First Parish in Cambridge Unitarian Universalist
December 21, 2014
Holiday Pageant
Welcome to First Parish in Cambridge
First Parish in Cambridge is a multi-faith, spirit-filled
congregation devoted to love and justice. We are
moving joyfully into a multiracial, multicultural,
justice-making future. We embrace all ages, races,
classes, abilities, sexual orientations, gender
presentations, and ethnic and religious backgrounds.
Honoring all the faith traditions of the world, we
support each person’s path to wisdom and spiritual
growth. Whoever you are, wherever you are on the
journey of life, we welcome you into our hearts.
If you’re here for the first time, we invite you to fill
out a visitor card located in the pew and leave it in the
collection plate. We’ll sign you up for our weekly email announcements and monthly newsletter. All are
welcome to join us in Helverson Parlor following the
service for refreshments. Please take a yellow cup so
we can recognize and greet you.
For those attending with children, you are welcome
to worship as a family or children ages 4 and under are
welcome in our Nursery in the Parish House.
Registration is required. An usher can direct you to
Nursery staff.
Activity boxes for older children are also available
from the ushers. For more information, please speak to
today’s newcomer liaison, Alison Altman.
Today’s Worship Participants
Rev. Fred Small, Senior Minister
Rev. Lilia Cuervo, Associate Minister
Seanan Fong, Ministerial Intern
Amanda Neff, Director of Religious Education
Jonathan Barnhart, Music Director
The First Parish Choir
David Levine, Worship Associate
Grace Hall, Deacon
Alison Altman, Newcomer Liaison
Backstage crew: Andrew Coate, Jeremie
Bateman, Hannah Stites, Megan Haddadi,
Kylie Mills
A looping system is available for
people who are hard of hearing.
Switch on the telecoil in your hearing
aids to bring the speaker’s voice right
to your ears.
Share the Plate with the Chelsea Collaborative
Each fall, the children choose a Justice Partner for
their year in Religious Education. They learn about
our fifth principle, each person should have a voice
and a vote, through the selection process. This year,
they have chosen the Chelsea Collaborative to learn
about and do service with.
The Chelsea Collaborative believes in empowering
people and building community. The Collaborative
sees organizing as a way to build community power
and achieve lasting change. Its mission is “To plan to
meet the human service needs of the community; to
foster collaborative service delivery; to build
community support for human services; to attract
resources for the provision of needed services.” Visit
chelseacollab.org for more.
Today’s Events
Sunday, December 21
9:00 AM Cookie Swap
9:00 AM Seniors/Longtimers
Breakfast
12:00 PM Chinese Conversation:
Intermediate/Advanced
12:00 PM Youth Group
12:30 PM Chinese Conversation:
Beginner
12:30 PM Abilities & Access
Chapel
Helverson
Parlor
Fuller Room
Gallery
Fuller Room
Baldwin Room
This Week’s Church Events Calendar
Tuesday, December 23
11 AM – Tuesday Meals Program
7 PM
7:15 PM Young Adult Group
Wednesday, December 24
5:30 PM Christmas Eve Service
Friday, December 26
8:00 PM Dance Friday
Helverson Parlor
Barn Room
Meetinghouse
Barn Room
Please note the church office will be closed from
noon on December 24 through Sunday, December
28. The office will be open on December 29 and 30.
Deadline for announcements for December 28 is
Tuesday, December 23 at 9:00 am
Religious Education for Children and Youth
This Sunday, please join us in the Meetinghouse for our
multigenerational, no-rehearsal Holiday Pageant!
Volunteer on the spot to play a role in one of our three
sacred stories.
 Our Nursery opens at 10:15 AM for children under 4
on the Second Floor
 Youth Group meets in the Gallery at noon
 OWL 7 – 8 meets at 6 PM in its new location: First
Church in Cambridge, 11 Garden Street
 Christmas Eve candle-lighters, please meet
Reverend Cuervo in the Sanctuary after Sunday
worship to rehearse.
Please join us in the Meetinghouse on December 24 for
our traditional Candlelight Service at 5:30 PM.
 Youth light-bearers, please meet Rev. Small at 4:30 PM
 Candle-lighters, please meet Rev. Cuervo at 4:45 PM
 Doors open at 5:00 PM
Winter Clothing Drive ends Sunday
The Chelsea Collaborative Warm Winter Clothing
drive ends this Sunday, December 21. All sizes of
clothing are needed for the Central American children
and adult refugees that the program serves. Chelsea
Collaborative requests donations of gently-used or
outgrown clothing items —- please do not buy new.
Please leave your donation of warm winter clothing in
the marked box by the Church Street door. Thank you
for supporting Chelsea Collaborative!
Donations Requested
The RE program is looking for the following items:
 Bright, rainbow-colored latex paint for our
puppet-painting event on January 4.
 Our Nursery is experiencing a "baby boomlet" and
is seeking a like-new ExerSaucer. If you have one
to donate, before dropping it off please e-mail
Mandy at dre@firstparishcambridge.org
Children and youth must be registered to participate
in the RE program. For information, contact
dre@firstparishcambridge.org.
Pastoral Care (Circle of Care)
The Pastoral Associates, supported by Circle of Care
volunteers, help to provide care to First Parish members
and friends during times of need by providing meals,
rides, and other help. The Pastoral Associate in
December is Linda Jurras. You may contact Linda at
pastoralcare@firstparishcambridge.org.
Christmas Eve Candlelight Service, Dec. 24 at 5:30 PM
This is a beautiful multicultural service of candlelight,
singing, and celebration for all ages. Rev. Fred Small
will preach a brief homily on how we are all bearers of
light. Please bring children, friends, visiting family
members, and neighbors for a memorable, spirit-filled
observance of the Christmas tradition. Interpreted in
American Sign Language. One half of the offering will
be dedicated to the UU Urban Ministry.
Upcoming Events
Women Writing Together
Light and brightness from our souls come from within
women writing together in all seasons. A facilitated,
non-critiquing group for writing in confidence, among
warm-hearted women, and reading our works
(optional) aloud. Next few Monday evening meetings
are: December 29 and January 5, on the Mezzanine
(elevator access!) level, in the aptly named Margaret
Fuller room, beginning at 6:30 – 8 PM. Contact
womenwriting@firstparishcambridge.org.
Women’s Book Group — January 6 at 7:00 PM
The Women’s Book Group meets on Tuesday, January
6 from 7 – 9 PM in the Chapel. We will be discussing
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong
Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of
Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman. We are a friendly,
low-stress group that meets once a month. The book
for February 3 is Moving Violations: War Zones,
Wheelchairs, and Declarations of Independence by
John Hockenberry. For information or to join our list,
e-mail womensbookgroup@firstparishcambridge.org.
Next Seniors/Longtimers Breakfast, January 18
Our monthly breakfast for longtimers and/or seniors
connected to First Parish in Cambridge will be
Sunday, January 18 from 9 – 10 AM in the Parlor.
Please arrive on time — breakfast will start promptly
at 9 — and bring guests. Contact Elizabeth Kline or
Jane Sturtevant (sturjn@aol.com or 617-354-9371) for
more information.
Next Gospel Sunday – January 25
Please do consider joining the choir for this joyful
musical experience, led by renowned guest conductor,
Linda Brown-San Martin. Participants should plan to
attend rehearsal on either Wednesday or Thursday
evening, January 21 or 22, and the mandatory dress
rehearsal on Saturday afternoon, January 24. For more
information, please contact Jonathan Barnhart, FP
Music Director, at jonathanbarnhart@comcast.net or
Irene Merwin at irene_merwin@hms.harvard.edu.
Women’s Writing Retreat – February 15 at 1:30 PM
Surprise yourself with writing connections, supported
in the company of warm-hearted women at our annual
winter afternoon retreat in the beautiful, peaceful
Chapel. Experienced facilitator assures confidentiality,
watches the time, and guards us against expressing
negative comments, to help foster free, creative
writing, which we voluntarily read out loud (one can
always opt to pass). Light refreshments provided. You
owe it to yourSELF to come, and won’t regret it!
Retreat date: Sunday, February 15, beginning at 1:30,
and ending at 5:00 PM. Contact
womenwriting@firstparishcambridge.org.
Tuesday Meals Volunteers Needed
In addition to their roles in the kitchen and dining
room, volunteers
REASON #34 TO VOLUNTEER AT
are invited to pull
TUESDAY MEALS PROGRAM:
up a chair and
companion our
We don’t just serve “others.”
guests, sharing a
We break bread together.
meal side by side.
Here are two ways
you can help — now through January. Click or type in
the links below to sign up online:
 Midday Prep (2 – 5 PM): Prep the meal and the
dining room (http://vols.pt/9WSape)
 Dinner Service (5:15 – 7:30 PM): Greet and serve
the 80+ guests who join us each week
(http://vols.pt/DugbT5)
Questions? Contact Seth Robinson, Volunteer
Coordinator, at tmpvolunteers@fpcambridge.org.
Tuesday Meals is an affiliated program of First
Parish. Its mission is to offer warm hospitality and an
evening meal in a safe, dignified environment to
anyone in need of nourishment.
Abilities and Access Committee Book Event
The Abilities and Access Committee invites you to
participate in a congregational read of Moving
Violations: Warzones, Wheelchairs and Declarations
of Independence, by John Hockenberry. It is a story of
obstacles — physical, emotional, and psychic —
overcome again, and again, and again. You’re invited
to read the book during December and January.
Language Groups at First Parish
Do you speak Spanish or Mandarin Chinese? Join the
language conversation groups at First Parish to
practice in an informal, friendly environment. It’s a
great way to get to know people while furthering our
multicultural mission. All levels are welcome.
 Spanish: First and third Tuesdays of the month,
6 – 7:30 PM, in the Baldwin Room.
 Chinese: Every Sunday 12 – 1 PM
o 12 – 12:30 PM: Intermediate/Advanced
o 12:30 – 1 PM: Beginners
For more information on either group, contact Karin
Lin at kslnet@yahoo.com. You can join our e-mail
lists by sending a blank message to FPSpanishsubscribe@yahoogroups.com or FPChinesesubscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Nominate a Shared Offering Recipient
The Program Council will be voting on the Shared
Offering Recipient at our next meeting on January 12
at 7 PM. Program groups, as well as individuals, are
welcome to nominate a recipient. Details about
selection criteria are on the First Parish website:
firstparishcambridge.org/shared-offering/. Please
send your nominations to
sharedoffering@firstparishcambridge.org by
Friday, January 9 or bring them to the meeting. For
more information, please contact Peggy Kraft at
peggykraft123@gmail.com.
Pastoral Prayer
Congregants may request to have their personal
joys and sorrows named and lifted up in Sunday’s
Pastoral Prayers by sending an e-mail to
pastoralprayer@firstparishcambridge.org by noon on
Friday. You may also fill out a Pastoral Prayer
Request Form and leave it in the Pastoral Prayer Box
by 10:30 AM on Sunday mornings. (Forms and the box
are in the Mass. Ave. foyer.) If you would like your
message in our announcements and monthly
newsletter, please e-mail the Pastoral Associates at
pastoralcare@firstparishcambridge.org.
Safe Congregation
At First Parish we covenant to welcome all people to
the table, to nourish and serve each other and to
respect and honor the inherent worth and dignity of
every person. To achieve these goals it is essential that
we maintain a safe environment that protects children
and adults from harm while fostering their spiritual
growth. We encourage anyone who has witnessed or
experienced verbal, sexual or physical abuse at First
Parish to contact the appropriate team:
 SafeCongregation@firstparishcambridge org
(for issues involving adults), or
 safechildren@firstparishcambridge.org
(for issues involving those under 18).
First Parish Staff and Leaders
Senior Minister.................................... Rev. Fred Small
Associate Minister ............................Rev. Lilia Cuervo
Ministerial Intern ......................................Seanan Fong
Minister Emeritus............... Rev. Dr. Thomas Mikelson
Music Director ................................. Jonathan Barnhart
Director of Religious Education ................ Mandy Neff
Youth Coordinator ............................. Jeremie Bateman
Nursery Care Coordinator ..................... Lace Campbell
Nursery Care Coordinator .................. Jeremy Schwartz
Congregational Administrator.................... Carol Lewis
Office Assistant .....................................Janice Zazinski
Sexton ...................................................... Roland Ellies
Community Life Coordinator.……...Rev. Mykal Slack
Tuesday Meals Volunteer Coordinator….Seth Robinson
Tuesday Meals Kitchen Coordinator ……Pam Cannon
Tuesday Meals Assistant ………………Brian Downes
Executive Director, Paine Senior Services .......Liz Aguilo
Social Worker, Paine Senior Services….Maureen Harty
Director, Cambridge Forum …………Patricia Suhrcke
Standing Committee 2014 – 2015
Chair:.................................................... Susan Shepherd
Vice Chair: ................................................. Peggy Kraft
Treasurer: .................................................. Ernie Sabine
Clerk:........................................................... Linda West
Members at Large: Julie Duncan, Brittney Gardner, Grey
Lee, Nassira Nicola, Mark Pickering. Rashid Shaikh
To make an appointment with either Rev. Fred
Small or Rev. Lilia Cuervo, please contact Carol
Lewis at 617-876-7772 or e-mail
office@firstparishcambridge.org.
Rev. Fred Small has an open office hour on
Fridays from 11:00 AM – noon. No appointment
is needed during this time. Rev. Small will not
be in the office on Friday, December 26.
Ministerial Intern Seanan Fong is also available
for pastoral care appointments. He warmly
welcomes individuals or groups who are seeking
pastoral care to contact him for an appointment
at intern@firstparishcambridge.org, or to stop by
his office (on the Mezzanine) on Sunday
afternoons or Tuesday evenings.