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- June 26, 2025
June 26, 2025
"For in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." - Galatians 3:26-27
In This Edition:
Outdoor Worship
Remember to BYOC (bring your own chair); in the event of rain or excessive heat, we will worship together in the Chapel. Check the sandwich board sign on your way into the parking lot to verify our worship location.
During the summer, members of the congregation are invited to sign up to serve as “hosts” for fellowship after worship (usually just a light snack and lemonade). You can sign up in-person or by filling out the online signup:
Please note July 6th is open if anyone would like to volunte
Open and Affirming Task Force Survey
Dear congregants,
We are looking to collect some information on what you all know to guide us in our next steps in the process via a survey. This is not a test! There are no “correct” answers; the point of the survey is to know both what folks know and don’t know about topics relevant to ONA.
Hard copies are now available at the church, or use this link to fill out the survey online. You can fill out the survey anonymously, or you can include your name. There are 7 questions in total. We estimate that completing this survey will take approximately 8-10 minutes. Thank you very much!
-The ONA Task Force
Pan Mass Challenge
The Pan-Mass Challenge will be returning again this year to the Norfolk
Agricultural HS on August 3, 2025. The Aggie is looking for volunteers to hand out water & cheering riders on.
Pan-Mass will be using the area in front Kemp Gymnasium as a water stop. The riders enter from Fisher street, stop at Kemp and ride out back to 1A. The event will be from 6am - 11am.
If you are interested in volunteering 1-2 hours ( or more) to help out with the event, please reach out to [email protected]
Celebrating Graduates
On Sunday, we celebrated the graduations of Jordan Felice from the Rivers School in Weston, and Amelia Durso from Walpole High School. Jordan will be off to Elon University in North Carolina in the fall to study Elementary Education, and Amelia will be studying Biomedical Engineering at Miami University of Ohio (where Deidre is an alum as well!). Kieran Misra also graduated this spring.
Amelia and Jordan each received an “Open 24 Hours” Sign with blessings and well wishes from the congregation, and some words of wisdom from CE Committee Member Deidre Donaldson.
Knitters Needed!
The Deacons are sad and happy to report that our supply of handmade prayer shawls is almost depleted. Sad because there were so many people who needed one and happy that we could offer the comfort of knowing there are people praying for them. They were all gratefully received.
BUT, we would love to have a few more. If you can use up some of that leftover yarn making one or two this summer, we would truly appreciate it.
Your Deacons
Sermon Snippet
Our church is currently engaged in a formal process of discernment of whether or not to adopt an “Open and Affirming” Covenant, which would involve making the full inclusion of LGBTQIA+ people an explicit part of our core mission as a church. In this process, every member of the congregation has a right to freedom of conscience, to think and to stake out a position as their faith leads them. As pastor, my role is not to endorse one outcome or another in this process, but to preach, teach, and minister to anyone in the congregation as I am led by my faith and in accordance with the scripture and traditions of the church.
This Sunday’s “Think Outside the Church” question is relevant to this process: should churches be celebrating Pride Month? To look at many church buildings in our area, one might, at first glance, believe them to be LGBTQIA+ advocacy centers, so prevalent are the symbols and slogans of Pride. Does this entail a wholesale endorsement of queer culture, to the abandonment of traditional Christian values? On the other hand, to ignore (or even to protest) the celebration of Pride Month seems to forgo the chance to engage “the world” of human culture and community which God so loves. Turns out this simple yes-or-no question, should churches celebrate Pride Month, requires some careful thought and faithful reflection on God’s Word. Join us this Sunday in the Park to be a part of it!
The “God’s Doors Project” launched nationally from Westfield Church (UCC) in Killingley, Connecticut in 2017. The doors carry a simple message: “God’s Doors Are Open to All.”
Holding in Prayer
This week, as a community of faith we pray:
with joy, for Sahana’s 10th birthday
with joy, for Cal’s 5th birthday
with joy, for Amelia Durso, Jordan Felice, and Kieran Misra, who graduated from high school this spring and are off to college in the fall!
for Lynn’s coworker Adrian, who is undergoing spinal fusion surgery
with joy, for Lauren’s friend’s daughter, who has returned safely from her trip to Israel.
for Lauren’s cousin, home from the hospital and in need of further healing.
for the Ford Family, as they mourn the death of Martha Ford, and for the First Parish Church in Bolton
with sympathy, for Cheryl Cain’s cousin, who passed away, and for the Cain family as they mourn.
for Kathy, Shirley’s friend, recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s
for traveling mercies to Jim, as he heads to Hawaii for the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, and then with Justin on to Japan and Korea
for Pam’s friend Cookie, as she battles cancer
for Shirley’s niece Karen, as she undergoes treatment for pancreatic cancer
for peace in the nation, and for an end to political violence
for healing for Lew’s brother Richard, and his wife Paula.