February 27: Messiah Baptist

To celebrate the growing collaborations between our two church communities, the church services of First Parish Bridgewater and Messiah Baptist Church in Brockton will be combined on Sunday, February 27, 2011. Rev. Ed Hardy will be the guest minister at Messiah Baptist, and no service will be held at the Bridgewater church that morning.

The service at Messiah Baptist will begin at 10:45. A map and directions (from First Parish) are provided below. Carpooling is encouraged! An earlier service will also be held -- at 8:00 a.m. -- that will feature the jazz music of First Parish's own Barn Goats.


The two congregations will share lunch at around noon, following the second service.


View Larger Map

Driving directions to 80 Legion Parkway, Brockton, MA 02301-7205

1. 19 mins

   MA-28 N

   7.6 mi

50 School St Bridgewater, MA 02324

	1. Head west on School St toward Cedar St
		0.1 mi
	2. Turn right at Central Square
		0.1 mi
	3. Turn left at Main St
		7.3 mi
	4. Turn left at Legion Pkwy
		194 ft
	5. Take the 1st left to stay on Legion Pkwy
		125 ft

80 Legion Parkway, Brockton, MA 02301-7205

To Kill a Mockingbird at Messiah Baptist -- April 2

At the invitation of a friend, Pam and I attended the staged reading of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird at the Lakeville Public Library this afternoon. We were delighted to see several friends there, and to learn that some of our new friends at Messiah Baptist Church were part of this very moving production.

Local director Matthew Bruffee worked with an amazing cast from Lakeville, Middleborough, and Brockton to perform Christopher Sergel's adaptation of the tale, using very spare staging and moving integration of music in the performance. The dramatic reading was followed by dialog between the cast members and audience. The co-producers of the work are Louise Dery-Wells of “Arts From The Heart” and Jean Hamler of the Theatrical Ministry of  Messiah Baptist.

The third and final performance of this work will be on Saturday, April 2 at 2:00 p.m. at the Messiah Baptist Church in Brockton. (See the announcement of our February joint service for maps and directions.)

Messiah Baptist Visit

Members of First Parish were warmly welcomed at Messiah Baptist Church in Brockton yesterday, where our Rev. Ed Hardy was invited to deliver the sermon, and many other members of both congregations -- including children and youth -- participated in a rousing service before enjoying a delicious lunch together. More details and photos will follow, but for now it seems appropriate to post the Mission/Vision Statement of Messiah Baptist Church, which illustrates some of the common ground shared by our two congregations.

"Our mission is to be a loving and supportive community for understanding our oneness with God. We practice the universal spiritual principles of love, abundance, wholeness, and happiness as taught by Jesus Christ. Our vision is to be an intentional welcoming, affirming, and progressive Christian community. Embracing the 1^st and 2^nd Testaments and Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, offering prophetic preaching, teaching, and healing ministries to strategically fulfill our role as the major servant-leader institution in Southeastern Massachusetts to synergize the total salvation -- economic, social, political, and spiritual -- of the community."

Fight hunger on MLK Day

Children from Brockton and Bridgewater work together to fight hunger on Martin Luther King Day


Recognizing that hunger is a real issue in our community, the children of Messiah Baptist Church in Brockton and of First Parish Unitarian-Universalist Church in Bridgewater are teaming up to help. They plan to conduct a food drive over the next month, gathering donations from their respective churches and from the community at large. They will then work in tandem with the food pantry at Messiah Baptist to shop for, package, and distribute food to those in need.  Approximately 30 children, ages 3-16, will participate in this inspiring project, entitled We Can Help: A Child's Response to Citizenship and Community.

The project will begin on MLK Day, Monday, January 17. Please follow this blog for more information, as the children develop ideas for involving adults of their respective churches as well as the broader community.

Feb 27 reminder

Members and friends of First Parish: On Sunday, Feb. 27, Rev. Ed will be speaking at Messiah Baptist Church in Brockton. The service will be at 10:45, and we will not hold a service in Bridgewater.

Earlier that morning, the new First Parish jazz ensemble, The Barn Goats, will be part of the regular jazz service at Messiah Baptist. See details and a map in the original post.

Messiah/First Parish Partnership on BTV

Bridgewater Television (BTV) produced a nice, one-minute video about the recent project in which Messiah Baptist and First Parish worked together to reduce hunger in our community. Learn more about the project from the web site created by the youth who led this effort: We Can Help Food Drive.

An Invitation

CHANGE OF PLANS

We had planned on having a special Worship Service on May 22 with members of Messiah Baptist Church of Brockton as our guests. However, they are now expecting a special guest of their own. Gov. Deval Patrick will be visiting them for a signing of his book

"A Reason to Believe".

The date for their visit in Bridgewater will be rescheduled. Watch for the announcement.

The May 22 service will still be special, but with a different focus. Please join us for the 10:30 a.m. worship.

WE CAN HELP!

We Can Help is a five-week food drive that is a partnership project of the children and youth of Messiah Baptist Church of Brockton and First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church of Bridgewater. The children have created their own project web site that tells the story of their collaboration, provided educational material on food security and -- best of all -- lets us all know how we can support the project.

Race: Are We So Different?

Race: Are We So Different? is a temporary exhibit at the Museum of Science in Boston. Pam and I attended yesterday. This engaging and fascinating exhibit is available only through May 15. It is an excellent place to continue the congregational discussions we have been having about race through our First Principles Project and our cooperation with Messiah Baptist Church.

Learn more about the subject from the exhibit's permanent web site, which includes many interactive activities.

Celebration for Peace

Bridgewater Celebration for Peace
The Seventh Annual Bridgewater Celebration for Peace will be observed with a new expanded program. The traditional 24 hour Peace Vigil will be held from Sat., Sept.17 at 1:00 p.m. through Sun., Sept. 18 at 1:00 p.m. with activities and programs at First Parish and Bridgewater United Methodist churches. All are invited to make banners and doves before the Saturday Procession around Bridgewater Center at 2:00 p.m. This will be followed by Peace Games for children, creating a Sand Mandala and other activities. After a light supper there will be Peace Offerings, a program especially geared for children. The movie "Peace Pilgrim" will be shown at First Parish and Sacred Dances for Peace will be held at the Parish Hall of Bridgewater Methodist Church. At 9:00 p.m. there will be a special Peace Program at First Parish followed by the Fire of Forgiveness. Throughout the night the church will be open for silent meditation.

At 6:00 a.m. on Sunday there will be a Sunrise Meditation. After breakfast will be a service of Sufi poetry. Before the morning worship Peter Jansen will play Gathering Music. Rev. Michael Walker of Messiah Baptist Church in Brockton will be the preacher at the morning service. Rev.Walker and his parishioners will then join us for a Peace Picnic in the lane. At 1:00 p.m. we will gather round the Peace Pole for the closing ceremony of the vigil.
However this year there's more! Mon. evening Sept. 19 a special Round Table will meet at 7:00 p.m. in the Heritage Room at the Maxwell Library at Bridgewater State University (BSU). The topic will be "Work with Street Children" This will tie in with the One Book One Community selection "Dragon House" by John Shors, a novel about street children in Vietnam.

Tues. evening Sept. 20 back at First Parish all are invited to a Pot Luck Dinner at 6:30 p.m. back at First Parish where our guests will be International Students and Staff from BSU.
On Wed., Sept. 21 EarthView, the amazing globe that Vernon Domingo and James Hayes-Bohanan have shared with us the past two years, will be on display at BSU. Watch for more details so that you can take a stroll through. Later in the day we will be presenting the gifts and donations gathered to the two charities "School on Wheels" and "A New Day". Shay Kelley of Project 50/50 will be here to help distribute these donations. At 7:00 p.m. Shay will speak about her inspiring work traveling around 50 states in 50 weeks to gather gifts for those less fortunate. Her program will be at a BSU location TBD. (See www.project-5050.com.)

There's a lot to participate in and we certainly need to be thinking of peace in all its aspects - personal, local and global. Come find some peace during this celebration.

WAYS TO HELP THE CELEBRATION
1. Donate to help "School on Wheels" https://www.facebook.com/schoolonwheels and/or "A New Day" http://www.healthimperatives.org/. See weekly church emails or contact Betty Gilson for information. gillyflower@verizon.net
2. Attend the programs and activities.
3. Help with the Peace Picnic on Sun., Sept. 19. Contact To St. Thomas, who is our chief host and coordinator, at 508-697-8637.
4. Come to the Tues., Sept. 20 Pot Luck and bring a dish of typically American food. This will be a crash course in American Cuisine for our International guests. RSVP gillyflower@verizon.net.
5. Join us for the finale and hear Shay Kelley's inspiring story.