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OLD SOUTH COMMUNITY HOUR FORUM

PRESENTS A FAITHFUL RESPONSE TO HOMELESSNESS



Homelessness 101: Beyond the Label | This Sunday, October 19

How does our faith guide us to respond to homelessness? Join Rev. June Cooper and invited guests to learn about Boston's homelessness situation, sharing valuable information, challenging stereotypes, and fostering empathy. In what ways can we respond to Boston's homeless community with dignity and compassion? Questions: Paul Brouillette.

THIS SUNDAY, October 19, 2025

JOIN GOSPEL CHOIR FOR A WEEK   

First Worship:                  

• This Sunday, October 19, 8:30am rehearsal 

Thursday Night Church:  

• Thursday, November 6, 7:00-7:30pm rehearsal
• Thursday, November 13, 6pm worship

Contact Tim Harbold for details and music in advance. You deserve a week of joyful singing. Please join us!

SUNDAY BIBLE STUDY

Sundays,10am, Crawford Library,

click here to join Zoom, password: 477100

Delve into the day’s scripture passage heard in worship. This no-homework Bible study delights in taking a scholarly look at ancient texts. Don’t leave your questions at the door; we need them. For more information contact Justin Dickerson.

NEW AROUND HERE?

This Sunday, and every 3rd Sunday, in Rev. Ashley's office,

meet in Elevator Lobby at 10:05am

Join Pastor Ashley and church members for informal conversation and coffee. If you've been coming for one week, or a dozen, or just exploring online, join us to get to know more about the church and to make a friend or two! Questions? Email ashley@oldsouth.org.

MEETING THE MOMENT SERMON SERIES

This fall we delve into a sermon series about "Meeting the Moment". Together we'll find the spiritual strength and virtues we need to face the challenges of our world today. Through love, truth, wisdom, courage, and faith, we’re invited to draw from the deep well of scripture and community. Throughout the season we will explore how ancient words speak powerfully into our present moment.

October 19 at First Worship Justin Dickerson

Radical Vulnerability | James 5:13-16

October 19 at Festival Worship John Edgerton

Fear of God | Proverbs 9:1-12

October 23 at Thursday Night Church Ashley Popperson

Bon Courage | 1 Thessalonians 5:11-28

October 26 at First and Festival Worship Rachel Barton

Our Stories of Faith | Deuteronomy 32

Click here to learn more

COMMUNITY HOUR FORUMS, Sundays, 10am, Mary Norton Hall

Homelessness 202: Humanizing Homelessness | October 26

How does our faith guide us to respond to homelessness? Join Rev. June Cooper and invited guests to learn about Boston's homelessness situation, sharing valuable information, challenging stereotypes, and fostering empathy. In what ways can we respond to Boston's homeless community with dignity and compassion? Questions: Paul Brouillette.

Youth Group Pancake Breakfast | November 2

Join the Youth Group as they serve a delicious breakfast to raise funds and supplies for the Allston-Brighton Community Fridge.

The Business of Incarceration | November 9

Jimmy McCarty shares about his book, The Business of Incarceration and gauges for congregational interest in going deeper on the prison industrial complex. 

This Historic Building

Celebrating the architecture of our building | November 16

In anticipation of 150 years at our Boylston St. location, Kate Silfen shares some of the exciting history of this church building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

CHRISTIAN SERVICE AND OUTREACH

THE WEEKLY PUSHBACK - Victory Programs

Click here to learn more.

Have other weekly action ideas? Email outreach@oldsouth.org

In July, a new executive order defunded HUD housing first programs that are essential to supporting individuals struggling with addictions to get the resources that they need. Victory Programs was founded in 1975 as one of the first organizations in the state to provide housing and support for people living with HIV/AIDS, homelessness, and substance use disorders. Over time, it has expanded to operate more than a dozen programs across Boston, offering emergency and transitional housing, recovery and treatment services, health care navigation, and harm reduction supports. Today, Victory Programs plays a critical role in the community by helping thousands of individuals each year stabilize their lives, achieve recovery, and build long-term health and housing security. Old South is honored to give them a grant of $1,000 to continue their great work.

COMMUNITY AT OLD SOUTH CHURCH

RETIRED AND READY AT THE ARBORETUM

Tuesday, October 28, 10am,

Hunnewell Visitor Center, Arboretum Gate, 125 Arborway, JP

Join us for a walk around Arnold Arboretum. This will be a self-guided tour focusing on fall highlights. Meet at the Hunnewell Visitor Center at the Arboretum Gate. Contact Mi Herzog at miherzog1@gmail.com or text 617-939-3966 to let us know you are coming to the Arboretum. Also indicate whether you plan to join us for lunch. We look forward to seeing you!

CONNECTIONS LUNCH

Sunday, November 2, 12pm in the Phillis Wheatley Room

RSVP by October 29 to Ashley Popperson

Interested in joining the church? To be a member of Old South Church is to enter the company of Revolutionary Era heroes, abolitionists, suffragettes, anti-poverty crusaders, and poets. Our saints include Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, Phillis Wheatley... and maybe you! Want to learn more about the life of this community of faith while sharing lunch with other newcomers and church members? Join our Connections Lunch!

CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER

First Sundays, 10am, in the Columbarium

Need some space to breathe? Time to rest in the spacious silence of God's presence? Please join us for Contemplative Prayer. Together, we'll engage in practices of contemplative prayer, share from our hearts, and find strength and solace in God's abiding love. Questions? Email Rev. Ashley. 

HOST AN OSC GBIO HOUSE MEETING IN YOUR COMMUNITY

Navigating this moment requires getting back to the basics. In that vein, GBIO has just launched its House Meeting Campaign with the goal of engaging over 2,000 individuals at local small group gatherings across the city. This will be a time to deepen relationships, build power, and share stories that will get at the heart of our needs here in Greater Boston. Curious about hosting a house meeting? Reach out to Christina Gregg Fitzgerald.

JOIN A SMALL GROUP AT OLD SOUTH CHURCH

Wanting to deepen your relationships at OSC? If you enjoy movies, walking, eating, reading, crafting, studying the Bible or just being in community with others, you're invited to join our growing Small Groups program. We have all kinds of groups doing all kinds of things this fall at Old South Church, and you're invited to join in! Click here to get more details and to sign up. Questions? Contact Rachel Barton.

HEARD IT AT COUNCIL

Click here to read the full report

September’s Council meeting was full of finances, inclusion work, building issues, and small group news. Read all about it in Church Historian Kate Silfen’s report.

CELEBRATING 150 YEARS AT BOYLSTON STREET

Save the date—Saturday, December 6, 7pm

It has been 150 years since Old South Church moved into its historic building at 645 Boylston Street. Join us for a celebration of the church’s storied legacy in the heart of the city with a special concert program If These Walls Could Talk: A Celebration of Sanctuary in the Heart of Boston, to be followed by a festive reception in the Chapel. Registration details to follow.

OTHER WORSHIP SERVICES

THURSDAY NIGHT CHURCH

Thursdays, 6pm

Thursday Night Church is a worship service where the music is contemporary, the space is open-hearted and in-the-round, and the preaching is focused on how we can be the church together in the world. 

THURSDAY NIGHT SUPPER CLUB

Thursdays, 7pm

After worship, join us for Thursday Night Supper Club. Each week, folks can gather after worship for dinner and an informal small group hosted by some of our friendly and hospitable lay leaders.

VESPERS HEALING WORSHIP

Next service November 9, 5pm on Zoom,

Click here to join

Please join us to take a moment for rest and renewal in the presence of God and other spiritual companions gathering by Zoom. All are welcome to share this quiet space and lift up our concerns, our losses, our hurts, and our celebrations in the Healing Presence of God and one another. 

WORSHIP SUPPORT

HEARING ASSIST DEVICES

Hearing assist devices are available from Ava Welling, our Director of Audio. Please see Ava for a device and instructions on how to use it. For more information or answers to questions, please contact Ava.

GREEN TIP: Plan For Your Pumpkin's Afterlife!

Plan ahead for your pumpkin’s afterlife: Don't doom your pumpkin to eternity in a landfill! When pumpkins and other organic materials decompose in a landfill, they generate methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Landfills are the third largest producer of methane in the U.S., where an estimated 1.91 billion pounds of pumpkins are grown annually. Keep your pumpkin in the cycle of life - eat it, or compost it! Click here to learn more.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Click on the video to hear Associate Minister Ashley Popperson preach a sermon at Festival Worship titled Discipline: The Dream that Hardens into Deed.

BEWARE OF EMAIL AND INTERNET SCAMS

Every day spammers and scammers get better at spoofing emails to make them appear as if they are legitimately from someone else. It has come to our attention that emails have gone out that appear to be from Old South Ministers and Staff asking for money and gift cards. When in doubt remember:

• Never open a link in an email when you haven't verified the sender.
• Old South ministers and staff will never email anyone asking for help with gift cards or other financial issues.
• Check the sender and if it doesn't match the ministers and staff emails here, it isn't from us.
• Call the church and ask to speak to the person the email seems to have come from to see if they really sent it.

OTHER INFORMATION

COVID PRECAUTIONS 

• Masking is optional.
• Masks are available at the front desk for those who choose to wear one.
• We strongly encourage everyone to be fully vaxxed and boosted.

MASKED SECTIONS OF THE SANCTUARY AND CHAPEL

Did you know that we have masked sections in the Sanctuary and Chapel?

We do! It's in the left transept (under the balcony) of the Sanctuary. In the Gordon Chapel, the Columbarium is the designated section. In both sections, masks are required. If you still aren't sure how to get to either section, ask an usher!

SANCTUARY IN THE CITY

Our Sanctuary in this City is open to visitors for prayer and reflection.

Monday-Thursday, 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.; Fridays 8:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.;

and Weekends, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.