All new items will be listed first in each section and preceded by three asterisks (***).
Find us online at:http://www.firstchurchjp.org;
“Like” us on Facebook! facebook.com/firstchurchjp
Follow us on Twitter! @firstchurchjp
Congregational Administrator on Leave
Julia Terry, our congregational Administrator, will be working remotely from Alaska until late August. Office hours will be covered by Luz Carrazola. All communications to the church should go through the church email: firstchjp@aol.com.
All material for the weekly newsletter and the order of service must be sent to the church email by Wednesday at 8 pm or they will not be included.
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CHURCH HAPPENINGS
***This Sunday, June 10th, at First Church***
Join us for a sermon by Rev Burke titled Community Celebration Sunday. After the service we’ll have an end of year celebration potluck. Please bring food and beverages to share!
Please plan to join our Family Choir this Sunday! We will learn music 10-10:45 before the service, and sing it during the service. Questions to Ellen at nelle@ymail.com.
Welcoming Breakfast – 9:30 a.m
All are welcome to join us in the Dining Room this Sunday for a Welcoming Breakfast, during which we’ll be celebrating our new members for the 2011-2012 church year. Longtime church members, first-time visitors, and everyone in between are warmly invited to attend. Share a delicious morning meal with us as we build community and get to know each other a little better. Please RSVP to Paul Miller. Longtime members, let him know if you can bring a dish to the potluck breakfast.
Thank you to Carolyn Dooman for hosting Coffee Hour.
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SAVE THE DATE – UPCOMING EVENTS
***Next Sunday, June 17th***
Join us at our first Summer Service of the year while George Smith preaches. We will meet in the Parish Hall.
***Summer Services Schedule***
Please note the following dates and the guest preachers we will be welcoming to First Church Summer Services.
| Date | Preacher |
| 6/17 | George Smith |
| 6/24 | eliSabeth Taylor |
| 7/1 | Janna Frelich |
| 7/8 | Marshall Hawkins |
| 7/15 | Peter Connolly |
| 7/22 | Abby Krueger |
| 7/29 | Mick Hirsch |
| 8/5 | Lyra O’Brien |
| 8/12 | Ghanda DiFiglia |
| 8/19 | Margaret Suby |
| 8/26 | David Dorney |
| 9/2 | Alice Kociemba/ Terry Burke |
***Sunday, June 24th: Common Cathedral***
Come join members of the Social Action Group in serving food for and worshipping with the homeless on Boston Common on Sunday, June 24. We will make sandwiches and assemble lunches at church in the morning and then get to the Common by noon to participate in the Common Cathedral program. Please contact Marshall Hawkins if you plan on participating.
***Tuesday, June 26th: Church Council Meeting***
A Church Council Meeting will be held Tuesday evening June 26th at 7:00 PM. The purpose is to block out the 2012-2013 Church Calendar. Per our by-laws, the Church Council is led by the Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee and comprised of the chair or representatives of each church committee. All church members are welcome to attend. For those unable to attend, please send relevant dates/information to Jom Michel.
Please visit our calendar online at:
http://www.firstchurchjp.org/events/
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WAYS TO CONNECT OR CONTRIBUTE
***More theatrics!***
Church member Jom Michel is part of a silly production of The Little Mermaid, to be staged June 16-17 at the Episcopal Church in Needham. This show is guaranteed to surprise and delight you – lots of singing, dancing, slapstick and bad puns in the style of British Panto. For more particulars go to: http://www.thefringetheatre.com/
Food Pantry News
Food Pantry will be open on June 21st, closed for July and August. Please do not bring food donations to the church throughout the summer as we will be clearing out the food storage pews. Food pantry will reopen September 20. We’ve had a busy year, serving 45-60 people every 2 weeks since September. Your donations and our wonderful volunteers have made this project work. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Annual Meeting Update
The Annual Meeting of First Church in Jamaica Plain, Unitarian Universalist was held on Sunday May 20, 2012 in the parish hall with 29 members and 3 non-members present. Andrea Clardy served as moderator and Laurie Corkum served as clerk.
The meeting was called to order at 12:30pm. Andrea provided a welcome and the Reverend Terry Burke provided his perspective on the year. Sarah Martin Hawkins was elected to the Standing Committee, Laurie Corkum was elected as clerk, and Cathy Baisly was affirmed as Collector for the coming year.
We unanimously approved the Strategic Plan and after some discussion and adjustment, we unanimously adopted a budget for the coming year. The annual report for 2011-2012 can be found on our website and the budget for the coming year along with a report on the current year through May 16th can be found on the website.
A Note from the Food Project
On behalf of The Food Project, I want to say thank you to everyone from the First Church UU of Jamaica Plain for volunteering with us this spring.
Every year, The Food Project welcomes to our farms thousands of volunteers, whose contributions of time and dedication are crucial to meeting our farming goals. With the help of your group, we prepared the fields and planted thousands of seeds and transplants that will grow into over 250,000 pounds of produce. The fields will be tended by the teenagers in our Summer Youth Program this summer, and harvested by youth and volunteers in the summer and fall. The produce will then be distributed to hunger relief organizations, to our subsidized farmers’ markets and box share programs, and to our CSA program.
Our fall volunteer season run from the last week of August through early November. Please get in touch if you have any questions or would like to sign up for a fall volunteer date – we would love to work with your group again!
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ONGOING CHURCH HAPPENINGS
Building Use
Did you know that you can rent the Parish Hall or a smaller space for a celebration, group meeting or other event?? Contact Monroe Heyman.
Yoga at First Church
Join us throughout the year for Monday for Evening Yoga (6:45 – 8:15 pm) for 90 minutes of stretching, flexing and core strengthening (suggested donation: $15). For you early birds who want to wake up your body while the earth is waking up, try the slow-flow class Thursday mornings, 7:30 to 8:15 (suggested donation: $10). Please try to be on time, out of respect for other attendees. Some mats and props will be available to borrow. Bring a friend! For any questions about yoga, contact Margaret. All donations go to the work of First Church in our community.
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When submitting items for the weekly newsletter, please limit them to 250 words or less. If you have a special event that may need more space, please check in with Julia (Firstchjp@aol.com) for special parameters. If you would like your announcement included in the weekly newsletter, please send them in by Wednesday evening at 8 pm. Announcements will run for no longer than 3 weeks, unless there are specific date parameters. You may resubmit your item after it has run for the allotted time.
Regular office hours are currently 9 am to 1 pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays. You may contact the church administrator, Julia, by emailing Firstchjp@aol.com.
Julia Terry, Congregational Administrator
First Church in Jamaica Plain UU
6 Eliot Street
P.O. Box 300186
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
617-524-1634
Website: www.firstchurchjp.org
