Final Steeple Edition for the 2020-21 Church Year!
The Steeple will return August 25, 2021. To keep up with the latest news from our church community please check out our website! If you would like to submit news about an FRS event please email cynthia.walsh@frsuu.org.
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Annual Ministry Theme: Imagine
June Ministry Theme: Openness
The openness of our hearts and minds can be measured by how wide we draw the circle of what we call family.
-Mother Teresa
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Sunday Worship
"Young Church Sunday"
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"Children are not things to be molded, but are people to be unfolded."
~ Jess Lair
Our Young Church Sunday Service will be in-person and outdoors on Sunday, June 20th at Atkinson Common. This service will feature some of the children in our Young Church program as well as some special guests and a Blessing Ceremony for our graduating seniors. We are thrilled that we can be together for this special service and hope you can join us!
Worship Service at 10:30am, in-person at Atkinson Common, Newburyport or via livestream on YouTube only: http://bit.ly/FRSyoutube
Sign up to attend in-person service at Atkinson Common here!
Virtual coffee hour following service on Zoom:
Meeting ID: 817 2180 1499 / Passcode: 668856
One tap mobile: +19292056099,,81721801499#
Dial by phone: +1 929 205 6099
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Special Message from Reverend Rebecca
"Have a beautiful summer my friends"
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2021-2022 Church Year Theme: Unity
September: Invitation
October: Conversation
November: Learning
December: Spaciousness
January: Unitarian Universalism
February: Integrity
March: Giving
April: Wholeness
May: World Religions
June: Awakening
July: Tending
August: Time
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Summer Series: Joy
Each summer, Reverend Rebecca offers an email series open to everyone. This year's theme is joy. Registrants will receive an email each Monday for nine weeks, from July 5-August 23. Each week will include a brief reflection and suggested exercises, including writing prompts, conversation starters, and embodied spiritual practices.
Sign up here! Please share with a friend or relative who may be interested. They need not be a member to participate.
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Summer Fellowship 2021 and Pastoral Care Schedule
This summer, while Reverend Rebecca is on study leave and vacation, our Pastoral Care Associates will be the first point of contact for anyone in need of pastoral care for themselves or for another FRS member or friend. The weekly schedule of on-call Pastoral Care Associates is below. Please reach out if you or someone you know is in need of support—for instance, through grief, transition, questioning, or illness. In some cases, the PC Associate might determine that a referral to Reverend Rebecca or the minister on-call is appropriate.
Pastoral Care Associates are a group of FRS members trained and supervised by Rev. Rebecca to provide care to fellow congregants. Some of the care they provide throughout the year includes visits to those who are ill at home or in the hospital, support for those going through transition or crisis, maintaining contact with those unable to attend church, supporting caregivers, and providing a caring and listening presence for the bereaved. Pastoral Care Associates work in collaboration with Parish Friends, expanding our loving care of this community. Please reach out.
July 12-July 18, Barbara Garnis: 978-270-0249
August 9-August 15, Betsy Hazen: (978) 821-8391
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All Summer Worship Services will start at 9:30am on Zoom only |
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Last Chance to Purchase Raffle Tickets
FRS Dinner for 2 Anywhere in the World Raffle
Only 2,500 tickets will be sold -- drawing on June 20th!
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UUA GENERAL ASSEMBLY, June 23-27
Our annual gathering of UU's worldwide, now all virtual! There will be worship, celebrations, and music. Dozens of workshops on every spiritual topic, such as Healing Through Indigenous Storytelling to Dinner Church, Disability Justice, Death and Dying, Reparations, and Racial Self-knowledge.
Special sessions for young adults and youth.
Registration is $200 per person. Financial support as well as a payment plan are available from UUA and FRS. If you would like more information on how to obtain financial assistance, please contact Lea Pearson at leapearson@mac.com.
Register for the UUAGA here!
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FRS Annual Summer Book Sale is On! |
We are excited to share with you that we will hold our annual book sale during Newburyport's Yankee Homecoming.
People interested in volunteering and/or donating books may contact Tom Pagel at tpagel@comcast.net or (978)790-0853.
Volunteers needed:
- To pick up donations from people who are not able to bring items to church.
- Tuesday, August 4 to move books and set up tables in Parish Hall.
- Wednesday, August 5 to organize books, post signage and posters.
- Thursday, August 6, Friday, August 7, and Saturday, August 8 to sell and box up remainders on last day of sale.
Set up and break down times are flexible.
Selling is typically scheduled in 2 hour blocks from 10AM-4PM on Thursday and Friday, with Saturday 10AM-1PM.
Artists who would like to add their creative talents in making signage, such as advertising posters and promotional eye catching gimmicks for book sale (ex., chalk drawings on walkway leading to sale door). Also signage that identifies book categories & pricing lists.
Great opportunity for high school students who are required to complete community service hours!
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Exploring Elderhood Together
When: Thursday, June 17, noon-1:30pm on Zoom
Our June program is inspired by cellist Yo-Yo Ma's album Songs from the Arc of Life, created with his long-time accompanist Kathryn Stott. They've chosen their favorite songs to reflect the breadth of life — what Ma calls "soundtracks" of our lives, times that can awaken us to deep memories, meaning, or a particular delight.
What are the soundtracks of your life?
Join Zoom Meeting:
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Singing Meditation - A Spiritual Practice
When: Sunday, July 11, July 18, July 25, August 1, 5-6pm
In case of inclement weather, session will be cancelled and extra session(s) added in August.
This is a series of four one-hour-sessions. Singers of all levels of experience are encouraged to join in singing simple songs, and trusting in community of voices to sustain each other.
No special singing ability is required.
All songs will be taught. We will sing each of them repetitively for several minutes, finding a meditative 'groove' together. We will sing sitting or walking. Each song is followed by a period of silence. There will be an opportunity to verbally share our experiences after each session.
Sessions will be held outdoors in a private backyard. Each session is limited to 20 participants. Only vaccinated singers, please.
For more information or to register to participate, please contact Bettina Turner at bettinatu4@comcast.net
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Community-wide Events
This section is for events and opportunities taking place beyond our FRS doors
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Look, Listen, Learn: A Community Dialogue Series
When: Tuesday, June 29
from 6-8pm via Zoom
For more information click here!
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Pride Picnic
When: Saturday, June 27
from 11:15-2pm at Main Street Congregational church, Amesbury
For more information click here!
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Pocket Gardens Tour of Portsmouth
When: Friday June 25 from 5-8pm and Saturday June 26 from 10am-4pm
For more information click here!
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KEEP CONNECTED - WEEKLY PROGRAMMING
Please visit our website for up-to-date information on Summer Programming
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Monday Night Meditation on Zoom
When: Mondays, 6:30pm (will meet throughout the summer)
These weekly sessions are led by Joyce Haydock, Senior Dharma Teacher with the International Kwan Um School of Zen. She has been with the school since 1989. This FRS UU Monday group was established over ten years ago. Our sessions consist of two or three chants, two readings/teachings and 30 minutes of sitting meditation. Beginners are welcome.
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Spiritual Practice with Julie Parker Amery
When: Tuesdays, 11am (please note there will be no program on the following dates: June 29, July 6, July 13)
This is a drop-in program, so come as often as you'd like. Each week, we dive into a poem, reading, photograph, painting, or wisdom tale and notice what it's saying to us in that particular moment. This is not interpretation—it's not about trying to figure out what the writer or artist is trying to convey—but what it stirs within you. Questions? Contact Julie Parker Amery at julie.amery@frsuu.org.
Join Zoom Meeting:
Meeting ID: 944 4098 2749
Passcode: 867415
Dial by phone: +1 646 558 8656
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Guided Relaxation with Susan Cooper
When: Wednesdays, 10am (will meet throughout the summer)
Join FRS member and LICSW Susan Cooper on Wednesdays at 10am for a brief period of mid-week relaxation and renewal. Each 30-minute session will include a guided visualization and reflection on questions around where we hold stress and how we can release it. You'll also learn some relaxation techniques to use on your own. This is a drop-in program; come one time or many.
Join Zoom Meeting:
Meeting ID: 873 4945 8812
Passcode: 884416
Dial by your location: +1 646 558 8656
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Online Friday Book Group
When: Fridays, 10-11:30am (will meet throughout the summer)
We are reading the 2015 Pulitzer Prize winning novel All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. This stunning work of fiction follows a blind French girl and a German orphan boy whose fates intertwine in the siege of Saint-Malo during WWII. Despite the war setting, Doerr captures the goodness of people under dire circumstances.
For this week we are reading through the second "Grotto" chapter ends on page 416.
Join Zoom Meeting:
Meeting ID: 870 4388 5100
Dial by your location: +1 646 558 8656
closed captioning is available
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The deadline for the August 25 Steeple Newsletter is Sunday, August 22, 2021.
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Minister–The Reverend Rebecca Bryan; Affiliate Minister–Stan Barrett; Affiliate Minister–Helen Murgida; Minister Emeritus–The Reverend Harold Babcock. Staff: Multimedia Specialist–Andrew Bakhit; Office Administrator–Diane Carroll; Director of Children's Ministry–Mara Flynn; Director of Church Music–Justin Murphy-Mancini; Director of Faith Formation and Spiritual Exploration–Julie Parker Amery; Business Administrator–vacant; Director of Congregational and Community Engagement–Cynthia Walsh. Parish Board: Chair–Rebecca Brodish; Vice Chair–Judy Fayre; Clerk–Holly Cashman; Treasurer-Endowment—Kim Kenly; Treasurer–Finance-Rich Johnson; Finance Chair–Tom Himmel; Maureen Adams, Juliana Beauvais, Micah Donahue, Vern Ellis, Michelle Kimball, Jennifer Rabold, Forrest Speck, Renee Wolf-Foster.
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First Religious Society, Unitarian Universalist | 26 Pleasant St., Newburyport MA 01950
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