Join Rev. Anne Mason, Lisa Maria Steinberg, LDRE, and others as they explore, through story, song, and homily, what it means for a community to value individual participation. Each person’s gift is so important that we could not be the congregation we are without your own, personal offering. Come and watch our young thespians share a story, and hear a homily by Rev. Anne.

Rev. Anne Mason, Worship Leader

Today will be an All-Ages Service. Pre-K through 8th grade will stay in the sanctuary. The nursery will be open for babies and toddlers.

This Sunday the sanctuary choir, with soloists Chris Hess, Julia Jaffe and Elizabeth Walsh will sing Michael Culloton’s poignant arrangement of “Famine Song,” written by the women’s a cappella ensemble Vida. They will also sing James Green’s arrangement of the Cherokee “Morning Song,” with soloists Austin Burns and Elizabeth Walsh. They will be joined by Ruth Rose (pipes), Sarah Matthews (shakers) and Erik Svenson (bass drum). Julia Jaffe and Elizabeth Walsh will sing Antonio Vivaldi’s glorious “Laudamus Te” (from Gloria). For the centering music and postlude, Rip Jackson will play Antonin Dvorak’s peaceful “Largo” (from The New World Symphony) on the piano and Bach’s powerful “Praeludium in c minor” (BWV 549) on the organ.

  Click here to listen to Dr. Rev. Nicole Kirk’s sermon of February 26th, “Historical Traps.”

This Sunday kicks off the annual month-long collection for the Lexington Interfaith Food Pantry. Housed in the basement of the Church of Our Redeemer, it has been active in Lexington since 1990, when the Lexington Council of Churches, including First Parish, founded the program.

The Pantry is coordinated by Carolyn Wortman, who directs the entire operation with the help of a large, unpaid staff of volunteers from most of the faith communities in Lexington. We will welcome Carolyn this Sunday during the service, when she will speak briefly about the current status of the program and its benefits to many Lexington residents.

For the month of March, there are two ways you can help. First, please make a monetary donation during the special plate collection this Sunday, March 5th, when all proceeds will go the Pantry.

The second way you can help is by donating personal care products, which are not covered by the Federal food stamp programs. These include shampoos, lotions, dental care products, and other toiletries. Products containing alcohol or hotel sized items will not be accepted. There will be baskets at both entrances to the church marked Food Pantry donations. We will also continue to accept non-perishable food items as we have been doing on an ongoing basis.

Thank you as always for your generosity of spirit and gifts to others in need. If you have any questions or want more information about the Lexington Food Pantry, please contact Lynne Yansen.

First Parish in Lexington has a long history of Small Group Ministry with different names, including covenant groups, chalice circles, and soul matters. Despite the names, Small Group Ministry provides meaningful opportunities to engage with other parishioners, discuss topics of importance, and to get to know one another, and ourselves, more deeply. Ask someone you know at FP about his or her Group. They would be happy to tell you.

First Parish is starting a new Chalice/Soul Matters Group in March. It will meet on the third Friday of the month from 7-8:30 PM. A sign up sheet will be left on the piano on Sundays. If you are interested or would like more information please contact Mary Knuth.

Do you have WordPress skills? Are you a Facebook fanatic? Do you think First Parish would benefit from widening our social media outreach? The Communications Team is looking for a few tech-savvy people to help grow First Parish’s social media presence in the world. We invite anyone interested, including our youth, to contact us if you can put your social media skills to use for First Parish.

Training is available through the online course site, Udemy. First Parish has registered for the course, Church Social Media and Membership Growth, with instructor Peter Bowden, a church social media and growth consultant.

Please contact Lee Jeffers Brami, Communications Co-lead, at leejbrami@gmail.com. I know we have many parishioners of all ages with highly developed technical skills, and any help is appreciated!

The Social Action Ministry (SAM) at First Parish comes from our Unitarian Universalist faith based on the values of love, justice, community and responsibility. We do this within the supportive environment of our broader church community and the mission of First Parish “…to act on our values to serve the larger community and create a more just and loving world.”

Criminal Justice Advocacy

Senator Will Brownsberger, Senate Chair of the Judiciary Committee, was one of the speakers at last year’s community forum held at First Parish. Click here to find out what he is working on and to learn about the measures now being presented in our state legislature for criminal justice reform.

It takes a village to run a fair! A volunteer sign-up sheet will be on the piano during social hour starting this Sunday. Volunteer opportunities include helping with the books, plants, jewelry, publicity, cafe, electronics, collectibles, baked goods, and more.

Have you started your spring cleaning? Or ridding your attic/basement of stuff you no longer want or use? No place to store those books from your winter reading? Have you given up dressing up? Or downsizing to smaller quarters?

If so, think MAYFAIR. It’s coming on Saturday, May 13th. Please consider donating items to the Mayfair selection of jewelry, collectibles, white elephants, books, and other good stuff.

More info will follow. Just please don’t toss it; donate it!

Amy Breiting

Marty Kvaal

Mayfair Co-chairs

Do you practice earth-based spirituality, paganism, or Wicca? We’re looking for people in our congregation who engage with these spiritual practices and might be interested in having support from Adult Programs in honoring this part of our UU sources in this community. Please contact Lisa Maria if you want to talk more at dre@fplex.org or 781-862-8200 x3.

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