Dear Friends, 

 

I am writing to you on the 3rd day of spring.  We are in a season of transition. After some warm days, the wind blusters bitter cold.  Yet, I find encouragement in the lengthening days.  Snowdrops appear.  Snow banks recede to mud.  We are also in a season of transition in our congregational life.  We will end our 15 year ministry together this June, when I retire. 

 

In my sermon this past Sunday, I offered several metaphors for this time of ministerial transition and the creative opportunities this change offers.   Here's another image - so appropriate for this month of April when our Christian brothers and sisters celebrate the resurrection.  This comes from Rev. Mark Morrison-Reed's 2000 lecture, "After Running Through the Thistles, The Hard Part Begins."

 

I suggest the image of the Phoenix serve us as a model for leave-taking. "Legend has it that when it saw death draw near, it would make a nest of sweet-smelling wood and resins, which it would expose to the full force of the sun's rays, until it burnt itself to ashes in the flame. Another Phoenix would then rise from the marrow of its bones."
[The Dictionary of Symbols, J.E. Cirlot, 1962, p.253]

 

This approximates Oswald's five tasks of leave-taking. Upon seeing
"death draw near" intentionality and mindfulness can inform us as we put all in order. There is celebration and thanksgiving in our leave-taking as we surround ourselves with "sweet smelling woods and resins." In the full sunlight of truth we explore what our years together meant. A purifying flame consumes the "old grudges" and us.

 

How appropriate for a faith whose central symbol is the flaming chalice. Then, finally and appropriately, the next ministry rises out of "the marrow of [our] bones," for it rises from the distillation of our essence -- our deeds and dreams and love for those with whom we have striven to build the beloved community...

 

I'm feeling sad to leave you, my beloved community, but I know that in the long run we all serve something larger than ourselves. 

 

With love and blessings to you, 

Barbara  

Our challenge as a community of transformation is to remind each other to take a different tack.More often than not, it's about breathing rather than becoming better; patience not perfection; depth not dominance; attention not

Rev. Barbara McKusick Liscord & Dr. Hal Sands

This Sunday, UUCM member, Dr. Harold (Hal) Sands, joins Rev. Barbara in an open conversation about Hal's transformation from being a bigot to a committed Unitarian Universalist.  Dr. Sands is Emeritus Professor of Psychology, West Chester University of Pennsylvania, where he served as Department Chair, as a tenured full-time professor.  He also practiced as a Family and Marital therapist, his specialty.   This month, he and wife, Doris, will celebrate their 60th  wedding anniversary.  They have 4 children,  8 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.

( Sunday Morning Circles)

Rev. Patrick Mclaughlin

Rev. Patrick McLaughlin, Minister with the UU Manchester congregation, will be leading worship here in Milford, while our Rev. Barbara leads worship in Nashua. Rev. Allison Palm, Minister with the Unitarian Universalist Church in Nashua, will be leading worship in Manchester.  The three ministers and their congregations use the same monthly themes and have been collaborating to create meaningful Adult Faith Formation programs open to members and friends of all three congregations.  "Pulpit Swapping" is an old New England tradition dating back to the days when each town had just one church and folks were eager to hear messages from different ministers.  But of course, we are not actually swapping  pulpits, just the ministers!

( Sunday Morning Circles)

Rev. Barbara McKusick Liscord and Kali Fyre, Ministerial Intern

This Sunday, we'll celebrate spring in our worship for all ages with the story of Naamah, Noah's Wife based on  A Prayer for Earth  by Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso.

As part of this spring celebration we'll welcome new members into the congregation. If you have been thinking about becoming a voting member of our congregation or have questions about what that means, let Rev. Barbara know. We will also say goodbye to long-term members, Carol Hess & Jed Callen, who are moving to Colorado.

(Whole Congregation Worship)

Carl Olsen and Rev. Barbara McKusick Liscord

April 22nd marked the 47th Earth Day Celebration. Yesterday, millions around the world gathered to celebrate Earth; to teach and empower people to create change. Experts tell us that we are in the midst of the sixth extinction and unlike the mass extinction events of geological history this one is on us. Some scientist refer to human beings as the greatest of all invasive species. Earth's treasures are not boundless and its diversity is both it's beauty and strength. Like all other species we evolved into a world rich in resources, a heritage that favors all life. We certainly have the power to conquer and destroy. E.O. Wilson poses, do we "have enough intelligence, goodwill, generosity, and enterprise to turn Earth into a paradise both for ourselves and for the biosphere that gave us birth?"

(Event for youth/children: Earth Day Celebration)

Kali Fyre, Ministerial Intern

(Event for youth/children: Game Day)

For more information about our music programs, contact our music director, Carolyn McCreary ([email protected] 978-772-5870).
    

Recycled Bottle Tops Needed
Earth Day Celebration Project - April 23

On Sunday, April 23, the children will be using recycled materials to create a large mural. Please bring in any kind of bottle tops (plastic, metal, large, small, any color) and leave in Barnum.

Saturday, April 15, 9:00-10:30am, Milford

M onthly continuation of the six-week program: you are invited to 

Saturday, April 1, 3:00 pm, First Parish in Cambridge, 3 Church St., Cambridge - The Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt, President, Professor of Unitarian Universalist Ministry and Heritage, Starr King School for the Ministry will present her research on the historical and future trajectories of Black Lives Matter and Unitarian Universalism.

Sunday, April 2, 2-4pm, Milford
Discussion on 'At Home Funerals'
Thursday, April 6 - June 15 , 7-9pm, Nashua
Cakes For The Queen of Heaven
"Cakes" is a feminist thealogy program that explores women's religious history and examines pre-Judeo Christian cultures that may have worshipped the female as divine.  For more information and to register.

As Unitarian Universalists, we are dedicated to the democratic process in our congregations as well as in society.  If you have been attending UUCM events for awhile or come to us from another UU congregation, you may be ready to make the commitment of becoming a voting member of our congregation.  
Please contact Rev. Barbara - call or text 603-554-6643 or email [email protected] for your questions or to make an appointment to sign the membership book.
There will be a New Member ceremony as part of our spring celebration on Easter Sunday, April 16. 

for all their many contributions to the life of our congregation. Their daughters, Holly and Julie, grew up at UUCM.  Carol and Jed taught our teens "About Your Sexuality," the curriculum that preceded "Our Whole Lives" (OWL).  Holly was an active member of our High School Youth group.   Carol and her daughter, Julie, served as circle leaders while Julie was in high school.  Carol served as co-chair of the Ministerial Search Committee that brought Rev. Barbara to UUCM and later served as President of our Congregation for three years.  After her term as President, Carol served on the Committee on Ministry, which helps members of the congregation resolve conflicts.  Carol also led our successful Capital Campaign that led to purchase of the Shelley Property and other wonderful things that are yet to unfold.  Carol and Jed have been very generous financial contributors and hosted Small Group Ministry in their home for 13 years, since the program's inception.  We hope to thank them personally on Easter Sunday, April 16.     

Stop procrastinating and clean out your basement, attic, spare room or whatever. You have the opportunity to raise money for UUCM and for yourself. UUCM will organize the Yard Sale, do the advertising, and provide an excellent selling location! You setup your table, sell your stuff, and clean up your area after the sale. As a minimum, 20% of your profits will go to UUCM.

 

We also need help with the Plant and Bake portions of the event.

 

There is a signup sheet in Barnum Hall and you will find more details about the event. Or contact Sandy Frades (673-2955 or [email protected]).  

For More information, contact  Marti Kennedy

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) - Sats, 9:00-10:30am - Big Book 12-Step

For registration and information, visit: http://uujec.com/ReversingInequality

  

Church Closure Due to Weather