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In Person & Online
ZOOM LINK
Meeting ID: 946 7374 0010
Passcode: FPLex
Dial in: 646-876-9923
YouTube Link
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Celebration Sunday marks the conclusion of our Annual Stewardship Campaign, and allows us to express joy for our commitment to the work of the parish in the coming fiscal year. Rev. Anne Mason will preach on The Joys of Shared Ministry.
During worship, our U.U. Explorer kids and youth are invited to join us for an adapted version of SpiritPlay highlighting fun exploration, activity choices, reverent spirituality, and various options for exploring our theme of celebrating our beloved planet Earth. Coming-of-Age and Junior Youth Group are off this week while our Senior Youth are invited to gather at 3:45pm to attend the Howe Lecture together and then discuss after as they prepare for their eco-justice service trip in June. Families of youth can see their schedules for the rest of the year in the family email sent last Friday. Contact Robi if you want another copy sent.
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Send us Your Feedback on the Revised ByLaw Proposals for Shared Ministry and Standing Committees
For members who were not able to attend the conversation after church on March 12, we want to hear from you! We hope everyone gets ‘in the know’ about the ByLaw revisions proposed in preparation for voting at the Semi-Annual Meeting this spring. Please provide us your feedback on the proposed Shared Ministry Committee as a new Standing Committee by viewing the video recording, reviewing the suggested resources, and completing the feedback form (send to JoAnn Mulready-Shick) . We hope to hear from you by March 31.
In gratitude,
Your Governance and Shared Ministry Task Forces
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Last Call to Sign-up for our Special Neighboring Faiths Invitation
Our generous Sikh neighbors have invited us to two very special events giving us opportunities to get to know them and their faith tradition.
On Friday, March 31st from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. several Sikh families will meet with us at First Parish to introduce us to their culture and faith, including a kirtan led by children and a joint prayer with Rev. Anne, followed by a delicious homemade traditional meal.
On Friday, April 14th from 8:00 - 9:30 p.m., FPLex parishioners are invited to attend a special holiday service at their temple, Gurdwara Sahib in Westborough that would include the final kirtan (hymns), prayers, and a community meal. (We'll organize carpools for this.)
We hope to follow up on these extremely generous offerings with additional opportunities to share and explore our faiths together. Please let us know which events you and your family plan to join us for so that we can plan accordingly with them.
Sign Up Here
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The First Parish Churches of Lexington and Concord are glad to join together in celebrating our UU communities over the Memorial Day Weekend, May 26-29, with a wonderful, family-friendly weekend at the Ferry Beach Camp and Conference Center in Saco, Maine. For those of you who have never been to this weekend – we warmly invite you to visit the Ferry Beach website to get a glimpse of this gorgeous retreat center.
Here is the link to Registration info which begins March 6, first come/first serve!. We hope many families will join with us and enjoy the wonderful the Ferry Beach housing facilities or at the lovely Grove campground, as well as lots of fun activities for all during the weekend.
Rain or Shine, the beach, the croquet courses, the talent show, board games, puzzles, marshmallow roast/campfire and MORE are waiting for you at Ferry Beach on Memorial Day weekend.
For more information, please see Elisabeth Jas, Deb Weiner Soule, Ben Soule, Susanna Whitman, Amy Jamison, Katie and Regie O’Hare Gibson, or many others who have experienced Ferry Beach. Watch for Registration Materials coming soon!
Warmly,
Your Ferry Beach Coordinating Team
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Here's An Inspiring Way to Support our Youth Group Eco-Justice Service Trip happening Sunday, June 25th to Friday, June 30th. The youth chose to travel to Maine to deep dive into eco-justice, witnessing some of the impacts of climate change, and caring for our natural world. Please consider financially supporting their efforts by signing-up to receive or gift an inspiring daily email (with an image and quote created/chosen by our youth) to inspire you. With Easter, Earth Day, and Mother’s Day all coming soon, what a perfectly eco-friendly way to send a gift while living our values! You and your loved ones can feel a little U.U. spirit every day while lovingly supporting their eco-justice service!
https://forms.gle/aYBCof41iZrMmR8H9
| 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. | |
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First Parish Annual Stewardship Campaign Update
The Annual Stewardship Campaign is when all First Parish members and friends make a commitment to the church to donate a certain amount of money to First Parish for the upcoming church year that begins on July 1, 2023.
Here’s where we stand this week:
- Number of households pledging to date: 92, with a goal of 145
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- Amount pledged to date: $393,285 with a goal of $510,000
You can pledge online HERE. You can also email your pledge to
stewardship@fplex.org or mail your pledge to the church office. For more information on the Stewardship Campaign and for guidance on how much to pledge, please visit fplex.org\stewardship.
Please pledge by March 26. Thank you for your support of First Parish!
Omar Khudari and Tom Rich (Annual Stewardship Campaign Co-Chairs)
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Thursday Afternoon Meditation Group
New beginnings may occur at any moment – upon exchanging smiles with a stranger, after experiencing a meaningful event, when walking through the woods. As emerging spring wraps our world in new beginnings, consider joining a small group of fellow wanderers who gather from 4:00-5:00 every Thursday afternoon in the Parlor for candlelit meditation, quiet conversation, and shared reflection. This is a drop-in gathering with no long term commitment - just come on those days when your schedule allows and your spirit moves. There always will be an open chair for those who come.
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The Great Experiment and follow-up...
The Preserving Our Democracy (POD) Team recently led a book group for The Great Experiment: Why Diverse Democracies Fall Apart and How They Can Endure, by Yascha Mounk. Pete Tasker and Lee Jeffers Brami co-facilitated the three-week discussion, which drew a group of about 16 participants. We explored the many challenges to culturally, ethnically, and religiously diverse democracies around the world, including the U.S. The author delves into why so many diverse democracies fail, and how, even now, we can succeed. Unlike many similar books, he holds up hope for the future, and his views are in alignment with our U.U. values.
As a follow-up to the book, we discussed our own personal intentions, small but meaningful, for helping to prevent further fragmentation of our U.S. democracy. One suggested intention was to try get out of our comfort zones of “bonding social capital” — that is, bonding with “people like us”—and to participate in “bridging social capital” events, involving people of different cultures, religions, and ethnicities.
Two upcoming events at FPLex involve just that: having a Westboro-based Sikh religious group visit our church for dinner and conversation on Friday, March 31; and visiting their temple in Westboro for dinner and Sikh rituals on Friday, April 14. (See the Weekly Update of March 15th for more information and registration details.)
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Become a 2023 General Assembly Delegate!
Have you wondered about the process for becoming a First Parish member delegate to General Assembly? It’s an exciting year with virtual or in-person delegates voting for a new UUA President and important business, including the Article Two process. Learn more about serving as a delegate here. If interested, please speak to Rev. Anne by April 10th.
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To better manage our documents at First Parish Lexington, we are starting a task force to evaluate our options. We will be weighing the benefits and drawbacks of the different tools and creating a plan for a system moving forward. If you have an interest in being a part of this task force, please contact either Scott Abrahamson at admin@fplex.org or Brian Herrick so we can include you in the meetings. We expect to meet every other week for 3 months.
Thank you,
Brian Herrick
Board Chair
| 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. | |
