Steeple Lighting - The steeple lighting this week is donated by Freida Marion in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Frederic K. Castelhun and Mr. and Mrs. Karl Castelhun.

Chalice Lighters - Carol and Leila Bisgrove.

Coffee Hour - Cecilia and Paul Healy.

Ujszekely Organ Repair - Some pictures just came from the organ people in Harman. They show the dismantling of the Ujszekely organ to take to the workshop. They also send greetings from Zsolt and Borika, with whom they had a "very nice time" although all the folks there were very busy getting in the corn while the weather was still sunny. Thanks to these people who have contributed toward the organ repair at our Partner Church: Harold & Sabrina Babcock, Marj Babcock, Michael Fosberg, Roger & Louise Hatch, Claudia Keyian, Max Russell, Meredith Russell, Peg Nicol, Elizabeth Ring, and Pat Skibbee. Furthermore, we have received funds from some members of the Organ Historical Society. We're about halfway to our goal of $8,000.

Steeple Lighting - The steeple lighting this week is donated by Hope and Vinny Wood in celebration of their anniversary.

Chalice Lighters - The Membership Committee.

Coffee Hour - Allyson Lawless and Sabrina Babcock.

During this worship service, we will welcome new members at a New Member Recognition Ceremony. If you have any questions about becoming a member of the First Religious Society, please speak to Harold Babcock or call John Mercer, Administrator at 978.465.0602 or send him an e-mail at frsuu@netway.com.

New Member Luncheon -- The annual New Member Luncheon is scheduled this Sunday in the lower meetinghouse, following the worship service. If you joined the FRS between November 2003 and November 2004, you will receive a personal invitation by mail. Please RSVP to Ann Kemp and let her know if you will attend and need babysitting services. We look forward to getting to know one another better over brunch and good conversation.

Volunteers Needed for Young Church Holiday Term
We need volunteers to work with children and youth for three Sunday mornings, beginning November 21. Activities are planned for these weeks leading up to our holiday pageant; now all we need is you! Available opportunities include helping children create visually stunning props for the pageant, working with our preschoolers, and leading a social service project. We also need assistants. This is a great opportunity for you to be involved in Young Church. The commitment is brief, the contribution invaluable. If you're interested, please contact Julie Parker Amery.

Thanks, Skeleton Crew!
Thank you to Kim Gallagher and Maura Perkins, who helped make 65 sugar skulls and all the fixin's for use in Young Church on October 31.

I have had the opportunity to connect with the directors of the organizations the Loose Plate Project is supporting this fall. They are overwhelmed by their organizations' having been chosen by you, the congregation, and by your generous donations to them. They share the common goal of outreach in our community and enjoy knowing that we are reaching out to them. I cannot stress enough how grateful they are for what we are doing here as a community at the First Religious Society. Thank you all for your support!

Mass Bay District's biggest annual event will be even bigger this year as it combines with the RE Team's annual Pot of Gold conference. Come join in a day where UU minister and Meadville Lombard educator John Tolley together with experienced practitioners of the visual arts, drama, music, and dance will share insights and provide opportunities to participate in this broader form of communication. Total Cost: $35 adults / $10 students and youth. See the Mass Bay District website (www.mbduua.org/) for more information on the very interesting workshops.

The Reeve page offers links to an essay by Reeve himself called "Nothing Is Impossible: Reflections on a New Life" as well as Rev. Gary Kowalski's sermon about Reeve and his faith, "The Real Superman," preached at the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Burlington, VT. Rev. Kowalski preached at the FRS during Harold Babcock's sabbatical.

Kyrgyzstan! A year ago I had never heard of the country let alone pronounce it and today I'm in love with it. Last fall Max suggested that we join Habitat for Humanity's Global Village project there, and it sounded so exotic that I immediately agreed. Kyrgyzstan is a country of incredible beauty dominated entirely by the peaks of the Tien Shan Mountains, with glaciers, high altitude lakes, and valleys. The highest peak is over 21,000 feet. The country is a little smaller than South Dakota and bordered by China, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. There is abundant hydropower and significant deposits of gold and other metals but only 7% of the land is arable with permanent crops grown on 0.39%. The Kyrgyzstani were a nomadic people until the country was taken over by the Russians early in the last century and brutally forced into settlements. It became an official member of the USSR in the 1930s. In 1991, independence was declared and it is now a fledgling democratic nation trying to find a place in the world. During the communist years, there were no homeless in Bishkek. Although the apartment blocks are gray and dreary, everyone had shelter with basic amenities. With the fall of Communism, much of the housing is in disrepair. The economy is improving but has been very bad. Wages are depressed; doctors earn the equivalent of $50 a month and most people less. There is no social safety net. Older people may have pensions, but they are so tiny that they can't pay rent and utilities. Many live in unheated apartments without electricity or water. There have been some individual houses built by Habitat on the outskirts of the city, but the cost is prohibitive so the local affiliate is now buying apartments and rehabbing them. Although Habitat for Humanity International is the overseeing organization, each country forms its own affiliate and makes its own requirements for eligibility. There is a local committee that chooses applicants according to need and ability to pay. Those chosen must find an affordable property. The local group buys, rehabs and sells it to the family with a no-interest, affordable, mortgage, usually no more than their current rent. Each family must also contribute 2000 hours of "sweat equity". (The hours vary according to country, in the US it is between 250 and 500) Many members of a family may contribute time to make the total. Earlier trips to Third World countries hadn't prepared me for Kyrgyzstan. We landed at dawn, passing American military planes parked on the runway. The airport was orderly and clean. The ten-mile ride into the city of Bishkek was on a wide, smooth boulevard, absolutely straight and flat. Bishkek sprawls on the only flat area of the country and is surrounded by snow-covered mountain peaks. There are wide roads laid out in a grid, many parks, and trees on every piece of ground that will support them. Although things look a bit shabby and unkempt, the overall impression is of a lovely city. The architecture, on the other hand is comprised of huge, crumbling, concrete, Russian built boxes, each holding dozens of apartments. Our group of fifteen were housed in four separate apartments, in three buildings all facing a common park. Our accommodations were sparse but comfortable and we had the rare luxury of an elevator to take us to the 5th floor, not common in the other buildings that we visited. We worked each day with family members and grew to know them well. We met their children and were invited to their homes. They prepared our lunches each day and ate with us. They became our friends and colleagues. Our group's ages were from 26 to 70. Most of the work was unskilled or easily learned. I scraped paint from window frames, scraped wallpaper from walls, and painted. Perfection is not required! Max and a couple others plastered walls and ceilings. He was the expert and continually urged the others to "Make it as smooth as a baby's bottom." The site supervisors encouraged us to do only what we were comfortable doing and to rest as needed.

Evening meals were at different restaurants in the city, a different nationality each night and ranged from good to very good. We fixed our own breakfasts in our apartments. Transportation was via a mini-bus. Highlights of the trip The warmth and hospitality of the people. The beautiful children who followed us around and tried out their English, "Hello, what's your name?" The four little girls who we dubbed The Sewing Circle. They sat on a mat in front of the apartment we were rehabbing and sewed clothes for their dolls. Tables laden with traditional foods. Traditional drinks, especially Kymys, made of fermented mare's milk. Crowded streets of neatly dressed people, women and little girls always in dresses although some teens in jeans. Everything written in the Cryllic alphabet, very disorienting. Tomatoes and cucumber with dill at every meal. Homes with no beds, only a neat stack of colorful pads against a wall to be laid out at night. Entire families with all their possessions in one armoire. We visited one family in their poverty housing. Two families shared a two room apartment on the fifth floor-no elevator-with a tiny kitchen. It was neat with nice furniture and rugs. Four adults and four children slept in one room and used the other for living and eating. In another apartment, a family of three lived in one room on the sixth floor, no elevator and one bathroom for twenty-six families on that floor. On the ground floor was one shower for the entire building. We also visited two of the separate homes built by Habitat. One had three rooms, one had four rooms. Each had a large garden area planted with vegetables and fruit trees. A playground adjoined the properties. Each also had an outside toilet in the backyard. Although there are indoor bathrooms, the toilets cannot be connected because there is no sewerage system. Midway through our stay we took a three day excursion into the mountains. Our bus was a converted Russian army truck. The way we bounced about it seems unlikely that there were any shocks. We had a fantastic white water rafting trip. On our way over a mountain the truck broke down near a small village. During repairs we had time to walk into the village. Swarms of children followed us and made us welcome. It was dusk and the villagers were bringing their cows and goats in from the fields that surround the village. We loved the opportunity to see something of rural life. We spent a night at a resort on Lake Issykul, one of the largest fresh water mountain lakes in the world. It was a luxury resort but getting a bit seedy now that Russian tourism to the area has nearly disappeared. One night we had a barbeque cruise on the lake as the sun set over the mountains. Magnificent! Part of our group left after the cruise and spent a night in a yurt in a beautiful valley. Max and I opted out of that trip because they didn't leave until after 10pm and had an hour to travel (on the bouncy bus) to get there. After hearing their stories and seeing the photos, I was sorry to have missed it. Before leaving for Kyrgyzstan I had made contact, through a travel book site, with an Indian man who lives in Bishkek. Max and I were invited to his home on two occasions to meet Kyrgyz friends and have traditional meals. Another highlight of the trip. On our final night the families gave a party for us at an outdoor restaurant on the outskirts of the city. Tables laden with food, Kyrgyz dancers and music, gifts and certificates, much laughter and not a few tears, it was a wonderful end to the trip. The final memorable moment was at the airport when our Maori group member Tatiana sang Now is the Hour in Maori. Beautiful and poignant.

Registration Fee: $350 per congregation, for as many people as a church wishes to send. The fee includes a light breakfast, lunch, afternoon refreshments, and a copy of Durall's latest book, The Almost Church: Redefining Unitarian Universalism for a New Era.

Sponsorship: The workshop is sponsored by the MBD Leadership Resources Council and the MBD Growth Planning Committee

Location: To be announced

Michael Durall is principal of the CommonWealth Consulting Group in Massachusetts (www.vitalcongregations.com and the author of three books about congregational life:

• Creating Congregations of Generous People, published by the Alban Institute.
• Beyond the Collection Plate, published by Abingdon Press.
• The Almost Church: Redefining Unitarian Universalism for a New Era, published by Jenkin Lloyd Jones Press at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma.