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a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association,
26 Pleasant Street, Newburyport, MA 01950
Office Hours: 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Monday through Friday
Church Phone: (978) 465-0602 - Minister's Line: (978) 465-6504 - Fax: (978) 462-0384
Web Page: www.frsuu.org - e-mail: frsuu@netway.com
The Rev. Harold E. Babcock, Minister The Rev. Bertrand H. Steeves, Minister Emeritus
The Welcoming Congregation
Gary Chalmers and Richard Linnell
"Our Journey to Marriage"
There will be a dedication of the new Welcoming Congregation Banner, and the Young Church Choir will sing.
Flowers: The flowers for today's service have been donated by Esther Macomber in loving memory of her husband, Blair; her son, David; and her daughter, Cynthia.
Steeple Lighting: The steeple lighting this week is donated by Jennifer Badger in memory of Dotty, Lee, Anna, Will, Betty and Bill Plumer.
Rev. Harold Babcock
There will be a dedication of Mekhi Scott Taylor during the service.
Flowers: The flowers for today's service have been donated by Carol A. Young in memory of her husband, Kenneth H. Young.
Steeple Lighting: The steeple lighting this week is donated by Betty Creed in memory of her husband, William.
Current Events Forum: The forum will meet as usual at 9:30 a.m. in the Conference Room in the Lower Meetinghouse. The topic is The State of Education.
On Tuesday, March 29, Cecilia Healy, acting as Chair of the FRS, executed papers committing the First Religious Society to a $240,000 mortgage to be repaid over thirty years. The mortgage was authorized at $200,000 as part of the renovation at the May 29, 2002, annual meeting, and that authorization was increased to $240,000 at the Parish Meeting of September 28, 2003. The proceeds of the mortgage will be used to repay the FRS endowment for building funds advanced for the renovation project. After payment of the mortgage proceeds, the FRS will still owe its endowment about $200,000 to be covered by the completion of capital campaign pledge payments.
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from the Tuesday Night Small Ministry Group
Please join us and other Small Ministry Group members to meet and enjoy a potluck dinner together on Sunday, April 10, at 6:00 p.m. in the lower church. New Small Ministry Groups are forming to meet through the end of the church year in June. Come learn more about Small Ministry Groups and enjoy a meal together with other FRS members. Please bring a main course, appetizer, dessert, beverage or bread to serve six. A Sign-up Sheet will be posted on the Adult Program bulletin board in the Parish Hall. For questions, call Judy Murphy.
During the worship service on Sunday, May 1, 2005, we will once again 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.
from the Hospitality Committee
May Breakfast is soon upon us! We will be taking sign ups for breakfast items for this most delicious church fundraiser at coffee hour beginning April 3. If it's easier, please call me or send me e-mail at obrien_p@jud.state.ma.us to let me know how you'd like to help: which item you'd like to bring (ham, baked beans, breakfast muffins/breads/coffee cakes, fruit salad) or whether you would like to sign up to serve breakfast or both. Please drop off your goodies on Friday evening, May 6, between 5:00 and 6:30 or the following morning before serving hours. Thanks!
Coming Soon: A UU Coffeehouse!
Adult and high school youth are needed to lead and assist with these groups. The projects are the Heifer Project (which will include an optional Saturday fieldtrip to the Heifer headquarters in Rutland, MA), animal welfare, Lakota coat drive, church cleanup, and preschool. Each group will meet four times, during church (May 22, and June 5, 12, and 19). Volunteers can help with the planning of their respective projects as much or as little as they'd like. We need at least two leaders for each group. This is a great way to get involved in Young Church if you have never taught before, and it is also an opportunity for you to become involved in a social service project yourself!
Help make the world a better place, work with some terrific kids, have some fun, and become more involved in the FRS community… all for free! What a great deal! Please contact Julie Parker Amery if you are interested in this fantastic opportunity. Or, sign the sign-up sheet on the Young Church bulletin board in the Parish Hall.
As a prelude to the visit of Zsolt and Borika, Josif and Zsuzsa, and Denes from our partner church starting on April 17, you might want to take a look at this website: www.unitarius.ro. Once there, click on 'Belepes' on the left side of the screen, click 'Egyhazkozsegk' at the top left (the 'English' button doesn't work), scroll almost to the bottom for 'Ujszekely' (the name of our partner church village) and click on 'Go'. Some translation (from Denes) that might be helpful at that website:
Belepes: Access
Történet: (Church) History
Testvérgyülekezet: Partner Church
Egyházkör: Church district (led by a dean, our district's name is "Székelykeresztúri Egyházkör")
Vendégkönyv: Visitor's Book
Posta: postal address
Villámposta: e-mail (odd Hungarian name for those who want to avoid international idioms, literally: lightening-post, thunderbolt-post)
Sunday, May 1
Supporting the Women's Crisis Center
The Human Services Committee will be sponsoring an FRS team to walk for the Crisis Center this year. Eileen Fitzgerald and Florence Mercer will be handing out pledge forms and collecting pledges after church on April 10, April 17, and April 24. We did a great job last year but we know we can do even better this year.
Sunday, April 17
Cellist Karen Wilson and Frances Burmeister will play a free concert April 17 at 4:00 p.m. in the Parish Hall in memory of Karen's mother, FRS member Jean Wilson. This will be the final concert in the 2005 Jean C. Wilson Music Series. On the program will be music by J.S. Bach, Brahms, Fauré, and Hindemith, a few of Jean's favorite composers.
Building the Beloved Community
Canvasser training sessions last week gave 65 of us a chance to marvel at what our fellow church members and friends are doing to enrich all of our lives. I, for one, was just amazed and inspired! The canvass is sparked, certainly, by our need to establish a figure upon which to base our operating budget for next year, and our numeric goal is to increase by 20% the number of households who commit to support us financially. Now that we are entering the follow-up stage of the canvass, we're showing good result, but still have approximately 40% of parishioners to reach.
Please welcome your canvasser and take part in the whole process of sharing and swapping perspectives, even critical ones. Canvassers have already made most of their visits and lots more are needed. Be generous in every way; with your cooperation, we can complete this quickly.
Now that spring has finally sprung, come visit the FRS Parish Library, in the new space below the Meeting House. Many interesting titles arrived over the winter, representing a range of subjects, for which many thanks to our several benefactors.
Hot off the Beacon Press: Sarah's Long Walk -- The Free Blacks of Boston and How Their Struggle for Equality Changed America, by Stephen Kendrick, Senior Minister at First and Second Church, Boston, and his son, Paul. The Kendricks tell the inspiring story of young Sarah Roberts and her father Benjamin, members of a remarkable activist community who successfully fought for integration in mid-1800s Boston. Read how the concept of "separate but equal" came about, affecting American life until it was overturned one hundred years later by Thurgood Marshall. "An outstanding account of the struggles of some extraordinary people . . . An absorbing book about the heroic and successful struggle of Boston's black community during the antebellum period to desegregate the public schools of their city."
MEDITATION OR TAI CHI? Are you interested in meditation or tai chi? Show your interest by attending a free meditation demonstration by Chris Morton on April 26, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., in a classroom in the lower church. Paul Mahoney will give the tai chi demonstration on April 28, 7-8pm, in the lower church. If enough people are interested, the Adult Education Committee will organize classes.
EXPLORING UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISM, April 10, 17 and 24, 12:00 noon. Three Sundays after church in the Lower Meetinghouse conference room. Alex Mezey and Tom Stites discuss the history and philosophy of the church and our governing model. Meet church leaders and Harold Babcock in a small supportive group. Register with the church office, 978 465 0602, or sign up.
SPRING BIRDING ON PLUM ISLAND, Sunday, May 8, 7:00 to 9:30am, fee $10. Birding with Bill and Marsha Gette is a joyful experience. You won't believe the number of birds you will see: egrets, herons, many species of ducks, and colorful warblers stopping at Plum Island on their northward migration. Bring your binoculars to the Audubon Joppa Flats Education Center.
UU TOUR OF EMERSON COUNTRY, Saturday, May 21 (rain date June 4), led by Harold Babcock. Walk in the footsteps of famous Unitarians & Universalists Harvard Divinity Hall Chapel, Emerson's famous address; Mt. Auburn Cemetery, John Murray, William Ellery Channing, Dorothea Dix; Walden Pond, Thoroeau's splendid isolation; Concord's Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Emerson, Thoreau, Alcott family; Concord Manse, Emerson grew up here. Bring a lunch, wear comfortable shoes, carpool with fellow FRSer's. Register at the church office 978 465 0602
Three-part lecture series from Jewish, Islamic and Christian Perspectives
with Reuven Kimelman, Colleen Keyes and Harvey Cox
April 6, 13 and 20, 2005
Hebrew College and Andover Newton Theological School
With so much blood spilled in God's name during the dawn of this new millennium, many are asking the questions humankind has been asking for millennia: What kind of God would condone brutality? What kind of religion would do so? What do sacred religious texts say about violence? In this interfaith series at Hebrew College and Andover Newton Theological School, scholars of Judaism, Islam and Christianity will explore the thorny theology of violence and the sacred. They will apply the litmus test of their respective religious texts to violence through the ages-from the Crusades to Israel's wars to jihad to Iraq. According to each Abrahamic religion, does just war exist? How is it different from terrorism? When is violence forbidden, when is it justified-and when might it be a holy commandment? Cost $10 each advance paid registration; $15 each at the door; $25 for all three lectures. See http://www.interreligiouscenter.org/events for more details.
In a statement released on March 26, 2005 through the Center for American Progress, a group of interfaith religious leaders asked our nation's elected officials to end "selective morality" in Washington as witnessed through the emergency legislation passed in the Terri Schiavo case. The statement, signed by the Rev. William G. Sinkford says, in part, "We, the undersigned religious leaders, hold that compassion and respect for a family's private decision making, respect for the rule of law, and respect for medical expertise are things of great value [and] are in fact moral goods that we jettison only at our peril."
The UUA has long been a voice in support of the role of individual choice in end of life decision-making. In 1988, the UUA General Assembly passed a resolution which provides for the possibility that individuals may make very different choices which should be honored equally: "Unitarian Universalists advocate right to self-determination in dying, and the release from civil or criminal penalties of those who, under proper safeguards, act to honor the right of terminally ill patients to select the time of their own deaths."
See the full text with links to both source material and resources for end of life planning at: ttp://www.uua.org/index.html a guide to planning in PDF format, as well as notification forms at http://www.uua.org/clf/lifecrisis/
from the Parish Friends
With the Terry Schiavo case still in our minds, it's time for all of us to fill out our Health Care Proxies. This is the only form that is legal in Massachusetts. On April 10 at coffee hour Allyson Lawless and Bettina Turner of the Parish Friends (formerly the Visiting Committee) will host a table of Health Care Proxy forms and information to help you fill them out and get them where they will count. Please take advantage of this limited service.
speaking at First Parish in Lexington
First Parish Church in Lexington invites you to a talk by environmental author Bill McKibben on Thursday, April 14, 2005 at 7:30 on the topic: Updates from a Heating Planet: Stories and Strategies on Global Warming. Mr. McKibben's writings are an impassioned plea that the survival of the globe is dependent on a fundamental philosophical shift in the way we relate to nature.
Mr. McKibben grew up in Lexington and is currently a scholar in residence at Middlebury College. An editor at the New Yorker magazine until 1987, he moved to a wilderness house in the Adirondacks to write on his own. His concern over the growing threat to the earth's ecosystem posed by global warming, led him to the research and reflections described in his first book, The End of Nature. He has said that he overcame a crisis in religious belief "to a greater or lesser degree by locating God in nature."
The lecture and reception are free and will be held in the sanctuary at 7 Harrington Road, Lexington. Please call (781)-862-8200 for directions or visit www.fplex.org.
