Second Parish Unitarian Universalist
Hingham, Massachusetts
Glad Tidings
From the Minister –
We’re going to start up our Adult Religious Education program this fall with a 5- session course of conversations on Genesis starting on Wednesday, October 24 at 1:00 pm and (for those who prefer to come in the evening instead) Thursday, October 25, 7:30 pm. Whether you were able to join us in last fall’s course on “Reading the Bible with UU Eyes” or not, this course will provide an opportunity for us to take a deeper look at the first book of the Bible. We will focus on five stories to explore, and we will look for opportunities to find our own stories in these ancient and frequently retold and reinterpreted primal tales. Our aim will be first of all to share what we’ve “always” known of these stories, and then to move toward understanding what we can learn anew from them. We will start with the First (Dysfunctional) Family and proceed through tales of betrayal, trickery, envy, greed, and just plain cussedness, and then try to see how, through all of this all-too-human failure, hope manages to find a way to bring the stories back on track. We’ll be exploring the texts themselves, but also looking at some of the stories that have been told about the stories, ancient midrashes which help to fill in the gaps in the stories and offer (sometimes delightful, sometimes eccentric) new insights into old stories.
We’ll be offering the same course on Wednesday afternoon at 1:00 and on Thursday evening at 7:30 in the minister’s study. While the conversations won’t be exactly the same, the topics will be the same for each of these meetings, so that if you can’t come to one session some of the time, you can come to the other instead.
Please sign up in Cushing Hall, drop an email to the minister or call the office to indicate that you’re interested and which session you’ll generally attend. However, you can drop in without signing up as well.
In January, we’ll have a 5-session course on Our American Roots, a program developed to highlight the intertwining of American and Unitarian Universalist history. This program includes a brief video each week with interviews highlighting different aspects of our history as they affect our national history, starting out at our church in Plymouth, founded by the Pilgrims when they arrived in 1620.
I want to thank our Adult RE Committee for helping to guide our offerings this year. Richard Bowker, Elaine Cadogan, Sandy Peavey, Helene Soini and Becky Weston are helping me to make decisions about what to offer and when, and any of us would be delighted to receive any feedback about offerings you’d like to see or anything else about what you’d like to learn at Second Parish.
In Faith,
Paul
Notes from the Leadership Board
The October Leadership Board meeting on the second Tuesday (as usual) dealt with the treasurer's report (focus on costs of recent major repairs and painting to the church), updating of the activities of three of our commissions (membership, education, and properties), and key dates in this church year (look for the big Oct 07 through June 08 calendar next Sunday on the bulletin board in Cushing Hall). Next Leadership Board meeting: 13 November.
-Allan Viden, Leadership Board Chair
Our mission to welcome everyone generates some questions and concerns. What can we improve so that Sunday morning attendance of both newcomers and others improves? How can we improve our visibility, including beyond Hingham? What’s the best way to contact people we haven't seen in a while? The Membership Chairs in our district meet regularly to discuss such questions and seek solutions. We will have met at Old Ship on October 22nd. I hope to bring back some helpful ideas and goals for us. Please share your thoughts with me.
-Dinah Collins, Membership Chair
Greeters for November and December
November: 4, 11, 18, 25-Stephanie Kelsch
December: 2-Tracy and Frank White; 9-Elaine Cadogan; 16-Tasha Allan
This past month has been quiet after a very busy summer and early fall. A property committee has been organized which includes Chip King and Steve Kelsch. If anyone else is interested in participating, please give me a call. We will be meeting sometime before the end of October to review and begin to tackle a long list of issues covering the interiors of the Church, Cushing Hall, and the Parsonage, the exterior grounds, and our various service providers.
-Len O’Connor, Properties Chair
The first meeting of the Religious Education Committee was held on October 14. Teacher training sessions were held before the opening of church school this fall. The committee worked on a calendar for the church year which included intergenerational services, special sessions and the church Christmas pageant. Guest at Your Table Boxes will be offered to all church families this year in early November. This UU service committee project is one that Second Parish participates in each year.
–Helene Soini, Education Chair
The Commission on Worship continues to work with Paul on providing guest ministers and speakers for Sundays when Paul is out of the pulpit. The Commission is also talking to the music committee about music during services and different topics in that area as well. What kind of music would you like to sing or hear during services? Talk to me or Kurt Weisenbeck as we explore this topic. Thank you.
-Julianna Lovell, Worship Chair
Music Schedule for November
11/4: The Choir
11/11: Elizabeth Morrell, soprano
(Second Sunday Collection, TBA)
11/18: The Choir
12/25: TBA
Community
Men’s Breakfast
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The next men's breakfast will be held at 8:00 a.m. in Cushing Hall on Saturday, November 17th. All men of the parish are welcome to join us for a high cholesterol breakfast and conversation. We have no set agenda. Come prepared to talk about anything on your mind. We break promptly at 9:00 a.m. Call Lou Belknap at 781-749-5519 if you can join us, or email me at lsbelknap@verizon.net.
Book Group
The Book Group will meet on
November 20th. Location and book to be announced. Any questions,
call Jennifer Love at 781-749-3243.
Save the Date – Saturday, December 1 – Glad Tidings Holiday Fair
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This is one of our important fund-raising events of the year and a great way to get into the spirit of the season with friends. We will be selling handmade items, beautifully decorated wreaths, ornaments, gifts, Cabot cheese, cookies and other homemade foods.
We Need Your Help
Here are ways that you can contribute to the success of each of the tables at the fair.
WREATHS: We will be decorating 78 wreaths on Mon., Nov. 26 and Tues., Nov. 27. Orders will be taken at church throughout November, and we will need willing hands to finish the wreaths.
HANDMADE ITEMS AND CRAFTS: There is still time to knit, crochet, or sew items to be sold at this table.
GIFTS: You can donate new or like- new gifts and jewelry, and handmade ornaments are always popular.
FOOD TABLE: Think about special treats to cook or bake. Breads, chili, soups, cakes, pies, baked beans, etc. are very popular.
COOKIE EXCHANGE: We need a variety of small cookies for this table. People will pay a flat fee to fill decorated coffee cans with the varieties of their choice. You can bake early and freeze the cookies you'd like to donate.
MEN'S TABLE: In addition to the wheel of Cabot cheddar, we can use birdseed, bird feeders, and other creative wooden items for this table.
As the date approaches, we will be calling for people to help with set-up and clean-up and to work the tables. We are always open to new ideas, so feel free to call. -Submitted by Becky Weston and Elaine Cadogan
Spill the Beans: Stories and Sustenance from Second Parish Hingham
We are collecting recipes and stories for the new Second Parish cookbook (referenced above). You will be getting a call explaining the project and asking for contributions of food-related stories to accompany your recipes. The result will be a kind of oral history cookbook of our congregation which we will sell at the Holiday Craft Fair. Deadline for submissions is
November 1. Thanks in advance! -Submitted by Deedee Sprecher, Helene Soini, Sue Viden, Alice Brewer
Next Soul Work
Will be on November 4 at First Parish, Cohasset - Chapter 6, Racism and Anti-racism in a Culture Violence (American Indian). If you have any questions or comments, please contact Eva Marx (tomneva@supportlab.com) 781-749-0485 or Jan Carlsson-Bull (jcarlssonb@aol.com) at 781-383-1100.
Needed:
Would anyone have dry storage space (garage, basement, attic) for our son David's senior project painting? It consists of three 4X8 plywood panels. –Thanks, Deedee
News from our Cooperative Religious Education Program
The
Religious Education Committee had a productive meeting during which we, among
other matters, set up the RE calendar for the year. It includes special
sessions and family services for special events. We will publicize it soon.
We count on
your support of the children's fund raising effort for UNICEF on October 28,
which will include the auction of a great basket filled with Halloween Candies.
The Intermediate class will also host Coffee Hour that day, a first for them.
The next RE committee meeting will be November 11 at 9 am.
See you in
church. -Liliane Verdier
, Director of Religious Education Lilianevhing@aol.com, 781-749-9581