The 2023 Holiday Fair, held on Saturday, November 4, was a great success. By the end of the fair, we had raised $1,554 for FUUSM! At coffee hour on Sunday, November 5, an additional $95 was raised, bringing the total to $1,649!
Details of the ongoing tragedy in Israel and the Gaza strip have dominated newscasts and newspaper headlines in the 25 days since the surprise attack on southern Israel by Hamas on October 7 killed 1,400 Israelis and injured hundreds of others. Israeli military forces responded with retaliatory strikes that killed more than 8,000 Palestinians in the Gaza strip, including 3,000 children, numbers almost impossible to comprehend. I confess I have not followed the progress of the conflict closely. News coverage has often focused on the carnage and destruction with graphic images prevailing. It’s very disturbing to see images of the victims and the wailing mourning of the survivors. And such images do little to illuminate the history, culture, and ideology behind the attacks and counterattacks.
Musicians make a lot of noise! It’s part and parcel of learning a piece to the place where you can share it with others. There’re all those wrong notes, funky rhythms, adrenalin, and repetition-repetition-repetition. I used to tell my piano students that during practicing, they should stop and correct that tricky spot until they can play it FIVE times in a row without an error. The downside is that sometimes you need to play that bar TEN times before getting five good ones. The rules change in performance: “Do not stop and correct. Carry on. Try to play in the right
RE Committee: Our next meeting will occur on Wednesday, November 1, at 6:30 p.m. at the church. There will be a virtual option if people are interested. Please reach out to the DRE at dre@uumiddleboro.org to get a link if needed. RE on Sunday Mornings: The children have begun to stuff their bears and add their first wholeness badges. So far we have had “team work,” “courage” and “best friends” badges go into our bears. We continue to consider this year’s theme of home and have considered our entrance into our homes, the symbols that connect us to our physical and spiritual home
Our Third Annual UU Road Rally was a success (and just a bit soggy), raising over $400 for the General Fund. On Saturday, October 21, the UU held its 3rd Annual Road Rally. While the day was somewhat wet, everyone finished and was inside the Parish Hall before the heavier rain started coming down.
The Cash in the Plate for the month of November will be donated to the Matthew Mission Food Pantry located in the First Parish Unitarian Church, Taunton. The Matthew Mission Food Pantry fights hunger with an emphasis on personal dignity.
The UUA provides this definition of a church covenant: "Our covenant binds us together as a community; it expresses our promises to one another and the way in which we will interact and uphold one another’s beliefs." Our church has not adopted a covenant statement, per se, but language in our most recent mission statement (c. 2002), especially in its second paragraph, reflects the intent of covenant.
Jeff Giddings reports we have received several gifts to our Refugees Fund from inside and outside the congregation. He is keeping the money in a separate account so it can be identified. Thank you to all who have donated! Meanwhile, Bill has been continuing to push to try to get clarity on the evolving situation, but with limited success. The town Health Department has been doing assessments of individual immigrants regarding school and health needs, with the help of translators.
Click in this article for the link to view the results of the Congregational Survey that was sent out in September.
Greetings, members and friends of UU Middleboro! We’re already a month into the new church year, and the weather is getting crisper as the days shorten and nights lengthen. It’s time for pumpkins and candy corn and fall colors and (almost) time for pumpkin spice-flavored everything.
