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Vespers for Lent Begin Tonight

Vespers for Lent begin tonight, Wednesday, March 5. For the 7 weeks that lead up to Easter, we offer this quiet half-hour service in our candlelit sanctuary, followed by a simple meal. It’s a lovely time to gather together—please join us if you wish. If you’d like to read for Vespers or help with the meal, please sign up here or on the sheet in the Murray Room.

From Frank

Making Room for What’s Needed

On Wednesday we enter the church season of Lent, which comes just after Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, when New Orleans goes wild with drinking and eating. Lent is often seen as a time for abstaining from pleasure, giving up things as a kind of spiritual discipline. I’m done some fasting in my life, and have found that this discipline can bring clarity and depth. If there’s something that you’d like to give up, and that would be good for you, then by all means use Lent to help you do so!

But Lent can also be a good time to take something on; for taking up a practice that will nourish and sustain you. I like Lent as an intentional time to focus on spiritual growth. These late-winter days can be put to good use making room for something that will help you to be strong-souled. Taking time to ask, “What am I hungry for these days?” Time to be still and wonder about your place in the world. Asking what you will do, and what you will not do, in the service of life and love and goodness.

It could be as simple as reading a book, or scheduling intentional conversations with a friend. It could be committing to a prayer or meditation practice; coming to Tuesday night Meditation or Wednesday night Vespers. Maybe committing to coming to church every Sunday between now and Easter!

The intention is the main thing—setting out to use these 40 days (Sundays aren’t counted in Lent) that lead up to Easter as a time for making room for what your soul needs right now. So that when the warmer and brighter days arrive, and when Easter comes, you’ll be ready. Having done some of your inner work, you’ll be ready to welcome in the goodness and the gladness of the season that’s just over the horizon. Please reach out to me if you’d like to talk about this—I’d welcome the conversation!

Clare’s Corner

Do you remember Third Wednesdays? I just went for a stroll down memory lane in my Google Calendar and remembered that they started in September, 2018. We had Vespers, Dinner, and THREE different Adult Faith Formation offerings to choose from, plus childcare. As some of you may recall, this cadence kept going all the way until March, 2020 when I think we tried
some online Vespers.

The intent was to have a predictable time for us to gather and offer Adult Faith Formation Programming, or Adult Religious Education as it is sometimes called. Folx had mentioned that our Adult RE offerings felt too “scatter shot” to keep track of and a consistent time would help them track the programming better. We had pretty great attendance and a lot of meaningful experiences, but then Covid happened, and I went on Parental Leave with Baby Robin, and we kept trying to figure out what non-Sunday church offerings people were craving. Our Reflections Group thrived through all of these changes, and one of their two monthly meeting times became Third Wednesdays on Zoom. As a keystone in our church’s fellowship, Adult RE, and pastoral care structures, it seemed silly to try to schedule anything else at church on Third Wednesdays.

This past May (2024), we birthed a slightly new sibling of Third Wednesdays called…what do you know, Third Thursdays! We had dinner and showed a family friendly movie, and we’ve experimented with Third Thursdays this year and plan to continue to do so at least through May 15, 2025. This month we’ll gather on Thursday 3/20 at 5 pm for dinner, and then at 6:15 our Land Acknowledgement Working Group will present their “Story of Pentucket” Spirit Play Basket, and take questions about the history of the land we now call Haverhill. Stay tuned for April and May plans, which will bring in outside groups thanks to your generous donations to the Christmas Letter!

I’d love to hear if Third Thursdays have been resonating with you. Why do you come? Why don’t you come? Would First Fridays work better for you next church year? Do you think it’s anathema that some of us start eating dinner at 5 pm? Send me an email or give me a call, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Circle News

Join us this Saturday, March 8 at 1 pm with Rev. Frank

The Circle welcomes everyone to join us for our March meeting, when Rev. Frank will be our guest presenter. Before entering the ministry, Frank was a professional photographer, and for most of his life he’s been a passionate angler. Frank will invite us to join him in a conversation about the intersection of art and imagery, sport and passion, church and ministry, and holding on and letting go. We’re looking forward to this, and hope to see you there!

Want Blueberries?

UUCH is now a community pick up location for Burke Hill Farm. They deliver on Friday afternoons to our parking lot at exactly 12:25 pm. Blueberries are organic, frozen, and come in 5lb boxes. For more information or to order, go to their website directly, www.burkehillfarm.com. If there is overwhelming interest, we may be able to get wholesale pricing which would be about $10 off each 5 pound box. (that's a lot of berries!)

The Annual Auction

The Auction is Saturday, April 12th, at 5 pm, in the Murray Room at UUCH. We will have a fabulous potluck dinner, and enjoy the fun of live and silent auction bidding. This is a great event to connect with others and share our talents, and it's an important fundraiser for our annual budget. Go to our Auction website to submit a donation, get donation ideas, preview catalog items, and pre-register to bid. If you have trouble with the Auction website, you can also use this donation form. Contact Erika Lundin with any questions.

Afghan Family Update

It has been 3 full years since UUCH was first introduced to the Afghan families living in Haverhill. And what an adventure it has been! We all learned so much about their culture, and they received so much help from us, in every aspect of their life imaginable. I don’t think any of us thought we’d still be involved in 2025 or that we’d become part of their extended family.

It has been a busy month of so! Carolyn Hart has been helping the newly arrived Noori family, mostly with driver’s license-related needs. We have used some donations to fund driving lessons for the dad with the hope that he can obtain a better job once he has a car. Right now he is working part time in Lowell at a restaurant. The mom works a few hours a day at a Haverhill school.

Most of our time and efforts have gone to the Qudoos family, as their needs are greater. Dawn Crowell recommended Gateway School for the oldest son, Bilal, who is very intelligent but got lost amongst the 28 or so other kids in his class. He started at Gateway after February vacation and loves it! He will be one of 12 kids in the entire 7th grade class. The school focuses on in-class projects rather than homework, and we believe he will excel there.

Nancy Lebar continues to be the lead volunteer for paperwork, diapers, and doctor appointments, which are never-ending. She also had a nice visit at Buttonwoods Museum with Zarifah and Emal when they went there on a school field trip.

Our volunteer efforts were quite active during school vacation week. Jane Hucks donated and delivered snacks and basic food items to get the family through the week, since the kids wouldn’t be eating breakfast or lunch at school. Carol Adler and Dawn took the 5 oldest kids to the indoor water park in Danvers, where they had a blast! I think this was the highlight of their week! Dove Morissette and her sister, Robin, took the kids to the movies, another first-time adventure. They were super good and enjoyed “Paddington in Peru,” even though it was a little young for Bilal. They are clamoring to see the Minecraft movie when it comes out in April.

Ramadan started on March 1, which is an important time of year for them. Melissa Marrama received a huge amount of donations again, and Dove delivered boxes of potatoes, chicken, onions, pasta, rice, tea, dates, oil, paper supplies and more to both Haverhill families. Gul Rahman Safi, the dad in the other Haverhill family stopped by Melissa’s to pick up his share. That family is doing well, asking only for help buying a pair of shoes for Gul. Melissa had a new pair to give him. A visit with them is long overdue!

Our focus remains on the housing crisis for the Qudoos family. They receive no state assistance other than food, and their rent is more than Abdul brings home. They are responsible for their entire $2600 rent now. The youngest daughter’s early intervention teacher is also working with the state and some charities on a housing plan for them, but it was challenging for Abdul and Zarghona to come up with their February rent and now March is due. We used part of their Second Sunday collection from last year to contribute to the rent. Dawn has been researching less expensive apartments in the area, but the challenge is Abdul’s pay, the size of the family, and probably some credit issues.

Thanks to everyone who has been helping these families since 2022, whether with money, time, or effort. We have given them so much, but what they have given the those of us who have grown to know and love them is priceless.

Trivia Night Is Only A Couple of Weeks Away!

Help support Ruth’s House with
Trivia Night with Trivia Mastermind Meredith!
March 21st – 6pm to 9:30pm

Salvatores’s
354 Merrimack St., Lawerence MA, 01834
$50 per ticket
Includes Pizza, Salad, Dessert, w/Cash Bar

Purchase tickets at givebutter.com/ruthshousetrivianight

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The Communicator – March 2025

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