We just want to make sure it winds up someplace safe to be reviewed on Monday!

With the start of the new program year, we have lots of information to share with you. Check out our information table in the Parish Hall on Sundays to pick up. We will have a table at the Pancake Breakfast on the 13th and Social Hours the next couple of Sunday, with lots of good church information including:

• Full message from your Ministerial Search Committee about the Congregational Survey
• First Parish All Church Events Calendar with staff and committee chair listing
• Social Media Release Form
• Schedule for Sunday Volunteer Services (Flowers, Social Hour Hosting and Ushering)
• Pledge Payment Information Sheet and Electronic Authorization Form

Now that we are in program year mode, most Sundays, I often have meetings either before and/or after worship. It is a really busy time. If you have something specific you want to speak with me about, please let me know ahead of time so we can schedule some time to chat. I will need to know ahead of time. Feel free to leave a message the white board next to my office. Also if you have any forms for pledge payments, Social Media Release form, RE Registration please put in the Gray Box outside of the Office or in my inbox in the Library. We appreciate your efforts to get things accomplished on Sunday mornings. We just want to make sure it winds up someplace safe to be reviewed on Monday!

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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!