The Herald a Publication of the First Church in Salem, Unitarian Universalist

The Herald A Publication of the First Church in Salem, Unitarian Universalist

VOLUME 16, NUMBER 3 OCTOBER 2015 Minister’s Musings In this issue Pg. This month we begin a new regular schedule that we hope members and friends will find October Schedule 2 stimulating, helpful and inspiring. We live during a time and in a place when and where our schedules are so jam-packed that it can be hard to make time for community and the needs of Around the Parish 2 our spiritual lives. We also live during an era when there has never been so much good information and resources at our fingertips as a result of online lectures, programs, classes and Calendar 3 talks. The world is changing and becoming more interconnected and cross-cultural. Our congregation lived during a previous time in American history when these trends were prevalent, RE Calendar 3 just after the Revolutionary War. As a result of that period during the Great Age of Sail, we Choir Rehearsal 3 embraced Unitarianism and Universalism, both humanizing and rational movements within American Protestant Christianity. Garden Update 4 So, with an awareness of how our culture is changing (and with a sense of adventure and ex- Religious Education 5 citement), we have decided to experiment with building regular programs into our Sunday morning program that all of us over time can come to expect and anticipate. Some of you will Henny Penny 6 think this is great and few of you will scratch your head and wonder, “why bother.” I invite all Stewardship 6 of you to attend and participate in a few programs that appeal to you and speak to your spiritual needs. Our community has never just been about “going to church.” Rather our goal is Music Director 7 to encourage people to “grow a soul” as Ralph Waldo Emerson once put it.

UU Common Read 7 Here’s our regular schedule as we envision it now:

First Sunday Big Ideas – Treasurer 8 A program or talk that features the latest research and ideas that contribute to creat- Get Involved/Events ing community and goodness and making the world a better place. Typically a 30-40 minute program after church, sometimes before. 9-11 Second Sunday Yoga – Family Promise Walk 12 Come for yoga, stay for church. This is a 55-minute session taught by local teacher

Liz Gruenfeld and geared towards beginner and intermediate practitioners. We have mats and blocks. Just show up at 9 AM.

Third Sunday Cultivating Soul – Practicing our values in our lives and in our world, through prayer, discussion, medi- tation, and hands-on learning. Sometimes before church and sometimes afterwards.

We are hoping that over time many of us will contribute ideas and suggestions for these programs and they will start to run themselves. The goal is to provide many different ways to practice what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist here in the 21st century, not just in our heads, but in our lives. “I’m so glad I live So check out the schedule for First, Second and Third Sundays for this month and join us for in a world where some or all of the programs. There is an old saying that “no one moves closer to God by acci- there are Octobers.” dent.” There are many ways to build community and cultivate soul. There always have been and some of them are inspiring, enjoyable and even… fun. Thanks for being a part of the First L.M. Montgomery Church, UU. Here’s to walking together on the journey.

Anne of Green Gables See you in church,

The Herald, November 2015

October Schedule of Events Around the Parish Congratulations to Rebecca Sun, October 4: World Communion Sunday and Tyler Hains as they 9am Choir Rehearsal welcome baby Xavier! In- 10:30am Choir Service with Communion troducing Xavier James After Service First Sunday Big Ideas: The Story of Consentino Hains, born on Stuff Hosted by the Social Justice Committee September 18 at 11:40 pm. The Hains family now has Sun, October 11 three sons under their roof! 9am Second Sunday Yoga

10:30am Service

Tue, October 13 Eric Kenney spent one recent Saturday building a 12:00pm Lunch with the Pastor "sample" section of our hopefully new fence for the side

Wed, October 14 garden here at the First Church. We are thinking of hosting a "fence building party” one Saturday this fall and see- 7pm Witch Trials Lecture ing how much of it we can get done before the cold 7:15pm Standing Committee Meeting weather. Stay tuned for potential details. In the mean- Fri, October 16 time, feel free to share with Eric or one of the other 6pm Halloween Family Fun Night members of the Standing Cmt what you think of the new fence. Sat, October 17 8am Family Promise Walk We have received a donation of $500 for the express pur- 1pm Garden Bulb Planting pose of “renovating” a pew in the Meetinghouse, one that could serve as a prototype for refurbishing all the Sun, October 18 pew boxes. To hear more about this, speak with Lynn 9am Choir Rehearsal Taggart or a member of the Standing Cmt. 10:30am Choir Service Blessing of the Animals following the service New wiring and lights were installed in the basement hall- After Blessing Third Sunday Cultivating Soul: way and kitchen this month, with the projected coordi- "Cultivating Soul and Living our Values" nated by our own Deacon Jaime Tanch. 4pm UN Program 7pm Youth Group One weekend in September, Crystal Truong, our Assistant Treasurer, was here paying bills on Friday night, volun- Wed, October 21 teered to serve dinner with the Church at Lifebridge Sat- 4pm Salem Pantry Bagging urday night and then turned around to help out with Sun- 7pm Lecture & Book Signing day School on Sunday morning. Thank you Crystal!

Sat, October 24 Our Whole Lives, our sex education program for teenag- 9am Salem Pantry Distribution ers, has begun a new session this month. There are 17 10am Choir Rehearsal kids participating: 11 from the First Church and 6 from 4:45pm Lifebridge Dinner Team the UU Church of Greater Lynn. This year long program will meet 20 times over the next school year. Special Sun, October 25 All Hallow’s Eve Sunday thanks to Deb DiGuilio for organizing this program and to 10:30am Service Claire Donaldson and Mike Fritz for (yet again) “stepping up” and working as program leaders, and spending many Sat, October 31 Halloween hours over the next year working with our kids. This is an important ministry, one that our kids will never forget!

To submit an item for Around the Parish, speak with the Minister or call the Church Office. The Herald Vol. 16, No. 3 OCTOBER 2015

SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT 1 2 3

4 World Communion Sunday 5 6 7 8 9 10 9:00am Choir Rehearsal 10:30am Choir Service with Communion After Service First Sunday Big Ideas, The Story of Stuff 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 9:00am Second Sunday Yoga 12pm Lunch with 7pm Witch Trials 6pm Halloween 8am Family Promise 10:30am Service Pastor Lecture Family Fun Night Walk 7:15pm Standing 1pm-4pm Garden Committee Bulb Planting

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 9:00am Choir Rehearsal 4pm Salem Parking Fundraiser 9am Salem Pantry 10:30am Choir Service Pantry Bagging Distribution Blessing of the Animals 7pm Lecture & 10am Choir following the service Book Signing 4:45pm Lifebridge Third Sunday Cultivating Soul 4pm UN Program Parking Fundraiser 7pm Youth Group

25 All Hallow’s Eve Sunday 26 27 28 29 30 31 Halloween 10:30am Service Parking Fundraiser Parking Fundraiser

Religious Education Calendar Choir Sundays & Rehearsals

Sun, Oct 4: World Communion Sunday Sun, Oct 4, 9:00am Bread Baking Sun, Oct 18, 9:00am Wed, Oct 14: Decorate Willson Hall for Halloween Sat, Oct 24, 10:00am Fri, Oct 16: Halloween Family Fun Night Sun, Nov 1, 9:00am Sun, Oct 25: Halloween Sunday and Sat, Nov 14 10:00am Trick or Treat for Trash Sun, Nov 22 9:00am Sun, Nov 22: Pageant sign up Sun, December 6, 9:00am Sun, Nov 29: Pageant rehearsal Sat, December 12, 10:00am Sun, Dec 6: Pageant rehearsal POTENTIAL: Sat, Dec 19, 10:00 am Sun, Dec 13: Pageant rehearsal Sun, December 20, 9:00am Sun, Dec 19: Pageant rehearsal Thursday, December 24, 6:00pm Sun, Dec 20: Pageant and Christmas party (Christmas Eve) The Herald, November 2015

A View from the Garden "I long for the bulbs to arrive, for the early autumn chores are melancholy, but the planting of bulbs is the work of hope and is always thrilling." - May Sarton

We have turned the corner into October and, as gardeners do, we are making plans for next spring. The daffodils that will riotously welcome us then must be in before the ground hardens, so we are scheduling a planting session for 1:00 – 4:00 on Satur- day, October 17. We hope that many of you will be walking with the First Church team for Family Promise that morning and that you will be able to spare an hour or so back at church to help us with this project.

After the majority of the leaves have fallen, we will be looking for a volunteer army to help cut back the perennials and rake the lawns and beds to prepare for the dormant season. Our Fall Cleanup date has been scheduled for Saturday, November 14, from 9:00 – noon. Although May Sarton calls the autumn chores melancholy, we know from experience that we will have a convivial day of work, talk, and laughter.

And now, our big news. Over the last year the committee has been working on a way to create a sheltered play space in the churchyard for Henny Penny and First Church little ones. They love to play in the garden, and our strategy is to make a place that is really theirs, not incidentally also hoping that we can then protect other more fragile areas from small feet. To that end we have just placed an order for nearly 70 willow rods of various lengths in order to create a living willow dome and entry tunnel (you may recall that willow, when planted in dirt, will root and leaf out!). The willows are harvested in Vermont; we will pick them up in April, and we will be organizing our own version of a “Stickworks” project with church and Henny Penny families. Funding for this seemed quite a hurdle when we began the planning process, but we are the very grateful recipients of a donation from the Tyler-Lewis family (Clementine, Kelly, and Nick) in memory of Clementine’s grandfather Lewis. Their gracious gift has made it possible to bring this idea to fruition much sooner than we had thought possible.

Before we wake to the leafy willow dome and waving daffodils, though, we must put the garden to bed, so we will be looking to you, our community, to help us complete the cycle of the garden year once more.

Please save these dates and give us a few hours of your time and company - Saturday, October 16, 1:00 – 4:00 for bulb planting Saturday, November 14, 9:00 – 12:00 for garden cleanup

Mary Collari, Jan Eschauzier, Lynn Taggart, Co-Chairs of your Garden Committee The Herald Vol. 16, No. 3

From Religious Education Why do we do OWL?

This year First Church is offering Our Whole Lives, Sexuality Education for Grades 7-9, (OWL) to all of our students who fall within the age range. The OWL program consists of 28 1.5 hour sessions taught over the course of one year. This year we are very happy to be collaborating with The Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lynn in Swampscott to be better able to bring this program all to all of our students.

The OWL program is a unique opportunity to help students to gain accurate facts, life skills, and to learn about interpersonal relationships. The program includes an “OWL Bill of Rights” that insures teens may ask any questions the like about sexuality, relationships, and sexual issues they have interest in. They are prom- ised accurate and complete information and are treated with respect by the OWL facilitators. The Owl program values are Self Worth, Sexual Health, Justice and Inclusivity, and Responsibility. Teens are given truth- ful, accurate and trustworthy information by adults who care.

Our current OWL facilitators, Claire Donaldson and Mike Fritz, as well as the five facilitators from UUCGL, have our heartfelt thanks. To be an OWL facilitator one must attend an OWL training, which runs from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon. Three facilitators from the OWL team will make up the teaching team for each the 28 OWL sessions. My best estimate is that between these 7 facilitators approximately 180 hours will be dedicated to OWL this year! These very specials folks are also blessed with the ability to communicate with and engage young teens. They possess a high level of comfort with the material. Not to mention of course that our facilitators need ton of patience, creativity, and the ability to manage the different levels of maturity inherent in this age group. And did I mention these folks are all volunteers? Add all this up and you come up with a uniquely talented, compassionate, and very dedicated individual- an OWL facilitator!!

Best wishes to our current OWL students as they embark on this learning experience. Many of these students have older siblings who were part of our OWL class three years ago. Of the students who participated in our previous OWL class, most are still good friends and most still play an active role here at the church. This at- tests to the power of OWL to create a bond among the students who experience together these 28 sessions.

We congratulate the parents of our current OWL students on their decision to give their children the power- ful experience and lifelong gift of OWL. We offer our deepest thanks and appreciation to all the OWL facilitators, both from First Church and from Greater Lynn. And we promise our current 7 though 9 OWL students that someday you will thank your parents and your church for the unique opportunity of OWL!

In faith, Deb DiGiulio Director of Religious Education The Herald, November 2015

Henny Penny We did it! With many cheers and a few tears we made it through our first weeks of school! Much of our time was spent in choice-time during out first days of the school year. This gave everyone a chance to embrace old friends and meet new ones. Mornings were spent getting to know new personalities, playing, creat- ing, building, singing and dancing.

During the last few weeks of September we introduced “activity time” to the Henny Penny day. At activity time children participate in learning activities inspired by one of the books we read that morning. We are easing the children into this new part of our daily schedule with one or two learning activities, and will eventually have up to five different book-based activities each day!

The Henny Penny children are learning they are artists, writers, scientists, engi- neers, caretakers, mathematicians and more! Special thanks to Tree Girl Landscaping and Organic Gardening for sharing some large sunflower stalks she was cutting back. The 6-foot flower was hidden from the children. We polled the children by having them mark an “X” in the Yes or No column, indicating whether they thought a flower could be taller than a teacher or not. Then we used stacking pegs to represent the 10 Yes and 7 No responses. Looking at the pegs we could determine more children said Yes than NO. Finally we presented the enormous sunflower stalk and discovered YES, a flower can be taller than a teacher!

From Stewardship Fiscal Year 2016 is looking to be a busy and exciting one for the Stewardship Committee. We are going to be involved with several events throughout the year that are centered around Halloween, the Christmas season, and St. Patrick’s Day. Plus in the spring, Peter Eschauzier will be leading the 2016 edition of our successful yard sale. Be looking for exciting opportunities to share your time, talents, and gifts with our wonderful church.

We would like to thank Steve Palmer, Frank Marean, and Nancy Tenbroeck for their dedication to the Stewardship Committee. They have moved on to support First Church in other ways with their talents and time. We welcome Russell Lane and Lloyd Woodcock as our newest members; they are both excited to add their skills to serving our community through Stewardship.

In addition, the committee would like to thank you, the members of First Church, for making our pledge drive for FY 2016 so successful. Because of you, we received pledges that totaled 28% more than those we received in FY 2015. You’re to be congratulated for your generosity in gifts and in spirit.

Thank you. Marlene Warner, co-chair, Tommy Leon, co-chair, Alicia Diozzi, Peter Eschauzier, Bill Henning, Russell Lane, Lloyd Woodcock The Herald, November 2015

From the Music Director UUA Common Read for 2015-16 It’s fall and we’re in full swing. As I write this, We will ultimately not be judged by our technology, there’s actually a nip in the air, but let’s hope we we won’t be judged by our design, we won’t be still have a few glimpses of summer in our future judged by our intellect and reason. Ultimately, you before the onslaught of that which shall not be judge the character of a society . . . by how they named. treat the poor, the condemned, the incarcerated. – Bryan Stevenson Homecoming Sunday went off smoothly and our First Church Choir was very well received if I am to Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by judge by the numerous accolades that came along Bryan Stevenson (2014, after the service. With a quite large congregation Spiegel & Grau, an imprint that sang out gloriously as well, I would say that of Random House) is this the First church in Salem Unitarian-Universalist is year's selection. Steven- alive and flourishing. We are looking forward to son, founder of the Equal another great year of music and worship. Justice Initiative, has dedicated his legal career to Without so much as a wink, we’re back in full ses- defending those who are sion and now can look forward to all the big fall trapped by an often capri- activities that make our church community the vi- cious, political, and will- brant religious organization that it continues to fully unjust criminal justice be. We’re planning a bang-up and eerie Halloween system - poor people, peo- service (which I always approach with a certain ple of color, children, and others over whom the amount of trepidation) and, being as we’re an inte- system has run roughshod. It speaks to justice, gral part of Salem, that’s as it should be. Then mercy, and compassion, themes of concern to us there’s Thanksgiving and yada, yada, yada. Let’s as Unitarian Universalists and as human beings. It not forget that, at First Church, every Sunday has follows on recent Common Reads, such as The something special to offer and I’m sure most of us New Jim Crow and Reclaiming Prophetic Witness, can’t wait to be there. and responds to recent statements passed by the delegates to the UUA General Assembly. Our choir welcomed 3 new members recently, so, if and when you meet Kate, Mona and Emily, Congregations, groups, and individuals are invited please welcome them wholeheartedly. So, let’s to purchase the book or find it in a public library look forward to a great year filled with the UU and begin reading. Make plans for an in person dis- spirit and, by all means, let’s plan to be involved cussion group in the fall or winter and/or find a with as many of the enjoyable activities that take reading buddy and begin informal conversations as place during the year in and out of the meeting you read the book together. A discussion guide house. with plans for one session or three sessions will be available on uua.org by the beginning of October. See you in church. Paul Madore The UUA Bookstore offers Just Mercy at a bulk discount (five or more books). The Herald, November 2015 From the Treasurer In the June Herald, I introduced the draft operating budget for First Church in Salem, Unitarian Universalist (FCS) for FY16 (July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016). This is the document that plans for the income and expenses of FCS for the current fiscal year. The budget was finalized and approved by the Standing Committee (SC) at its meeting on June 10, 2015. (As a quick reminder, budgeting is not an exact science and it involves many estimates, but we tried to be as accurate as possible!).

Here is a chart showing the major categories of the final FY16 budget with a comparison to the FY15 (July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015) budget:

Some items of note:  The SC and the Trustees have come to an agreement that forgives a $682,000 loan that the church borrowed from the endowment to complete the addition to the building in 2011 and 2012 with the proviso that the church decrease its annual draw from the endowment to a sustainable 4.5%. The calculation for the upcoming fiscal year is based on the value of the endowment as of 3/31/15. This results in a decrease in contributions from the endowment of $31,200. As you can see in the budget comparison chart, this loss of revenue will be made up by 1) NOT having to pay loan interest of $24,000 (see reduction in Administrative Expenses), 2) an increase in Henny Penny revenue, and 3) an increase in Member/Friend contributions.  The Stewardship pledge campaign for FY16 has been quite successful with the committee still seeking pledge cards form some members and friends.  Henny Penny is primarily increasing its tuition revenue by adding Fridays as a regular school day option. With this change comes the addition of a new teacher, which will increase the total expenses of running the preschool.  Moderate salary increases of 1 to 3% were approved for the salaried and non-salaried employees of the church.  The cost of property and worker’s compensation insurance has risen dramatically in the last couple of years as the insurance industry makes up for several years of no or low premium increases.  The costs to operate and maintain the physical building continue to increase.

As you see, the final budget reflects a net loss of $3,301 compared to a budgeted net profit of $5,779 for FY15, a swing of almost $9,000. This projected loss can still be offset by 1) the ultimate result of the Stewardship pledge campaign, 2) an increase in building use fees, and 3) a reduction in planned expenses.

If you have any questions or concerns about the final FY16 FCS budget or how the church is doing financially, please talk to a member of the Finance Committee (Bill Henning, Tommy Leon, Beth Schulz or John Wathne) or send Bill an e-mail at [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you! The Herald, November 2015

Sunday Yoga Come for Yoga, Stay for Church Sunday, October 11 9:00am Join us for our monthly program at the First Church. Each month, on the second Sunday, we host a 55 minute yoga class in the Cleveland Room starting at 9:00 AM. Liz Gruenfeld, a teacher and practitioner of yoga for 16 years, teaches the class. It is geared towards beginner and intermediate skill levels. So bring your mat and any blocks you might have and join us for Second Sun- days at the First Church. Note: While there is no formal charge, this program welcomes donations of $5-15 by those willing to support great events at the First Church. Program on the UU United Nations Office Sun, Oct 18 , See Times Below with Executive Director, Bruce Knotts. Sun, Oct 18, 4 pm

Come learn about our Association’s involvement with the United Nations over the last 40 years and how we as Unitarian Universalists are participating now. Bruce will be attending the next UN Climate Change Negotiations meeting in Paris in December and will be speaking about our country’s need to take a lead in reduc- ing ghg emissions. Bruce will be speaking at three UU churches in the area:

9 am at UU Church of Marblehead 12 Noon at the Northshore UU Church in Danvers and 4 pm at Salem UU, Essex St.

Lifebridge Dinner Team: Sat, Oct. 24 at 4:45pm First Church has expanded our involvement at Lifebridge to a second meal each month. For years we have provided the meal on the 4th Saturday of the month. We will now also provide a meal on the 3rd Sunday of the month EXCEPT for the month of October. To help distribute the coordination workload, Duncan Cox will continue coordinating the Saturday meal while Amanda Roeder ([email protected]) handles the Sunday meal. The next Lifebridge dinner will take place on Saturday, October 24 at 4:45pm. If you would like to help shop, prepare or serve dinner please sign up in the Barnard Room after one of the services, or online through the “Lifebridge” link on the First Church website’s homepage or contact Duncan Cox at [email protected] or Amanda Roeder at [email protected].

Thank you to our Lifebridge Volunteers in September. Sunday 9/22: Jordan Balbresky, Julia Channing, Holly Chase, Daniel Dault, Mary Krigbaum, Jeanne Petta Emma Roland, Tori Witherell, Victor Young, Amanda Roeder Saturday 9/26: Duncan Cox, Russell Lane, Paul and Sara Massari, Christiana & Zak Plum, Lynn Taggart Crystal, Rebecca, & Samantha Truong, Victor Young The Herald, November 2015

The Religious and Political Concerns EYEWITNESS GAZA: Behind the Salem Witch Hysteria From Disaster to Resilience A Presentation by Prof. Emerson “Tad” Baker Program on Palestinians and the Gaza Wed, Oct 21, 7:00 pm Strip with Dr. Alice Rothschild Prof. Tad Baker of Salem State University will offer Sunday, October 25, 3-5 p a talk based on his recent book, A Storm of Witch- Gloucester City Hall, 9 Dale Avenue craft: The Salem Trials and the American Experi- Presented by the North Shore Coalition for Peace and ence. Prof Baker will examine the religious con- Justice together with the Cape Ann Forum cerns and the political issues behind the Salem witch trials. Dr. ALICE ROTHCHILD is a Physician, activist, filmmaker, author of “Broken Promises,Broken Dreams,” and pro-

ducer of the documentary film, “Voices Across the Di- The talk is free and open to the public. It is co- vide.” Alice visited Gaza in March 2015 with a medical sponsored by the First Church in Salem and the delegation as part of broader Israel/Palestine visits. She Salem Witch House – the home of First Church will share information, member and Salem witch images, and impressions of the trials judge Jonathan destruction caused by the Israeli Corwin. invasion of 2014 and the extraor- dinary resilience that she encoun- tered, as well as the ongoing siege conditions.

Salem Theatre presents The Rocky Horror Show

Salem Theatre is excited to bring to the stage the cult classic musi- cal The Rocky Horror Show. A hilarious tribute to the B science fiction films of the middle of the twentieth century, The Rocky Horror Show tells the story of newly engaged couple getting caught in a storm and arriving at the dwelling of a mad gender-bent scientist on the night of the new creation a handsome muscle man named Rocky Horror. The stage version includes all of the famous numbers from the film such as The Time Warp, Sweet Transvestite and Damn It, Janet. Directed by Catherine M. Bertrand.

Performances October 15 - 25, Thursday through Sundays at 8pm at Old Town Hall, 32 Derby Square in downtown Salem. The run is lim- ited to only eight performances and tickets are available at salemtheatre.com.

First Church friends and members are being extended a discount code for tickets purchased online. Go to salemtheatre.com to get to online ticketing and use the code FIRSTCHURCH for $5 off any ticket. The Herald Vol. 16, No. 3 Get Involved/Thank You!!! Fellowship Thank you to Richard and Joan Hannah, The Fritz Family, Indra and George Milowe, and Christiane Hansen- Mitev for hosting Fellowship in September.

The Fellowship Committee Welcomes Bob Allen, Stephanie Diozzi and Jan Eschauzier to the team. If you are interested in joining the Fellowship Committee but couldn't attend the meeting, Please contact Donna Hayes Fritz at [email protected].

Fellowship is a special time at the church when we gather around coffee, tea and snacks visiting with church friends and family. It strengthens our connections to each other and allows us time to talk about what is important to us. By volunteering to be the person who provides the snacks you get an opportunity to meet and connect with the church community in a new way. Many people find this to be very rewarding and fun.

This year, the Fellowship Committee’s goal is to get more people involved in providing snacks for fellowship. If you have never hosted before, but would like to, we can pair you with someone who has hosted. We will also provide you with information and tips for hosting. If you are an experienced host and would like to be paired with someone new, please let us know.

If you want to support Fellowship, but simply don’t have the time or the interest in shopping and preparing food, you can offer to be a “Fellowship Angel.” Angels contact the committee directly at [email protected] or sign up for a specific Sunday on-line and write in the comment section that they would like to be an Angel. They will donate around $35-$50 and the Fellowship Committee will do the shopping and preparing of food. Angels are encouraged to serve tea and coffee and help with clean up.

The Committee would like to thank Mary Krigbaum, Brenda Marean and Tricia Pini who have dedicated their time and talents for several years to the Fellowship Committee. This year they are hanging up their aprons and retiring from the committee. The Committee would also like to thank Joan Hannah for her behind the scenes help with washing table cloths again this year.

The Fellowship Committee, Donna Fritz- Chair, Bob Allen, Jennifer Barz-Snell, Alicia Diozzi, Stephanie Diozzi, Jan Eschauzier, Chris Finn, Christiane Hansen-Mitev, and David Radue

Flowers: New Option for Meeting House Flowers! The Garden Committee is providing a new service to the congregation where we can put together a basket/ urn/ of selected plants that will be used as altar flowers and then perhaps find their way into the front plant- ers and ultimately find a permanent home in the Churchyard. The committee can work with any budget, but find $35. to $40. generally gives us enough flexibility to make a lovely statement on the altar. That budget is also about what a florist would charge for an arrangement. The Committee searches local nurseries during the week prior to the appointed Sunday to choose wonderful specimens appropriate to our garden plant pal- ette. Members of The Garden Committee will do all the running around and deliver the flowers to the Church either on Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning. Additionally you can order flowers for the Meeting House can be done by making an entry on the sign up form in the Barnard Room. Please feel free to contact the Church Administrator with any questions! 978-744-1551/[email protected] THE HERALD A Publication of The First Church in Salem, Unitarian Universalist 316 Essex Street Salem, Massachusetts 01970

Phone and Fax: 978-744-1551 Email: [email protected] www.firstchurchinsalem.org RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Minister: Reverend Jeffrey Barz-Snell Director of Music: L. Paul Madore Director of Henny Penny: Tricia Pini Director of Religious Education: Deb DiGiulio Chair of the Standing Committee: John Wathne Administrator: Catherine Bertrand Sexton: Bill McCarthy

Second Annual Walk to End Homelessness to benefit Family Promise of the North Shore Sat, Oct. 17th at Lynch Park in Beverly

Schedule: 8:00 AM: Arrive early! Registration Confirmation / T-Shirts / Coffee / Pastries 9:00 AM: Start 5K Walk (3.1 mile loop) 11:00 AM: Celebration with refreshments, prizes, music and much more!

Come out and support our mission to "End Homelessness, One Family at a Time." Enjoy a walk with your family, friends and neighbors on a scenic New England morning. The walk begins and ends at Beverly's seaside Lynch Park. Be sure to wear com- fortable shoes and clothing, bring your sunglasses and a hat or other sun protection. You may want to bring rain gear, too. This is a rain or shine event!

The First Church is putting together a team. To sign up, speak with Jessica Kane or Jeff Barz-Snell