Joy of Lunch

Greetings dear friends!  Ever wish for a more substantial “coffee hour” spread before you’re off to that great afternoon workshop or meeting here at the church?  Kids starving so you can’t stay and chat?  What if … what if we feed each other lunch every  month?  We have done this several times thus far, and the outcome has been great! 

We started with a bang for the In Gathering Sunday and we will again be hosting for the upcoming Sunday of October 19, 2014.  We have our designated team for that date, but need upcoming teammates for the dates in the months ahead. 

Now wait, I know what you’re thinking.  You are groaning:  “No! Not another thing for me to do, please, I am already out straight.  You are going to ask me to volunteer and I don’t want to!”

I’d like to share with you one idea about lunch.  Please contact me with your ideas too!  Deborah Veroneau, 508-410-7630, debaneau@aol.com.  Please know that I respond best to voicemails at the present time and within 48 -72 hours to emails.

 

What if… what if someone you know and like from the church invited you onto his or her “team”?   Your team consists of about a dozen people.   On the day you signed up for you come to church early, 9 AM, because you love your teammates and you are honored to play with them in the kitchen.  Your team leader is kind and enthusiastic and has shopped and planned the meal.  You just have to show up and chop veggies or put sandwiches together or stir the soup or chili, or what ever is planned.  Your teammates have all replied to their email / phone reminders in advance so you know who is out of town that week, who can come early to prep, who can stay late to wash pots and pans.

You do this all not as a chore but with joy in your heart, because you are in a ministry.   It is our lunch ministry and we are happy to do this for each other.  This month I cook and feed you, next month, you will cook and feed me.  We trust each other that there will be lunch.  You are nourishing your friends.  Our church has opened its doors and new people want to visit us because we are kind, forthright, open, fun-loving, and our food is delicious.  The food tastes great because your joy has sent its very vibration into the food.  

Logistics: Contributions Free Will Donations  would fund the program so that shoppers are reimbursed, however, food is not withheld based on ability to pay.   Generosity encouraged.  The team leader /co-leader would take ownership of the email / phone reminders and let the team know how many hands will be on deck.  The spirit is playful.  We will cook to uplifting music. And our Joy of Lunch Ministry will be Fun, Nutritious, and Uplifting for all involved. 

This month we are busy with after church activities; Annual Wachusett Hike and the guest speaker after church.  Before we head off in different directions, we will nourish ourselves with nutritious food that we can eat here or take away to the hike.  Brown bags will be provided to this.   Please join us as we begin our Joy of Lunch Ministry here at First Unitarian Church of Worcester.  

In The Service of All,

Deborah Veroneau

Project Have Hope

Project Have Hope (PHH) provides educational and business opportunities for impoverished women and families in Uganda's Acholi Quarter.  Through child sponsorship, vocational training and micro-loans, PHH is changing lives.

Founder and Director, Karen Sparacio, operates PHH out of Malden, Massachusetts.  She travels to Uganda several times per year assessing the progress of children and women, and creating new programs that can utilize the donations made by generous people of Massachusetts.

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Currently, PHH is funding projects that provide schooling and sponsorship for children, adult literacy programs, start up loans, solar cooking, agricultural programs, and the PHH beads and jewelry sales. Stay tuned for more information about the jewelry sales that will be sponsored by YRU2 to help fundraise for their mission trip in 2015!

The 50/50 Collection will be taken October 26^th. Your generosity is greatly appreciated!

For more information, visit  contact Karen Sparacio at: info@projecthavehope.org . You can also contact Lesa McWalters, Youth Ministries Coordinator at lesamcwalters@yahoo.com

Threshold Update

On Saturday, Oct. 11, Dave Blodgett and Gini Johnson attended the NE Gathering of Threshold Singers at Indian Hill Music in Littleton, led by Kate Munger the founder of the hospice singing movement.  

Dave found the Threshold Choir workshop very enjoyable and informative.  He has been interested in the idea of providing music at the bedside for folks who are hospitalized or in a hospice program and who have expressed a desire for the therapeutic benefits that a small group of singers can provide.  The Hallowell Singers (www.hallowell-singers.org) is one such group located in southern Vermont that provides a variety of opportunities for hospitalized folks to enjoy the engagement and peace inherent in well rehearsed vocal music.  The Threshold Choir movement, which is a national organization, is similar in that it supports local groups wishing to train singers to provide folks in hospice care a soothing prayerful experience that is spiritually nourishing while being theologically inclusive.  The Threshold Choir model seems to be focused to a greater extent on folks in the last state of life's journey and therefore, the musical experience is geared towards a quiet and reflective style of singing.

Gini experienced the workshop as quietly intense; learning new songs and parts, singing softly, blending voices and entering into a prayerful state for an extended period of time. The songs were not religious, but deeply spiritual about love, connections and support.  It seems evident that to develop a group will require dedication, time and commitment but that it would be rewarding to the participants and recipients of songs during struggles to live or preparations to die. Ideally, there would be a large enough group of trained singers to respond to requests and not become overly burdensome or emotionally exhausting; also, to find leadership for rehearsals, fundraising, networking, publicity, etc.   It would be our hope to develop a group of approximately 20-30 volunteers in the community over the coming year.  If interested in joining Dave and Gini on a steering committee, ultimately being a singer or to express your ideas, please let us hear from you.