The Path Ahead.
This is long, but useful. Set aside 20 minutes for this if you please would.
The proper way to read this is to pull out your calendar and pencil in all the events that you think you might want to go to or be a part of. Hopefully, there are quite a few that appeal to you.
Ideally, Teresa will do that with the church calendar. Go ahead and grab your calendar, I will
wait… …. … Ok, great.
We just completed what I call our now seemingly semi-annual, (August and January) traditional “Calendar Planning Nights” -which funny enough always take place during the day. I find our 2x a year Calendar Planning moment heartening and depressing all at once. It is heartening cause because of the democratic manner in which we process things, but even more so because we get to see all that we are doing. One thing I love about our act of calendar planning is that you can see that we are as potentially active and balanced as a group of 25 concerned people in a church could be. Here is just a sample of what we do.
And - at the same time- the calendar planning is also a bit of a downer in that we remain despite our intentions to being a little stronger than we are, limited to at least for now being just one more small liberal church community.
One local UU minister described that because of our size, our level of activity was an act of
“punching above our weight.” However, even if we are yet to fully change the world, we are
making Billerica a slightly better place to be.
We, through the activism of some of our leaders stand out for women’s rights, we pause to clean up creeks, host free lunches for the community, and are the spot for an absolutely amazing hour of winter snacks and entertainment following the town tree lighting. We have an open mic series, pause monthly to both collectively think deep thoughts in our theology discussion group, and tell deep stories in our writing/storytelling group. Those by the way are two adult ed programs open to all. We lead a spring service and luncheon open to the community; provide our kids chances to explore morality in comfortable non-threatening or intrusive ways; and we maintain what is perhaps the most important building in Billerica.
Hold on my fingers are getting tired. Let me take a break and come back with more things we do.
Ok, I’m rested. The existence of our church has and increasingly creates a safe space for people who identify on the LGBTQ spectrum, and with our partners, the Sunshine Gals, host two community meals a month. Let’s not forget that we provide a home for Girl Scouts, a group of creative maker/inventor hobbyists, and serve as the host for the larger interfaith community's Thanksgiving and Juneteenth events. To put a cherry on it, we have created a comfortable place for Pagans to worship, and for people from Billerica’s many different ethnic groups to rent.
Remember, expanding any one of the areas we have a focus on, is of course a possibility.
In all, or nearly all months, we have a Community meal, a Sunday Service every Sunday, An
adult Ed Theology Discussion group, a writing group, a weekday Book Group with Teresa, RE programming for the kids, and nearly monthly Pagan services.
We historically had scheduled regular New Member Classes about every other month, but that seemed never to correspond to needs. Now I think our process has evolved to being a little more fluid. When we have a number of new interested people, we gather them.
The following discussion is based on my understanding, all errors are mine and fury should be directed at me.
September:
We toyed with the idea of doing a labor day service again and passed on doing it.
September 8th 2025 will be our Opening Service, and that will be a water communion service with Rev. Nannene Gowdy. Despite election fatigue, I suspect many of us will find ways to use the last two months before the election to promote our values. Yankee Doodle, which is Saturday, Sept 21st from roughly 9 to 3 is also a big deal for our community. And this year, we seem to have, or at least had some ambitions to Focus on Forests, and as such, in the parade to dress as trees. Rumor has it, I might be talked into being bigfoot. It’s possible. I’m easy. We have had what I think are very successful presences at Yankee Doodle. And even from it, gathered a few members. On Saturday evening September 14th from 6pm to 8pm we, at Chris Tribou’s request, will host the movie “Silent Voice.” On Sunday, September 15th the coffee hour will be dedicated to celebrating Aubrey’s birthday.
October:
How cool is that that we start the month in our historic church on Saturday, October 5th mid-day essentially mocking the other 5 Billerica churches for being relative johnny-come-lately faith communities to town. The stop at First Parish, hosted on our part by Teresa and Trek is part of a Historic Church tour. Of course, that kind of talk is probably why I have not been invited to speak. At the coffee-hour following the Oct 6th service, Brita is planning on unveiling a preview of the Belly Dance class.
So, we start the month with history, and end it with Terror!!! Ok, maybe Terror is a bit
overstating a Youth focused Halloween party that that is presently scheduled to happen on
Saturday night Oct 19th, from 6 to 8pm. I don’t remember the age range), but I do remember that letting the kids decorate the first floor seemed to be a keeper.
October is a natural time to relate to the issues of Colonialism and Indigenous People, and
Jeanne is going to look into how we might ally with or highlight Greater Lowell’s, Indigenous
Community. FYI- Rosh Hashana is October 2 - 4 and Yom Kippur is observed Oct 11 - 13.
October is also the start of Teresa’s book group, which will meet on the 2nd Friday of each
month except in October due to Yom Kippur. The theme is Banned Books and runs through
March.
It is likely that our Sunday Afternoon Open Mic Night will return in either October or November afternoon. Dates and Times TBA.
Requests have been made and noted that people want to see the Pet Blessing return as part of an October service. Noted! Says your minister.
November:
FYI - Veterans Day is November 11th. We may have a guest speaker on November 12th.
One of the ways in which we act as the centerpiece of the community is of course by hosting the community lunch, and Sunshine Gals, one other is by hosting the MeethingHouse Fair. It feels like a nice balance of fundraising and fair at this upcoming event. This year, the Fair is on Saturday, November 16th from 11 to 4pm. Note that this is earlier than in past years. On Thursday night November 21st from 5:30 to 8:30 the Social Justice Committee will be intentionally inviting all of us to join them in the construction of care packages for the unhoused. That could be, dare I say it, a fun night.
November is of course largely about Thanksgiving and on Tuesday night November 26th from roughly 5:30 to 8:30) we are hosting the Billerica Interfaith Group’s Thanksgiving Dinner and Service at First Parish. Just to be clear, this is an Interfaith event, hosted at our church. This means that most of the logistics are covered by the Interfaith Group. I would love it and feel like it was a nod to our ancestors if we ever could make our building feel like the town’s homeroom, or church, and this one brick in that probably foolish idea. All I know is… that First Parishes are almost always at their best when they are Pillars of the Community. Which in our own way, we do. The end of November feels like a busy time for us. It’s heartening to think about all we do and try to.
December:
December will open with the crazy rush that comes with our Role in the Billerica Tree Lighting Ceremony. Or more importantly, it’s reception. This year that is December 7th from 2:30 -4:30. Predictably, this is an all hands on deck, time of preparing food, and assisting with decorations and crowds.
We are also going to host another Parents Night Out, on Saturday night December 14th from 5:30 to 8:30 where we offer the right for Parents to be freed of their children for 3 hours. The goal is to create a space for parents to get a predictable breath. Or, to quote one unnamed Mother at the Mall “…finally have a few &#^%#^ moments of Peace for God’s Sake.”
We will do a traditional-ish Xmas Eve Service which is …wait for it, on December 24th at 10pm. This might also a good time of year to check out one of our CUUPS (Covenant of UU Pagan’s services. They can be contacted via Trek or Katie Shubin. I like the idea of making the place we do Sunday Services-whether up or downstairs a regular pattern. I think it will save us money and lower our carbon footprint. We can always turn the heat on for something special.
January:
January we return from the little Holiday break with another calendar review on the first Sunday I am here in January. This year's Mid-year Calendar Review will follow coffee hour from 12:30 to 1pm on January 4th. On the wish list, is that ideally in either the form of a concert or a Sunday Service we have the Gospel Choir from last year back. January 19th is MLK Sunday, and otherwise a relatively light month. I think any weekend day or night in January, ideally preceding MLK day probably is the target.
When we place that concert might alter when we shut down the heating system upstairs and move our Sunday Services downstairs. Unless something alters our plans we basically we have decided to be downstairs for all the services of January and February.
The 2nd Sunday of both January and February will likely be alternative style services, with
either the gospel choir, and or the Nourish Services filling those slots, or something Jeanne
largely picks from the Alternative Worship ideas she learned at General Assembly.
The alternative services people came up with included…
● EMIT (Ending Mass Incarceration Today) does a service.
● Having a Music themed Service, and/or having a service.
● Having an Animal themed Service (Alpacas)
● Having the Sew and Sew’s”re-unite for a gathering.
February:
February is for me at least in terms of Sundays, a solidly UU History and Denominational
themed month. I think our tradition deserves a month of attention, and at least from the pulpit that is what you get.
In February we of course start thinking, read mildly panicking, about the next year a little, and about the upcoming pledge drive a lot. It’s frankly hard to run a drive that almost exclusively aims at already loyal/member supporters.
This year, at least so far, we still don’t really have a plan. We likely might try to make the
Lyceum a point of pride and potentially link it to the pledge drive, but other than that, no clear ideas have emerged. “China Blue” is another movie that Ann, one of our newer members has suggested we gather to watch. We have not yet slotted that event, but will likely place it in February.
March:
March is also the best date to induct New Members and we will build into the service on Sunday March 2nd a membership Induction ceremony. Lent this year (2025) starts on Wednesday, March 5th, and ends on Thursday, April 17th. Sarah, God bless her, hosts her popular Pysanky eggs decorating lessons every Monday night of that period. This year that means that every Monday night between March 10th and April 14th from 7 to 9pm you can come to church and make a beautiful Easter egg. Thank you, Sarah.
Also in either March or April We as First Parish will host, or more likely co-host a Spring
Interfaith Services/ Luncheon. That means us primarily designing and leading the service, and of course, more importantly, providing the lunch. I am going to call them “the Lenten lunches” just so Jeanne will feel compelled to correct me. Gotcha Jeanne, The date of that Lunch that more the coincidentally happens to always fall during lent will be mid-day for one of the yet-to- be-chosen Wednesdays in late March or early April.
March is also when UUMass Action has its Advocacy Day. This is an option we were very
clear on. If it is primarily a live event with trips to the statehouse for a lobbying day we are in. If it remains a virtual event we are out. I love our clarity on this.
April:
On the Passover Weekend of April 6th Brita had visions of unveiling a promotion for a
potential Belly Dance class or even troupe debut at the Coffee Hour on Sunday with the hope that it revives the Belly Dance troupe. Of course, that weekend being Passover, there is a chance that Trek might host another Seder Dinner.
The RE Committee also asked if they could have an RE Sunday reserved for them to talk about the year in RE. That Sunday is TBA, based on kid's schedules and where we presently don’t have assigned speakers. There was in that same vein talk about putting on a kids concert, by teens and/or for teens.
There was also pretty strong consensus that Billerica’s Green-Up Clean-up was and is a worthy activity to hold onto. Historically it takes place on the Saturday closest to Earth Day, which this year will be on the morning of April 19th 2025
Brita talked about linking our hosting gong bath to a service by our dynamic duo of healing and song to a yet unnamed Spring Date. Probably one of the still open 2nd Sunday slots.
The last Sunday in April, prior to May Day also might be when Barbara will be able to pull
together May Pole and Morris Dancer activities. It could also be on the 1st or even 2nd Sunday in May.
May:
FYI Sunday May 10th , the 2nd Sunday of the month will be Mother’s Day. We by Mother’s Day will certainly likely have had our May Pole and Dancers present. The last Sunday in May is dedicated to issues of honoring soldiers and with it issues of war and peace.
In May of next year after the Sunday Service on May 3rd, we will plan a post-Church Kayaking trip on the Concord River.
June:
June is always a good, busy, run to the official end of the year. This year it will be potentially
even busier. This should scare and inspire you a little.
First, we have scheduled a LGBTQ Themed High School Karaoke Themed Dance, (our 2nd
Annual) for the night of TBD. Successfully hosting that night requires outreach/marketing and chaperones, and decorating, and refreshments and…yah…a lot. But I think we think it is worth it. And, like all things, it could grow into a real, dare I say, part of our calendar.
The Social Justice crew are I believe still figuring out how to respond to the end of the town
PRIDE flag being raised allowed. I’m sure they have something up their sleeve. I’ve been
watching and listening. However, whatever, if anything the town does to publicly acknowledge June PRIDE, we at least have found a gem of an outreach witness-ally-activity in marching in and hosting a booth at the Lowell Pride Weekend. I think we got it right with both the choice to provide Glitter Blessings and have progressive Books to auction off. I am still hoping that fun day last spring will this fall turn into some visitors. And that is an excellent segway to the fact that the Lowell Pride Celebration is predictably to be held on the first Saturday in June. And, this year that is Saturday June 7th 2025
Our Annual Meeting which should in a perfect world be seen as both our final exam, and a
chance to take a breath for a year of hard work will be on the 2nd Monday of June. This year that is Monday evening June 9th 2025.
If tradition holds, we take a two-week break following our Father’s Day/Juneteenth/Flower
Communion Closing Sunday Service on June 15th and begin strategizing about moving
downstairs for a cooler summer. I’m not over hosting a service on my first Sunday in July, but alas, it’s a democracy.
This year, we are taking on the challenge of hosting what is now our annual Juneteenth Event on Thursday night June 19th at the same time that I, and many of us, will be in Baltimore for General Assembly from Thursday, June 19th to Sunday thru June 22nd . I am strategizing a way to facilitate getting as many of us, and likely others from my other churches, as possible to General Assembly in Baltimore.
But we are not yet done. Perhaps the most novel thing on the church calendar for June 2025 is the likelihood that we should team up with my other churches and physically go to General Assembly on the 4th weekend in June. I don’t want to promise that will make sense, or will happen, but I am starting to explore coordinating a joint GA trip to Baltimore on Wednesday, June 18th and probably have us back on either Monday or Tuesday night the 23rd or 24th . This could be a fun trip with all the other churches I serve as minister to. This will likely involve renting a bus, and maybe even adding a trip with a full day of exploring Washington DC on the way back to Eastern Mass. If it appeals to you, pencil in those dates.
Remember, while all that is happening, we have our regular adult programs, community meals, etc. are still going on.
July:
July is clearly our lightest month, but centered in it has been the innovation of a camping trip, that has traditionally- if the last two years can be called that, occurred on the third weekend of July, but will likely need to change this year, or maybe not given my schedule change. The Camping trip, or even if we are having one has not been discussed. I suspect we will. It’s a TBA, but almost certainly in July.
And again, the beat goes on with regular committee meetings, lunches, and Adult-ed programs. July also offers us the opportunity to volunteer to be part of the Lowell Folk Festival’s bucket brigade, which we didn’t either have enough interest in, or get organized about fast enough.
In August, which is on next year’s calendar, we will start the month with another calendar review of what works and what doesn’t. Teresa and I will continually use our newsletter to update us all on what’s coming up.
Again, we’re doing pretty good.
Steve
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