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 Community Life at First Parish of Sudbury

• Exploration for Adults
  
• Who Was Jesus?
  
• World Religions
  
• Couples Workshop
  
• Science and Religion
  
• Social Action
  
• Fundraising
  
• Committees and Groups
  
• Whom to call for more information
  
• Religious Exploration Program
  
• The R.E. Main Page
  
• The R.E. Prospectus
  

Intentional Community, Shared Ministry

We are an intentional faith community here at First Parish of Sudbury. We freely and intentionally choose to attend, we choose to join as members, and we choose to be engaged with our ministry inside and outside our meetinghouse walls.

Ours is a shared ministry. We have a professional staff, but we are mostly a volunteer-based community, from the Board of Trustees to the members and friends who work for an hour or two at a fundraiser. Volunteer service is the lifeblood of our congregation.

There are many ways to be engaged in our ministry: choosing to be involved in exploration groups for adults, or social action projects, FUNdraising for First Parish, or serving on committees. We hope that your involvement feeds your spirit and helps you to grow in new ways.

This Guidebook is designed to help you make intentional and informed choices about how can you participate in FPS's congregational life. This booklet will help you discern what you can be involved in that will feed your spirit and help promote our ministry at the same time. You will get ideas from the Guidebook that will use your existing talents and gifts. And, best of all, you will get ideas about ways to be involved that will help you develop new talents and gifts—ones you may have always wanted to explore. Jump in! There are people here to help you!

Exploration for Adults

    ~ nurturing our spirits ~

At First Parish, there are religious exploration programs for adults, just as there are for the children and youth. Here's a sampling of the kinds of adult programming being offered at First Parish during the 2011-2012 year. Childcare or transportation can often be arranged in advance by phoning the First Parish office.

Who Was Jesus?

Join our interim minister Gary Kowalski as we investigate modern scholarship that reveals a refreshing portrait of Jesus, his life and radical message that challenged the caste systems of his time, using as our text Marcus Borg's Meeting Jesus Again For The First Time, starting in October.

World Religions

Join our minister this winter of 2012 as we explore the wisdom traditions of Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Taoism, Confucianism and the Primal Religions, with Huston Smith's classic Understanding the World's Religions as our guidebook.

Couples Workshop

Spend half a day with the person you love most, fine tuning your relationship to enhance mutual satisfaction. A Valentine's Gift to each other, offered in February, Gary Kowalski, Facilitator.

Science and Religion

Where do faith and human values fit into a universe of quarks and quasars? Participants will read and discuss Science and the Search for God with a discussion facilitated by the author, Gary Kowalski, spring of 2012.


Programs Offered Weekly

• mindfulness meditation and study practice
  
• quilting and crafting
  

Programs Offered Monthly

• carbon consciousness group
  
• chalice circles
  
• 4th Tuesday lunch discussions
  

Programs Offered as a Series

• spiritually-themed book groups
  
• spiritually-themed films
  
• Life After 80! series on aging (collaboration with local organizations)
  

Programs Offered Throughout the Year (but not regularly scheduled)

• Green Sanctuary initiatives
  
• Women's Alliance potlucks, programs, and retreats
  

Adult programs often come about as "grass roots" initiatives, with individuals and groups, clergy and laypersons, all bringing ideas for programs to fruition. Those with ideas and passions get the ball rolling, enlist other interested folks, and take it forward.

Descriptions of Exploration for Adult Programs

Social Action

    ~ ministry outside our meetinghouse walls ~

Members of the Faith in Action (FiA) Committee are committed to promoting social justice locally and worldwide. Members are encouraged to develop their own individual ministries, and the Committee serves the congregation by identifying and developing social justice opportunities for members of the congregation. In these ways, we hope to make positive changes in our society by increasing our congregation's awareness, becoming a more generous community, and by reaching out and helping those in need.
There are many types of projects, and many ways to get involved. Our congregation's initiatives are coordinated by our FiA Committee. This group helps to increase awareness of ways we all can help, and oversees contributions of time and money to worthy organizations and projects—locally and beyond. FiA is able to provide material support to those in need through our monthly "Share the Plate" program and through grants that go primarily to local service organizations and wider eco-justice programs.


HOW TO GET INVOLVED
Here are just some of the ways FPS members and friends are engaged in Faith in Action efforts.

Collecting and Donating Items

• For women and children in shelters (Sandra's Lodge in Waltham, Renewal House in Boston)
  
• Secret Santa gifts to benefit area children in need
  
• Food and supplies for local food pantries
  

Working for Social Justice

• Gay Pride march
  
• "Stand with Haiti - a fundraiser to help the people of Haiti."
  
• Walk for Hunger
  
• March at social justice and environmental awareness events
  
• Barakat Walk for Literacy (providing education in remote areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan)
  

Political Advocacy

• Writing to elected representatives
  

Quilting

• Lap quilts for hospice patients and their families
  
• Bed quilts for children in shelters
  

Selling

• Fair Trade coffee and chocolate
  

Joining

• The Faith in Action Committee
  

Contributing financially to

• Share the Plate Sundays once each month
  
• Late autumn Guest at Your Table program that benefits the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
  
• Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless
  

Other

• MetroWest Free Medical Clinic in Sudbury—volunteering
  
• Habitat for Humanity—helping and working in many ways
  
• Domestic Violence Roundtable—many ways to be involved
  
• "Congregational effort to conserve water"—ecojustice
  

...and ...YOU NAME IT! If there are outreach projects you give your time and heart to, contact members of Faith in Action who will try to help you get others at FPS involved.

For more information contact Committee leaders

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Fundraising

    ~ helping our ministry thrive financially ~

Keeping the FUN in fundraising: When our congregants (and families and friends) get together to put on fundraising events, the end result is not only income to fund our ministry. Yes, that's an important part, but so many other great things happen, too.

Our fundraisers are a chance for us to serve together and get to know one another better. These are times when lots of people step up and offer their gifts of time and talent, and the end results are fun and rewarding collaborations which remind us why we have chosen to engage in our great faith community.

Fundraisers during the 2011-2012 program year:

• Fourth of July Grill
  
• Harvest Craft Fair
  
• Holly Fair
  
• "Springtime in Parish" service auction
  
• "Taste of the North End" pasta festival
  
• Coffeehouse on the Rocky Plain
  

Descriptions of Fundraising Programs

For general information about fundraising, including ideas for possible new fundraisers, contact the co-chairs of the Program Council.

Committees and Groups

    ~ working and helping together ~

Details about Specific Committees and Groups

Whom to call for more information

List of People to Call for more information  You must be signed in to see this page.