December 15, 2004

The Spire The Newsletter of the First Parish Church of Norwell

The Newsletter of the First Parish Church of Norwell, Massachusetts 781-659-7122 December 15, 2004 Vol. III Issue 7

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““IInn tthhee SSppiirriitt”” Rev. Victoria Weinstein

It’s Christmas time once again, and your minister is ringing in theseason by staggering around on stage in a kimono and fright wig, drinkingfrom a flask (it’s filled with water, really), ripping heads off of rag dolls andterrorizing orphans. Seasons’ greetings!

For as far back as I can remember, I have been enchanted andtransformed by my hours spent in dark theatres, watching actors sing anddance and bring to life the extraordinary, unforgettable characters of theAmerican musical theatre. I suppose I was born to it, since my parents metwhile doing a community theatre production of “Guys and Dolls.” I startedperforming at age 4, singing “If I Only Had a Heart” at our UU church’s talentshow, dressed as the Tin Man! I gather that by now I have been in well over30 productions, and I have loved every character I’ve ever had the honor ofplaying (especially the villains!).

When “Annie” opened on Broadway in 1977, I was eleven years old.By that age I had already memorized the entire score to over fifty musicalsand had appeared in over a dozen shows. I was 100% theatre kid, and I wasobsessed with this show that actually starred young actresses my own age. Iread every word printed about Andrea McArdle, “Annie’s” young star, and Idrove my siblings and parents crazy playing the cast album (rememberalbums!?) day in and day out. I wanted to play that red-haired orphan sobadly I would have run away from home to do it -- if anyone had asked meto.

girls fall in love with the theatre themselves. Leapin’ lizards, itsure is

activities are, if not quite as literallydramatic, every bit as soul-warming.

, hope and love, Vicki

No one did ask me, and I soon outgrew Little Orphan Annie, butnever “Annie.” It’s corny and the score isn’t brilliant, but it’s a story I’vealways wanted to be part of. It’s never too late to honor those things you onceloved dearly. Having waited this late, of course, I get to watch with great joyas nine little

fun. I hope your own pre-holiday

In faith

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19th: is Little Light of Mine” holiday season celebrates ght of the world that is in f us. The Church School ren will present ations” on this theme in our al Children’s Presentation. s: Bob and Mary Lou Sutter Flowers: The Vercollone Family Hour:

Marianne and Colin Schofield Joyce and Jim Pickel

stmas Eve r Finest Gifts We Bring”

5 & 7:30 pm me All Ye Faithful to our tmas Eve services, where ope to delight your eye and nd soothe the shopping-

ed soul. Join your lights all the other lights that

, and prepare your hearts e holiday.

mber 26th: lay –led service A Participatory

Celebration of Light s for what we hope will be

rm and comforting sharing dings, songs and stories to in the Solstice. hurch School today. Hour: nda Metzger and June Gustafson

e information continued on p.2

The Spire December 15, 2004 Page 2

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Please check your enthe Parish Directory are available at Coffyour email address aedition are added. If you are new to theinformation so we ca

ServJanuary 2:

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A folk singesaid something like good in a world dambreaking and how tr2004 in religion as wBowl ritual. Ushers: open Pulpit flowers: open Coffee Hour: Pearl Jay

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FFIIRRSSTT PPAARRIISSHH CCHHUURRCCHH of Norwell, Massachusetts

24 River Street, P.O. Box 152 Norwell, MA 02061

Office Hours: 9-Noon, M&F

9-1, T,W, Th PHONE: 781-659-7122 FAX: 781-659-7939 E-MAIL: office@firstparishnorwell.org HOME PAGE: www.firstparishnorwell.org MINISTER: Rev. Victoria Weinstein Office: Tues.-Thurs.

11 a.m.-2 p.m. or by appointment

In an emergency, call the Parsonage:781-659-7288 Director of Religious Education Stuart Twite, 781-837-8791 Director of Youth Programming Becky Smock, 781-826-2708 Music Director: Berni Nadeau PARISH COMMITTEE: Deanna Riley, Chair

(Home) 781-837-4964 Committee Members:

Scott Babcock, Jack Christensen, Bob Detwiler, John Meddaugh,

Chris Silva, Donna Wilson Treasurer: Marta Reese Collector: Roberta Fairbanks MINISTER EMERITUS: Richard M. Fewkes

The next Spire deadline is

Sunday, January 2nd and will be mailed on the 5th of January.

Please drop off submissions in the church office or email to

office@firstparishnorwell.org by Sunday night.

Unformatted submissions are preferred

Coffee Hour: Helen K

Sharing and Caring

r deepest sympathies to Louise Newcombe on the d peacefully at Bay Path in Duxbury on Monday, ill miss him.

ces to David Dube and his family. David’s d away in Colorado.

ott, a friend to many in the parish, will be rvice on December 15th at 10:00 a.m. in the

try in the Parish List which will be used in both booklet and the new pictorial directory. The pages ee Hour for your review. Please consider adding nd make sure that any children born since the last

parish and you are not listed, please write in your n include it in the new publication.

ice Information continued

ood News of the Year in Religion” Rev. Victoria Weinstein

r whose name I’ll probably never learn recently this: “Religion is a healing and powerful force for

aged and torn apart by… religion.” How heart-ue! Join us for some of the good news of the year e step in 2005 together, and observe our Burning

ko, Jean and Stan Wilderoter

I’m Nobody, Who Are You?” Rev. Victoria Weinstein

ff of these lines by poet Emily Dickinson, we will her insane cult of celebrity that fuels so much of op culture. What would Emily D. have to say to

n Taylor

eeler and Persis Sterling

mailto:office@firstparishnorwell.orghttp://www.gis.net/%7efpnmahttp://www.gis.net/%7efpnmamailto:fpnma@gis.net

The Spire December 15, 2004

From the Collector:

A friendly reminder to parishioners: please submit your pledge donations by Sunday, January 2, 2005 to receive credit for tax year 2004. Letters will be issued in later January. Thank you. Roberta Fairbanks (781) 834-7175 or rlfairbanks@adelphia.net.

A Samsung camera was left behind in a WalMart bag at the Womenʹs Group Holiday Party at my house Monday 12/06. Would you please publish this and ask whoever lost it to contact me? Thanks so much. Jeannette Mitchell 781-659-2316

The Norwell Food Pantry

Current “Wish List”

The next ingathering for the Norwell Food Pantry is on December 12th here at First Parish. Current needs include: instant coffee, crackers, bread crumbs, cocoa, cookies of all kinds, cat food, pancake mix and Bisquick. Donations can be placed in the grocery basket outside of the church office on the day of the ingathering, or at any time during office hours or Sunday church hours.

South Shore Christmas Eve Candlelight Services

5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

N.B. As has been true in the past, funds collected from the offering for both services will be given over to the Minister’s Discretionary Fund.

Habitat for Humanity

South Shore Habitat for Humanity serves 29 towns south of Boston -- from Westwood to Duxbury and Easton to Scituate. Decent homes are being provided to deserving families at affordable prices, typically with a $90,000, 20-year, no interest mortgage. This is possible due to land and materials donations and volunteer labor for the construction. Unskilled and skilled volunteers are invited to help in this work. I am actively involved as a construction supervisor and would very much like to have members of First Parish form a team and participate with me in one of these exciting and most rewarding projects. Normally, our team would consist of 10 to 18 men and women (minimum age 18 years) who will devote a Saturday for that purpose. Last year we finished homes in Norwell, Marshfield, Braintree, Easton and other communities. No construction is underway at this time but new homes will be starting in coming weeks. If you think you might like to ʺbuild and raise the wallsʺ, please contact me at 781-837-0665 or at jack5christensen@aol.com.

South Shore Cluster Dinner Thursday, January 27, 2005 All Souls Church, Braintree

196 Elm Street Wine & cheese at 6:30, dinner ($7) at 7,

program at 8, out by 9. For reservations, please leave a message at

781-843-1388 or email kathyschmitz@bigfoot.com.net

by Monday, January 24.

Lost and Found!!! Interesting list this time, I think… a gentleman’s navy cashmere sport coat, a child’s gray Old Navy sweatshirt, size M, a pair of women’s grayish-brown leather dress gloves, a blue wool Ct. College baseball cap, a pair of glasses, a burgundy fleece vest, and remnants of a jawbone from an unidentified animal in a Shaw’s grocery bag. Unclaimed items will be sent dropped off at the Salvation Army (except for the jawbone…)

mailto:rlfairbanks@adelphia.netmailto:jack5christensen@aol.commailto:kathyschmitz@bigfoot.com.net

From Religious Education:

“Let your light so shine…”

From the DRE, We just put up our Christmas Tree this past weekend and, as always, one of the first things we did was to check the strings of light to see if all were still working. No matter how ornate the decoration, it is the light that makes the tree. As it is with trees, so to it is with people. It has become a cliché to say that the holidays are all form and no substance ; wonderfully decorated but with burned out lights. This attitude comes from those appalled by rampant commercialism, a declining sense of Christmas as a “religious” holiday, and from many with such high expectations of Christmas that they cannot possibly be met. And yet the Christmas story tells of an event the most awe-inspiring imaginable. It tells us that into the humblest of circumstances, with the least “decoration” possible, a new idea was introduced to the world. Simply (as the most powerful ideas are often simple ones), the birth of Jesus changed our light-bulbs. No matter your Christology, it is undeniable that a birth, that by all historical measures should have been as anonymous and little noted as millions of others in such circumstances, changed radically the prevalent view of God as other, to God within. The founding generations of American Unitarians, of course rejected the divinity of Jesus as unscriptural and unreasonable. Most of them, however, did consider him a unique creation sent by God to teach, inspire and model a “life of purity and peace” as Ezra Stiles Gannett put it. He was, however, only unique in degree. The central message of the “incarnation” is that each and every birth is a new creation and of eternal value and dignity. Thus do Unitarian Universalists proclaim. In Sunday- School, we have been focusing on the Sources of Our Living Tradition, the first two of which are the sense of wonder we all share and the people who have, and continue to, cultivate that sense in each of us. We hope to inspire in our children a love for the light of truth and love within them and to cultivate it assiduously. Ralph Waldo Emerson asked, “what is life but your angle of vision?” Indeed. So as we challenge our children to change their angle of vision, (their “Light Bulbs”) now and again to keep them bright and strong, so do we challenge our adults to do the same. Talk to your children each week about their Sunday- School lessons. Find opportunities to emphasize and deepen those lessons. Take up a new project. Let your children see you take joy in the effort of learning. Attend an adult learning course at church. We live in a time where the opportunities are nearly endless. Have you changed your light-bulb lately? Merry Christmas and many blessings, stuart

Announcements:

Attention Church School Families: Our Children’s Presentation is here! Please have your children at church by 9:45 so that we can line up for the program.

Share the Warmth of the Season! Contribute to the Mitten Tree

Please bring in children’s hats, gloves, mittens and/or scarves to place on our mitten tree (located in the

front of the Church behind the chalice). They will help someone stay warm during what is supposed to be a COLD New England Winter.

Donations can be placed on the tree Sunday, December 12th through Christmas Eve. Please give generously!

Adult Learning Opportunities at First Parish

In response to several requests, the First Parish Book Group meets for the first time on January 4th at 7pm in the Fogg Parlor for a discussion of When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron. The book is a beautiful guide to Buddhist practice for the beginner or expert, focusing on compassion and forgiveness in times of trial and crisis. This discussion will be facilitated by Alex Gordon. Please call the office for more information about the book and then come and support this much-anticipated group.

That New England Religion, a three part series exploring the development of religion in New England and, thus the entire country, begins on January 12th with “The City on the Hill”: The Puritan Conscience. The evenings begin at 7:00 pm with a potluck dinner followed by a presentation by the Director of Religious Education, Stuart Twite. Child -care will be available, so bring the family. Make it an old-fashioned New England Church night.

Make a New Years resolution that will improve your life and requires no Self Denial. Make a commitment to yourself to attend at least one Adult Learning Program this church year. Your Adult Learning Committee has made it easy to register. Just pick up a form after Church at the RE table, check programs of interest and keep a copy as a reminder.

December 2004/January 2005

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 19

Holiday Family Service

Babycare 10 a.m. Coffee Hour 11 a.m. (Please bring a plate of holiday goodies

if you can)

Also, warm outerwear

accessories will be gathered on the

Mitten Tree!

20 SSHAGLY Skylight Room 7-9 p.m. AA, Parish Hall 8:30 p.m.

21 Parish Committee Fogg Parlor 7 p.m. Choir Rehearsal Skylight Room 7:30 p.m

22

23 .

24

Christmas Eve

Candlelight Services 5:00 p.m.

and 7:30 p.m

25

Merry Christmas!

26 Lay-Led Service in Meetinghouse 10 a.m. Coffee Hour 11 a.m. No Church School

27 SSHAGLY Skylight Room 7-9 p.m. Survivor’s Group Fogg Parlor 7:30 p.m. AA, Parish Hall 8:30 p.m.

28 Caregivers in Fogg Parlor 7:30 p.m.

29 30 Choir Rehearsal Skylight Room 7:30 p.m. South Shore Singles Dancing in Parish Hall

31 Ballroom Dancers in Parish Hall

Jan. 1

Happy New Year!

2 Morning Service Children’s Worship Church School Youth Group Babycare 10 AM Coffee Hour 11 AM

3 SSHAGLY Skylight Room 7-9 p.m. Women’s Group Fogg Parlor 7:30 p.m. AA, Parish Hall 8:30 p.m.

4 Adult Ed. Book Group Fogg Parlor 7-9 p.m. Finance Comm. Church Office 7:30 p.m. Activities Committee Skylight Rm. 7:30 p.m.

5 Alliance Board Fogg Parlor 10 a.m.

6 Choir Rehearsal Skylight Room 7:30 p.m. South Shore Singles Dancing in Parish Hall

7 Ballroom Dancers in Parish Hall

8 Yoga in Skylight Rm. 9:30 – 11 a.m.

If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, check here and drop in the mail. No postage is required.

FIRST PARISH UNITARIAN 24 River Street – P.O. Box 152 Norwell, Massachusetts 02061

THE TIME-RELATED MATERIAL ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED SPIRE

Join us for one of our traditional candle-lighting services with special music, carols

and the warmth of community. The service will conclude with our candles

burning, singing “Silent Night”.

Christmas Eve, December 24th 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. in the Meetinghouse

Family Banner Squares

You may have noticed the wonderful banners in front of the church with

family names and representations on them. This is an ongoing process and we would love to have your family represented! All it takes is a ten-

inch square of white felt, your family name, and some imagination. Amidst

all the business of the season, take some time to make a square and turn

it in at church. The banners remind us that First

Parish is, above all a family.

The Newsletter of the First Parish Church of Norwell, MassachusettsCalendar for December 15, 2004 Spire.pdfDecember 2004/January 2005ParishCommitteeNo Church SchoolJan. 1Happy

Alliance Board

Spire Contributions.pdfShare the Warmth of the Season!Contribute to the Mitten Tree�Adult Learning Opportunities at First ParishIn response to several requests, the First Parish Book Group meets for the first time on January 4th at 7pm in the Fogg Parlor for a discussion of When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron. The book is a beautiful guide to Buddhist practice for the beginne

spire mailing sheet for December 15, 2004.pdfFIRST PARISH UNITARIAN24 River Street – P.O. Box 152SPIRE