Dear friends,

Back on Rally Sunday in September, I (Kit) preached on the rippling image of circles, drawing from Emerson’s essay on the subject, which notes our universal spiritual desire to lose ourselves in something wider than ourselves, “in short, to draw a new circle.”

Now, here we are on the cusp of summer, coming “full circle” after this first program year as your co-ministers. As we prepare for our final few Sunday services of the spring and look forward to celebrating our official Installation in just a few weeks (we hope many of you can make it on June 11 at 4pm! more info here!), we feel enveloped in the wide welcome of this congregation and excited about the horizons of possibility opening before us as a community.

At that Installation service, our First Parish choir will sing “Draw the Circle Wide,” a moving anthem of inclusion and solidarity: “Draw the circle wide, draw it wider still. Let this be our song: no one stands alone. Standing side by side, draw the circle, draw the circle wide…” It is our hope that we will continue to live into God’s wide welcome by offering that welcome to those in our midst and those whose lives we have yet to touch.

Right now, many new circles are in the process of being drawn around here: from the proposed resolution to strengthen our Open and Welcoming statement to include our trans, nonbinary, and gender-creative siblings (don’t miss the second part of the Forum series this Sunday June 4 after worship); to the synthesizing work of our Strategic Planning team this summer (it’s not too late to pitch into these latest circles of input: please share input via this brief “Spring Forward” survey by tomorrow, June 1).

Rest and rejuvenation are, of course, another way of attending to our rhythmic, cyclical energies, of drawing circles of belonging grounded in depth and sustainability. In that spirit, we’re also looking forward to summer rest and grateful for Sarah Klockowski’s steady pastoral presence, who will be “on call” for any pastoral care needs for much of the summer (see staff summer schedule dates below).

May your summer be a blessed one. We’ll see you soon in June, or in the fall!

With love,
Kit & Nate

Summer Staff Schedules
Kit and Nate off: July 1-Aug 27
Silvia off/away: June 6-7; June 9; June 15-16; July 3; Aug 2; Aug 25-Sept 9
Sarah K off: Aug 20-Sept 4*
Miranda off: June 12-Aug 27
Lora off: July 1-Aug 27

*stay tuned for pastoral care “on call” coverage the week of Aug 20-27