October 26, 2022

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Sunday Worship
• October Update from the Parish Board (REVISED)
• A Visualization of Peace
• New Member Sunday
• Save the Date: Next Justice Sunday is November 13
• Sign up to bring a soup!
• Special Congregational Meeting, December 4
• Volunteer & Donation Opportunities
• Community Service of Newburyport Personal Care Drive
• Upcoming Events
• Tuesday Short Story Group
• Friday Book Group
• The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism-An Afternoon with Pulitzer Prize-winning Author Megan Marshall
• Wizards and Sages
• Retired Old Men Eating Out (ROMEO)
• Community-wide News & Events
• Amesbury Cultural Council Open Studio Weekend
• Weekly Wellness Programming
• Monday Night Meditation
• Tuesday Spiritual Practice
• Wednesday Guided Relaxation

Annual Ministry Theme: Peace

October Ministry Theme: Inner Peace

Photo: drawing by Blake Hughes

Sunday, October 30, 2022

Service of Remembrance

10:30am in person and livestream on YouTube

Join us for this important autumnal tradition of memorializing loved ones who have gone before us. This service will be an opportunity to come together in contemplation, reflection, and music as we remember those who have died this year, and before. Rev. Rebecca will be preaching, with guest musician Danny Harrington playing saxophone.

Everyone is invited to bring photographs, preferably framed, for display on our community altar. Photos may be taken home after the service.

"Some people are your relatives but others are your ancestors, and you choose the ones you want to have as ancestors. You create yourself out of those values."

-Ralph Ellison

Attend on YouTube: http://bit.ly/FRSyoutube

This Month's Shared Sunday Collection

This month’s Shared Collection will support the Greater Newbury Elder Pet Fund, serving Newburyport, West Newbury, Amesbury, Salisbury, and Rowley.

To attend worship in person, you must be vaccinated. Those who are unvaccinated are welcome to attend services online. Masks are not required for in-person worship. Socially distant seating is available in designated areas of the sanctuary.

October Letter from the FRS Parish Board

Dear FRS congregation,

Our church year is off to a wonderful start! We are so excited and joyful to be back together again and are looking forward to all that the year will bring.

This letter is the first in a monthly series of updates from the Parish Board (or “PB”) to the congregation. We hope to increase the transparency of our work during the upcoming year.  

If you have any questions regarding the PB plan or anything else contained in our first newsletter, please contact Board Chair Tina Benik at tiben1989@gmail.com. If you are interested in getting involved in any of the existing or to-be-formed teams, listed on the next page, we wholeheartedly encourage you to reach out to let us know and we will make sure you are connected to the right people!

To read the full letter, click the button below.

Photo: Submitted by Linda Harding and Hugh Martinez: "So quiet and such an amazing vista atop this little mountain. Sun was warm, no wind, just us." 

At our next Justice Sunday, please join us for an open forum from 12:30-1:30pm, in the sanctuary and via Zoom, for discussion about the use of Parish Hall as a continued home for the Mirzayee family through June 2024. We will also open the floor for ideas about how to address housing for the family on a longer-term basis.

If you have questions that you would like to submit prior to Justice Sunday, please email Tina Benik at tiben1989@gmail.com. This forum is in preparation for the Special Congregational Meeting scheduled for Sunday, December 4.

 On Justice Sundays we will gather in fellowship for soup, salad, and discussion! Throughout the 2022-23 church year, we are seeking volunteers to bring a soup. To sign up, click on the blue button below the photo:

Immediately following Sunday worship on December 4, FRS will hold a special congregational meeting to ask that the congregation vote to extend the Mirzayee family’s use of Parish Hall as their home through June 30, 2024. 

Register for the meeting here: https://bit.ly/CongMeeting12-4-22

Community Service of Newburyport Personal Care Drive

Our annual Community Service of Newburyport Personal Care Drive will be held Sunday, November 6 and November 13, sponsored by our Community Human Services Committee. You can support this project by bringing items to the table in the vestibule and/or you can make a donation and we will do your shopping. A member of the committee will be collecting cash donations after church each Sunday. Personal care items such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, toilet paper, paper towels, soap, shampoo, deodorant, feminine hygiene products, and diapers are gratefully appreciated. This agency counts on our donations in November to resupply their shelves for the winter months. 



For further information, please contact Linda Buddenhagen, 978-463-0882.

Tuesday Short Story Group

When:1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month, LMH Main Room

The short story group focuses on reading and discussing anthologies. Contact Tom Himmel at thimmel43@mac.com for more information. All welcome to join!

Friday Book Group

When: Fridays from 10-11:30am, LMH Room A and on Zoom

We meet weekly and read both fiction and non-fiction books chosen by the participants. Each book is read and discussed over a period of several meetings, with the reading for each determined by the group. 

We are currently reading The Peabody Sisters by Megan Marshall (who will be speaking at FRS on November 5 at 2pm in the Sanctuary). 

In Part III and into Part IV, early Unitarian doings continue with eldest sister Elizabeth spending increasing time with William Ellery Channing; transcendentalist elements begin to appear along with focus on the education of women in the 1820s with time in Lancaster MA, Maine, Boston, and Brookline.

For the next meeting on October 28, we are reading chapters 16-21 (through Part V), which is through page 233 and continues a deeper dive into the sisters’ lives.

Feel free to join us in progress, even just to listen in on the discussion - summaries of discussions to date are available. We meet in the Lower Meetinghouse, and currently we are doing hybrid meetings for those who need/want to join by Zoom at: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87043885100

For more information, contact Tom Himmel, thimmel43@mac.com.

The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism

An Afternoon with Pulitzer Prize-winning Author Megan Marshall

When: Saturday, November 5 at 2pm in the Sanctuary

Join us for a very special afternoon with Pulitzer Prize winner Megan Marshall, who will speak about her writing and her first biography The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism. Earning praise from William Grimes of The New York Times as “the intellectual equivalent of a triple axel,” Marshall’s group biography explores the lives of Elizabeth, Mary, and Sophia Peabody--our American Brontës--and their central role in shaping the thinking of their day. These remarkable women were Unitarians, Transcendentalists, and friends of Reverend Thomas Wentworth Higginson and other influential 19th century Unitarians. It’s a deep dive into our Unitarian history and an important read. There will be ample time for questions and conversation; you’re encouraged to read the book beforehand if you can, but there will be copies available for sale if you have not yet read it.

Please note that the FRS Friday Book Group has voted to make this their next book for discussion. The group meets every Friday morning at 10am and is always open to new members. Please contact Tom Himmel at thimmel43@mac.com for more information about the Book Group.

Wizards and Sages: A Mid-Week Gathering for Worship, Reflection, and Fellowship with Reverend Rebecca, Church Staff, and FRS Friends

When: Wednesday, November 2 from 12:30-2:30pm

Join us for worship in the sanctuary, followed by conversation over lunch in the Lower Meetinghouse. The worship service is briefer and less formal than a Sunday service—providing a slightly different experience that includes music, quiet, and reflection. Bring a bagged lunch to enjoy in fellowship with Reverend Rebecca, church staff, and other parishioners and friends. All are welcome!

Retired Old Men Eating Out (ROMEO)

When: Tuesday, November 8, noon, Loretta, 15 Pleasant Street, Newburyport

The Officer of the Day is Alec White, 978-462-8753, awwhite1@comcast.net.

No reservations required, but bring small bills to pay your share of the tab.

Thank goodness people are still thankful for goodness.

Amesbury Cultural Council Open Studio Weekend

When: Saturday, November 12 from 10am-5pm at 14 Cedar Street, Amesbury

Parishioner and artist knitter Linda Buddenhagen, owner of LindyWare, will be showing new designs titled "Random Acts of Color Mitts," "Walking together Cowl," plus more. She will also have the old favorites - "Hug Me Cowls," "Hug Me Mitts," "Cake Cowls," "Journey Mitts," etc. 

All made with Peace and Love! Please forward this info to any friends who might be interested. If these dates are not convenient for you, please contact Linda at 978-463-0882, and we will arrange a LindyWare Popup Shop at a time that works for you. Thank you for your support.

Minister–The Reverend Rebecca Bryan; Affiliate Minister–Rev. Stan Barrett; Affiliate Minister–Rev. Helen Murgida; Affiliate Minister-Rev. Jane Tuohy; Minister Emeritus–The Reverend Harold Babcock. Staff: Director of Church Operations–Rob Authier; Office Administrator–Diane Carroll; Audio-Visual Engineer–Rob Close; Director of Children's Ministry–Mara Flynn; Director of Church Music–Justin Murphy-Mancini; Director of Faith Formation and Spiritual Exploration–Julie Parker Amery; Sexton–Donny Rogers; Director of Congregational and Community Engagement–Cynthia Walsh. Parish Board: Chair–Tina Benik; Vice Chair-Jim Supple; Finance Chair–Renée Wolf Foster; Governance Chair–Tom Himmel; Endowment Treasurer–Kim Kenly; Finance Treasurer–Laurie Evans-Daly; Stewardship Chair–Vern Ellis; Parish Clerk–Kathy Desilets; Holly Cashman, Marissa Dewey, Minnie Flanagan, Michelle Kimball, Annie Maurer, Tom Stites.

First Religious Society, Unitarian Universalist | 26 Pleasant St., Newburyport MA 01950

978-465-0602 | frsuu.org