Upcoming Sunday Services

10:30am

in-person in the Sanctuary

and on Zoom (link below)

September 24th - Welcoming Guest Minister

Rev. Dr. Danielle Di Bona

Worship with Guest Minister Rev. Danielle Di Bona, with music by the NSUU Singing Group. The Rev. Dr. Danielle Di Bona has served Unitarian Universalism for over 30 years and is the 2018 recipient of the Award for Distinguished Service to the Cause of Unitarian Universalism, and the 2004 recipient of The Melvin Hoover “Beloved Community Award” for outstanding service to Communities of Color in Unitarian Universalism. In her retirement Rev. Di Bona serves as the Palliative Care chaplain at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, Massachusetts.

To attend the Sunday services via Zoom,

please go to the Northshore Church website nsuu.org

& click on "Join Service."

Upcoming Church Events

100 Mile Picnic

Saturday, September 23th, 5pm

Our 8th annual 100-Mile Potluck Picnic will be held at the church, 323 Locust St, Danvers, on Saturday Sept. 23 at 5 p.m. Bring food and drink sourced from within 100 miles of Danvers (more or less), and we'll have a delicious and fascinating experience. Plus, jolly company. For more information, contact Iain Goddard of the Green Sanctuary Team.

Artist Reception and Gallery Talk

Sunday, September 24th, 12 to 2pm

Free and open to the public

Join the artist for a reception and gallery talk. At the age of 86, Beatriz (Bea) Grayson is still creating quilts in her Brooksby Village apartment. Bea explored many visual art forms during her childhood in Brazil. As a young adult, Bea came to New York City and attended Pratt Institute. Since 1989 she has worked almost exclusively in the quilt media. She states, "For me, my quilts are a metaphor for making the best of life, of the cards one is dealt....I like to think that I live the examined life and that I revise my choices for the best quilted outcomes." Bea's quilts have been exhibited in art shows around the country, one is in the Lowell Quilt Museum collection.

NSUU Sunday Stroll

Sunday, September 24th at 2:00 PM

Bradley Palmer Park

Meet at parking lot for Asbury St. Entrance

This Sunday’s Stroll will be lead by Iain and Rachel and will start at the parking lot for the Asbury Street Entrance. Dog-friendly, terrain will depend on who shows up. Questions?  Call Iain or Rachel at 978.854.2716

Still looking for people to lead future Sunday Strolls

 We tend to walk until the Sunday before Thanksgiving and we need some volunteers

 to lead each stroll.

Stroll Leaders:

• Pick a favorite place – especially one you’ve been to recently - to go for a 1½-2 hour stroll
• Pick a meeting place
• Consider parking, bugs, path smoothness, grades, water hazards
• Establish whether there are parking restrictions
• Establish dog-friendliness of the place
• Work with the Stroll Coordinator, Bob Ferris, to get the information out to the congregation.

So, please contact Bob at bobferris1949@gmail.com or by calling him at 978-660-7437 if you would like to lead a stroll.  Share your favorite places with other church members!

NSUU Social Action Announcements

Social Action Committee Meeting

Tuesday, September 26th from 6:30-8pm

Our next meeting will be held via Zoom on Tuesday, September 26th from 6:30-8pm.  Contact Cheryl Ferris at cbferris@gmail.com to get the link for the meeting.  We welcome fellow church members to join us in working on issues of immigration, LGBTQ+ rights, Indigenous peoples justice, BLM and other issues of social justice.  Join us!

Operation Troop Support - Donations Needed!

Operation Troop Support needs our help! Donations of the following items are needed:

White crew socks for men and women, small toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, shaving cream in non-aerosol containers, razors, small Kleenex, cotton swabs, toothpaste, toothbrushes). Food items in individual servings such as cup of soup, mac and cheese, applesauce, cans of deviled ham, chicken salad, tuna salad. Also playing cards, puzzle books and snacks such as cookies, crackers nuts, beef jerky, pretzels, etc.

These items can be placed in the basket in fellowship hall. Barbara Haight will take these items to the Director of Operation Troop Support. Any questions, call Barbara at: 978-729-5422.

From the Board of Directors

SAVE THESE DATES

Sunday October 15th, 2023 @ 11:45 am after the church service.

Jeri Kroll and Susan Haas will facilitate a discussion of our choices regarding renewing our Contract Minister Rev. Caro Barschow, interviewing a different contract minister OR, beginning a new search for a full-time settled Minister for the next church year.

Sunday November 12th, 2023 @ 11:45am after the church service.

We will convene for a formal Congregational meeting to vote on this and other issues that will have been presented to the Congregation.

You are encourages to attend both meetings. Thank you.

Minutes from August 9, 2023

Board of Directors Meeting

Now Available - click link below...

Church Announcements

Church Administrator Transition Information

Many of us offered a fond farewell at the September 10th Sunday Service to longtime Church Administrator Nancy Paskowski. Nancy had her last day at NSUU on September 8th. Nancy will be greatly missed!

The ad-hoc hiring team is working to identify a candidate for the position - thank you to team members Loring Bradlee, Lynette Clark, Julie O’Meara and Susan Haas. The full board will weigh in when finalist(s) are identified. 

Here is a coverage list of volunteers for essential duties during this transition period:

Building/rental management

Liaison to Daycare Center - Susan Haas

Liaison to Muslim Society - Rev. Caro

Liaison to contractors (as needed) - Buildings & Grounds (Hal Morse/Bob Ferris)

Liaison to arrange new rental requests - Susan and Hal

Track building and office supplies - Susan and Rev. Caro

Financials

Tracking/Making Deposits and Preparing Checks - Lynette Gray

Payroll Reports (MinistryWorks) - Caro

Maintaining Quickbooks - Bookkeeper at Terranova CPA

Congregational Life 

Respond to phone messages, email, postal mail - Susan

Recording new visitors - Caro

Good Things Are Happening newsletter - Caro (new deadline, Wed at noon)

Order of Service - Lynette (new deadline, Wed at noon)

Online Calendar Requests - Caro

Zoom meeting requests - Caro

For questions, please contact Rev. Caro at rev.barschow@gmail.com or Board of Directors Chair Susan Haas at susanann1812@yahoo.com.

Minister’s Schedule

Office hours for October will be by appointment, on Wednesdays and Thursdays. If you’d like to meet with Rev. Caro, please email or phone to set up a time. Email: rev.barschow@gmail.com Phone: 978-473-7980

The minister is scheduled to have time off September 18-24, as part of their regular 3/4 schedule at NSUU. Because of the church administrator transition, Rev. Caro will be worked limited hours on office coverage and the hiring process during this week. Rev. Caro will be available for pastoral emergencies during this time. For assistance with other church matters, please be in touch with Board Chair - Susan Haas (Susanann1812@yahoo.com) or a member of the Caring Team - Barbara Reeder, Chair (barabaraellenroth@gmail.com).

Green Sanctuary Team - Greening the Kitchen

The Green Sanctuary Team is encouraging us to transform our NSUU kitchen into a Green kitchen. We would like to use reusable items whenever we can; compostable items and recyclable items after that. Let’s please get away from Styrofoam and other Single-Use kitchenware!

After the supply cabinet was just cleaned and re-organized, what we have are not Eco-friendly cups, plates, bowls and napkins. Instead we have Styrofoam plates and hot/cold cups and lots of paper napkins as well as canned drinks and bottled water and plastic utensils.

We would like to get the word out that we should not purchase any new supplies, but first use up what we have. Then we’ll replace items we need with Eco-friendly ware.

Also, we will be moving towards water dispensers instead of single use beverage plastic bottles.  Let’s avoid contributing to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch!

Good Things Are Happening

New Deadline: Wednesday at noon

Please contribute announcements by Wednesday at noon for NSUU's weekly e-newsletter "Good Things Are Happening." You can do so by sending an email with the announcement to nsuu@verizon.net. Please put in the subject line "For Good Things Are Happening." Please indicate how long you would like the announcement to appear and a contact email or phone number for readers to get more information.

Activities Around Town

Essex County Community Organization (ECCO)

ECCO is a diverse network of congregations and organizations across the North Shore building relationships and power to put human dignity at the center of public life. Its mission is to work together across race, class, and faith lines to ensure that all people on the North Shore can thrive, grow, and dream.

Defending Democracy

Wednesday, October 4th at 6pm

Lynn Auditorium, 3 City Hall Square, Lynn

This groundbreaking social justice event will address pressing issues including book banning, voting suppression, economic inequality, and marginalization of Black history. Speakers include Massachusetts Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler, former Beaufort Mayor Billy Keyserling, and historian Dr. Kabria Baumgartner. Then, we will hear about solutions for Lynn and beyond from a panel with local social justice advocates, including ECCO President Rev. Dr. Andre Bennett and our close partners from Lynn Racial Justice Coalition and the New Lynn Coalition Nicole McClain, Adriana Paz, and Jeff Crosby, as well as Martin Garnar.

ECCO Community Meeting

Tuesday, October 24th, 6pm

Location TBA

Join us to connect with people from across ECCO’s diverse community, get updated on ECCO’s latest work on affordable housing, community safety, and immigrant rights, and learn how you can make an impact!  Please bring a potluck dish to share. (But if you can’t, please come anyway! We will have lots of pizza!) RSVP here: bit.ly/ecco-10-24-23

Indigenous People's Day in Newburyport

For Indigenous Peoples' Day this year, why not join NSUU friends in Newburyport to celebrate on Saturday, October 7?  Festivities start at 10am at Waterfront Park (36 Merrimac St, behind Firehouse Center of the Arts). Contact Iain Goddard or Cheryl Ferris for carpool arrangements, or sign up in the Fellowship Hall at NSUU. See <https://imaginestudios.org> for more information on the event.