News from Romania

Radu Florescu, the author who connected Vlad the Impaler with Dracula in his book In Search of Dracula has died.

We're Hiring!

First Parish Bridgewater is looking for a Director of Religious Education. Please take a look here (http://www.firstparishbridgewater.org/dre-employment-opportunity) for more details!

First Parish Bridgewater, is seeking a part-time (approx. 15 hours/week) Director of Religious Education (DRE). The qualifying candidate will be a well-organized, enthusiastic, caring, and innovative person, excited to work collaboratively with our new minister and the RE Committee to continue and develop our dynamic Religious Education program and to think creatively about its future.

Our program provides 30+ children and youth with opportunities to...

• develop a sense of wonder about the world
• explore a wide variety of religious and cultural traditions
• express their thoughts and feelings
• make and display their own creative work
• learn to make responsible, healthy choices
• form lasting friendships with one another
• achieve a sense of group identity and pride in being a UU
• stay involved with our church community through high school and beyond

DRE Skills and Competencies

• Knowledge of, and enthusiasm for, liberal religion and Unitarian Universalism
• Good oral and written communication skills
• Proficiency with technology including social media
• Highly organized and self-directive
• Effective time management
• Energetic, flexible and approachable
• Creative and innovative thinker

First Parish Bridgewater is an active, multi-generational congregation.  We believe that “Love is the spirit of this church, and service is its gift. This is our great covenant: to dwell together in peace, to seek the truth in love, and to help one another.” We have just settled a minister, Rev. Paul Sprecher, and are very excited about our vibrant future.

Please email fpbdresearch@gmail.com to request a full job description or view it on the FP Bridgewater website. Interested applicants should send a Statement of Interest and a resume to fpbdresearch@gmail.com by July 17th. We hope to welcome our next DRE in August 2014.

Codified Homicide

I'll be more likely to accept the morality of the death penalty when Texas executes a corporation.   http://www.juancole.com/2014/05/penalty-states-infographic.html

Jobs Not Jails

Some members of First Parish joined with the Brockton Interfaith Coalition today to go to Boston Common to rally against building new prisons in MA. It was a great turnout and we got to spend time with a good group of like-minded people. See the video from Channel 7!

April 30th is the Statehouse Day of Action.
"volunteers will wrap bright orange banners around the State House, covered with roughly 30,000 petition signatures calling for Jobs, Not Jails!"
From the Jobs Not Jails website:

Below is a script, with information about six items that are immediately possible, which will help end mass incarceration and fund job creation.  Please call:

1)    Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo  (617) 722-2500

2)    Senate President Therese Murray  (617) 722-1500

3)    Your own Representative and Senator. Find their names and numbers at www.WhereDoIVoteMA.com  (just enter your address!)

Tell them you support Jobs Not Jails, and ask them to vote for the following items:

CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORMS

• H.1646, An Act to repeal mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses. Mandatory sentencing is one of the major causes of over-incarceration, and leads to disproportionately long sentences for low-level drug offenders – and even innocent people who have no information to trade to a district attorney.
• S.1643/H.3099, An Act relative to motor vehicle license suspension. This bill would repeal the law that requires an automatic one- to five-year driver’s license suspension upon the conviction of any drug offense, followed by a minimum $500 reinstatement fee.  The current law creates a large and counter-productive barrier for people who are trying to secure employment and rebuild their lives.

JOBS

• Spend $26.5 million on Youth Jobs, to engage young people in positive, self-sustaining work!

$9.5 million for SSYI (jobs for teens who have been struggling)

$12 million for Youth Works (jobs in the community)

$5 million for School to Career (private sector jobs)

• Raise the Minimum Wage to $10.50, and index it to inflation. Low-wage workers should not have to see their incomes weakened even further by inflation every year, even while corporate profits soar.
• Oppose H.1311, which would charge applicants $50 per casefor a request to seal their CORI.  This bill filed by Rep. Fernandes of Milford severely undermines CORI reform.  People have to struggle for 5-10 years before sealing a CORI, often unemployed or underemployed, and this fee (which could mount to hundreds of dollars as people are hit with multiple charges for one offense) could close the door on this hope.

You don’t have to list them all!  You can elect your own priorities. You can find out more at the links “Criminal Justice Priorities” and “Jobs Priorities” off the main page of this site. These are just six of the most immediately viable and pertinent issues right now.

FREE METAL RECYCLING—MAY 3

Don’t forget!!  Saturday, May 3, is our fifth annual FREE Metal Recycling Day.  Please collect and bring all forms of metal, from fridges to fencing to pots to pipe.  Bring your metal to the roll-off container in the church parking lot from 9-noon.  Volunteers will be available.  All proceeds will benefit the Bridgewater Food Pantry, thanks to our collaboration with keyforhope.  Please tell friends, family, and co-workers about this event.  Let’s make it a big success!! 

Sermon with Rev. Paul Sprecher, our ministerial candidate

This Sunday 4/27, our guest minister is Rev. Paul Sprecher, our ministerial candidate. The topic will be “The Love of Money” - Someone said that "the love of money is the root of all evil;" but the love of money is what appears to be driving the world economy.  It seems that none of us can get enough!

Come hear Rev. Paul and stay for the Open Forum w/ Rev. Paul and a pot luck lunch.

Rev. Paul Sprecher served minister of Second Parish in Hingham Unitarian Universalist from 2006 until 2013.  Prior to being settled at Second Parish, Paul served a combined Ministerial Internship at Arlington Street Church and the Church of the Larger Fellowship as part of his preparation for his third career.  He taught seventh and eighth grade English and US History for ten years at the Collegiate School for Boys in New York City, then started a new career as a computer consultant and then as Vice President for Technology at the American Stock Exchange; he retired from that position in 2005 to finish his preparation for ministry.

Rev. Paul is the treasurer of the Unitarian Universalist History and Heritage Society and the Scribe of the Ministerial Conference in Berry Street, sponsor of an annual essay by a Unitarian Universalist minister that was founded by William Ellery Channing in 1820.

He holds a Master of Divinity Degree from New York Theological Seminary (2005) and an M.S. in Education from the University of Wisconsin (1975).  He graduated Summa Cum Laude from Harvard College in 1972.  Paul is married to Deedee Agee; they are proud parents of David, 31 – an artist living in Chicago – and Sean, 28 – a musician living in Allston.

Are you Ready for the 13th Annual Goods & Services Auction?

Saturday, May 10th is the evening for one of the most fun and exciting events at our church.

Wine & Cheese, Silent Auction, and Wine Pull is at 6 pm and the Live Auction begins at 7 pm with Jenny Donahue as auctioneer.

Our annual auction is one of First Parish’s biggest fundraisers of the year and a whole lot of FUN! Don’t Miss It! Make it an evening for you and your family. Child care will be available. Start off with a glass of wine to sharpen your bidding skills. Peruse the silent auction table and plan your silent bidding strategy. Select a mystery bottle of wine for $20 and take a chance of getting a bottle valued at 4x that amount! And did you buy a raffle ticket for a trip to Nantucket? You will!

Then take a seat and let the live auction begin. There are wonderful things to eat, fun places to go, beautiful crafts, and useful services. All for sale to the highest bidder. The competition for coveted items is intense. You have you heart set on something. You hear bids from every corner of the room. The price is going up. YOU WANT IT. You BID $5 HIGHER (what’s another $5 for such a good cause?). You hear the auctioneer say “SOLD”! And she means TO YOU!! You outbid everyone and got the goods. Ah! The joy of winning! And if that wasn’t enough excitement, suddenly it’s intermission and time for fabulous desserts and gourmet coffee. Just when you think you can’t possibly have any more fun, the auctioneer is back on her feet with more exciting items for sale! Will you get back in the ring!? GO FOR IT – it’s a once-in-a-year opportunity to buy fun goods and services that keep on giving. A BIG WIN for you and First Parish at the same time.  

We Need Your Donated Items and Services!

Start planning your auction donations. Baskets are being requested from each church committee. Forms will be available in the next couple of weeks, online and at coffee hour. If you have any questions, please speak with one of our Auction Committee members.

Jobs Not Jails Rally

From the Jobs Not Jails Facebook Event:
Let us ALL bring together 10,000 people from across Massachusetts to say NO to incarcerating our family, friends, neighbors, and loved ones. Let us say YES to good jobs that are meaningful and pay living wages.

We will listen to speakers. We will chant with one another. We will be motivated to act with loud voices. 

This event is being organized by a statewide coalition. JOIN US!
www.jobsnotjails.org

Participating Organizations:

Action for Regional Equity

AIDS Project Worcester

American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts

American Friends Service Committee

Arise for Social Justice, Springfield

Arlington Street Church

10-Point Coalition

Black and Pink

Blackstonian.com

Boston Feminist Liberation

Boston Living Center

Boston Workers’ Alliance

Children’s League of Massachusetts

Cleghorn Neighborhood Center, Fitchburg

Coalition for Effective Public Safety

Coalition for Social Justice, Fall River and New Bedford

Coalition to Fund our Communities

Committee of Friends and Relatives of Prisoners

Committee for Public Counsel Services

Community Labor United

Criminal Justice Policy Coalition

Dismas House

Dorchester People for Peace

EPOCA (Ex-prisoners and Prisoners Organizing for Community Advancment)

Families for Justice as Healing

Families Against Mandatory Minimums

First Parish Church of Arlington

First Parish Church of Northborough

Fitchburg Minority Coalition

Harvard Law Students PLAP

Lesley College – PAWS

Lynn Youth Street Outreach Advocacy (LYSOA)

Massachusetts CURE

Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery

Massachusetts Women’s Justice Network

Mothers for Justice and Equality

Multicultural Wellness Center

NAACP Youth Council, Boston Chapter

National Association of Social Workers, SIG

National Lawyers’ Guild

Old Cambridge Baptist Church

Prison Policy Initiative

Progressive Massachusetts

Prisoners’ Legal Services

Real Cost of Prisons Project

Roxbury Youth Works

St. John Missionary Baptist Church

SPAN, Inc.

Spontaneous Celebrations – Beantown Society

Straight Ahead Ministries

Teen Empowerment

Teens Leading the Way

Timothy Baptist Church

Toastmasters Prison Volunteers

United Church of Christ, Innocence Commission Task Force

Worcester Branch, NAACP

Worcester Homeless Action Committee

Worcester Youth Center

Youth Against Mass Incarceration

Green Sanctuary Tip of the Month - Sustainability

Are you anxiously waiting for the first crocuses to show their color? Try cultivating a little summer with vegetables and herbs in pots to make your meals a little tastier.These tips are from Greenwrite on the Seventh Generation online news letter. www.seventhgeneration.com
Herbs A lot of herbs grow well in pots indoors – and you can keep them that way year-round if you like. Basil is probably the simplest herb of all to grow inside—just plant a packet of seeds and place the pot next to a south-facing window for maximum sunlight. You can also buy cuttings or small starter plants of oregano, parsley, thyme, or rosemary year-round and plant them in small pots.

Root Vegetables Imagine – a carrot patch with no four-footed invaders! Round varieties of carrots and radishes, which tend not to root as deeply as other varieties, do great indoors. Sow seeds at any point from late winter to mid-autumn. All you need is a box, trough, or pan.

Tomatoes 
No more mealy tomatoes for you! If you’re willing to put in a bit of extra work, you can grow small types of tomatoes inside. You’ll still need to stake the plants so they can bear the fruit’s weight, and most plants will need to be transferred from a small pot filled with starter mix to a larger container of potting soil as they grow, but the end product is like a delicious handful of summer!

The House I Live In

Wednesday, March 26 (snow date April 2)
7:00 pm with light refreshments beginning at 6:30

Join members and friend of First Parish Bridgewater for a viewing of The House I Live In, a  thoughtful video about mass incarceration and its repercussions in society. (See IMDb details; also available on Netflix, but join us for your first viewing if you can!)

First Parish invites the community -- especially people in law enforcement, public service, and social agencies, as well as students over 18 -- to view this one-hour film. The viewing will be followed by a discussion of ways to address the problems of mass incarceration.

Among the discussion leaders will be Jack Cole, the founder of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), who speaks frequently about the War on Drugs, prison reform, and related concerns.