ANNOUNCEMENTS

Issued Tuesday, August 24, 2010.  To start or stop receiving announcement e-mails, send your request to weekly@firstparish.info.

Weekly Announcements go out every Thursday evening.  Deadline for submissions is 9am Wednesday.

For longer articles that are not for upcoming events, send your material to spire@firstparish.info.  The Spire is issued monthly.

First Parish Mission Statement

We choose to be a liberal religious community, welcoming to all.
We encourage each other on our spiritual journeys,
support one another through the changes in our lives
and challenge the excesses and injustices of our time.
Called to love and upheld by joy, we live our faith.

Adopted March 28, 2010

• Upcoming Services
• Public Calendar That Shows Every Church Event

• Church Events
• • Aug 30, Mon, 7:30 pm:  Monthly Prayer Circle
  • Sep 1, Wed, 7:15-8:30 pm:  Women's Ritual and Discussion Group
  • Sep 7, Tue, 7:00 pm (sunset at 7:09)  The Night Before Rosh Hashanah
  • Sep 16, Tue, 7:00 pm (sunset at 6:54)  The Night Before the Second Shabbat
  • Oct 15-17, Fri-Sun:  Ferry Beach Weekend

• Community Events
• • Tue, Wed, & Thr, 9 to noon; Fri, Sat, & Sun, 1 to 4:  Raspberry Picking at Wright-Locke Farm
  • Aug 29, Thr, 7:30 pm:  Bill McKibben Speaks at Cary Hall About His New Book, Eaarth

• New Church Announcements
• • What Did You Do on Your Summer Vacation?!?
  • From the Assistant Treasurer
  • New Summer Office and Communication Schedules
  • The Giving First June-July Recipient
  • The Green Sanctuary Group Invites You

• Ongoing Church Announcements
• • Religious Education News
  • Ferry Beach, October 15-17
  • Calling All Musicians!
  • Fall Music Rehearsals
  • First Parish 2015 - Bigger Or Constrained By Infrastructure?
  • Calling First Parish Artists
  • Be a STAR (facilitator), share your passion with us!
  • Rescheduled All-Church Talent Show 2010
  • Compassionate Communication Group
  • New Social Justice Working Groups
  • Stitching and Crafting Group
  • Green Sanctuary Group Recommended Books
  • Food Pantry
  • Spire Writers Group
  • Meditation Group
  • Arlington Workers in Transition

Childcare for infants and toddlers available during Sunday morning worship.

Sunday Morning Summer Services at 10 am

We have a wonderful series of services led by lay people this summer, with music and personal reflections and services intended to help us both look within and learn about the larger world.  Please come join us as we continue to worship and share our lives through the summer months.

Child care will be provided during all services.  For the sake of simplicity and keeping the building cool, we will be serving only cold beverages after the service.

August 22:  Tom Hogan with the Meditation Group,
“The Meditation Path: Gateway to Self-Knowing and Transformation”

A sustained meditation practice leads to greater self-knowing, discovery of where one is suffering, and incremental transformation as that suffering is abandoned.  In our service, we will explore this process through readings, hymns, guided meditation, and testimony from experienced meditators.  We are fortunate also to have our own woodwind quintet providing music that enhances the meditative experience.

August 22:  Tom Hogan with the Meditation Group,
“The Meditation Path: Gateway to Self-Knowing and Transformation”

A sustained meditation practice leads to greater self-knowing, discovery of where one is suffering, and incremental transformation as that suffering is abandoned.  In our service, we will explore this process through readings, hymns, guided meditation, and testimony from experienced meditators.  We are fortunate also to have our own woodwind quintet providing music that enhances the meditative experience.

August 29:  Linda Malik with the Compassionate Communication Group,
“Don’t Be Nice, Be Vulnerable:  Communication that Connects”

Have you ever been afraid to state your needs?  Why do you think that is?  What would your world look like if you were able to honor your own needs as well as those of others?

September 5:  John Hodges and Dick King, “Spiritual Evolution”

In Spiritual Evolution:  A Scientific Defense of Faith, George Vaillant, a doctor, proposes that spirituality’s physical foundation is positive emotions centered in our brains’ limbic systems, which we share with other mammals, as well as the neocortex, a structure unique to us.  Do faith, love, hope, joy, forgiveness, compassion, awe, and mystical illumination add up to spirituality?  Have our brains evolved as these qualities are preferentially selected to survive and intensify over generations?  Can we observe an increase in these emotions through our lives, blossoming as our brains fully mature?

September 12:  Jonah: A Lesson for All Ages
A welcome back worship service for all!

We will kick off the new church year with an intergenerational service geared toward all ages.

Rev. Marta Flanagan will offer a brief homily, Tina Schulz, Director of Religious Education will offer a extravagant tale, and Laura Prichard, Music Director will offer music for opening Sunday.

Everyone is invited to bring water from a treasured place to contribute to a silent blessing of the common water.

All summer services are listed here.

Audio Recordings of the Sunday Sermon are available at Sunday Sermons.  You will need to login to hear the sermon.  While you are on the audio recording page, click on the sermon that you would like to hear.  Please note, the service has to download before it begins playing; this can take 1 - 3 minutes.

Upcoming STAR Programs:  Spirit, Transformation, Adventure, Reflection

The purpose of STAR Programs is to support and enrich spiritual growth in the First Parish community.

Pre-registering helps our planners and facilitators, so please sign up for programs you intend to attend.  To register, contact the church office at churchoffice@firstparish.info or 781-648-3799 x. 10.  Some programs have a fee.  If this fee (or any other detail) presents an obstacle, please talk with Marta (marta@firstparish.info).  STAR programs are open to all, and we want to know about anything that makes attending difficult.

Other questions?  A program you would like to propose?  Please contact Bonnie Zimmer, the coordinator of the Adult Programming Working Group, at bonnie.zimmer@gmail.com. 

Tuesday, September 7 at 7:00 pm (sun set is at 7:09)  The Night Before Rosh Hashanah

Thursday, September 16 at 7:00 (sun set is at 6:54)  The Night Before the Second Shabbat

In the Parlor of First Parish

The Jewish New Year encompasses ten days of personal reflection and review.  It is a time of both taking stock and renewing one’s commitments.  This year the Jewish High Holy Days begin with Rosh Hashanah at sundown on Wednesday, September 8 and end with Yom Kippur on Saturday, September 18.  Rev. Marta Flanagan and First Parish member Bonnie Zimmer are facilitating a gathering for those who would like to reflect on both the meaning of the High Holy Days and the promises which shape our lives.  The gathering will involve personal sharing and contemplation.  Those familiar and unfamiliar with Jewish practice are welcome to participate.  Please email the churchoffice@firstparish.info to RSVP so we know how many chairs to include in our circle.

Monday, August 30, 7:30 pm in the Damon Room:  Monthly Prayer Circle

The Monthly Prayer Circle will meet on Monday, August 30 at 7:30 pm in the Damon Room.  The Prayer Circle offers a time for silence and reflection, prayer, candles, and sharing of co00ncerns and hopes with others.  Everyone is welcome.  For additional information, please contact Holly Loring at hmuse23@yahoo.com.

First Wednesday, 7:15-8:30 pm:  SOUL - Sharing Our Unique Lives - Women's Ritual and Discussion Group - Registration required

The Women's Ritual and Discussion Group resumes September 1.  If you are a woman who wants a place to explore woman-centered ritual and feminist spirituality, please join us!

This is not a drop-in group.  Registration is required and we request a six-month commitment once you have attended a meeting and decide you'd like to continue with us.  The group meets at the church on the first Wednesday evening of each month.  For more information and/or to register, please contact Nan Owens at NanandSue@aol.com or at 617-776-2503.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 9 am to noon;  Friday, Saturday, Sunday, 1 to 4 pm
Raspberry Picking at Wright-Locke Farm

Calling all berry lovers!  The raspberries are ripening quickly at the Wright-Locke Farm Conservancy in Winchester, near the Arlington town line.  Come and pick, then volunteer to help at the sales table for either a full or half shift.  Hours are 9 am to noon Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday; 1 to 4 pm Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Closed Monday.  Rain may cancel.  Call 721-7128 if in doubt.

Berries are $5 per pint for the first two pints, $4 per pint after that.  Volunteers earn a free pint for each shift.  Information:  wlfarm.org.  map

August 29th, Thursday, 7:30pm:  Bill McKibben Speaks About His New Book, Eaarth

You can hear Bill McKibben speak in person about his new book, 'Eaarth'.  In this Green-Sanctuary group recommended book, he says our hope depends on building the kind of societies that can concentrate on essentials.  This book is being sold by the Green Sanctuary group at Sunday coffee hours.

Cary Hall, Lexington, MA (map).  Free Admission.  August 29, 7:30pm.

You can read now about Bill McKibben's post, We’re Hot as Hell and We’re Not Going to Take It Any More and listen to an interview with him on the August 8th Speaking of Faith about The Moral Math of Climate Change (mp3, 51 min).

Religious Education News

What happens with the children who attend worship services with their families for the summer?

In accordance with our safe congregations policy, two teen-aged childcare providers will be at church, in the Parlor, each Sunday morning to care for children who attend worship with their families.  The group will listen to stories, engage in art projects and, in good weather, the children will play in the enclosed playground adjacent to the church building.  Goldfish and apple juice will be provided as a snack.  Parents are asked to sign in their children every week with the childcare providers, and may be needed to volunteer to help, depending on the number of children attending.

Youth Group:  Have a great summer!  See you in September!

What Did You Do on Your Summer Vacation?!?

Nights are cooler and vacations are winding up.  With Labor Day on the horizon, the staff of the Spire would like to get folks thinking about sending in essays, reflections, and other pieces for publication in our upcoming September edition of the Spire, which will be distributed at the Sept. 12 Ingathering church service.  New to First Parish?  We want your reflections too!

The deadline for this issue is Thursday, Sept. 2.  Please send your submissions to spire@firstparish.info.

From the Assistant Treasurer

Statements for pledges for the past fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2010 were recently mailed.  If you didn't receive one your 2009-2010 pledge is paid up.  In October the first quarter statements for this fiscal year (July 1,2010 - June 30, 2011) pledges will be mailed.

These are the first statements from the new database and I am still experimenting to get things understandable for all.  I was not able to show the amount still due by subtracting what has been paid between July 1, 2010 and Aug 2, 2010 so you will have to do your own arithmetic.  Maybe I will have it figured out next time.  If you have questions, please contact me at assistanttreasurer@firstparish.info.

Thank you all for your support of First Parish.

Regards,

Jean Nagle, Assistant Treasurer

New Summer Office and Communication Schedules

The church office hours that began Monday, August 16, are:

• Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday 10 am to 4 pm,
• Tuesday 1 pm to 7 pm,

Publications for the summer:

• The weekly email announcements will continue through the summer.
• The printed Sunday bulletin announcements will resume on September 12.

Joan Dyer, Office Manager

Giving First¹ Recipient for September

The Sabre Foundation has been our Giving First Recipient for August.  Beginning Sunday, September 4, 2010, The Center for Teen Empowerment is our Giving First Recipient.

The Center for Teen Empowerment

Teen Empowerment (TE) provides good jobs and invaluable job skills and leadership training to at-risk youth ages 14-21.  In turn, these youth provide resources to their communities in the form of initiatives that they organize to bring people together.  Over the past 18 years, Teen Empowerment has hired and trained more than 1,100 urban youth for these leadership roles.  TE currently has 4 program sites--in Roxbury, Dorchester, Somerville, and in Rochester, NY.

The mission of TE youth leaders is to create movements that turn their peers away from gangs, violence, and drugs, and toward constructive community-building.  They accomplish their mission through organizing conferences, police-youth dialogues, conflict resolution sessions, shows, and community meetings, celebrations, and ceremonies.  Through over 150 initiatives involving 6,000 youth and adults per year, TE youth leaders use the skills they have acquired to facilitate meetings, give speeches, and create original music, theater, poetry, and rap.  Through these vehicles, they communicate to other youth that their interests lie in acting in responsible ways that can lead to a promising future.  TE youth also work to resolve conflicts between rival groups of youth and to build positive relationships between youth and police and youth and community residents of all ages, races, and class backgrounds.

In addition, TE has developed tools for use by other service providers, including:

• Moving Beyond Icebreakers, a practical guide to interactive group facilitation, based on TE's years of experience in bringing out authentic youth voice, and
• Voices From Behind the Wall, a DVD and curriculum package in which 9 inmates speak honestly to youth about their backgrounds, their lives now, and their regrets about past behaviors.

To learn more, see TeenEmpowerment.org.

¹Giving First is a Social Justice program at First Parish, where 50% of our non-pledge Sunday morning offerings is given to a different charity each month.

The Green Sanctuary Group Invites You

1) Pakistan floods worsen; more than 17 million people affected.

The Pakistan floods are climate change on steroids.  As of August 23, the Pakistani government estimates that 17.2 million people are affected by the floods — more than the Haiti earthquake, the 2005 South Asia earthquake, and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami combined.

Click here to see maps of the Pakistani floods overlaid onto the United States.

Please help us help the people of Pakistan recover from this unfathomable disaster — give to the UUSC-UUA Joint Pakistan Flood Relief Fund.

2) Help us find a house to air-seal

The Green Sanctuary Group is looking for houses that can be weatherized by Arlington Home Energy Efficiency Teams on or near Oct 10th. 

A-HEET is an all-volunteer organization that weatherizes (air-seals), for free, homes in Arlington, MA.  In about five hours, a team of 30-40 volunteers and trained leaders go into a home to make it more efficient by sealing all gaps with materials you can purchase in most home stores.  The last two homes sealed reduced air flow by 30% and 29%, respectively.  That represents a huge financial savings for the homeowners and increase in comfort.

We need to find a house before Sept. 10.  You can e-mail gogreen@firstparish.info.

3) McKibben comes to Lexington on Sunday, August 29

On the evening of August 29 Bill McKibben will talk about his new book, Earth:  Making a Life on a Tough New Planet.

In his book, McKibben calls for communities to act together in ways that best work for their own circumstances and to support small farms, as one of the many ways of adapting to life on our changed planet.

The Green Sanctuary Group is selling this book Sundays at coffee hour.

Please plan to bring your friends and family to hear McKibben talk at Lexington's Cary Hall on Sunday, August 29, 7:30pm.  Details are here.  A carpool meets at First Parish at 5:15 to go to nourish restaurant and then hear Bill.

More from locally raised Bill McKibben:

• "We’re Hot as Hell and We’re Not Going to Take It Any More", and
• Interview on the August 8th Speaking of Faith about The Moral Math of Climate Change (mp3, 51 min.)

Bill gives fascinating, easy-to-listen-to interviews about the great experiment that we have started with our planet.  He will be speaking in Lexington on August 29th about his new book, Eaarth.  You can buy a copy at cost at coffee hour.

Click here to see books recommended and sold at cost by the Green Sanctuary Group.

Ferry Beach, October 15-17! 

Mark your calendars!  The First Parish annual Ferry Beach Weekend is coming!

Look for more details in the coming weeks.  This once-a-year not-to-be-missed weekend is open to all church members -- families, couples, and singles.

There is no better way to spend an October weekend than on the Maine Coast with old and new friends from First Parish.

All are welcome, no matter how new or old you are at First Parish.  The weekend includes two nights' lodging and five delicious buffet meals (three on Saturday, two on Sunday).  Activities include:  polar bear swims, nature walks, the annual Talent/No Talent Show, a scavenger hunt, bonfire with s'mores, yoga, quilting, game playing, chapel in the woods, and lots more.  For more information, please see the Ferry Beach website ferrybeach.org.  You can also see pictures of previous First Parish trips to Ferry Beach here.

Details to come.  But for now, save the date!

Calling All Musicians!

Five members of our Adult Choir have moved away over the summer, so we need new voices in all parts of the choir.  Also, many of the older boys in the Chalice Singers have now graduated up to the high school Youth Group, so we need student musicians as well.  Advanced middle and high school students may audition to sing with the Adult Choir.  Contact Laura Prichard, Music Director (laura@prichard.net) for more information. 

Fall Music Rehearsals

Our Fall season starts up right after Labor Day, so mark your calendars:

Adult Choir - first Fall rehearsal is Thursday, September 9, 8-9:30pm

Chalice Singers (grades 2-8) - first Fall rehearsal is Thursday, September 9, 5:30-7pm (followed by pizza/potluck)

Chalice Sparks (ages 4-7) - first Fall rehearsal is Sunday, September 26, 11:45-12:15pm

First Parish 2015 - Bigger Or Constrained By Infrastructure?

We are a growing congregation in so many ways:

• We fill the sanctuary on Sundays, and overflow the sanctuary on holidays.
• The religious education program is bursting at the seams!
• The very dynamic Youth Group has 40+ members (rock on!)
• Adult Education continues to expand demanding more small meeting spaces in the evenings.
• “Coffee Hour” has become a bit overwhelming in the Vestry.
• (Just to name a few)

What Do We Need to Support This Growth?  How Much Do We Want to Grow?

To Answer These Questions, We Need to Begin Planning Now!

Be part of the answer … stay tuned for opportunities to discuss, give feedback, and brainstorm in the coming months as we think about how to make our buildings accommodate our current growth and any future growth we decide to encourage.  The Parish Committee has asked a group of us to explore our future building needs and the possibility of a major capital campaign, and we are excited to serve.  Please feel free to connect with us at coffee hour or send us email.  The Capital Campaign Exploratory Taskforce consists of the following members:

Calling All First Parish Artists

Do you weave, paint, photograph, sculpt, throw pots, or ...  Use some of your summertime to get ready for the 2010 Fall First Parish Group art show, planned for an opening on September 19 and running through October.  As in previous years, all "flat works" will be displayed in the parlor near the offices, and three dimensional pieces such as pottery or small sculpture will be displayed in the glass wall case in the narthex/foyer.  Having art in two different areas is exciting, and will bring more attention to the artworks--cross fertilization, as it were!

We hope to include lots of folks from the church, so we encourage you to think moderately in terms of size, as our display space is finite.  Please submit one or two pieces, but depending on the number of submissions, we may end up only with room for your favorite piece.  We'll have more info for you in August.  Happy summer!

Be a STAR (facilitator), share your passion with us!

Over the summer, the STAR adult RE programs group will be reviewing proposals for next year's adult religious education programming.  All STAR programs further our spiritual development, help us grow in community, or deepen our commitment to the principles of Unitarian Universalism.  So far, we have proposals for theater excursions and discussions, programs on Diversity and Inclusion at First Parish, Partner Church in Transylvania, Compassionate Communication, Meditation, Science and Spirituality, Green Sanctuary.  We will also offer an Art Extravaganza that is not to be missed.  Join the fun and submit a proposal this summer.  Facilitate a program this fall, or later next spring!  Imagine the possibilities.  What might you make happen next year?  STAR will help with conceptualizing your program, marketing and technical support.  You can be a STAR (facilitator) too!

Rescheduled All-Church Talent Show 2010

You haven't lost your chance to shine under the spotlight at First Parish.  And now we have a theme:  Halloween! On Sunday, Oct. 31, 2010, starting at 1:00 p.m., the music committee will host this year’s talent revue.  It’s not just about music any more.  If you sing, play, compose, could give a dramatic reading of your poetry, or have some unique performance talent you’d like to share, please contact Dorothy May (doromay@comcast.net) or Jean Ward (jrward@alum.mit.edu).  Acts should be approximately three minutes in length, not to exceed five minutes.  (Please, no live animal acts.)  All proceeds go for the First Parish Instrument Fund.  Let your talent shine at this great community event!  And if you don't perform, then come see what your fellow parishoners do when they know they have an audience!

Compassionate Communication Group

Improving communication requires a surprising amount of skill and practice.  The aim of the Compassionate Communication group is to train ourselves to communicate more empathetically and to strengthen relationships in our personal, family, church, and professional lives.

The principles of the group are based on the work of Marshall Rosenberg in his textbook, Non-Violent Communication, and on disciple Bonnie Fraser's book, Connection:  A Self-Care Approach to Conflict Management.  The methodology owes much to the principles of non-violence, conflict-resolution, negotiation, and meditation.  Each meeting, we discuss reading assignments, engage in communication exercises, and share examples from our everyday experience.

The Compassionate Communication group meets on Mondays, from 7:00-9:00 pm, in the Pierce Room.  The Compassionate Communication group is divided into two groups to facilitate more intimate communication:

• The original group, The Old Ten, meets on the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month.
• The second group, the Giraffes (playfully nicknamed after the land animal with the biggest heart), meets on the 2nd and 4th Monday of each month and is open to new members.

For more information or to join, contact coordinator Carolyn Stevens via e-mail at communicationsgroup@firstparish.info, or P.J. Gardner by phone at 646.6849.

New Social Justice Working Groups

The Social Justice Committee is pleased to announce our two newest working groups:  Walking in Arlington, led by Rachael Stark, and Boston Area Gleaners, including Oakes Plympton and Laurie ("Duck") Caldwell.  Stop by the Social Justice table this Sunday to learn more.

Stitching and Crafting Group

The fair is coming!  November isn't that far away, so most Tuesdays from 10-2 until November a group will meet to sew, knit, crochet, and craft in the Pierce room.  Your ideas are welcome!  Please drop in between 10-2, bring a bag lunch if you want to.  Contact Phyllis Spence for further information, or e-mail Jean Nagle at jsnagle@comcast.net. 

Green Sanctuary Group Recommended Books

The Green Sanctuary Group has books that it is recommending on display at the Social Justice table on Sundays.  The Group is selling them at cost from our local book store, and you can ask to borrow the book instead of buying it.  Al Gore's newest book, Our Choice, was used for a spring book study group sponsored by the Green Sanctuary Group.  The latest books added to the table are Diet for a Hot Planet:  The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do about It by Anna Lappé, Straight Up by Joe Romm, who takes on the oil and coal companies, the skeptics, and the press, and Eaarth by Bill McKibben, who says our hope depends building the kind of societies that can concentrate on essentials.  Bill McKibben will talk about Eaarth in Lexington this August.

There are also Food Rules:  An Eater’s Manual by Michael Pollan, 64 short rules that reinforce his food manifesto:  "Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plant.", Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, 18th on the New York Times Nonfiction Best Seller List in January, The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell that concluded "People who ate the most animal-based foods got the most chronic disease," and the substantially revised bible of climate change Plan B 4.0 by Lester Brown that we studed two years ago.

We are looking for members to help make the church and our lives more in keeping with good environmental practices.  We look forward to talking with you.

Food Pantry

Collection baskets are located at the front and office doors.

Monetary donations can be sent to:  The Arlington Food Pantry, Department of Human Services; 670R Mass Ave., Arlington, MA 02476

Contact Jean Nagle for questions.

Second and Fourth Sunday, 12:30pm to 2:30pm:  Spire Writers Group

For people who want to develop their writing in the company of other writers--meets on the second and fourth Sunday of each month, throughout the summer, from 12:00 to 2:00 P.M., in the Parlor.

Bring writings if you like or just come and join in.  No matter what your experience or writing style … all are welcome!

For more information, contact Judy Young at spirewriters@gmail.com or P.J. Gardner at 646-6849.

First Parish Meditation Group

Please join us in the First Parish Meditation Group.  We hold drop-in groups Mondays, gather at 6pm and start at 6:15 (in the Damon room) and Sundays, gather at 9am and start at 9:10 (next door at the Senior Center at Maple and Academy St)  We sit for 35 minutes in the style of Vipassana (Insight) Buddhist meditation, and beginners are welcome.  By focusing on mind/body sensations in meditation, it is possible to become more mindful in daily life.   ALSO – 2 ongoing discussion groups meet one Sunday night each month.  A waiting list is now forming to join a group.  For more information, contact Lynn Rosenbaum or e-mail meditation@firstparish.info

Arlington Workers in Transition

Arlington Workers in Transition is an ongoing group for anyone interested in help with networking and coaching through their job search activities.  We meet Tuesdays, 10am-noon, in the 4th floor conference room at Robbins Library next door to the church.  Questions?  Contact Stewart Jester at 643-6123 or dstewartjester@aol.com. 

First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington
630 Massachuetts Avenue, Arlington, MA 02476
Parish Office Phone:  781–648–3799
Website:  firstparish.info
e–mail:  churchoffice@firstparish.info

Office Hours

The deadline to submit items for next week's announcements e-mail is Wednesday at 9 am.  Office Hours:  Monday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday 10am to 4pm, Tuesday 1pm to 7pm.  Other times by appointment.

Requests for verbal announcements in the following Sunday's worship are due each week by noon on Wednesday.

Joan Dyer, Office Manager

 

Are you new?

If you are new to First Parish, we are glad you joined us this morning.  You are invited to join us for fellowship and friendship time following the service.  Representatives from the Membership Committee staff our Information Table located in the Vestry.  Please stop by so that we may better welcome you and answer any questions you may have.  Fill out a salmon–colored Newcomer Information sheet so you may receive a copy of our newsletter the Spire and other communications.  Newcomer Information Sheets are located both at the Information Table and in the back of the Sanctuary.

Membership

You are welcome to become a member of First Parish by signing the Membership Book in the presence of one of the ministers or the Parish Clerk.  First Parish has designated the last Sunday of the month as Membership Signing Sunday.  The signing of the membership book takes place in the foyer.  Becoming a member at First Parish means that you have found a spiritual home here and are ready to commit yourself to membership by offering your support through regular and sustained gifts of your time, energy and money as you are able.  Check our announcements for the most up–to–date schedule of Signing Sunday.

Parents of Small Children

Parents of babies and toddlers who have difficulty remaining quiet during the service:  please make use of our Nursery or listen to the service broadcast in the Vestry adjoining the main entrance.  The ushers can direct you to the appropriate location.

Nursery & Sunday School

Our Nursery is open from 10am to 11:30am for babies and toddlers up to age 3.  Sunday School for Pre–K through Grade 7 goes to 11:30am.  Children through Grade 3 should be picked up at that time.  Grades 4 and up will be dismissed for Coffee/Friendship hour.  High School youth and Grade 8 meet Sunday evenings from 7–8:30pm

This is a Welcoming Congregation
warmly and openly welcoming to gay, lesbian, bisexual & transgender people.

630 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington, MA 02476 | 781-648-3799 | Contact Us