First Church Unitarian of Athol
E-Newsletter - February 21, 2018
As the weather gets warmer and my cats start going back outside, I'm reminded that Spring is just around the corner and we will be coming back together. Here are some items that arrived recently in our emailbox.
Matt Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Council just sent me an email that contains the following:
"We must not allow the criminalization of Christianity and the purging of biblical values from our society to happen on our watch. The difference between victory and defeat, and good and evil, is often just one person standing in the gap and being willing to act – much like we have witnessed in Kim Davis, Sandra Merritt, and many other principled people. "
Among the groups he named as active in criminalizing Christianity are the ACLU and SPLC along with a number of individual retired politicians whom I wont name here.
I am concerned that while we struggle over where to meet and how to repair our aging bodies and piles of brick, this kind of message gains traction and more attention than it's more reasoned and compassionate alternatives.
I hope you are all staying warm and dry. Anyone want to do lunch?
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From Beacon Broadside, a project of Beacon Press, we recieved the following story:
Openly Gay Olympic Athletes Give Us Life
February 20, 2018
By Ginny Gilder
http://www.beaconbroadside.com/broadside/2018/02/openly-gay-olympic-athletes-give-us-life.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+beaconbroadside%2FnWan+%28Beacon+Broadside%29
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Christine Harris, from the Greenfield Recorder has contacted us with the following request. If you are interested in helping with a congregational response to Ms. Harris, please let us know.
Hi, friends
I am now scheduling Faith Matters columns in the Greenfield Recorder starting March 10 (March 31 is already taken).
If you are interested in contributing, please review the guidelines pasted below, as they have been updated.
Priority will be given to those who have not been published recently.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Chris Harris
Religion Page Editor
The Recorder's “Faith Matters” guidelines
A Franklin County and North Quabbin area faith leader contributes a column, personally written by himself or herself, that presents his or her faith group to a general audience. The series runs weekly on Saturday's Religion Page and also appears online at www.recorder.com under “Life, Faith.” Previous columns can be searched for using the key word: Faith Matters.
Suggested topics include:
- A theological topic
- A challenge you (or your faith group) is facing
- A commentary on an upcoming religious holiday
- A faith-based response to current events
Each column to be accompanied by:
a portrait of the faith leader(s), taken inside their gathering place by a Recorder photographer,
an exterior photo of the building (if applicable), taken by a Recorder photographer.
Length: 550 to 650 words.
Important: Please include your by-line and title at the beginning of the piece.
Remember: one space between sentences (not two)
Please submit your column as a .doc (not a .docx).
Plus, separately:
An approx. 100-word description of your group that includes factual information such as day(s) and time(s) of worship, religious affiliation (if any), year founded, contact information and whatever else you would like to say. If you are not attached to a congregation, please write two or three sentences about yourself, to go at the end of your column.
Reply to: Christine Harris, Religion Page Editor, at this address: religion@recorder.com
or call (Recorder) 413-772-0261, ext. 265 or (Chris's cell phone) 413-834-2469
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From Rosemary Wessel of "No Fracked Gas in Mass"
Hi friends,
This interfaith climate action at the MA State House and Back Bay pipeline site is being organized by Rev. Dr. Lawrence Jay in N. Andover and he’d like to spread the word for participants from far and wide. (He’s Cc’d here in case of questions.)
"LET MY PEOPLE GO! Exodus from Fossil Fuels: An Interfaith Witness for Climate Action." On Monday, March 26th at 12:00 noon, a gathering of people from all faith traditions will be held at the State House in downtown Boston to witness to climate injustice in our state and to speak truth to Governor Baker. After an interfaith ceremony at the State House, we will then procession to the Back Bay, where a new pipeline project is slated to power luxury high rises with fracked gas.
If you have any questions, please contact me. I hope that you will join us on Monday, March 26th at the State House as we unite as a witness to our vision of a beloved community of equality and human dignity, and a life-sustaining society that lives with reverence and care for all life on planet Earth.
Please share within your networks. For those on Facebook, the event page is at https://www.facebook.com/events/149498729096882/
------ She also shares:
The Mass Dept. of Energy Resources (DOER) has scheduled a series of listening sessions, offering the public a chance to comment on the Mass Save program. This is a great time for the public to give input on ideas as well as concerns they have with the program such as long wait times for energy assessments, inconsistencies in implementation of weatherization measures and commercial utilities being administrators of the program, and so on.
For more info, visit http://bit.ly/MassSaveListening
Right now, the planned listening sessions are in Boston, Fall River, Salem, Mashpee and Worcester, with Lowell and Springfield mentioned as TBD.
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From: Giannetti, Mary <mary.giannetti@heywood.org>
Date: Fri, Feb 16, 2018 at 3:26 PM
Subject: Community Health Survey- please distribute Thanks
To: Barbara Nealon <Barbara.Nealon@heywood.org>
The Montachusett Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) is in the process of collecting information related to the completion of Heywood Hospital’s and Athol Hospital’s s triennial Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA). Input gathered from the region’s resident’s via this anonymous survey will be used by the Hospitals, to design future health care programs and services.
Those wishing to participate in this survey may take the survey online at:
English version https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HeywoodAtholHealthSurvey
Spanish version https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SpanishHeywoodAtholHealthSurvey
Hmong version https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HmongHeywoodAtholHealthSurvey
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Obviously there is so much more to say. Let's keep the conversation going.
Best,
Steve Wills
Sometimes Lay presenter for the Unitarian Society in Athol, Ma.
If you have any messages or news that should go in a newsletter to our beloved group, please don't hesitate to write to clerk@fcuuathol.org
