July 6: Connie Panzarino - Human Rights Activist Speakers: Kate

HERE’S JUST SOME OF
WHAT’S INSIDE….
JULY WORSHIP SERVICES
From the Minister
Trip to Emerson House
Summer Theme: “People Who Inspire Us”
10:15am each Sunday
Childcare Provided
Page 2
Presidential Ponderings
July 6:
Connie Panzarino - Human Rights Activist
Speakers: Kate and Mare Parker O’Toole
July 13:
Charles Darwin – Scientist
Speakers: Tom Kinraide and Bill Fox
July 20:
Jesus of Nazareth– Spiritual Teacher
Speakers: Laurie and Ray Wallace
July 27:
Olympia Brown – Universalist Minister
Speaker: Chris Scheller
Page 3
From the DRE
Our Whole Lives
REcyclers Alert
Contacting the DRE
Page 4
July Programs:
Movie Night, Bible Study,
Writer’s Group, Book Group,
Let’s Laugh Today
Fireworks at Nelson’s
Summer Office Hours
Meetinghouse News
Page 5
Partner Church News
Joint GA Statement
Page 6
Social Justice News:
Brown Envelope
UU Mass Action
During the Summer
and more...
Page 7
Mass. Trust Act
Ferry Beach
Page 8
Calendar
Summer Rental
Page 9
Each Sunday service will include Music, Joys and Concerns,
Chalice Lighting, Covenant, Offertory with brown envelopes,
Hymns, as well as an extended time of congregational sharing.
The service will be followed by a time of fellowship and refreshment on the front lawn.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Worship reminder:
Water Communion Sunday Service will be September 7th. If
you want, gather water from some special place this summer to
pour into our common bowl on the first Sunday of our new
church year.
Published by the
Unitarian Church of Sharon
From the Minister
A Welcoming Congregation
of the
Unitarian Universalist
Association
Summer at UCS
4 North Main Street
Sharon, MA 02067
781/784-3652
www.uusharon.org
President
Jim Mullin
[email protected]
Minister
Rev. Jim Robinson
Office Hours
Tu W Thu Fri
9:00am – 1:00pm
(Day off is Monday)
781/784-3652 x2
[email protected]
Contact Jim for an evening or
weekend appointment
Brad Larson (whose vocation is creating interactive museum exhibits) gave
an interesting presentation at a recent “Conversations at the Meetinghouse”
evening. His topic was how to get the most out of a museum visit. Then he
proposed that we visit local museums as a group, and instantly he had a signup sheet of nearly 20 people. In discussions with Brad, we have decided to
visit one museum each season. These visits would include a time for us to
talk, as a group, about our experience of the museum and what it teaches us or
evokes in us. This summer we will visit the Ralph Waldo Emerson House Museum in Concord, Mass. The description of this outing is below.
While the summer season at UCS has fewer activities, we will meet each
Sunday at 10:15am for worship followed by a time of fellowship on the front
lawn. Our theme this summer is “People Who Inspire Us”. Each service will
include an extended time of congregational sharing. These summer services
are stimulating, inspiring, and community building. In addition, a few of our
adult groups will continue to meet over the summer.
Jim Robinson
Director of Religious Ed.
Louise Marcoux
Office Hours
Tu W Th
8:30am - 2:30pm
781/784-3652 x3
[email protected]
Administrative Assistant
Janet Mayo
Limited Summer Hours
781/784-3652 x1
[email protected]
Newsletter Editor
Janet Mayo
[email protected]
NEWSLETTER DEADLINE
FRIDAY, JULY 25TH
5PM
Submit articles to
[email protected]
Trip to the EMERSON HOUSE MUSEUM
in Concord, MA.
When:
July 26, Saturday, Leave at 9am to be back in Sharon around 3pm
Schedule: Meet at 9am at the church for car pooling. We will have a one
hour tour of the Ralph Waldo Emerson House Museum, then meet for an
hour at First Parish Concord (Emerson’s family church) to discuss Emerson
(discussion facilitated by Jim Robinson – including reading passages from his
essays). After which we will briefly visit Emerson’s early childhood home
and the Old North Bridge to read Emerson’s famous poem engraved there,
briefly visit his graveside, and then have lunch at the Colonial Inn in Concord.
Cost: The cost is $7 for the museum and the price of your lunch.
RSVP at [email protected].
In preparation you are invited to view a video about Emerson by googling
“Emerson: The Ideal in America”, or by going directly to
www.cultureunplugged.com/documentary/watch-online/filmmedia/play/288/
Emerson--The-Ideal-in-America. Viewing this excellent documentary (about
50 minutes in length) will enhance your visit to the Emerson House Museum.
Presidential Ponderings
I keep thinking things are busy and they keep getting busier. June has been busy with our Annual Meeting at
the start of the month and the five day General Assembly which is going on as I write this article. The big
items at our Annual Meeting were passing the budget and approving the restructuring of our Sunday Services
to have a 30-minute Family service before the regular service right afterwards. The RE participants will leave
after the service. This will start in September. You also reelected me, thank you.
The General Assembly, in addition to being educational,
will, among other topics, deal with the potential divestiture
of any fossil fuel investments as have many other organizations. There are good arguments on both sides of this issue.
On the plus side divestiture shows a moral position on the
matter and the bad publicity generated by divestiture has
influenced the policies of affected companies. Additionally
the funds that promote compassionate investment do some
very useful things around the country. On the con side, if
you own enough of a stock you can change the course of a
company, perhaps make it less damaging and the publicity
around divestiture will die out once everyone has divested.
Additionally we use a lot of fossil fuels for people who are
so against their production. It should be an interesting vote.
We get a vote on this and other matters through our delegates. Our delegates include Rev. Jim Robinson, Beth
McGregor, Lucy Jones, Gare Reid Jr, and yours truly.
Other people going to the GA (mostly known because I’ve
seen or heard from them so I may have left some of us out)
include Bill Fox, Sue Allison, Janet Schmidt, Gary Webber, Valerie White, Rory McGregor, Bernie Greenberg,
Elaine Price, Edele Panessidi, and Ellen Scott. The attached
picture is of Sue and Janet in front of our banner at the GA.
I had returned from a four-day conference in Orlando and got to sleep at around 2:00 AM the night before my
first day at the GA so I looked and felt my best. Today I am better rested. I hope many of you were able to attend at least part of the GA since it is usually in other parts of the country and really is (or by the time you read
this, was) quite impressive. Now to get dressed and get back to Providence.
Jim Mullin
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS
From the Director of
Religious Education
As you work out your child’s extracurriculars for the
next year…
Thank you!
Please remember that the Our Whole Lives comprehensive sexuality education program will be offered next year at church.
Thank you to everyone who volunteered this past year in the religious
education program! Once again, you
reminded me of the power of collective action – together we created
something greater than the sum of its
parts.
For grades 7-8, the program will be held on 14 Sunday evenings
from October through March.
Thank you for sharing your creativity,
for communicating carefully and frequently, and for developing so much
team spirit.
For more information about Our Whole Lives, please contact
Louise Marcoux.
And thank you to everyone who has
volunteered to be part of next year’s
program. Our goals were ambitious –
to narrow age-groupings and “rightsize” groups in our rapidly growing
program by adding an additional team
of teachers. Thanks to you, we now
have five fully-staffed teaching teams
for Sunday morning, staffed by 9
youth and 37 adults, and two Our
Whole Lives teaching teams, staffed by
6 adults.
Thank you, also, to those of you who
gave a lot of thought to volunteering
and then said “not this year but maybe
next.” Your interest in being part of
the RE program in the future is so
heartening. This church is successful
because someone offers to step up
when another person needs to step
back. Together we make it happen.
Wishing you a wonder-filled summer!
Louise
For grades 5-6, the program will be held on 8 Sunday evenings
from January through early April.
OWL is generally not held on holiday weekends or during school
vacations.
REcyclers alert
Please save these items for reuse by the RE program:
1)
Packing material: flat foam pieces or sheets (no "shaped"
pieces please)
2)
Parenting magazines or other magazines featuring photos depicting babies, children, and families.
Donations are welcome in August.
If you have other items that you think might be of use to the RE
program, please contact Louise Marcoux in August.
Thanks for giving these items another life and supporting creativity
at church.
Contacting the Director of Religious Education
Louise Marcoux will be on leave for most of July. During Religious Education Week at Ferry Beach (July 5-11), she is available
to congregants at Ferry Beach and via email.
Louise’s office hours during August will vary. Please arrange an
appointment in advance or call before dropping in at church.
JULY PROGRAMS
July 11, Friday, 7pm: Movie Night. We will view and discuss “The Whale Rider”, a film set in New Zealand
focusing on Maori characters facing a changing world and cultural prejudice. Underlying this is a deep spiritual message about our connection to nature.
July 12, Saturday, 9am: Bible Study Group. We will focus on the wisdom literature of the Old Testament/
Jewish Bible. Specifically we will explore Psalms 23 and 90, Ecclesiastes 3:1-11, Job chapter 38 and 42-1-6.
July 13, Sunday, 11:45am: Writers Group. A group for UCS writers to share their original poetry or prose.
Book Group Selections: for September our UCS book group will discuss “Margaret Fuller: a new American
life” by Megan Marshall. In October we will discuss “Five Days at Memorial: life and death in a storm ravaged hospital, by Sheri Fink. The Wednesday book group and the Sunday book group will now read the same
book each month. We will meet the first Wednesday evening of each month at 7:30pm and the first Sunday
after church at 12 noon. You can attend either time or both to discuss the book. Our next meetings are Wed.
Sept. 3 and Sunday Sept. 7. Enjoy your summer reading!
Let’s Laugh Today meets Monday July 21 from 7pm-8pm—FREE! Led by Certified Laughter Yoga Teachers, Linda and Bill Hamaker ([email protected] or 508-660-2223). New laughers always welcomed!
Thursday July 3rd Fireworks (9:15) at
Nelson's, wear shoes, long pants, bring
a fleece! Bring/carry a chair. Parking
on Massapoag as early as 7pm on lakeside but our driveway is often empty-pull all the way in. Road will be closed
so come rock on the porch for awhile.
Cake, coffee and anything you'd like to
bring. Lake is artificially low so we
have lots of kinda rocky space. ??s call.
Meetinghouse News
•
Our sympathies are extended to the
Reid family on the recent passing
of Gare’s mother.
•
Our sympathies are extended to the
Raskin family on the recent passing
of Chris’s mother.
•
UCS members Marie Aleman and
Michelle Aron have moved to Watertown to be closer to work.
•
Lynda Cooper and Kota Rodrigues
have moved to New Bedford and
thank everyone who helped them
make the move.
Office Summer Hours
Janet Mayo, the Administrative Assistant, will be working a
shortened schedule during the summer. Please plan your
requests accordingly.
News from our
Partner Church
Rev. Lorant Tokes, minister to
the congregation in Gyulakuta,
Romania, emailed to report on
two ways we have been able to
help our Partner Church recently.
Some of our members visited the
congregation in the fall of 2012
and asked if there was something
our church could do to show our
support. There were two suggestions, which we have followed up
on. Each member is now receiving the monthly Romanian Unitarian publication. This magazine
helps the members of this small,
rural community to feel more
connected to other Unitarians in
their country and is much appreciated.
A special treat was their recent
bus trip to visit historic Unitarian
churches in Transylvania. They
began at the Torda Salt mines, a
popular tourist stop featuring a
painting of religious liberty. After lunch, they traveled to
Torocko, a UNESCO village, and
then Kolozsvar, where they
toured the Episcopal Palace before dinner and spent the night.
Next day, they visited Meszko,
another historic village. After
lunch, they visited the castle
church and 400 year-old college
in Nagyenyed, returning home
that evening with many wonderful memories and feeling more
connected to Transylvania’s historic Unitarian heritage and other
Unitarians.
UUA Moderator and UUA President Issue a Joint
GA Statement
Jim Key, Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) moderator and
the Rev. Peter Morales, UUA president, issued this joint statement
following the conclusion of the 53rd annual General Assembly in
Providence, RI:
We are energized by the events of our General Assembly here in
Providence where more than 4,600 Unitarian Universalists from all
50 states and around the world came together for worship, witness,
and learning. From rappelling "over the edge" of the Rhode Island
Convention Center to reaching out in love at WaterFire to singing at
this morning’s worship service, we have been inspired by the collective energy of our faith community.
At the meetings of your UUA board of trustees here in Providence,
we engaged in the business of the Association and grappled with the
challenge of a budget shortfall. Your board and the administration
are committed to working together to overcome this short-term challenge.
In more ways than we can name, we saw Unitarian Universalists
reaching out in love. We are grateful for the continuing faith and
generosity of you—our congregations, family, and friends. Your
gifts of time and treasure show us exactly how Unitarian Universalism can make a real difference in our lives, our communities, and our
world. Thank you.
Poster seen at the
General Assembly…
Quote from Rev. Robinson
SOCIAL JUSTICE UPDATES - JULY 2014
The “brown envelope” offerings for the months of July and August will support the summer youth programs
of the UU Urban Ministry. UU Urban Ministry will send at least 25 at-risk children to one of three renowned specialty arts camps in Hingham, Dover and Brookline for five weeks this summer through discounted tuition rates and donations. UU Urban Ministry is also partnering with the Boston Youth Fund to
provide “earn and learn” summer jobs in which 12 to 15 teens will earn a paycheck for working on community issues in the Roxbury neighborhood. Please see www.uuum.org
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Social Justice Committee is grateful to report that as of May 31st a total of $10,325 was donated to the
following organizations and causes through “Brown Envelope” offerings received and supplemented with
Fair Trade sales profits:
$ 493
UU Urban Ministry’s Youth Summer Programs in Roxbury
$ 1,021
Doctors Without Borders
$ 933
350.org
$ 872
Planned Parenthood
$ 1,073
UUA/UUSC Relief Efforts in Philippines
$ 1,400
MainSpring House (From Christmas Eve Services)
$ 959
Families Against Mandatory Minimum Sentences
$ 1,000
Five Local Food Pantries
$ 905
Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition
$ 938
Neponset River Watershed Association
$ 731
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
TBD
Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network
----------$10,325
Total To Date
A breakdown of the reach of the support from the “Brown Envelope” offerings for the 2013-2014 church
year is: 11% for emergency relief efforts; 19% national organizations; 40% local organizations; and 30%
international organizations.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Since legislation on social justice issues like Prison and Immigration Rights continue during July, it is easy
to speak up for justice by registering with UU Mass Action at www.uumassaction.org Once you sign up for
Alerts, you will receive your very own email to suggest an action, very often a phone call or email to your
legislators to let them know you care about a pending bill. You can do this from wherever you are enjoying
your summer (as long as you have internet access, that is). It makes a difference when these legislators hear
from their constituents. Every step forward does make a difference to many. Let’s do what we can.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------During the summer – Canned food donations will continue to be collected at UCS for the StoughtonSharon Food Pantry. We will continue to make lunches for MainSpring House one Sunday a month. Shopping for Justice gift cards and Fair Trade items will continue to be available for sale during coffee hour on
Sundays.
The focus groups and the social justice movie nights will resume in September. The social justice committee
will next meet in August. However, comments, questions and suggestions to the committee can be sent to
[email protected] Have a most wonderful summer!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Upcoming Dates: Sunday, July 13th, Coffee Hour – Lunchmaking for MainSpring House
URGENT LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
from the Immigration Rights/Prison Justice Focus Group
The time is now to support the Massachusetts’ TRUST Act which must pass before the legislative session ends
on July 31st! Our federal immigration system is broken, costly and inhumane. Yet, here in “liberal” Massachusetts we have allowed our local and state law enforcement to get tangled into the federal deportation machine
that every day deports over 1,000 people across the U.S. The MA TRUST Act (S.1135) would limit the local
application of unconstitutional ICE holds and provide guidance to local law enforcement for any cooperation
with ICE.
Please call Senate President Therese Murray at (617) 722-1500 and ask her to take action today. Please
also call Senator James Timilty at (617) 722-1222. He serves on the Ways and Means Committee where
the bill currently sits. The July 31st deadline is almost here. Let’s make this happen. Please feel free to
use the script below:
Hello, I am a Massachusetts resident and I am calling to encourage you to ACT NOW to support the MA
TRUST Act’s swift passage out of the Senate. I don’t want our communities to be too afraid to reach out to police because they fear that someone in their family or a neighbor will be taken away by ICE. No one should be
too afraid to call 911. Over 130 localities have already acted to limit ICE holds – including the states of Connecticut and California and Cambridge and Somerville in Massachusetts. It’s time for the Senate to take action on behalf of ALL Massachusetts’ families and ensure due process protections for ALL.
Unitarian Church of Sharon
End of Summer Church Retreat
Annual end-of-summer Church Retreat will be August 29-31st (Labor Day weekend) at Ferry
Beach in Saco, ME.
Call the church administrator 781-784-3652 and ask to have your name added to the sign-up
list, and also register with Ferry Beach at 207-284-8612 or 207-282-4489 or on-line at
www.ferrybeach.org to reserve your lodging and meals. Sue Mooney has a few tents to borrow
if needed. Contact Glenn Rivard.
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Membership Committee 7:30pm (Library)
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Worship Service 10:15am (Sanctuary)
Monday, July 7, 2014
Women's Group I (Closed Mtg.) 7:30pm
(Library)
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Board of Trustees 7:15pm (Library)
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Personnel Ctte 7:00pm (Minister's study)
2nd Women's Group (Open) 7:30pm (Minister's
Study)
Men's Group 8:00pm (Library)
Friday, July 11, 2014
Movie Night 7:00pm (Rooms a/b)
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Bible Study Group 9:00am (vestry)
Endo support group 1:00pm (vestry)
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Worship Service 10:15am (Sanctuary)
Writers Group 11:45am (library)
Monday, July 14, 2014
Finance Committee 7:00pm (Treasurer's office)
Building and Grounds 7:30am (A)
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Worship Service 10:15am (Sanctuary)
Monday, July 21, 2014
Let's Laugh Today 7:00pm (A/B)
Woman's Group I (Closed Mtg.) 7:30pm
(Library)
Thursday, July 24, 2014
2nd Women's Group (Open) 7:30pm (Minister's
Study)
Men's Group 6:00am (Library)
Friday, July 25, 2014
Newsletter Deadline 5:00pm
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Trip to Emerson House 9:00am
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Worship Service 10:15am (Sanctuary)
Please go to www.uusharon.org/calendars to reserve meeting space or to view the most up to date calendar.
Summer Rental in Program Space A/B
Once again this summer, the Boston University Reading Program will conduct a remedial reading program
held at our church. They will use Program Rooms A and B on Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from July
29 through August 24. During this time, the rooms will be set up with tables and chairs in classroom style, and
will be unavailable for use by church groups.
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UNITARIAN CHURCH
OF SHARON
4 NORTH MAIN STREET
SHARON, MA 02067
FOR INFORMATION ABOUT
WORHSIP AND ACTIVITIES
CALL THE CHURCH OFFICE AT
781/784781/784-3652
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OR VISIT US ON THE WEB AT
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