Our Vision:
We aspire to be a beacon of
liberal religion, strong community,
and transformative service,
rooted in Love.
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Summer Services 2022
Summer Services: Feed Your Soul
Sunday Mornings at 9 a.m July 3-September 4
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Sunday July 3 How to Love a Country
On this 4th of July weekend join Pamela in reflecting on what it means, in the words of poet Richard Blanco, how to love our country at this particular time in our history.
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Sunday July 10 Seeing the World
In her poem The World, Mary Oliver wonders, “[W}ho knows, maybe the stars sing too,/and the ants, and the peonies, and the warm stones,/ so happy to be where they are.” This Sunday, weather permitting, we will meet outside at the church to practice a walking meditation of seeing. Children will appreciate the practice as well as adults. Pamela will lead this service.
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Sunday July 17 Let’s Play
Feeding your soul may be serious but it doesn’t have to be solemn. This morning we’ll feed our souls by playing games together - outside if the weather is good; inside if it isn’t. Pamela will lead this service.
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Sunday July 24 Music, Movement, Meditation
Cathy will offer a time to feed our souls using singing, meditation, and meditation.
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Sunday July 31 Who Is God?
Lin will offer writing and drawing suggestions to help the congregation reflect on who God (or your greatest spiritual presence) has been and is for you.
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From the Minister
On Friday June 24 following the Supreme Court decision taking away the right to an abortion the Parish Committee and I decided we needed to open the church to offer a space to come together. So that evening about 20 of us gathered - women and men, adults and children, members of the First Parish community and people in the area who saw it announced on Facebook and through Bans Off Our Bodies. We grieved; we raged; we shared stories; we named our fears; we lit candles; we sang. Our gathering didn’t change the reality, but it made us better able to deal with it. We remembered we were not alone. And that connection gave us hope - hope which increased the next morning at the Scituate Pride parade and program as we remembered that we can and have made the power of Love more real in our world.
In our tradition the power of church comes not from our belief in a certain truth or doctrine but in our understanding that together we embody Love in ways we cannot do on our own; together we increase our understanding of what is important in ways we cannot do on our own; together we “do justice” in the words of the prophet Micah in ways we cannot do on our own.
Summer is a great time to practice loving, understanding, and doing justice. The long days invite us to bask and reflect. Our summer services are less formal with time for conversation, art, music, games. Our theme this summer is “Feed Your Soul.” I hope you’ll join us for some of them.
And I’m around if you’d like to talk about your soul-care. I’m happy to chat at the beach or the playground, in your backyard or mine, on a walk or over coffee.
Beginning in July, I’m experimenting with a new rhythm for my days. I’m going to move my day off from Tuesdays to Fridays and make Monday my study/writing day. So I’ll be available Tuesday-Thursday for appointments and meetings and of course any day in case of pastoral need. What rhythms are you wanting for your life?
See you in church,
Pamela
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Register Children and Youth Now
For 2022-2023 RE
RE Families:
If you can believe it, we need to start planning for the fall so please register your children for RE today. Next year is the UU year in our 3 year cycle of exploring our UU tradition, the Bible and world religions. Registering now will help us know how to group the preK-Grade 6 children and allow us to plan for grades 7-9 who will visit and discuss other religious communities in the fall and prepare for their Coming of Age celebration throughout the winter and spring.
As many of you know, Eileen, our RE Coordinator, moved on to focus on her sewing business. Instead of finding a new RE Coordinator, the RE Committee has decided to hire 2 teachers who will prepare the lessons, write regular updates and lead the Sunday morning RE classes. We also plan to invite members to be guest teachers and share their special sets of knowledge.
This is a cooperative program, so we ask parents to volunteer as assistant teachers or to help out with things like PR, fundraising and event planning. We believe this will provide more consistency for the children and it will allow parents to attend services regularly.
With that, we hope that you will share the job description with your networks to help us find two excellent teachers to lead our RE program.
Becky and Cara, RE Committe Co-Chairs
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Summer Reading
After our Juneteenth service on slavery in Scitute, Jen shared a list of books for further reading. If you’d be interested in talking about one of the books, please indicate that to Jen - if enough are interested in the same book, we can find a time to talk about it in August or September.
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Parish Committee
The Parish Committee extends a sincere and heartfelt thank you to Mary for her tremendous leadership. We are eternally grateful for her wisdom, guidance, and sound decision making during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are also thrilled to welcome Charlie (incoming Treasurer), Carol, and Jen to our committee. Continuing P.C. members include Carey (Co-Chair #1), Lin (Co-Chair #2), Damian (Secretary) and Anthony (at-large member). We are looking forward to another great year.
The most urgent concern we discussed at our June meeting was the recent decision, reluctantly reached in May, to cut the Reverend down to ¾ time in order to avoid submitting an unbalanced budget at the church’s Annual Meeting. We all agreed that this decision could not stand; First Parish UU has a spiritual leader of unparalleled power and grace, and we need her ministry full time. After discussing ways and means with Treasurer Charlie, who had consulted with Finance Committee Chair Alma, we worked our way toward a solution, and ended with the happy resolution to restore our Minister to full-time status.
The other business of our June meeting was to celebrate, reflect, and discuss the past year and to brainstorm ideas for our August retreat and plans for the upcoming year. In addition, we discussed ideas and proposals to improve how we use our meeting time together, strengthen communication among our committees and with our community, and elevate the great work of our church within the larger Scituate community. Something we are implementing right away to strengthen communication and empower committee leadership: a “Council of Leaders” made up of the leaders of all our Committees and convened by Parish Committee Co-Chair #2 Lin. The first meeting will take place in July at a time most convenient to all, and invitations will go out soon. The work done by our committees is the lifeblood of the church. Meeting in person again, we can get the beat going!
While we have strong participation and leadership across many of our committees and are grateful for the outstanding effort and innovation it took to thrive in these past two years, we do have immediate need for individuals to lead the Worship and Membership committees.
If you have questions about these committees or are interested in joining, please reach out to Carey or Lin for more information.
-Parish Committee
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...Transformative Service |
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Social Justice News
Social Justice Team Introduces FPUU to UU The Vote
UU The Vote is a nonpartisan civic engagement initiative focused on strengthening democracy and organizing for justice, accountability, and healing. In April, UU The Vote launched its initiative for the 2022 elections. The goal is to bring UU’s from around the country together to collaborate with other community and national organizations that share UU values in order to amplify our voices.
“A commitment to democracy is central to our faith tradition and it is also central to our society. It is a principle that recognizes that every voice matters and is needed,” said UUA President Rev. Dr. Susan Frederick-Gray. “We recognize we have an obligation to raise our voices and act on our values to strengthen democracy by fighting for fair elections, advancing voting rights, protecting abortion access, and resisting the targeting and criminalization of Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities as well as LGBTQIA+ individuals, especially trans and nonbinary people.”
In addition to organizing actions to assist with voter registration and mobilization and combat voter suppression, UU The Vote strives to engage voters in values-based issue conversations. They do not tell you who to vote for, rather, they provide information regarding important issues at stake in local and national elections so that you can make informed decisions based on your strongly-held beliefs.
In the coming months we will share information with you on specific actions in which you can participate, such as learning how to write an effective letter in support of your views, or sending texts or making phone calls regarding voter registration or how/where to vote in states where it is much more difficult for people to exercise this precious right than it is in Massachusetts.
Building Community at the Herring Pond Wampanoag Meetinghouse
On a Saturday in mid-June, Ellen, Jean, and Alma attended a community-building event at the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribal Meetinghouse in Plymouth. We were welcomed by the Chairwoman of the tribe and then gathered in a circle to receive a traditional smoke blessing before breaking into small groups to tackle some grounds keeping projects on the meetinghouse property. Our work weeding, raking, and removing invasive brambles and climbers was broken up with occasional breaks for coffee and pastries, as well as ongoing conversations with tribal members and volunteers who came from other Boston-area churches and environmental organizations.
This community-building day was co-sponsored by the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe, Plymouth’s Community Land and Water Coalition, and the Save the Pine Barrens conservation organization. In conversation and by reading materials provided by the conservation organizations, we learned about the fragile and important pine barrens ecosystem of southeastern Massachusetts. We were all surprised to learn that many of the solar arrays that you can see when driving around that area of the state are not being put up in existing wasteland, but rather, are an excuse by mining companies to deforest and strip mine the land. Mining companies then get tax credits by putting up solar arrays after they have destroyed the ecosystem, which is on land that is sacred to local indigenous peoples.
Our work day ended with a pizza lunch and more conversation with the many interesting, dedicated, and hard-working people, both Wampanoag and their friends, who participated in the event. We will keep First Parish members informed as we hear about future events.
Social Justice Team Meeting Schedule Change for the Summer
The Social Justice Team has changed their meeting schedule for the months of June, July, and August. We will be meeting once a month, on the third Tuesday, from 7-8:30 pm. Next meeting is July 19.
-Social Justice Team
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