Mass Bay Chapter Meeting
Wednesday, May 22, 9:30am-1:00pm ET

First Parish in Bedford. 75 Great Road, Bedford, MA 01730

The site is ADA accessible. Rides available upon request to the best of our abilities!

It will be great to be together, share our ministry milestones, experience great worship led by Jamie Hinson-Rieger and Annie Gonzalez, and learn together at a workshop on "preaching and worship" led by Claire Feingold Thoryn, based on the class she teaches at Harvard Divinity School.

We'll also hear an update from our Visioning Team if they're ready, affirm some new Good Officers, and hopefully select a new Leadership Team to guide us going forward. Good stuff! Come and join us!

The schedule is:

9:30 a.m Coffee and Conversation, light breakfast provided

10 a.m. Worship led by Jamie Hinson-Rieger and Annie Gonzalez

10:30 AM Announcements

10:45 AM Program: Claire Feingold Thoryn, sharing insights from the preaching and worship class she teaches at HDS (!!)

12:15 PM Lunch - (Provided. Donations welcome to cover cost, but not required. Gluten-free options available. See below.)

1:00 PM End

Accessibility:

The First Parish In Bedford is fully accessible, with nearby parking spots, elevators to all floors, accessible bathrooms, and a scent-free area in the balcony of the sanctuary. If you need gluten free or have other food requests, please write to RevMeganLynes@gmail.com so we can plan accordingly. We want to be as inclusive as possible.

Parking should not be an issue at all, but if the area around the church fills up, there is a large parking lot behind the town hall by the police station. (Follow Elm Street to its end, and turn right.)

Dues:

Over the years we had a habit of collecting dues from our members. For more than a decade it was $40 a year, and $25 for seminarians or retired folks. No questions asked if somebody could not contribute. This money has helped pay for lunches, bring in guest speakers from outside the chapter, offer scholarships for retreat attendees, etc. We haven't collected dues in a number of years due to the pandemic and not meeting and our Kitty has around $2000 in it. This is likely to be spent down when we contribute our share towards the regional retreat in 2025. A special request: this will not apply to everyone, but if you are nearing the end of the church year with extra money in your professional expenses account, might you consider contributing to the Mass Bay chapter? (A check can he made payable to the Mass Bay Chapter and given to me.) If you are without much extra money at the moment, just let the collection pass you by. This is meant to be a fund that supports one another and good programming: no guilt, ever.

As we head towards our year's end, if you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to reach out. All of us on the Interim Leadership Team are glad to connect with you! It's been a joy to serve you this year.

Megan Lynes, Elka Carrier-Ladd,  Emily Conger, Elizabeth Ide,  Joanna Lubkin, Janet Parsons