Sunday, September 26, 10:30 am - in person & online!

Rev. Hillary Collins-Gilpatrick, Minister

Gwen Matthews, Director of Education & Communications

Mack Jones, Children's Teacher

John Auble, Guest Musician

If you're joining in person: Please review our covid-19 safety guidelines on our website. Please also note: In-person worship plans are subject to change dependent on covid-19 case numbers in Cumberland County. We will alert you quickly if such changes occur prior to Sunday. For more information on our re-opening decision process please see our Re-Opening Phase Chart.

If you're joining online: To access the online service, please use this Zoom link and enter the passcode WORSHIP. A Sunday morning email will also be arriving with the Zoom link, order of worship, and a link to the offering.

Dear First U Friends,

A picture message for you this week of the image I preached on this past Sunday: the Crawford Path looking northwest towards Mt. Washington with the Lake of the Clouds standing between the ridgeline and summit.

If it was a video you would see the way the wind up there causes the fog to expand and contract, blow up, down, left, and right. It’s such a straightforward visual metaphor for certainty and uncertainty, eh? That still, steady mountain, so resolute and solid - so certain!

That shifty, ethereal fog, so dynamic and mysterious - so uncertain!

If you were up there watching the wind toss that fog around, it might look to you as though the fog was a living breathing being. That’s what it always looks like to me. I love that actually, about the foggy clouds up there, that there’s so much life to them. Does it change your feelings about uncertainty to think of it not as something that might disrupt your life - but rather as something that might add more life to your life? What if instead of describing “these uncertain times” as uncertain, we instead called them “times in which we are all very alive?”

See you on the trails my friends, be they foggy or clear.

Yours in Woyaya,

Rev. Hillary

Have an idea for First U’s Buildings and Grounds Committee? Annoyed by a loose doorknob? Concerned by the steeple dangling by a thread? Have a question for the Committee? Compliment? Feel free to contact Ben Tupper (207) 699-9686 or Pete Titcomb (207) 317-9738 directly or complete this super brief and easy form. Of course, if it is an emergency then forget the dang form and call one of us right away.  Here are some examples of recent submissions:

“The wooden biscuits in the front yard are becoming a hazard for ankles.”

“A mouse has the run of offices and kitchens.”

“The window in the storage room at back of sanctuary needs attention.”

The Tech Crew is looking for a few more members to assist on Sunday mornings. You could run the Zoom meeting, operate the camera, set up microphones, or help with other tech needs. Training available! Email Rev. Hillary (firstuminister@gmail.com) to join or with questions.

We recently had a fantastic discussion of the book "Nothing to See Here" outside at the church picnic tables.

Coming up soon, Sunday, October 3rd, from 12 - 1 pm, we'll be discussing our next book "Call to Unite." Read the book, choose a favorite, meaningful, or thought-provoking essay you'd like to discuss with the group, and then come if you're able for the discussion. Weather permitting, we'll be meeting outside at church again.

Please fill out this online registration form for all children and youth who will be participating in programs at First Universalist. Thank you!

This year, you can view a schedule of children and youth programs in advance and learn about timing of programs, topics/themes, and facilitators each week. Please also see below to view the September and October RE calendars.

Please note: These plans may be updated as the fall progresses.

Assisting with Children's Chapel is a rewarding way to live and share your Unitarian Universalist values with children ages five to ten. Children's Chapel is a mix of activities, games, celebrations, activities, stories, and group discussion that allows all children to chime in with their big questions and helps them to find their own answers.

As an assistant, you'll support our professional children's teacher during Children's Chapel, but will not be responsible for advance planning or gathering materials. You could assist as frequently as every Sunday or just a few times per church year. Remember that you do not have to have a child in the program to participate!

Questions about what it means to assist with Children's Chapel? Contact Gwen Matthews at gwenatfirstu@gmail.com.

Ready to volunteer? You can sign up for a Sunday morning spot.

The Maine Voices Beyond Prison Walls art exhibit which is part of the Freedom and Captivity Project.

The Freedom and Captivity Project is a statewide public arts and humanities collaborative conceived with the participation of people in Maine impacted by incarceration. The project aims to help the public imagine a future without prisons through exhibitions, workshops, webinars, a podcast series, research, creative production and public education materials.

The Freedom and Captivity Project art exhibit Maine Voices Beyond Prison Walls opened at the Union of Maine Visual Artists Gallery at the Portland Media Center, 516 Congress Street Portland Friday, September 3, 2021 and will run through through October 29, 2021.

Rev. Hillary is back in the Zoom and real life office this August and would like to catch up with you! On Wednesdays from 11 am - 1 pm she will be holding an outside drop-in space at our church picnic tables. All are welcome to come by and check-in. (Weather permitting.)

Throughout the week, Rev. Hillary will be holding office hours for individual conversations. These conversations can be on Zoom, over the phone, or in-person. Please reach out to Rev. Hillary directly to schedule a conversation, firstuminister@gmail.com. Note that Rev. Hillary is not available to meet on Saturdays and Mondays. See you soon!