Home
Minister
Young Church
Music
Governance
Calendar
This Week
That's a lot of new members - May 7, 2006
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
Mothers' Day
Rev. Harold Babcock
"Motherhood (and Peace?)"
May has been designated "Peace, Diversity, and Tolerance Month" here in Newburyport. Mother's Day as we know it originated in 1872 as a day to celebrate both motherhood and peace. It had a political intent. Unitarian Julia Ward Howe (also author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic") wrote the original proclamation, which is included in our hymnbook as a responsive reading. Perhaps it is time for Mother's Day to return to its origins.
Flowers: The flowers for this morning's service are donated by the Blagg and Staples family in loving memory of Deb's mother, Norma McGrath Blagg.
Steeple: The steeple lighting for this week has been donated by Polly Tesar in memory of Bob Tesar, from his family.
Ushers: Lance Wisniewski and Donna Johnson.
Coffee Hour Hosts: FRS Teens Mentoring Program in support of DARE Family Services.
Young Church Sunday
"Our Beloved Community"
Come celebrate our FRS community with special readings by our children and youth, recognition of our graduating high school seniors and eighth graders, and congregational singing. The Teen and Young Church Choirs will both sing. See you there!
Flowers: The flowers for this morning's service are donated by Barbara Eldridge in loving memory of Arthur and Ruth Roche by their daughters, Linda, Buffy and Barbara.
Steeple: The steeple lighting for this week has been donated by Jessica Brown and Brent Mitchell.
Ushers: Jennifer Day and Marc Cendron.
Coffee Hour Hosts: Marilyn & David Archibald.
FRS Current Events Forum: 9:30 in Lower Meetinghouse Conference Room. Topic-Energy Costs and Conservation.
Our last Sunday of the year is May 21, Young Church Sunday. Both the Young Church Choir and the Teen Choir will be participating in this service. Each of the groups will be singing two anthems. On September 10, we will resume rehearsals for the upcoming year.
Best wishes to all for a safe and happy summer.
The Candlelight Choir - that could include you! - will sing the Te Deum, a ten-minute work that is not too hard but not too easy. The program will conclude with the combined choirs singing the ethereal "Ave Verum Corpus." A fee of $10 will be charged to all adults who sing to help pay for the orchestra.
Rehearsals will be on Thursdays in the Choir Room from 8:30 - 9:30 starting May 11. The final rehearsal with orchestra will be on Saturday morning, June 10.
RSVP to fburmeister@hotmail.com if you are planning to sing so that I will have enough music ready. Hope to see you!
from the FRS Finance Committee |
|
 |
Thanks to the generosity of 270 members and friends of the First Religious Society, and the hard work of over 60 canvassers, we exceeded our canvass goal for the number of pledges and came within $4,000 of the goal for dollars. This means that we will meet our Fair Compensation commitments to all Church Staff. It also means that, for the first time in three years, the programs of the Church will be fully funded. There is a lot of good news in this result, not least of which is that we received pledges from 50 people who had never pledged before! |
| It's not too late to be a part of this success. If we get just $3,000 more in pledges we will be able to submit a completely balanced budget to Annual Meeting. If you would like to make a pledge, give John Mercer a call at (978) 465 0602, x404. Thanks to all who have pledged and to the canvassers! |
|
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 the 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.
Half of the FRS's loose plate offering on April 30 was donated to this project.
from the FRS Music Committee
The Music Committee will be holding a yard sale on May 28 and 29 in front of the church. Donations gratefully accepted starting on Wednesday, May 24. They may be dropped off at the church office between 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Other arrangements may be made by contacting Cori Thurlow.
Wednesday, May 10 at 12:15 p.m.
at Giuseppe's, 257 Low Street, Newburyport
from the FRS Hospitality Committee
Why wait for someone's birthday? We say, eat dessert when you get the chance! Join us on Friday evening, June 16, 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. for the first (annual?) Ice Cream n' Cake-a-palooza. We'll be serving homemade cakes of all kinds, brownie sundaes, and root beer floats. Location, Parish Hall, cost, $6.00 for adults, $5 for kids. We're also looking for help and donations for this fun event, so look for your friendly Hospitality Committee members taking names starting in mid-May during coffee hour . . . or write to Marilyn Archibald at archie4618@aol.com.
Wednesday, May 31
6:30 p.m. - FRS Potluck Dinner - Lower Parish Hall
7:30 p.m. - FRS Annual Meeting - Upper Parish Hall
From the FRS Bylaws, as amended May 25, 2005:
ARTICLE IV - Meetings Section 1. The Annual Meeting of the Society shall be held between May 15 and May 31. The day shall be set each year by the Parish Committee with at least sixty (60) days notice to members.
Section 2. Special meetings of the Society may be called by the Parish Committee and shall be called by them upon the written request of ten voting members of the Society.
Section 3. All meetings shall be warned by the Clerk of the Society, or such member of the Society as the Parish Committee may name, by causing a true copy of the warrant to be posted in the church 8 days at least, including 2 Sundays, before the day of holding the meeting. The business to be transacted at any meeting of the Society shall be specified in the warrant for that meeting.
Section 4. Ten percent (10%) of the membership, and no less than 30 members, shall constitute a quorum with the following exceptions: for the annual meeting, or at any other duly constituted meeting to conduct business regarding contracts with the minister, or to approve expenditures in excess of $25,000, twenty percent (20%), and no less than 50 voting members, shall constitute a quorum.
Section 5. All meetings shall be conducted in accordance with Robert's Rules of Order, and voting by proxy shall not be permitted at any meeting of the Society.
from the FRS Adult Education Committee
Emerson Country Tour: On Saturday, May 27 (rain date June 3), Harold Babcock will lead his annual Emerson Country Tour. You will walk in the footsteps of famous Unitarians and Universalists at Harvard Divinity Hall Chapel where Emerson made his famous address. You will stroll in the beautiful Mt. Auburn Cemetery seeing the graves of John Murray, William Ellery Channing, Dorothea Dix and other famous people. You'll visit Walden Pond where Thoreau wrote his memorable text. And finally, in Concord you will visit the Old Manse, where Emerson grew up, and the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, where he is buried along with Thoreau and the Alcott Family. Bring a lunch, wear comfortable shoes, and carpool with your church friends. Deadline to register is May 19. Call the church office at 465 0602 to register.
For more information about what it's like, speak to someone who has been there: Russell and Rochelle Perry-Platine, John Mercer, Peg Nicol, Michael Fosburg and Pat Skibbee, Barbara Owen, Jessica Brown, Josie Seymour, KC and Steve Swallow, Max Russell, Russ Meade, Sabrina Babcock, or Harold Babcock. Or talk to one of our youth travelers: Brody Pagel, Josh Babcock, Steph Steeves, Sam Steeves, John Speck, Danielle Gorski, Mackenzie Mathieu-Busher, Justin Turner, Anna Nicol, or Jenny Nicol.
Costs will include round trip airfare to Budapest, returning via Bucharest; train fare (very inexpensive: under $75.00 from Budapest, even less to Bucharest), hotel for three or four nights (still very reasonable, but getting more expensive as Hungary has entered the EU), meals, a small per diem for your host family, gifts and mementos, and miscellaneous. Romania is still extremely inexpensive to visit. The earlier we can make plans, the better our odds of getting reasonable flights and good hotel reservations!
an invitation from the Andover UU Church
An evening with Ann Jones, author, traveler, journalist, photographer
Ms. Jones will read from, discuss and sign copies of her new book Kabul in Winter: Life Without Peace in Afghanistan, on Wednesday, May 17th at 7:00 p.m., at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 6 Locke Street, Andover. This event is free and open to the public. Even if you haven't read The Kite Runner or The Bookseller of Kabul, you'll be interested in hearing about life in Kabul since 9/11, as observed by Ms. Jones as a humanitarian aid volunteer over the past four winters.
PROCLAMATION
Whereas intolerance and discrimination, including all forms of bigotry are diametrically opposed to the tenets upon which our great nation has been founded, the laws under which we live and the tradition of equality we cherish; and, whereas the United States is a beacon of equal justice for all in a world on the brink of human rights calamities in which countries find themselves torn asunder by hate, fueled by racial, sexual and religious differences; and, whereas these conditions are unacceptable in our country, we must take responsibility, individuality and collectively to insure that such degradation does not surface in our community and that all organizations, civil and governmental, take measures to promote a sense of welcome, inclusion and words to all. That our youngsters, in particular, both in school and in their homes are taught to respect the value of diversity; and, whereas the City of Newburyport has established the Commission for Diversity and Tolerance to mobilize key leadership segments in our community to creatively address issues that will help promote a recognition and respect of one human being for another. NOW THEREFORE, be it proclaimed that the City of Newburyport declares the month of May as Peace, Diversity and Tolerance Month. Be it further proclaimed that the City of Newburyport shall, from this time forward, maintain a zero-tolerance for hate crimes and other activities that may hurt, harass or violate the civil rights of others. John F. Moak, Mayor
Two events at the FRS on are related to this proclamation: the Teen Gay/Straight Alliance Dance Party on May 12 and the play Hearing Voices presented by the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill on Saturday, May 20, at 7:30 p.m.
