Moving Forward… Proud, Strong, United, March with Us At Boston Pride, Noon on Saturday, June 9, 2013

Sign Up to March: Time to mark your calendar for the 6th Annual UUCR walks Boston Pride on Saturday June 9 at 12 Noon

UUCR marches with Boston Gay/Lesbian/Transgendered/Bisexual Pride on Saturday, June 8 at Noon. This is our 6th year!  Some marchers are planning carpools from UUCR. See the sign up sheet in the atrium to contact other marchers. The parade route kicks off at Noon.

Join us in line by Noon. Your two parade marshals for this year are the Chair of Welcoming Congregation and the best parade route runner ever: Rebecca Griffin and Rosemary Fiori. The parade route starts at Boylston St. and Clarendon St. Please click here for full details on the parade route.

For the second year in a row, our church, thanks to the efforts of the Welcoming Congregation team, will have a UUCR literature table at City Hall Plaza. Call Rebecca Griffin at 781-820-5983 if you can help lend a hand staffing during the mayhem that is post pride march. It is fun. Lots of folks will approach the table and ask what UUCR is all about. This is a fun chance to be an emissary for our wonderful church.

The Boston Pride Parade is a march to celebrate and promote equal rights for the region’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities and is the staple event of Pride Week. As one of the most popular and scenic gay pride marches in the country, organizations and individuals from around New England will walk together to advocate for inclusivity, equality and respect. The theme of the Boston Pride Parade this year is "Moving Forward… Proud, Strong, United"

Our Next New Member Sunday is June 9

Membership at the UUCR!
If you want to become an official member of UUCR, our next New Member Sunday is June 9. We’ll share in our ritual of welcome and membership during the service, and then all new members are invited to a special coffee hour. Please contact Rev. Tim if you are interested in exploring becoming a new member. By telephone, 781-944-0494, extension 101.

Intern Minister's Messages - May 23, 2013 - Once a Fortnight

Your Faces

Humans do so much. Too much, some would say. We can feel as if doing helps us feel useful. As if it’s our purpose. Maybe doing helps us feel that we’re a good person. In the meantime, all the while we are doing whatever it is that we do, we interact with other people.

I spent last week in Appalachia on a mission trip with a group from my home church. Believe me, we were busy, doing, every waking minute of every day. You would think some of us would have come home dreaming of that tray and roller of white paint that we wielded for several days, while painting the exterior of a cinder block Pentecostal church. You’d think some of us would have come home telling everyone about our aches and pains from cleaning, or taping and mudding dry wall, or hammering nails, or lugging lumber up a hill, digging ditches or gardening. After all, we truly did DO a lot last week.

But what people came home thinking about has nothing to do with the tasks they accomplished or how hard the group worked. Rather, on the minds of my traveling companions are the faces and the stories of the “mountain people” we met. Correction. These faces don’t live in our minds at all. They live in our hearts. Here at home, as we have emailed back and forth about what it’s like to re-enter our noticeably soft lives in New England, the people in our group seem to feel as if all those folks we met have come to New England and are part of our lives now. An Old Testament professor once tossed out a great line: “We are the key to each other’s identity.” Indeed, it’s each other’s faces and stories that change and grow who we are.

It feels wonderful to be home, and after this time so far away, it feels especially good to be back amongst you, whom I’ve missed. A lot happens at UUCR: worship services, opportunities for spiritual growth and faith development for everyone, sharing, caring, managing, holding, welcoming, repairing, organizing….doing. That said, with this week’s two memorial services for beloved members of our community, I feel especially grateful for the faces and stories of UUCR.

Living in each other’s hearts helps put our "doing" in perspective...

Betsy Tabor is UUCR’s Intern Minister.

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Faith Development Explorations News

Church Playschool

Playschool Volunteers Needed for seven Remaining Sundays in this Faith Development Church Year

Terri Hill, one of our Playschool staff, has moved on from UUCR. She has a new, weekend job. This past Sunday was her last. We, and especially the children, will miss Terri's smile and warmth and loving arms. Our other steadfast Playschool leader, Lynne, will continue providing care to our youngest members.

Your loving arms are needed! There are seven Sundays remaining in the year and help is needed to ensure that our li'l ones are greeted into their beloved Play-space. We're hoping to get a few folks who can volunteer two weeks in a row, so that there is some continuity for the children.

Here's what's involved:

• Arrive at 8:55am to open up the space, greet parent(s)/guardian(s) and children;
• Play, comfort, enjoy the children;
• Greet parent(s)/guardian(s) upon pick up between 10:15am and 10:30am.

........ta-da! And go home smiling.

Please be in touch with your availability and willingness to be a part of this important welcoming, playful role!

Many thanks,
Anne

To contact Anne regarding volunteering for the church Playschool, please click here.

Last Tuesday of the Month Book Club

Last Tuesday of the Month Book Club - May 28, 2013

The next meeting of the LTOM Book Group will be held at the home of Joyce Miles, 43 Hathaway Road, Wilmington, MA. at 1:30 PM on May 28th. The book to be discussed is Rules of Civility by Amor Towles. All are welcome.