The First Church in Belmont

THE UNITARIAN  February 18, 2014

In This Issue
Reflections from Rev. David Bryce
Music Notes from Alfa Radford
Upcoming Events
Calendar 

Next Issue: February 25

Deadline: 3pm February 20

 

Wednesday, February 19

12:00pm BelUnitAlliance. UH.

7:30pm   Women's Gr. Lib.

Thursday, February 20

6:45pm   Nova Choir. Sanct.

7:30pm   Sci&Spirituality. CR.

7:30pm   SGM. Library.

8:00pm   Knitting Circle. cl4.

Sunday, February 23

8:15am   Nova Choir. Sanct.

9:25am   Sr. Choir. Parish Hall.

4:30pm   COA. Parlor.

4:30pm   OWL. Library.

Monday, February 24

9:30am   Jobseekers. Library.

6:30pm   Jr; 7 Chan; 7:45 Youth.

7:00pm   SAC. cl5.

7:30pm   Min'l Prog Subcte. CR.

8:00pm   Meditation. Library.

Tuesday, February 25

7:30pm   Transcendentalist

               Series. Library.

7:30pm   Worship Cte. CR.

Wednesday, February 26

7:30pm   FCBook Gr. Library.

7:30pm   Youth Cte. CR.

7:45pm   Member Database. cl7

 

Looking Ahead

March 14: Coffeehouse

 

Link to church calendar 

This Sunday
Music: February 23, 2014 
Prelude: O Ye Who Taste That Love is Sweet -15th c. French melody Alfa Joy Radford, organ
Offertory: When the Clouds Have Rolled Away

-L. Child/S. Staples (contemp.)

Luther "Dinty" Child, folksinger
9:00 Nova Choir: Agnus Dei

-H. L. Hassler (1564-1612)
9:00 Postlude: Mary Beekman, organ
11:00 Sr. Choir: Immortal Love

-Marguerite Shaw (contemp. UU composer)
Choral Response: The Blessings of Love
-Sufi chant, harm. by Larry Phillips, 1987

11:00 Postlude: Adagio cantabile (excerpt from Sonata No. 8)

-L. van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Ian Garvie, piano

  

The flowers this Sunday are given by Paul Santos and Anne Stuart in loving memory of Robin, Cristina, Paul, and Peter Santos.

 
Ushers: Members of the New Connections Ministry
  
Welcome & Announcements:
Jack Weis and Doug Burden
Lay Pastoral Care Team 
As members of the lay pastoral care team we are called to be present with you, members and friends, when you wish a compassionate listening ear during times of transition and stress whatever form it might take. We support those who are adjusting to change, loss, illness or death. We share in moments of celebration and happiness. We reach out to those who are unable to get out and who would like a visit. We share in situations that require a special touch of human kindness and an open ear. Please contact us if we might be of help or comfort. We count on the congregation to keep us in touch with pastoral needs of our community.   - Janet Amphlett, Devon Beckett, Nancy Davis, Steve Saar, and Martha Spaulding    

Social Action Corner

ACTION IS OUR PRAYER

Grow Clinic! Grow Clinic! 

The seriously ill infants and toddlers served by the Grow Clinic are in need of dietary supplements. Would you be willing to help? *Bright Beginnings Pediatric Soy Supplements ($35/case); *Duocal ($78/case); *Enfamil Next Step Soy Formula; *Poly Vi Sol with Iron Liquid Vitamins; *Flintstone Complete Chewable Vitamins or equivalent; *Infant Formula. Thanks! FOOD: ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MEDICINES
Concert for the Silver Maple Forest

A Benefit to Save the Belmont Uplands on Saturday, March 1. "The planned development will greatly diminish, if not effectively end, the function of Alewife Reservation and the surrounding ecosystem as an 'urban wild'."  Please help us fight to keep this treasure from being lost. Join us for a night of Great Music for a Great Cause with Jon Svetkey and Heather Quay of The Loomers and Roger Gallagher and friends of foodbaby. Tickets at Coffee Hour or www.BelmontCoalition.com.

 

The Unitarian Newsletter 

Submission Guidelines

 

Please submit articles for the newsletter to Susan Street in the following format: 

- Times New Roman font, 10 point. 

- jpeg for photos

- pdf for attached documents 

- [email protected] for e-mails.  

- avoid phone numbers unless their owners don't mind them being published on the FCB website. 

 

 

 

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First Church Office
:: 617-484-1054
5 Things To Know This Week
  • Update from the Parish Board
  • Stewardship Drive Update 
  • Transcendentalist Series, February 25
  • First Church Book Group, February 26
  • Save the Date! Music That Moves Us, March 5
Sunday, February 23      

Ladders of Love

Rev. Doris Hunter

 

9:00 & 11:00 Church Service                           

Childcare for infants and young children

(For weather-related Service and Children RE class cancellations, please check 617.484.1054 x250.)   

 

February is the month for presidents, car sales, civil rights and the time for Doris Hunter to show up and preach on love. No surprise, right! David! Valentine's Day is always such a relief to the winter's blast with its bright red hearts, funny and serious cards, flowers and delicious dark chocolate. But love, isn't that another matter? It may be a relief from some winter's blast to the heart but other times it is another type of blast that leaves us in the cold. Let's see what "ladders of love" have to say about love and perhaps find the one we would like to climb. Who knows?

 

** Next Sunday, March 2 **

Rev. David M. Bryce preaching,

Possessions: Do We Own Them Or Do They Own Us?

 

Sermons in text and audio format can be found at uubelmont.org/sermons

Reflections from Rev. David Bryce, Senior MinisterRev. David Bryce

I recently watched an old television program from 1964. It was science fiction, and the events in it took place way in the future--in 2011.

     It was fascinating to see some of the expectations of what would be in that far distant future, now our recent past.

     The first assumption was that interplanetary travel had happened in the 1980's and 1990's. (That seemed quite reasonable in the 1960's.) Telephones had screens so that you could see who you were talking to; but they still had rotary dials. The automobiles looked remarkably like automobiles from the 1960's and clocks still used analog faces.

     All of this made the projections of future life in the program--projections based upon what their life was like--seem quaint and na�ve.

     This got me to wondering, as they say, about another future life; not the one of fifty years from now, but the one after this life.

     Whether we think life after death does not exist or think that it is a certitude, our projections about it are all based upon our current life combined with supposition, imagination and maybe a touch of hope.

     I wonder how much of our projections will turn out to be true, and whether any will seem quaint and na�ve.

Alfa Radford
Music Notes from Alfa Radford

This week I am on vacation in balmy Florida -- visiting friends, while at the same time, looking forward to our...

SPRING MUSIC SERVICE: Palm Sunday, April 13, at 10:30am.

Karl Jenkins - "Requiem" with choir, soloists, and orchestra.

Note: In addition to the traditional Latin movements of a requiem, this remarkable choral work includes five Japanese 'haiku' poems with exotic instrumentation and percussion.

 

DATES for PARENTS of CHILDREN'S & YOUTH CHOIRS:

JR & CHANCEL CHOIRS sing in church March 10.

Jr. Choir (K-Gr4) arrives 8:30am. Sing at 9:00 Multigenerational Service.

Chancel Choir (Gr5-6) arrives 10:15am. Sing at 9:00 Multigen'l Service.

LOOKING FURTHER AHEAD: Youth & Chancel Choirs sing May 11 at the Coming of Age Services.

 Jr & Chancel Choirs also sing in church on June 8.

  

QUOTABLE: -from BLOOPERS of BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS

"Noah's wife was called Joan of Ark."

 - Joyful blessings, Alfa

Update from the Parish Board

We have two important announcements. The first is that the Parish Board appointed a strong RE Search Committee to conduct the search for a new RE director for next year. The members are: Catherine Claypoole, Eleanor Sugarman, Glen Valentine, and Beth Westlund. Catherine, also a member of the Parish Board, has been teaching regularly in the RE program since 2003 on all levels including the 1st through 6th grade and Neighboring Faiths curriculum. Her three daughters all participate in the RE program. Eleanor, who runs her own preschool, has served on the CRE for years and has served as a valuable resource to that committee over the years. Glen, a member of the church for eight years and the RE Committee for three, has two children who have been through the RE program and are now in OWL 5th grade and OWL 8th grade. During this time he and his wife have taught every year. His interest in landscape architecture has led to the incorporation of the nearby Mt. Auburn Cemetery in the Belmont RE curriculum. Beth, also a member of the Parish Board, served on the CRE Committee for five years, taught multiple CRE classes for kids ranging in age from 1st through 7th grade and is the mother of two daughters who have gone through the CRE program. Like many friends and members of First Church, the CRE program played a major role in drawing me into this community. We are very grateful to these very qualified members for serving on this important committee.

     Secondly, we are excited to announce that due to the generosity of the Santos Family Foundation, our Parish Hall, Upper Gathering Hall and Library will have new, comfortable, and attractive chairs. We thank Paul Santos and Anne Stuart for their generosity in providing the opportunity to obtain this much needed item.

     Finally, the Parish Board is in the middle of its budget deliberations for next year. There are many needs and certainly desirable areas to spend our limited funds-staff, programs, and facilities. There are always tradeoffs. In the past four years, we have worked hard to bring staff to UUA salary standards. We have added staff and hours where our pledge income has allowed us. In doing so, we have limited program funds and put many capital repairs and projects on hold, not a desirable course over the long run but one we thought was important in the short term. We are pleased that the Stewardship Committee is urging members to make their pledges early. That way, we can make the important choices we need by our May Annual Meeting.

     As always I thank our minister, hardworking staff and all the tireless volunteers in the church who make it what it is.

Jeanne Widmer, Parish Board President

Stewardship Update: Learn - Reflect - Decide - Respond 

Now is the time for us to give careful consideration to the church's financial needs, and its place in our lives and our charitable priorities. We ask that you take this time to REFLECT on David Bryce's February 9 sermon and the financing challenges we face, outlined at www.uubelmont.org/stewardship. In recent years we've met our budget needs through growth in numbers, while average and median pledge levels have stayed constant. This year's stewardship appeal focuses on the need to lift giving levels across the board -- especially our median and average pledges -- to secure our long-term financial health, address the cost increases brought about by our growth, and honor this legacy from the passing generation. Thank you for taking time for careful consideration before we move to the "respond" phase of the March Stewardship Drive.   − The Stewardship Committee

Caring Connection  

The Caring Connection is a group of Church members and friends who provide support to members of our community who find themselves in some difficulty and in need of short-term help. Please let us know if you could use some assistance, or know of someone who would benefit from our support. You may fill out a Caring Connection card, available in the hymnal holders and drop it in the collection basket, or contact Laurie Graham at [email protected] or Susan at the Church, 617.484.1054 x201.

Among Us
To submit your own virtual candle, contact Jim Staton at [email protected] or call him at 617.484.1054 x207. Guidelines for these submissions are available on the Church website at uubelmont.org/caring-connection.

Do You Know of an Organization That Needs Folding Chairs? Can they take them away around the time the new chairs arrive in 3 to 4 weeks?

Due to the generosity of two First Church families, we are purchasing new chairs to replace the gray metal folding chairs used in the Parish Hall. The church would like to donate our old, somewhat battered but still functional, folding chairs to a worthy organization that can use them.  There are about 150 chairs (the church is keeping the folding chairs with padded seats) and the organization would need to pick up the chairs. If you know of a charity or organization that would like some or all of these chairs, please contact Penny Schafer at [email protected] or 617.484.2589 so that we can coordinate the pick-up with the delivery of the new chairs. If the church is unable to find an organization that can use the chairs, they will be recycled.

Upcoming Events:

SCIENCE AND SPIRITUALITY - Thu, Feb 20, 7:30pm, Conf Room

Kirk Israel will lead the discussion on Stuck in the Middle with You: A Memoir of Parenting in Three Genders by Jennifer Finney Boylan. When her two boys were young, Boylan came out as transgender, and as Jenny transitioned from a man, to in-between, to a woman and from a father to a mother, her family faced unique challenges and questions. In this thoughtful, tear-jerking, hilarious memoir, Jenny asks what it means to be a father, or a mother, and to what extent gender shades our experiences as parents. "It is my hope," she writes, "that having a father who became a woman in turn helped my sons become better men." Selected reading is on the website eftaylor.com/sands.

TRANSCENDENTALIST SERIES: Bronson Alcott and Ralph Waldo Emerson - Tuesday, Feb 25, 7:30pm, Library

Jan Turnquist, director of Orchard House, home of the Alcotts, will discuss Bronson Alcott's remarkable friendship with Emerson and the impact it had on both their lives. Al Herter will reflect on "Waldo & Me: My 45 year friendship and reliance on "The Sage of Concord," a program which will be part of the European Unitarian Universalist retreat this spring in France. These two men helped to shape nineteenth century American culture and thought and served as an inspiration for generations to come.

FIRST CHURCH BOOK GROUP - Wed, Feb 26, 7:30pm, Library

The book for February is House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East by Anthony Shadid. In 2006, Anthony Shadid, a Pulitzer Prize winning foreign correspondent, resolved to rebuild his ancestral home in Marjayoun, Lebanon, which had been devastated by war. In House of Stone, Shadid tells not only the story of his efforts to restore the house, but also the story of his family's history in Marjayoun and their eventual migration from Lebanon to Oklahoma in the 1920's. Published posthumously shortly after Shadid's death while on assignment in Syria in 2012, House of Stone was a finalist for the National Book Award. Hayat Weiss will be leading the discussion and sharing her personal insights as a former native of Lebanon.

     Book Group is open to new members. There is no long-term commitment. Feel free to join us for a single evening's discussion or to become a regular participant. We ask only that you confirm your intention to attend on a particular evening by the Monday before that session. Please contact Anne Stuart [email protected] or Karl Klasson [email protected] to confirm attendance if you are interested in participating or have any questions.

GRANDPARENTING NEAR AND FAR

Lillian Anderson and ML Landfried

Thursday, Feb 27, 7:30pm, Library

Share stories, joys, fears and concerns about the challenges of grandparenting. Bring pictures to share.

SPIRITUALITY AND SEXUALITY - #2

Diana Dill and Karl Klasson

Sunday, March 2, 12:30pm, Library

Do your sexual and spiritual selves talk to each other? How does literature help to connect us to our ideals. We encourage you to bring a favorite piece to share.

SAVE THE DATE!

MUSIC THAT MOVES US

Roger H. Brown, Alfa Joy Radford, Ken Stalberg

Wednesday, March 5, 7:30pm, Parish Hall

We will explore the various ways music has supported, consoled, uplifted and deepened the moments of our lives. Please bring your favorite piece of music to share and help us to understand what it has meant in your life. Our panel will guide us on a journey to a deeper understanding of why music is elemental to life. Refreshments.