As we try to turn towards the good, the true, and the beautiful, we must be aware of all that exists in our world and in ourselves that may be the opposite of what we seek.  We have endured wrongs, and we have perpetuated them as well. In this complex world, when is it time to move from anger to forgiveness? 

This Sunday the sanctuary choir will sing the thrilling Soweto Gospel Choir’s African arrangement of “Khumbaya” with djembe accompaniment by Regie O’Hare Gibson. For the anthem, they will sing Richard Farrant’s lovely Renaissance a cappella piece “Lord, for thy Tender Mercy’s Sake.” Elizabeth Walsh and Julia Jaffe will sing “Shabbot Shalom,” an original composition by Rip Jackson. Felix Mendelssohn’s “Praeludium in G Major” and Johann Pachelbel’s “Fuga in C Major” will be played for the centering music and postlude.

Click here to listen to last week’s sermon by Rev. Anne Mason, “Being Human is a Guesthouse.”

After the church service this Sunday at noon, we’ll be having an all-church picnic on our property on Harrington Rd., adjacent to the Fortmann’s house just to the right as you face the church. We will have tables set up for food and will provide cold drinks and napkins. If needed, you can leave your food in the kitchen refrigerator downstairs during the church service.

What you can bring:

– Food to share (see below for instructions)
– Folding chairs or a blanket

– As we are a Green Sanctuary, please bring your own plates and cutlery to take back home later. We will provide back-up supplies, if needed.

Please, NO NUTS in the food you bring to share. There are congregants with allergies.

We look forward to this fun event when we can see old friends and make new ones!

If your last name begins with A through I, please bring a salad or appetizer to share. If you last name begins with J through R, please bring a main dish. If your last name begins with S through Z, please bring a dessert.

All are welcome!

The deadline for October’s edition of The Focalpoint is Monday, September 25th at 10am. If you have committee and program info to share, please email information to Jane Foley.

Don’t get the Focalpoint and want to keep up with the news of First Parish? Email Jane to subscribe.

The scaffolding is coming down,

the grounds have been spruced up,

   music has raised the rafters,

and Rev. Anne is donning a new stole.

What a congregation!

This is the last Sunday to sign up for fall potluck dinners.

Dinners will begin in October, following signups during social hour in September. Please visit the piano during social hour, choose which evenings are possible for you, and indicate whether or not you could host a dinner. After signups are complete, groups of 8-10 people will be formed and begin gathering in October in a group membersʹ home on a weekday or weekend evening once a month for four months. The same people remain in the same group for each dinner. There are also options for family potluck dinners where children have their own dinner together, separate from the adults.

All are welcome! Sign up during coffee hour throughout September. Questions about fall potluck dinners? Please contact Linda Coyne.

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.

Tomorrow evening, Thursday, September 28th, is the kick-off event for the new Thursday Evening Adult Programs! All are welcome to a drop-in facilitated conversation lead by Rev. Anne Mason and Lisa Maria Steinberg, Director of Religious Education. Let’s discover together what we hope to learn about Unitarian Universalism. Join us from 7:00pm to 8:30pm.

On the following Thursdays – October 5, 12, 19, 26, November 2 and 30 – come view the fantastic DVD series Long Strange Trip with us to 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?

Popcorn will be served during the movie and a brief discussion facilitated by Rev. Anne Mason and/or Lisa Maria Steinberg, Director of Religious Education, will follow. RSVP to the Facebook event for the October 5th viewing here.

Got a Great Protest Story?

This year’s first “Voices on the Green” event, on Saturday, October 28, will focus on songs, speeches, and stories of protest. If you have a compelling personal story of protest, we want to hear it! We already have a great line-up of local speakers and storytellers, and Nick Page, a great UU music director and prophet who grew up in First Parish, will lead us in singing classic protest songs old and new.

But we have a problem. Most of our present storytellers will be telling stories about their participation in protests that are relatively public – even national. We would like to have at least one storyteller who focuses on a protest that is intimate, private, familial, e.g., a story about a child’s protest within a family, a classroom protest at school, an elder’s protest against family wishes, etc. As usual, we are looking for stories that enlighten and enliven the evening’s theme from different perspectives – moving us to tears, to laughter, to thinking.

If you think you have such a story, email David Rose.  If it fits in the evening, we will work with you to help shape the story as one of the next Voices on the Green.

“Voices on the Green” is a series of programs introduced last year for the congregation and our surrounding community to address critical issues in our individual and communal lives from multiple perspectives, in multiple media, borrowing from models such as Ted Talks and Moth Stories, with the addition of music and a time for refreshment and conversation. We hope that all First Parish folks will put this date, Saturday, October 28, on your calendars and unite in fellowship and outreach.

Last Sunday’s Special Plate Collection raised over $600 for Lexington’s MLK Day of Service Committee. Money raised will help the committee provide activities for the annual family-friendly day of volunteer activities supporting the underserved. According to their website, “almost 400 volunteers made a difference in the lives of more than 2,000 people” on MLK Day of Service in January 2017. For more information, visit their website at lexingtonmlk.org.

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