We Commit Ourselves and Our Resources to
Nurture the Spirit, Grow in Community, and Help Heal the World.
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Sunday, July 5, 2020
10:00 am
ONLINE Worship Service
Decolonizing Faith
Rev. Christina Sillari
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Join Zoom Meeting:
(This link will work for all upcoming online services.)
Meeting ID: 387 790 755
One tap mobile
+19294362866,,387790755# US (New York)
Call in as early as 9:30 am
to test your Zoom connection,
and say hello to other First Parish friends.
Please have a candle ready to light during the service.
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Upcoming
Online
Worship Services
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July 12| 10am
Death
Rev. Christina Sillari
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July 19| 10am
Metamorphosis
Rev. Christina Sillari
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July 19| 10am
Growth Through Play
Jenna Nunziato
& Pat Saunders
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Newcomer Coffee ONLINE!
July 5 | 11:30 am-12:30 pm
Newcomers and visitors to First Parish are invited to chat informally with Rev. Christina and church leaders to learn more about what makes this church unique. To join the conversation at 11:30am, use the Zoom link posted above for this week's online worship service or just stay online after the service. I look forward to meeting you!
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General Assembly Social Justice Debrief
July 8 | 5 pm | Zoom Meeting
Did you attend GA last week? MUUSAN is hosting a zoom meeting to share your Social Justice learnings, inspirations, and concerns. Too often we come away from GA energized and recommitted, but life gets in the way of follow-up. So please
register HERE
to join us on Wednesday, July 8th at 5:00 pm to learn from each other and keep our momentum going forward.
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Zoom Conversation on Maine's Future
with Senator Shenna Bellows
The Faith in Action Team is co-hosting this Sierra Club Maine Community Conversation with State Senator Shenna Bellows (D – Kennebec). Sen. Bellows chairs the Labor and Housing Committee and is also Executive Director of the Holocaust and Human Rights Center. How can we achieve sustainability in these times of pandemic, recession and growing opposition to systemic injustices? For more information, contact Marianne Hill, moderator, at
hillmarros@aol.com
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Faith in Action Team Stands in Solidarity with
Black Lives Matter- Portland
Carl Cappello, Chair FIA
The FIA team voted to pull together in support of Black Lives Matter. Do you want to be in this FIA action loop? You will receive timely email announcements about urgent upcoming opportunities for you to support racial justice. Reply to Kris Minister at
krisminister@me.com. FMI or to DONATE please visit
Black Lives Matter Portland.
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Update from the Finance Team
Reminder: The church fiscal year ended on June 30. Please send remaining contributions on your 2019-2020 pledge and any reimbursement requests by
July 31
so we can close the books. Donations received after July 31 will be applied to the 2020-2021 church year.
Contributions can be sent by mail or paid through our website by clicking on the
Give
button at the upper right corner of the screen:
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Year-Round Church Services!
As many of you know, the First Parish Governing Board voted last year to expand Sunday services through the summer and provide parishioners with the opportunity to worship year-round, beginning June, 2020. This summer will be our first in many years to hold services. Reverend Christina will be in the pulpit in July and Carolyn Barschow in August. Please join us via Zoom or
Facebook Live
throughout July and August as we continue to explore ways to nurture the spirit, grow in community, and help heal the world.
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Office Update for July
Marge Stockford, long-time First Parish member, will be overseeing the First Parish Office for the month of July while Sheila Sullivan takes time off to enjoy the summer with her family. Marge will be answering
office@firstparishportland.org
email, checking phone messages, and compling this weekly eNews, amongst other jobs. Feel free to contact her if you have any questions!
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Help Wanted:
Public Safety Team
A new First Parish Public Safety Team is forming, and we are looking for folks with skills in the following areas:
basic web research on topics such as police use of force, citizen participation in review of complaints against the police, model policing reforms and policies adopted by other U.S. cities & states, etc.;
social media & email lists; website building & maintenance; fundraising; writing letters to the editor; emails and phone calls to elected officials; connecting with allied organization e.g. MUUSAN, Poor People's Campaign, NAACP, Black Lives Matter, etc.
Our city needs your energy and skills NOW!
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Support Food Insecurity
in our Native Communities
When we are blessed, we are called to share our blessings. During this crisis, many people in our Native communities are not able to work, without a safety net to catch them.
Maine-Wabanaki REACH
established a Community Response Fund to help those in need by putting food on the tables in Wabanaki homes.
You can be part of this call to action by:
- Making a donation to the REACH Community Response Fund at Call to Action: Wabanaki Food Security, or
- Sending a check directly to one of the Wabanaki community food pantries.
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Death of a Former
First Parish Member
Roger Comstock died in Vermont at 7 PM on Tuesday, June 16th on a beautiful evening. In spite of the coronavirus and him being in a nursing home, Roger died with his family. They held a beautiful service at Meta Earth where his family lives. Roger was bigger than life and made many contributions to our faith including serving twelve years as a District Executive for the Mid-South and Thomas Jefferson Districts, serving as Executive Director of the former Northeast District, helping to consolidate the Northeast and New Hampshire-Vermont Districts, and serving on the current Northern New England District Board. In 2017 he was given the Distinguished Service Award from the NNED which stated: "Our Northern New England District is healthy and in a good place, today, in no small measure because of the contributions of Roger over the years he has lived in Maine and Vermont, working on behalf of our congregations. His warmth, good humor, gentle nature and wise counsel have been gifts for us."
I was able to visit with Roger and Faith last fall when I was serving as guest minister at the Middlebury Congregation. Please keep his wife, Faith, in your prayers.
Rev. Christina
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Ongoing Meetings & Resources
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Wayside Pulpit
Laurie Hasty, Membership Coordinator
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Honoring Steve Jenks,
former President of the
First Parish Trustees
The dogwood shrub pictured here was planted recently in the First Parish Memorial Garden in honor of Steve Jenks and his legacy as President of the Trustees for the last 14 years. While this dogwood is a bit hidden at present, it remains in the background until it grows to full size of 5 or 6 feet. Perhaps this is symbolic in how Steve worked somewhat in the background to accomplish so much for First Parish. Furthermore, Steve's tireless tenure will also be represented by this plant’s all-season display, as in the fall-winter it will have showy red branches that you will be able to see from the street.
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From NPR:
What The Fourth Of July Meant
To Those Enslaved In The U.S.
History professor David Blight of Yale University talks with NPR's Noel King about what Independence Day meant to abolitionist Frederick Douglass and America's enslaved population. Listen here:
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Request an Absentee Ballot
for the July 14 State Primary Election
Maine law makes it easy to cast an absentee ballot. Any registered voter may cast an absentee ballot instead of voting in person and you don't have to be out-of-town or have any other reason to take advantage of this easy way to cast your vote. Just complete an absentee ballot application to get a ballot; then fill out and deliver the ballot back to the municipal clerk, or to the Secretary of State, Division of Elections. You can also request your own ballot electronically, using the Secretary of State’s
online absentee ballot request service
. See the state's
Absentee Voting Guide
to get answers to all your questions.
July 14 will be here before you know it!
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Kids' Art & Music
in Online Services
Scott Wheatley,
First Parish Music Director
As a fun summer project , I would like to encourage the children and youth of First Parish to send me photographs or pictures of their artwork to be used in our Sunday worship services. No people, just nature, buildings, pets or examples of their own drawings, paintings or sculptures. In addition, any musically inclined children could submit short videos of them sharing their music-making, as long as the parents are comfortable with us sharing during a service.
The benefits are many: foster creativity in our youth, give them a role and voice in our worship services, and avoid copyright infringement using online content. Please help us feature the amazingly creative youth we have at First Parish. If you have questions or wish to send submissions, contact Scott at
musicdirector@firstparishportland.org
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Thanks to Jaime Parker for hanging our BLM Banner!
Photo by Moe Blanchard
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Prominent Support for
Black Lives Matter
Everyone loved the giant HEART displayed on First Parish's tower for Valentine's Day this year. Our beautiful, historic building located in the heart of the City gives us a prominent position to now share our support for the
Black Lives Matter movement. We hope this banner will help remind us of all the important work ahead to build a more just world.
Many thanks to Jaime Parker for his help in hanging the banner, and to John Tiedje, John Schaberg, and Francesca Galluccio-Steele for their help in making this banner a reality.
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Text to Give &
Pledge Checks
You can now make donations
to First Parish via
TEXT
by following these steps:
- Type in (833) 763-0068 in the "To:" field of a text
- Type in the amount you want to give in the text box
- Click on the link to enter your billing information
- For subsequent donations, simply text the amount you want to give to the (833) 763-0068 & hit SEND.
OR... Mail Your Pledge Check!
Many of our parishioners usually pay their pledges with a check placed in the Offertory, and may prefer not to give online. If this is YOU,
please mail your pledge checks
to the church office at 425 Congress St, Portland, ME 04101. It is essential for us to maintain a smooth cash flow in these difficult times.
Thank you for your generosity!
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Rev. Christina's Sermons
We receive many requests for copies of Rev. Christina's thought-provoking sermons. You can now find her sermons in this
Shared Sermons Folder. Please allow up to a week for sermons to be posted here.
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Have you visited the UUA's website recently? Many great resources can be found there, including the following:
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425 Congress Street Portland, Maine 04101 207-773-5747
Nurture the Spirit, Grow in Community
and Help Heal the World
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