SUNDAY, JUNE 5, 2022 at 10 am

Second Parish Hingham

Online Field Trip … access via Facebook. Please note service is at 10 am

To view their livestream on Facebook, visit their Facebook page at 10 am.

https://www.facebook.com/SecondParish

Whose Expectations?

Rev. Stephanie Kelsch

SUNDAY, JUNE 19, 2022 10:30 am

FLOWER COMMUNION SERVICE

Rev. Beau Rivers

Join us as we celebrate Father’s Day and reflect on what it means to father a child in the twenty-first century. We will also commemorate the end of the official church year with our traditional Flower Communion ceremony.

If you wish to participate in the ceremony, please bring a flower to church for each member of your family. We will have a few extra flowers available for visitors or anyone who may have forgotten theirs at home.

Message From the Minister

New COVID Protocol

As our first year together comes to a close, I am especially grateful to members of the Board of Trustees, the Sunday Service and Music Committee, and our staff for their guidance and perseverance in meeting the ongoing challenges of ministering and fulfilling our mission in the world amid a lingering pandemic. It seems the COVID landscape is constantly changing and adding to the complexity of our lives.

Since our first report in May of a member who tested positive for COVID-19 after attending a Sunday service, the Board has adopted a new safety protocol in response to COVID exposure at church events. It is referred to as the Traffic Light Model because it identifies three distinct levels of precaution. A Red Alert represents a maximum level of precaution. A Yellow Alert represents a moderate level of precaution, and a Green Alert represents a minimum level of precaution. Each phase is activated by specific criteria, for a specified duration. Learn more here.

If you attend a church event and become symptomatic or test positive for COVID within 24-48 hours, please notify Rev. Beau, as soon as possible, so we may inform the congregation. Only the date and time of the event you attended will be shared, so others may take a rapid test and any necessary precautions to protect their loved ones.

We understand how unnerving it can be when we have had close contact with someone who tests positive or when we ourselves become symptomatic. If you do not have a complicated medical history and have been exposed to COVID at a church event or subsequently test positive, we offer these Guidelines from the CDC. If you or a loved one are high risk and have been exposed or test positive for COVID-19, we encourage you to contact and follow the advice of your physician.

With the implementation of this COVID protocol and the blessing of technology that enables us to offer virtual and multiplatform services, we hope to ensure the safety of all who participate in events at All Souls.

Technology Fundraiser

At our annual budget hearing on Sunday, May 22, I announced the need to upgrade our technology to streamline the production and improve the quality of our multi-platform services. We will be purchasing a wall-mounted camera that zooms in or out, moves left or right, and up or down from the controls of a laptop computer. This will eliminate the need for multiple cameras and wires on the church floor, greatly reduce setup time prior to the service, and the number of volunteers needed to operate the technology during the service. We will also be purchasing a new laptop with adequate speed and memory to reduce lag time and handle video editing.

In support of this effort, Michael Domina has asked that any donations to All Souls Church in Sal Vento’s memory, contribute to purchase and installation of this equipment. We will accept donations through the end of June and want to thank those who have already made a contribution. Your generosity will greatly simplify and improve the quality and production of multi-platform services at All Souls!

General Assembly

Our annual Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations General Assembly, a 5-day national conference of Unitarian Universalists, will be multi-platform for the first time since the pandemic began in 2020. It will be held in Portland, Oregon and may be attended virtually via Zoom from Wednesday, June 22 – Sunday, June 26. This year’s theme is Meet the Moment – Reimagining Radical Faith Community. To learn more about the workshops being offered and the business that will come before the Assembly, click here.

Ministry Days

I will be virtually attending this year’s Ministry Days, an annual 3-day clergy conference from June 20 – 22, and General Assembly from the Ferry Beach Camp and Conference Center in Saco, Maine. I will be checking emails once a day and may be reached for pastoral emergencies via text at 207-712-0459.

Summer Services

Unitarian Universalists in New England have a long-standing tradition of not having church services during the summer months. Our Transcendentalist forebears preferred to worship Nature in her glory and escape the summer heat by spending time on the Cape where it is cooler. Generally, our official church year begins the first Sunday after Labor Day and ends the third Sunday in June. Our last service, this year, will be Sunday, June 19^th and our regular, weekly services will resume Sunday, September 11^th.

In the past, All Souls has offered shorter, more casual, lay-led, summer services in the Parish Hall. Our tech volunteers, however, need a rest this summer. So, we will offer one, lay-led service on July 17^th and one on August 14^th.

I hope you have a wonderful summer with many opportunities to relax in the company of family and friends.

May the warmth of the summer breeze,

The smell of the ocean air,

The beauty of the setting sun,

The magnificence of a starry night,

Renew your spirit, and restore your

Confidence in the mystery of creation

and in the hope for a bright tomorrow.

Many Blessings,

Rev. Beau

June 7 at 7 pm

Book Discussion Group

June 11 at 6 pm

Pot Luck Supper

Please join us on Saturday, June 11 at 6 pm for a pot luck supper for conversation, companionship and a great meal! Bring something to eat with some to share. An ingredient list is helpful in case of allergies.

Connection Circles

June 14

Social Action

The Social Action and Environment Committee SAEC) of All Souls will meet by zoom Tuesday, June 14 at 7:15 pm.

George Goss, chair SAEC,
781 690 7268, Agdgs@aol.com.

June 29 at 4 pm

Writing Group

“I’m just like my mother/father, except…” is the prompt for next month’s A.S.C. Writing

Group. Convening via Zoom on Wednesday, June 29 at 4 pm, the meeting will once again be facilitated by our esteemed Floridian correspondent, Nikki Milne. New participants are always welcome to join us for a bit of (literate) mirth.

From the Treasurer

Thank you to those who participated in the Budget Hearing after the service on May 22nd.  To access the slides that were presented at the meeting, please use this Google Drive link.    The main takeaways from the presentation are: 

• Last year, for FY 2021-22 we projected a shortfall of $9,531, meaning that we expected to spend more than we would bring in.  Happily, we don’t expect the shortfall to be that big – maybe half of that amount.   Our projections indicate that we will likely bring in $1,000 more than we budgeted and will spend about $4,500 less than we expected.   That’s good news!  
• Similar to last year, for the coming year, FY 2022-23 we are budgeting  an expected shortfall of $9,737.   There are many unknowns that could affect our actual experience, such as the kind of fundraising that we can realistically accomplish through events like the Dickens Festival and/or a Yard Sale. 
• Like last year, we have the financial resources to absorb a shortfall next year, but we don’t expect to have funds to absorb annual budget shortfalls indefinitely.   

As of May 22^nd, our members and friends have committed $48,915 in pledges (from 28 pledge units), nearly the $49,000 we have budgeted for revenue from pledges next year.   Pledges comprise 42% of our projected revenue. 

In the month of June, all who have made pledge commitments for this fiscal year, ending on June 30, 2022, should receive a statement of their pledge status.  If you have not already done so, please plan to pay your pledge in full on or before June 30. 

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I thank you for your steadfast generosity  enabling us to help develop and sustain this beloved community, fairly compensate our wonderful staff and insure, maintain and preserve our stately, historic building.   Continuing challenges before us make your continued contributions an important and appreciated element of our community’s financial health. 

Members will vote to approve the proposed budget on Sunday, June 12.  I welcome your questions, comments, and suggestions before then. 

With gratitude,  Mary Mitchell, Treasurer