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Each person who enters our sanctuary brings something fresh, something new, something tender. They bring their own selves. And we honor that. So on this day when we welcome new members into our community, let us celebrate the renewal of our First Parish congregation, which grows and changes and is improved by each new person who comes into our sacred circle of belonging.
This Sunday, all of the music for worship including hymns, solos and choral pieces will be songs written by the iconic rock band The Beatles. Youth soloist Sarah Beuttell will sing John Lennon’s mystical song “Across the Universe” (from the Beatles 1969 album No One's Gonna Change Our World). Youth soloist Sammy Stern will sing John Lennon’s beautiful and hopeful song “Imagine.” Tim Jacoby, with the sanctuary choir, will sing Paul McCartney’s iconic song “Let It Be” with the Sanctuary choir. Liz Hartman, with guitarist Michael Bruce, will sing the hit Beatles song “Blackbird.” Chris Hess, with the sanctuary choir, will sing the Beatles’ uplifting song “All You Need is Love. A special thank you to Michael Bruce (guitar), Rusty Chandler (bass) and Paul Reynolds (drums).
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CHILDREN'S RE
What brings you joy? Is it rainbows, ice-cream, tacos or perhaps planting your favorite flowers in the garden with your family? Please join us this Sunday as we explore and celebrate the many ways we find joy and happiness in our lives!
Caroline and Annelie
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First Parish in Lexington presents
A Bel Canto Soirée:
Songs, duets and instrumental compositions by Maria Malibran and Pauline Viardot, sisters-extraordinaires of the Romantic Era
Sunday, June 9, 2024 at 7:00 p.m.
7 Harrington Road, Lexington, MA 02421
This June, you are invited for an elegant soirée where you will be able to experience first hand some of the most admired compositions by the ingenious sisters Maria Malibran and Pauline Viardot as performed by Julia Jaffe (mezzo) and Yunona Tabala (soprano), in collaboration with Rip Jackson (piano) and John Rogler (cello). Dashing vocal performers, brilliant composers, elegant socialites, intellectuals, friends of Liszt, Chopin, George Sand, Turgenev and Saent-Saens - without these two women, American and European artistic scenes as we know them today would not have been the same. Sisters, and daughters of the imposing Spanish pedagogue Manuel García, Malibran and Viardot each left an indelible mark on nineteenth-century opera with their virtuosic performances. A free-will offering will be received, and public parking is available in the rear of the church. For more information visit www.fplex.org or email music@fplex.org.
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This Weekend: Save these times:
Friday evening, June 7th and
Saturday daytime, June 8th
To kick off the Democracy Festival next weekend in Concord, a panel of well-known and highly regarded activists will speak on Friday evening, the 7th, starting at 7 p.m.
Sponsored by the Concord Regional League of Women Voters, the panelists will focus on various nefarious actions being taken by anti-democratic fellow Americans to undermine our democracy in this critically important Presidential Election Year:
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David Pepper, author of our March book-read titled Saving Democracy ©2023 (and Laboratories of Autocracy ©2021) will focus (on Zoom) on the long game at statehouses across the country being played by anti-democratic forces while the rest of Americans are focused on the national-level elections;
- Judge Nancy Gertner (via Zoom) – the courts and their role in sustaining democracy;
- The ACLU – the role of the judiciary in sustaining democracy;
- Virginia Case (the new President of Common Cause) will speak to the need to eradicate the Electoral College.
Then, on Saturday, June 8th, you and your family are invited to the Democracy Festival family-event on from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Concord UU church. Games, food, music, social justice and democracy booths, and local elected government officials. This event is sponsored by First Parish in Concord UU/Reclaim Our Democracy, and by Concord Indivisible. Do stop by our FPLex Democracy Team table to say “Hi."
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Come join the Ministry of FUN for a
Campfire Sing-along & S’mores
Saturday, June 29
7:00 - 9:00pm
3 Harrington Road (church side lot)
BYOB&C (bring your own beverage & chair/blanket)
Campfire, S’mores & bug spray provided. We will have guitar players but if you play guitar or any other instrument and want to play along then bring it! Also, bring your best ghost story, non-ghost story or talent!
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Summer Worship
I have had a wonderfully collegial time connecting recently with our local UU congregations, and am excited to announce a new plan for this summer’s worship! In July and August we will join with 4 local UU congregations to present the “Summer Worship Consortium”. Each congregation is scheduled to offer worship in their building on 2 Sundays, and all the members of each of the 5 congregations will be encouraged to drive to that host church. Lexington will offer worship on August 4 and 11. It will be so exciting to join with members of Lincoln, Concord, Waltham, Bedford and our own First Parish. We hope that we will enjoy each other’s sacred space, and even more importantly - build loving community between our congregations. Think of the strength we can develop by deepening our worship, our social justice, and our youth and adult programs through getting to know each other better! Please note that all services will begin at 10:00. Also, please plan to carpool and meet at 9:30 in the First Parish parking lot so you can drive together!
With great anticipation,
Rev. Anne
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Hot off the Press!
Four Amendments Proposed to Article Two. Come Prepared to Vote!
Are you ready to VOTE on the revised Article Two? We hope all will come prepared to our Semi-Annual Meeting on June 2 fully educated from the Article Two learning sessions we have provided during this year and the available UUA resources. Members will be voting on the proposed Article TWO revision. It’s important to also read through the four amendments to determine your Vote- YES or NO for Article TWO, and with or without amendments. The four amendments address adding Reason and Peace as additional Values and revising the Equity Value language. See you on Sunday after church!
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Public Meeting on Proposed Private Jet Expansion at Hanscom
Thursday, May 30th at 6 p.m.
John Glenn Middle School Auditorium
99 McMahon Road
Bedford Center
Lawyers and paid consultants for the North Airfield developers and MassPort will be making a public presentation on their Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR).
What’s needed is a large in-person turn-out to demonstrate the magnitude of opposition to this ill-conceived and very climate-harmful plan.
BEFORE the meeting, at 5 pm, Stephen Shick and other Lexington First Parish members will meet outside the school holding signs and banners and greeting the developers and the public as they arrive at the meeting.
The bigger the crowd of people who oppose this irresponsible plan, the better!
Some signs will be available to borrow, but please bring your own if you can.
We will end our demonstration outside shortly before 6 pm and then go inside the meeting room for the presentation.
This will be a peaceful and non-disruptive event. We are coordinating with campus staff to ensure no issues with security.
It will be helpful for their meeting planning purposes if you will RSVP to this Bedford event (whether you plan to attend in person or virtually via Zoom), so please click here.
Click here to register for the meeting Zoom.
Thanks for your support! Please feel free to share this information with your networks and affinity groups.
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The Diet-Climate Connection:
How the Foods We Eat Affect the Planet We Inhabit
Thursday, June 6
7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Large Meeting Room
Cary Memorial Library
Lexington
No Registration Required
Hosted by David Freuberg of Humankind Public Radio, we’ll gather to hear and discuss a new audio documentary exploring the environmental footprint of our food system, the meals we eat, and the consequences for climate change.
You’ll learn which foods have the highest and lowest impact on our warming planet.
Featured in the program:
• Frances Moore Lappé, author of Diet for a Small Planet (sold 2.5 million of copies)
• Walter Willett, M.D., long-time Nutrition Department chair at Harvard
• Youth in Massachusetts and California adopting climate-friendly diets
• A fascinating audio history of how the U.S. diet became so meat-centric.
| From choir rehearsals to Soul Matters, Building Bridges to Meditation Group, Urban Ministry to Democracy Team, Climate Action Team to Youth Groups and all of the other wonderful ways to get involved here at First Parish, please check the church calendar. | Submissions for The Weekly Update are due by the end of day, Mondays. To submit an article or information for consideration, please use this form. | |
