The Clapboardtree Spire

News from the First Parish of Westwood, United Church

February, 2007

FEATURES

Regearment Day

To engage the congregation and receive feedback in a number of areas, First Parish will offer an all-church meeting in the Parish Hall from 9:30-12:00 on Saturday, March 10^th. This day will help our church to brainstorm and come up with a vision for the coming year.

Here’s how it will work:

· Tables representing different topics of discussion will be set up in the Parish Hall,

· Participants will rotate among the tables offering comments, concerns and suggestions.

· “Recorders” at each table will take notes on the congregation’s input.

· At the end of the gathering, the recorders will share their notes with the entire group.

So save the date, and plan to help us prepare a vision for First Parish’s future!

Come to WISH!

Come to the Parish Hall on Thursday, Feb. 15^th at 6 PM for a pot luck supper and meeting of the Women’s Intergenerational Sharing Hour!

All women of First Parish are invited to bring food to share and join in discussion of Chapters 3 & 4 of Marsha Mirkin’s The Women Who Danced by the Sea. (Rebecca: Envisioning our Relationships, and Leah and Rachel: Struggle and Compassion). Copies are available in the church office, if you need one!)

No need to RSVP – just come for great food, fellowship and discussion. Questions? See Donna Bertazzoni.

Prayer Shawl Ministry

Attention knitters – and those who’d like to learn! It’s time to gather to knit shawls for our prayer shawl ministry, and you are invited to join in the fun!

At First Parish, prayer shawls are knitted by women of the congregation and given to people within or connected to the church who are suffering some type of crisis or illness, or just need a loving touch from the church. Baby shawls are delivered to families either around the time of the child’s birth or at baptism. Our supply of adult shawls is getting a little low, and you’re invited to help us replenish it.

Judy Holbrook is hosting a knitting group at her home from 7-8:30 PM one evening a week during Lent (any weekday evening will work, except Tuesdays due to church meetings). If you are interested in participating, please contact Judy (781-326-5344 or 781-326-2113) to let her know what evening would work for you. We will begin the week of February 26^th and conclude the week of March 26^th.

No prior experience is necessary. The shawl pattern is not complicated and easy to learn. Questions? See Judy Holbrook.

Attention Worshippers!

Worship will be in the Parish Hall

on Sunday, Feb. 18th!

Third Grade Communion Class

On Sunday, Feb. 4^th First Parish’s third graders will begin a six week communion class, taught by Jeannie Germano. On April 1^st, Palm Sunday, students will celebrate the completion of the course by taking communion with their families

During the six week session, students will go directly to the Cottage at 10 AM, without going to the Meeting House first. They will rejoin their families as always in the Parish Hall at 11:20 AM. Parents are asked to see that students are present for every session, as content is sequential and absences will affect the child’s full understanding of our church’s most important sacrament.

All third graders should have received information about the class in the mail. If you have questions – or if your older child has not taken the class and would like to, please contact Jeannie Germano or Donna Bertazzoni.

STAFF ARTICLES

PASTOR

“As I See It”

As we face the beginning of a new year together, let me say first off just how much I have enjoyed serving you as your Interim Senior Pastor. Your church is alive with the spirit of Christ, who lives in each of you.

In her book Soul at Work, Andover Newton Theological School’s Margaret Benefiel offers spiritual direction to leaders and organizations by exhorting them to “find the places of fertile soil.” She suggests that in order to find the quiet places of spiritual discernment and organizational transformation needed for ourselves and our church, we must face the challenge of refocusing our attention and discovering a spiritual path that allows us to adopt new practices and nurtures new vision and values.

After five months of our working together, I can see a few challenges that lie ahead for us this year which will require discernment and transformation of us all:

Within the next month and a half, we will be selecting a Search Committee. Much discernment will be required of this group, which will involve a lot of their personal time and energy working together as a team. Once the Search Committee has selected candidates, we must be able to allow them trust and space to do their task, without outside pressure, as they work to find your settled Senior Pastor. The Search Committee’s job will be to find a strong and dynamic leader who will face head-on some of the ongoing challenges that need addressing: someone who can powerfully and effectively lead a capital campaign, an inspiring and empathic preacher, and a pastor who has the capacity to draw in new people, as the Westwood Station project changes the demographics of your growing neighborhood. Your prayerful personal and fiscal support will be needed, as never before, at this changing time.

I also clearly see that more conclusive and decisive conversations need to be had regarding your church properties. After numerous years of your revisiting this difficult issue, I believe that you can no longer afford to keep sweeping it under the carpet. We need to sit down and make an informed decision based on our studying the issues together. I see this issue as crucial because the evident financial needs of the various buildings’ upkeep and maintenance have exceeded, and continue to exceed, the church’s annual fundraising capacity and budget.

Another need I see at First Parish is to develop good stewardship education so both new and tenured members recognize that active financial support of First Parish is an integral part of joyful, faith-filled, and fulfilling stewardship. People reach this level of giving through education, by being taught how to give, when and how much. As First Parish expands and grows, there will be many needs that only a majority of members together can meet. Good stewardship training will involve all of us working together within a wider vision for our church.

In the coming months, as we all face these exciting and crucial issues, let us together “find the places of fertile soil” so that we can grow together, personally and as a church community.

Blessings,

Rev. David Stryker

ASSISTANT MINISTER

The other day I was sitting in the window at Thurston Middle School as the reading class I was teaching was working on their assignment. As I was sitting there it began to snow and I was struck by a couple of thoughts. First, I was struck by the beauty of each of the snow flakes as they floated slowly to the ground where they quickly disappeared and joined with moisture already on the ground. What struck me most about this scene was watching as these snowflakes, each of them unique and different, joined together and became one substance. As the noise in the room brought me back to reality (6th graders can be quite loud) I looked around the room and saw a room full of snowflakes! Each of these kids was unique. Each kid had a different look or a different style or a different voice. But, here they were joined together in one room sharing the same experiences.

Looking around at these different kids and seeing how unique each one is made me think about our church. Our church is a collection of different people from different backgrounds who all come together to share in a common experience. We gather each week to share in God's love and to embrace each person where they are. Each week we all come together as unique and different as the snow flakes that fall, but through our time together we come together as one body. Through our worship we are joined together to share in the experience of God’s love and to embrace each person with God’s love.

And do you know what the best part of this experience is? The best part of celebrating each of our differences is knowing that God loves each of us and embraces all of our differences. God doesn't love us because of what we do or what we say. God doesn't love us because of our similarities or our differences. God just loves us! God loves us for our imperfections and our failings. God loves us when we make bad decisions or when we make mistakes. God doesn’t love us because we do special things or because we say certain words on Sunday morning. God chose us and chose to be in relationship with us, not because we earned it but simply because God chose to love us. Remember this as you move through life. You are unique and different and God loves you just the way you are.

In Christ,

Josh Gray

CHURCH SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR

Classroom changes for February and March

During February and March the third grade class will be held separately for their unit on communion. To accommodate all students, the 4^th, 5^th and 6^th grades will be combined and held in the smaller classroom in the Cottage, The 3^rd graders will be across the hall. Doors will be labeled.

FEBRUARY REMINDERS

Sunday February 18th Josh Gray is preaching and planning an intergenera tional worship service. Children remain in

worship for the entire hour. As this is written, the service is expected to be held in the parish hall. The following

Sunday, the 25^th, Group lesson will be held, with all children age 5 and up meeting together in the stage classroom for

the regular hour. Younger children will be cared for in the nursery. Third graders are invited to attend both these sessions, as the communion class will not meet during vacation week.

MISSION PROJECTS

The winter mission project supporting the Walpole 4-H program that provides the sheep for our living nativity will wrap up at the end of February. The month of March will focus on the one Great Hour of Sharing.

TEACHER MEETING

All Church School Teachers - please attend a brief meeting after classes on Sunday, February 11 at 11:30 in the stage classroom.

Communion for Teachers

First Parish Sunday School Teachers are invited to participate in communion this month on February 4^th in the Vogel Room at 9:30 AM. We are pleased that Assistant Pastor Josh Gray has recently been given authority to celebrate this sacrament.

ADULT FAITH FORMATION LEADERS SOUGHT

Lent is a traditional time for adults in the parish to take a few evenings to look at a topic in some depth as a part their spiritual journey. The Ministry of Education and Discipleship is seeking people who are interested in leading small group discussions. Please contact Bob Gracia, Sharon Hobbs or Donna Bertazzoni.

THANK YOU FROM THE JIMMY FUND

The letter below was sent to First Parish from the Jimmy Fund in response to our church school’s handmade Christmas Card project …

“To All of You!

Thank you for everything you did to make the holidays a bit brighter for some very special kids here in the Jimmy Fund Clinic. The handmade cards were the perfect gift for our patients of all ages. It was so much fun to pass them out to the kids and see their faces light up! It was obvious that each card was made with a great deal of love and caring. Your generosity is greatly appreciated by all of us here at the clinic.

Working each day at the Jimmy Fund Clinic, we are constantly reminded by these incredible children what is truly important in life, especially during this holiday season. Seeing them smile is what it is all about. You all accomplished that! The Jimmy Fund is fortunate to have such wonderful friends who take the time and energy to think of these kids and make their difficult journey a bit easier to travel.

Wishing you all a healthy and happy New Year!

Llisa Scherber

Patient Activities Coordinator

Jimmy Fund Clinic

Dana Farber Cancer Institute

FAITH COMMUNITY NURSE

Having received many favorable comments about last month’s recipe, I have decided to continue with recipes on a monthly basis. As I write this, I am looking out at green grass, but the calendar says it is winter, so here is a healthy winter staple taken from the Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter. Enjoy!

Nourishment for the Body - Mac & Cheese Makeover

This family favorite has about half the calories and one fifth of the fat of a traditional recipe. It is almost as easy to make as packaged macaroni and cheese.

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 ½ teaspoons mustard powder

⅛ to ¼ teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)

2 cups whole wheat elbow macaroni (8 oz)

3 cups broccoli florets (1-inch pieces) (6 oz)

1 cup shredded carrot (3-4 medium)

1 ¾ cups 1% low-fat milk

1 ½ cups grated reduced-fat Cheddar cheese (6 oz)

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese (1/2 oz)

¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Mix cornstarch, mustard and ground red pepper in a small bowl

Cook macaroni in boiling water for 5 minutes.

Add broccoli to the water and cook until the macaroni is almost tender, 2 minutes longer.

Add carrots and stir to submerge.

Immediately drain the macaroni and the vegetables. (The macaroni should be al dente, it will continue cooking while you make the sauce.)

Return the macaroni mixture to the pot. Add the cornstarch mixture and stir to coat, stir in milk.

Over medium high heat continue to cook until the milk comes to a simmer and thickens, 2 to 3 minutes.

Remove from heat and add cheeses, stir until melted and creamy.

Season with salt and pepper.

To make a crusty mac & cheese: Spread the hot mixture into a shallow baking dish that has been coated with cooking spray. Mix ½ cup whole wheat bread crumbs with 2 teaspoons olive oil; sprinkle over the macaroni. Broil until the topping is lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes.

If you are cooking for 1 or 2, the recipe can easily be cut in half, heat leftovers in the microwave.

Nourishment for the Soul: Ash Wednesday by Gretchen Olheiser

Stepping from the brightness of Epiphany My senses tell me there are objects ahead—

I enter an unfamiliar place called “Lent.” prized places, sacred spaces.

My eyes are slow to adjust to the change.’ time has fallen away leaving

There is no sense of urgency; forty days and forty nights

I blink back tears and stand still wondering to explore this unknown, yet somehow familiar place;

if my eyes are open or closed, touching, feeling, knowing holy moments.