"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear."
~Ambrose Redmoon
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Events
Feb 4 Adult Ed Theology
Feb 4 Community Game Night
Feb 5 Youth Group
Feb 18 Adult Ed Theology
Feb 19 Youth Group
Feb 27 Pysanky Egg Decorating
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Meetings
Feb 5 Religious Education, 10am, PH
Feb 5 New Member Class, 12:30, PH
Feb 8 Board of Trustees, 7pm, Zoom
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Sunday Services (Hybrid, 11am)
Feb 5 “What I Love about being a UU",
Rev. Steve Wilson
“Our Heritage,” “Our Polity,” “Our Breadth of Sources,” “Our Service
Committee and commitment to Justice,” “Our Values.” In this service for all ages our chief asset, our people will be on display and serving up a personal potluck dose of why they love the collective us.
Feb 12 "Facing Our Past",
Rev. Eugene "Woody" Widrick
A Bengali mystic named Sri Ramakrishna [1836-1886] said "If God is infinite then the paths to God must be infinite." If our religion seeks to understand the universe then we must honor all the paths to understanding. I think.
Feb 19 “7 Principles, 6 Sources”
Rev. Steve Wilson
When Unitarians and Universalists decided to merge, like any new marriage or partnership, a new path forward needed to be set. Come for a play-by-play explanation of how we forged, discovered, compromised, and crafted our way to the Principles and Sources that now most define us. The conclusion to this review of the last 60 years is a preview of what revisions and additions might be headed our way in the near future.
Feb 26 “A Quiet Revolution”
Rev. Nannene Gowdy
At the end of Black History Month I'm sure you've heard once again about Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, and Sojourner Truth. I would like to lift up an unsung hero, a black woman who had several firsts to her credit.
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About Our Sunday Speakers |
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Rev. Steve Wilson began serving UU congregations in 2003 after completing his M.Div at Boston University. He recently returned from California to be with family and is our ¼ time minister. He balances humor, spirituality, and a deep commitment to service in his sermons and deeds. In addition to preaching 2x a month, he will also be leading an Adult RE class on the 1st and 3rd Sundays and is helping to bring back youth activities. He is also serving our pastoral care needs.
After 23 years in active parish ministry, Rev. Nannene Gowdy retired. For several years after that, she preached in Billerica and Pittsfield once a month, leaving Pittsfield after she sold her house in the Berkshires. She is happy to continue in Billerica and to stay in touch with this loving congregation. The rest of her time is spent with family, especially her grandson, Griffin, who everyone knows is either Mozart or Einstein.
Rev. Eugene “Woody” Widrick had a Mennonite upbringing in rural NY, marked by a 9-year hospitalization for tuberculosis. He was first educated as a librarian and then as a minister. He, along with his wife Trudi and their 2 children, served in parishes in Connecticut, NH, South Africa and the Berkshires before settling in 1977 at The First Religious Society of Carlisle. He remained there until he retired in 2001 and is minister emeritus still, as well as minister emeritus for First Parish. His book “Leaving Belfort: The Memoir of Eugene R. ‘Woody’ Widrick” was published in 2019.
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Hybrid Sunday Service Help/Hints
Give Sarah Mills a call (978-790-8217) if you can help or if you need assistance.
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Church Office Hours
Mon 11 - 3pm
Wed 9 - 3pm
Fri 10 - 3pm
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March Newsletter Deadline
Sunday, February 19
If you have anything that you would like included in the March Billerica Banner, please submit it to Teresa.
Leave a note on the desk, in the mailbox, e-mail admin@uubillerica.org or call 978-663-2293.
Early submissions are appreciated!
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Minister’s Corner - Not so Super-bowl
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Superbowl Sunday is traditionally the First Sunday in February. It is a day that I suspect nearly has, and will probably soon get, one of those little small font holiday tags you find on a calendar down at the bottom of the open block. The kind that informs you that Veteran’s Day is this Monday, or that Administrative Assistant’s Day is that Thursday. You might be wondering if it already has a mark on the calendar. It does not, but it’s coming.
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In one way it deserves it. The game and its surroundings certainly compel us now more than most minor holidays do. After all, 110 million people tune in each year to watch it. No group of people anywhere near that large do the same thing on Flag Day or Armistice Day. One hundred and ten million engaged in the same thing is just slightly less than the number who vote in a National Presidential election. I am sure the NFL execs are working on the calendar dating. They are so much better than most of us modern religious folk are at marking their brand and turf. Do you know it is illegal for anyone to use the very word “Superbowl” in an advertisement without paying a royalty to do so? Can you imagine if the UUA went to file a patent restriction on the word “religiously tolerant” because we thought we coined it? The fact that we would never dare do such a thing for fear of sounding greedy and absurd should indicate how we should feel about the NFL, but we don’t.
You also might be asking why Steve is stopping to talk about football. I do so because it matters. I do so because we should have our ears perked at anything that is both so culturally impactful, and that has such a mixed moral track record as the NFL.
The Superbowl is two years older than I am. I grew up with it, and never remember not having it. That is exactly the way they want it. Those who market the game want it to be ubiquitous with what it is to be an American, and they have largely succeeded. For better or worse, football, particularly pro football, is the single most powerful form of entertainment in our country right now. As Scott Van Pelt, an ESPN reporter, said (I believe accurately), “Football is not the most popular sport in America; it is the most popular thing in America.” If we use TV ratings and revenues as our gauge for what we think is important, it most certainly is. In just my lifetime watching “the game” has quietly come to mean watching the local NFL football game, and watching “thee’ game” means watching the Superbowl.
Some of this popularity is fine. There are values to be learned from the game. We can certainly admire the discipline it takes to play it at a high level; we can enjoy the way it provides for fans and for the teams’ areas a tribal-like affiliation, and of course, all sports can be a fun building block in our sense of identity. The game at its best also provides a bridge for conversation and connection with strangers, neighbors, family, and most often even with fans from other cities.
Other things are not so good. It is of course a dangerous and violent sport to passively encourage our young people to play. It is also for those same young people a risky place to have them set their occupational goals and dreams. Moreover, football sanctions and sanitizes a certain cruelty towards one another as an appropriate part of life.
However, perhaps the biggest danger football is at present providing is its capacity to delude and distract us from more important social issues, and from collectively making prudent economic decisions in challenging times. See, the NFL knows we love the game and uses that to our disadvantage. If you watch “the big game,” I hope you will enjoy the pomp and circumstance of the night, the hard hits, the pretty colors, and the athletic gifts these men at the peak of their talents will exhibit.
But while you were watching I hope you stop to remember that the NFL and its corporate sponsors are perfectly happy that you just might have missed that this Billion Dollar Industry with its $40 million a year Commissioner pays taxes like a non-profit. No, sadly, I am not kidding. Add to that that most of the billion-dollar owners of the teams force the taxpayers of the cities and towns they represent to largely build the stadiums they perform in, and then rent back at pennies on the dollar from the municipalities they are “So proud to represent!”
So watch the big game if you like, but watch both as innocently as doves and as wise as the serpents.
Steve
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UU’s and the call to honor our diversity
In the Unitarian Universalist tradition, we have seven guiding principles which more or less call us to:
…work for peace and democracy in our own community and out in the world,
…see and evangelize about how interdependent things truly are,
…encourage people to responsibly search for truth and meaning in their lives.
However, the first of these seven guiding principles calls us to uphold the inherent worth and dignity of each person.
This does not mean that we are called to put up with the diversity that exists with something resembling an indifferent tolerance.
That first principle calls us to actively seek, grant, and uplift the inherent dignity and worth of everyone. Something resembling working to lift up others to be whom they really are.
We UU’s believe that the only path to the healing of the world will be in a togetherness that honors our diversity and uniqueness.
Say it with me, the only peaceful path forward will be in a togetherness that honors our diversity and our uniqueness. May we here in Billerica embody the spirit of that welcoming table we experienced at the Thanksgiving Interfaith gathering
AMEN
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Theology, Unitarian Universalism, and YOU |
Saturdays | Feb 4th and 18th | 10:00 - 11:30 am
Rev. Steve is hosting a 90 min Adult Ed Theology program. Each session stands independently and is open to members and outsiders. There will be a meditative piece, an academic/educational component, and a reflective piece designed to aid people in exploring their past and their beliefs.
No preparation beyond your own curiosity is required.
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Community Game Night
Do you enjoy Catan, Munchkin, or Chess?
Come join fellow gamers (tabletop and more) in Room 2, upstairs from 5 - 8pm on Saturday, February 4th. Bring your own games or learn something new.
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Board of Trustees Meeting
Wednesday, February 8
7:00 p.m., Zoom
The Trustees meet once monthly to discuss a wide variety of matters concerning the running of our congregation. All members of the congregation are warmly invited to attend these monthly meetings. If you have any ideas you’d like the Trustees to consider, please let a Trustee know and we will try to place it on the next agenda for discussion. We hope to see many of you join us for our meetings.
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Each Monday evening during the 40 days of Lent, Sarah Mills will share her egg dyes, tools (kistkas), beeswax, candles, & 50+ years of Pysanky experience. This traditional Ukrainian art brings people together for creative play, spiritual healing, and community.
Learn how to make beautiful eggs with good company.
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Community Luncheon
CANCELLED FOR JANUARY/FEBRUARY
Stay tuned for announcements regarding the Community Luncheon
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Youth Group Meeting
February 5th, 5 - 7 pm
We will begin the youth group with a quick fun match game regarding the world religions, we will walk around the globe for a tour of the primary religions of the world. We will follow that lesson with a discussion of how culture affects religion.
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Youth Group Meeting
February 19th, 3 - 5 pm
We will gather at the church to watch and discuss the film Click, produced by and starring Adam Sandler. Click explores the imaginary option of pausing and skipping portions of our life and the consequences that come with that liberty. After the movie, we have pizza and plan activities for the rest of the year.
For more information, contact Rev. Steve Wilson: stevewilson22@yahoo.com
If you are a kid between the ages of 13 and 17 and have any interest in joining our youth group please contact Barbara or Rev. Steve
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CIRCLE SUPPERS
Our next Circle Supper will be Saturday, February 18th. If you still need to sign-up or would like to update your RSVP, please email Trek or complete the Circle Supper Sign-Up form
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Note from Deirdre Leger on the Holiday Festival Activities |
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Friday night was set up night helping out was Jim and Brita Learned Bob and Deirdre Leger. Saturday morning the vendors set up at 8:00 a.m. we had a great variety of vendors our soup makers were Bob Leger who did two soups, Jim Learned Lisa O'Connor, Barbara Moloney, Sarah Mills and Suzanne Beeber. Working in the kitchen was Bob and Deirdre Leger and Linda C, selling food and raffle tickets was Jim Learned, Lisa O'Connor Barbara Moloney they also alternated as soup servers, Steve Wilson our new minister helped wherever needed, Brita, Helen Gloor, Susan Bieber and Marion Clark worked all day with Helen selling all her beautiful quilts, etc as always Helen donated all the money to the church Marion Clark donated the money for her pillows she made, Sunday after church was the tree lighting and the free hot dogs working in the kitchen was Bob myself and Linda and Martin C, serving the hot cider was Brita Learned and Susan Beeber. The childrens craft table we had 329 children who made crafts and thanks to Sarah Mills and many others who helped make the craft tables a huge success and the kids really enjoyed themselves and they had a great time and my thanks to everyone who came out to help we could not have done it without you, if there was anyone that I have missed I apologize but thank you for you giving of your time to make the week end events a great success, Deirdre L |
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UUA Intergenerational Spring Seminar |
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Our congregation has been invited to participate in the 2023 UU@UN Intergenerational Spring Seminar!
This year's Seminar will take place April 1-3, 2023. Join youth (14+) and adults in-person or online for programming and activities!
Online participants will be able to join us for worshipping, learning, workshops, and virtual small group reflection.
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Notice from UUA
UUA’s Article II Study Commission (A2SC) was charged to review Article II. Article II is the section in our UUA bylaws that contains the Purposes, 7 UU Principles and our Sources. The Commission has held thoughtful discussions online, at General Assemblies and with groups of leaders across our Association. After two and a half years of study and conversations with thousands of Unitarian Universalists, the Article II Study Commission submitted their report. Printed copies are available on the bulletin boards outside the office and in the Parish Hall and online at https://www.uua.org/files/2023-01/a2sc_rpt_01172023.pdf
Our congregation will send 2 delegates to the General Assembly in June 2023 and will vote on the proposal and amendments for final adoption in 2024.
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Talking Membership: Every first Sunday of an even numbered month ex. (Dec, Feb, April) we host a post church talk back focused on UU history, this particular church's history, and its present offerings. This discussion would be open to all but have a focus on potential new members. The next date is February 5th at 12:30
Coffee Hour: We are returning to a rotating schedule of hosting. Please sign up for a Sunday in person or by letting Deirdre Leger or Teresa English know.
Welcoming Committee: Greeters are needed! Greeters are often the first face visitors encounter at our church and can serve as a friendly welcome when they arrive. Sign up here: tinyurl.com/FPBGreeters
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The First Parish Church in Billerica - Contacts |
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Minister Emeriti
Rev. Nannene Gowdy
Rev. Eugene “Woody” Widrick
¼ Time Minister
Rev. Steve Wilson
Music
Jodi Templer, Organist
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Church Office
Teresa English, Admin.
978.663.2293
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Contact our Church Office to be added to our email announcement distribution list. |
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President, Barbara Moloney, 978.621.5732
Babsmoloney1@gmail.com
Vice President, Lisa O’Connor, 978.761.3539
loconnor466@gmail.com
Treasurer, Jim Learned, 978.667.4083
Lscalawag@outlook.com
Clerk, Kenny English, 678.343.1133
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Chris Tribou, 978.987.9790
Ida Morrison, 978.667.9680
Bob Leger, 978.667.43762
bob_leger@verizon.net
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The Principles of the Unitarian Universalist Association
We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote:
- The inherent worth and dignity of every person.
- Justice, equity, and compassion in human relations.
- Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations.
- A free and responsible search for truth and meaning.
- The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.
- The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all.
- Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
The Mission of the First Parish Church...
is to open its doors to all people who seek a religious home where the Unitarian Universalist Principles are upheld. We respect our diversity of views, as we encourage full participation in all aspects of our parish life.
This Congregation affirms and promotes the full participation of persons in all our activities and endeavors, including membership, programming, hiring practices, and the calling of religious professionals, without regard to race, color, gender, physical or mental challenge, affectional or sexual orientation, age, class, national origin, or political affiliation. Our goal is to nurture: An intergenerational sense of community; Individual responsibility; Spiritual inquiry; Moral reflection; Sensitivity to others; Personal growth; Social outreach and public service; A just world
Thus do we honor the gathering of this Church in 1658 by those who sought to walk with God.
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