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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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What is your response to something you do not understand? Is it to seek for the answers, or to laugh in amazement? For what is our role, as seekers… do we seek the end or the essence of the journey? - Rev. Anne Mason
About the Music
This Sunday, the sanctuary choir will sing Mark Hayes’ beautiful “Wonder of Winter” and Mark Shepperd’s passionate “Long the Days of Waiting,” with soloists Bert Gassman, Liz Hartmann and David Meharry and also with flutist Meg Newhouse and Ruth Rose playing wind chimes. Our bass soloist David Meharry will sing Gustav Holst’s gentle song “The Heart Worships.” For the postlude, Kelly Rice and Jamie Willis will sing David Foster’s inspiring duet “The Prayer” and for the centering music Rip Jackson will play Sally DeFord’s lyrical arrangement of the Christmas carol “Still, Still, Still.”
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Hello First Parish!
We're seeing lots of bids on the auction website! Don't miss out on one of the "buy now" items on the website -- one of them is already sold out! Bidding on the auction website ends at 5 PM on Saturday.
For the first time in 3 years, there will be a live auction at the church, on Saturday, December 10th with over 20 exciting items up for bid. Doors open at 6 PM, with food, beverages (wine, beer and soda), and live music from a local bluegrass trio. Bidding starts at 7. The items up for bid at the live auction are under the Live Event Items tab at charityauction.bid/fplex.
Can't attend the live auction but want to bid on some items? Fill out a proxy bid form and have one of our proxy bidders bid for you.
Thank you for supporting the church and the Children's Room in Arlington.
Your Auction Co-Chairs
Vicky Guo, Richard Jobling, and Tom Rich
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ANNUAL POINSETTIA ORDERS
Per past tradition, poinsettias may be ordered in honor of or in memory of a loved one. These magnificent plants will adorn our sanctuary not only providing a festive atmosphere for the Season, but also as a reminder of those loved ones before going home with the purchaser. Orders must be received by this Friday, December 9th. Limited quantities are available, so please act quickly. The cost is 30.00 per plant.
ORDER HERE
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Stories, Activism and Dreams:
The collages of
Ekua Holmes
Ekua Holmes, the distinguished, Roxbury-based artist, will be presenting her radiant and joyful collages on Saturday, December 10 at 8 p.m., as part of the Cary Lecture Series at Cary Hall. Ekua’s work encompasses collages depicting Roxbury and elsewhere; illustrations for children’s books, some of which have won the Caldecott Award and the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award. The MFA recently mounted a solo exhibition of her collages, “Paper Stories, Layered Dreams: The Art of Ekua Holmes.”
Last year, the U.U. Urban Ministry presented, via zoom, a Community Conversation featuring Ekua Holmes She is also a community-builder who created The Sunflower Project, begun in 2018. In addition, her works hang in the Boston Athenaeum and thenew Huntington Theatre gallery. Our congregation now owns a large print by Ekua Holmes, donated by Jane Beswick, and framed by Connee Counts, which will soon be hung in our church. She is a wonderful speaker. You now have the opportunity to see
her, live, in Lexington.
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Winter Solstice Experience
On Friday, December 16, 2022 First Parish in Lexington will present a Winter Solstice Experience at 7:00 pm. With music, ritual, candles, dancing and darkness, we will experience the quiet of the longest night, and welcome the sun as we wait for her return. Led by Rev. Anne Mason, Music Director Rip Jackson and Robi Rose, story teller, this will be a mystical experience exploring earth-centered imagery, with an invitation to cherish the darkness. You are invited to set aside your frenetic everyday concerns and take this hour for your own inward journey. The Solstice is honored by indigenous religions around the world and we will have music, dance and poetry which honor many traditions. A group of intergenerational dancers will weave movement and ritual to celebrate the peace of the darkest night of the year and the triumphant return of the sun’s nourishing light. Soprano soloist Natalie Brierre, soprano sax player Katie Runde Sanchez, guitar, electric bass, piano, electronic synthesizer, drums, rain stick, gong, Tibetan singing bowl and other atmospheric musical instruments. They will sing music from diverse genres including music by Paul Winter, Loreena McKennitt, Enya and original music by Rip Jackson. A free will offering will be taken and public parking is in the rear of the church.
|  |  | Save the Date for the 2023 Community Conversation on Race on the MLK Day of Service. Please plan to join the conversation on MLK day in the morning. This event is co-sponsored by the First Parish Racial Justice Committee, and it's success depends on YOU and your voice! Come join the conversation! | 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. | |
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NOTICE OF PARISH BOARD MEETING
December 13, 2022
7:00 p.m.
In Person & Via Zoom
Click here for the agenda & Zoom login information.
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Coming this Weekend in R.E. for Kids & Youth
Spirit Space For Kids and Youth Together
Kids and youth are invited to join Robi, Annelie and helpers on Sunday, December 11th for R.E. special activities exploring advent and preparing our beloved Earth for the winter season. CAT (our Climate Action Team) has invited our Robi with our kids and youth to lead this month's 11th day Climate Ritual happening right after the worship service on the front steps. The entire community is invited to join us in honoring and nurturing our beautiful planet this holiday season.
Senior High Youth Group should stay tuned to hear from John about their field trip plans for the afternoon.
Junior High Youth Group and Coming-of-Age are off on the 11th and will meet on the 18th...
Deadline is this Sunday to Sign-up to help with a special holiday worship service
All families, pairs, teams, etc. are enthusiastically invited to participate in our “Uniquely Unitarian Universalist Christmas: a multigenerational worship service” coming on December 18th in celebrating the many ways Unitarians, Universalists, and Unitarian Universalists have transformed how deep, meaningful, and festive Christmas can be. 2022 has continued to be a struggle for many of us and this a perfect time to come together to learn some of the stories illustrating how our ancestors found light and shared values during dark times. Sign up by Sunday at noon at this link to help us inspire, find hope, and awaken the Christmas spirits of everyone in our community:
Thank you and a link to Rip's Ordination Gift
Many thanks to all of the generous support and contributions from our kids, teens, and families to an absolutely incredible ordination gift for Rip last month! It was a very special day for him and our community. Check out this link to see the book we had printed of your great contributions.
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Guest at Your Table
Naw Wah Ku Shee speaks about a Peace Support Network in Burma.
Guest at Your Table (GAYT) is our UU Service Committee (UUSC)’s annual intergenerational program to raise support for and awareness about key human rights issues. The program is an opportunity to celebrate grassroots partnership, support human rights, and learn about just four of these programs and individuals’ stories—the “guests” in Guest at Your Table. This week learn about Naw Wah Ku Shee speak about the Karen Peace Support Network, which is working with ethnic minorities in Burma to share the experiences of those being targeted by the military junta. Please support our Share the Plate in December for UUSC.
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Voices on the Green, First Parish’s live music and storytelling series, now in its fifth season, seeks storytellers for its February 2023 event. The next show is scheduled for Friday night, February 3, and the theme is Lost and Found.
You have probably lost many things in your life: your keys, your temper, your dog, your faith, the love of your life. Some have been trivial, others important, embarrassing, even devastating. Maybe you lost your job but found your calling. Maybe you lost a fortune but found a long-lost brother, an unexpected talent, or a place you could finally call home. If so, you may have a story we want to hear.
Previous Voices on the Green events have demonstrated the amazing sense of connection formed when people share their heartfelt stories. We want you to be part of that. Coaching is available to help you craft and present your story.
If you think you may have a story to tell, please contact Suzanne Adams or David Rose. Contact should be made by December 15, 2022, to be considered for the February show.
|  | Mónica Guzman - Director of Digital & Storytelling at Braver Angels - presents a compelling argument for how curiosity can build bridges across the political divide. This and other surprises will be the focus of our next meeting on Thursday, December 15th. Please join us! |  | |
11th Hour Calling Witness
Sunday, 12/11 at 11:30
Church Front Steps
Join us for the Climate Action Team's December 11th Hour Calling Witness,
our monthly interfaith witness to combat climate change. It will occur just after the regular church service inside the building. This month’s guest leaders will be our children and youth led by Robi Rose, our First Parish Director of Religious Exploration. They will be leading us in exploring “advent for the Earth, how do we prepare to celebrate the winter holidays in ways that protects, nurtures, and cares for our beloved planet”? Please join us for this unique witness. Plus, invite and bring your friends, etc.
DECEMBER TOPIC:
How to be friendlier to the earth during the holidays
The goal is to reduce, reuse, and recycle.
It takes lots of practice to change our habits.
Please give some of these ideas a try.
Reduce:
1. Give services and experiences instead of “stuff”
2. Give to charities such as UU Mass Action (more to be listed soon)
3. Travel by public transportation and go shorter distances
4. Eat more plants and less meat
5. Use LED lights to reduce electrical power consumption
Reuse:
1. Give previously owned gifts
2. If buying new gifts, choose those made from recycled materials
3. For party dress, add new accessories to already-owned clothes
4. Eat and / or freeze leftover food
Recycle:
1. Give second-hand gifts – save on resources and your budget
2. Give wood and paper gifts made by sustainable producers (who consider the full life cycle of the product)
3. Use gift wrappings made of earth-friendly biodegradable or recyclable materials – Kraft paper (recyclable and compostable), newspapers, children’s art, gift bags, gift boxes, glass jars, Furoshiki (reusable traditional Japanese wrapping cloths) – not plastics.
Bobbie Hodson for CAT
| From choir rehearsals to Soul Matters, Building Bridges to Meditation Group, Soul Matters to Urban Ministry, Democracy Team to Climate Action Team and all of the other wonderful ways to get involved here at First Parish, please check the church calendar. | |
