The sanctuary choir will sing Felix Mendelsohn’s beautiful chorus “Behold a Star from Jacob Shining” (from Christus). Austin Burns will sing the exciting song “Something’s Coming” (from West Side Story). David Meharry and Austin Burns will also sing a 12th-c. French motet “Veni, Veni Emmanuel” (the oldest version of “O Come, o come Emmanuel”). For the centering music and postlude, Rip Jackson will play on the organ J.S. Bach’s bold “Wachet Auf, Ruft uns die Stimme,” BWV 645 (from the Schübler Chorales) and Louis-Claude Daquin’s joyful “À la venue de Noël” (from Livre de Noëls).

Listen to Rev. Anne Mason’s sermon, “The Great Jihad: The Spiritual Work of Opening the Heart,” November 27, 2016

It’s time to plan for a festive sanctuary this holiday season! First Parish will be accepting orders for poinsettias from Wilson Farm.

The cost is $10.00 for a 6 1/2″ pot, with proceeds going towards the purchase of greens for holiday decorating of the church. Order forms and payment (cash or checks made payable to First Parish in Lexington) are due on Wednesday, November 30th. Orders will only be accepted with payment.

After the Christmas Eve services, you may take your poinsettia home. If you’d like your plant to be in honor or in memory of someone special, please include a message, which will be printed in the Christmas Eve order of service.

To place an order, please download and print the order form here, or fill out an order form at the piano, and return with your payment to the church office by Wednesday, November 30th. Please contact Jane Foley in the church office with any questions. Thank you!

There will be a FIRE DRILL this SUNDAY, DECEMBER 4.

A fire alarm will sound after the Postlude this Sunday to indicate evacuation of the sanctuary and classrooms. The protocol below was established by the Safe Congregation Plan:

Minister announces a need to evacuate the building and reviews the instructions:
(1) exit calmly out the rear doors and slowly down the front steps
(2) walk across Harrington Road to the center of the Battle Green
(3) confirm that children downstairs and in the Common Room will be brought to the Battle Green to meet their families.

Worship Leader (only in an actual fire) calls 911 to alert fire department

Greeter Leader notifies Religious Education teachers and other groups to evacuate

Other Greeters calmly assist in sanctuary evacuation, encourage parishioners to proceed out the exits, and assure that adults with limited mobility ‘shelter in place’ in the front vestibule of the church (and NOT go down the stairs).

A few reminders:

1.  Parishioners should bring coats to church

2.  Children should bring coats to church and then to class

3.  Coffee Hour still will be held, after the fire drill

4.  Children’s Choir still will meet, after the fire drill

Thank you for your cooperation with this important drill.

Church-Wide Work Party on Saturday!  Work off that Thanksgiving Dinner!

This Saturday, December 3 from 8:00AM to 12:00PM, the Buildings and Grounds Committee is running a Work Party to get the interior and exterior of the church cleaned up and ready for winter.

You may have noticed that the church gets “used”:  windows get dirty; small things get broken or don’t work right; leaves fall on the driveway—just like at your house.

Hoping you see the church as your “home” too, you are invited to join the committee to help get the work done.

Tasks include leaf raking and yard cleanup, window washing, cleaning the many folding tables around the church, minor repairs, and small shelf construction.

So bring your rake, your bucket, chamois, rubber gloves and squeegees, your tool kit, your energy and your love for your church!  In order to plan our projects well please just send a quick note that you are coming, and when, to: BuildingGrounds@fpcuu.org

PS  If you’re unable to come, a second Work Party is scheduled for Saturday, December 10 from 8:00AM to 12:00PM.  Start with a little work and then go to the Holiday Workshop, which starts at 9:00 in Parker Hall.  Or attend the Holiday Workshop first, and then come upstairs to do a different kind of work, but just as important!

First Parish is looking for a volunteer (or volunteers) to be Communication Lead, as Jane Eckert is stepping down from this position that she has held for the past 18 months (please thank Jane for her outstanding work!).

Here are the responsibilities of the Communication Lead:

Work with Rev. Anne and the First Parish staff to plan items for external communication.

Provide project management to the church website team, by identifying needs and issues

Establish liaisons with local media outlets

Keep abreast of deadlines for submission to various outlets

Submit requests to the Town for permits for sandwich boards in the Center

Submit articles for publication to the Lexington Minuteman and other media outlets.

Recruit writers for articles and work with in-house editors to polish the article.

This is a wonderful and important opportunity for someone to serve First Parish. Please contact me if you are interested.

In the spirit of community,

Tom Rich

Board Chair

Please join Dan Fenn as he reads Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol.” All are invited to gather in front of the fireplace in Parker Hall, drink hot cocoa, eat cookies, and be transported back in time with this Christmas classic on Sunday, December 4th from 4pm to 6pm.

Published in 1843, Dickens’s timeless tale of the curmudgeonly miser Scrooge and his transformation to benevolent benefactor following visits one Christmas Eve from the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come, was an instant classic that still enchants audiences today.

Reading this story has been a tradition in Dan Fenn’s family: his grandfather and father read it before him, and for several years now Dan has shared this tradition at First Parish. With a real storyteller’s skill, Dan brings Dickens’s colorful language alive, to many a chuckle by the audience.

Refreshments will be served.

December 4th is the final Sunday to purchase wreaths from Boy Scout Troop 119. A couple of Pieter Svenson’s friends from his troop will be selling wreaths during social hour. If interested in placing an order, please see them at the wreath sale table.

Al Jacobson / Communities Without Borders Traveling Fellowship
December 4, 2016 Deadline

The Al Jacobson / Communities Without Borders Traveling Fellowship supports First Parish youth and adults as FP/CWB liaisons, strengthens First Parish’s commitment to CWB, and provides financial support for youth service trips. It sponsors two First Parish high school students or adults annually to travel with CWB and support its mission in Zambia. Each year, two fellows will be selected and awarded $2000 (about half of the cost) to participate in the annual CWB service trip to Zambia.

Who is eligible?
All First Parish high school, college-aged and adults are welcome to apply. Each year two people will be selected by the AJ/CWB TF Advisory Committee through an application process.

What is the timeline?
Applications are due on December 4, 2016. Interviews will follow in December and January. Applicants will be notified by February 1, 2017. Travel takes place every summer in late June and early July for a two-week service trip.

Where do the CWB travelers visit?
The AJ/CWB Traveling Fellows travel with CWB to Zambia, including Lusaka, Simukanka, and Victoria Falls.

How do I apply?
Applicants submit and complete applications, including 2 letters of references, to FP Office by December 4, 2016.

Click here for the application.

Lesley Benson, Margie Gibbons, Elaine Hylek, Al Jacobson, and Cherie Noe
Al Jacobson / Communities Without Borders Advisory Committee

Questions? Please contact Margie Gibbons at gibbons5@rcn.com.

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