Welcome Back!

Our kids are heading back to school today, and for the first time in their lives, they’ll be at the same school.  Jay is entering eighth

grade, and Quorra is entering sixth grade, which means they’ll both be at Thurston Middle School.   Middle schoolers!  It’s a whole new world in our house these days watching them learn and grow.

When I think about the start of the school year, I think about those assignments about what I did on my summer vacation.  It’s been a busy summer here at First Parish!  We learned more about prayer and prayer beads in worship.  We participated in worship with our fellow congregations at First Baptist and St. John’s.  We read a few books in our book study group.  We hired a new Director of Youth Faith Formation.  And, of course, there’s the work done in the sanctuary: refurbishing the ceiling, replacing the carpet, and upgrading our sound system.

I also spent some time this summer reflecting on worship.  This year, we’re trying something new with worship, adding theme material from the Worship Design Studio.  You may be familiar with prior theme material we’ve used for Advent and Lent from A Sanctified Art.  We’re going to take a break from them for a while, in part because the Worship Design Studio material will be available to us the entire year, no matter the season, which will be helpful when it comes time for my sabbatical in early 2027.  We’ve already started using the material with the prayer theme we’ve explored this summer in worship.

Last spring, we also spent some time in conversation around worship.  In consultation with the worship team, we’ve integrated the ideas you shared with the new theme material to refresh our weekly worship experience.  What does that mean?  Well, a lot of what we do will look very similar to what we’ve already been doing – remember, it’s a worship refresh, not a complete renovation.  But there are some tweaks along the way that will offer some different looks at music, scripture, and liturgy. 

The great thing about using the Worship Design Studio is that themes run for around five or six weeks, so we have an opportunity to try something new, see how it fits with our congregation, and adapt as the next theme begins.  And we get to do this while keeping the overall familiar format of worship we’ve come to know together.

We’ll start with this refreshing worship experience on our Welcome Back Sunday, September 13.  And then we’re jumping right into the fall: Westwood Day is right around the corner on September 19.  World Communion Sunday is October 4, and we hope you’ll invite a friend to come join us that day.  Soon we’ll be selling pumpkins, and the Interfaith Walk to End Hunger will get us moving on October 25.  Then it’s on to November with All Saints Day, stewardship, Thanksgiving, and making wreaths.  Before we know it, it will be time for Advent and Christmas.

Talking about Christmas in September?  Slow down, Pastor!  Ok, you’re right.  As we say in our house when we get a little too excited, let’s take a breath together and stay focused on what’s right in front of us.  It may be a whole new world out there, but it’s the same old love we share right here at First Parish.  I’m looking forward to welcoming you back to our beautiful sanctuary on September 13 and sharing a wonderful time in community together again. 

See you then!

Pastor JT