The Ames Covenant In the love of truth The Herald and the spirit of Jesus, we unite for the worship of God A Publication of the First Church in Salem, Unitarian and the service of humankind. VOLUME 15, NUMBER 6 FEBRUARY 2015 Minister’s Musings In this issue Pg. One of the things I am most proud of here at the First Church is that we are a place where people of all ages want to attend and participate. We have become a com- February Schedule 2 munity where different generations of people come to worship, sing, talk, think, Around the Parish 2 serve, socialize, and play. These days when we host a night to serve dinner at Lifebridge, the local homeless shelter, we have so many people show up that we Calendar 3 have to turn some of them away. (We are actually considering taking on a second Religious Education 4 night – stay tuned for details.) These days when we announce a yoga program, 12 people show up for the first session. We have not one, not two, but three dinner Standing Committee 4 groups that have formed and fourth on the way. The First Church is a stimulating, enjoyable and inspiring place to be. Social Justice 5 Allow me two recent examples. During this last year we have found that we have a Henny Penny 5 growing number of adolescents who continue to come to church and want to be a Music Director 6 part of our community. The kids even wrote, produced and directed their very own Winter Pageant last month, which they began to write after they were informed that New Member 7 they were now too old to be in our traditional Christmas Pageant in December. In- Stewardship 7 stead of taking offense or umbrage, they decided to choose another story from the Bible (Jacob and Esau) and perform that with energy, wit and yes, some outright silli- UUA Info 7 ness. FUSS Update 8 While I was impressed with the performance, what I was most struck by was how Treasurer 8 wonderful it is that so many of our teenagers want to continue to be a part of our liberal religious community. Something is changing in our larger culture and the Acknowledgements 9 mindset of these kids, but the fact of the matter is that we have a great community of people and it is wonderful that our older kids want to be a part of this. Communion Service 9 And it is not just kids who are having the fun and wanting to be here. Recently I de- For Your Calendar 10 cided to host a book and discussion group dealing with race in America and the For Your Calendar 11 North Shore. I was delighted when over 20 people stayed after church for the pro- gram and discussion. It was a good conversation and many questions were posed, Snow Angels Needed 12 (such as “Why are there not more people of color here at the First Church?,” that we No winter lasts forever; will no doubt explore in the coming meetings. Our next gathering is scheduled for no spring skips its turn. Sun, Feb 15 after church. ~ Hal Borland It turns out that a progressive minded church grounded in the Hebrew and Christian Bible and open to many forms of inspiration (and that regularly holds up the UUA’s Seven Principles) is a great and fertile ground on which to build a dynamic commu- nity. It makes it both challenging and fun to be the Minister here, and I mean that in a good way! So if you hear about one of our Family Fun or Game Nights, consider joining us. They are aptly named. If you read about one of our book discussion groups, or the monthly yoga class, join us. You will find moments of inspiration and insight. If you are invited to serve dinner at the shelter or bag groceries or help out with one of our social justice committee projects, consider accepting the invitation. [continued on page 4] The Herald, February 2015 February Schedule of Events cember, including making the large wreaths that hung outside on our main doors. Several people noticed that Sun, February 1 both wreaths appeared to be very large peace signs. 10:30am Service Sandra laughed when this was mentioned to her, and 12pm Trustees Information Session reports that it was neither conscious nor intentional on Sun, February 8: Chocolate Sunday her part. Did we mention that Sandra lived in northern 9:00am Choir Rehearsal California during the late 60’s? Apparently you can take 9:00am Stewardship Cmte the lady out of Berkeley but not Berkeley out of the lady! 10:30am Service 7pm Youth Group Game Night at the Radue’s Tue, February 10 12:00pm Lunch with the Pastor Thu, February 12 7pm Book Club Meeting Sun, February 15 9:00am Yoga 9:00am Sunday Movie Morning 10:30am Service 12:15pm Race Discussion Group Tue, February 17 Fabio Chacon, our Sexton, last month announced his 7:15pm Standing Cmte resignation. His last day was January 28 and most of his Sat, February 21 final hours of employment were spent cleaning up from 6:30pm Social Justice Family Promise Potluck the blizzard. He and his wife are moving to Boca Raton, Florida where Fabio has accepted a teaching position at Sun, February 22: Keiser University. He will be a Professor of Finance, 9:00am Choir Rehearsal teaching a full class load in Spanish. We offered to give 10:30am Communion Service him a snow shovel for his new home in Florida, but he Wed, February 25 graciously declined. We will miss Fabio and wish him 4:00pm Salem Pantry Bagging the very best in this next chapter of his career. Sat, February 28 9:00am Salem Pantry Distribution 4:45pm Lifebridge Dinner Team Youth Group Overnight Around the Parish John Newhall was recently accepted into Lawrence Uni- versity in Appleton, Wisconsin, the alma mater of his father, Charlie Newhall. We are happy for John, his family, and for Lawrence! Please, Johnny – Don’t be- come a Green Bay Packers fan! We are happy to report that Liv Radue is pregnant with her third child. We are very happy for all the Radues. Netrista Khatam and her husband Kevin Brunell cele- This is going to be a big year for them. brated their one-year wedding anniversary. They were married here one year ago in January. They now live up Sandra Biondo was a holiday force with which to be in Nashua, NH and are doing well. reckoned when it came to decorating the church in De- FEBRUARY 2015 SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 - 10:30am Service Groundhog - 12pm Trustees Info Ses- Day sion 8 Chocolate Sunday 9 10 11 12 13 14 - 9:00am Choir Rehearsal - 12pm Lunch with - 7pm Book - 10:30am Choir Service Pastor Club Mtg - 7pm Youth Group Game Night at the Radues 15 16 17 Mardi Gras 18 19 20 21 - 9:00am Yoga - 7:15pm Standing Ash - 6pm Social Jus- - 9:00am Morning Movie Committee Wednesday tice Pot Luck - 10:30am Service - 12:15pm Race Discussion Group 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 - 9:00am Stewardship Cmte - 4pm Salem - 9am Salem Pan- -9:00am Choir Rehearsal Pantry Bagging try Distribution -10:30am Communion & Choir Service - 4:45pm Lifebridge - Youth Group Overnight Around the Parish (continued) Jan and Peter Eschauzier celebrated their 29th wedding anniversary at the beginning of last month. On that same first Sunday in January, Don Glover turned 45 years old… again. Paul Madore is back from some sun and fun in Florida and we are happy to see his tanned self back here in balmy New England. Jeff Barz-Snell is attending the UU Ministers Association conference this month in California. This conference is a na- tional gathering of “UU revs” that only happens once every two years. 20-sided dice anyone? Did you know that Chris Granniss serves as the Dungeon Master for a longstanding Dungeons & Dragons group that gathers to play on a regular basis? Yes, he was cool before there was Game of Thrones! The Herald, February 2015 From Religious Education From the Standing Committee Religious Education ended January with a big bang or Over the last month, life at First Church continues to be two. Our High School Youth presented The Epiphany of full of inspiration and community. The Youth's Pageant Jacob and Esau as their Winter pageant and as an an- written and Directed by Jacob Barz-Snell, with the sup- swer to the question of “what happens when you out- port and guidance from Denise Granniss, was hilarious grow the children’s Christmas pageant”. The produc- and simply a joy to watch. The freezing cold work done tion was fun and interesting and really showcased just by our Property Committee and Fabio Chacon to manage how talented our students actually are in the perform- the mounds of snow dumped on us was award worthy. ing arts. Thanks to Jacob Barz-Snell for writing and di- The good-bye Fellowship to our Sexton, Fabio Chacon recting the play. We hope for many more! Many thanks was a nice send off for him and his family before they to Denise Granniss who moved the play from the realm move to Florida. Thanks to the Fellowship Committee of “interesting idea” to “actual reality”!! Congratula- and the people who chipped in to clean up from Fellow- tions to all our Youth for a successful service.