The Spire

the electronic newsletter of

First Parish of Norwell,

Unitarian Universalist

In - Spire - ing News UUs Can Use

September 28, 2023

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click here to email the Church Office

In This Issue

Sunday Worship

From the Minister

Installation Updates

Spiritual Snack

Caring Corner

Special Parish Meeting

Teaching Assistants Needed

RE Activities

Parenting Workshops

FPN Book Group

An Afternoon at the Movies

Mental Health Treatment Grants

Yoga

Poetry Series

Community Dinners

Black Earth Compost

Buildings and Grounds Updates

From the Office

James Library

Ongoing/Recurring Events

Multiplatform Services on

Sundays at 10 am

Rev. Susan Chorley preaching

unless indicated otherwise

Our Soul Matters theme for the month is on Heritage and continuing our World Religions focus we will spend some time exploring Buddhist practices and Native/Indigenous Spirituality

October 1 at 10 am: Re-Imagining our Shared Commitment

Rev. Susan and Rev. Jo VonRue will share the pulpit this Sunday. Linda Twomey will share a reflection.

In today’s service we will be creating a Woven Blessing to symbolize the official beginning of Rev. Susan’s time as our Settled Minister. If you brought a piece of fabric, ribbon, cord - wonderful! If you did not, there are some to choose from in the front of the Meetinghouse. Amanda Adams will explain our process during the Opening Activity. The children will weave their blessing during the Time for All Ages and adults during each of the hymns. We’d also like to add some words of blessing to the tapestry. So please be thinking of a word or phrase that describes Rev. Susan’s ministry among us and write on a notecard in your pew. The words will be added to the frame this afternoon. Thanks to Marie Miller, Heather Comeau and Kate Sanborn for coordinating this artistic creation!

Since the Parish Hall will be set up for the celebration following Rev. Susan's installation, there will be a mini Coffee Hour set up in the hallway.

October 1 at 4 pm:

Rev. Susan's Installation

October 8: Honoring Indigenous Teachings (Katherine Gavin, Worship Associate)

October 15: Social Justice Legacy

(JP Bourque, Worship Associate)

October 22: Centering Mental Health

(Peg Carpenter, Worship Associate)

October 29: Multi-generational Worship led by Amanda Adams and RE, with a closing ritual to honor those dear to us who have passed on in the previous year

click here to join any morning worship service in October

Meeting ID: 864 9083 0821

Passcode: Heritage

Dial by your location

+1 646 931 3860

Meeting ID: 864 9083 0821

There is a separate Zoom link for the installation; see the article below.

Please send your joys and concerns to Rev. Susan by 8:30 am on Sundays. be sure to tell her if your news can be shared with the congregation or if it should be kept private. The 4th Sunday of each month will include am "open mic" component to Joys and Concerns.

From the Minister

It has been a joy to gather again this Fall and to explore our Unitarian Universalist value of being a welcoming community. I am very much looking forward to gathering *twice* with you this coming Sunday (10 am worship and 4 pm Installation) to celebrate and ritually honor the official beginning of our shared ministry serving as your Settled Minister. It will be a full and festive day and I am so grateful for everyone who has contributed to make the day special for us all.

During the month of October we will explore the theme of Heritage. We will explore a variety of heritages that continue to have influence on our congregation and on the South Shore. I invite you this month to reflect on your family of origin and your personal ancestral heritage.

What have you learned from your ancestors?
What parts of their teachings or practices do you take forward and embrace?
What parts do you want to let go of or even make peace with?

Not everything about our heritage is pretty or perfect and that gives us space to speak about such things as the pain of genocide and stolen land, our inheritance of white supremacy culture, the challenges around climate change. As we face these jagged edges of our heritage – we can also celebrate this community’s commitment to supporting wellness and mental health. No matter where we have come from, humans need reassurance, support, and care. It is my hope we will keep the well-being of all central in our exploration of heritage. Our future depends upon it.

To more truth and more care,

Rev. Susan

Rev. Susan's Installation!

We have been joyfully anticipating this day since the congregation voted in May to call Rev. Susan as our 30th settled minister. Some reminders for you:

Bring some yarn, ribbon or fabric to the morning service to be incorporated into a woven blessing.
If you're attending the morning service, iced tea and lemonade can be dropped off then.
Please wear festive and/or brightly colored clothing.
There will be reserved seating in front of the harpsichord where masks are required. Let an usher know when you arrive if you would like to sit here.
The collection during the service will benefit two organizations close to Rev. Susan's heart: the North/South Rivers Watershed Association and the UU Urban ministry.
The service will be shown on Zoom, if you can't attend in person.

click here to join the installation service

Meeting ID: 824 8382 2267

Passcode: Susan!

Dial by your location

+1 646 931 3860

Meeting ID: 824 8382 2267

Spiritual Snack

Calvin: They say the world is a stage. But obviously the play is unrehearsed and everybody is ad-libbing his lines.

Hobbes: Maybe that’s why it’s hard to tell if we’re living in a tragedy or a farce.

Calvin: We need more special effects and dance numbers.

Caring Corner

For many years, First Parish of Norwell has had a Pastoral Care or Outreach Committee. Its role is to assist the minister in meeting the needs of church members and friends. They oversee the church Care Network which provides meals, transportation, and general assistance to church members when needed. They also assist the minister with phone calls and visits to sick or hospitalized parishioners, and send sympathy, get well and new baby cards as appropriate. In addition, a member coordinates hosts and hostesses for Sunday Coffee Hour and the upkeep of the Memorial Garden. We have decided to rename ourselves as the Congregational Care Committee. We are here to assist you when you need us. We welcome many hands to help and have decided to reinstitute having a few ready meals in the church freezer, which we did a few years ago. There are guidelines posted on the freezer. Email Sue Robinson when you add a meal (dated and with ingredients listed). If you are interested in joining the Committee, let Marcia Babcock know. We meet every few months as needed and keep everyone updated on needs by email. Call any of us with your needs and ideas.

Current members: Marcia Babcock, Chair; Rev. Susan Chorley, Minister; Sue Robinson, Debbie Chase, Peg Kitchenham, Joyce Hockman, Joanne Howard, Betsey Detwiler and Page Railsback.

Special Parish Meeting

There will be an important Special Parish Meeting held here in the Meetinghouse on Sunday, October 8, at 11:30 am. We will be voting to accept new members as well as acting on the financial reports for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023.

Please click here to read the financial reports.

SPECIAL PARISH MEETING AGENDA

The members of First Parish of Norwell are hereby notified of a Special Parish Meeting to be held Sunday, October 8, 2023, at 11:30 a.m., in the Meetinghouse, to hear and act upon the following items:

ITEMS TO BE VOTED ON:

ITEM 1: To act upon the acceptance of new members.

ITEM 2: To hear and act upon the financial reports of committees for the year ending June 30, 2023 (July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2023).

September 21, 2023 N. Dexter Robinson

Norwell, Massachusetts Parish Clerk

Can You Help the RE Program?

The RE program is searching for teaching assistants to help the teachers each week. Please sign up! Ask anyone who’s done it – it is super simple. No prep involved, just come for one class and help the teacher. Plus, you get to hang out with some of the great FPN kids!

RE Activities

Next week will begin our October study of Buddhism. Our Picture Book students will learn about Buddhist attitudes towards animals, our Holidays and Holy Days class will learn about Vesak, or Buddha’s birthday, and our Neighboring Faiths students will study the Four Noble Truths. Everyone may even try out some meditation!

Community Dinner and Service Project: Tuesday, October 10 at 5

pm (service project at 6:30)

Join us for a shared meal and conversation, then help make shoes for Ugandans! Bring old jeans that can no longer be worn and fabric scissors, if you have them. We’ll be cutting the denim into a shoe pattern for Project Sole Hope. Details about volunteering with the dinner itself are below

Parenting workshops will be presented on consecutive Sundays, October 15 and 22 at 11:30 am. More information can be found below.

Parenting Workshops

The Mental Health Action Team is delighted to present two parenting workshops.

The first program is titled “Peaceful Parenting”, and will include strategies to help parents to:

build an authentic and compassionate relationship with their child,
learn how to model effective communication and thoughtful responses,
set boundaries using structure and routine to encourage positive behaviors,
devise strategies for concentration, coping skills, stress management and sleep,
focus on your child’s strengths, building self-esteem and decision making,
understand the positive impacts of mindfulness, and
create a peaceful home environment.

The “Peaceful Parenting” session will be held Sunday, October 15 from 11:30 am – 1:00 pm in the Meetinghouse.

The second program is titled “Anxiety and Stress Management” will take a deeper dive into parenting children with anxiety, and provide strategies for stress management. It will be held Sunday, October 22 from 11:30 am - 1:00 pm in the Meetinghouse.

Both programs will be simulcast on Zoom for those unable to attend in person. Join the Zoom meeting for either session:

click here to join

Meeting ID: 840 6715 9093

Passcode: 047679

Dial by your location

+1 646 931 3860

The sessions will build on each other, but will also stand alone for those unable to attend both. Both sessions are free and open to the public. Free childcare will also be available. If it is nice out, the kids will be out on the playground!

First Parish of Norwell Book Group

Please join us for any or all of our monthly book discussions. We meet on the 3rd Monday of each month at 7:30 pm (new time) on Zoom.

Monday, October 16: "Dear America, Notes of an Undocumented Citizen" by Antonio Vargas

Monday, November 20: "Small Mercies" by Dennis Lehane

Monday, December 17: book selection TBA

Monday, January, 15: "West with Giraffes" by Lynda Rutledge - tells the great adventure story of 17-year-old Woodrow Wilson Nickel, who drives two giraffes cross-country in 1938 America.

click here to join

Meeting ID: 847 0898 5879

Passcode: Bookworms

An Afternoon at the Movies

Thursday, October 19 at 3:30 pm

Barbie was so fun we will do another outing. A little different this time and in Braintree (the film is only in AMC Theaters). So far 2 of us are set to experience the Taylor Swift concert documentary. It’s 2 and a half hours, which will get us out at 6-ish. Dinner at Legals for anyone interested after (it’s about 1/4 mile from the theater at the bottom of the hill). To go, simply get on the AMC website and buy a ticket but do it quickly as they are selling fast. We may not be sitting together but will be at the same show/same theater and can dine afterward. Let Becky Smock know if you would like to be on the dinner reservation.

Mental Health

Action Team

The Mental Health Action Team (MHAT), an arm of the Fogg Outreach Committee, offers a financial aid assistance fund to aid parishioners of First Parish of Norwell with high deductibles or large co-pays who wish to access mental health services. The application is on the First Parish website and Rev. Susan confidentially reviews all applications. Members of the congregation and long-time attendees are encouraged to apply soon - the money allocated is there for you! Questions and comments regarding the application process may be addressed to Rev. Susan.

Yoga Classes Return!

This fall our Mental Health Action Team is sponsoring a restorative yoga class led by local yoga teacher, Susan Walsh, in the Parish Hall beginning Thursday, September 28 at 7 pm. Susan teaches for all levels and is skilled at offering options for injuries or other special needs. The first 4 weeks are free and then $10/class moving forward. Come and invite a friend to join you. (Please bring your own mat if you have one.)

Monthly Lunchtime Interfaith Poetry Series

Rev. Susan will be leading an Interfaith Poetry group on a monthly basis this year. On the second Thursday of each month from 12-1 pm we will learn about a unique world religion, as well as a poet who represents that religion. We will then read a poem by that poet and reflect on its meaning for us in this moment as well as its illustration of the religion we are centering. Join us for a lovely and unique way to learn together through the arts.

Thursday, October 12: Buddhism

Thursday, November 9: Indigenous Faiths

Thursday, December 14: Christianity

Community Dinners Continue

Of the 27 Community Dinners this church has offered and you have sponsored, our September Dinner was the biggest ever! We seated over 100 people and all the food was served. Our friends and neighbors came hungry for food and company and they left satisfied. Our church - you - made that possible. Community Dinner is important to our church and everyone at FPNUU has a stake in that.

Our monthly second Tuesday Community Dinner Program continues on Tuesday, October 10 at 5 pm. The food, fellowship and energy are all great. Please join us and see for yourself! Following dinner, there will be a service project making shoes for people in Uganda using old blue jeans.

If you want to help, you can start by coming to dinner. Sitting with others and helping them feel welcome as you enjoy their company and your own dinner. You can also help by inviting your friends and neighbors to attend, especially providing rides for people who wouldn't otherwise be able to attend. All these are important to our success and you can be proud of helping the church and the volunteers.

If you want to join in with our enthusiastic volunteers - who also have dinner - you might try participating by:

Signing up to prepare food (this can be done on your own schedule): Betsey Drollett (781-934-6672 or via email)
Setting up the morning of the dinner: Marcia Babcock (781-659-2956 or via email)
Working the dinner itself in the kitchen, serving guests, cleaning up or greeting guests at the door: Jack Wallace (781-834-4696 or via email)

Because friends and neighbors come to dinner, we know our dinner is relevant to them. Being relevant makes us good stewards to the legacy of commitment that came before us AND helps us do the constant work of keeping our own church alive and relevant to current and future generations.

Community Dinner helps us feel excited and energized about our church, which makes us want to share the good we do together. Because of the many thank-yous we get from our guests, being at dinner is uplifting. Everyone who volunteers feels like they have fostered this good energy and, in turn, make their fellow volunteers feel special by volunteering with them. Everyone in this church, whether volunteers or not, can be excited by the good we are doing in our community and feel proud of that.

Black Earth Compost

As you may have noticed we now have a large green bin for composting on Sundays. We have partnered with Black Earth Compost for this program. This is an initiative sponsored by the Climate Justice Team inviting us to care for our environment by not placing more compostable items into a landfill and reducing methane emissions. During coffee hour each week a member of our climate justice team will be standing by the bin to assist in learning what can go in the bin and what cannot. We’re all learning. Please see this PDF with all the do’s and don’ts of our compost bin; a copy is also on the bin itself.

Buildings and Grounds Updates

Over the summer, we were able to get quite a bit of work done:

Dexter Robinson: research ,order and install the new PA system in the parish hall and hold a teaching session with the parishioners
Bob Gramarossa: donation of a CD player and help with installation of the PA system, as well as completion and assistance with many projects, both inside and outside
Dave Horton: refurbish our portable podium to look bright and shiny once more
Linda Twomey: for her continued great work on the Parsonage and church grounds
Bernie Perry: for his commitment to continue improving the Kent House grounds

Sincere thanks and appreciation from the Buildings and Grounds Committee

From the Office

Hopefully by now you have all checked out FPN's new website. You can view it by clicking in the steeple drawing at the top of the Spire. We partnered with SHD Marketing and Design and are so pleased with the results. Some sections are still works in progress, especially the calendar. Meanwhile, feel free to email Hope with any scheduling questions or requests. Your patience is appreciated!

The James Library

Our neighbor and program The James Library has lots of great events coming up. You can check out the events here.. We’d like to highlight the Art Exhibit by Kayleigh MacDonald that opens on October 13 and runs through November 11. "What We Carry" is an ongoing photographic investigation of sustained vigilance as a source of trauma. Portraits of women and gender non-conforming individuals with what is physically carried for protection serve as a point of entry for conversations surrounding self-preservation, collective trauma, and recent gender-based legislation. In light of the shared focus we have here on supporting the LGBTQ+ communities and ending gun violence – this is a fascinating juxtaposition for us to witness and ponder.