Weekly Update

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The email newsletter of First Parish in Lexington is published on Wednesdays at 4 pm. Submissions are due on Mondays at 10 am. Email submissions or inquiries to the church office.
  • Sunday Service

    In these days of cultural change and volatility, we realize that in this world of ours, we all carry scars and we have all caused wounds. Instead of seeking ‘safe space’, let us consider creating ‘brave space’ where, as Micky ScottBey Jones calls us to do, we can amplify voices that fight to be heard elsewhere, and call each other to more truth and more love. Please join Rev. Anne Mason this Sunday at 10:30am.

    Early American choral music will be featured during the service. The sanctuary choir will sing Jeremiah Ingalls joyful shape note piece “New Jerusalem” and Alice Parker’s reverent setting of “To God, In Whom I Trust.” Austin Burns, Chris Hess, Tim Jacoby and David Meharry will sing a very early shape note setting of John Newton’s “Amazing Grace.” For the centering music and postlude, Rip Jackson will play organ arrangements of both the “Adagio” and “Hornpipe” from Handel’s “Water Music.”

    Click here to listen to last week’s sermon by Rev. Anne Mason, “If Not Now, When?

  • From Your Minister

    At 1:30 in the morning I received a text from my son, Andrew, who lives in Las Vegas. His flight was delayed going back home, and he wanted me to know that he was okay. He had considered attending the concert at which the massacre occurred. But he didn’t go – he was safe. That was my first inkling of the tragedy that has unfolded this week. While I am extremely grateful for his safety, this close brush in my own family has left me raw and saddened by every single story I read of a family who has lost a loved one to this terrible tragedy. We must pray for all of these people – we must open our hearts and realize the depth of their sorrow. And yet…. and yet that is not enough. For any of us.

    I realize that as a relative newcomer to Massachusetts, I do not know the local history of how First Parish has discussed issues around gun violence. I would like to learn about our state laws, our local protections, our statistics, and keep in mind our role on the Battle Green where guns were first used in protest of British rule. If you would like to help me organize a forum, stage a protest, or simply engage in discussion around these volatile and important topics, I do hope you will contact me directly. I believe that we are a moral force for good in Lexington, and I want to use our voice in service of what is right and what is just. What happened in Las Vegas was a tragedy. Even more of a tragedy is that unrestricted access to weapons means this could happen again.

  • Special Plate Collection

    This Sunday will be the special monthly plate collection to benefit disaster relief efforts in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Individuals are encouraged to participate by bringing a check made out to First Parish Church with Disaster Relief in the memo line. All donations will go to the UUA with a specific target to relief efforts on the Islands mentioned above.

    Another option is to go to the website www.uua.org/giving/areas-support/funds/disaster-response

  • Semi-Annual Meeting – Reports Needed

    The semi-annual meeting of First Parish will take place on Sunday, October 22nd following the service. Please plan on participating in this important democratic process of our UU congregations!

    If you chair a committee, please turn in your committee report to Jane Foley by Monday, October 16th at noon.

  • Thursday Evening Adult Program Film Series, Part III

    Image result for long strange trip uuThis Thursday, October 19th, from 7:00pm to 8:30pm, join us for the third in the film series, Long Strange Trip. This week’s video focuses on American Unitarianism from the years 1620 – 1860.

    Learn about Unitarian Universalism’s development as a progressive faith tradition from early Christianity to the Transcendentalists of New England and beyond. What is the story of Unitarian Universalism? How did two distinct faiths rooted in Christianity become a faith home for Christians, Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, atheists, agnostics, humanists, and more?

    All are welcome! No registration required. Snacks will be served during the movie, followed by a brief discussion.

  • Newcomer Drop-In

    Are you new to First Parish? Unitarian Universalism? Want to know more about our worship, music, social justice work, or religious education? Please join Rev. Anne and the Members and Friends Committee on Sunday, January 21st in the minister’s office at 11:45am to learn more about the church, UUism, and how you can be a part of this vibrant congregation. All are welcome!

  • Memorial Service

    Please join Satt Oishi’s family at his memorial service on Saturday, October 7th at 4pm at First Parish. If you plan to attend the reception following the service at The Summer Shack in Cambridge, please email Jane Foley in the church office or call 781-862-8200 x1. The family extends an invitation to all.

     

  • Office Closed

    The office will be closed on Monday, October 9th in observance of Indigenous People’s Day.

     

     

  • The Great Fall Auction

    This year’s Great Fall Auction is on Saturday, November 18th at the church. Doors open at 6 PM; the silent auction is from 6 – 7:30 PM; the live auction starts at 7:30 PM.

    We need your donations!  Do you like to drive? Offer rides to Logan! Do you have extra tickets to the symphony or a play? Offer tickets! Do you like to cook?  Consider hosting a dinner at your house! Do you have a summer home? Consider offering your home for a week or a weekend!

    To donate an item, email the details to fallauction@fplex.org or fill out the on-line donation form by clicking here. The deadline for donating items is October 22nd.

    We also need volunteers. The auction team needs folks to coordinate food and beverages and to help set up and clean up on November 18th.

    Thank you for supporting this important fundraiser for the church.

    Tom,

    on behalf of the Auction Team — Margie and Bob Gibbons, Toni and Pete Tasker, and Tom Rich

  • Social Action Ministry

    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.”

     

    Minuteman Indivisible

    Healthcare in America:  What’s Next – Panel Forum

    On Monday, October 2nd, in collaboration with the Harvard Medicine Indivisible Group, we sponsored a forum on healthcare featuring a panel of three recognized healthcare experts:

    Alan Meyers, MD is a professor emeritus of pediatrics at BU & founding member of Physicians for a National Health Program. He presented some startling statistics about healthcare today: 20m people with no insurance; 28m underinsured; 60% of people who were forced to declare bankruptcy had insurance; US #1 among developed countries yet paying 2½ times other countries based on GDP. Why? The cost of administration of the current multi-payer system.  His contention is that everyone needs to have ready access to comprehensive care without financial barriers.

    William Hsiao, PhD is a professor of economics at Harvard School of Public Health and a leading global expert in universal health insurance. He focused on the economic issues:  Access; Cost Escalation; & Uneven quality. He presented his estimates of savings if the US had single payer insurance:  administrative $300-400b; abuse and fraudulent claims $180b; drugs $180b; end of life heroic measures $80-100b. There are additional costs of $350b-450b, but the net savings would be roughly $300b-400b, 50% of current costs!

    Don Beriwick, MD is a senior fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and former administrator at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. He emphasized that taking care of our fellow humans is in our DNA, and that universal healthcare is part of a nation that helps each other. The recent Replace & Repeal bills in the House and Senate were NASTY bills (half of the Essential Benefits of the ACA were removed; HHS is drastically interfering with ACA enrollment; the bills push costs to the states, ultimately to the individual). We have to get back to the moral value that universal healthcare serves.

    Their discussion made an imperative for moving away from our multi-payer, multi-provider system to one of universal healthcare.They called on Indivisible Groups to step up to claiming the moral high ground and provided a number of steps that we might take. Want more info? Contact Pete Tasker.

     

    UU Urban Ministry

     
    A link to the event flyer is available here.
    UU Urban Ministry  |   617-318-6010 |  www.uuum.org
  • Munroe Saturday Nights

    The Lexington Refugee Assistance Program is co-sponsoring the November performance of Munroe Saturday Nights. Please come for stories, music, and dance!

  • This Week at First Parish
    Wednesday, October 4
    Creative Callings 1:30 p.m. Parlor
    Deb Abel Dance Class 1:30 p.m. Parish Hall
    Choir Rehearsal 7:30 p.m. Sanctuary
    Master Singers Rehearsal 7:30 p.m. Parker Hall
    Thursday, October 5
    Meditation 4:00 p.m. Parlor
    Thursday Evening Adult Program 7:00 p.m. Parish Hall
    Scrabble Club 7:30 p.m. Parker Hall
    Saturday, October 7
    Oishi Memorial Service 4:00 p.m. Sanctuary
    Sunday, October 8  
    Choir Rehearsal 9:30 a.m. Sanctuary
    Worship Service 10:30 a.m. Sanctuary
    Children’s Choir Rehearsal 11:45 a.m. Yellow Room
    Newcomer Drop In 12:00 p.m. Parlor
    Monday, October 9
    Office Closed
    Tuesday, October 10
    Deb Abel Dance Class 4:00 p.m. Parish Hall
    Board Meeting 7:00 p.m. Green Room
    Empty Sky Sangha 7:30 p.m. Parker Hall
    Wednesday, October 11
    Deb Abel Dance Class 1:30 p.m. Parish Hall
    History Committee 1:30 p.m. History Room
    Choir Rehearsal 7:30 p.m. Sanctuary
    Master Singers Rehearsal 7:30 p.m. Parker Hall
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