Sunday, November 7, 2021, 10:30 am - online and in person!

Rev. Hillary Collins-Gilpatrick, Minister

Sam Chandler, Music Director

Gwen Matthews, Director of Education & Communications

Mack Jones, Children's Teacher & Youth Facilitator

If you're joining in person: Please review our covid-19 safety guidelines on our website. Please also note: In-person worship plans are subject to change dependent on covid-19 case numbers in Cumberland County. We will alert you quickly if such changes occur prior to Sunday. For more information on our re-opening decision process please see our Re-Opening Phase Chart.

To join online: To access the online service, please use this Zoom link and enter the passcode WORSHIP. A Sunday morning email will also be arriving with the Zoom link, order of worship, and a link to the offering.

Dear First Universalist Friends,

This Sunday we dedicate our worship service to All Souls, and the practice of honoring, celebrating, and mourning our beloved dead. If you plan to come to our service in person, I invite you to bring photographs of loved ones you’ve lost, or objects you keep in remembrance of them and place them on our church altar and window sills when you arrive. Our sanctuary will be an altar for their spirits and the ripples of their lives that still wave through our days. If you plan to attend virtually, bring a photo of a loved one or a meaningful object of remembrance near to you. Our sanctuary is limitless, and the spirits your beloved, too, will be present on our altars. 

This Sunday I invite you to sink into your bodies, your living bodies, for our service. 

Let your head rest, let your heart lead; feel and be. 

Heart weeps.

Head tries to help heart.

Head tells heart how it is, again:

You will lose the ones you love. They will all go. But

  even the earth will go, someday.

Heart feels better, then.

But the words of head do not remain long in the ears of

  heart.

Heart is so new to this.

I want them back, says heart.

Head is all heart has.

Help, head. Help heart.

Yours in a good, living, and impermanent body,

Rev. Hillary

Citizens of the Penobscot Nation bring families to Boston to read their ancestors’ death warrant made in 1755 by the colonial government. They step into the colonizer’s hall of injustice, to read their hateful words and tell the truth about what was done to their ancestors. They exercise their power by sharing the horrors of this hard history as an act of resistance, remembrance, and a step toward justice. Showing includes conversation after the film with Penobscot Nation Tribal Ambassador Maulian Dana and others.

First Universalist will be having a mini fair on Dec. 4. Proceeds will be for the Wabanaki Garden Trust in Brunswick. The Chamber of Commerce will be advertising. We have solicited soups, Joy's jams and some craft items will be sold. If anyone has done crafts that they would like to donate, please let Dorothy McAloney know at dmcaloney48@gmail.com.

Please fill out this online registration form for all children and youth who will be participating in programs at First Universalist. Thank you!

This year, you can view a schedule of children and youth programs in advance and learn about timing of programs, topics/themes, and facilitators each week. Please also see below to view the November RE calendars.

Please note: These plans may be updated as the fall progresses.

Our Yarmouth Food Pantry is asking for Yarmouth churches to support its annual Thanksgiving Baskets program for families in need with cans of cranberry sauce and jars of gravy. If you can, please bring a can or jar to church on Sunday, November 7th or to the drop in picnic table hours on Wednesday, November 10th from 12 pm - 1 pm. For questions, please contact Charlie Horstmann (chorstmann42@gmail.com). Charlie will deliver your donations to the Food Pantry. Thank you.

The Maine Council of Churches in partnership with Maine Equal Justice are working to raise awareness about the Child Tax Credit—up to $3,600 per year for each child.

Folks who did not file a 2020 income tax return can still be eligible to receive the remainder of these payments for 2021, and between now and November 15, there’s an easy-to-use portal (works on computer or cell phone) to apply: https://www.getctc.org/en

In order to qualify for the 2022 child tax credit, people do need to file a tax return—even if they wouldn’t file otherwise. Your local chapter of CA$H Maine is a great resource for those who need free help with how to file (https://www.cashmaine.org/ ).

To be eligible, the children do need to have a Social Security number, but the parent or grandparent who is applying does NOT. Receiving the Child Tax Credit does not impact or reduce any other benefits a family may be eligible for, like SNAP or TANF.

On Wednesdays from 12 - 1 pm Rev. Hillary will be holding an outside drop-in space at our church picnic tables. All are welcome to come by and check-in. (Weather permitting.)

Throughout the week, Rev. Hillary will be holding office hours for individual conversations. These conversations can be on Zoom, over the phone, or in-person. Please reach out to Rev. Hillary directly to schedule a conversation, firstuminister@gmail.com. Note that Rev. Hillary is not available to meet on Saturdays and Mondays. See you soon!