First Parish Cohasset

First Parish Unitarian Universalist Cohasset

E-mail Update – December 21, 2009

Silent night, Holy night;

all is calm, all is bright!

So it is that we’ll celebrate a silent night ancient and new this Christmas Eve, with the candlelight service at 8 PM in the Meeting House.   Bring your children.  Bring your friends and neighbors and visiting family and come bask in the glow of Christmas Eve, as we celebrate with anthem and carol and story the birthday of Jesus, who brought a new kind of love into a world still striving to receive it.

Light shows us the way, whether the star of Christmas or the light that grows longer and brighter with the Winter Solstice, which occurred just moments ago.

Amid this winter wonderland, we’re disappointed that we could not gather yesterday morning for our children’s holiday pageant and the planned carols and music and story or for the much anticipated concert of Cappella Clausura yesterday afternoon, but Mother Nature had other plans.   I trust that you found your own kind of “comfort and joy” as you tended to home and hearth, and perhaps even some snow shoveling to balance the sweets we tend to consume so plentifully at this season.

May your days be bright and your nights shine.   May the blessings of Christmas be with you.

I love you, each and all—

Jan

Christmas in the City

The Outreach Committee has contributed $175 to Christmas in the City.   We have supported this organization before and invite you to learn more about their work at www.christmasinthecity.org.

Bev Burgess,

Chair, Outreach Committee

Caroling on the Common

Thanks to Woody and JoAnne Chittick and our Membership Committee for leading us all in Caroling on the Common this past Saturday, December 19^th.   Carols were enjoyed by young and old, along with hot cocoa, warm cider, and delicious holiday cookies afterwards.   Many brought socks for our homeless friends and deposited them in the basket inside the Parish House.   There’s still time for the rest of us to bring socks that will warm chilly feet at this season of cold and snow.

There will be no e-mail update next week.  Please note below the events of this week through Sunday, January 3.

Thursday, December 24 – Christmas Eve

8:00 PM – Christmas Eve Candlelight Serve – The Meeting House

Friday, December 25 – Christmas Day

Merry Christmas to all!

Saturday, December 26 – Friday, January 1

Kwanzaa

This week-long festival honors African-American heritage.   Created in 1966 by Ron Karenga, it holds up symbols and principles that emerge from the struggles of African-American people.   In a candleholder called the Kinara, seven candles are lit, one each night, symbolizing the principles of Kwanzaa, principles by which we might relate to one another and live our lives according to our own choices.   Kwanzaa is Swahili for “first fruits of the harvest,” so special food is enjoyed and families gather to celebrate this harvest of memory, hope, and community.

Sunday, December 27

There will be no religious education classes or worship service on this Sunday between Christmas and New Year.

Friday, January 1 – New Year’s Day

Happy New Year!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

8:00 AM – Circle Ministry (group led by Joan Kovach & Susan Meikleham and meeting on the 1st & 3^rd Sundays)

9:45 AM – Childcare for our youngest and religious education classes for children and youth.  Our Whole Lives (OWL) meets at 9:45 AM at First Parish UU in Scituate.

10:00 AM – Worship in the Meeting House – Message: “Another Chance”

Everyone is invited for refreshments and fellowship in the Parish House right after worship and RE classes.

What else?

Holidays are a full time, but not everyone is full.

Please remember The Cohasset Food Pantry!

As we consider our holiday purchases, let’s remember that many of our neighbors and perhaps some among our own congregation are going through hard times.  The Cohasset Food Pantry continues its ministry to hungry neighbors on the South Shore.  Our Outreach Committee reminds us that we can help keep its shelves full by filling those baskets in the Meeting House and at the entrance to the Parish House.   Items especially needed are posted in the entrance to the Parish House.

For more information on activities at First Parish Unitarian Universalist in Cohasset, refer to our December newsletter, The Common, and to our website at www.firstparishcohasset.org.

Love and Peace!