Home
Minister
Young Church
Music
Governance
Calendar
This Week
Canvass Leader
Bill Heenehan
defines a canvass
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
Rev. Harold Babcock
Easter Sunday Family Service
"The Life That Now Is"
". . . I ask you . . . whether you have kept this old wholesome faith in, and love for the life that now is; because I really know of no way so sure to the loftiest and holiest life of heaven, as that which lies directly through a deep, quick sympathy with the life on earth." Thus wrote the great 19th century advocate of an "evolutionary" religion, Robert Collyer. The sermon will investigate the truth of Collyer's claim.
The Young Church Choir will sing, and there will be a moment for all ages. There will be no Young Church classes this morning, but there will be child care provided for the little ones. I look forward to seeing you in church!
Easter Flowers: The lilies for this morning's service are donated by
- Joan Smart in memory of her husband, Bob
- Carol Young - an Easter remembrance
- Polly Tesar in memory of Bob Tesar
- Mary Wilkins Haslinger in loving memory of her father, Dr. Robert Wilkins, whose hobbies were sailing, portrait painting, and flower gardening.
- Marj Babcock in memory of her mother
- John & Florence Mercer in loving memory of Carolyn Clay Mercer
- Jennifer Badger in loving memory of Dorothy Plumer Beard from Jenny, Vin, Carol and family, and Will and family
- Vicki and Jim Dyer in loving memory of Karen Colby Breen
- Jerry and Marge Peterson, in loving memory of Anna Peterson
- Roxie and Janet Kalashian in memory of Carol (Kalashian) Mullen
- Anne Spraker in memory of her mother, Mary Ellen Spraker; her grandmothers, Louise Ames and Vera Spraker; and her greatgrandmother, Lora LaVerle Culp.
Ushers: Dorothy and Howard Fairweather, Jack and Jim Dyer, and Linda Tulley.
Coffee Hour Hosts: John and Florence Mercer.
Donna Georges
"Navigating Adolescence"
Topic: This presentation will illuminate the personal challenges that young gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered (GLBT) youth face as they navigate adolescence. These young people follow a developmental path that is both similar to and quite different from that followed by their heterosexual peers. The impact of supportive adults and positive role models will be highlighted through vignettes from Ms. Georges' work.
Biography: Donna Georges is currently the interim Principal for the Academy of Strategic Learning, an alternative public charter high school for at-risk youth in Amesbury. For the past twenty years, she has been the Health Director, Health teacher, and Civil Rights/Title IX Coordinator for the Amesbury Public Schools. She has extensive experience working with young people and social issues as the Peer Leader Advisor and started the Gay/Straight Alliance at the High School as a result of her work with gay, lesbian and bisexual youth and their allies.
Flowers: On this day, the 91st anniversary of Martyrs' Day, the flowers are given by Claudia Keyian in memory of the two million Armenians who lost their lives in the first genocide of the 20th century, and in honor of those who survived.
Steeple: The steeple lighting for this week has been donated by Betty Creed in memory of her husband, William.
Ushers: Carol and Leila Bisgrove.
Our condolences to Gerry Peterson on the death of his mother at age 97, to the Staples-Blagg family on the death of Deb's brother, to Darlene Wilson on the loss of her mother and father within eight days of each other, and to Susan McIntyre Kaplan on the loss of her mother, Virginia McIntyre, on Friday, March 10. Our hopes for a quick recovery to Laura Roberts after her recent hospital stay.
During the worship service on Sunday, May 7, 2006, 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.
Congregational Conversation on Youth¸ Sunday, April 30, 11:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m., Lower Meetinghouse
All adults and teenaged youth are encouraged to attend this important conversation about the FRS youth program, and our ministry to youth. A strong youth ministry benefits the congregation in many ways! Come, join us for a lively discussion-it's guaranteed to be interesting, and you'll probably get to know a few new people. Please let Julie Amery know if you plan to attend, so that we can order a sufficient amount of food for lunch.
Volunteers Needed for Social Action Term
We are in need of adults to lead mixed-age groups of children in our three-week social action term, which runs from May 28 - June 18 (no class on June 11). You will have the opportunity to work with some great kids, as well as to do a social service project. It's a great way to get involved in Young Church. Please contact Julie if you're interested.
Nursery Coordinator Needed
We are seeking a nursery coordinator for the 2006-07 church year. Applicants must be at least 16 years old and able to work every Sunday morning. This position is paid. Please contact Julie for a full job description and application.
julie.amery@verizon.net
from the FRS Adult Education Committee
Exploring Unitarian Universalism and FRS Membership - Sunday, April 23, and 30 - from 11:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Have you been considering becoming a member of the First Religious Society but wanted to know more about Unitarian Universalism and what it means to be a member? Here's your chance. Meet with FRS Administrator John Mercer to talk in a small group after church on April 23 and 30. Bring your coffee to the Conference Room and join in.
Spiritual Literacy: A Discussion of Stories from World Religions - First Meeting - Tuesday, April 25, 7:30 p.m. in the Lower Meetinghouse
This is a monthly discussion group addressing stories from various sacred texts from the world's religions. The topic for the first meeting is The Book of Job from the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). Please read any version, and come prepared for lively discussion! Questions? Contact Julie Amery at Julie.amery@verizon.net.
Current Events Forum - Next Meeting, Sunday, May 7, 9:30 a.m. - Topic: Immigration
The meeting scheduled for Sunday, April 16, was postponed because of all the festivities and busy-ness around Easter.
Guest Speaker: Sifa Nsengimana, Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur
The Merrimack Valley Community for Darfur and the Social Action Committee of the First Religious Society of Newburyport present Stop the Genocide in Darfur on Saturday, April 15, 2006, 7:00 p.m. in the Lower Meetinghouse. Refreshments will be served.
Friday, April 14, at 12:15 p.m.
Joseph's Winter Street Cafe
from the FRS Building & Grounds Committee
Mark Saturday, May 6, as spring clean-up day on your calendar.
from the FRS Finance Committee
We're nearing the end of the canvass and, to be honest, the results so far are disappointing:
Number of Pledges |
||||
Pledged dollars |
As you can see, if we were to get no more pledges, we would be cutting the current year budget by more than $5,000. Add to the fixed-cost increases of $10,500 that we expect, and we would be looking for program or personnel cuts in excess of $15,000. That's the bad news. However, I am ever hopeful and will be sending out a hopeful letter this week; please read it carefully, with an open heart.
Our free will offering at the Partner Church dinner on March 24 took in $487.00 after paying the musicians. I thought the evening was a real success; we've never had that many people for a partner church event. I've suggested to Michael Fosburg that we give the money to Max Russell to help with purchasing building materials while he is in Ujszekely this summer, and Michael agrees.
Many thanks to all of you for your help: KC Swallow, great goulash! Josie Seymour for the bread, Meredith Russell for organizing the food, Michael Fosburg for getting the musicians, Sabrina Babcock and Rochelle and Russell Perry-Platine for set up and decorations, Brent Mitchell for the projector, all for food, Bob Thurlow and all who helped with clean-up, but mostly for your presence for a good cause. Isten aldja!
The Spring Rummage Sale (March 31 & April 1) took in $982.00, bringing the year's proceeds from rummage to $2,066.00, or more than 33% higher than the $1,500.00 budget projected. Well done, rummageers!
The rummage mavens, Florence Mercer and Anne Verret-Speck, thank their twenty-nine tireless workers: Lorraine Adelman, Marj Babcock, Barbara Bell, Linda Buddenhagen, Beth Cawley, Ann Chase, Vicki Dyer, Coddie Fraser, Judith and Steven Grohe, Janet and Roxie Kalashian, Ruth Lang, Judy MacGregor, Karen McCarty, Susan Moses, Judith Niles, Pat Ouelette, Marge and Jerry Peterson, Betty Pike, Jane Purinton, Joan Smart, Forrest Speck, Anne Spraker, Maxine and Samantha Steeves, Lisa Tarmey, and Cynthia Williams. Thanks also go out to all of you generous donors and eager buyers. Start planning for next fall!
Sunday, April 30, 1:00 p.m.
Supporting the The Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center (formerly The Women's Crisis Center)
An FRS team will 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 23. For further information, you can see www.jeannegeigercrisiscenter.org, or you can call Florence or Eileen for further information. We did a great job last year but we know we can do even better this year.
from the FRS Hospitality Committee
Coffee Hour hosts still needed: A big thank-you to all of the volunteers who have made coffee hour possible over the past year--we appreciate your efforts so much. We are still in need of coffee hour hosts for several dates: April 23, May 14, and June 11. Please call Marilyn Archibald or send her e-mail at jamesmil@greennet.net if you can help out. We would be so appreciative of any volunteers as we wrap up the Coffee Hour year!
May Breakfast takes a breather - new event upcoming: We thought we would give the venerable May Breakfast a sabbatical this year and try something new. The Hospitality Committee is planning an ice cream and dessert extravaganza--we're still working on the name!--to be held on Friday evening, June 16 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. This will be held in the Parish Hall and will feature lots of cakes, ice cream sundaes/brownie sundaes, and maybe even root beer floats, along with coffee and beverages. Watch this space, because we will be asking for contributions of brownies, ice cream sauces, and perhaps volunteers to help out. This promises to be a fun way for folks to welcome summer and enjoy some very tasty desserts. Details to follow!
Hot off the presses: UU're Home -- The bed and breakfast directory for Unitarian Universalists and other religious liberals, 26th Edition, April 2006 - April 2007. Trying to plan your next vacation, but don't want the same-old, same-old? How about a beachfront B&B in Brazil? Or, a home exchange with a UU gal in South Australia? There are many continental offerings, as well, from Alaska to Wisconsin, including Canada, Costa Rica, and Cape Cod. Check out the benefits of membership in UU're Home, the UU Bed & Breakfast network that began back in 1980 as Homecomings. This is a win-win in every way: a wonderful resource for those seeking interesting vacations, hosted by kindred souls, which may result in fundraising benefits for UU congregations. Check it out!
May 6, 6:00 to 9:30 p.m.
North Parish North Andover UU
Family Contra Dance at Old Center Hall, 3 Great Pond Road, North Andover. North Parish Unitarian Universalist Church invites you to an evening of easy New England style country group dancing. Our caller, Linda Leslie, will guide us through learning simple folk dances based on circles, squares, lines and other formations. Small children will need to dance with an adult. Please bring clean, soft-soled shoes (sneakers, for example) to dance in. $8 adults, $5 children ($25 max per family). Sponsored by Interweave North Parish. For more info, please email: lauralandy@comcast.net or see the Interweave website at www.interweave-np.org.
From Piri (Piroska) to Michael (Fosburg)
Michael, You asked me to write about Easter and how we celebrate it here. Every religion has its own. Your friends tell you and we study some. First, the Catholic tradition is that everyone prepares for the Easter Holiday starting with Lent 40 days or about six weeks before Easter. Lent here means that we don't eat meat or other fatty foods, but this doesn't apply to just meats but also that Christian people prepare their spirits and try to give up something difficult during this period. This could be alcohol, computer games, tv, or any pleasure that's difficult to give up.
Prior to Easter we do a thorough house cleaning and girls prepare red painted eggs, cakes, and the specialty food lamb, or stuffed cabbage. On Easter Sunday, the boys will dress up and visit their girl acquaintances or friends and sprinkle them with perfume or cologne. The boys will try to impress the girls with a poetry reading and the girls will reciprocate with a beverage either alcoholic or non-alcoholic, an Easter egg that's been decoratively painted, a chocolate egg, or money. The boys end up arriving back at their homes during the evening. The girls wait patiently all day for this sprinkling tradition to take place. This is the custom here now, but, long ago if the boy forgot to sprinkle a girl then the next day she would throw a pail of water at him. For the most part this is it. If you would like to know the customs in other Romanian religions I can write that too. I hope you can understand. If you have any questions then I can explain, but, now I'm in class and have to go before the bell rings.
Kisses and I would like to see you and hope that you attend my graduation because it is with open arms and love that I invite you. Wishing you good work. Piri
Apparently, to our millennialist brothers and sisters, reading the signs is a key for eternal success. Occasionally, signs come to liberal churches as well. For instance, at the end of Yankee Homecomning last year, an oil painting of Jesus was left leaning against one of our fences. How is one to read such a sign?And now comes this box of material, left outside the FRS office entrance one evening, around auction time. So was it an auction donation; a reference to a Carl Scovel Christmas story that Harold Babcock read this year; a purposeful push in the direction of Manicheism, if not Trinitarianism; or a heartfelt donation for the appreciation of the FRS?
The note says:
Hi! Perhaps someone might like to "adopt" this sweet "baby"! et al.Somehow the quotation marks seem to put a bit of spin on the ball here. Can you read this sign?
presents
An evening celebrating great music from the 40s & 50s
SATURDAY, APRIL 22, 2006
The Georgetown Country Club
Silent Auction | Cash Bar | Buffet Dinner | Concert
Over 40 live musicians playing favorites from Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, and Glenn Miller to name but a few. It will no doubt have you and yours making your way to the Andover Room's dance floor!
The evening will include special guest Girl Treble who will entertain you with their sweet a cappella melodies. The group includes two FRS members, Sue Creed and Robin Lawson. Doors open early, so come bid on some exciting gifts donated by local businesses in our Silent Auction. Or just come early to meet up with friends and family for pre-dinner drinks and conversation.
Tickets are $35 per person for the evening. Doors open at 6:00 p.m., dinner at 7:00 p.m., concert from 8:00 - 11:00 p.m. For more information, see www.mvcband.org/swing.htm
