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TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Sunday Worship Service
- Special Congregational Meeting, December 4: Please Register!
- November Letter from the Parish Board
- December Justice Sunday with Soup and Salad (sign up to make soup)
- A Visualization of Peace Photo from Tina Benik
- Christmas Poinsettias
- Co-creating Joy this Holiday Season
- Historic Church Tours and Cookies for Peace
- Youth Trip Fundraiser
- Daily Muse 2023
- Steeple Mugs Are Back!
- Ways to Donate and Volunteer
- Upcoming Meetings
- This Week's Fellowship Programming
- Community-Wide Events
- Weekly Wellness Programming
- Monday Night Meditation
- Tuesday Spiritual Practice
- Wednesday Guided Relaxation
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Annual Ministry Theme: Peace
December Ministry Theme: Earth
“Time spent among trees is never time wasted.”
-Anonymous
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Sunday Worship Service
December 4, 2022
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Sunday, December 4, 2022
"Her Voice"
10:30am in person and YouTube
Join us as we enter the winter and holiday season with a monthly ministry theme of “Earth.” Reverend Rebecca’s sermon will draw on the work of Robin Wall Kimmerer. The service will reflect on the concept of animacy as we ask ourselves how we can listen to and be in better relationship with the Earth.
“Why is the world so beautiful?”
-Robin Wall Kimmerer
Attend on YouTube: http://bit.ly/FRSyoutube
This Month's Sunday Shared Collection
This month’s Shared Collection partner, Community Action Inc. Energy Program, provides heating assistance, based on household income and size, to residents of Amesbury, Boxford, Georgetown, Groveland, Haverhill, Merrimac, Newbury, Newburyport, Rowley, Salisbury, and West Newbury. Need help? You can check if you are eligible and make an appointment online at www.communityactioninc.org. Let's keep all our neighbors warm this winter. Thank you.
Half of each Sunday’s collection not designated as a pledge supports a local partner working to transform our region.
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Special Congregational Meeting
Sunday, December 4
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Please RSVP today!
On December 4, at noon, FRS will hold a special congregational meeting to ask that the congregation vote to extend the Mirzayee family’s use of Parish Hall as their home through June 30, 2024.
Register for the meeting: https://bit.ly/CongMeeting12-4-22
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November Letter from the Parish Board | |
Learn. Act. Connect. Live your faith.
Join us for Justice Sunday!
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As Unitarian Universalists, we’re called on to advocate, organize, and act for justice as we strive to live out our faith in the world. Unitarian Universalism challenges us not only to seek our own truth and meaning, but to walk a path that honors the inherent worth and dignity of every person, as well as the interdependent web of all beings.
Our Justice Sundays bring together the cornerstones of Unitarian Universalism: normal Sunday worship to feed our spirits followed by time enjoying lunch together as a community to grow in fellowship, and justice learning and action to help us live our faith.
On these once-a-month Sundays, join us in the Lower Meetinghouse after the worship service for a communal lunch of soup and salad and return to the sanctuary (or to a designated location in the community) at 12:30pm for an hour of justice learning and action.
Please consider signing up to make a soup and or bring bread. To sign up to bring a soup in December or another month, please click on the blue button below! Soup makers are asked to prepare soup for 8-10 people and keep soup in a crock pot that can be plugged in.
December’s Justice Sunday will focus on bipartisan legislative efforts to end gun violence in the United States.
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Photo submitted by Tina Benik, "The simple peace and joy of a chalice made with a tea light passed out at our FRS service..." | |
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An Invitation from Program Council
This year's annual ministry theme is peace and we invite you to submit a photo that best represents your visualization of peace - a personal representation or a broader representation of peace in the community or the world.
You can email your photo to cynthia.walsh@frsuu.org or text your photo to 978-701-5352. Please provide a photo caption and your name.
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Christmas Poinsettias
Order your Christmas poinsettias in memory or in celebration of friends or loved ones to decorate the sanctuary for the Candlelight and Christmas Eve services. The cost is $25 for a large plant. A list of donors and their dedication messages will be included in the Candlelight Service and Christmas Eve Service programs. You may pick up your plant after the Christmas Eve Service to enjoy in your home.
The deadline for orders is noon on Monday, December 12th.
Order your plants and submit payment by clicking on the buttons below. When submitting payment, please select "Poinsettias for Holiday Services" from the fund dropdown menu and make sure that the dollar amount equals the total of your order - $25 (for one plant) or $50 (for two plants).
You may also mail or drop off a check to the front office. Checks should be payable to FRS, with "poinsettia" written on the memo line.
Questions? Please contact Diane Carroll, diane.carroll@frsuu.org. Thank you!
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Co-Creating Joy this Holiday Season
First offered in the depths of the pandemic in 2020, our “Co-Creating Joy” program has been so meaningful for participants, that we offer it again, for the third time. We invite you to participate in this program designed to spread a little joy.
How will it work? First, indicate your interest in participating by December 15 by signing up here: bit.ly/FRSCo-CreatingJoy
You will be randomly assigned another participant for whom you will leave a small token of joy. Be creative! It could be a baked good, a photograph or piece of art you've created, a copy of a favorite poem, a book that you find especially meaningful, even found objects from nature. Please do not purchase anything extravagant. Let the gift be an expression of you!
You, in return, will be the recipient of someone else's joyful giving. All exchanges will ideally be in December—but after the holidays is a fine time, too! We can help transport if necessary.
Questions? Contact Julie Parker Amery, Director of Faith Formation and Spiritual Exploration at julie.amery@frsuu.org.
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Help us spread the word about FRS's Historic Church Tours and Cookies for Peace church fundraiser on December 9th. Click on the blue button below to download a pdf of the poster (above) and ask to post in your local library, coffee shop, or community bulletin board! | |
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Have you heard the exciting news? We’re preparing for our first youth justice learning trip since 2019! In June 2023, we’ll be heading out to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, where we’ll learn about life on the Reservation, history, justice and culture; and engage in work projects such as skirting trailers, building outhouses, and delivering beds. The months leading up to then will be spent learning, building our community, and fundraising.
Our first fundraiser, an “envelope drive,” kicks off this Sunday, December 4. Look for the colorful envelopes on display in the vestibule and take one. The envelopes are numbered 1-100. By taking an envelope, you’re pledging to donate the number on your envelope in dollars. (So, for example, if you take the envelope with a 48 on it, you’re offering to donate $48 towards our trip costs.) Put a check or cash in the envelope, and return it either to the basket by the display, to a trip participant, or to Julie Parker Amery, Director of Faith Formation and Spiritual Exploration. Every envelope counts—even the low numbers!
Our group will host fundraisers throughout the year so that the trip is accessible to all youth, regardless of a family’s resources. Families do pay what they feel they can reasonably cover. Our fundraising goal for the year is $6,000. Another fundraiser is the following Sunday, when our trip participants will provide the soup for our Justice Sunday lunch.
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Daily Muse Available Soon!
I will not allow my life’s light
to be determined by the darkness around me. (Sojourner Truth)
This might be precisely the message you need on January 20. Or on March 7, how about:
The wound is the place
where the Light enters you. (Rumi)
The Daily Muse is a collection of 365 inspirational quotes—one for each day of the year—packaged as a standing flip-book for easy display.
Quotes were solicited from the congregation, resulting in a strong mix of quotes representing a diversity of people: Elie Wiesel, Sonia Sotomayor, Anaïs Nin, Greta Thunberg, James Baldwin, Frank Lloyd Wright, Ella Fitzgerald, Zora Neale Hurston, Fred Rogers, and many more.
And the day came when the risk
to remain tight in the bud,
was more painful than the risk
it took to blossom. (Anais Nin, June 11)
The Daily Muse booklets, which make excellent holiday gifts and stocking stuffers, are currently available for $20 each. Plan to pick one up after church beginning December 4 or 11, or order one here: https://bit.ly/FRSDailyMuse2023.
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Steeple Mugs are Back!
And just in time for the holidays. The FRS Men’s group will be hosting a table before and after church where you can purchase beautiful 15 oz. coffee mugs, printed with a graphic of our beloved steeple against a cobalt blue night sky. No inflation here! They are being offered at the same price as two years ago: $10 each. Supply is limited, so we suggest you purchase early. If you cannot make it to church or want to reserve yours, contact Bruce Deveau at bdeveau2@comcast.net or 978-314-1354
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Ways to Donate and Volunteer | | |
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The Joy of Giving
Get your donations ready! Once again, this year we will be collecting new/unused gifts so the children of Kelleher Gardens can holiday “shop” for the important adults in their lives. Do you have lotions, gloves, decorations, tools, hats, jewelry, kitchen items, etc. that you’ve been given and never used? Can you pick up one or two small items while out holiday shopping? Donations of gift bags and tissue paper are also needed. Donations can be left in the back of the Sanctuary (look out for the sign and gift packages).
Questions? Email Nancy Crochiere at ncro27@comcast.net.
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Holiday Program – Family to Family
Each year, the Community Outreach Group of FRS supports the Family to Family program sponsored by Newburyport Youth Services and the YWCA. You can participate by becoming an “Elf” helping to fill the wishes of families in need in the Greater Newburyport community. Last year, the Family to Family program served almost 400 families and over 1,300 people in the Greater Newburyport community. This year there continues to be many families struggling and needing help.
Please visit www.newburyportyouthservices.com or www.ywcanewburyport.org to sign up. For more information, email Barbara Garnis at: barbaragarnis@comcast.net.
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Monthly Animal Bereavement Support Group Begins on Friday, December 2
When: First Friday of the month, Lower Meetinghouse Main Room, 6:30pm
If you have ever had to say farewell to a beloved animal companion, then you have known the heartache and grief that follows such a loss. Yet as a society, we don’t recognize, understand, or honor how heartbreaking that experience is, nor the impact it can have on someone’s emotional and physical well-being. Those who grieve often feel isolated, afraid to talk about their loss, and risk being embarrassed for caring so much about “just” an animal. There are many in our beloved community and beyond who have had this experience and felt the need to carry their grief in silence – for far too long.
Rev. Rebecca, Nancy Kidd, and Renee Wolf Foster invite you to come together on Friday, December 2, at 6:30pm to share our stories, our photos, and our sorrows in a loving, listening group of kindred spirits. All are welcome.
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Upcoming Fellowship Programming | |
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Wizards and Sages
When: Wednesday, December 7 from 12:30-2:30pm, Lower Meetinghouse
Join us for worship in the sanctuary followed by conversation over lunch. The worship service is briefer and less formal than a Sunday service -Providing a slightly different experience that includes music and reflection.
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Holiday Tea
When: Wednesday, December 7 from 12:30-2:30pm, Lower Meetinghouse
Join us for this annual FRS holiday festivity! Stop by and enjoy a cup of tea and light refreshments in fellowship with staff and parishioners.
Please RSVP by emailing Cynthia.Walsh@frsuu.org
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Tuesday Short Story Group
When:1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month, Lower Meeting House (Zoom option available)
Click here for more information.
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Friday Book Group
When: Fridays from 10-11:30am, Lower Meetinghouse Room A and on Zoom
We meet weekly and read both fiction and non-fiction books chosen by the participants. Each book is read and discussed over a period of several meetings, with the reading for each determined by the group.
We finished our discussion of The Peabody Sisters. For our next meeting on Dec 2, we will begin reading the novel ON BEAUTY by Zadie Smith. (New and used copies are readily available.)
For more information, click here.
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The 3rd Annual William Lloyd Garrison Lecture, delivered this year by historian Kabria Baumgartner
When: Saturday, December 10, 2022, 7pm at Old South Presbyterian church, 29 Federal Street, Newburyport or livestream on YouTube
This lecture will examine the lesser-known role that Garrison, and his radical antislavery newspaper played in teaching Black youth communication arts skills that they used to advance the antislavery movement and their own careers in diverse occupations.
For more information click here.
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HOLIDAY MAKERS MARKET
When: Saturday and Sunday, December 3 and 4 from 10-4pm at In Home Design Center, 117 Eastern Ave, Essex, MA
HOLIDAY MARKET 2022
When: Saturday, December 10 from 10-4pm at the Newburyport Senior Center, 331 High St. Newburyport, MA
Benefiting the Anna Jacques Hospital Aid Association
Newburyport Community Senior Center
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December Worship & Events Calendar | |
Weekly Wellness Programming | |
If you would like to publish an announcement or event in the Steeple,
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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 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. | |
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First Religious Society, Unitarian Universalist | 26 Pleasant St., Newburyport MA 01950
978-465-0602 | frsuu.org
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