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Weekly Newsletter of the
First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton
May 8, 2024
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Worship Service
Revival!
Sunday, May 12, 2024 at 10:15am
Rev. Parisa Parsa
We celebrate the May theme of Renewal in a service reflecting on sources of joy and new life!
Join us in person or on Zoom:
https://bit.ly/FUUSNWorship
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Worship Theme for May: Renewal
As we enjoy the leaves and buds on the trees, the birdsong wafting in our open (!) windows and replace woolen sweaters with T shirts and sandals, we welcome the theme of renewal in our spiritual lives. We’ll consider in worship the many ways we find renewal in community, and the hopes we have for things to come.
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Annual Pledge Drive Update
WE ARE IN THE HOME STRETCH!!! Thanks to everyone who has pledged! As of now, we are at $543,535.57 (87% of the $625K goal) & 197 pledges (86%). We have 21 people/families who have not yet responded to their steward's contact (email, text, phone).
Thanks to: Jacki Rohan! & the rest of the steward group: Todd Farrell, Bruce Kimball, Jonathan Lilienfeld, Saul Lookner, Cathy Morocco, Wendy Schwartz, and Demie Stathoplos, plus the APD team for your excellent work! The back up crew will spring into action shortly. To avoid further emails, texts & phone calls, please pledge!
The most accurate forecast we can generate for the Finance Committee (thanks Karen Bottar, chair, and Judy Curby, Laurel Farnsworth, Neil MacGaffey, Faith Kreider, & Urban Larson) will help the team formulate the FY24-25 budget which begins June 1.
The APD Team: Michael Costello, John Dundon, Kit Ryan, FY25-26 interns: Suzanne Buchko, Chip Highfield, Linda Ross
PLEDGE HERE
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NEED REALM CONNECT HELP? Realm Connect is FUUSN's online Directory. If you would like help getting the Connect app on your smartphone or signing into your account come to the Realm Help table by the piano in the Parish Hall after the service. | | | |
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Please Deposit Your FUUSN Checks!!!
If you have a check from FUUSN languishing on your desk, please deposit or cash it by May 15th so that we can close out our accounts for the year. Thank you!
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Please Submit Your Annual Reports by May 15th
We are hard at work putting together our Annual Report. If you have something to contribute, please send it in to Fran at office@fusn.org no later than May 15th.
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Curious about Co-Ministry?
Good morning! Do you have questions about our co-ministry candidates? The Ministerial Search Committee has emailed out a FAQ to help answer your questions. The FAQ is also available on our website.
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This Sunday, May 12, we remember loved ones, friends and members of our community who have passed but who are still with us in spirit. We also hold in our hearts the memory of the following FUUSN members who died in the month of May in years past.
Marty Adler, 2002
Tom Crowder, 2012
Cynthia Gilles, 2014
Dick Bail, 2019
Kate Carney, 2023
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Upcoming Events This Week | |
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Thursday, May 9
6-7:30pm: RE Committee Meeting - online
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Saturday, May 11
10-11:30am: Climate Action Task Force Green Sanctuary Meeting - Children's Chapel
FUUSN's Climate Action Task Force will be meeting in the Children's Chapel from 10am-11:30 on Saturday, May 11th. All are invited to attend. We will be discussing how to enroll our congregation in the Green Sanctuary 2030 program.
6-9pm: Newcomer Potluck - Kitchen and Alliance Room
If you are new or still feel new, you are invited to a potluck dinner in the Alliance Room at FUUSN on Saturday, May 11th at 6:00 PM until 8:00 PM. Children are welcome.
Come talk with other newcomers who are interested in Unitarian Universalism and FUUSN. There will be time to discuss our congregation's services and activities and to ask questions, as well as time just to get to know one another.
Please RSVP to Pat Rohan at jprohan@verizon.net or 617-852-5290 to tell us if you can come and what you would like to bring (suggestions: an appetizer, main dish, side dish, salad, or dessert that serves 6-8 people). We will provide beverages.
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Join FUUSN’s team for the Louis D Brown Peace Institute’s
28th Mother's Day Walk for Peace
The peace institute’s goal is to empower survivors and communities impacted by murder, trauma, grief and loss to cultivate cycles of peace and healing. To register to walk or to donate to our team effort visit https://www.mothersdaywalk4peace.org/FUUSN. Team captains are Valerie Miller and Kevan Hartshorn. Come chat with us at Coffee Hour. To learn more about the Louis D Brown Peace Institute visit https://ldbpeaceinstitute.org.
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Tuesday, May 14
7-9pm: Soul Matters Group Meeting - Alliance Room
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Dinners for 7 Needs Hosts - May 18, 2024
This is a great opportunity to have dinner with 7-8 people in your home. Host provides the main course and guests are assigned various side dishes.
Sign up to host here. Questions? Contact Lynne Karlson.
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Community Lunch Helpers Wanted!
The Community BBQ Lunch is scheduled for June 9, 2024 to coincide with the Annual Meeting. Volunteer to help cook, set up, or clean up!
| For these and ALL other volunteer opportunities, visit the Volunteer page on our website. Have a volunteer opportunity to add? Contact Jenise. | | |
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Dinners for 7 - May 18, 2024
Dinners for 7 is an opportunity for a small group to get together for a meal at a host’s home. The host provides the main course and the guests are each assigned to bring something. The groups are arranged so that you have an opportunity to get to know different people each time. If you are interested, please SIGN UP HERE. Questions? Contact Lynne Karlson.
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Orchestra Without Borders Benefit Concert
May 18, 2024, 7:30pm
Luca Antonucci will be conducting the 16 string Orchestra Without Borders in a benefit concert for Communities Without Borders with a chamber orchestra repertoire of music by composers from underrepresented backgrounds in classical music.
The free orchestra program, borderlines east-west, will be a collaboration with soprano Hannah Shanefield, jazz pianist Jonathan Fagan and saxophonist Michael Rosen, tracing folk songs and folk culture across the world in a program that joins the Middle East, the African Diaspora, and the Caribbean:
- "Nafahat Hijaz" by Mahdi AlMahdi, a piece based on a Levantine traditional/folk-musical scale, called Hijaz
- Five Afro-Cuban Songs by Odaline de la Martinez, based on five traditional poems from Cuba that highlight the Diasporic community and its history
- A new piece by emerging Afghan composer Arson Fahim based on Afghan folk songs
- The "Sonata da Chiesa" by Adolphus Hailstork, a work that blends the African-American experience with the traditions of Baroque church music.
Each piece or pair of pieces will be paired with an improvised jazz selection by Jonathan and Michael on piano and sax.
Intermission with refreshments and African artwork for sale to raise money for Zambia orphan education. $20 suggested donation.
While this is not an official FUUSN event, many FUUSNites are involved, and it takes place in our Parish Hall. Register or Donate!
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Making It Official: Celebrating Rev. Erin Splaine's Ministry - May 19, 2024
Join us at coffee hour on Sunday, May 19th for a brief coffee/tea toast to Rev. Erin's ministry and view her portrait before it is installed in the Minister's Parlor!
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UU Plant-Based Eating Club Potluck
May 19, 2024
Our next plant-based potluck will be held on Sunday, May 19, in small groups of approximately 8 people in the homes of PBEC members. Folks will have the choice to attend a 12:30 brunch or a 6:00 dinner. Invitations with further details will be sent to the PBEC email list closer to the time. If you would like to join the email list in order to receive an invitation, please send an email to UU-Plant-Based-contact-us@googlegroups.com.
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Sandy Island Retreat - Memorial Day Weekend
Meet our new Ministerial Candidates! Rev. Dr. Debra Haffner and Rev. Joel Miller will join us on Sunday, May 26th. Join us at Sandy Island for a chance to get to know this fabulous ministerial team.
Every Memorial Day Weekend our congregation is invited to Sandy Island Camp on a small island in Lake Winnipesaukee, NH, for an annual retreat (May 25-27, 2024). We stay in rustic cabins and eat shared meals (prepared by the Sandy Island staff) in the dining hall. Visit the link below for more info.
https://fusn.org/get-involved/social-gatherings/annual-events-and-retreats/sandy-island-retreat-2024/
All FUUSNites and their families/friends (no pets) are invited to join in this opportunity for relaxation, enjoyment of nature and connection within our community. Newcomers are especially welcome, as the weekend offers many ways to meet and engage with folks of all ages and interests.
REGISTER HERE. And this year, you can PAY ONLINE HERE. Anyone having difficulties with any of this may contact Sandy Island Coordinator Denise Bousquet at <sandyisland@fuusn.org>.
We run our own activities during our weekend retreat. If you'd like to create a new activity, or repeat a previous one, please contact our Sandy Island Activities Coordinator, Emily Gelbert <emily.gelbert@gmail.com>.
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Summer Chime Concerts
Music is in the air in West Newton! A chime concert is scheduled for Saturday, July 13th. Free to the public, the concert will begin at 5:00 PM and continue for about one hour. Additional concerts will be offered at 5:00 PM on July 20th and August 10th.
View the Flyer
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Congratulations and our sincerest thanks to the Ministerial Search Committee, who persevered through a second round of candidate applications and found us the fabulous co-ministry team of Rev. Dr. Debra Haffner and Rev. Joel Miller. Their hard work and dedication to ensuring a bright FUUSN future has been amazing! Thank you, Barbara Bates, Eric Haas, Julia Huston, Melissa Kogut, Eric Moore, Erin O’Donnell (Chair), and Cindy Orrell!!! | |
A group from FUUSN, including our delegates, attended the UUUM Open House on May 2, 2024. The event included a tour of the facility led by students from the UUUM Youth Program and highlights of other UUUM programs by the leaders of those programs. It also included a tour of the restored First Church of Roxbury Meeting House. It was a great opportunity to learn about the activities that the UUUM provides to the Roxbury Community, in particular local youth. It was also gratifying to see how the funds that FUUSN contributes to the UUUM each year are used in a meaningful way. | |
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Have a news item you want to share? Want to schedule a FUUSN Event? Please use our web forms! Note that any event using physical space at FUUSN must be approved by Fran, and until you receive confirmation from her, that event will not be scheduled or added to our Events calendar.
Submissions to the newsletter must be sent in by the previous Tuesday at 9am. Submissions to the Order of Service must be sent in by the previous Thursday at 9am.
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First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton www.fuusn.org | 617-527-3203 | | |
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