First Parish of Watertown

There are six Summer Worship dates at First Parish.

Remeber all services begin at 9:30 a.m.


The full schedule of leaders is:


July 13 - Leader : Roberta Altamari - "Evolving Truths"

One of the principles of Unitarian Universalism is the freedom to seek our own truths. This principle feels relevant and important when we consider that "truth" can change and evolve throughout our lives. What truths do we believe today? How have those truths changed during our lifetimes? How might they change in the future?


July 20 - Leader: Kyle Hart - "Avoiding the Rush to Judgment"

Our path to compassion can often be derailed when we find ourselves judging others before we truly know them and their life situation. Instantaneous judgment is a valuable asset for intuition, but a liability when we falsely stereotype or mischaracterize people and their actions. How can we get beyond our rush to judgment and have the patience to form a fair opinion about others? And how can we look beyond surface character flaws to find deeper strengths in character?

July 27 - Leader: Peter Cudhea - Come and discover what Peter has to share!!!

August 3 - Leader: Christopher Johnson - "The Ever Changing Me"

We all know that we can have assumptions about individuals or groups and we can make judgments based on those assumptions. Do we have similar assumptions about ourselves? How do the things that I assume about myself inform my decision making? Is it a help - or a hindrance?

August 10 - Leader: Beth Tappan-deFrees - "Embrace the Music in You"

Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote: "Alas for those that never sing. But die with all their music in them!" Do you ever wish you were a better singer so you could just sing out and feel the music you love? Do you find yourself hiding your "inner artist" in general for fear of the critical eye? In a world highly focused on professionalism, this will be a music service with the intent of having fun singing together for the love of music and song. Please email me with any special requests from the hymnal you'd like to try to fit into the service.

August 17 - Leader: Charlyn Bethell - "Welcome to My World"

Sharing bits of my musical life - I wake in the morning with sounds in my head. I feel alive and worthwhile when participating in making music. I see music as living in the moment both as something to share with others and for me spiritually. This service will be a sharing of the moment.

All services begin at 9:30 a.m.

2008 Minns Lectures
Unitarian Universalism and Class : A Faith for a Few?
by Mark W. Harris
Minister, First Parish of Watertown, Unitarian Universalist

Rev. Harris is the author of the Historical Dictionary of Untarian Universalism and of the UUA pamphlet "UU Origins: Our Historic Faith." He is also an adjunct professor at Andover Newton Theological School and Starr King School.

Lectures are free and open to the public.

Lecture 1: A Class-bound Faith?
Why have Unitarian Universalists historically been associated with upper or upper middle classes? Were Unitarians in Britain more diverse? Which side did the liberals take in the Great Revival of the 1740s, and what does that have to do with methods of salvation and maintaining the social order?

Wednesday, April 30, 2008, 7:00 pm
First Church in Boston, 66 Marlborough St., Boston

Lecture 2: Brahmin Culture for the Masses
This lecture will look at the alliance of business, Harvard College, Brahmin culture, and liberal religion. How did class determine our history and who became involved with the Unitarian movement? We will also look at a few people who wanted to spread the Unitarian faith to the masses in more evangelical styles, including Margaret Fuller’s brother, Arthur.

Thursday, May 1, 2008, 7:00 p.m.
Harvard Divinity School, 45 Francis Ave., Cambridge

Lecture 3: Universalist Piety and a Classless Heaven
This lecture will examine the Universalist faith and its appeal to a broader number of classes in society through its message of equality. If all are equal in heaven, then nobody is saved unless everybody is saved.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008, 7:00 pm
King's Chapel Parish House, 64 Beacon St., Boston

Lecture 4: The Science of Salvation
This lecture will look at the relationship between liberal religion and the eugenics movement. Where did the birth control and euthanasia movements have their origins?
Wednesday, May 7, 2008, 7:00 pm
First Parish of Watertown, 35 Church St., Watertown

Lecture 5: A Faith for a Few?
How are class differences reflected in our faith today? Has a faith that emphasizes individual fulfillment prevented us from a building a broader community? What would an anti-classist UUA look like?
UUA General Assembly, , Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Sunday June 29, 2008 at 1:30 p.m. Look for location in handbook

Rummage Sale May 3:  The First Parish Rummage Sale will be Saturday, May 3 from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.  We are looking for quality donations!  We like books, records, audio and video tapes, DVD’s, children’s clothes, linens and white goods, kitchen and household items, small electronics and appliances (in working order), arts and crafts, bric-a-brac, sporting goods, toys and games, small furniture, etc. etc.   We don’t accept adult clothing, and we can’t take computers, electronic components or TV’s because of disposal problems.  Otherwise, whatever you want to recycle that you think someone else would like is what we want!  Drop off times are at the church Friday evening, May 2 from 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. and Saturday morning, May 3 from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.  We will need lots of help setting up Friday night and Saturday morning, selling on Saturday and cleaning up Saturday afternoon.  Please see Jane Knuttunen ( knuttun@rcn.com )  or Sue Kuder (skuder@cmlaw.net )  if you can help, or with questions.
(N.B.  Each year we worry about disposing of items that do not sell.  This year we are asking the Vietnam Vets to take away what is left over.  Although they pick up every Tuesday in Watertown, they will not pick up at a church…just at private residences.  So, we need people to volunteer to take 2 – 3 bags of stuff home, and put them out for the Vietnam Vets on Tuesday.  We can arrange the pick-ups… we just need to volunteers to take bags home.  Again, please let Jane or Sue know if you could help out in this way).

As part of our Green Sanctuary Charles River initiative,
members will be participating in the Charles River Cleanup.

We'll be determining the meeting location and sending it out
in April. Please mark the date on your calendar.

9th Annual Earth Day
Charles River Cleanup
Saturday, April 26, 2008
(Severe weather date: May 3)
9am - 12pm
http://www.crwa.org/index.html?cleanup.html&2

Our annual spring Benefit Concert sponsored by the First Parish Social Action Committee in conjunction with the Folk Song Society of Greater Boston is
featuring

Kimberly Frasier and Troy Mac Gillivray

Saturday, March 29, 2008, 8pm
First Parish of Watertown
35 Church Street, Watertown
Admission: $15 for adults, $10 for children (12 and under), maximum of $35 for a family
Coffee and Refreshments will be served

Kimberley Fraser was born on Cape Breton Island, and nurtured with its rich musical heritage. She first began to impress audiences at the age of three with her step-dancing talents. Soon after that she took up both the fiddle and the piano.

The Cape Breton Post says this about Fraser: "She has matured to become one of the stellar players of the Cape Breton fiddle tradition." Kimberley is also in demand for her piano skills, accompanying various Cape Breton fiddlers at home and abroad. In 2000 Kimberley received the Tic Butler Award for significant contribution to Cape Breton culture.

By the age of six, Troy MacGillivray was already impressing audiences with his step dancing skills. By 13 he was teaching piano at the renowned Gaelic College of Celtic Arts and Crafts in St. Anne's, Cape Breton. He has completed grade seven of the Toronto Conservatory of Music for classical piano, spent four years in a stringed orchestra, and has earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in music from St. Francis Xavier University. In 2004 Troy was the recipient of the "Auleen Theriault Young Tradition Award" from the Goderich Celtic Roots Festival in Goderich, Ontario. This award is given to an artist that shows outstanding talent and love for traditional and roots based music.

This concert will benefit the Matenwa Community Learning Center

The Matenwa Community Learning Center is a community based initiative for transformational change and sustainable development. It began in 1996, and was the vision of Chris Low and Jean Abner Sauveur. Recognizing every child's right to a meaningful education, and that education is the entry point for the eradication of poverty, the two educator-leaders teamed up to create their own dream. The project revolves around the school in Haiti. Matenwa is located on the island of La Gonave, one of four islands that make up Haiti. It is 30 miles of the coast of Port-au-Prince. The school has a two acre compound on this rural island, with four small buildings and a recreational field, offering classes to 230 children. Classes are given in the native Haitian Creole language with children beginning their schooling at age four. A new preschool is now being constructed. The school is especially concerned with understanding and respect for the environment. A vegetable garden is an active laboratory for the application of traditional studies, but this knowledge is also shared with families at home, so that crop production is increased along with knowledge of nutrition The school is also involved with fish cultivation and a tree nursery to help promote reforestation of the island. There is also a Water Committee working towards making access to water safer and easier. The school also has a breakfast program, an adult literary initiative, and a program to support women artists as well. Contributions can be made to Beyond Borders, PO Box 2132, Norristown, PA 19404-2132 or you may email Chris Low at Chriswlow@aol.com.



(See map and calculate directions on MapQuest )
For public transportation, check the MBTA web site.

Green Sanctuary Plans

The Green Sanctuary Committee has been working diligently towards the long-term goal of being accredited by the UU Ministry for Earth as a Green Sanctuary. A Green Sanctuary is a congregation that lives out its commitment to the Earth by creating a sustainable life style for its members as individuals and as a faith community. There are numerous steps along the way. Once of the most important is giving you a chance to get involved!

After consulting with the other committees of FPW, we now have a working draft of the 12 action items that will be our focus going forward. It is now time that we turn to you, the congregation, to ask for your participation to make them a reality.

On March 9, the service will, in part, include a segment outlining our plan and how you can get involved. There are numerous opportunities to work on short or long term projects – whatever will fit your schedule! A general description of each project follows. Take a look, see what peaks your interest and then let us know how you’d like to help!

Worship and Celebration Projects

1. Integrate an on-going program of marking the seasons in our regular church services (e.g., summer solstice)

2. Conduct periodic environmental action services (at least one per year)

Religious Education Projects

3. Develop an Environmental Resource Center for loaning books/films/power monitors/etc., and to serve as a source for answers to questions (ie. Is it better to wash mugs in the dishwasher or use disposable cups? What do I do with my spent batteries?)

4. Hold Environmental Fairs at church and support other educational activities (films, lecture series, Faire on the Square).

5. Sponsor a month-long environmental program for the children’s RE program each year.

Environmental Justice Projects

6. Sponsor clean up programs along the Charles River, starting with a community clean up day, and possibly other pollution reducing initiatives.

7. Provide support and sponsorship for an environmental justice organization (such as Trees for Armenia).

Sustainable Living Projects

8. Sponsor a regular series of Simplicity Circles

9. Work with the town of Watertown, local schools, and local environmental groups to sponsor the Clean Energy Choice program (fundraising to buy a solar electricity system for a school).

10. Define and reduce the Congregation's energy consumption – by sponsoring several initiatives to help the congregation as a whole work toward changing personal energy consumption

11. Define and reduce energy consumption of church itself

12. Define and reduce energy consumption of the bank (on church property), the pre-school (in the church building), and renters who use our space.

If you have any questions, please see one of the committee members: Norah Mulvaney-Day (co-chair), Brian Hebeisen (co-chair), David Morrison, Mike Anctil, Eileen Ryan, Peter Cudhea, Mark Harris, Mark Caggiano, Judi Fitts and Kathy Button.

A Successful Unity Breakfast for MLK Day
 
The Rev. Liz Walker, TV journalist, film producer and human rights activist, was the keynote speaker at Watertown’s 8th Annual Unity Breakfast, held on Martin Luther King Day. Rev. Walker, who for twenty years anchored WBZ TV’s evening newscasts, is currently the creator, executive producer and host of Sunday with Liz, a WBZTV newsmagazine show.  She is a 2005 graduate from the Harvard Divinity School, and is an ordained minister at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Jamaica Plain.
 
In the summer of 2001, Liz traveled to war-torn Sudan to investigate the controversial slave trade in southern Sudan. She was so outraged by the human rights atrocities in Sudan that she co-founded “My Sister’s Keeper”, a grass roots program that advocates for women and children through economic and educational initiatives. MSK’s first project is the construction of the Akon School for Girls in southern Sudan. Liz returns to Sudan often, most recently visiting the region of Darfur, where as many as 400 thousand people have been killed and 2 million displaced in the first genocide of the 21st century.
 
Rev. Walker is also the founder of Liz Walker Journey Productions, an independent non-profit film company that recently completed A Glory from the God, a documentary focused on the crisis in Sudan. By showing the film as part of community forums that invite public conversation, Rev. Walker seeks to increase public awareness about the genocide in Sudan and human rights issues around the world. This year’s Unity Breakfast was a fundraiser for those efforts.

Final report - $4,000 was sent to Liz after the breakfast, and she made an additional $1,000 selling hand made bracelets.