January 25, 2023

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Sunday Worship
• Justice Sunday with Soup and Salad and Programming
• Donate a Hymnal to FRS!
• Sunday's Young Church Activities
• Photos from Young Church
• Barbara Owen Honored with the Title of Director of Church Music Emerita
• A Visualization of Peace Photo from Minnie Flanagan
• Newbury Food Donations Now Being Accepted
• Save the date: Our Parish's 300th Anniversary Planning Meeting
• Climate Action Project (CAP) is now the Green Team
• Upcoming Fellowship Programming
• Weekly Wellness Programming
• Monday Night Meditation
• Tuesday Spiritual Practice
• Wednesday Guided Relaxation
• Beyond Our Doors: Events in the greater Newburyport area

Annual Ministry Theme: Peace

January Ministry Theme: Change

Thomas Wentworth Higginson as a young man in 1857, ten years after he was hired at Newburyport.

Sunday, January 29, 2023

"My Position as an Abolitionist They Could Not Bear": The Brief Newburyport Ministry of Thomas Wentworth Higginson

10:30am in the Sanctuary and on YouTube

In September 1847, recent divinity school graduate Thomas Wentworth Higginson, age 24, accepted the pulpit at the First Religious Society in Newburyport. It was his first pastorate, he was a newlywed, and his liberal politics were not yet radical. Buy by the time he resigned his ministry there exactly two years later, his antislavery sentiments had become intolerable to many in the congregation. Drawing largely on Higginson's unpublished correspondence, guest speaker Dr. Sandra Harbert Petrulionis will present the evolution of Higginson's short time at the Newburyport FRS. Q&A with Dr. Petrulionis immediately follows worship.

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

To learn more about Dr. Petrulionis click the blue button below:

This Sunday: Justice Sunday

Following the Q&A with Dr. Petrulionis, everyone is invited to join in fellowship over soup and salad in the Lower Meetinghouse. At 12:30pm in the Sanctuary, join the Anti-Racism Initiative Core Team to reflect upon our FRS antislavery history and learn why the 8th Principle Project is important to BIPOC individuals. Together, we look forward to exploring how the UUA’s 8th Principle may promote spiritual wholeness and guide the intersectionality of our work with other FRS social action groups.

We are in the process of acquiring more hymnals for the Sanctuary to make it easier for all of us to sing together. We hope to purchase 25 additional copies of Singing the Living Tradition (the “grey” hymnal) and 50 additional copies of Singing the Journey (the “teal” hymnal). We are also hoping to purchase 5-10 additional large-print hymnals as well to increase our congregation’s accessibility.

Donating a hymnal is a wonderful opportunity to support FRS and to honor a loved one. If you would like to donate a hymnal (or two, or three!), you are invited to include a dedication with this gift. A bookplate with the dedication will be placed inside the front cover of the hymnal. You can take a look around at the hymnals in the Sanctuary to see that many people have taken this opportunity in the past.

To donate a hymnal, click here to learn more.

After reading "Shades of People" by Shelley Rotner and Sheila M. Kelly, Young Church children had so much fun making foam people in all the shades!

In recognition of her long and dedicated service to FRS, the Parish Board unanimously agreed to honor Barbara Owen with the title of Director of Church Music Emerita. This was announced at an event celebrating Barbara’s 90th birthday on January 21, presented jointly by FRS and the Methuen Memorial Music Hall. Organists, instrument builders, and scholars from around the country joined together to share stories of Barbara’s many accomplishments and the immeasurable impact she has had on the lives of organists, musicians, and Unitarian Universalists. At this event, Barbara also received the Clara Barton Award from the UU Women’s Alliance. 

Barbara Owen served faithfully as Director of Church Music at FRS from 1963-2002. She grew the still-new choir program into a robust ensemble that forms a vital core of our weekly services. Under her leadership, the Candlelight Service evolved into a beloved Newburyport tradition; to this day, FRS has an enviable library of Christmas music from around the world. Barbara lent her skills as a historian to the second volume of the church's history in 2001.

Beyond FRS, Barbara was a founding member of the Organ Historical Society and has served on the board of the Methuen Memorial Music Hall for over 50 years. Her connections to musicians and scholars around the world brought many ancillary gifts to the church, including the preservation of the organ. Finally, it should be noted that Barbara's experience in organbuilding allowed her to help out our partner church in Ujszékely when members of FRS visited Romania.

Rev. Rebecca and Linda Lu Burciaga

Linda Lu Burciaga and Barbara Owen

Barbara Owen with Saturday's presenters and musicians

Photo submitted by Minnie Flanagan: "Hudson Valley, NY"

Newbury Food Pantry Donations

The Community Outreach Group of FRS is sponsoring a food drive to benefit the Newbury Food Pantry during the month of February. Donations can be left on the right shelf at the back of the church as you exit. The Newbury Food Pantry is currently serving an average of 480 guests each week. Your donations are gratefully appreciated especially at this time of need. The wish list for food and personal care items includes hearty soups, rice and pasta sides, Instant coffee, muffin and quick bread mixes, gluten free products, toothpaste, shampoo, liquid soap, toilet paper and paper towels. Questions? Contact Linda Buddenhagen at 978-463-0882.

Save the date: Our Parish's 300th Anniversary Planning Kick-off Meeting

When: Sunday, February 12 from 11:30-12:30pm in the Lower Meetinghouse

Come learn, share ideas, bring your questions, and consider getting involved in the planning for our 300th anniversary, which will be celebrated in 2025!

Climate Action Project (CAP) is now the Green Team

At our January meeting of the FRS Climate Action Project, better known as CAP, we chose to rename ourselves the Green Team. We also adopted Lance Hidy’s Climate Justice image as our logo.

Why the name change to Green Team?

While we are thrilled by all we have accomplished in the past, we sense that the “CAP” acronym does not resonate within our congregation. We continue to field the frequent question, “What is CAP?” Some research has shown us that “Green Team” is frequently used by congregations of all denominations. The name seems generally self-explanatory. It’s also nicely alliterative and rolls off the tongue more easily than “Climate Action Project.” We hope that this “rebranding” makes the general thrust of our mission more immediately accessible to everyone.  

For more about CAP’s history and the Green Team activities, click here.

State of the City and Mayor's Community and Public Service Awards

When: Wednesday, January 25 at 7pm, Newburyport City Hall Auditorium

Rev. Rebecca has been invited to deliver the opening prayer.

For more information, click here.

Dancing on a Volcano

The story of Nadja Merino-Kalfel

When: Thursday, January 26, 6:30pm, Nock School Auditorium, 70 Low St., Newburyport

In commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, attend a free screening of this riveting documentary highlighting one family's dramatic escape from Nazi-occupied Europe. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Jesse Kalfel, Nadja's son.

This free event is hosted by Newburyport Human Rights Commission and

Congregation Ahavas Achim.

The Art of Loving Wisely: A Buddhist Meditative Approach

When: Saturday, January 28, 10am-12:30pm, Internal Arts New England

To love and be loved widely is one of the greatest joys and also one of the greatest challenges of being alive. Often wise love feels like a fleeting gift that we can't control. True enough, but it also expresses qualities of the heart that can be discovered and cultivated intentionally. The Buddhist practice of mindfulness and loving kindness can positively affect the quality of how we relate to ourselves, those close in our lives, and all those we encounter in our daily lives. In this half-day workshop, guided and silent sitting meditation sessions will be combined with walking periods and time for discussion.

New and experience meditators alike are welcome to attend, as we explore Buddhist-inspired skill sets to help us to love wisely, and live deeply in the present moment.

To purchase tickets, click here.

Newburyport Black History Initiative

Dedication of Inaugural Historic Sign

When: Wednesday, February 1 at 4pm

Save the date! The Newburyport Black History Initiative (Geordie Vining, Dr. Kabria Baumgartner, and Cynthia “Cyd” Raschke) will host a ceremony Wednesday, February 1, 2023 at 4pm to celebrate the installation of the first NBHI historic interpretive sign in Newburyport. The event will be held outdoors on the Clipper Rail Trail just south of Low Street on a former railroad bridge that today is part of the rail trail. 

The February 1 event will introduce “A Black Neighborhood in Historic Newburyport.” This panel is located near a once-thriving but now long-gone African American neighborhood nicknamed “Guinea Village,” a historic village Ghlee Woodworth has featured in her publications. Back in the day, local people called the adjacent railroad bridge “Guinea Bridge,” a name that lingered into the 1980s even though its history had been forgotten. Cyd is grateful to the FRSUU for supporting her efforts to install this panel which now will be one of many upcoming signs to focus on the stories of Black Americans who lived and worked in Newburyport from the pre-Revolutionary War era to the early 20th century.

Once a month we will publish a list of thanks to all who help to make our day a little brighter and our community stronger!

If you would like to thank another parishioner, please email cynthia.walsh@frsuu.org.

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 Church Music Emerita–Barbara Owen; 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