Your Weekly Link – News and Updates 8/1/2019

Weekly Link 8/1/2019

This Week in Worship

Sunday, August 4, 2019

9:30am- 10:30am in the Children’s Church

The Gifts of the Pandora Story”  

What an adopted woman has learned from it that applies to everyone.

Facilitated by: Penny Partridge

Worship Associate: Cynthia Guise/Pat Neves

Musicians: Claudia Wellington and Owen Hartford

Minister

Rev. Lisa Ward

**This column was written in June to keep continuity through Rev. Ward’s vacation in July.  She will be back in the office on August 1st.**

Spiritual Practice #5 of the Link Summer Series: Stillness

Stillness is a practice to hone in on awareness and presence.  In stillness, we are not making an effort to do or fix something.  In stillness we are not trying to control or even create.  In stillness we are simply present and aware of our presence, taking in what is happening in our body and surroundings.

It’s an invitation to have the moment.  It can be done in solitude or within a crowd.  It’s great for people watching or sitting in a natural setting.

In Taoism there is a phrase “wu wei”, which is often translated as “doing non-doing”: it is the concept of being effortlessly and naturally in sync with the flow of life.  Stillness can help hone living without struggle, simply being and taking it in brings a sense of how to flow.

Remind yourself to have a moment of stillness now and again.  And remember that you are neither more nor less than anything or anyone in your presence.

Blessings Be, Rev. Lisa

Religious Exploration

Summer RE and Youth Break: Formal youth and religious exploration programming will resume on September 8 when regular worship services start again. Enjoy your summer, and remember to make time for spiritual practices – especially practicing gratitude!

It is time to register your child or youth for classes next fall! The Religious Exploration Committee requests all families to register your child or youth before attending classes. Please use this link to our online form: Online registration form (or paper registration forms are available on the RE bulletin board in the Link hallway).

Events, News and Announcements

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Looking for someone to mow the lawn…  Greg and Liz Sullivan were active in First Parish for many years until Liz became quite ill.  Now they could use some help.  Is there a youth from First Parish who is looking for community service hours in exchange for lawn mowing?  The address is 34 Elm Street and Greg has the lawn mower and gas.  He’s hoping that someone could mow the lawn every other week thru October.  If you or someone you know could take this on, please contact  the Caring Committee through Amy Norton (amy.norton@comcast.net).  Many thanks.

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Thursday evening silent prayer and meditation is cancelled starting August 1st and will resume in October.

A small office project update- our phone system is currently not working correctly. It’s challenging to leave messages sometimes (it’s not a consistent problem), and we know the message on the answering service is outdated (we can’t change it!).

The good news is we’re installing a new Voice-over IP phone system in early August with all new phones. No more screeching phones, no more broken messaging service. Our phone service will be down for 1-2 hours on the day we make the transition; we will put the date in the link when we have an install date. Thank you for your patience!

Summer Projects

by Susan DeMinico, Office Manager

Meetinghouse restoration continues! This week the front of the church gets prepped for painting and the doors and threshholds will get painted. 

The next big summer project starts in 2 weeks- the painting of the parish hall! Painter’s Pride- the company doing the outside restoration work- was selected to give our parish hall update. They will be doing some wall, trim, and fireplace repair, as well as painting the entire room. We hope you’re exited to see the complete project on Ingathering Sunday on September 8th.

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Courageous Conversations

August Celebration and Concert

Thursday, August 15th from 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Parkway United Methodist

158 Blue Hills Pkwy, Milton, MA 02186

RSVP here

Join our potluck celebration of Courageous Conversations Towards Racial Justice. Invite friends and family to join our commemoration of our racial awareness work. There will be a free concert. Please bring a dish to share for the potluck.

Sign-up for Church Directory Photos!

First Parish members: More information will be coming about our new church directory but you can sign up for your photo session *now*. Each group will need about a half-hour for their session and we currently have three dates that we will be taking photos: August 6 and September 13 and 14. 

Please use this link to choose your spot:

https://booknow-lifetouch.appointment-plus.com/yr4jj9pk/

You can reach out to Leslie with your questions: lesliecmacpherson@gmail.com

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Rev. Lisa Ward, Minister

August 11-19 on study leave

Susan DeMinico, Office Manager

Tuesdays/Wednesdays 8:30-4:30, Thursdays 8:30-12:30pm

Megan Benders, Administrative Assistant

In the office on Tuesday-Thursday 11:00am-2:00pm

Laurel Whitehouse, Director of Religious Education

On vacation until August 10th

Sara Elizabeth Santa Cruz, Youth Advisor

Back in the Fall

Tim Steele, Music Director

Back in the Fall