FPConnectionBoard is an email list that gives Arlington First Parish parishioners an opportunity to meet new friends with similar interests and to give and receive help.

  • Do you want to CONNECT with people at First Parish who share similar interests? (e.g. book group, tennis partner, borrow camping equipment)
  • Do you need HELP with a “small need”? (e.g. take out an air conditioner, ride when your car is in the shop)
  • Do you have unneeded items you’d rather OFFER than throw away?(e.g. furniture, sporting equipment, crutches)

Guidelines

  • This is not a discussion group.
  • In general, announcements are not permitted. However, at the beginning of covid, it was decided to allow announcements relating to First Parish events.
  • Political messages and sponsorships are not permitted.
  • Posts offering items must be for FREE items.  However, posts offering to pay for services received (e.g. dog sitter, snow shoveling) ARE permitted.
  • Posts asking for recommendations (babysitter, painter, vacation info) are permitted.
  • This is not a way to initiate a Lay Ministry request. For Lay Ministry requests, please email layministry@firstparish.info
  • Reply to the original poster only, not the entire group.
  • If want to receive less email, consider changing your email delivery preference to the daily digest. (See below for details on how to do this.)
  • Members who do not follow these guidelines will have their posts moderated.

How to Join

Those signed up for the First Parish e-Bulletin are eligible to join. You do not need a Google account, however if your email address is connected to a Google account, you may view this list on the Web as well as through regular email.

There are two ways to join the group:
  • If you have a Google account, you can request to join directly through Google Groups. To begin, go here (https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/fpconnectionboard) to join. You will be asked to identify something that is done at every First Parish worship service, so that only members of our community can join this group. Within a couple days, a moderator will approve your request.
  • Alternatively, you may join the group by emailing the moderators at fpconnectionboard-admin@firstparish.info.

After joining, to send an email to the group, simply send an email to fpConnectionBoard@googlegroups.com. Please note: when posting to the connection board, many people have commented that they don’t receive back a copy of their own email.  If you have a google account, you can view the group’s messages on the Web at https://groups.google.com/d/forum/fpconnectionboard.

I want to be a member of the connection board, but there’s too much email. What can I do?

Google groups provides functionality so that you can configure how often you receive emails. “Daily Digest” refers to google groups functionality of sending you one email daily, containing a summary of all email messages sent to the Connection Board for the day.

If you’d like to do this: here’s a 2-minute video showing you how: https://youtu.be/D9ruYBpk7xs .
You’ll begin by going to FP Connection Board’s web page: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/fpconnectionboard

One piece to note: I ~believe~ that you can only set this for yourself if you have a google account. If you don’t have a google account, then email the moderators at fpconnectionboard-admin@firstparish.info to configure this setting for you

Mini FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Thanks to Amy Speare for writing this up.

The key things to ask yourself before you post:  does my post CONNECT people?  ask for HELP? Or OFFER items for free?  Those are the three main principles.  We try to keep the group focused.

Here are some examples of appropriate posts in the “HELP” category:

  • Asking for help is intended for things like help putting in an air conditioner, getting a new TV set up,
  • bugs on a computer,
  • moving furniture,
  • snow shoveling
  • Good neighbor’ types of tasks.

Does looking for volunteers fall under “asking for help”?

  • Looking for volunteers for a community event is fine.  Volunteers for public non-political events are fine.  Asking for volunteers for a political campaign is not allowed.

Are we allowed to advertise events we think would be of interest, for example a nature based Kindergarten program the Middlesex fells is offering or social justice stuff, etc?

  • Looking for a nature buddy for your child would qualify as ‘connecting’.
  • Looking for team mates for the AIDS Walk is also appropriate.
  • Announcements that do not directly connect First Parish congregants with one another are outside of the guidelines.

Questions? Email the moderators at fpconnectionboard-admin@firstparish.info