You've probably noticed that this is a monthly newsletter, instead of a weekly update.  If you missed the announcement of changes to how we communicate, click here for all the details.
~ The Communications Team (Erik Bertrand, Dona Eaton, Bryan Higgs, Pat Nelson, Christine Polonsky)

 

Dear Friends,
This has been a summer to savor. Magnificent days. The cool air is kissed by warm sun, and things are still growing lush and green. A group of about 18 people have been gathering each Sunday morning in the Fireside Room to connect - sharing their lives, their joys and sorrows and sharing their wisdom about the theme, word or phrase that the facilitator offers.  For three Sundays in August, I've been leading these circles, using the first themes of our new year: Promise, God, and Soul.  I share some of the group's observations in the Promise resource materials which contains spiritual practices, questions to work with, articles, poems and more for September's theme.

This will be our second year of working with a different theme each month. This year's overarching theme is "theology".  It's an opportunity to grapple with theological ideas and their relevance in our lives.  This year, we will have opportunities to expand our theological literacy and perhaps reclaim for ourselves theological language or "a language of reverence" as Rev. Jeanne Nieuwejaar calls it in her book, Fluent in Faith.  The ultimate purpose is to support your journey of connection and spirit, as well as offering strengthening resources for living your faith in personal interactions and in the public square. As we say each Sunday morning as part of our affirmation, "Service is our prayer."  

The theme of the month is interwoven into many aspects of our church life, as well as worship:

• Small Group Ministry groups will engage with each theme
• Nancy Baker will be leading a monthly series entitled "The Light Left On".  You won't want to miss these sessions, open to high-school ages and older. 
• I plan to lead an informal conversation about the theme after church about once a month.  This will also be a chance for newcomers to meet the minister and other members and friends of the congregation.  
• Children and youth will work with themes in monthly workshops and other gatherings.
• Popcorn Theology will continue with a movie related to the theme.  
• Our Music Director is already picking music for each theme for our choirs.

Our Sunday morning worship and all our programs will continue to be supported by you, our volunteers, as well as a superlative staff, who are already working with volunteers to get ready for our new church year.  I know you will enjoy meeting the newest member of our staff, Cyn Fennelly, who joins us as our Director of Lifespan Religious Education.   Please check out our staff page on the website to see how lucky we are in the staff that significantly supports UUCM's vital shared ministry.  

I look forward to seeing many of you at our annual Ferry Beach Weekend retreat in Saco, Maine.   We will hold worship each morning in the Grove.  And back in Milford, Nancy Baker and Linda Goodman will kick off our 'regular' worship services in our Sanctuary on September 7.  

Don't forget to bring water from meaningful summer experiences to our water communion ingathering on Sunday, Sepember 14.   We will mingle the waters together as we also share what qualities or gifts we would like to bring to our community in the coming year.  

And YES!  This year has great PROMISE!  We have the capacity to fulfill our mission to Honor Each and Enrich All in a myriad of ways.    And may we find much joy, purpose and peace in it.  

In faith, hope, love and joy, 
Barbara
Rev. Barbara McKusick Liscord

Worship Services 

Saturday, September 6 at 9:15AM in THE GROVE, Ferry Beach   

As part of our annual congregational retreat at Ferry Beach, Rev. Barbara McKusick Liscord, Cyn Fennelly (Director of Lifespan Religious Education) and Carolyn McCreary (Music Director) will lead a multi-generational worship service in the Grove with song, readings and opportunities to connect.   Come to the peace of tall pines and the seashore. Join the Multi-generational Choir, which will rehearse after this service to prepare for Sunday morning's service.

 

Sunday, September 7 at 9:15AM in THE GROVE, Ferry Beach     

Another Ferry Beach Multi-generational Worship in the Grove with Rev. Barbara McKusick Liscord, Cyn Fennelly, and Carolyn McCreary. We'll notice the connections between "Promise" and "Earth". The Multi-generational Choir will sing.

 

Sunday, September 7 at 10:30am in the UUCM Sanctuary, Milford   Promise: The Uniquely Human Way of Ordering the Future

Linda Goodman & Nancy Baker

Nancy and Linda will launch our year of theological reflection, sharing the differing theological perspectives that ground their lives. They will also dive into September's theme of "PROMISE".

 

Sunday, September 14 at 10:30      Water Communion Ingathering

Rev. Barbara McKusick Liscord

Cyn Fennelly, Director of Lifespan Religious Education

As we begin our new congregational year, everyone will gather for this multi-generational service of homecoming in our sanctuary. Please bring water collected during the summer to be mingled in our common vessel. As we mingle our various contributions of water from the summer, each of us will share our name, the source of the water and what we will bring to this beloved community in year to come.  More about the meaning of water communion. After the worship service, we'll share in the fellowship of our first "coffee hour" of the new congregational year.

 

Sunday, September 21 at 10:30am   Our Promising Faith "Bring A Friend to Church Sunday"

Rev. Barbara McKusick Liscord

Bring a friend to church this Sunday as we reflect on the role of "promise" in our lives and in our Unitarian Universalist faith.  After the worship service, Rev. Barbara will be available in the Fireside Room to meet your friends and engage in an informal conversation about themes raised in the worship service. All new and old friends are welcome to this conversation.  Our children and youth are encouraged to bring their friends, too.    

 

Sunday, September 28 at 10:30am   Redemption Song    

Rev. Jeanne Nieuwejaar, Minister Emerita

The word 'redemption' may have an archaic ring to it, but it is, in fact, a principle that is central to our liberal religious faith. Our affirmation of the worth and dignity of every individual is hollow unless we also affirm our commitment to help reclaim the value of individual lives that have become lost or broken. This is the work of redemption. In this service we will look in particular at the challenge of reclaiming the value of the lives of those who are serving time in prison, reflecting through the lens of our faith on this very troubling issue. Following the service, you will have the option to attend Rev. Jeanne's workshop on prison reform or a multi-generational project to create stationery for the women at the prison.  

 

Thank you so much for opening your congregation and yourselves to me. I feel so welcomed here and am truly honored and blessed to be here with you. I am excited about our new year together and am busily working with the Religious Education Committee (REC) to make sure all is ready for joyful and spiritual play throughout the year. Our REC Retreat is August 28th so many dates and much information will come to you soon. Here is just a peek at the fun we will have this year.. ..

In Faith,
Cyn Fennelly (dlre@uucm.org)

Lifespan Religious Education

Small Group Ministry: Soul Matters

Our Small Groups at UUCM offer a chance to connect with others, sharing matters of the soul.

• We come to UUCM seeking spiritual growth, to know ourselves better, to grow in our capacity to handle the ups and downs of life and to grow in our understanding of others and the wider world.
• We come to ponder the age-old questions of faith: how to live and what beliefs and spiritual practices sustain us.
• We also come for the comfort of company along the journey. We seek "ultimacy and intimacy," as theologian James Luther Adams described it.   Many of us gain depth and support from sharing in small groups. Our Small Groups foster a quality of relationship between us that beckons forth hidden possibilities.

You are invited into a deeper, more constant, more reverent relationship with the world and with one another. Here's more information about Small Group Ministry at UUCM.   

 

If you have been meeting with a group, September will be the time to sign up again or change to a new group. Some people find it meaningful to change groups yearly as a way to get to know different people. Stay tuned to your weekly email updates for specifics. Groups will begin meeting in October. If you have any questions, please call Rev. Barbara at 603-673-1870 x2.

 

 

The Light Left On: Exploring the History of Theology and the Search for Spirituality

September 21, 5-7pm

The overarching topic for the 2014 - 2015 church year is theology, with a monthly theme looking at the subject in different contexts. One Sunday evening of each month there will be an opportunity to explore this monthly theme, looking at it from differing religious traditions, from the perspective of natural philosophy or science, and at the ways it has been expressed in art, music, myth, and literature.  

 

Nancy Baker, who taught the history of ideas for many years will lead this workshop, and include such wide ranging sources as the Book of Job, the visualizations of William Blake, the nature of religious symbolism in many traditions, the problem of theodicy (why bad things happen to good people), the role of chant in moving theology into worship, and much more.    

 

Each session will be from 5-7 pm and will include a simple shared meal. While the ideas and sources are deep and intriguing, this is for anyone (high school age and up) interested in learning more about the history of the ideas that shape the way we approach theology and spirituality.  

 

You don't have to know anything about the subject as the program is meant to stimulate rather than instruct. The first session is Sunday, September 21st. Please sign up each month so we can know how many to expect for dinner.

 

September 12 at 7pm
Popcorn Theology is the 2nd Friday of the month.  Aligning with our monthly worship themes, popcorn theology screens interesting movies and fosters deeper exploration and discussion. In September, the theme is Promise, and our movie is Hook, rated PG and starring Robin Williams. Join us on September 12 for an evening of fun and fellowship.

Community Outreach 

Calling for Prison Reform:   A Workshop for Study and Reflection
September 28, 12 -1:15pm in Fireside
with Rev. Jeanne Nieuwejaar, our Minister Emerita
In this program we will reflect on the relationship of our own personal experience to the realities of prison life, and will delve more deeply into some of the political, social and economic complexities surrounding the challenge of prison reform.  More and more voices are currently being raised in alarm at how broken our prison system is.  Through this workshop we will draw on our shared wisdom to guide us toward constructive action.

September 28, 12-1:15pm in Barnum
Following the service, please join us for a multi-generational project to create stationery for the women.  Parents -- feel free to leave your young art-makers in Barnum while you attend Rev. Jeanne's prison reform workshop in Fireside. If you have questions or wish to help, please contact Leslie Bennett at 672-4865 or leslieyingling1@aol.com.

UUCM News & Activities 

The Friday Guys have made great progress this summer--the shed has been moved and they are grading the landscape and setting the granite blocks. As you and your families return to church this September, be sure to check out the space together. Note that this is an active construction site and parents should accompany their children. If you have questions, contact Barbara Smith 673-6629, or  brbsmith@mac.com

August 2014: The enthusiastic new English-speaking minister, Tamás Tófalvi,  is bringing new energy into Székely Szentmihály parish.  His many diverse projects are increasing involvement of people in church and parish activities.  Read the minister's letter.  For more information about our Partner Church, contact Peggystokes@comcast.net.

 

In June, UUCM hosted two clinicians from Dartmouth-Hitchcock to offer free rapid HIV testing to the Milford community.  As a result, five people in our community now know their status who did not before. Jean Adie, HIV outreach specialist, wrote: "Thank you so much for providing a safe and welcoming space for folks to get tested. It is a difficult thing to do, even thirty years into the epidemic. There is so much stigma still surrounding HIV. The UU Church made a big difference in the Milford community. My sincere appreciation!!"  Thank you to the six volunteer hosts from UUCM: Traci Dorsey, Ray and Nancy Iannuzzelli, Erna Johnson, Cheryl LaRiccia, and Barb Livoli

Ministry for Earth

People's Climate March, September 21 in NYC

UUs across the country are organizing to attend this march, to be held in New York City

 

Our own Cathy Goldwater, through 350 New Hampshire, is organizing buses from New Hampshire, making it easy for you to join the March! You can ride the 350 New Hampshire bus, which will start in Concord, NH and pick up passengers in Nashua, NH. Order bus tickets here . If you have any questions, contact Cathy Goldwater, 350 NH Bus Captain,  cathy.goldwater@gmail.com or 603-860-3756

 

Commit2Respond to Climate Change

 

September 26, 7-9pm in Emerson Hall
Climate change is here. How can we bring forth the wisdom needed for life to survive? This hour-long film features thought leaders and activists in the realms of science, economics and spirituality discussing how we can evolve and take action in the face of increasing climate disruption. Listen to the words of Bill McKibben (Environmental activist and writer), Joanna Macy (Eco-philosopher and Buddhist) , Daniel Jantos (UU Minister), Roger Payne (Whale biologist), Ben Falk (Permaculturist), and others. Following the film, join in a facilitated discussion while enjoying dessert and beverages. Contact Cathy Goldwater (465-7933),  cathy.goldwater@gmail.com

Reminders 

Newsletter deadlines:  New procedures and deadlines in place NOW.  Read details here. The newsletter archive is here.

 

September:  Barbara Smith (brbsmith@mac.com, 603-493-2927)

Please leave contributions in the SHARE basket in Barnum. SHARE will be collecting school supplies starting August 1, Also needed: Holiday Dinner Supplies - stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie mix & crust