Here’s This Month's Roundup of News and Notes from the Wider Church

The 7^th Annual Meeting of the Southern New England Conference is set for September 25-27 at the DCU Center in Worcester.  This month, the conference announced that Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock will serve as the keynote speaker.  For over twenty years, Rev. Dr. Warnock has served as the Senior Pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, the historic spiritual home of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Following the theme of the meeting, The Ties That Bind, Rev. Dr. Warnock will offer his keynote that Saturday at 4pm as well as preach at that Sunday’s 10 am worship service.  The worship service on Sunday is available for everyone via livestream.  You can read more about Rev. Dr. Warnock and his invitation to speak here.  If you would like to attend the Annual Meeting in person as one of our three lay voting delegates, please contact Pastor JT.

This month, there was a special meeting of Geneal Synod 35 to elect a new Associate General Minister for the denomination.  The original search committee was unable to identify a candidate for General Synod 35, which took place last year, and a new search committee convened to eventually nominate Rev. Jennifer Sowell to be the Associate General Minister, Love of Church.  The special meeting this month was the final step of the process to elect Rev. Sowell, which was also an historic vote.  For the first time in the history of our denomination, all of our denominational leaders are women!  You can read more about Rev. Sowell and the special meeting of General Synod 35 here .

At the Spring Meeting of the Metro Boston Association, our association leadership shared that the MBA has signed up to march in Boston Pride for the People next month!  Every church from the MBA is invited to join in the celebration and march. Delegations are gathering at Old South Church (645 Boylston St) at 10:15 am on June 6th.  From there, the contingent will proceed to a designated preparation area before heading out on the march to the Common.  If you would like to be a part of representing First Parish at Boston Pride, please contact Pastor JT.  If Boston is too far for you, you can also join in a Pride month celebration right here in Westwood on June 7th at 1 pm at the senior center for the 4^th annual Westwood Pride.