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Weekly Newsletter of the
First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton
April 24, 2024
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Worship Service
Folk Music Sunday
Sunday, April 28, 2024 at 10:15am
Anne Watson Born
Don't you love what you got used to
Where we used to feel so free
Come and wait a while in silence, love
And watch it fall with me – Billy Strings
“Songs for the Earth,” FUUSN’s annual Folk Music Sunday, is on April 28. The service includes familiar music (“Mercy Mercy Me,” “River”) and newer songs that call us to action for climate change. Demie Stathoplos will speak on The Web of Life, of which we are all a part; there will be readings; and of course lots of great music by the FUUSN Band and Folk Singers!
Join us in person or on Zoom:
https://bit.ly/FUUSNWorship
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RE This Sunday
The Spirit Play children will be exploring the intersection of disability and climate justice while the middle schoolers enjoy Folk Music Sunday.
4-5:15pm: 4-6th Grade OWL - Downstairs Classrooms
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Musical Musings
Anne Watson Born
How remarkable it is to know that so many have watched the same sun set before you.
How the wind can carry pollen and drop it somewhere it has never been.
How the leaves have always become the soil that then become the leaves again.
How maybe we are not so different than the leaves. – Clint Smith
FUUSN’s annual Folk Music Sunday is this Sunday. This year the service is titled “Songs for the Earth,” and we’ll be singing and playing some classic and newer songs about our relationship to our world and our actions around its changing climate. Demie Stathoplos will speak about “The Work That Reconnects.”
Woah-oh, oh mercy, mercy me
Oh, things ain't what they used to be, no, no – Marvin Gaye
There’ll be lots of opportunities for you to sing along with our FUUSN Folk Singers and the FUUSN Band, in songs such as “River,” and “Big Yellow Taxi,” and…Nope, don’t want to give away the big closing anthem – but you won’t want to miss it!
The eyes of the future are looking back at us,
and they are praying
that we might see beyond our own time. – Terry Tempest Williams
See you Sunday!
Anne Watson Born
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Annual Pledge Drive Update
Thanks to everyone who has already pledged! As of today, we are at 176 pledges (73% of the goal of 230 pledges) & $504,649.57 (81% of $625,000 goal).
Every pledge helps!
Every pledge helps! Pledge now; the earlier we get the pledges in, the more easily can the Finance Committee (thanks Karen Bottar, chair, and Judy Curby, Laurel Farnsworth, Neil MacGaffey, Faith Kreider, & Urban Larson) formulate the FY24-25 budget which begins June 1. PLEDGE HERE.
Spotlight: Music! FUUSN has a choir, band (bluegrass, folk, rock, jazz), liturgical dance ensemble, a Steinway B piano, and a Hook & Hastings organ. All in all, in the last year 49 people have been involved in the music program at FUUSN! Yes, the FUUSN musicians do a lot, but there is so much more we would like to do!
- Revive “Music in the Classrooms”: Hire a musician to incorporate more music into RE
- Outreach to the community with more joint musical projects with other organizations and by offering more concerts for the community
- Raise salaries for our professional choral section leaders
- Rebuild our organ (long-term goal)
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Upcoming Events This Week | |
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Friday, April 26
6-6:30pm: Zoom Vespers - online
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Over 60s Photography Exhibition - During Coffee Hour
Please join us for the Over 60s Sponsored Photography Fest on Sunday, April 28. Come to share conversations about your work and to be appreciated and acknowledged for your creativity.
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Article II Presentation Video
1pm, Children's Chapel
We encourage you to learn more about the upcoming vote on new wording for our principles and purposes as stated in our UUA by-laws, known as "Article II" that will take place during GA. This vote finalizes a multi-year process that includes considerable work by the Article II Study Commission and the UUA Board of Trustees. Article II has not been updated since the 1980s. Congregations are encouraged to be in rigorous conversation about Article II. It is important that we all engage with one another, ask questions, share thoughts and concerns, and prepare for the final vote to be held at the 2024 General Assembly.
If you are considering being a delegate at GA in June, it will be especially important to hear from our congregants what they think about the proposed changes. Information about the Article II proposal can be found on the UUA website.
We met over zoom in March (thanks Demie for organizing and posting the recording), you can check out the discussion in the link below AND/OR join us for a re-run on Sunday 28 APRIL in the Children's Chapel at 1:00pm.
For folks who were not able to attend the presentation and discussion regarding the proposed changes to the UUA Article II bylaws, here is a link to the recording of that presentation. I've also attached a file that contains the chat from the presentation, which includes reference material that was discussed.
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/9UPEX7yQrN0eihLwyQNN8VxG2XT7pFQeOhmsT4aMNMxqBBH4yfGEBOtfFxuT9e5t.C5lx4EAX5Q8YWJGP?startTime=1709856044000
Passcode: *Fgz3L!X
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Passover Seder, 6pm
On April 28th, 2024 at 6:00 PM, we will be holding the FUUSN Community Passover Seder, and it will be led by Rabbi Sarah Noyovitz (AKA Rabbi Noyo), current Interim Rabbi at Temple Hillel B'nai Torah in West Roxbury. Please RSVP here and consider giving some of your time and talent.
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Join FUUSN’s team for the Louis D Brown Peace Institute’s 28th Mother's Day Walk for Peace - May 12, 2024
The peace institute’s goal is to empower survivors and communities impacted by murder, trauma, grief and loss to cultivate cycles of peace and healing. To register to walk or to donate to our team effort visit https://www.mothersdaywalk4peace.org/FUUSN. Team captains are Valerie Miller and Kevan Heartshorn. Come chat with us at Coffee Hour. To learn more about the Louis D Brown Peace Institute visit https://ldbpeaceinstitute.org.
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Dinners for 7 Needs Hosts - May 18, 2024
This is a great opportunity to have dinner with 7-8 people in your home. Host provides the main course and guests are assigned various side dishes.
Sign up to host here. Questions? Contact Lynne Karlson.
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Community Lunch Helpers Wanted!
The Community BBQ Lunch scheduled for June 2, 2024 has been moved to June 9, 2024 to coincide with the Annual Meeting. Volunteer to help cook, set up, or clean up!
| For these and ALL other volunteer opportunities, visit the Volunteer page on our website. Have a volunteer opportunity to add? Contact Jenise. | | |
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UUUM Open House - May 2, 2024
The UU Urban Ministry is having a Program Spotlight and Open House on Thursday, May 2, 5-7 pm. This is a great opportunity to see what our partners are doing in Boston. We can arrange for carpooling closer to the date. LEARN MORE
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Climate Policy Game - May 5, 2024
We all know climate change is happening, so what can we do to slow it down and turn it around? Join us for a game using MIT's En-ROADS climate model simulator to see what does and doesn't help on individual and community levels -- FUUSN, city, state, nation, and planet. Middle schoolers and up are welcome to participate, and light refreshments will be served. In-person only, RSVP requested.
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Newcomer Potluck - Saturday, May 11, 2024
If you are new or still feel new, you are invited to a potluck dinner in the Alliance Room at FUUSN on Saturday, May 11th at 6:00 PM until 8:00 PM. Children are welcome.
Come talk with other newcomers who are interested in Unitarian Universalism and FUUSN. There will be time to discuss our congregation's services and activities and to ask questions, as well as time just to get to know one another.
Please RSVP to Pat Rohan at jprohan@verizon.net or 617-852-5290 to tell us if you can come and what you would like to bring (suggestions: an appetizer, main dish, side dish, salad, or dessert that serves 6-‐8 people). We will provide beverages.
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Green Sanctuary Meeting - May 11, 2024
FUUSN's Climate Action Task Force will be meeting in the Children's Chapel from 10am-11:30 on Saturday, May 11th. All are invited to attend. We will be discussing how to enroll our congregation in the Green Sanctuary 2030 program.
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Dinners for 7 - May 18, 2024
Dinners for 7 is an opportunity for a small group to get together for a meal at a host’s home. The host provides the main course and the guests are each assigned to bring something. The groups are arranged so that you have an opportunity to get to know different people each time. If you are interested, please SIGN UP HERE.Questions? Contact Lynne Karlson.
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Sandy Island Retreat - Memorial Day Weekend
It's time once again to head up to New Hampshire and relax with all your favorite FUUSN folx! Every Memorial Day Weekend our congregation is invited to Sandy Island Camp on a small island in Lake Winnipesaukee, NH, for an annual retreat (May 25-27, 2024). We stay in rustic cabins and eat shared meals (prepared by the Sandy Island staff) in the dining hall. Visit the link below for more info.
https://fusn.org/get-involved/social-gatherings/annual-events-and-retreats/sandy-island-retreat-2024/
All FUUSNites and their families/friends (no pets) are invited to join in this opportunity for relaxation, enjoyment of nature and connection within our community. Newcomers are especially welcome, as the weekend offers many ways to meet and engage with folks of all ages and interests.
Registration will begin by May 1; watch for notices. This year we're expecting to offer a complete online registration experience, including both signup & payment. (Anyone having difficulties with any of this may contact Sandy Island Coordinator Denise Bousquet at <sandyisland@fuusn.org>.
We run our own activities during our weekend retreat. If you'd like to create a new activity, or repeat a previous one, please contact our Sandy Island Activities Coordinator, Emily Gelbert <emily.gelbert@gmail.com>.
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Our sincere thanks to Jud Leonard, who has been tirelessly troubleshooting the complex system of AV equipment, streaming software, and internet connectivity to make our Zoom services not only possible but smoothly accessible to all. | | |
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Congratulations to the members of the Plant-Based Eating Club who were featured in coverage of Newton's Earth Day Festival in the Newton Beacon and Fig City News. Julia Huston writes, "The Newton Earth Day celebration was full of FUUSN people! The folks staffing the FUUSN/PBEC table included Demie [Stathoplos], Pamela Libby, Julia Ryan, Joanna Mann, and probably more people that I am forgetting (as well as me, Emily [Gelbert], and John [Dundon]). Eric Moore and Lorenz Brousal-Glaser played in the band and sounded great. Many other FUUSNites were seen walking around. It was a really nice FUUSN presence at the event." Why, you may ask, were John, Julia, and Emily dressed as a cow or a chicken? "The chicken and cow were drawing attention to the environmental impacts of dietary choices, specifically in this case: It takes 1,000 gallons of water to grow a single chicken from 'shell to shelf.' It takes 1,800 gallons of water to generate one pound of beef." | |
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Have a news item you want to share? Want to schedule a FUUSN Event? Please use our web forms! Note that any event using physical space at FUUSN must be approved by Fran, and until you receive confirmation from her, that event will not be scheduled or added to our Events calendar.
Submissions to the newsletter must be sent in by the previous Tuesday at 9am. Submissions to the Order of Service must be sent in by the previous Thursday at 9am.
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First Unitarian Universalist Society in Newton www.fuusn.org | 617-527-3203 | | |
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