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Signs Ups Available Above
Sunday Flowers &
Fellowship Hosts
We're always looking for a few good folks to help out on Sundays.
- Sign up is above if you would like to
 provide a flower arrangement or plant to adorn the front table of the Meeting House on Sundays. A dedication and acknowledgement will be listed in the Order of Service that Sunday.
 Fellowship Hour only happens by the generosity of you! We're always looking for a host or two each Sunday to go along with the coffee, tea, and juices provided by First Church.
Soul Matters
Each and everyone of you is invited to join our small group ministry Soul Matters which meets to share reflections on a specific theme each month. Participating in a small group that encourages mindful engagement is a way to deepen your personal spiritual practice and your connection to others in the church community. To help get you started thinking about the monthly theme there is a booklet full of exercises, meditations, questions to ponder, and music and readings to inspire and engage you.
The Soul Matters theme for September is Belonging. The meeting will take place in person on Sunday, September 25 at 12:15pm in Willson Hall. Feel free to drop by to reconnect or come for the first time. If you have questions or would like a reminder email, contact Melody Lee.
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Sunday Tech Hosts
We are in need of a consistent group of volunteers to be available on a rotating basis to set up our tech in the Meeting House on Sundays. Training sessions are simple and brief and will take place each Sunday morning at 9:00am beginning in October.
To sign up please send an email to Catherine firstchurchinsalem@gmail.com.
Staff Office Hours
Welcome back! Swing by or make an appointment to visit the staff if you need anything.
Rev. Jenny Rankin is in-person Tuesdays and Thursdays with open office hours Thursday from 1p-4p. She can also be reached via email or phone 978-741-1629.
Congregational Administrator, Catherine Bertrand, Tuesday through Friday 8:30a-2pm and Sundays before the service and after until 12:15pm. Please feel to reach out via email or phone at 978-744-1551.
*Catherine will be off this Sunday and away Tues-Thur this week. For pastoral concerns please contact Rev. Jenny.
Our RE Coordinator Theo Burbank will be available Tues-Fri 3p-6p and Sundays9:30a-1:30p. Theo can also be reached through email.
As always Music Director Michael Kraft can be reached via email.
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Dear Friends,
It was wonderful to see so many of you at church last week on Homecoming Sunday. And that fellowship hour! Wow! I’d been told “We do food really well here!” and boy, was that true.
I’d love to get the chance to speak with you in person, one on one, so email me if you’d like to set up a time. I work remotely from my home on Monday and Wednesday and we could meet on Zoom. I’m in Salem at the church on Tues and Thurs. Friday is my day off. minister@firstchurchinsalem.org
This week I had the chance to take a lovely walking tour with Deb Greel; there is so much to learn and explore and experience here. I’m quite excited and a bit overwhelmed with all the restaurants, stores, historic houses! If you have any personal recommendations, kind of your own “insiders’ guide to Salem”, send it along by email or post! I would welcome that.
See you in church.
Jenny
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This week, our Religious Education program will be starting up for the year with an All Ages "Welcome (Back) to RE" gathering. Whether this is your first time visiting our church or you have been coming here since before you can remember, we are looking forward to seeing you there! We will play some games, share stories about our summers, and learn a bit about all of the possibilities of the year ahead as we explore what it means to put our UU values to work in the world.
Children will start out in the service with their grownups and then we will gather together downstairs after the Time For All Ages. Children 5 and up are invited to attend, and children under 5 are invited to attend with a grownup.
If you haven't filled out a registration form for your children, you can do that here.
If you would like to support our RE program by volunteering, please sign up here.
Theo Burbank (she/her/hers) | Religious Education Coordinator
fcreligioused@gmail.com
Tues-Fri: 3-6 | Sun: 9:30-1:30
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As the new church year begins, and our interim minister, Rev. Jenny Rankin, is in place, I am excited and hopeful that we can once again gather as singers to participate in services and bring all of the energy and inspiration that comes with that to our congregation!
I invite all of you to consider participating in some initial Saturday morning singing sessions to get our voices going again and having fun with some simple and familiar music. There will be a time of figuring out exactly who we are as a choir after not meeting for 2 ½ years! Once we have established who we have and people’s interest and availability for the fall, a plan will be made for when, how often, and what we sing in the Sunday services.
The dates I have chosen for starters are Saturday, September 17 and Saturday, September 24 at 9am, in the Cleveland Room.
Contact Michael at music@firstchurchinsalem.org for more information and your expression of interest.
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 Thank you to all the people who have provided meals and rides to Lynn Taggart. Lynn is progressing with her healing following double mastectomy surgery. She is having follow-up treatments at MGH in Danvers.
We send prayers to Bella Helen and her parents Jeannine and David following her treatments at Children’s Hospital.
We keep Claire Donaldson in our thoughts and prayers. Claire is at Salem Hospital undergoing tests.
We send love and support to Jan Eschauzier for her upcoming surgery. Peter Eschauzier is home following a hospital stay.
We offer well wishes to Charlene Long and Nancy TenBroeck who are recovering from recent cases of Covid.
Well wishes to Susan Linder-Bean and Jerrie Hildebrand on successful knee replacement surgeries this summer.
Our church community is full of care givers, doing the important work of providing meals, rides and support to each other. If you know of someone in need please let us know. You may reach Sally Millice by email or phone, (Sallymillice@gmail.com 978-745-1632) or contact Rev. Rankin (minister@firstchurchinsalem.org 978-741-1629)
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Sunday Protocols & Pandemic Task Force
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Read the full article here. Thoughtfully composed by current Standing Committee Chair Steve Palmer the recent update regarding covid protocols gives us a sense of how we plan to transition from a Re-Entry Team to a Pandemic Task Force.
To address our immediate Sunday needs here is an excerpt: In the meantime, as this team is being formed, we ask the congregation to patiently stay the course with current practices for worship in the Meeting House. That is, for the next three Sundays, we will continue to ask attendees to wear masks and respect social distancing.
We look forward to hearing your comments and reporting updates to you.
In community,
Steve
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Salem Book Buddies
Book Buddies is a special program, which matches a 3rd grade student with a community member. Our volunteer community members will purchase a book for their assigned student several times per year. The book will come with a letter to the student from the volunteer. The letter will allow the community member to ask the student questions about the book, explain why that book was chosen for the student, etc. The student will then write a thank you letter back to the adult.
Not only does the student receive books of their own to keep, but they also get to practice letter writing. All students receive their books on the same day, in the classroom.
You will receive their first name, age, sex, and instructions for each book drop to your matched student. You then purchase a book for your student, write a letter to go with the book, and get it back to us for delivery to the classroom.
Our approximate target dates for collecting the books for the 2022-2023 school year are:
November 18
February 3
May 5
(All dates are subject to change)
You will not actually meet your matched student, but you will get to know them through letter writing.
We are so excited to restart this program from over 15 years ago! And we already have many who are interested in joining the program. Please let us know as soon as possible if you would like to be included. Please email us at pcterri@comcast.net. Please sign up only if you can commit to all 3 books.
Join The Salem Pantry in The Ride for Food. 
Like to bike? Join our team of riders at The Ride for Food on October 2nd!
The Salem Pantry is again participating in The Ride for Food and we need your help! We are seeking more cyclists to join our team of riders on October 2nd as we bike to our goal of raising $10,000. You can choose to ride 25 or 50 miles.
As a Ride for Food team member, you will ask neighbors, friends, and family to support you while you complete your challenge. We ask that you raise at least $350. Every dollar you raise will go to support food security and The Salem Pantry.
Not a cyclist? No problem. Check out these other ways to help.
Do you like supporting The Salem Pantry? Do you enjoy walking, paddling, biking, jogging, running or hiking? Or maybe TV marathons are more your thing? Either way, you can participate in The Ride for Food.
For more information contact Hannah Beth Hembree
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If you're visiting First Church for the first time in a long time or the first ever please click here for information about parking, directions, service times and more!
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National Hispanic Heritage Month
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September 15 to October 15 is National Hispanic American Heritage Month
The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of Hispanic Americans who have positively influenced and enriched our nation and society.
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