COVID-19 has affected all our lives. As many other worshiping communities, we too, out of an abundance of love for those most vulnerable, have suspended in-person gatherings. However, there are opportunities to connect virtually and find spiritual support:
1. If you'd like to receive a Sunday morning meditation, please click here to sign up for our newsletter.
2. We will post short 3-5 minute video meditations on Tuesdays on our Facebook page. Click here to see the first of these video meditations.
3. If you are are a parent and interested in receiving a weekly newsletter to Parents of Kids, please email john[at]fbcnewton.org
4. Our fortnightly participatory Bible Study has also gone virtual. Please email Eunice at eawrev44[at]gmail.com or David at dbarbrow[at]gmail.com for more information about how to connect via Zoom.

Do you or someone you know have a gift or story that has not been shared or heard often enough? Invite a friend and come join us. Come and affirm and be affirmed. Encounter something beautiful.

This is a space for people across age range and ability to come and celebrate a gift they have or want to explore. Sing a song, play an instrument, tell a story, perform an act, speak about your art. Anything you are passionate about.
 
The Chapel, Sunday, October 27. 10 people. 4-5 minutes each.
 
We’ll have hors d’oeuvres & beverages. Feel free to bring a little something to add to the table.
 
Interested in signing up or displaying your art?
Email john[at]fbcnewton.org

Exciting things are happening this Fall and our children are, without a doubt, at the very center of it. Join and assist our beloved member and artist Nina Bellucci as she primes the walls in the Kids Room this Saturday, September 21. Children of all ages are invited to join Nina at 12 p.m.

This is a project that will be done in a few stages and completed this Fall. The project is inspired by Psalm 36:9: "In Your Light We See Light." This is the translation of the Hebrew inscription in our sanctuary. Encourage your children to find where it is the next time they are in church.

Listen to Nina in her own words describing the next stages of the project: "Kids will be able to paint their name(s) on a cloud, which will have their own rays projected, ultimately illustrating the promise of Psalm 36:9. We can continue to paint clouds and add names as more children come to the church."

Our children are truly like little rays. Let us encourage them to let their light shine.

Nina Bellucci is an accomplished artist. To find out more about Nina, visit her website, check out Musa Collective she is part of, or listen to a podcast in which she is interviewed.

Each time humans encounter difference, it is an opportunity to learn about ourselves and others. Whenever we encounter someone who is different from us, a process of reevaluation begins to take place. At times, people who are different make us feel uncomfortable. This is oftentimes simply because they look, sound different, eat, and behave differently from “us.” At other times, such discomfort arises because there are many lies that are often told about others. These lies gradually sink into our imagination and we start believing them. The man who chose to hurt and wound others in Christchurch, New Zealand, succumbed to such lies. The only way to see through those lies is to authentically get to know those different from us.

“Learning about other people and cultures is intended to make the world safe for human differences,” said Mahtab Sirdani, one of the three guests who led the first of our curated Interfaith Second Hour discussion series. In the past, we also had Jewish, Muslim, and Christian interlocutors to discuss if the three faiths worshipped the same God. In all of these conversations, two things became clear. One, there are real differences between the faith traditions. These differences are often a source of disagreement. Two, even within the same faith community, there can be drastic differences. Think, for instance, about the many differences between Catholics and Protestants and Orthodox Christians. This is what John Boopalan, our Minister for Community Life and Theologian in Residence, presented on at a conference in Princeton this weekend. Click here to see more. We are beautiful together not in spite of our differences but because of our differences.

For Lent this year, choose to learn about a community that is different from you. This is a good time to learn about our Muslim neighbors. Yusuf Mosque is a mosque close to our church community. Given the recent tragic and harmful event against Muslims, we are going to be writing cards of support and sympathy this Sunday (March 24, 2019), immediately after service. Come join us. If you so choose, please do send a card directly to our Muslim neighbors at Yusuf Mosque (186 Chestnut Hill Ave, Brighton MA 02135) or another Muslim community close to you.
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I have been am amateur photographer on and off for more than forty years. My father was an impressionist painter and his style still influences my work. I get great joy at walking through the parks in the greater Boston area capturing the beauty of the lakes and rivers as well as the creatures I meet along the way. I had a successful showing of my photography two years ago at the Indalo gallery in Newton, MA. I look forward to displaying my photographs in other galleries and continuing to develop my craft. 

To learn more about Leo, click her to visit his webpage or his Facebook page. You can contact Leo at info[at]leohannenbergphotography.com.
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Deborah Archibong is an artist who does beautiful work with beads. Check out her jewelry and fashionable wears featuring simple and elegant styles at her Facebook page.  Deborah also sings and it will be treat to hear her and also see her work.
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Tana Walsh was born in Texas and grew up in Austin. She has loved drawing and many forms of artistic expression since she was a child. She grew up in a home filled with art. Her father collected art as a "hobby." Therefore, she spent many an hour looking and studying the art that surrounded her. Tana has a BFA in Interior Design from Texas Tech University, with a continuing education focus in the area of Art Therapy. As an artist, Tana works from an image she takes with her own camera and/or the still life that she creates.
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"I took my first painting class as part of my fine art degree requirements for my undergraduate degree. I realized, at that time, how much I loved working with color and the medium itself. My life took a different path and I did not return to painting until 2005." 

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During my career as a psychotherapist, I have seen the beauty of the soul emerge; although frequently obstructed with layers of murky defense and protection. Encaustic art represents to me a similar experience of process, particularly with the layering process, as one continues to scrape until the beauty and truth of the piece is revealed. This uncertainty is exciting for it presents surprises as well as mystery, which can lead us to unimaginable places similar to the process of self-discovery. I have studied at the Decordova, School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Helen Day Arts Center. I also studied with artists such as Lorraine Glessner, Tracy Spadafora, Gregory Wright, Laura Moriaty as well as a fabulous watercolorist, Lisa Forster Beach of Stowe Vt. Truro Center for the Arts has been a favorite teaching school and I have been attending their Encaustic Conferences for seven years with world famous artists. To read more, click here.
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​​My name is Cole and I am ten.  I have been taking pictures with an iPhone for about  three years. I’ve taken way over 100 pictures and I hope to sell them some day so I can be a pro. I especially like to take pictures of water.  My dream is to take a picture of a waterfall at sunset in L.A. 

My name is Zoe Arthur and I am 9 years old. I started doing art when I was about 3 years old and I have loved it ever since. My first art experience was on Christmas when I turned 3 years old. My grandmother bought me an art kit. I loved it so much and would use it whenever my mother said I could.  I have taken a couple of art classes at the Brookline Arts Center. At my school we have something called Art Equinox. It is kind of like a holiday that lasts for 2 days. During Arts Equinox we do only art stuff. Each year there is a different theme.  It includes drawing, painting, origami, music, dancing and much more. It’s very fun! My favorite type of art is Kawii drawing. I also love encaustics. I love art!

BREAKOUT SESSIONS & FACILITATORS ​
Two identical 30-minute breakout sessions so participants can have the option to try two different sessions.
​WORKSHOP FOR TEENS THROUGH MUSIC AND DIALOGUE
RELIEVING STRESS THROUGH YOGA
ECUMENICAL INTERFAITH MEDITATION
​WHEN AND HOW TO USE NARCAN?

​Relieving Stress through Yoga
Peggy McLoughlin, E-R.Y.T., 500, YogaNewton
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​Ecumenical Interfaith Meditation
Alicia Johnson, Newton Interfaith Clergy Association
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​When & How to Use Narcan? 
Scott Weiner, M.D.
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​This year we will be continuing our study of Christianity in Late Antiquity: 300-450 C.E. – A Reader by Bart Ehrman and Andrew Jacobs. This book includes writings by many of the most important early Christian thinkers, including Augustine, Jerome, Chrysostom and Eusebius, on topics such as heresy and orthodoxy, asceticism and monasticism, pilgrimages, relics and holy places, saints’ lives, biblical interpretation, and Christianity outside the Roman Empire.  We will also study the early Christian creeds, the development of the biblical canon, and early Christian art (including the Ravenna mosaics) and architecture.
 
Throughout October, we will be studying various controversies that helped delineate the boundaries between orthodoxy and heresy.  For example, on the first two Sundays of October, we will be exploring the Trinitarian Controversy (i.e., whether God the Father is superior to, or equal with, Christ and the Holy Spirit).  We will start on Sunday, October 7 by discussing the following readings in Christianity in Late Antiquity:
 
Reading 20 – Arius: Thalia
Reading 21 – Alexander of Alexandria: Letter to Alexander of Constantinople
Reading 22 – Arius: Letter to Alexander of Alexandria
 
Wikipedia’s List of Movements Deemed Heretical by the Catholic Church can be found by clicking here. It provides a helpful scorecard concerning the many heresies identified by the early church. It also covers medieval heresies, and sects more recently deemed heretical. Interestingly, Protestantism was designated as a heresy by the Catholic Church at the Council of Trent during the 16th century, but that designation was rescinded by Vatican II in 1964. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI, explained in 1993 in his book The Meaning of Christian Brotherhood that Protestantism is no longer viewed as a heresy, because “Protestantism has made an important contribution to the realization of the Christian faith, fulfilling a positive function in the development of the Christian message and, above all, often giving rise to a sincere and profound faith in the individual non-Catholic Christian.”
 
For more information, contact Dick Ransom at dickransom[at]comcast.net