Ministers Musings by Rev. Julie Lombard

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Ministers Musings by Rev. Julie Lombard Our November worship theme is forgiveness. We know it as a life-long lesson that we revisit many times throughout our lives.

1 Ministers Musings by Rev. Julie Lombard Our November worship theme is forgiveness. We know it as a life-long lesson that we revisit many times throughout our lives. Just as soon as we think we understand forgiveness, another opportunity comes for us to practice it again. There are many things and people to forgive in this world, and many ways to do it. With the holidays soon upon us, sharpening our forgiveness skills can come in handy. Who hasn t been at a holiday table with a challenging relative saying or doing things that make our skin crawl? We ve all been there at one time or another. Before we get into any heated conversations, now is a good time to take inventory of what s in our hearts and consider how we want to to be in our various communities. We may want to ask what we bring to the table with us? Perhaps a broken heart, an open mind, or maybe a theology of forgiveness? Our faith offers us a unique opportunity to check in with our values as we consider the delicate moments. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies. To develop and maintain the capacity to forgive is the aim. We must remember that there is both good and evil in every person, that is what makes us human. What would it be like to have this way of being on the tip of our tongue with each and every conversation we begin with those challenging relatives? Could it change the dynamic of the holiday gatherings? I think it could. Jesus said, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (Matthew 5:9) Maybe you aren t interested in being a child of God, but you cannot help being a child of this world we share with so many different people. Maintaining the capacity to forgive is hard work, peacemaking is not an easy job, but because we believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every person with both good and evil sides, our task it to return to forgiveness again and again. We need forgiveness formost for ourselves and also for the rest of the people in this chaotic world which we cannot control. In the end, forgiveness is an act of love. The twentieth century theologian Reinhold Niebuhr said, Forgiveness is the final form of love. Maya Angelo said, It s one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody. These wise people are getting at the same thing, that love and forgiveness are entangled in a strange dance. They dance together, no matter if it s to a sad or happy tune. I urge you to stay with the dance, and wait for love to come around again. NOVEMBER 6 SUNDAY SERVICE 10:30 am The Courage to Let Go Rev. Julie Lombard You cannot save people, you can only love them. Anais Nin Forgiveness is a difficult business to be in, yet some faith traditions such as Judaism make it part of an annual rite to forgive. Sometimes we enter the realm of forgiveness with our mind on saving another s soul only in the end to save our own. In this worship service, I ll share my own journey to forgive someone close to me that had died. This ongoing journey has taken years and may never end, but the search for answers helped me to

2 discover that there is a UU theology of forgiveness. In this service we will explore this theology and how it can offer us the courage to let go. Please join us for worship. NOVEMBER 13 SUNDAY SERVICE 10:30 am Abraham Lincoln Paul Blandford Paul Blandford will focus his comments on Abraham Lincoln to mark this Veteran s Day Weekend. Abraham Lincoln did not dash off the Gettysburg Address in a moment, but its precepts came after several years of thoughtful deliberation. Paul will share some of Lincoln s profound statements, ending with the Gettysburg Address and closing lines from his second inaugural address. There will be music from the Civil War times and the sound track of the movie Lincoln. Music will be provided by Chet Willow and Judy Putnam. The congregation will have the opportunity to sing along with a few of the familiar musical selections. Paul Blandford has a BA from Northeastern University in Business Administration and an Education Certificate from Salem State University. He served four years in the Army including a year in Vietnam. Paul worked for the National Park Service for 20 years, fifteen of those were spent as an educational interpreter at the Washington/Longfellow National Historic Site in Cambridge, Massachusetts. NOVEMBER 20 SUNDAY SERVICE 10:30 am Awakening to the Truth Rev. Julie Lombard All are invited to a homecoming, our Thanksgiving multigenerational service. As each family prepares to gather at their own Thanksgiving table, wherever it may be, we all must deal with those relationships that may need a little forgiveness before we sit down together. In this service we will continue the tradition of a corn bread and cider communion, short readings and familiar hymns. We will share a forgiveness story by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Author of both The Beautiful Struggle and Between the World and Me, Coates offers us a tender message from an African-American father to his teenage son. Please join us for worship to share in this outpouring of love for this blessed church community. NOVEMBER 27 SUNDAY SERVICE 10:30 am Heritage Iain Goddard The Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy requires chiefs to consider how their present day decisions will impact the seventh generation of their descendants. In our culture, leaders are required to be guided by how their decisions will impact the next quarterly profits or the next election. This short-sightedness causes us a lot of trouble. To remedy the problem, we should consider our roots and our heritage. Often, we are ignorant of our heritage. What must we do?

3 News from the Social Action Committee November 6 -- Return of the Fair Trade Boutique -- The Social Action Committee will once again host a Fair Trade Boutique, but with a new spin this year. Instead of having a limited number of items to choose from, you will have the opportunity to select any item that appears in SERRV's consignment catalog. This is a winwin-win situation. You will have a larger number of unique handmade gifts at very reasonable prices to choose from, you will know that disadvantaged artisans and farmers receive a fair price for their products, and our church will receive 10% profit for the items sold. SERRV is a non-profit organization that creates change through fair wages, empowers women, sends more children to school, and protects the environment. Consignment catalogs and order forms will be available starting November 6. The order will be placed the last week in November, to ensure that item choices have not run out. November 6 Food Sunday: NSUU supports the Danvers Food Pantry with donations of food, checks, and gift cards. Nonperishable food items may be left in the Food Pantry basket in the Fellowship Hall on Food Sunday, October 2, or at any other time. Checks and gift cards may be given to the Scottgales for delivery. November 13 Operation Troop Support Sunday: NSUU is a collection point for Operation Troop Support. Donations for the troops (both male and female) include toiletries (razors, deodorant, toothpaste, etc.), socks, puzzle books, candy and other snacks. Donations may be left in the Operation Troop Support box. November Soul Work Forum: Common Read Discussion: Our common read for this fall is Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson. Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. A discussion of the book will be held after the service on November 13. A light lunch will be served. Sunday-Night Suppers at Lifebridge: Thanks to a dedicated crew of team leaders, who plan and organize, and volunteers, who buy food, cook, and serve. We provide a hot meal for about one hundred clients of Lifebridge in Salem on the fourth Sunday of each month. We welcome new volunteers and are now signing up volunteers for the November 27 dinner. The time commitment is 5 to 7 pm. You can sign up on the white board in Fellowship Hall. If you would like to donate money for the purchase of food, you can make out a check to NSUU, write Lifebridge in the memo line, and put your check in the offering any Sunday. Family Promise North Shore Boston: Family Promise North Shore Boston is a non-profit, interfaith hospitality network that provides temporary shelter, meals, hospitality, and case management for families experiencing homelessness on the North Shore of Boston. The goal is accomplished through the participation of hundreds of volunteers from North Shore congregations. Currently, the Social Action Committee is developing a group of volunteers from NSUU. A volunteer commits to two hours of service four times a year. The service may take the form of providing a meal, serving a meal, visiting with the families, driving, spending time at the day center with families, etc. Cathy Sullivan-Bradley is the volunteer coordinator for NSUU. If you are interested in volunteering, contact Cathy at catherinegaia@comcast.net or Lending Library: The Social Action Committee has a small collection of DVDs and books on social justice topics. They are located on the ledge in Fellowship Hall. If you would like to borrow a DVD or book, we ask that you sign it out and return it within two weeks. Share-the-Plate Applications: The Social Action Committee welcomes proposals for the share-the-plate program. If you support a charitable organization whose goals are consistent with UU principles, please consider submitting an application to share a Sunday offering with that organization. Blank application forms are posted on the Social Action Committee bulletin board near the front of Fellowship Hall.

4 The Social Action Committee welcomes new members. Contact Lois Markham for more information. The Transition Team is happy to hear from you The Transition Team was formed to support and advise Julie in her first year as a new minister at Northshore Unitarian Universalist Church. Julie is applying to the Unitarian Universalist Association for final fellowship. The committee as well as the Board needs to submit a questionnaire evaluating her ministry and offering suggestions for growth. If you have something that you'd like to offer, we welcome hearing from you. The transition team is Peter VanDebogert, Lisa Judd, Shirley Guerriero, and Carol Bullivant. Religious Exploration News by Rev. Julie Lombard Sunday Mornings: You may not have known that there are rules for super heroes, but there are. On Sunday mornings our youth are exploring a value-based curriculum for Unitarian Universalist children called Super Heroes. In this curriculum they will be learning about various biblical superheros; Moses, David, Solomon, Elijah, Joseph, Esther, and Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. They will hear the many stories of Moses, how David soothed Saul with his harp and fought Goliath with his sling shot. These lessons will be taught by a terrific team of volunteer teachers which include; Jenny Beauregard, Beth Beringer, Elise Ruggles, Susan Folkins, Margaret Riquier, Annie Lombard and Julie Lombard. This classroom is open to all of our youth on Sundays, but we ask that those in grade seven or higher help the teachers and the younger students. Youth Group: We meet every other Sunday Evening from 6-8 pm. at alternating locations: Northshore UU Church and First Parish Beverly. This group is for grades Here s the schedule, so mark your calendars and look for s updating you on what s going on: 10/16, 10/30, 11/13, 12/4, 12/18, 12/31 First Night in Beverly, 1/8, 1/22, 2/5, 2/26, 3/12, 3/26, 4/9, 4/14-15 Easter Bunny Breakfast in Danvers, 4/30, 5/21, 6/11. Our advisors are Keith Goggin, Arthur Thompson, Priscilla Tobey, and Julie Lombard. We started the year off with a spaghetti dinner in Danvers for the youth and their parents to gather on October 16 th. Although a couple of the youth group events are standards, First Night in Beverly and the Easter Bunny Breakfast in Danvers, there are still many dates open for this group to create a value-based ministry. The advisors have some tricks up their sleeves to keep these youth busy and, of course, the youth have input on how they want to spend their time together. Director of Religious Exploration Search: In September, the Board asked if I would take on the responsibility of being the interim Director of Religious Exploration for a few months as an interim DRE. I said yes. The size of our program requires a 10 hours a week position. A DRE job description has been crafted with the wise eyes of the Board, Religious Exploration chairperson, and me. Soon we ll set sail in search of the right fit for our program. I ll keep you posted on our progress!

5 Please contact me if you have any questions about our youth program: Green Sanctuary News Webpage The Green Sanctuary Team has its own webpage now check it out. Go to nsuu.org, hold your cursor over "Social Action" in the menu bar, and "Green Sanctuary is a dropdown option. Or, go directly to We have information on forthcoming activities, an explanation of what "Green Sanctuary Certification" is, and lots of links to handy documents and websites. Congregational Assessment One link points to the newly-completed Congregational Assessment. This document, required by the Green Sanctuary process, describes our church activities and habits and what we ve been doing over the past few years in terms of the Unitarian Universalist seventh principle, which is Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. You may be surprised at how much we've already done. Personal Assessment Soon we will be circulating a personal assessment survey. Like the congregational assessment, this gives us a snapshot of what each family in the church community is doing to support and restore a healthy environment. The survey will be online, and there will be an option to take the survey on paper. We'll collate the results and share them. One very important section of the survey asks what church projects and habits you would like to see undertaken in the next few years. Watch for further particulars. Learn-at-Lunch Finally, in order to give you an opportunity to get all the latest information face-to-face, and get answers to your questions, the Green Sanctuary Team is going to sponsor a Learn-at-Lunch session after the Sunday solstice ceremony on December 18. You won't want to miss the catering by our Ethical Eating group. The dishes are not just ethical but delicious, too. Calling all photographers Our NSUU church calendar for 2017 will contain photographs taken by NSUU members and friends. Everyone is invited to submit one or two photographs by to jeankoulackyoung@gmail.com. The photographs can be of any subject and must be in landscape orientation. Photographs must be received by November 5.

June Minister s Musings by Rev. Julie Lombard. Every June our monthly worship theme is Celebration!

June Minister s Musings by Rev. Julie Lombard. Every June our monthly worship theme is Celebration! June 2018 Minister s Musings by Rev. Julie Lombard Every June our monthly worship theme is Celebration! There is much to celebrate in the life of this church. In the month ahead we will recognize eleven