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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CHURCH HAPPENINGS
***This Sunday, August 19th, at First Church***
Join us at Summer Services with David Dorney. We will meet in the Parish Hall.
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 materials for the weekly newsletter must be sent to the church email by Wednesday at 8 pm or they will not be included.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SAVE THE DATE – UPCOMING EVENTS
***Next Sunday, August 26th***
Join us with guest preacher, Cathy Baisly.
***September 8th***
Please join us for the annual potluck dinner to celebrate the start of the 2012-2013 church year. Festivities will begin at 6 pm in the back yard of the home of Terry, Marie and Sarah Power. If able, please bring a dish to share. There is plenty of parking on the street or you can park in the Bank of America parking lot after hours. This traditional event promises good times and lots of fun for children and adults and, as usual, plenty of great food and friendship.
***Saturday, September 29, 2012*** The Food Project – Rain or Shine
On Saturday, September 29 we’ll travel to Dudley Square to harvest crops (while learning about the food system) at the Food Project’s Boston Farm from 9:30 till 12:30 and then enjoy a picnic at the farm. Everyone 12 years old and older who can pull weeds, hoe, plant, etc. is welcome and should bring a bag lunch and bottled water – and gloves, if you have them!
The Food Project farms provide free or low-cost food to homeless shelters and low-income buyers and also provide training in urban agriculture and leadership skills to inner-city and suburban youth. See www.thefoodproject.org/volunteer-faq to learn more.
We will meet at the church at 8:45am on September 29 and carpool to the farm – rain or shine! All of us who have done this in the past have enjoyed the experience and learned a lot, so please join us! Please let Carol L Bell or Heather Carito know that you can attend. The Food Project also requires that each attendee register at:http://thefoodproject.org/participant-registration
Church Summer Services
9/2 Alice Kociemba/ Rev. Terry Burke
Please visit our calendar online at:
http://www.firstchurchjp.org/events/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WAYS TO CONNECT OR CONTRIBUTE
September 2nd
For Labor Day weekend, Terry Burke and Alice Kociemba are speaking on “What Work Is,” things they learned spiritually, politically, and otherwise from their early work experiences.
Weaving Together
Please bring back a string, twig, vine, ribbon, paper, or bit of fabric from your summer travels! We will weave together our summer souvenirs, as we weave together our congregation in September. (We can add buttons, shells….) Speak to Ellen McGuire for more information – email firstchjp@aol.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Getting Sunday School Rolling
As we look forward to the start of a new church year with the leadership of the Religious Education program in transition, we want our children to get off to a good start.
George Wardle will be coordinating some activities so that the program will begin with the church year, and the groundwork is laid for a worthwhile year. We want the new leadership to be able step in to a program in progress, and we don’t want the children to be left waiting. We would like many adults from the congregation to help with RE, not just parents. Many ideas are being sorted out.
For the children’s classes: start of the year games, exploring the church building and grounds, creating a learning unit about our famous Emily Greene Balch, and other interesting and worthwhile activities to start the year until curriculum are selected.
For committee and perspective teachers: 1) a conference to review the background of UU RE, to review some of our local decisions (like our conclusions about the G-word and the J-word), and to share tips on running children’s classes. 2) a series of meetings to brainstorm about what we want this program to provide for our children and how we can create that program.
A meeting to start this process will be held Sunday morning, August 26, 2012 from 9:30 – 10:45am.
Please come if your are interested in the RE committee, have ideas for our RE program, want to teach, or want to support this process.
If you are interested in helping, please contact George Wardle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 for more details.
Yoga News
Yoga will resume September 3rd. Margaret will return with co-teacher Debby Allen. Join us on Monday for Evening Yoga (6:45 – 8:15 pm) for 90 minutes of stretching, flexing and core strengthening (suggested donation: $15). 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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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
