About three months ago I was sitting late at night in front of my TV watching a rehashed account of yet another religious person who has decided it is God’s intention that he- and it’s always a he-  and his followers shoot up a bunch of infidels.  There seems to be an endless well of these stories on the streaming services.  I guess I am not the only peaceful person who finds this niche of True Crime compelling. 

I of course had my lap-top open.  I always do, and for a moment my head tipped down and away from the big screen to the little computer screen on my lap.

I looked down to read the following words from a speech the Universalist Reverend Gordon Butler “Bucky” McKeeman gave years ago when he was invited to deliver the Berry Street Lecture at GA

“We are lovers, we say Yes to each other. Yes to life—to more and more of life—to its brevity, its grief, and its disappointments. We say yes to life’s possibilities, its magnificence, its glory. We quarrel—because we glimpse further possibilities and wish to lay claim to it. We remember death, and that life is brief, and that the time for love is now and more is possible.”

I ran into this quote because I had rather aimlessly fallen into a UU history rabbit hole.  I had just downloaded the Wikipedia description of the small group of universalist ministers who banded together under the weird name The Humiliati in the 50’s and 60’s.  Rev. “Bucky” McKeeman was one of “The Humiliati” who were attempting to bring a little regality and pomp to our always thoughtful ritual starved religious movement.

I found my eyes bouncing between the larger television screen, filled with a single religious megalomaniac, large gun by his side, frustrated that the world had not acknowledged his brilliance and was advocating violence, and the smaller computer screen where in simple black and white still pictures our ministers from two generations earlier were attempting to add some formality to our ritual.

Both acts were spoken of as if they came from a sacred calling. 

Here in our church and broader UU movement we are dedicated to the most profane simple acts.  Acts that literally crawl our way towards a higher justice and a better society.  Many of us in frustration of what more we can do to advocate for our principles write colorful postcards to encourage people to vote.   

Obviously, I was struck by how different these two digital offerings were from one another.  What a contrast.

One an angry group of people ready to boldly act violently to make change, the other, a small gathering of former Universalist ministers who honored just how much patience is required to improve the collective experience we as humans have. 

One of the struggles of really paying attention is the need acknowledge the near constant frustration that justice is mostly achieved patiently and painstakingly.  It just… takes… a lot of …. slow, and…uneventful work to take the deep values we train ourselves on in church and move them out into the marketplace. 

And that process is just not in keeping with the energy megalomaniacs, angry mobs at the capitol building, or angry pseudo-religious leaders generally possess.  I guess this piece is just a prayer that it was different.

It is said that trust is built in drops but poured out in buckets.  So, sadly is justice, and human rights, and programs that really lift up people and society.  If I take any solace in the fact that building an ever-better world is so time consuming, it is Reinhold Niebuhr’s famous quote that “Nothing worth doing can be accomplished in this lifetime.”

I and we all know that the fight for voters’ rights and truly aiding the homeless is something in the end very practical and demanding. May we continue to have the patient strength to continue to be one little mosaic tile in a world trying to embody the holy with words and song rather than  bloodshed.  

Steve

The following poem “You Have Heard it Said,” a friend shared with me, and I thought it a powerful piece that challenges traditional theology. This may offend some, and speak to others.

You Have Heard It Said by Eira Quinn

They told me about Noah, but not the bodies.

Not the screaming beneath rising water,

or the mothers who begged God for mercy

as he watched from the clouds and said nothing.

I heard about Job, but they skipped the bet.

The part where God let the Devil ruin a man’s life just to prove a point.

Killed his children. Stripped his skin and called it a righteous testing.

They told me about Abraham’s faith, but not Isaac’s trauma.

Not what it does to a boy to see his father raise a knife

with heaven’s approval. Not the silence that follows

when you survive a god who wanted you dead.

No one mentioned the concubines,

the raped, the forgotten wives, the daughters sold

for the price of land or peace or power.

They didn’t talk about stoning disobedient sons, or killing gay lovers,

or what to do if a woman is not a virgin on her wedding night.

They said Jesus died for us,

but not that God could’ve chosen forgiveness without blood.

That maybe the crucifixion wasn’t salvation, but spectacle.

They said “trust the Word,” but they handed me a censored book

and a list of acceptable questions.

And when I asked about the rest, they said “have faith.”

But faith without truth is just fear in nicer clothing.

And now that I’ve read what they skipped—

now that I’ve seen what they hid—

I can’t go back to coloring pages and quiet amens.

The god they taught me was edited.

Redacted. Rebranded. But the truth?

The truth was always there. In the margins. In the footnotes. In the blood.

The return from summer to the regularity that fall brings, is among the most popular times people make new forays into church.  In that spirit I thought I would share a poem I was sent from a fellow pastor about a person’s return to church.  It is titled “What I missed about church.”  I thought it represented our community here at First Parish pretty well.  Feel free to share it with anyone who you might think might be served by our community.

“What I missed about church”

This letter was sent to me from a Parishioner who just returned to church after a long hiatus of being in a church community.

The author remains nameless…. It begins.

“Church shopping, I see?”  He said with a smirk,

The chalkboard and nails grip my shoulders…which jerk

This seems like the right place…I say in my head,

but a curt, sly response…what was actually said.

I knew when it came out I sounded perturbed,

There the sting of this scorpions’ tail he’d observed.

Many years I’d avoided religion at whole,

‘Cept marriage and babies, to baptize their soul

As the years slowly passed on, I knew that I missed,

The kinship that’s catalogued within a church list

And now I was looking for a spiritual home,

a place to belong to where my family could roam

I wanted to tell him I wasn’t like scores,

of other strange people who’d blown through these doors

I wanted a safe place, a family of sorts. 

Sharing both “joys and sorrows”… a group of supports

I wanted to give to my kids a good base,

I wanted to teach them we are “One Human Race”.

I’d love for them never to see black skin or white,

To know in their heart that to love is what’s right

To be caring and thoughtful, helping out, growing strong.

And to choose their own path without fear that it’s wrong

I longed to provide them the arms of a tribe

To feel comfort in being and not have to hide

I wanted to give them the peer groups I’d had,

The places and faces both happy and sad

But without the damnation, the judgment and strife,

That surrounded the churches I’d toured through my life.

I would not deter them from finding their way

I’d show them some options, then see what they say.

Now not just the children was I hoping to place,

I was looking for comfort, faith that I could embrace

I wanted a group, who would move me along,

Find a way to start living, and a place to belong

I longed for the people, to be back with some peers

To have elders to look on for direction or cheers

I hoped I had found it, Hoped that this was the place

That we were “born to be together”, in an “interwoven lace”

With time I will know where this yearning will lead

I’ll follow this path and my soul it shall feed.

Maybe it wouldn’t fit I don’t know

This came from the worship committee meeting.  The future we want- What kind of world do we want, obviously what kind of world to we want. 

This is the vision we have… loadstar we keep our eyes on.

Elaborated on some of the Values, Democracy, working for the election.

What part does Sunday morning play in that.

How can we support that on Sunday. 

“Thank you Notes”

Jimmy Fallon is famous for among other comic shticks, a bit where he writes thank you notes that have a twist.  Fallon’s “Thank you notes” involves not traditional notes of gratitude, but thank you notes for weird daily life lessons.  If you watch the show, you have likely seen him dramatically draw his pen up from the desk and with a humorous enthusiasm dive down into his card like an earnest 2^nd grader. As the baby-faced Fallon begins to write his note, we the audience both sees the words he is writing on the screen, and hear him voice the message.  I invite you to imagine me performing my own theatrical version of Jimmy’s act in my cluttered cave of an office.  However, in my case the notes are not comically designed, but earnestly felt.

Here goes… 

Obviously “Thank you, Celia and Kathleen.  Thanks for without drama keeping this community I have felt blessed to be a part of alive, well, and led.  I have only been a part of the First Parish Community for twenty-five months so far, and although I have until now, not known a President before Celia, it feels like the transition in leadership is moving along pretty well.  First Parish needs it’s President(s) to provide steady love and care for this place, and you two are trying to earnestly figure out how to play to each other’s strengths.  Keep it up.  Thanks for stepping up, and stepping back with grace. 

I, want you to imagine me, as Jimmy Fallon does, lift my head up for a brief smile only to dive back down again in thanks.

To our building and operations team.  Thanks, So impressive.  From Stephanie, and Jeanne, to Donna and Brian, to Lise, Kara and Nick Prato thanks!  Although Donna is trying to retreat from her duties here to duties at home, she is still around doing this or that for us.  Kudos.  On a weekly basis, either Stephanie or Jeanne seem to be meeting here with a local contractor, fixing a modem, or mowing the lawn.  I hope, as no doubt you do, that we can all grow into a phase of church life where programming events overwhelms building maintenance.  However, until that heavenly day and shift fully arrive, we are all grateful.  Goddess bless the whole bunch of you.  You are written into the non-existent UU book of life. 

Thank you Olga.  I can only pick on your playing each week with ridiculous juvenile statements like “you missed a few notes,” and/or “don’t quit practicing, you almost got it” because you are just so damn good.  Never forget that you are a big part of what keeps people coming here on Sunday, because I don’t.  The ease with which we work together, should be a model to all Minister/Music teams.  You are the place where talent meets fun.  I speak for all of us when I say, thanks for sticking around.

Are you holding on to imagining me acting like Jimmy Fallon, writing his notes.  Give it one more try.

What a steady resource our little worship committee has been to me.  With Anne gone, I work hard to do a lot of the background work, but I love that I can come to you trusting that I have permission to act on our behalf.  Linda, is first and foremost my first call for advice, or have questions, or really just need something done.  Thanks, but Lisa and Chris are our staple Worship Leaders, and Heather does a lot of behind-the-scenes work too.  In fact, Heather is the source of about half of all the new good ideas we have.  God bless ya’ll.  

Ok, another one.

To that broad sweep of women or if you would rather, the womyn who mostly fill our ranks and step in to contribute to our church.  Thanks.  Thanks for who you are, and all you do.  From Cory hosting knit wits, to Renee and Kathleen hosting Cakes for the Queen sessions, to Caroline, Karen and Sally being the horses of Pastoral Care.  To Alica being our quiet ambassador to Community Meals, I see you. 

Other church traditions might try to overlook that women do most of all churches real work, but I and we  at First Parish couldn’t ignore the power of women’s impact on our church if we tried.  Women are most of our leaders, board members, and doers.  The Taliban might stupidly question the reality of women’s physical capacity to ride bicycles, but here we know they run our church. Thanks.

A special thanks to our Admin Susan.  Susan is pleasant, professional, and without being one of us, is about the best of us.  Everything Susan touches is done well and without drama.  Besides, she puts up with my inadequacies and idiosyncrasies. Thank God, she is so competent because I am neither smart enough or capable of managing her.  All churches should be so lucky.  Oh, yeah, Thanks for picking up the financial responsibilities you were asked to do, and for giving Jeanne an in house person to work with.  

I know I left out a few regulars.  Sorry.  Mostly what I want to share is that I feel blessed that you picked me to be your next minister in the spring of 2024.  I actually look forward to being here and high on my list of favorite hours each month are the ones between 10:30 and 1 on the 2^nd and 4^th Sundays of the month.

I thought I was done, but I am not.

And more reluctantly, thank you Donald Trump.  You are a constant reminder that sometimes the best contribution a person can make is to be a powerful example of how not to be.  God willing you will have to soon put on a jump suit that matches your hair.

And there are more of you not mentioned.  A big swooping thanks to all the regular unpaid volunteers who just so often do something practical to sustain this cool little liberal religious community of ours.  I see most of what you do.  From working the door at our Open-Mic’s; to jumping in to help clean-up tables in the parish-hall after a penultimate pot-luck; to offering to be a greeter or zoom host; to donating more than your pledge to the weekly offering for every good cause that we choose to support in our monthly split plate, thanks.  You all simply show up to make this community function and begin to thrive. 

If any of you who might be reading this want to contribute to this church, in a way you are not already doing, the path is simple but not easy, find some unique thing that you can competently do for our community, and without a lot of drama offer to and do it until people stop worrying about who handles that. 

We have a couple beautiful buildings, but it is not about the building, or the heritage of a church born in the mid seventeen hundreds.  It’s about you.  And, although I think of myself as a pretty good lay sociologist, why this place isn’t fuller is beyond my capacity to understand.

I keep returning to set aside a portion of my ministry here because of all of you, and the standard of care we hold for the world outside our doors is a true expression of the people the world needs more of, and I am happy to stand alongside of you all.

Thanks, Irrev. Steve

Last year we had Nobel Prize winner and representative of ICAN the “International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons,” Dr. Ira Helfland to talk about the now often ignored dangers of nuclear weapons. 

ICAN reports that Global spending on nuclear weapons reached a staggering $119 billion dollars last year.  And over the past 5 years, reached $471 billion!

The chief international group fighting the proliferation of nuclear weapons reports that the 119 billion dollars spent globally in 2025 amounts to $3,768 per second.  That is a 19% increase from 2024.  Probably not shocking you, if you follow global trends is the truth that the good old USA alone spent 69.2 billion alone.  That’s more than all other nuclear-armed states combined.  China, came in 2^nd spending 13.5 billion.

ICAN, asks us to imagine what the world would look like if that money had been spent on something other than weapons of mass destruction.  It’s a simple question, and the answer is simple.  Better! The world would be better.  The good news here is that nearly everyone agrees.

In a world… being taken over by the rapid growth of Artificial Intelligence, a Christianity liberated from the compassion of Jesus, a world either in denial, or at least woefully unresponsive to the real threats brought by climate change, and presently in the middle of a global shift towards autocracy, the world can feel disheartening.  There is no question that like no time before this one, but in a way similar to the way it always has been, the world is ignoring the potential for good, and charting a path towards destruction.  It’s a scary time, that begs us for our own comfort to turn away.  Try not to.

Because, the future is undetermined, either destruction or real healing is possible.  Hopefully here is a little solace.

Most people, and even most countries in the world reject the priorities, and trends of more ai, religions that breed selfishness, paths forward that ignore the fate of planet, and most of the people on it. 

Try to remember that.  Just like most people oppose the proliferation of nuclear weapons, most people want the best for not only themselves, but others. 

 As disheartening as the nuclear weapons statistics listed above are, we must remember, in the course of human history, we do most often…eventually… come to find many of the things we once accepted in the past as normal, to be unacceptable.  I want to say that again, because it is so true, and so hard to hold these days.  In the course of human history, on that way too slow arc of human consciousness we do most often…eventually… come to find many of the things we once accepted as normal, to be unacceptable, cruel, part of what most of us want to leave in the past.

And, although, I believe that the day when nuclear weapons are dismantled and seen as too dangerous for humans to have, that day is made closer by every act of reason and love we can perform.  So…

Don’t give up.  As Reinhold Neibuhr said, “Nothing worth doing will be accomplished in your lifetime.”  Just keep choosing to be good and hold the truths of what could be.

I know it is redundant, but let’s continue to be a people and a place that holds true to a vision of a world if not free of oppression, greed, division, and hatred, at least does not prioritize that as the path forward.  I mean what else can we do.

I know it sounds Pollyanna.  I know it does, and sometimes it feels that way to me too.  But it remains true that most people are with us.  ICAN also bears the news that 93% of the nations of the world want to see nuclear weapons abolished.  93%, if you are bad at math is almost all of them.  And likewise, most people wish nuclear weapons to be added to the dustbin of history.

In this disheartening time, where every news item feels like a slap to human dignity, there is underway an overall global decline in the percentage of people starving, a general trend of more and more women being educated, an increasingly shared understanding that race is a cultural creation, and that one’s sexual identity and preference is a human right, and that the human psyche and in particular that of children need to be protected.

I could go on.  And will never stop.

We see a world truly in crisis.  It is! But in that crisis are the seeds of renewal.

As you likely have heard me say before, slavery is if not eliminated now only mostly practiced in the shadows, ritual human sacrifice and cannibalism is almost non-existent, we have the tools, and have largely defeated a significant amount of disease, and globally the rate of homicides and the percentage chance that any given person will die in a war is way down. 

Let’s be strong in our commitment that, as it always will be, reason and love must be the path forward. 

Thanks for being part of one small church among many trying to save the world.  Cause that is exactly what we are trying to do.

Steve

The following Paragraph is from a letter from an anonymous parishioner who felt put upon by
the troubles of the world.
SHE: “Oh write back.” “Tell me wonderful, esoteric mysteries that hardly anyone knows
about.” “Tell me there’s a heaven.” “Tell me that after this long road there is peace and relief,
and a joy that it is all over now.” “Tell me the end is not just a dark, dank hole and they throw
the dirt on you and then bury you.” “Tell me suffering is not just the random uncaringness of a
sick God.” “Remind me how wonderful life before I took on all these responsibilities really
was.” “Please say something kind.”
NOTE: I actually connected with this person over the phone amidst this period of time. I
remember being very challenged at a Pastoral level. Here is my written response. You can tell
me how I did.
ME: “Offer a life beyond this one and make it a time of peace and rest.”
“Oh, well that is a task isn’t it?”
Ok…I feel your yearning, and can at least say this.”
“The arc of life on earth, if not the broader universe, has been towards complexity and
consciousness. But that trend is vulnerable, fragile even.
Given that the humans, and you personally being here is so slim as to make our very existences a
real miracle.”
“So, given that… ask yourself; seriously ask yourself…
For all the imperfection of this world. Given all the death, and suffering, all the knees that
increasingly will creek, and gutters that eventually will all leak, is it really more likely that all of
the whims and joys we experience came about by a random process that had no agenda or
purpose.”
“I mean, is it really more likely that the joy of sunsets, kisses, and love and the empathy that lies
dormant in our hearts, is really more likely to have no intention behind it, than have one?”
“Ask yourself, putting aside all the holes in the dogma of all the traditional religion; do you
really think that there is not some unknowable force that is rooting for consciousness and life
itself?”
“That is at least a fair question, to if not completely trust in, at least have some hope that
perhaps a force that is not perfect or all powerful, but a force and an ally all the same promoting
life.”
“We may not be able to speak about what such a divine consciousness is like.”
“I would probably argue that we can’t.”
“We may not be able to speak conclusively that such a force exists.”
“I would be even bolder in saying that clearly, we can’t.”

We all mostly have a sense of what “Juneteenth” is.  It’s really not that complicated.  Southern slave owners, didn’t like the news of “The Emancipation Proclamation” and suppressed for obvious reasons that “Lincoln freed the slaves.” In a sentence, Juneteenth is the celebration of the fact and the moment that eventually the news of emancipation spread everywhere.  Here is a little more.

January 1, 1863 was the official day when President Lincoln’s famed “Proclamation of Emancipation went into effect.  That’s what we learned it in school.  It all seemed so clean.  Yet, unbeknownst to me and I believe much of white America it was actually two and a half years later before the news of freedom spread everywhere. 

I believe (said with a cautionary tone) it is still unclear exactly what sequence of events took place, or didn’t take place to hold off the news that slavery had been declared illegal nationwide from spreading.  We have to remember of course that in the 1860’s there was no internet, radio, TV, or even a national newspaper.  I am sure I am behind all the details of how the Emancipation Proclamation was actually suppressed.  I mean I personally never heard the word “Juneteenth” until probably 15 years ago, so I am hardly an expert, but in a time when we know about a Japanese earthquake within a half hour of it happening, how news that there was a federal declaration to end slavery can be suppressed is, or maybe was shocking.  Watching Fox news coverage of the No Kings protests, or better their lack thereof, has made this more understandable. 

One story as to how the news was suppressed was that one of the messengers spreading this liberating news was murdered on his way to Texas. 

Another believable report describes that southern land owners conspired together to censored the news to maintain their labor force for as long as they could.  There has been speculation that Federal Troops were part of that suppression.  They could all be true.  Probably are. What is certainly true is that the suppression worked for more than 2 years.

Finally on June 19th 1863, Major General Gordon Granger with flag in one hand, and a gun in hand, stormed the shores of Galveston Texas.  He was motivated to announce the news, and brought along enough Union troops to make it stick.  This is the moment Juneteenth celebrates.

Understandably on that June day 162 years ago such news brought with is a waterfall of all the different emotions you might expect.  People reacted with all the range of emotions and behaviors you might expect.  There was shock, of course jubilation, relief, and confusion as to what to do next.

Can you imagine being held against your will for your entire lifetime, and then be told you can go!  Followed by where?

For us the closest equivalent might be the day you realize the cancer is gone.  Or the divorce from a destructive ex is final.  Maybe a parallel is the day you meet the love of your life.

Even those examples might not even be enough.

Reports suggest that people could not wait to leave the plantation and start living more freely.  And formerly enslaved people started moving.  

Today, Galveston Texas has become a place of pilgrimage, and as it should be, Juneteenth is a day of joy and celebration. 

However, we should not miss the lesson that when justice is expensive, and inconvenient, it will be resisted in surprising ways.  Insidiously quiet undramatic ways mostly.

Mark your calendars for Monday, May 25!

At present, a handful of people are working above their normal duties towards two different but
complementary goals. The first being the invigoration of the lower, or basement floor of
Parish Hall. The second being the use of our property, buildings, and perhaps a re-examined
marketing structure to better express/advertise who we are, and what we are about.
In regard to revitalizing the Parish Hall basement…we are exploring the possibility of
making the lower men’s bathroom and back doorway both handicap accessible and more
attractive. A group called Beehive, coordinated largely by Jeanne C, has been commissioned to
work on this. This is both in the works, and pretty exciting. Well, at least as exciting as what a
new-er bathroom can be.

Revitalizing the downstairs men’s bathroom into a handicapped accessible one, that doesn’t look
like it is a preserved set piece from a 1950’s movie is only part of a slightly larger, but
manageable vision of cleaning up Parish Hall’s lower classrooms. Although the vision of exactly
what a more attractive, functional, and handicapped accessible lower Parish Hall could become
remains unclear, one possible idea has been to dedicate a room to become a creative
“makers/space,” and see if we couldn’t invite people, both inside and outsiders for some regular,
or even more spontaneous creative arts. In short, although Sai Baba’s need for 5 classrooms each
Sunday, provides some cautions and concerns, creating a room dedicated to crafting has come to
be a real goal.

However, if revitalizing our Parish Hall basement is of any interest to you, keep your eyes peeled
for an upcoming basement workday. It looks like that is coming. The likes of myself, Kathleen,
Jeanne, and really anyone on the board, are open to your ideas of what might be possible.
In terms of better utilizing our location and property, the possibility of a new large highly visible
church sign, or “wayside pulpit” is also brewing. We all agreed that signs and images that would
be clearly seen by traffic traveling in both directions on Church Street should be a priority. If
that idea comes to fruition, there will over the next year be one far larger permanent church sign
installed and accompanying that some version of evolving high-quality provocative signs that
better express to all who pass by, who we are and what we believe. Those will likely accompany
always evolving images inside the sanctuary, like the red and framed list of new UU values, and
our movable history posters.

So, with the understanding that too few people know what our church stands for, and/or ever
enter it, we are taking steps to, step out. We welcome others to join us.

Beginning in February, a small group of parishioners, primarily composed of board members
began meeting to engage in the simple question “what we as First Parish leaders should and
could do to best prepare for the future.” This visioning process was prompted by a felt need to
lift our eyes off the management of the day to day activities. and spend some energy planning
what’s next for the church.
We started our first meeting with a review of where we stood in regard to as many areas of our
collective life as we could imagine. Thus far, we have spent about three hours distilling down
who we are, and brainstorming up anything we could think relevant to our church’s collective
life and future. From membership numbers to our property, from a look our financial resources
to our human one, as best we could we looked at our collective strengths, challenges, fears, and
opportunities.
Basically, given where we thought we stood, we paused to ask ourselves how we could be the
best leaders possible at this unique moment in our church’s long life. It was kinda fun to take a
step back and brainstorm. So far we have laughed more than wrung our hands.
In our analysis, we assessed that as long as the stock market, our pledges, attendance, staff, and
our renters remain static, and we have every every reason to believe they will, we realized that
we have a stability we have not felt for a while. That felt good.
We took stock that our steeple is now fixed, our buildings are basically in decent shape. We took
pride that the Meetinghouse Arts Center is thriving. and we are experiencing at least a slight
uptick in attendance, political activity, and events. The awareness that there is at least some
wind in our sails led us to want to risk beginning to dream up an even more dynamic version of
what First Parish could become.
However, matching the joy that came with our sense of stability, and even thriving, was a
collective concern about how sustainable it is. We spoke with some worry that our present
generation of lay leaders did not have a natural next generation of volunteer-leaders to hand their
responsibilities and roles off too. Likewise, there was also in our conversations a sense of
frustration that all good ideas for what we could be or could do ended up falling squarely on the
shoulders of too few.
In the space we created to plan, we asked hard questions like what the past and future
generations of church goers would wish we do. We wondered if the small uptick in attendance

we have seen in the last couple years would continue to blossom into fuller and fuller pews and
more vibrant church offerings. But, we also dared wonder if and when the next generation
church leaders would arrive.
In order to ensure that we kept our options open, we began by considering the boldest ideas we
could imagine. This commitment to considering all our options led us to spent some time
thinking about our buildings and property as resources and burdens. When we paused to look at
just how big our property is, we felt blessed by the options our general location, regal large yard,
and two different buildings offered. And, again true to form, we also quickly felt a little daunted
by how many relentless demands, this placed on the collective “us” that is First Parish, and our
tired, but heroic few who manage our space and building.
Prompted by this effort to consider all reasonable options, we asked big questions like, should
we sell pieces of our property in order to have the resources to invest in other pieces of our
property, or fund new programs, or relieve some of our Building and Grounds volunteers of their
chores with paid staff. The question of whether we should look to hire a person to manage the
building even got discussed.
In our conversations we briefly, considered the implications of selling off different portions of
our land, buildings, and/or our historic silver. However, in each case selling off church property
and/or historic parts of our legacy seemed moves too big for our comfort level, and quite frankly
not necessary.
Having asked all we could think to ask or imagine, there emerged a shared understanding that
there was- at least at the present moment-both not nearly enough will, and not
volunteer/leadership to make any radical changes. Said another way, although at these meetings,
exploring big ideas seemed appropriate, making big decisions did not!
However, although nothing radical felt right, we have started to move forward with some smaller
goals that we all felt good about.
At present, we are working towards two different but complementary goals. The first being the
reinvigoration of the lower, or basement floor of Parish Hall. The second being the use of our
property and buildings to better express/advertise who we are, and what we are about.
In regard to the Parish Hall basement, we are exploring the possibility of making the lower men’s
bathroom and back doorway both handicap accessible and more attractive. As this vision is
being shaped, collaborating with Si-Baba to clean up our lower classrooms and create the
opportunity to use those spaces in ways we mostly yet can’t see drew enthusiasm. Although the
vision of exactly what a more attractive, functional, and handicapped accessible lower Parish
Hall could become remains unclear, the idea of dedicating a room to become a creative
“makers/space” did excite many of us. And, creating room dedicated to crafting has come to be
a real goal.

In terms of better utilizing our location and property, the possibility of a new large highly visible
church sign, or “wayside pulpit” as they are called is underway. We all agreed that signs and
images that would be clearly seen by traffic traveling in both directions on Church Street should
be a priority. If that idea come to fruition, there will over the next year be one far larger
permanent church sign installed and accompanying that an evolving series of high-quality
provocative signs that rotate in and out of use to more express to all who pass by who we are and
what we believe.
Just for fun, I invite you to right now imagine with us the following. First what a more
functional, dynamic, lower Parish Hall floor with a more inviting handicapped back door might
look and feel like And, second, what opportunities our beautiful and expansive yard, and
dignified inner spaces might offer us in regard to “branding” who we as a church are. I bet it
isn’t hard.
Those two above directions feel like our most immediate goals. That said, I doubt if those two
ideas come to fruition, they will be the last projects to come out of this process. I think we are
learning that gathering up interested people to target specific areas of potential change, and
giving them some freedom to act will be part of our path forward.
Although pretty quickly, jazzing up the lower floor of Parish Hall, and using our space to better
express our values sprung to life. More generally, in terms of pace, we are taking on the task of
preparing for the future with patient intention. At each meeting, as much as is reasonable, we
intentionally pause to revisit all the prior ideas and options that have been considered, and review
everyone’s interests and opinions. We are diligently documenting the path we are walking, in
part because we find ourselves constantly circling back to other ideas and want to remember
systematically what was said and felt by everyone, and about each option we have.
The fact that there are not enough leaders to not only bring to life all good new ideas, but even to
easily sustain all that needs doing is a constantly sobering truth. One clear takeaway is that for
us to be all that we could be, more parishioners and/or perhaps more community partners will
need to emerge to make the best version of what First Parish could be come to fruition.
Nonetheless, slow steady change does appear to be coming.
It’s a little like the church has started playing chess with its potential future self. As we move
forward we will be seeking others to join us. Consider joining in.
Thanks,
Steve

I heard it read at another church event and found it very helpful. It begins
“I heard Joanna Macy talk about a Great Turning many years ago and now we who are on the
ground in metro MN are experiencing a powerful manifestation of it. I, who have been longing
for this all my life, did not truly expect to witness the profound realms of connection and
knowing of our oneness with all of life that we are encountering day by day in multiple ways.
I could write a huge amount about the cruelty, the fear, the widespread trauma, the physical
injuries, the ripping apart of families, devastation of lives, closure of immigrant businesses
throughout the city, and on, but I want this piece to ignite your own visions of who we humans
are when we follow love and connection.
Here are some of the threads of this web we have built through everyone responding from their
hearts to what is happening. There is no sequenced plan organized hierarchically. For those
taking on dangerous pieces, there is a lot of coding underway to protect identities. For every
thread that I have named here, imagine three or four similar supports going on that aren’t listed.
Carpenters repairing doors for those whose houses have been broken into, doors
kicked in and busted with a battering ram.
Tow truck drivers recovering vehicles left behind after an ICE abduction, in which
they leave cars stopped or idling in the middle of the road. Every effort is made to
learn who the vehicle belongs to and return it to the family.
Over 5 million Skymiles donated to help folks get home safely from detention
facilities around the country. Those needing help can reach out for flight assistance.
A Signal Group called Laundromat that assists those sheltering at home with
laundry. They pick up dirty clothes and return them clean. Imagine being trapped in
your home with no way to do laundry.
Various Signal groups for emotional support for people in different 
traumatic situations: commuters, observers, immigrants, medics and
more. Acupuncturists and massage therapists offering free sessions. Audios that
support activists’ self-care at youtube.com/@kaiasvien

People tracking ICE vans, blowing whistles, activating rapid response networks so
that there are many of us witnessing, filming, protesting arrests.
Vets and medics visiting sheltered families at no charge, watching for ICE vans as
they go.
Training of 5000 or so who film arrests, getting as much info as possible about the
victim for family and attorneys.
A system for phones in which an immigrant pushes a button as ICE approaches and
word gets out with birthdate, country of origin, contacts, etc to a select group.
Groups of chaplains ready to help, present at nearly every action, sometimes
kneeling in prayer as they are arrested.
Churches that have turned themselves into huge food-packing enterprises with 150 or so
drivers daily who take a number of boxes out to people who are sheltering. A careful
system that has drivers eating the list of names and addresses if ICE follows and stops
them.
Resistance Singers who travel in groups of 1000 thru neighborhoods where people are
sheltering singing cheerful songs so that they know they are remembered. Last week, 
1500 people singing welcoming songs outside ICE hotels like “You are one of us, you
know. You are one of us who knows that pain and love live in every heart. Don’t let fear
pull us apart.”
Monitors around elementary – high schools with high immigrant populations during drop
off and pick up hours to watch for ICE. People driving kids to and from school if parents
are afraid to leave home.
Three or four huge rallies each week, at the sites of the two deaths, at the airport when
flights are taking detainees to another state, at the Whipple Building where detainees are
taken (before being released into below zero weather without a coat or hat, no money, no
cell.) Small vigils at night on neighborhood blocks, people gathered around a fire with hot
chocolate.
Art supplies collected and given to families with kids who cannot leave for school. 
Immigration attorneys available when a person is released from detainment. Local sheriffs
speaking out against ICE tactics.
Monthly activist meetings that include inspirational offerings, small groups to tend to
emotions, sharing of all ideas coming through and something upbeat and motivational to
end the meeting with.

The Wound is the Medicine
It’s challenging to find words to tell you what this experience is like for us personally. The
tragedy of Renee Good’s death dissolved in one moment the unconscious “othering” that many
of us of European descent have had about “only people of color not being safe in the US”.
Frightening to have our white façade of safety fall, ah, but the liberation of belonging FINALLY
to the larger family of all cultures is magnificent! “A Dozen Roses for Renee” tells a story about this. Yesterday, Feb 7, a Native American collective held an honoring ceremony for Renee
Good. 
Another experience we are having is enormous gratitude for whatever in our lives has taught us
that we have the ability to care for the well-being of those we’ll never meet. You can sense
people reveling in that joy when they smile as their eyes meet on a school block, at a protest,
packing food and so on. Individual egos seems to need much less attention as an excitement
about what collaboration brings us abounds. And the creativity that is unleashed… So many
ideas coming forth that shine like facets of a diamond. There is much more that hasn’t become
words for me yet…
Back to Joanna Macy who knew that people cannot move from Business as Usual to the Great
Turning; they must go through the Great Unraveling to get here. We are in the midst of a
gigantic Unraveling and that pain opens our love since they come from the same source: our
interbeing with all of life. And, no one person or group is orchestrating this. It is coming from inside each of us involved.
Thanks for reading this.

Wish you were here
Kaia Svien