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Alliance Programs & Gatherings
Save these program dates for 2022-2023!
Fridays: Oct 14, Dec 2, Jan 6, Feb 10, Mar 10, May 12
Alliance Sunday, April 23
All evening programs will be hybrid in the Vestry and on Zoom.
The Zoom link will be sent to the Alliance membership via email. If you are not a member, email us at Alliance@firstparish.info.
2022-2023
Program: MDMA and Psychedelic Assisted Therapy: The Healing Potential of Non-Ordinary States with Angela Winslow & Francis Guerriero
Friday, October 14, 7:30-9:00pm (social time with refreshments before the program begins at 7:00pm)
This talk will cover the history of MDMA as a therapeutic medicine and will focus on the current state of research on the treatment of post traumatic stress disorder. It will include a few case examples and will also briefly touch on the therapeutic potential of other psychedelics such as ketamine, psilocybin, ibogaine and LSD.
Program: The Promise of Efficient Technology with Mara Prentiss
Friday, December 2, 7:30-9:00pm (social time with refreshments before the program begins at 7:00pm)
Professor Mara Prentiss is the Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics at Harvard and a member of First Parish and of the Alliance. She recently published, Energy Revolution: The Physics and the Promise of Efficient Technology and will speak to us of her work.
Sharing Our Abundance – our giving plan discussion
Friday, January 6, 7:30-9:00pm
Sadly, with consideration of COVID issues after the holidays, we will not be able to gather together for our annual chowder supper. But we do urge you to join us on Zoom where there will be a review and discussion of our 3-year Giving Plan. We encourage you to give us your ideas for organizations focused on our mission to support nonprofits providing services to women and families through difficult transitions.
Program: Midwifery in Haiti with Joanne Pohl
Friday, February 10, 7:30-9:00pm (PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS ON ZOOM ONLY)
Program: Indigenous Women and the Struggle for Climate Justice with Mahtowin Munro
Friday, March 10, 7:30-9:00pm (PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS ON ZOOM ONLY)
The speaker for our March 10 meeting is Mahtowin Munro. Mahtowin is the longtime co-leader of United American Indians of New England and a lead organizer for Indigenous Peoples Day efforts in Massachusetts. She is active in ongoing efforts to pass Indigenous-centered legislation at the Massachusetts State House.
Her topic is “Indigenous Women and the Struggle for Climate Justice.” The theft of tribal lands, the violence of resource extraction industries, and the government’s ongoing efforts to tear apart Native families have had a profound impact on Indigenous women. In celebration of Women’s History Month and of the Indigenous women who are at the forefront of struggles in defense of land and water, listen to this powerful speaker explain how these issues are all interconnected.
Speaker: Rev. Ashley Horan
Alliance Sunday Service, April 23, 10:00am (Reception with our speaker will follow the service in the Vestry)
Rev. Ashley Horan is the Organizing Strategy Director of the UUA. Program title and details TBA.
Program: Alliance Annual Meeting and program
Friday, May 12, 7:30-9:00pm (social time with refreshments before the program begins at 7:00pm)
2021-2022 – Programs offered last year:
Program: ARTISTS TALK
Friday, October 1, 7:30-9:00pm
Three artists from the First Parish community share images of their artwork and talk about their backgrounds, creative processes, and how they have balanced art-making with competing roles and responsibilities. What is informing their work today? Audience response and questions are welcome. The participating artists are Patty Crotty (Patricia Crotty), Erica Licea-Kane (Erica Licea-Kane), and Suzanne McLeod (Suzanne McLeod).
Program: What a weird time to give advice: An Evening with Meredith goldstein
Friday, November 5, 7:30-9:00PM
The Boston Globe’s “Love Letters” advice columnist and podcast host will talk about what it’s been like to do her job during a very complicated year. She’ll also explain how one becomes an advice columnist to begin with and about how writing fiction makes her job a lot easier. Join her for a night of questions, answers, confessions, and empathy. Meredith Goldstein is an author and longtime advice columnist at The Boston Globe. Her books include the novels Things That Grow, Chemistry Lessons, and The Singles. Her memoir Can’t Help Myself: Lessons and Confessions from a Modern Advice Columnist is based on her longtime Globe column, “Love Letters,” (also a popular podcast now in its sixth season). Meredith lives in Boston with a carnival-sized cotton candy
Program: An Evening of Literary Sharing
Friday, January 7, 7:30-9:00PM
The anticipated story telling program is postponed until it can be held in person as story tellers benefit from a live audience! In its place will be an Evening of Literary Sharing. We will hear members of our congregation share short stories, poems, or passages of their own or by others. Join First Parish friends, Pamela Powell, Ellen Robertson, and Robin Schoenthaler, along with new friend, Selgai Ata for a wonderful, uplifting evening! In response to the escalating Omicron COVID situation, we will not be gathering to share our traditional January Chowder Supper. Click here for links to recipes for how to prepare fish, corn, or clam chowders (creamy, clear or vegan) and for the website to local Fresh Pond Seafood in Arlington for excellent fish or clam chowder.
Program: Narayan Helen Liebenson Guiding Teacher of the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center
Friday, February 18, 7:30-9:00PM
We will hear from Narayan Helen Liebenson, a guiding teacher at the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center since its inception in 1985 and at the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) in Barre, Massachusetts. Her chosen topic for our evening together is “A Path of One’s Own.” Narayan finds it a joy and a privilege to share the Buddha’s teachings with all who are interested. Narayan’s training includes study in the United States and in Asia with meditation masters in the Theravada, Zen, and Tibetan traditions. She was a student of the late Chan master Sheng Yen for over ten years. In her teaching Narayan integrates her understanding of Zen into her knowledge of vipassana, one of the central meditation teachings practiced and passed on within the Theravada Buddhist tradition. The core of insight meditation is the practice of mindfulness, the quality of awareness that sees without judgment. Narayan is the author and illustrator of a small book titled Life as Meditation, and for many years wrote a meditator’s advice column in Buddhadharma magazine. Her latest book, The Magnanimous Heart, was published by Wisdom Publications in January 2019. Join us as we gain inspiration for meeting all aspects of life with greater openness, willingness to learn, and capacity for mindful living.
Program: Menstruation equity
Friday, March 11, 7:30-9:00PM The March program focuses our attention on a long existing societal inequity that affects women, especially those who are Brown or Black or living in poverty. For many, access to information about menstruation, reproductive health, and sanitary supplies is limited. The topic of menstruation is surrounded by misinformation, stigma, and taboo. Our speaker, Bria Gadsden, Director and Co-founder of Love Your Menses, will share ways we can assist with the work for menstrual equity through community conversations, evidence-based menstrual health education, youth programming, resource connection, and mentorship. The program will begin with the showing of the Netflix film, Period. End of Sentence (2018), the winner of 13 film awards including the 2019 Oscar for best documentary short. The movie documents women in rural India, where the stigma of menstruation persists, strive toward financial independence by manufacturing low-cost sanitary pads. Period. End of Sentence. – The Pad Project Date: Friday, March 11, 2022 Film: 7:30 to 8:00 pm Period. End of Sentence Speaker: 8:00 to 8:30 pm, Bria Gadsden, Promoting Menstrual Equity Through Community, Conversations, and Collaboration Q&A: 8:30 to 9:00 pm Bria Gadsden is a Boston native, social impact strategist, grant writer, author, menstrual equity leader, and co-founder of two social impact nonprofit organizations: Love Your Menses, Inc. and Merrimack Valley Black and Brown Voices, Inc. In addition to nonprofit consulting, Bria dedicates her career to promoting menstrual equity and supporting the reproductive wellness needs of women and girls worldwide. Bria has her M.S. in Community Health Education from Merrimack College and her B.S. in Nutrition from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. At Love Your Menses: “We believe all girls, women, and people who menstruate deserve a safe, brave, and uplifting space to learn about their bodies and have equitable access to the resources they need for their reproductive health and wellness.” Love Your Menses will be an FPUU Giving First recipient in 2022. Our speaker recommends reading local author Anita Diamant’s Period. End of Sentence. Inspired by the documentary, Diamant has written a collection of essays about periods that explore the cultural roots of menstrual injustice, which erodes self-esteem, limits opportunities, and even threatens lives. The book also celebrates a new generation of activists and innovators who are working to end period poverty and stigma. Period. End of Sentence. – Anita Diamant Flowing Through Life, Unapologetically! (Bria Gadsden’s email tag)
Annual Alliance Sunday Service
Urban Naturalists – Rekindling a Relationship with Nature in the City
Did you miss the Service or want to see it again? Click here to view it on the FP Youtube site!
[OOS-Apr 24 2022 Alliance Sunday]
SUNDAY, APRIL 24, 10:00am (hybrid service)
During the pandemic, a recurrent theme in Zoom breakout rooms among congregants has been the restorative power of being in nature. On Alliance Sunday, Claire O’Neill, co-founder and president of Earthwise Aware, a global nature conservation nonprofit, will inspire us to go a step further to become citizen scientists. The title of her sermon is Urban Naturalists: Rekindling a Relationship with Nature in the City. She will focus on how we need to be attuned to nature so that we can get back to being a part of it rather than being apart from it. By paying attention to nature, we can feed our souls. Discover how to rekindle the naturalist in all of us, and in the process, become agents of change–local nature champions. Claire will illustrate her talk with stunning slides on Zoom and a photo booklet in the order of service.
Speaker Bio:
ALLIANCE Annual meeting and Program:
Friday, may 6, 7:30-9:00PM (via zoom only)
This will be our final meeting of the 2021-22 program year. We will begin with our important annual business meeting where we will review the past program year and our finances. We will affirm the Board officers for the coming year and vote on the budget for fiscal year 2022-2023.
Summer Program Planning Meeting Tuesday, July 12, 7:30pm
Please join us on Zoom to discuss ideas. The link will be sent to all members and you can always reach us by email with your ideas at Alliance@firstparish.info!