Bird’s Eye View

Newsletter of Foxborough Universalist Church, Unitarian Universalist Association

6 Bird Street * On The Common * Foxborough, MA 02035-2301 * 508-543-4002

Worship Service & Religious Education Classes, Sundays at 10:00 A.M.

Katie Lawson, Minister * www.uufoxborough.org * All Are Welcome!

A UUA Welcoming Congregation

The Foxborough Universalist Church is a vibrant and caring congregation that welcomes all. Our mission is to nurture each other along our spiritual paths while working together for the betterment of our community and the world.

Chairman’s Ramblings

Hi, The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) is not an organization that I always agree with, but in reading their reports of the work being done by them in partnering with other groups and local Haitians they have a much more humanitarian way of distributing aid and providing resources than a lot of the volunteer groups there. First, the UUSC through appeals to local congregations has raised more than $1,000,000 in funds – significant for us, but not nearly enough to do the work that needs to be done. Second, by using their partnerships with local community action groups, they have passed out this aid in a dignified way to those who might not otherwise get it. Many aid groups have simply driven to a site, thrown out large sacks of rice – allowing the strongest to elbow their way to the front of the line – the young and the old have been short changed in this un-humane way of distribution. Third, being a charity and using local groups, more of the donated money has gone to aid, not administration.

I urge you to continue contributing to the UUSC fund for Haiti – it will be needed for a long while: unemployment is above 60%, wages are unconsionably low, and those who work in the garment industry work for 12 hour days-6 days per week and still have no place to live cannot afford decent food for themselves let alone the rest of their families. I also want us to all appreciate the gifts that we take for granted and how quickly they can disappear. Talk to you again next month.

Dick

Wayside Pulpit

The single largest pool of untapped resource in this world is human good intentions that never translate into action. ~Cindy Gallop

UUSC/UUA Joint Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund

We are still participating in this social action. As of February 19, the Fund has received 8,585 donations totalling approximately $1,130,000! If you would like to donate, please place your donation (in an envelope marked with “UUSC/UUA Haiti Fund”) in the collection plate and/or contact our church Treasurer.

Our Newest Members

During our worship service on February 14, we received new members into the congregation and held an ingathering service for all who have joined the church since Summer 2008. If you see some new faces at church, please introduce yourself to them!

The CUUPS Podcast Is Out!

The Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS) recently released the first issue of their new CUUPS Podcast. The first issue features an interview with British academic Michael York recorded at the December 2009 Parliament of World Religions. Basic information about CUUPS is also included in the podcast. The second issue features Margot Adler and Brian Schorr and music from Carole Eagleheart and Faith and the Muse. You can download a free copy of the podcasts either by going to cuups.libsyn.com or to the religious podcast section of the iTunes store.

Womensphere Spring Gathering

Please join Unitarian Universalist women at a Day for Women with Dharma Teacher Joanne Friday, Buddhist teacher in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. The day’s theme will be “Listening as a Spiritual Practice, Hearing with the Heart”. The program will be Saturday, March 27, 2010, from 9:30 a.m. through 3:00 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Falmouth, 840 Sandwich Road, Falmouth Mass. The deadline to register is Friday, March 19. The fee of $20 includes registration and lunch. Scholarships are available. Contact dschmader@cox.net for more information and to register.

Trivia Tidbits

Did you know that many plants in the driveway garden came from the homes and yards of Sarah and Marion, the Joe and Susan provided the big flower containers, Charlie built the retaining wall, the yews on either side of the wayside pulpit came from Marion’s parents, Carolyn donated the sprinkler system to make sure the plants thrive, and the big evergreen tree was planted in memory of Gertrude Fitz? There are many more plantings, paintings, fixtures, objects, and upkeep around the church that have been done, placed, and maintained by numerous others (such as the children) through the years; this is just a small sampling. Our “Memorial Garden” is not restricted to a garden bed!!

Universalist Convocation 2010

The Universalist Convocation will hold its annual convocation May 14-16, 2010, at the First Universalist Society of Rochester in Rochester, New York. The keynote presenter will be the Rev. Mark Morrison-Reed, whose talk is titled “Dragged Kicking and Screaming to Heaven”. For more information go to www.nmuc.org/Convo.

March’s Global Chalice Lighting

English

Let all nations live together in unison

And praise GOD together.

Speak with one voice

To LOVE and accept the Word.

Let LOVE create great songs of praise

For all living souls to sing together.

Yoruba

Gbogbo Eda Dapo,
E Jo Yin Oluwa.
E Pa Ohun nyin po,
Lati Fe Oro Na;
K’ ife da orin ope nla,
Ki gbogbo eda k’o si gbe.

~ Olufemi Matimoju

First Unitarian Church of Nigeria

BCD Spring Conference

The Ballou Channing District (BCD) Spring Conference will be held from 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. on April 24, 2010, at First Unitarian Church of Providence in Providence. We will explore the developing trends in demographic and religious practice and possible congregation responses. This year we will focus the theme through three sermons embedded in an extended, dynamic, morning worship followed by five conversation workshops. Our presenters will be: Rev. James Ford, First Unitarian Church minister, Rev. Eric Wikstrom, UUA Director of Worship and Music Resources, and Rev. Sue Sinnamon, Thomas Jefferson District Director of Faith Development. Plans are also under development for a community social service project. Please chek the BCD Web site (www.bcduua.org) and our church vestibule for more information and registration instructions.

March 2010 Holidays

1 Holi – Hindu

16 Vaisaki – Hindu

17 St Patrick’s Day – Christian

20 Equinox

20 Ostara – Wicca – Northern Hemisphere

20 Mabon – Wicca – Southern Hemisphere

21 Norouz (New Year) – Persian/Zoroastrian

21 Naw Ruz (New Year) – Baha’i

21 Passion Sunday – Christian

24 Ramanavami – Hindu

25 Annunciation of the Virgin Mary – Catholic Christian

27 Lazarus Saturday – Orthodox Christian

28 Palm Sunday – Christian/Orthodox Christian

28 Khordad Sal (Birth of Prophet Zaranhushtra) – Zoroastrian

29 Mahavir Jayanti – Jain

30 Lord’s Evening Meal – Jehovah’s Witness Christian

30 Hanuman Jayanti – Hindu

30 Magha Puja Day – Buddhist

30-31 Pesach (Passover) First two days – Jewish

Milestones

Alexander Graham Bell, George Mortimer Pullman, Luther Burbank , William Fogg Osgood, Vard R. Johnson, Joseph Priestley, William L. Langer, Neville Chamberlain, Sarah Billings Doolittle, Dorothy Tilden Spoerl, Thomas Hiram Andrews , Fannie Merritt Farmer, & Bela Bartok.

Summer At Ferry Beach

Registration for summer conferences at Ferry Beach is now open to everyone! The summer conference season begins with “Work and Play Week”/family week and Quilting Retreat:”You Can Quilt!” from June 20-26, 2010. Some new conferences this year are “The Ferry Beach Group: A Ministerial Study Retreat”, “Filling the Well: younger women’s mini-week”, “Exploring the Maine Coast: A Family Nature Camp”, “Grand Buddies Camp”, and “Celebrating Our Living Tradition: UU History Course and Conference”. For more information on all of Ferry Beach’s programs, visit www.ferrybeach.org or check the vestibule for the current brochure. You can register on the Web site or over the phone at 207-282-4489. There is also a registration form on their Web site to download and mail in.

UU Lobby Day

UU Lobby Day is Wednesday April 28. Join folks at the UUA headquaters, 25 Beacon Street, in Boston at 10:00 a.m. Learn how you can help make a difference on climate change in Massachusetts and fund critically needed homeless prevention programs. You’ll also meet UUMassAction partners and connect with other UUs. For more information, please visit www.uumassaction.org.

Standing On The Side Of Love News

March 19-22: Ecumenical Advocacy Days: “A Place to Call Home: Immigrants, Refugees, and Displaced Peoples”. This year’s focus will be on Immigration. Details available at www.advocacydays.org. Please contact Kat Liu at kliu@uua.org, if you are participating.

March 21: Join UUs & others for a March for Change for Comprehensive Immigration Reform to rally together and Stand on the Side of Love with Immigrant Families. Details and registration available via www.standingonthesideoflove.org/take-a-stand.

June 26: UUA General Assembly 2010 attendees are invited to join in an Interfaith Community Public Witness Event at the Twin Cities’ Pride Weekend at the Stonewall Stage in Loring Park.

Volunteer To Help Haitians In U.S.A. Apply For TPS

The estimated 100,000-200,000 Haitians in the United States prior to January 12, 2010, are eligible to apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). This status will allow them to legally live and work in the United States for the next eighteen months without fear of deportation. The UUA and Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) are setting up and supporting legal clinics for Haitian TPS applicants. At these clinics, volunteers will provide free advice and assistance in filling out the necessary forms, as well as help in completing TPS fee-waiver applications. Volunteers need NOT be attorneys in order to participate, but do need to take part in a TPS training supervised by immigration attorneys prior to volunteering.

UUSC is hosting two TPS webinars – open to all – facilitated by immigration attorneys, to train volunteers to serve at these clinics. TPS Training Webinars will be held: Wednesday, March 3, (7:00p.m. – 8:30 p.m. EST) & Wednesday, March 10 (7:00p.m. – 8:30 p.m. EST).

Clinics where trained volunteers will help people fill out applications for TPS and fee waivers will be held: Saturday, March 6 , (11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.) in West Somerville & Sunday, March 7, (2:00 p.m .- 4:00 p.m. location to be determined). Please visit www.uusc.org/resource/tps_training to register for the Webinar Trainings, then please RSVP to Nichole Cirillo at 617-301-4336 or ncirillo@uusc.org to let her know which training and/or clinic you will be attending.

Join NCTE For Lobby Days: March 14-16

On March 16, the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) will be holding a Lobby Day in Washington D.C. specifically for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). In brief, this bill stops companies from firing or refusing to hire transgender workers simply on the basis of gender identity. This has drastic consequences which have included becoming homeless, being preyed upon by those who are in the sex worker industry, and worse. LGBT people and allies from around the country who support ENDA will be at the Lobby Day. For more information about the proposed legislation, the NCTE, and how you can participate, please visit www.uua.org/socialjustice/issues/bgltequality/employment/index.shtml and/or www.transequality.org

Magha Puja

Commemorating an important event in the life of Lord Buddha, Magha Puja Day takes places on the full moon day of the third lunar month. On this day, the Buddha went to Rajagaha city where 1250 Arahats,(Enlightened saints) who were the Buddha’s disciples, without prior appointment, returned from their wanderings to pay respect to the Buddha. They assembled in the Veruvana Monastery with the two chief disciples of the Buddha, Ven. Sariputta and Ven. Moggalana. Here, Lord Buddha recited the “Ovadha Patimokkha” (the Fundamental Teaching) to his disciples.

Clean Water For A Healthy World

International World Water Day is celebrated each year on March 22. “It is still a reality that an estimated 1.1 billion people rely on unsafe drinking-water sources. Therefore the theme of World Water Day 2010 is focusing on raising awareness of water quality under the theme ‘Clean Water for a Healthy World’“. The overall goal of the World Water Day 2010 campaign is to raise the profile of water quality at the political level so that water quality considerations are made alongside those of water quantity. Visit www.unwater.org/worldwaterday, www.uusc.org, and www.worldwaterday.org for more information.

American Red Cross Month

President Obama has proclaimed March is American Red Cross Month in the United States.

Tidbits: The American Red Cross was founded in 1881 by Clarissa “Clara” Barton, a Universalist born in N. Oxford, Mass., & President Franklin D. Roosevelt began the tradition of proclaiming March as American Red Cross Month in 1943.

A 45th Anniversary

This month marks the 45th Anniversary of the Civil Rights March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

Two UUs, the Rev. James Joseph Reeb and Viola Liuzzo, were murdered by white supremacists during this time. Rev. Reeb was attacked and beaten on March 9, 1965, and died two days later.

Viola Liuzzo, a mother of five children, had brought her car to help drive civil rights workers around the county and was shot and killed while doing so.

The police attack on the marchers and these two murders outraged many Americans and prompted President Johnson to institute the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Other March Osbervances

1 First National Park establised, 1872

2 Read Across America Day

3 National Anthem Day

8 International Women’s Day

10 First paper money issued in US 1862

12 Girl Scouts founded, 1912

14 Mothering Sunday (England)

14 Save A Spider Day

14 Potato Chip Day

14 Daylight Saving Time begins, 2010

15 American Legion founded, 1919

18 Camp Fire Boys and Girls established, 1910

19 Swallows return to Capistrano

19 Iraq War began, 2003

22 National Sing Out Day

25 International Waffle Day

27 Fly A Kite Day

27 Earth Hour

31 First US Copmbat troops ordered to Vietnam, 1965.

Weeklong Observances

Pet Sitters Week

Girl Scout Week

Poison Prevention Week

Crochet Week

Birthstone: Aquamarine, Bloodstone

Flower: Jonquil

Fundraising Ideas

Have a fundraising idea or want to help out at some of the upcoming fundraisers? Please submit your ideas to the Finance Chairman or Board Of Trustees and let the event organizer know you have time to help. You can do this in a variety of ways: in person; leave a note in the mailboxes in the church office; via e-mail; and/or on-line through committees.uufoxborough.org/Finance/.

* Don’t forget to purchase products through our Amazon.com and Powell’s Book partner programs: click through the links on the church Web site home page (www.uufoxborough.org) and shop!

A Very Brief Look At Ostara

The Spring or Vernal Equinox is also known as Ostara and will occur here at 1:32 p.m. EDT, on March 20, 2010. Ostara is the Goddess of Fertility and Rebirth and she presides over this celebration. She is often depicted standing among spring flowers and vines, holding an egg in her hand, surrounded by bunnies at her feet, and birds flying above her. Ostara and the egg are symbols of newborn life.

Eggs and seeds are an important part of this festival because of the promise they each hold of new life springing forth. Seeds are Blessed and are either planted or saved for future planting. Eggs are colored in pastels and placed in baskets around the house and altar.

Ostara is also a time to remember our balance in the greater scheme of things, we are an important part of all that happens around us, our actions and deeds have effect on the Earth, Her people, and the Universe.

Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul. ~Luther Burbank

Other Notices And Events

• Mar. 3 and Apr. 7: (7:30 p.m.) Men’s Group Meeting at Pike’s Peak Mining Company in Mansfield. Please contact Rick for details. Newcomers are welcome!
• Mar. 4 and Apr. 1: (6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) First Thursdays Peace Vigil at the church. Area residents are invited to participate!
• Mar. 6: (9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.) “Thinking Outside the Pulpit: Beyond the Hymn-Sermon Sandwich Service” workshop at All Souls Church in Braintree, Mass.
• Mar. 6-10: End Mountaintop Removal Week. Please visit www.ilovemountains.org/wiw for details.
• Mar. 7: (8:00 a.m.) Board Of Trustees Meeting at the church. All are welcome to attend.
• Mar. 20: (10:00 a.m.) Annual Meeting of The Universalist Church School Union Trust at First Parish Church in Waltham, Mass.
• Mar. 22: Sex Education Advocacy Call-In Day. Details via www.uua.org/socialjustice/issues/reproductive.
• Mar. 27: (7:30 p.m.) Kim and Reggie Harris at Javawocky Coffeehouse in Brockton. Tickets and more informatio available via www.javawockyuu.com.
• Apr. 8-10: UU-UNO 2010 Annual Intergenerational Spring Seminar “A Climate of Change: Head, Heart, and Hands Around the Planet”. Details and registration forms available via www.uu-uno.org.
• Please visit www.bcduua.org, BCD In-Brief, the BCD and UUA e-mail lists, www.uufoxborough.org, and the bulletin boards in the vestibule for more event listings and details.
• Contact rentals@uufoxborough.org to reserve the church for your ceremony, meeting, or other event. Payments are made through the Treasurer.

In The Community

Monday – Friday – Crossroads Children’s Center at the church (8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.); Mondays & Wednesdays – Belly Dance classes at the church (6:30 p.m.); Tuesdays – Yoga classes at the church (6:30 p.m.); Saturdays – Yoga classes at the church (9:30 a.m.); Mar. 5-7 – “Rent” at Orpheum Theatre; Mar. 5-7 & 12-14 – Events at the stadium; Mar. 6, 9, 23, & 30 – Board Of Selectmen’s Meetings; Mar. 1 – Choral-palooza by Grades 5-12 at FHS (6:30 p.m.); Mar. 9 – McGinty Family Fun Day On The Common Planning Meeting at Public Safety Building (7:00 p.m.); Mar. 11 – Winter Skate at Patriot Place; Mar. 19 – The Un-Common Theatre Company Improv Soup at Burrell (7:30 p.m.); Mar. 23 – Bandorama by Grades 5–12 at FHS (7:00 p.m.); Mar. 29 – Apr. 9 – Foxborough Reads (tickets to related events available beginning Mar. 15); Mar. 31 – “Harriet Tubman’s Freedom Train” at Orpheum Theatre; The Restocking The Shelves collection box is on the church’s second level – please contribute!

Minister’s Message

Dear Friends,

With canvass season (a.k.a. the pledge drive) upon us, it would be so tempting to list for you the many ambitions we have for the church and the standing financial commitments we need to honor as a community. However, I trust you are aware of these–that you have looked around the place and seen the many places where money could be well spent.

Instead, I’d like to focus our attention on the things we are ALREADY doing or have done in the past year thanks to your continuing generosity with your time, energy, creativity, and money. Here are just a few things you were able to do this year:

✔ Increase the number of members and people attending the church to roughly 70 people including a robust group of children. The Membership and Public Relations Committees have been hard at work making sure word of the church is getting out and that people are properly welcomed to the community. This has energized worship and efforts to reach beyond the walls of the church to help the community.
✔ Tune and re-key the piano.
✔ Offer our children a solid religious education program featuring not just thoughtful curriculum and instruction on Sunday mornings, but also other outings to build a sense of community amongst the younger cohort of our congregation.
✔ Increase salaries. Not only are we grateful for this, but it also brings the church closer to offering salaries that would help attract quality people in the future.
✔ Paint the front entry of the church and make other improvements to the interior decor of the church.
✔ Create the “Property Improvement Committee”, which has created a comprehensive aesthetic vision for our building – inside and out.
✔ Host the International Day Of Climate Action gathering in Foxborough.
✔ Re-write the church’s mission statement and begin the development of a three year strategic plan.
✔ Create and participate in a variety of high-quality lay-led worship services.
✔ Complete the process to become a Welcoming Congregation.
✔ Regularly feature guest musicians as a part of the worship service.
✔ Carry the monthly peace vigil into its third year!
✔ Via the Sunshine Committee, care for each other during times of stress or need.
✔ Change lightbulbs, vacuum, dust, bake, mow, sweep, teach, read, greet, etc.

The list could go on and on. In the midst of our aspirations for our church to serve as a center for spiritual growth and our urgency to provide needed and relevant care to our community, I hope that we can stop every now and then and recognize what we have accomplished together. As we move into the spring, I’m so excited about what’s on our immediate horizon: welcoming more new people and their ideas and talents, having our middle schoolers participate in the OWL program, getting a couple of good social outreach ideas off the ground, and completing the strategic plan that will take us forward as we try to “grow in our ability to fulfill the mission of the church.” You continue to foster a community that reminds us all of what love looks like. Thank you so much for all you do!

Faithfully,

Katie

The 1st Annual “Put-Your-Spirit-Into-Hymn” Hymnal Fundraiser And Contest

Choose your favorite hymn tune and write words for it that express something your spirit longs to have in song. Candidates will be played after worship on April 8 and voted upon by those who volunteer to judge that day. The winning hymns will be sung during worship on “Music Sunday” on April 11. The winners will also have a hymnal each donated to the church in their names. An under-sixteen and over-sixteen winner will be chosen. Original hymn tunes are also welcome!

Pick up a registration form from the front entry of the church. Your registration should be submitted to the box on the piano in the front of the sanctuary by April 1. A separate registration is required for each entry. A three dollar registration donation is suggested.

Upcoming Worship Services

All Worship Services and Religious Education classes begin at 10:00 a.m. and are followed by a Friendship Hour.

March 7: You Are Here

by guest minister Rev. Margie Allen

A look at how we know where we are on our spiritual map and where we want to go.

March 14: It Takes All Kinds

by Lay-leader Neda

March 21: James Reeb–Minister And Martyr

by Minister Katie Lawson and Worship Associate LeeAnn

The Rev. James Reeb was a white Unitarian Universalist minister who worked with poor people in Boston. In 1965 he journeyed with other UU clergy to Selma, Alabama, to protest violence by state troopers against civil rights marchers. Reeb and two other ministers were walking back after dinner to a meeting led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., when they were attacked by a group of white men. One hit Rev. Reeb in the head with a club. The blow was fatal and Rev. Reeb died. Rev. Reeb’s murder drew national attention, and is credited with helping to hasten passage of the federal Voting Rights Act.

March 28: Passover Seder

by Minister Katie Lawson and Worship Associate Steve

We join together for a Passover Seder meal, remembering the Israelite’s escape out of slavery and rededicating ourselves to freedom.

Bird’s Eye View
Newsletter of Foxborough Universalist Church, Unitarian Universalist Association
6 Bird Street * On The Common * Foxborough, MA 02035-2301 * 508-543-4002
Worship Service & Religious Education Classes, Sundays at 10:00 A.M.
Katie Lawson, Minister * www.uufoxborough.org * All Are Welcome!

February 2010

Minister’s Message

Dear Friends,
As I write, I am sitting in a large log hall waiting for a group of seventh graders to return from a cross-country ski. We are at an outdoor education center and summer camp about a quarter of a mile from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern Minnesota. I first came here when I was twelve to go on a five-day canoe trip and then came back every summer until I was 24 years old in some capacity or another. Each of the cabins is labeled with a sign that I carved when I was twenty. I am as familiar with these old buildings and these acres as with any place on earth. When I come back, I feel like I return to a piece of myself that resides here.

It is interesting to be here with people who have never been here before, and to go out on snowshoes with young staff people who don’t know who I am and who don’t know I consider this home. This is my home, and it is being inhabited by strangers. I am watching them do things exactly as I did them 20 years ago—playing the same games, walking the same trails, sitting on the same benches—and my heart is so soft. I can almost feel time passing and time standing still simultaneously. I sometimes have to resist a proprietary feeling—like this is MY place and these new people don’t belong here the way I do. But then I remember that this is the beauty of this place: it exists beyond me. Its job is to carry ways of being forward. It is still my home, I still belong here, AND so do these whipper-snappers.

They’ve also made some changes at camp. The hall I am sitting in is twice as big and is winterized after a capital campaign four years ago. I believe I can remember when it didn’t have electricity. It looks and feels strange to my nostalgic eyes, but I have to admit, the program works much better this way.

All of this has made me reflect on the life of the church. I hope we can be true to what our predecessors built and successfully passed on, while also allowing for needed changes to be made. As the church continues to move forward and incorporate new people and new ideas, I hope we will do the work of institutions: remembering both that we are merely passing through *and* that it cannot survive and grow without us. I hope we will all imagine our predecessors watching us and believe that they could return and, in the most important ways, feel at home.

Faithfully,
Katie

Chairman’s Ramblings
It’s hard to believe – we are into February already. Daylight lasts longer, seeds and seed starter kits are appearing in the stores, and soon the Red Sox equipment van will leave for the start of spring training in Florida. Surely Spring will soon follow! I left out Groundhog Day; I’m not sure that seeing a shadow has anything to do with the seasons – but the Red Sox van leaving – that is the really hopeful sign of Spring. And, with the change in seasons, maybe there can be a change in optimism – for the economy, and for those who are looking for work so that they can get on with their lives.

One thing that will happen – as time moves along, images of the devastation in Haiti will lessen, the suffering of the earthquake victims will be shown less and less, we will think we have made a contribution, and move on – leaving aid workers to continue to try to pick up the pieces in the poorest country in the Americas. While we have made one collection for the UUSC/UUA Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund, continued contributions are welcome. Just mark your contribution with “Haiti” on it in the collection plate, and we will forward them as received. By the way – I think the congregations’ choice of charity – the UUSC vs. the Red Cross – was the right one. Again, the Red Cross, in their collections in the stores, mentions that contributions go to all of their efforts, not just one particular one.

Thanks,
Dick

Newcomer’s Orientation
If you have recently started attending services at Foxborough Universalist Church or are contemplating doing so, this short introduction provides information about the church, how to become more involved (including how to become a member), and a brief history of Unitarian Universalism. From 11:15 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. on February 7, the minister and a board member will be in the church office to answer your questions. You do not have to be ready for membership nor a newcomer to our church to attend this orientation.

Women’s Group Meeting
The next Women’s Group Meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 10, in Mansfield. Please contact LeeAnn or Nancy for additional details.

February 2010 Holidays
2 Candlemas – Christian
2 Presentation of Christ in the Temple – Anglican Christian
2 Saint Brighid of Kildare – Celtic Christian
2 Imbolc – Wicca (northern hemisphere)
2 Lughnassad – Wicca (southern hemisphere)
3 Setsubun Sai – Shinto
7 Meatfare Sunday – Orthodox Christian
7 Four Chaplains Sunday – Interfaith
12 Maha Shivaratri – Hindu
14 Chinese New Year – Confucian/Daoist/Buddhist
14 Cheesefare Sunday – Orthodox Christian
14 Saint Valentine’s Day – Christian
14 Transfiguration Sunday – Christian
15 Nirvana Day – Buddhist
15 Great Lent – Clean Monday – Orthodox Christian
16 Shrove Tuesday – Christian
17 Ash Wednesday – Lent begins – Christian
21 Orthodox Sunday – Orthodox Christian
26 Mawlid an Nabi – Islam
26 Intercalary Days through March 1 – Baha’i
28 Purim – Jewish

Milestones
Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Blackwell, Adlai Ewing Stevenson, II, Pauline Agassiz Shaw, Charles Darwin, Lydia Estes Pinkham, Peter Cooper, Sallie Holley, Carroll Leander Coburn, Laura E. Howe Richards, & Linus Carl Pauling.

Sunshine Committee
January was a very busy month for the Sunshine Committee. Members attended services for Mrs. Stanley, made dinners for other members, and visited Ted. Hopefully, Ted will recuperate and be home soon! If you know of anyone in the church family that could use some sunshine, please let Lisette or Katie Lawson know.

Reception Of New Members
During our worship service on February 14, we will receive new members into the congregation with a reception of new members and an ingathering ceremony. If you are interested in joining the church, please see Membership Chairman, Chairman, or Minister Katie Lawson.

Ordination Ceremony
Due to schedule conflicts, Katie Lawson’s Ordination Ceremony has been moved to the fall. If you have any fundraising or other ideas for the event, please contact Dick.

Wayside Pulpit
Satisfaction of one’s curiosity is one of the greatest sources of happiness in life.
~ Linus Pauling

Standing On The Side Of Love News

• National Standing On The Side Of Love Day: The SSL campaign is asking congregations to participate in a National Standing on the Side of Love Day on Feb 14, and to help them reimagine Valentine’s Day. Resources to help with worship, organizing, and getting the word out are available at www.standingonthesideoflove.org/reimagining-valentines-day/.
• Standing On The Side Of Love With Immigrant Families: During February’s SSL Web-Cast Calls, participants will learn about how their congregation can create partnerships with immigrant communities. Best practices and resources will be shared. Join the calls: Wednesday, February 10 at 1:00 p.m. and Wednesday, February 17 at 8:00 p.m.
• The BCD office has a Standing On The Side Of Love banner available for congregations to display when engaging in social action projects and events such as attending a rally or march. Please contact the district office to reserve the banner.

UUWorld
UUWorld is available in several audio formats, including a magazine-on-tape service and mp3 files. If you’re a member of the church and would prefer to receive UUWorld on tape (or not at all), please let Ginger or Dick know.

Equual Access
Equual Access is a new affinity organization that promotes equality and access for Unitarian Universalists (UUs) with disabilities. The group is dedicated to ensuring that our faith community warmly welcomes all people including those with disabilities. Equual Access provides advocacy and support for their constituency through coalition building, education, creation of policies, and empowerment. To find out more about Equual Access, its caucuses (Hearing Loss, Mental Health, and Mobility), committees, officers, and structure, and the work they are doing to promote equality and access within our faith community, please visit www.equualaccess.org.

Pocketalker
The Rev. Dr. Devorah Greenstein, a member of the UUA’s Accessibilities Committee, wants all congregations to have assistive listening systems including a Pocketalker. A Pockettalker is “…a personal device that can be used with or without hearing aids that helps an individual to hear better in one-to-one and group conversations. It allows ministers to have comfortable pastoral conversations with people who are hard of hearing. Individuals can borrow a Pocketalker from Equual Access…”

February’s Global Chalice Lighting

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
~ Matthew 5:14-16
Transylvanian Unitarian Church
www.unitarius.ro

UUA Social Witness & Action Opportunities

Congregational Poll
Thank you to all who participated during the past two months in our congregational poll. The five most voted-for proposed CSAIs and the majority vote regarding the draft SOC was recorded with the UUA.

Don’t forget that we can still submit comments about the Draft CSAI “Ethical Eating” before March 1, 2010. Comment forms for the draft CSAI are on-line at www.uua.org/socialjustice/issuesprocess/.

Award Nominations
Nominations for the Bennett Award, Holmes-Weatherly Award, Skinner Sermon Award, Donna DiSciullo Young Adult and Campus Ministry Award, Angus H. MacLean Award, and Social Witness Sermon Award are due by March 1, 2010. Please visit www.uua.org/giving/awardsscholarships for details.

Ethical Eating: Food & Environmental Justice
For the 40th anniversary of Earth Day this year, the UU Ministry for Earth is inviting UUA congregations to lift up the role our faith can play in the production and consumption of food.  We make daily decisions of what to eat, and every bite is an opportunity to vote for justice. Information and suggested actions on issues ranging from the field to the table are available on the UUMFE Web site (www.uuministryforearth.org), and include links to congregational stories, worship materials, and ideas for actions in our own community.

What’s Your Connection To Mountain Top Removal?
470 mountains have been blown up in Appalachia through an extreme form of coal mining called Mountain Top Removal. The process devastates the eco-systems, pollutes the water, and destroys the communities living there. Is the electricity that you use connected to Mountain Top Removal? Find out with the iLoveMountains.org tool (www.ilovemountains.org/myconnection/) and share this with your friends! If you want more information about the 2006 Action of Immediate Witness (“End Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining”), please visit green.uufoxborough.org.

UUSC Justice Sunday
Every spring, the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) encourages UUA congregations to participate in “Justice Sunday”. On Justice Sunday, Unitarian Universalists of all ages come together to take action on one pressing human rights issue. Justice Sunday participants gain in-depth knowledge about an urgent human-rights issue and take steps to create needed social change. This year’s theme is “Advancing Economic Justice” and the suggested date to hold the service is Sunday, March 28. To learn more about Justice Sunday and efforts to advance economic justice against the backdrop of the global economic downturn and access additional resources for educational and advocacy activities, please visit www.uusc.org/justicesunday.

Other Action Ideas

• Get Together! Attend a UUSC Economic Justice House Party and participate in a nationwide discussion with New York Times reporter Steven Greenhouse, author of “The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker”, on Justice Sunday, March 28, 2010. If you’re interested in hosting or attending a house party, please contact Nichole Cirillo, UUSC Campaign Manager, via
  www.uusc.org/get_together for more information.
• UUSC Coffee Project: Join more than 500 other congregations in this project which links UUs with small farmers and their families through fair trade. Visit www.uusc.org/coffeeproject for details.
• Look for fair trade labels on products, including coffee, tea, chocolate, and sugar. If your grocer doesn’t stock fairly traded products, ask them to do so.
• Demand that your school district, city, or state government or other institutional purchaser adopt a “sweatfree” purchasing policy to stop tax dollars from subsidizing sweatshops and abusive child labor. Find a local chapter of SweatFree Communities at www.sweatfree.org.

UUSC/UUA Joint Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund
We are participating in this social action. If you would like to donate, please contact our church Treasurer. To date, our church community has donated $422 to the fund. As of 1:30 p.m. on Friday, January 29, there had been 4,701 donations to the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee and Unitarian Universalist Association joint relief effort for Haiti, and $471,766 has been raised. Thank you for your generosity!

Doolittle Home Support Auction
The annual Doolittle Home Support Auction will be held this fall. If you would like to get involved with and/or contribute the auction, please call the Doolittle Home at 508-543-2694.

Sacred Texts

“It is better to be alone; there is no companionship with a fool: travel alone and sin not, forgetting care as the elephant in the jungle. Good are companions in time of need; contentment with thy lot is good; at the hour of death, merit is a good friend, and good is the leaving of all sorrow. Good is reverence for mother and father: good, too, reverence for recluses and sages. Good is lifelong righteousness; and rooted faith is good: good is the getting of wisdom, and good the avoiding of sin.”

General Assembly 2010
GA 2010 will be held Wednesday, June 23, through Sunday, June 27, in Minneapolis, MN. Registration begins on March 1. During the annual meeting of congregations, there will be Worship Services, plenaries, workshops, voting on UUA policies and statements by congregational delegates, and more. Visit www.uua.org/ga for details, programs and schedules, and event updates.

February Worship Services
All services begin at 10:00 a.m. and are followed by a Friendship Hour.

Feb. 7: What Do You Do When And Why?
Whether we are aware of it or not, all of us have hourly, daily, yearly practices – habits of being that affect the focal points of our lives. What are the things that you do routinely and how do they shape your perspective and spirit? Choosing the routines that shape your days based on spiritual priorities will change the shape of our lives.

Feb. 14: The Purpose Of Marriage
We are hearing a lot lately about preserving the institution of marriage and respecting what it has always been. What has marriage always been? How does the spiritual center of marriage interface with the societal, cultural, and economic centers?

Feb. 21: Mean World, My World
The Mean World Theory describes the phenomena in which people who watch more television perceive the world they live in as more violent and threatening. How much is the world that we are living in one of our design and choosing and how much of it is the “real world”?

Feb. 28: TBA

Other Notices And Events

• Feb. 3 and Mar. 3: (7:30 p.m.) Men’s Group Meeting at Pike’s Peak Mining Company in Mansfield. Please contact Rick for details. Newcomers are welcome!
• Feb. 3-7: Interweave Convocation in Dallas, Texas. Details via www.interweavecontinental.org.
• Feb. 4 and Mar. 4: (6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) First Thursdays Peace Vigil at the church. Area
  residents are invited to participate!
• Feb. 6: (7:30 p.m.) Tripping Lily peforms at the Blue Moon Coffeehouse in Rockland.
• Feb. 7: (8:00 a.m.) Board Of Trustees Meeting at the church. All are welcome to attend.
• Feb. 23: (7:30 p.m.) “Mobilizing Church Volunteers” Webinar with Peter Bowden.
• Feb. 27: (9:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.) “Walking The Talk” Workshop with Rev. Richard Gilbert at Channing Memorial Church in Newport. Visit www.channingchurch.org for details.
• Apr. 8-10: UU-UNO 2010 Annual Intergenerational Spring Seminar “A Climate of Change: Head, Heart, and Hands Around the Planet”. Details and registration forms available via www.uu-uno.org.
• Apr. 24: (9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.) BCD Spring Conference at First Unitarian Church of Providence in Providence.
• Please visit www.bcduua.org, BCD In-Brief, the BCD and UUA e-mail lists, www.uufoxborough.org, and the bulletin boards in the vestibule for more event listings and details.
• Contact rentals@uufoxborough.org to reserve the church for your ceremony, meeting, or other event. Payments are made through the Treasurer.

In The Community
Monday – Friday – Crossroads Children’s Center at the church (8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.); Mondays & Wednesdays – Belly Dance classes at the church (6:30 p.m.); Tuesdays – Yoga classes at the church (6:30 p.m.); Until Feb. 12 – FHS Hockey team is collecting gently used and new hats, mittens, and gloves for Cradles to Crayons; Feb. 9 & 23 – Board Of Selectmen’s Meetings; Feb. 4 – Winterfest Concert at FHS (7:00 p.m.); Feb. 5 & 6 – 7th & 8th Drama Club presents “Macbeth Goes Hollywood” at Ahern; Feb. 11 – Combined 8th Grade Concert Band & FHS Wind Ensemble at FHS (7:00 p.m.); Feb. 12 – The Un-Common Theatre Company Improv Soup at Burrell (7:30 p.m.); Feb. 13 – Foxborough Lions Club Bottle & Can Drive to benefit FHS Swim Team; Feb. 15-19 – No School at FPS; Feb. 21 – Public Skate at Foxboro Sports Center (12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.); Feb. 27 – Girl Scout event at the church; Feb. 27 – Burrell Fun Day; Mar. 1 – Choral-palooza by Grades 5-12 at FHS (6:30 p.m.); The Restocking The Shelves collection box is on the church’s second level – please contribute!

The Foxborough Universalist Church is a vibrant and caring congregation that welcomes all. Our mission is to nurture each other along our spiritual paths while working together for the betterment of our community and the world.

Annual Holiday Breakfast Fundraiser

Join us for food, fellowship, and fun at our annual Holiday Breakfast at 9:00 a.m. on January 3, 2010. If you have any special requests for breakfast or would like to help, please contact Dick or put a note in the Chairman’s mailbox in the church office. There is a voluntary contribution of $4.00/adult and $2.00/child – completely voluntary. Please put your donation for the breakfast in the basket downstairs, not the collection plate upstairs in the Sanctuary; this is essential for our bookkeeping efforts. All the food is donated to the church, and all the money collected goes to the church.

Women’s Group Meeting

A Women’s Group Meeting will be held from 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. on January 8. This is a BYOL (bring your own lunch) meeting. Please contact Leah or Nancy for additional details.

January 2010 Holidays

1 Mary, Mother of God - Catholic Christian 1 Feast of St Basil – Orthodox Christian 1 Gantan-sai (New Years) – Shinto 5 Twelfth Night – Christian 5 Guru Gobindh Singh birthday – Sikh 6 Epiphany – Christian 6 Feast of the Theophany - Orthodox Christian 6 Nativity of Christ – Armenian Christian 7 Nativity of Christ – Orthodox Christian

10 Baptism of the Lord Jesus – Christian 14 Maghi – Sikh 17 World Religion Day – Baha’i 18-25 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity - Christian 19 Timkat – Ethiopian Orthodox Christian 20 Vasant Panchami – Hindu 24 Triodion begins – Orthodox Christian 25 Conversion of St. Paul – Christian 30-February 1 Mahayana New Year – Buddhist 30 Tu B’Shevat – Jewish

Many Thanks!

Thank you to everyone who: helped decorate the church for the Winter holiday season; participated in our beautiful Christmas Eve worship service; contributed to the Holiday Fund; purchased items through our partner programs!

Standing On The Side Of Love News

• SSL Grants For Congregations: Matching grants of $500-$1,500 are available to UUA congregations participating in the Standing on the Side of Love campaign. These grants will support congregations mobilizing at critical times to take action in a broad range of arenas where people are excluded, oppressed, or attacked based on real or perceived identities. Applications are available via www.standingonthesideoflove.org.

• National Standing On The Side Of Love Day: The SSL campaign is asking congregations to participate in a National Standing on the Side of Love Day on Feb 14, and to help them reimagine Valentine’s Day. National Standing on the Side of Love Day empowers each congregation to take action on issues that matter locally, and to pursue strategies that are effective and meaningful to them.

• SSL Web-Cast Calls in 2010: Join the SSL on Wednesday, Jan. 13 at 1:00 p.m. EST and Wednesday, Jan. 20 at 8:00 p.m. EST for 45 minute web-cast conference calls. For more information, go to http://www.standingonthesideoflove.org/ssl-webcast-calls/.

Reflecting On Who Are Our Neighbors?

The Unitarian Universalist Justice Action network is working to reform of our immigration system. UUA congregations are encouraged to find out more about our immigrant neighbors: What are our relationships? Does our congregation offer “welcome to the stranger”? Please see “Welcoming Our Neighbors: A UU Guide to Immigrant Justice” and www.uua.org/socialjustice/.

A Few New Year’s Traditions And Superstitions

• “First Night” community celebrations began in 1976 in Boston.

• Some people believe loud noises or lighting off fireworks will frighten evil spirits away.

• Some food related customs observed for good luck in the New Year: many Dutch consume doughnuts on this day to ensure good fortune throughout the year; common among American Southerners, black-eyed peas are eaten, often with hog jowls or ham, for luck and to attract money; consuming cabbage is also thought by some to bring good luck.

• “Polar Bear” swims are undertaken perhaps to ensure open eyes to face the New Year.

Let us know how you celebrate the New Year (www.uufoxborough.org/How_We_Observe.htm).

About Tu B’Shevat

This year is 5770 according to the Jewish calendar. The word “Tu” is the number 15 in Hebrew and “Shevat” is the eleventh month in the Jewish calendar. Thus, we find Tu B’Shevat (according to Beit Hillel) always occurring on the 15^th day of the eleventh month. This year that date falls on January 30, 2010 C.E. Tu B’Shevat marks the beginning of Spring in Israel and is the new year for the purpose of calculating the age of trees for tithing. According to Leviticus 19:23-25, the fruit from trees which were grown in the land of Israel may not be eaten during the first three years, the fourth year’s fruit is for G-d, and, after that, the fruit can be eaten by you. Each tree is considered to have aged one year as of Tu B’Shevat, no matter when in the year it was planted. Therefore, if you planted a tree on Shevat 14, it begins its second year the next day, but if you plant a tree two days later, on Shevat 16, it does not reach its second year until the next Tu B’Shevat. There are not many customs or observances related to this holiday. One custom is to eat a new fruit on this day. Some people plant trees on this day. Many Jewish children collect money for trees for Israel at this time of year.

January Worship Services

All services begin at 10:00 a.m. and are followed by a Friendship Hour.

Jan. 3: Finding Innocence

How can adults regain the lost innocence of youth and rediscover a world full of possibility and immeasurable beauty?

Jan. 10: TBD

Jan. 17: TBD

Jan. 24: TBD

Jan. 31: TBD

Other Notices And Events

• Jan. 6 and Feb. 3: (7:30 p.m.) Men’s Group Meeting at Pike’s Peak Mining company in Mansfield. Please contact Rick for details. Newcomers are welcome!

• Jan. 7 and Feb. 4: (6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) First Thursdays Peace Vigil at the church. Area residents are invited to participate!

• The Worship Committee will be meeting in early January to plan the upcoming Worship Schedule. If you’re interested in helping plan the church’s course of Worship, participating in a service as a Worship Associate or Lay-Leader, or have anything to contribute or that you’ld like to have included in worship services, please contact Neda or Minister Katie Lawson.

• Please contact LeeAnn or Nancy if you’re interested in the Interior Design Committee.

• Jan. 10: (7:00 p.m.) Board Of Trustees Meeting at the church. All are welcome to attend.

• Jan. 12: (4:00 p.m.) Retirement party for Dot Embree, longtime Executive Director of the Attleboro Area Council of Churches. Please visit www.attleborocouncilofchurches.org for details.

• Jan. 14 & 21: (7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.) “Financial Literacy For Young People” will be held at First Parish Universalist Church in Stoughton. This is a two part, free workshop for ages 15 and over. Preregister via Pamela McCarthy at 781-344-7125 or PMcCarthy2007@gmail.com.

• Jan. 21: MassEquality Lobbying Day at the State Building. Details at www.massequality.org.

• Please contact the UU-United Nations Office if you’re interested in becoming an “UU-UNO Envoy”.

• Contact rentals@uufoxborough.org to reserve the church for your ceremony, meeting, or other event. Payments are made through the Treasurer.

In The Community

Monday – Friday – Crossroads Children’s Center at the church (8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.); Mondays & Wednesdays – Belly Dance classes at the church (6:30 p.m.); Tuesdays – Yoga classes at the church (6:30 p.m.); Jan, 12 & 26 – Board Of Selectmen’s Meetings; Jan. 7 – Grades 5-8 Orchestra Concert at Ahern (7:00 p.m.); Jan. 14 – 8th Grade Concert Band and Junior Jazz Band at Ahern (7:00 p.m.); Jan. 18 & 29 – No School at FPS; Jan. 19 – U.S. Senate Special Election Day in Massachusetts; Jan. 21 – 6th & 7th Grade Concert Bands at Ahern (6:30 p.m.); Jan. 30 – Divine Drums and Sassy Sword Stylings workshops at the church; Jan. 31 – “A Mid-Winter Medley: Beginner To Professional Belly Dance Showcase” at the church (2:00 p.m.); The Restocking The Shelves collection box is on the church’s second level – please contribute!

World Religion Day: World Religion Day is a Baha’i observance celebrated on the third Sunday of every January. Begun in 1950, the day “provides the opportunity to seek a unified approach to the spiritual challenges that confront humanity, and recognizes that the Earth is but one country and mankind its citizenry.”

Bird’s Eye View

Newsletter of Foxborough Universalist Church, Unitarian Universalist Association

6 Bird Street * On The Common * Foxborough, MA 02035-2301 * 508-543-4002

Worship Service & Religious Education Classes, Sundays at 10:00 A.M.

Katie Lawson, Minister * www.uufoxborough.org * All Are Welcome!

Minister’s Message

Dear Friends,

It was such a joy that so many of you were able to come to be together at the Potluck thisNovember. The conversation that occurred after dinner was productive, and it will beinteresting to see where it takes us next.

Amidst all of that productivity and hard work, what was most inspiring was simply seeing you talking and laughing and eating together. I was so glad to be reminded that in the midst of all each of you do on behalf the church and the community, it is so important to also just have funtogether. Laughter and relaxation, after all, are key components to any spiritual life. Thefact that Friendship Hour is such an integral part of life at the church is an indication of how critical opportunities for pure fellowship are to our ministry.

As we consider some of the wisdom offered to us by Bill Zelazny at the potluck and begin tocreate a strategic plan, I hope we all remember the ministry of good, clean fun. Let’s continue to look for new ways to enjoy being together.

Faithfully,
Katie

Chairman’s Ramblings

December!!! – At one point it seemed that December would be four months late this year. I was still waiting for summer when I found out that it was Halloween already. Somehow, despite the calendar, I’m still looking for summer to show up, a season when you plant things like tomatoes that grow to be larger than a half dollar in diameter, where it doesn’t take three to make one sandwich. We’ve settled in to our church year with weekly services, routine RE for the kids,and our winter holiday program planned.

I would like to challenge you to bring in food and grooming items for the food pantry. All of the Boston area food pantries are running way ahead in applicants looking for minimal food fortheir families. As soon as we get a reasonable quantity we will bring it over, and please -remember that the need does not end at Christmas dinner, it is needed throughout the year.

Also, one of our members works at Lemmuel Shattuck hospital – she says that they can always use adult clothing; again, at any time of year. Clients arrive with little and have needs for coats,gloves, sweaters, shirts, pants, etc, etc. Don’t throw away those outdated items; bring them in, and we will see to it that they get to a good home. Thanks!

Dick

Fundraising Through Partner Programs

We’re Amazon.com and Powell’s Books Associates. If you click through their links on the homepage of the church Web site (www.uufoxborough.org) and then shop at either of these on-line stores, part of your purchase price comes back to us. Please keep this in mind as you shop during the year!

Inclement Weather Days

As soon as any change in the church schedule is known on snowy or other inclement weather days, an announcement will be posted on Channel 5 (WCVB). If there’s another media method you think would be advantageous to utilize, please let thePublic Relations Committee know – thanks!

Wayside Pulpit

We can begin by doing small things at the local level, like planting community gardens or looking out for our neighbors. That is how change takes place in living systems, not from above but from within, from many local actions occurring simultaneously.

~ Grace Lee Boggs

Religious Education

From The RE Director

On a shopping trip with my daughter before Halloween, she noted how the Christmas displays were in full force. On our way to my sister-in-laws on Thanksgiving morning, my husband noticed that several homes had their Christmas lights up and ready to go – something we haven’t even thought of yet, never mind dig out of the attic! Every year, it seems “Christmas” starts earlier. At least at the retail and grocery stores it does. Those of us who bemoan the commercialization of this holiday may cringe at the constant reminders to buy, buy, buy! Yet what have we as UU’s done to respond to this?

We receive the daily newspaper at our house, and, normally, I rifle through the paper and quickly remove the ever constant store sale flyer and dispose of them in the recycling bin before my kids arrive at the kitchen table. For some reason, the past few weeks, I have been remiss in this task – and, as a result, my kids have dutifully studied the numerous store flyers that have flooded the newspapers. My son suddenly has endless ideas for his “list” when he is perusing the pages of Toys”R”Us. Funny how he couldn’t come up with much just a few weeks before.

Over the years, I have tried to talk to my children about how we have so much more than most people on this earth. How we should be and are grateful for all we have. How so many others are living hand to mouth or in need of the most basic things especially in today’s economic climate. We talk about this throughout the year (or should I say, I mention it to them when it seems appropriate without trying to belabor the point). Each holiday season, we have typically made a donation to some organization or other – The Heifer Project is a popular one the kids like, or anything to do with animals. We give to the food pantry, donate some toys at the “Toys for Tots” collection box at their Karate Dojo. Dig up old coats for a coat drive, and so on. All of this and my kids still think of this season as one where they expect to receive “things”. Of course they do receive things – from family and from us and even a few token items from “Santa”. So, thus the tug of war I have with trying to find some balance.

Over the last several years in church and RE, we have focused on the Solstice – learning about how the different cultures from around the world and throughout history have celebrated this season. We touch on the traditional Christmas/Nativity story. If you are like me, these are traditions from somewhere else – they are not “our” traditions, not UU traditions. Yet, I cannot articulate UU traditions for my kids – they are a rehash of the others.

Just recently, I came across some interesting information about efforts to start a new (unofficial) UU holiday tradition called Chalica. This is what I found:

CHALICA is an unofficial holiday in the Unitarian Universalist tradition that celebrates each of the faith’s Seven Principles – one a night, for seven nights. The celebration begins on the first Monday of December, and is marked by the lighting of a chalice each day (or evening). Gifts that reflect the particular day’s principle may be given, but the focus tends to be more on mindfulness and action.

• Monday: We light our chalice for the inherent worth and dignity of every person.
• Tuesday: We light our chalice for justice, equity, and compassion in human relations.
• Wednesday: We light our chalice for acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations.
• Thursday: We light our chalice for a free and responsible search for truth and meaning.
• Friday: We light our chalice for the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.
• Saturday: We light our chalice for the goal of world peace, liberty, and justice for all.
• Sunday: We light our chalice for respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

I have found this proposal of a tradition intriguing and have been considering how we can incorporate this tradition into our holiday season at home. While I have yet to put it into practice, it is one that appeals to me and one my kids can consider as part of “our” faith while still respecting and acknowledging other traditions. I’m considering lighting a candle at the beginning of each day to meditate on that principle and discuss how we can focus on it throughout the day. We may not start on the first Monday – but to do it during a week that works for us – the beauty of a non-creedal, non-dogmatic faith – no?

What are your traditions? How do you make this holiday meaningful for your family? Does the concept of a UU tradition interest you? I would love to know!

Peace and Blessings for a holiday full of love,
Lisa

The Hogwarts

On November 13 the Hogwarts Group went to see “Joseph And His Technicolor Dreamcoat” put on by the Norton Singers. The Norton Singers is a group of actors/singers ages 7 to 70 from towns all around our area. Every year they choose a different musical to perform. This musical was playful as it provided a medley of musical styles. One of the kids’ favorite numbers was the “Pharaoh’s” Elvis imitation. As a special surprise, they provided each of our group members with a picture book of the story and a Joseph bead doll.
Leah

December 2009 Holidays
6, 13, & 20 – Sundays of Advent – Christian
6 Saint Nicholas Day – Christian
8 Bodhi Day (Rohatsu) – Buddhism
8 Immaculate Conception – Catholic Christian
12 Feast day – Our Lady of Guadalupe – Catholic Christian
12-19 Hanukkah – Jewish
16-25 Posadas Navidenas – Christian
18 Hijra – New Year – Islam
21 Solstice
21 Yule – Christian
21 Yule – Wicca northern hemisphere
25 Christmas – Christian
26 Zarathosht Diso (Death of Prophet Zarathushtra) – Zoroastrian
27 Feast of the Holy Family – Catholic Christian
27 Ashura – Islam
28 Holy Innocents – Christian
31 Watch Night – Christian

You and Me by the Christmas Tree

Jazz vocalist and musician Krisanthi Pappas and her band of piano, bass, drums, guitar, saxophone, and flute perform holiday favorites on Krisanthi’s CD “You and Me by the Christmas Tree”. This CD has been receiving great reviews from national magazines and radio station personalities. Normally $15, Kris is selling them for just $10 for the month of December. Please ask her for more details and log onto her web site to hear sound clips of the CD at www.krisanthi.com.

Ballou Channing District Young Adults

Jennifer Shattuck is our district’s new Young Adult Ministry Consultant. During the next few months, she will be providing information for Unitarian Universalists under forty and promoting avenues for UU Young Adults to connect with each other through programs, gatherings, social justice activities, and workshops. If you have any questions about the future of young adult ministry in the District, please don’t hesitate to contact her at 617-763-2799 or jennytuck81@gmail.com.

Also, beginning in mid-January, program notices, ministry resources, and short essays written by young adults and allies from around the District will be available on the BCD’s new Young Adult Ministry Blog at bcd-ya.blogspot.com.

UUA Social Witness Opportunities

Unitarian Universalists can participate in the UUA’s Social Witness process in a variety of ways including: voting in the Congregational Poll before February 1, 2010, submitting comments on the Draft SOC “Peacemaking” before February 1, 2010, and submitting comments on the Draft CSAI “Ethical Eating” before March 1, 2010. Comment forms for the latter two options are on-line at www.uua.org/socialjustice/issuesprocess/.

As a congregation, we are also encouraged to vote for five of the six proposed SAI s for the 2010-2014 Social Witness Cycle. The proposed SAIs are:

• Ending Slavery
• Energy, Peace, and Justice
• Immigration as a Moral Issue
• National Economic Reform: A Moral Imperative
• Nuclear Disarmament
• Revitalizing American Democracy

The five proposals that recieve the most votes will be presented at the 2010 General Assembly; there they will be debated and then, once again, voted on in order to choose the next SAI.

December’s Global Chalice Lighting

Knowing we must die, we question what life means.

Final answers may elude us, but by living the questions,
we create and discover meaning where we can.

~ Rev. Forrest Church
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations

First Thursdays Peace Vigils

Get involved in the ongoing Social Action project hosted from 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 pm. at the church the first Thursday of every month. The First Thursdays Peace Vigils community would like you to join them; candles and signs are provided. Stay for as long or as short as your schedule allows. Upcoming dates: Dec. 3, Jan. 7, and Feb. 4. December will mark the 3rd Anniversary of First Thursdays Peace Vigils.

Unitarian Universalist Service Committee News

• December 10 – Annual Rights Night: Mel King will be honored with UUSC’s Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award for his commitment to social justice and human rights. Attendees are invited to stay after the 7:00 p.m. ceremony to join activists from across Boston’s many communities in conversation about carrying the legacy of King’s work forward. All are welcome! The event is free, but please RSVP by e-mailing rsvp@uusc.org or calling 617-301-4381.

• PECAN, DO IT! UUSC’s Holiday Fair Trade Promotion: Purchase delicious pecan candies and fairly traded pecans from UUSC’s partner, the Southern Alternatives Agricultural Co-operative (SAAC), by visiting www.uusc.org/content/holiday_pecans.

• Don’t let your investment dollars fund genocide!: UUSC and their colleagues at Investors Against Genocide (IAG) need your help to end the practice of investing in genocide. Previous actions have successfully pressured TIAA-CREF and others to divest, so we know the efforts are making a difference! Please visit www.uusc.org and www.investorsagainstgenocide.net to find out about several ways you can help support this important work.

• Learn about and support immigrant rights!: See “Made in L.A.”, an Emmy award-winning feature documentary that follows three Latina immigrants working in Los Angeles garment sweatshops as they embark on a three-year odyssey to win basic labor protections from a trendy clothing retailer. Please visit the film’s web site (www.madeinla.com) to learn more.

Vigil For Survival

After the successful International Day Of Climate Action in October, 350.org and Bill McKibben are asking folks to also hold a candlelight vigil on December 11 or 12 to send a clear message to world leaders deciding the fate of the planet’s future. Mid-way through the climate talks in Copenhagen, people around the world will gather in solemn solidarity with the nations and peoples who will be first to face the challenge to their very survival posed by climate change and for whom delay on climate action could mean extinction. To help plan a vigil or find out where one is happening in our area, visit www.350.org/vigil.

December Worship Services

(Worship Service & Religious Education Classes begin at 10:00 a.m. on Sundays, except as noted. Sunday morning events are followed by a Friendship Hour.)

Dec. 6: When To Say When
Our natures have a tendency to hold behavioral and attitudinal ruts (like saying ‘yes” to every invitation). Sometimes the ways we have come to respond to the world don’t necessarily work to bring us closer to the holy. How do we catch ourselves in the act of reacting automatically and free ourselves to a different way of being?

Dec. 13: Yes, And…
Often life calls upon us to hold two seemingly disparate ideas, realities, or possibilities at the same time. Our nature, however, is better able to manage either/or scenarios. How can we exercise our ability to accept paradox and ambiguity in our lives?

Dec. 20: Christmas Pageant – Intergenerational
The congregation is pulled into living theater to tell the Christmas story and sing carols.

Dec. 24: In The Deep Midwinter – Intergenerational Candlelit Christmas Eve Service (4:30 p.m.)

Dec. 27: Poetry Sunday
It has been said that the poets come closest to speaking in God’s native tongue. Come ready with the poem that has most moved or inspired you lately and discover new poets and poems to help illuminate your spiritual path.

Bird’s Eye View

Foxborough Universalist Church,Unitarian Universalist Association

6 Bird Street | On The Common | Foxborough, MA 02035-2301 | 508-543-4002

Worship Service & Religious Education Classes, Sundays at 10:00 A.M.

Katie Lawson, Minister | www.uufoxborough.org | All Are Welcome!

December 2009

The Foxborough Universalist Church is a vibrant and caring congregation that welcomes all. Our mission is to nurture each other along our spiritual paths while working together for the betterment of our community and the world. Our goal is to significantly improve and positively influence conditions which affect the quality of life of our members, our families, and our community. We strive to provide a place for people to explore their own spiritual beliefs as we believe that religious growth and learning is a lifelong journey.

Minister’s Message

Dear Friends,

Our house is quiet this morning as we digest the news of Senator Kennedy’s death. It’s a respectful quiet, like it is not right to complain or to talk about the day’s mundane details in the presence of such a meaning-filled life. Regardless of our political perspectives, we can appreciate the compassion-driven life of this man and learn from his example. What Mr. Kennedy reminded us again and again was that a life lived for a larger purpose can pull a person through grief, disappointment, failure, and mistakes. A life built around a “mission” separates the wheat of our days from the chaff and shelters us from what might discourage, depress, or detour us.

However, lives like Senator Kennedy’s do not exist in a vacuum. They depend on the support provided to them by family, community, and institutions. Institutions, especially, like churches. There can be no doubt that our little church serves this vital purpose to many and that it plays a role in creating a more just and loving world.

As we look forward to being together again, let us renew our pledge to buttress efforts to make the world ever more compassionate and to support each other in living lives built with integrity, energized by authentic passions, and tempered with gratitude.

I am looking forward to seeing you all at our first service of the church year. Bring your friends and family to join us in celebrating good company, casting our dearest hopes into the confluence of our combined energies, and renewing our promise to live lives directed by love. See you then!

Faithfully,
Katie

Chairman’s Ramblings
Welcome back! This year we are getting off to a late start because of the Labor Day holiday schedule, but after the Board Of Trustees meeting, everything looks good to go. We have a busy schedule, new directions to take, and plenty of tasks to go around.

For the first time in our long history we are going to work on a five-year plan to define where we want to be in five years, what it should take to get there, and individual steps needed along the way. This is building on the foundation of our Mission Statement and will help keep us focused on all of the myriad tasks needed to help a church grow. My vision is to have this work done by a stand alone group working with the Board Of Trustees and our Minister.

Meantime, RE is getting ready for the new year and we will be working on Katie’s installation, searching for a community social action project to work on, and just coming together as a church community on Sunday mornings. Whether you choose to be on a committee, do coffee hour, or come on Sundays to participate in the services and socialize, we welcome you back. I think this is an exciting time to be a member of this historic church and look forward to seeing you this fall, whenever you can be here.
Dick

Worship Services
September 13: Casting Into The Confluence
Each year we come together in the fall and celebrate our separate journeys and the joy of community. Bring a sample of water from your summer, and we will enjoy a water communion and explore the strength of our common bonds.

September 20: A Month Of Mercy: You Are What You Don’t Eat
As the Muslim holy month of Ramadan comes to an end, we explore the meaning and gifts of fasting. During this last month, Muslims have denied themselves not just food, but many things thought to be distracting from the spiritual path. What rituals do we use in our lives to recalibrate them towards a larger purpose and meaning and how do we say sorry and move forward when we fall short?

September 27: Keepers Finders: Broken Beauty
This is the weekend of Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement. It’s a day when we are asked to reflect on our imperfections and renew our pledge to “begin again in love.” At the same time, we acknowledge the value and beauty of imperfection and the spiritual strength that comes from reflecting upon it and ultimately embracing it.

Religious Education – Fall 2009

It’s that time again! The Religious Education teachers have begun to plan and strategize for the upcoming church year. We have some exciting events in the works to welcome the kids back to church, so stay tuned for upcoming news. In the meantime, some important dates to remember:

September 13: Our first service and water ceremony. Don’t forget to bring your water! For those of you returning for the first time, this is a chance for families to share their summer stories and, often, they include something that includes a body of water. People often bring a small jar of water from that lake, beach, or pool or that symbolic water from your tap will do as well! This service is a favorite among our kids!

September 20: Our first day back in Religious Education Classes. This first class will be an opportunity for the kids to meet their new teacher(s), get acquainted, and get an overview of the upcoming classes.

September 27: Corn Maze Trip

We will be bringing the kids on our annual fall hike to a local corn maze. Details to come.

Volunteers
If you have considered helping out in our program but have not yet done so, we need you! Please feel free to talk to me or one of our teachers about helping out. I would be happy to answer any questions you might have. We are open to assistants who just want to help out a few times or in regular teaching positions. Our program cannot run without the wonderful efforts of volunteers!!

I hope everyone has had a fabulous summer and I look forward to seeing all the kids and families!

In Peace,
Lisa Benoit
Religious Education

Rock Climbing Expedition

At the end of the last church year, the Middle School Group had the opportunity to go rock climbing at Wrentham State Forest. Under the expert eye of FrankF, they donned harnesses, were hooked up to ropes, and climbed cliffs. They finished the day by rappelling down a thirty foot cliff wall. Everyone had a fantastic time and left with a desire to come back and climb again. Thank you Frank!

September 2009 Holidays
1 Ecclesiastical Year begins – Orthodox Christian
8 Nativity of Mary – Christian
14 Elevation of the Life Giving Cross – Christian
16 Lailat al Kadr – Islam
19-20 Rosh Hashanah – Jewish
19-27 Navaratri – Hindu
20 Eid al Fitr – Ramadan ends – Islam
22 Equinox
22 Mabon – Wicca Northern Hemisphere
22 Meskel – Ethiopian/Eritrean Orthodox Christian
28 Yom Kippur – Jewish
28 Dasera – Hindu
29 Michael and All Angels – Christian

Notices

• Sept. 14-15: UUA Fifth Principle Task Force meeting in Boston, Mass.
• Sept. 19: (8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.) Ballou Channing District Presidents Council Gathering at Unitarian Church Of Barnstable in Barnstable, Mass.
• Sept. 19: (8:00 p.m.) The 5th Annual Belly Dance Karavan fundraiser.
• Sept. 20: (2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.) Doolittle Home Annual Open House.
• Sept. 27: (7:00 p.m.) Board Of Trustees Meeting at the church.
• Oct. 1: Deadline to submit CSAI proposals to UUA Commission On Social Witness.
• Oct. 1: (6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) First Thursdays Peace Vigil at the church.
• Oct. 3: BCD Fall Conference “Leading To Become Effective Congregations” at First Parish Church in Brewster, Mass.
• Oct. 7: (7:30 p.m.) Men’s Group Meeting at StoneForge Pub in Foxborough.
• Please see the bulletin boards, vestibule, Web site, calendars, and weekly Order of Service for updates.
• Visit rentals.uufoxborough.org for details about holding your event at the church.

5th Annual Belly Dance Karavan
Saturday, September 19, 2009, is the new date of this year’s Belly Dance Karavan, a fundraiser I have been organizing for the church for the past several years. This year’s theme is “Belly Dance Goes To The Movies”. This show features some of the area’s best belly dancers, who each year donate their time and talent to help raise funds for our beautiful church. I encourage all of you to attend the show, not only to support the church, but also to watch these beautiful dancers in their art; and, yes, it will be *family-friendly* entertainment. Don’t take my word for what a wonderful show this is; ask around to those who have attended in the past and I think you will find that they agree!

As always, since this is a church fundraiser, I would not say “no” to anyone from the church who would want to volunteer their time to help behind the scenes (playing the music, selling tickets at the door, making baked goodies for intermission, setting up intermission refreshments, etc.). If this sounds like something you might want to help with, please e-mail or call me. Thank you and hope to see all of you at the show!!
SusanMorgaine

Fundraising Through Partner Programs
We’re Amazon.com and Powell’s Books Associates. If you click through their links on the homepage of the church Web site (www.uufoxborough.org) and then shop at either of these on-line stores, part of your purchase price comes back to us. Please keep this in mind as you shop during the year!

What Should The Commission On Appraisal Study Next?
To answer this question, take the survey at www.uua.org/coa. The UUA Commission On Appraisal (COA) is charged to “review any function or activity of the Association which in its judgment will benefit from an independent review and report its conclusions to a regular General Assembly.”

News From GA 2009
The Unitarian Universalist Association Of Congregations’ 2009 General Assembly in Salt Lake City, UT, concluded on June 28, 2009. General Assembly delegates elected Rev. Peter Morales to be the eighth president of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). Delegates approved a Responsive Resolution which calls for inquiry into African visa denials. Several Actions Of Immediate Witness were passed by delegates, including: a demand for Clean, Honest, and Fair Elections in the United States; to support America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act; a commitment to work for U.S. Ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty; and a Call for a Commission of Inquiry into U.S.-Sponsored Torture. The torture resolution concludes with these words: “Nothing less than the soul of our nation is at stake in confronting U.S.-sponsored torture and completely renouncing its use.”

More than 35 events from General Assembly 2009, including worship services, plenary sessions, and talks, are available to watch on-line through www.uua.org/ga (click on “2009 Event Coverage-Video/Audio” link). For more information about General Assembly 2009 and our social action and social justice work, please visit social.uufoxborough.org.

First Thursdays Peace Vigils
Get involved in the ongoing Social Action project hosted from 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 pm. at the church the first Thursday of every month. The First Thursdays Peace Vigils community would like you to join them; candles and signs are provided. Stay for as long or as short as your schedule allows.

The Goddess Within
Women of the Ballou Channing District are invited to the Womensphere Annual Retreat on Oct. 3 & 4, 2009, at Senexet House in Woodstock, CT. Renew your mind, body, and spirit with Marcianna during “The Goddess Within: Discovery of the Spiritual Feminine through Movement and Meditation”. Marcianna is a teacher of Yoga and numerous dance styles, an artist, and the founder/operator of Chrysalis Video. She will gear activities to allow for various physical abilities. All activities are optional. There will be time for craft projects, walks, reading, etc. Join us for a weekend of renewal with UU women. Cost is $125 and the registration deadline is September 25, 2009. For more information or to register, contact Kate Gillis at 401-823-7929 or ksgillis@netzero.net.

UU Radio Programs
A few UUA congregations around the country are trying to get the message out over the airwaves. According to Rev. Thomas Schade of Worcester’s First Unitarian Church “radio broadcasts are an experiment in reaching into the larger community with liberal religious messages”. At 6:00 a.m. each Sunday, people can tune in to WCUW (91.3 FM) and hear the previous week’s service. A few of the churches have also put their programs on-line. Check out some of them at www.lifenowradio.org, www.uucc.us/?q=audio, www.progressiveblendradio.com, and www.uuplink.org.

Men’s Group
The Men’s Group had a pre-Labor Day holiday meeting. Instead of a formal discussion, they participated in the trivia contest being held at the restaurant. A more structured meeting will be held on the first Wednesday of October; topic to be announced.

International Coastal Cleanup
Sign up for the 24th International Coastal Cleanup at a waterway near you this month! Many Unitarian Universalists live within fifty miles of the saltwater and are impacted by flotsam and jetsam. The effort is more than the usual “beach clean-up” activity. Everything collected is carefully recorded and the information is used to monitor environmental conditions and to make improvements in environmental protection programs. During last year’s cleanup, nearly 400,000 volunteers collected more than 6.8 million pounds of trash in 100 countries and 42 states in the USA – the world’s largest volunteer effort of its kind. For more information, visit www.coastalcleanup.org.

UUA Green Sanctuary Program News

• A newly updated Green Sanctuary Manual will be released this month.
• The Fourth Edition of the Green Sanctuary Manual, published in 2007, is now available free-of-charge on the UUA Web site.
• In the Fall, all UUA congregations should check their mailboxes for a copy of the interfaith film “Renewal” and “Renewal: A Guide for Screening and Using the Documentary”.
• Visit www.uua.org/leaders/leaderslibrary/greensanctuary for a comprehensive review of environmentally themed books, films, and Web sites. The list is being regularly updated.

Join The March For LGBT Equality!
On National Coming Out Day (October 11) people across the country will be marching, rallying, educating, and otherwise mobilizing support for the full equality of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Will you and our congregation participate? The Unitarian Universalist Justice Action Network hopes so! Whether you go to the UUA sponsored National Equality March & Rally in Washington, D.C. or participate with a solidarity event in our congregation and community, please visit www.uua.org/socialjustice for all the tools we need for a successful action calling for full LGBT equality.

UUSC Values In Action: Guest At Your Table Is Coming!
For more than thirty years, households around the country have welcomed special guests into their homes and lives. This year, meet Daw San of Myanmar, Abdul Khan of Afghanistan, and others. Welcome a Guest at Your Table, and learn more about Unitarian Universalist Service Committee partners around the world. Most congregations will begin the Guest at Your Table program on November 22, 2009 – the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Visit www.uusc.org/guest for additional information and resources.

Wayside Pulpit
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding. ~ Albert Einstein

Milestones
Leverett Saltonstall, Phoebe Cary, William Howard Taft, Frank Ernest Gannett, & Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. On Sept. 30, 1770, Rev. John Murray preached his first sermon in America.

The Living Tradition: The Off-Center Cross
Combining a circle, a cross, and empty space, the off-center cross was created by four ministers during the Universalist General Assembly in 1946.

Each of the three elements used in this symbol represent different principles of Universalism:

• The circle represents that which has no beginning or end, infinity, the universe
• The empty space at the center represents the mystery at the heart of the universe that some people call “God”
• The cross represents the Christian roots of Universalism, but was placed off-center to leave room for other points of view and paths towards God

The off-center cross was first used in a public service of worship on September 29, 1946, at the ordination of Earle McKinney in Foxborough, Massachusetts at our church.

In 1947, the off-center cross was officially adopted as a symbol of Universalism in Massachusetts by the Massachusetts Universalist Convention.

September’s Global Chalice Lighting

May our coming together be a joyful moment, because we share in the spirit of life.

~ Revs. Nihal A. Attanayake & Elvira Paras Sienes
Unitarian Universalist Church of the Philippines
www.uuphilippines.org

“Belly Dance Goes To The Movies” is a show not to be missed! The 5th Annual Belly Dance Karavan fundraiser begins at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 19, 2009, at 6 Bird Street in Foxborough, MA.

Featuring some of the areas best belly dancers, the family-friendly show is always a crowd pleaser. Come to watch the beautiful dancers in their art while helping support accessibility improvements to the oldest building on the Foxborough Common.

This year’s show includes more than 20 belly dancers performing to songs from the movies. Audience members will experience a visual and musical journey from Slumdog Millionaire to Get Shorty, through 007 and License To Kill to Lawrence Of Arabia.

Each year, the belly dancers donate their talent and time to help raise funds to benefit the Foxborough Universalist Church, UUA. All money from the fundraiser will go towards the Accessibility Improvements Fund ramp initiative. The ramp, when completed, will allow the historic building to be more accessible to all.

Nehira, Ioke, Moirae, Almasa, Dorothea, Sadira, Goddess Delight, Aurora, Aneckha, Odalisque Dancers,Ameena, Maatkare, Sumora, Anam Cara, Zaharah, The Dobersheik Dames Tribal Dance Collective, Morgana, and Sabrina are among the belly dancers scheduled to perform.

Tickets to the September 19, 2009, show are available at the door. Cost is seniors $10; adults $15; children $10; family maximum $35. There will be an intermission with light refreshments. Doors open at 7:15 p.m.; show starts at 8:00 p.m.

If you need directions to the venue (Foxborough Universalist Church, UUA, 6 Bird Street, on the town common/Route 140), or want more information about the show, please call the event coordinator, Sumora, at 508-561-4229 or visit events.uufoxborough.org.