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Earrings at the Auction
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
"What We Owe Our Children"
Some would say we already give them too much. But are we giving them what they really need? The sermon will investigate. The Teen Choir will sing.
Flowers: The flowers for this morning's service are donated by Laurie Christiansen and Richard George in honor of their wedding anniversary.
Steeple Lighting: The steeple lighting for this week has been donated by Amy Badger in loving memory of Mark Badger.
Ushers: Candace and Peter Erickson.
Coffee Hour Hosts: Deb Steeves and Joanne Gay.
New Member Recognition Sunday
Rev. Harold Babcock
"Back to the Future"
This morning we will once again welcome new members-those who have decided to become legal voting members of the congregation and who have submitted an Application for Membership-into the fellowship of the First Religious Society in a Ceremony of New Member Recognition.
The sermon will consider the ways in which we honor the past by envisioning and planning for our future. This will be the second of two sermons related to the visioning process currently getting under way in our church (it was preceded by "Becoming a Great Church" in January). I look forward to seeing you at this special service!
Flowers: The flowers for this morning's service are donated by the Dyer family in loving memory of Ed Elvin and John H. Dyer.
Steeple Lighting: The steeple lighting for this week has been donated by Barbara Burnim in memory of her husband, Bernard H. Burnim.
Ushers: Ann and Walter Power.
FRS Current Events Forum: 9:30 in Lower Meetinghouse Conference Room. The topic is "Immigration."
During the worship service on Sunday, May 7, 2006, we will again welcome new members at a New Member Recognition Ceremony. If you have been considering becoming a member of the First Religious Society and would like to be included, or if you have questions about membership, please speak to Harold Babcock or call John Mercer, Administrator, at (978) 465-0602 before May 4.
In preparation for New Member Sunday, all are invited to attend "Introduction to First Religious Society Membership" with John Mercer on April 30 after church at 11:45 p.m. in the Conference Room.
Conversation on Youth: Ministry with youth is about listening, empowerment, and spiritual guidance. It is instrumental to the vitality and growth of our congregation. To that end, we will hold a congregational conversation on Sunday, April 30, from 11:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. in the lower meetinghouse. This will be an opportunity for listening, dialogue, visioning and strategizing. What can we do to create a more inclusive, vital, and meaningful youth program? Because this conversation is about the life and vitality of our congregation as a whole, all adults and youth in Grades 7 - 12 are encouraged to attend and actively participate. It will be interesting, fun, eye-opening, and inspiring. Lunch is included. If you plan to attend the conversation, please call Julie Parker Amery at (978) 465-0602 x403, so that we can order an appropriate amount of food.
Family Game Night: Friday, April 28, from 6:30 to 8:00, Lower Meetinghouse, Pizza and games for people of all ages. Bring your favorite games! See you there!
Volunteer Opportunity: We are looking for adult volunteers for our Young Church social action term, which runs from May 28 - June 18 (no meeting on June 4). Our volunteers work with children on various social service projects. Your commitment is three Sunday mornings. It's a great way to get involved in Young Church and also to do some good work in the community. Please contact Julie if you can help out.
julie.amery@verizon.net
Sunday, May 7, after church at the Coffee Hour
You've heard about it, Harold is preaching about it, and now the time is upon us! Mark your calendar-for our kick off event to begin the FRS visioning process as we "Focus on Our Future." There will be a special sermon by Harold followed by a festive coffee hour event to create an FRS Time Line-a way to honor and celebrate our past as we launch into our future.
This will be a festive and engaging event for everyone: it's a chance for all of us to add our memories, stories, and knowledge of our history to a giant timeline we will create together-and that will unfold around the walls of the Parish Hall.
Your presence is urgently requested!
Everyone is invited to feel free and have fun contributing to our Time Line - the more of us who do, the richer and more useful the timeline. Your input will help us take stock of all we have to celebrate about FRS as the foundation for the fresh vision we create for what we want FRS to be five or ten years from now.
Focus on the Future will engage us through the spring, inspire us to a summer of reflection about the dreams we have for FRS, and bring us together in smaller groups in the fall at which we will all share these dreams - and hear the dreams of fellow parishioners. It is from this process that our congregation's fresh vision will emerge.
Be sure to join in this exciting and important event for FRS. It's a Sunday to make sure you're in church.
Thanks to Lark Madden for purchasing and donating to the FRS a new amplifier to be used with the electric piano in the sanctuary.
Kent Allen of Central Congregational Church has invited members of the FRS to participate in a Gift Card Drive to help the victims of the fire at Woodman Way. If you would like to participate, please contact Debbie Aldrich of our Central's Christian Outreach Committee at (978) 463-4995 or e-mail her at debaldrich@msn.com.
Local churches are holding a gift card drive to benefit the victims of last week's fire on Woodman Way. These families lost everything. The Red Cross is working with them to provide basic relief. If you wish to participate, please purchase gift cards at any of the following suggested stores: Market Basket, Wal-Mart, Sears, CVS, Stop & Shop, K Mart, Home Depot, Walgreen's, Shaw's, or Marshall's. Deliver the certificates to the FRS office, which will get them to Central Congregational.
Sunday, April 30, 1:00 p.m.
Supporting 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. 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.
On Saturday, May 6th we will hold our annual Spring Clean-Up Day and we need people to volunteer to help on this one day. Anyone who wants to help will be welcome, so come on down and bring a friend, anytime from 8:00 AM to . . . the end of the day. We need help with these chores:
- The little boxwoods need to be trimmed by someone who knows how.
- The Parish Hall Kitchen needs an annual cleaning: sinks, stove, dishwasher, cabinets, countertops, floors, anything you have time for.
- The sidewalks outside need to be swept.
- A coat of beeswax/lemon oil needs to be put on the organ casing.
- We need to mulch around the plants and trees.
- The workbench in the Parish Hall basement needs to be cleaned up.
- The bell needs to be cleaned and, afterwards, the belfry.
- Some additional energy efficient bulbs need to be installed in the Parish Hall.
- Loose paint needs to be scraped off in various locations
Attention book lovers! There will be several wonderful book offerings at the annual FRS Auction on April 29.
- Farm Ballads and Farm Legends: a two-volume set of antique books, from 1873. Collections of verse and poetry written on the farm about families, love, death, and nature, with charming illustrations
- Music: Two whole boxes of sheet and book music for the musical adventurer: a potpourri ranging from "Music with Children" to "Teaching Techniques for the Brasses"
- Poems for Young Ladies: Circa 1780 women's book of poetry, purchased at "Mr. Byers sale Dec. 17, 1780" and beautifully bound
- Basket of Books: A wonderful selection of 16 new or gently-read books recommended by members of Nancy Crochiere's book group
- An offering of Books and Plants: six garden books and a perennial plant assortment: Take the books home auction night, but the plants will be delivered to your door. These may include daylily, Siberian Iris, Coreopsis, Bee Balm, Yarrow, Black-Eyed Susan, Chrysanthemum, or a combination of several. BONUS: These plants are actually the mature 'diggings' from UU members Beth and Scott Cawley! Bid for a little UU history!
Summer Help with Children
Frs Members are looking for summer help with their children. Any combination of Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday - afternoon - flexible times. One child is is four years old, and the other is seven months. If interested, please call the church office (978) 465-0602, x401.
Saturday, June 10th at 11:00 a.m. at Arlington Street Church
It is that time of year again when our minds turn towards warmer weather and the Boston Pride Parade. If you were there last year and want to march as part of the large UU contingent again, please join us this year. If you weren't there last year but heard about how great it was, please join us and invite everyone that you know.
The festivities will begin with a banner parade and worship at Arlington Street Church, at the corner of Boylston and Arlington Streets. Those gathered will then proceed to the parade route and march as a group with their congregational banners.
Please register directly with the New Boston Pride Committee (http://www.bostonpride.org/) and designate on the registration form that you would like to march with the UU's.
For more information or to confirm your participation please contact Marjorie Matty, Ministerial Intern The UU Society of Wellesley Hills (mmatty@comcast.net).
For those Unitarian Universalists who live in the greater Chicago area or are planning travel to the Windy City the first weekend in June, we extend an invitation to join us as we confer degrees upon the next generation of leaders in our faith movement. Come to our commencement ceremonies on June 4, 2006 at 3:00 at the First Unitarian Church of Chicago, 5650 S. Woodlawn Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637. This is an exciting event for Unitarian Universalism and we welcome you to be a part of it. The Rev. Dr. Richard Gilbert, Minister Emeritus of First Unitarian Church of Rochester will be the commencement speaker and the Rev. David E. Bumbaugh, Professor of Ministry at Meadville Lombard, will lead the charge to the graduates. A reception will follow the ceremony.
You are also welcome to join us for a dinner for the graduates on Saturday, June 3, at 6:00 p.m., also at the First Unitarian Church of Chicago. Tickets to the dinner are $38 per person and RSVPs are required no later than May 19.
For more information or to order tickets for the dinner, please contact the Executive Assistant to the President at echavez@meadville.edu or 773-256-3000 x222.
An evening with Catie Curtis on May 13, Meg Hutchinson opening
Nationally acclaimed "folk-rock goddess" Catie Curtis has toured with Lilith Fair and with artists such as Dar Williams and Mary Chapin Carpenter. Her songs have appeared in numerous television shows (Dawson's Creek, Felicity, Grey's Anatomy, and Alias), and independent films (500 Miles to Graceland, A Slipping Down Life). Catie has recently recorded a new CD, entitled "Long Night Moon," which will be released in August of 2006. She was recently awarded the 2005 International Songwriting Competition's Grand Prize for a song from the upcoming CD which she co-wrote with Mark Erelli. The song, "People Look Around," is about social issues and Hurricane Katrina. It took top honors among 15,000 songs from 82 countries. Catie lives in the greater Boston, Massachusetts area with her partner and two daughters. See www.catiecurtis.com.
Meg Hutchinson, contemporary acoustic artist and winner of the 2005 Mountain Stage New Song Folk Festival, has been likened to David Gray, Beth Orton, Patty Griffin and Shawn Colvin. Her songs are characterized by an unselfconscious optimism, a love of language and a fascination with the workings of the human heart. Among her major influences she is quick to mention Mary Oliver and Garrison Keillor. Hutchinson is currently living in Boston and completed her fourth album "The Crossing" with producer Crit Harmon in 2004. See www.meghutchinson.com.
Crossroads Coffeehouse is located at North Parish Unitarian Universalist Church, 190 Academy Road, North Andover. Doors open at 7:15, concert starts at 8:00, tickets are $18. For information, call 978-687-3960 (978-687-7948 evening of the concert) or visit www.crossroads-coffeehouse.org.
