UU Middleboro
A Church that Puts Love at the Very Center of Our Life Together
Our mission: To create and sustain a welcoming and caring community that embodies our UU principles, inspires spiritual growth without dogma or creed, and promotes and serves racial and social justice.
A Day to Celebrate Ostara and the Spring Equinox
Presented by Marybeth Truran and Viola Fairweather
Ostara or Eostre is a Germanic Goddess who is considered responsible for resurrecting the world from winter's frozen grip. Through ritual and music, Marybeth Truran and Vi Fairweather will offer you an opportunity to get in touch with those places in life where we could benefit from blessings and power. Ellyn Dent of Ray of Light Health will offer a sound bath in honor of Ostara and the return of Spring. The Chalice Choir will be singing You Are the New Day.
This morning we welcome Marybeth Truran and Viola Fairweather to the pulpit.
Marybeth is a Jungian depth psychotherapist with a practice in Bourne, MA. She is passionate about ecopsychology, sound therapy, and understanding the human psyche. She finds solace and inspiration from living by the ocean and is just a tiny bit obsessed with sailing.
Viola Fairweather is a longtime member of our Church, She replaced our beloved Bob Waterman as Vice President of the Parish Committee. Spirituality and Making the World a Better Place are lifetime passions for her.
Welcome
If you are looking for a spiritual home, come in and experience our open minds, open hearts, and open doors. For over 125 years, the First Unitarian Universalist Society has been serving individuals and families in Middleboro and surrounding towns with great music, meaningful and thought-provoking sermons, and opportunities to give back. We are committed to spiritual growth and lifelong learning with religious exploration that promotes creativity, integrity, and compassion. We work together to build a world that is more loving and more just for all people.
UU Springtime Gala and Tapas!
Saturday, April 26
6:00 p.m. Tapas & Treats, with Show to Follow
The UU wants YOU… to enjoy an evening out!! Once each year the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Middleboro produces a Variety Show. Join your friends and neighbors for Food, Fun and Folly as the UU presents music from Medieval to Broadway to Pop along with Comedy, Magic, Poetry, and more for 90 minutes of feel-good entertainment!
This Week’s Pledge Drive Update
We are now at $75,450 of the goal of $180,000. We have six weeks to go till the end of the Pledge Drive, so please keep the pledges coming!
Lastly, I am happy to announce that our first Pledge Drive Testimonial this year will be done by Adrian Gunn! He will share his thoughts about our church and the importance of keeping it financially viable!
Gil Cote, Chair of Pledge Drive
Matthew Mission Food Pantry Request for March
For the month of March, the Matthew Mission Food Pantry will be collecting cans of soup. Your contributions will help alleviate hunger for those who live with food insecurity. Your support is very much appreciated!
Website Spring Training
Are you curious about how our church website works? Do you want to publicize church-related activities on the web, in the UU Updates, the Newsletter, and social media? This one-hour training session with Dan Hotchkiss will prepare you to promote your events and programs.
CUUPS Ostara Ritual
The Wheel of the Year has turned once again, bringing us to the much anticipated Vernal Equinox, or Ostara. We have had a traditional New England winter this year, so the arrival of Springtime is especially welcome. It is one of two times each year when the hours of light and the hours of dark are equal in length, reminding us both of the duality of our world and the importance of balance.
De-Escalation Training – Still Some Spaces Left!
This event will be hosted by the North Congregational Church (the little yellow church) located at 38 Plymouth Street, Middleboro.
This 5-hour workshop is a rare opportunity for a more comprehensive training with Meg Stone of IMPACT Boston than the 2-hour workshop we hosted two years ago. It is also an interfaith collaboration, co-sponsored by the North Congregational Church, where it will be held, and Lakeville United Church of Christ.
How to Reduce PFAS in Your Home and in Our Town
Are you concerned about the impact of “forever chemicals” on your family’s health? Dr. Laurel Schaider of Silent Spring Institute and Laura Spark of Clean Water Action will speak at this free workshop cosponsored by Sustainable Middleborough and Citizens for a Healthy Middleboro.
Current news posts
Meet the Building Security Task Group
Our church has policies regarding safety and security, including child safety, disruptive behavior, alcohol use, COVID, and others; but as the cultural climate around us becomes more volatile, we face new kinds of threats. “Emergency planning is a long-term process,” advises the UU Association, and our church is stepping up the planning process now. At its monthly meeting in February, the Parish Committee (PC) appointed a Building Security Task Group to assess current threats and to propose policies, procedures, and actions to meet them.
Trust the Seed
by Bob Smith
March is a mentor we must learn to trust—
The greening threshold of the ancient year
When soil revives and skies abruptly clear,
Seeds struggle into sunlight, as they must.
We feel within ourselves that upward thrust,
That sense of something constant drawing near,
Something whose steadiness allays our fear,
Its gifts ubiquitous but not discussed.
How confidently spring makes promises
the Steller’s jays seem certain it will keep;
This season means exactly what it says.
Our eyes turn skyward, yet our roots go deep;
What lies ahead is anybody’s guess,
But, for the moment, we are done with sleep.
Here we are trembling (shivering?) on the brink of spring. We’re not there yet, but we’re thinking about it! Plans have begun for a major fundraiser on April 26: Springtime Gala and Tapas Galore. We have collected about 20 fabulous home-grown acts, and there will be much rehearsing between now and the show. It takes a village. It also takes a couple of months!
We love our children at UU Middleboro. Our RE program works hard to make children feel welcome, seen and heard. All our programs offer open enrollment. Our Sunday morning RE program occurs during the church service and has open enrollment. We are developing our new outdoor space we share with the church, prepping to grow plants and flowers and continuing to explore nature. We have nature walks and crafts, tell stories, and share ideas about our local environment, animal habitats and native plants. We consider our role in sustainability. Registration is rolling throughout the year and is available here. Religious Exploration Registration Form (google.com)
The Church Preservation Fund now stands at 84% of our goal. Through your generosity, we have raised over $168,700 in a very short period of time. TRY THIS: When you look at our fundraising thermometer, see beyond the figures and recognize the love and generous hearts of this community! Gratefully,Norm and Rick
During a post-inaugural prayer service, The Episcopal Bishop of Washington, DC, The Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde, expressed her concern about a normalized culture of contempt that threatens to destroy our country. In a subsequent interview with NPR’s All Things Considered, Budde stressed the importance of being able to speak to one another with respect rather than jump to outrage. As a people of faith, we are called to serve as instruments of peace who speak the truth with love and strive to bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice.
The generous spirit of our church members and friends burns bright. As of mid-January, more than 30 families have pledged $157,000 to the Building Restoration Fund, bringing us to 78% of our $200,000 goal. On behalf of the church, Building & Grounds chair Alan Melchior has negotiated a contract with Paul Macuch Painting & Restoration, LLC, for the needed roofing work and shingle replacement. During the winter new white cedar shingles will be hand dipped in stain in the shop to extend their longevity. Outdoor work will begin in April when weather permits. For cost efficiency, Alan and Mr. Macuch compressed the original 3-phase work plan into a single 4 to 6 week effort, meaning the project should be complete by early this summer. Because the work will take place sooner than originally planned, those of you who have pledged contributions to the Restoration Fund are encouraged to make your payments as soon as you can, by June if possible.
