Be sure to mark April 19th on your calendar and plan to spend the afternoon. We invite you to join us after church for an old fashioned ham dinner, (there will be options for vegetarians). You will have a chance to get in a final bid on your items as we close out the bidding section by section and announce the winners. Bring your friends, all are welcome. The General Auction will close between 12:00pm and 2:00pm and the Art Auction between 2:00pm and 3:00pm.

Stop by the auction table to register for a bidding number, both auctions will be "silent", though we may have a few live items.

Please help us make the auction a success by inviting your friends to come on the 19th, they are welcome join us for dinner and bid. Also, please like our Auction Facebook page and share it with your contact list.           

 Click here  to View the Auction Catalog Online

Volunteer opportunities

1.  Setting up the church on Saturday, May 2 at 9 AM.

2.  Cleaning up after the service and reception ends, around 6:30 PM on
Sunday, May 3.

3.  Preparing the following finger foods.  People can bring their food contributions to church on Sunday morning, May 3 and leave them in the kitchen marked for the Installation Service or leave them in the kitchen prior to the 4 PM service.

Hors D'Oeuvres

A.  Deviled eggs:  1 person @2 dozen  

B.  Crackers and cheese (cheddar, brie, havarti, gouda): 1 person@36 pieces each

C.  Shrimp:  3 people@20 pieces each and cocktail sauce

D.  Frozen hors d'oeuvres:  2 people@25 pieces each

E.  Veggies and dip:  2 people @50 pieces each

F.  Filled

G.  Pita and artichoke dip: 1 person @40 pieces 

H.  Filled

Desserts

A.  Cookies:  1 person@3 dozen

B.  Brownies:  6 people@ 1 dozen each

C.  Lemon bars:  6 people@ 1 dozen each

D.  Fruit:  2 people@50 pieces each on toothpicks

There will also be cake.

4.  Decorating

A.  We need volunteers to help arrange plants in the Bancroft Room on Saturday, May 2 at 10 AM.  We want to decorate the room to look like a spring garden.  We ask for people to loan us green plants, either large house plants or shrubs or perennials in pots; flats of pansies or other spring flowers that can be put in baskets; pots of flowering plants like tulips or daffodils; and branches of flowering shrubs.  Plant material can be brought to the Bancroft Room either Friday, May 1 between 10 AM and 4 PM, or on Saturday, May 2 between 9 AM and 10 AM.  There will be plastic sheets spread on the floor where you can put your plants.

B.  We need volunteers to make flower arrangements for the buffet tables.  Time can be determined at the convenience of the arrangers.

We welcome your contributions and thank you for your assistance.

Click here to sign up online.

"Spiritual Journeys"  offered meaningful spoken words and exquisite music in Sunday's worship service in a unique collaboration coordinated by Lee Bona and Alesia Tringale. We are grateful to Henry Keyes, Alana Wyatt, and Sherry Belanger for sharing their journeys, and Seele Musicale with our own Alesia Tringale, soprano, and Jerry Bellows, recorder for their moving music.Music from the service can be found in our MP3 archive here, or CDs of the entire service at the Welcome Table in the Bancroft Room.

Join the women of the UU Sisterhood at our next meeting on Friday, April  17th for an evening of food, wine, conversation and laughter.

We gather at 6:00pm in the Dining Room with a potluck dinner starting shortly thereafter. All women of the church are welcome. 

Please bring a dish and a beverage to share.

After dinner and cleanup please plan to stay for the following program:

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Celebrate spring by walking the labyrinth!  Marjorie Connelly will lead us this evening, giving a little background about the labyrinth and some practical tips for how to walk it if this is your first experience.  Marjorie has trained as a Labyrinth Facilitator, with Lauren Artress, the founder of the Labyrinth Renewal.  She has walked many labyrinths including the one in Chartres Cathedral, France.

Read more about labyrinths here.

I just have to give a shout out to these two men. Their love and care of our building is evident in everything they do. Here are just a few pictures of what they have been up to today. (The key word in that sentence is "up.")

 Sten washed windows, cleaned curtains, dusted the tops of pipes and all together cleaned areas I've never seen touched before.

Bob patching walls - and just check out our Court Street entrance ceiling below.

Wiogora School of Wonder and Wisdom, First Unitarian's own Harry Potter inspired summer program running July 27th to August 7th continues to accept registrations for students and applications for adult staff and volunteers. For more information, and to register or apply, go to  http://www.wiogora.org/. See Alison Barrows Ronn or Seth Popinchalk for more information. 

WELCOME SPRING!!  It's time to begin the fun process of actively beautifying our church grounds again.

OUR BEAUTIFUL CHURCH GARDENS AND EXTERIOR:  This is an especially important year, with the up-coming installation celebration for Reverend Sarah Stewart on May 3.  Please join the Friends of the Gardens for some fun and fellowship on the 2 Saturday mornings before the Installation, April 25th and/or May 2nd, 8 am to noon--to tidy up and beautify our gardens so we can really celebrate in style (rain or shine!!) Ideas??  Banners, ribbons, flowers....

PLANT EXCHANGE:  Then our spring Plant Exchange will be on Sunday May 10 (Mothers' Day) and Sunday May 17th this year.  For those new to the church, this is a long-standing tradition: people bring potted plants (annuals, perennials, herbs, house plants) from their own garden to donate to the church on those days, and then we sell them after church at $5 per pot, as a fun exchange, AND a fund-raiser for the church and our gardens.  This year we are working toward building funds for projects like an expanded shade garden in the front, and a labyrinth around our Peace Pole.  As the snow melts from your garden beds, please be planning what you might divide and contribute!  We have plenty of large empty plastic pots in the church garden storage shed if you need one. 

NEXT MEETING: All who have ideas or are able to help work on the garden and foyer clean up and prep for Installation, or the Plant Exchange, please stop by our next meeting Sunday April 26th at 11:45 am.  THANKS!!

Questions?  Please contact co-chairs Kate O'Dell at odellkk@gmail.com or Mary Mcalister at maryalmc@gmail.com

Every week, between March 8th and April 12th, BYKOTA collected food pantry donations from the congregation members and friends.  This year, you all were very generous with your donations!  On April 12th, BYKOTA delivered the food items to Wesley United Methodist Church's Carty Cupboard Food Pantry, by carrying bags and pushing carriages across the street to the pantry.  We donated more than 220 items!  I agree with Nancy Spencer, the Carty Cupboard Director when she wrote in a thank-you note: "Wow!  What a wonderful food drive!" 

Thank you on behalf of BYKOTA and of Wesley United Church

-       

Lesa McWalters, Youth Ministries Coordinator

The Escalating Inequality Sessions are a series of 5 workshops and a movie discussion about the problem of escalating inequality in this country. At General Assembly in Providence last summer, delegates to the UUA voted escalating inequality as the most pressing issue of our time.

This is a joint project between First Unitarian Church and the UU Church of Worcester. Three events will be held here and four will be held at UUCW, 90 Holden Street, Worcester 01606. We are excited about this partnership.

The four remaining workshops are from the dynamic curriculum put out by the UUA and contain large and small group discussions, videos and personal inventories.

 Escalating Inequality Task Force: Joan McGinn, Chair; Paul Ropp, Randy Ingham, Mara Pentlarge, Joe Delgizzi

Joan McGinn, Chair, Escalating Inequality Task Force