First Unitarian Universalist Society of Middleboro

Our outbound intern reflects on his experience of General Assembly, which he compares to taking a drink from a fire hose. But with all its stimulating variety, the GA is rich in spirituality, too. The service will be followed by an informal talk-back.

A drinking vessel with fire in it might strike some people as a little odd, but then, so does Unitarian Universalism.

Dan Hotchkiss, a UU from way back who works as a congregational consultant for the Alban Institute, will tell some stories of our flaming chalice symbol and the curious way of faith it represents.

How prevalent and dangerous is gambling in our society? New research suggests some surprising answers.

Bill Sherman is an electrical engineer and a long-term student of probability, statistics, chaos physics, and game theory. He has been a UU for 30 years.

Every Thursday evening, a Satsang meditation group meets at our church. Today we’ll learn what it is, who comes, and what they do.

Join us at Soule Farm for a summer harvest ritual led by our Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans group. Bring something from your garden to place on the altar, and leave with something brought by another. Please Note: There will be no service at the church this morning. Meet at Soule Farm, 42 Soule Street, Middleborough.

Many people have, individually, changed the course of the world: Jesus, Michelangelo, Socrates, Rumi, Hitler, Madame Curie. Each one of us, with every encounter we have, also changes the people around us and ourselves. Each one of us contains the Power of One. How are we using this awesome power?

August 16: Beyond ‘Self’ and ‘Other’: Toward an Ecology of Spirituality Wolfgang Brauner

How can we best understand our highly complex world and how to live in it? We will explore the traditional concepts of 'self' and 'other' and move beyond the dichotomy of selfishness and altruism. We’ll look at the issue from many angles - physical, social, psychological, and spiritual: how we relate to our food, nonhuman animals, other humans, ourselves, and, finally, the spirit.

Wolfgang Brauner teaches politics at the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth.

August 23: Swept Away by the Spirit: Emotion and Unitarian Universalism Elizabeth Gish
So often, the Unitarian Universalist faith is thought to be intellectual and to rely on appeals to reason. Elizabeth Gish, a candidate for Unitarian Universalist ordination and a doctoral student in religion, invites us to reflect on different possibilities for our faith where emotion, spirit, and feeling play more of a role.

9:00 a.m. Golden Gifts Adrienne Williams
How can we better engage and empower our church elders? How can we create and nurture a true intergenerational church family?

Adrienne Williams is director of child welfare services at the Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corps in Boston.

11:00 a.m. Cranberry Cluster Worship Service at Cedar Hill Retreat Center, Duxbury (see pg. 2) Michael Hall

So many of life’s questions begin with “where:” Where have I come from? Where am I? Where am I going? These questions show the importance of a sense of place in helping to define our life’s journey and make meaning from it. Today seminarian Michael F. Hall will reflect on what the poets, those fearless trekkers of the spiritual landscape, have to say about the intersection of place and meaning in our lives.

The summer cluster will be at the Cedar Hill Retreat Center in Duxbury. We will begin at 11:00 a.m. with an outdoor service led by our own Michael Hall (a FUUSM Andover Newton student). The service is on Sunday, August 30, and will be followed by socializing, picnicking and strolling on the beach.

On Wednesday, October 21, at 6:30 p.m., the UU Society of Fairhaven will host their first Cranberry Cluster. It will be held at their beautiful old stone cathedral on Green Street. We will be the hosts again next January for the winter cluster gathering. The date is to be determined. Bud Soule

Just a reminder that you made your pledge based on weekly or monthly amounts. Please continue to bring your pledge with you to the 9:00 a.m. summer services, or you may send your pledge to the church in care of the Treasurer, J.R. Pucillo-Dunphy. Thank you.

We would welcome new members for the Adult R.E. Committee. It is time during summer to plan for Fall Chalice Thursdays and other adult courses. Please contact me if you want to join the committee. I’m really interested in your ideas for next year, especially if you want to lead a course or activity. Sue St. Germain, Chair

We are looking for letters from family and friends from the war years. Which war does not matter. If you have an album or a shoe box with "war letters" from soldiers, sailors, nurses, etc., we would like to review them for possible inclusion in next year's production of American Memories. Please see Thomas Sypek or Tanya Trzeciak.

The Building & Grounds Committee is looking for some help this summer
to do some painting.

We need to paint our new front columns. We are also looking to scrape and paint the wood around the front entrance. We need to scrape and paint the drip rail (the wood just above the stone foundation) as well. We don’t have a time frame for this work. We are looking to get a group together. Please contact JR Pucillo-Dunphy or Dave Trzeciak.

The First Unitarian Universalist Society of Middleboro is pleased to announce a new feature of our Newsletter and another way to support our church. There are many options that we can choose from to make financial contributions to the FUUSM, including our annual pledges and our Sunday offerings. Now, there is an additional one. If you wish to mark an anniversary, a special event, memorial date, birthday, etc., with a donation to the church, your gift will be listed in the Newsletter. In addition, the honoree and/or their family will receive a notice of your contribution. Gifts of any amount are welcomed. They are tax-deductible, and you may specify your preference for how it will be spent. Please fill out the form below and give it to J. R. Pucillo–Dunphy. Additional forms are available at the church office and on the Parlor table.

Honor Gift Form

Donor’s Name: ___________________________________ Gift Amount: $ _________

Phone Number _________________________________________________________

Please indicate type of tribute:

____ in honor of ____ in memory of ____ thank you to

____ speedy recovery to ____ congratulations to

Other: ________________________________________________________________

Honoree’s Name: ________________________________________________________

Please indicate your preference for this gift:

______________________________________________________________________

Please acknowledge this gift in writing to:

_______________________________________________________________________

(Name)

_______________________________________________________________________

(Address)

Please make checks payable to FUUSM, attach it to this completed form, and submit it to J. R. Pucillo-Dunphy. Thanks for your support.

We continue to make plans and firm up the details for our participation in the festival. Cheryl Robert and Rose Williams have stepped forward to again provide their delicious kale soup. Sue St. Germain has some ideas about making the ordering and paying at the lunch concession run more smoothly. She will join us at our next meeting to discuss the possible changes. We are looking into a vegetarian sandwich that will not be too costly. If you have any suggestions for a vegetarian sandwich that can be made in advance and still be fresh, please let us know in the next couple of weeks.

If you have attended this event in the past, you know what a great event it is. As the date approaches, we will be looking for volunteers for preparations, helping at the festival, etc. We are looking forward to another great fundraising success for our church. Cheryl MacQueen and Gilda Santoro Phillips

year with the well-received launch of the latest edition of what has become a staple, the Help brochure. Kudos to Sue Sherman.

The June plate collection is dedicated to the Heartwood Apprenticeship Program, which Karen Dempsey spoke about on June 21. This is becoming a major church and Social Action Committee project. The people involved are asking the churchgoers for volunteers to help this summer. Among other activities would be light building construction, assisting the children with this. The Committee is considering a project from a previously granted donation for developing an electronic networking/internet working project involving social action committees on a broad basis.

Michael Mack was well received earlier this month. Marilyn Bever presented a plan that consists of a calendar for longer range advanced planning for various church projects, including Social Action, to produce, especially electronic and internet, publicity and promotion, and to track the success of projects. It would include piggybacking these efforts with affinity groups. Also, she would take on a major publicity role for the church.

Stay tuned for our next meeting in September, and feel free to come. Jim Noyes

Please note that the Parking Signs that are posted on South Main Street and Nickerson Avenue are now being enforced by the Middleborough Police Department. Please adhere to these signs, or you may be ticketed. Parking is available in the Town Hall parking lot.

In June, the Technology Committee was looking for your feedback on the Electronic Newsletter and conducted its first survey. The survey was brief (only one question!) and was published only via the Electronic Newsletter. Responses were entered into a random drawing held after the service on June 21, 2009.

Congratulations to Jamie Pratt who will receive a First Unitarian Universalist Society of Middleboro t-shirt personally signed by:

The Survey Question Was:

Do you read the electronic newsletter:

  a) as soon as it arrives in my inbox.

  b) within a week of its arrival in my inbox.

  c) within the same month of its arrival in my inbox.

  d) in spite of my best intentions, I rarely get around to reading the electronic

promptly.

e) in spite of my best intentions, I rarely get around to reading the electronic

newsletter in a timely manner and I rarely read the former paper newsletter, either.

The committee received 19 survey responses from a total of 175 newsletter subscribers:

·   10 people responded (a) as soon as it arrives in my inbox.

·   7 people responded (b) within a week of its arrival in my inbox.

·   1 person responded (c) within the same month of its arrival in my inbox.

·   1 person responded (d) in spite of my best intentions, I rarely get around to reading

the electronic newsletter in a timely manner unlike the former paper newsletter which

I read promptly (although, ironically, this was the very first survey response that was

received!).

Please stay tuned into the FUUS Electronic Newsletter and keep a lookout for future surveys. They will be done randomly throughout the year.

UU Poster, Principles, Adjusted Color SM

Want a fun and attractive reminder of our UU Principles for your wall? You are sure to enjoy CLF’s Principles and Purposes Poetry Poster. The Church of the Larger Fellowship offers a poster featuring the Seven Principles in limerick form! It is a bright, colorful, and clever 11” x 18” poster. The cost is $8 plus postage.

To purchase a poster or learn more about the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF), contact us at www.clfuu.org and click on CLF Shop; or call 617-948-6150.

Part-time (approx 60/hr/mo). Responsible for providing support, resource information, and counsel to Religious Educators and Religious Education Committees, Youth Program Coordinators and Youth Advisors.

Part-time position (approximately 15/hr month). Responsible for developing and promoting young adult (18 – 35 years) and campus ministry in the district and congregations.

Part-time position (approx. 40-50 hr/mo up to 18 months). Responsible for providing information and assistance to congregations and the District regarding growth related programs and initiatives.

Full positions descriptions are available on the BCD website (www.bcduua.org) and on the church bulletin board. Send resumes by August 5 to William Zelazny, District Executive, 26 Packard Ave, North Providence, RI 02911 or zelaz@aol.com . Positions open until filled.

The R.E. Committee will be sponsoring a brunch picnic for the congregation on July 12, 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. All are invited.