As they have grown, Youth Villages now assembles the backpacks at their Woburn office…and we can help them by providing supplies.  Here’s how it works.

• Youth Villages has supplied this link  https://a.co/0gTLVn0U to their wish list.  You can help a Youth Villages kid by purchasing some items on this list. Amazon will then send those directly to Youth Villages in Woburn.
• Alternatively, you can buy the same item somewhere else and deliver it to Youth Villages at 12 Gill St in Woburn.
• Items need to be to Youth Villages by August 3rd

Please reach out to Betsy Goodell (or call/text 781-389-8745) with any questions or if you need help with the drop off.

Thanks for making that first day of school happy for some kids who need a kind hand at their back.

Halfway through our week here, we have already experienced extraordinary grace, beauty, suffering, and compassion.

The reservation — The Rez — is a hard place, by design. Centuries of genocide, oppression, and deprivation have made sure it is so, and continue to this day. This is one of the poorest places in the United States, where many people live without running water, heat, electric power, or adequate — let alone healthy — food. The people here are suffering economically, physically, mentally, and spiritually. There is every form of injustice. And yet we are hearing from our Lakota relatives that there is a renaissance unfolding. People are re-learning their heritage: their language, traditions, songs and ceremonies and prayers. As we offer our labor to build and deliver beds, safety ramps, and outhouses — outhouses! — they generously reciprocate with their life stories, both trauma and hope. It feels important to contribute, as Nancy put it, concrete interventions to problems that go way beyond the concrete. And it feels equally important to gratefully embrace our Lakota relatives as beloved family, to join with them in heartfelt prayer for peace, justice, and an end to White Supremacy.

As hard as it is, The Rez is also a profoundly beautiful and sacred place, as Branda captured in her poem, and as you can see in some of the numerous photographs we have taken. In our nightly closing session, we have reflected on how each day’s experiences have kindled our spirits with gratitude and wonder. There is so much more to share with you, much of which will take us time and discernment to fully process.

Thank you for sending us here with your love and support. Please continue to pray that God will work through all of us — those of us here in Pine Ridge this week and all of you at home — to re-member creation, to heal and make whole that which humans have broken.

In love —

Julianne, on behalf of Andrew, Branda, Henry, Jodie, Maggie, Michaela, Nancy, Petra, Sonia, and Rev. Will

Badlands by Branda Wilhoite

Painted desert,

desiccated to fading,

Crumbly underfoot,

Framed by wide, blue skies.

A ribbon of green, swaying grasses

Swathed at its feet

A dry creek bed- the memory of a river-

A trickle, a shrinking puddle,

In the hot afternoon sun.

Rock spindles stand like tall sentries

Guarding “The Bowl”

Unlikely life- sage, paintbrush, and thistle,

Breathe hope into this desolate,

Beautiful place.

Re-Member

To make whole that which is broken.

Please join us for a Church Bike Ride this Saturday, June 20, at 1:00 PM. We’ll meet at Michelle & Rich Crawford’s house in East Arlington at 1:00 and bike to Lexington Center via the Minuteman Bike Path. Once in Lexington Center, we’ll take a break, re-group, and then bike back to the starting point, so that’s about 11 miles round-trip.

All ages and abilities are welcome. We’ll have that stop in Lexington Center where we’ll re-group, so you may go at whatever pace feels comfortable to you!

The Crawfords live at 85 Lake Street, Unit 2, in Arlington, but their driveway entrance is on Lakehill Avenue and there’s plenty of free parking on that street so, if you’re driving over, please park there – just off Lake Street.

There’s a couple of Blue Bike stations nearby if you’d like to rent a bike for the ride. Please arrive early if you plan to rent a Blue Bike.

Last but not least, we’ll be serving a coconut chocolate chip cake made by Karen Lauterwasser at the end of the ride!

Contact person is Michelle Crawford

Text/Call: (781) 367-7725

Email

Please feel free to call, text, or email with any questions.

Stepping Stones will gather for our last time before summer vacation for a lesson on Timothy and Paul and talk about the people in our lives who encourage us to be close with God and how we can encourage others.

And we are kicking off our Summer Reading Roadtrip Challenge! Pick up your reading bingo board from Maggie or download it here and check out one of the suggested books from the Stepping Stones Library to get started!

Still looking for something fun to do with the kids this summer? There are a few spots left in Stepping Stones Adventures August 24-26. Sign up Today!

Junior Forum has wrapped up our programming until fall 2026! Forum will meet on Sunday evening at 7 PM for a wrap-up dinner out in Winchester.

Dear Fellow Congregants, the annual Summer Picnic is just around the corner on June 14^th, and the Justice Ministry want to make it another delicious celebration this year. We are hoping that some of you would be willing to help contribute to the feast; we have the basics covered, but we’d love it if you would be help fill in the gaps with snacks, drinks and yummy desserts.

Please sign-up here to bring more scrumptiousness to Picnic Day.

We hope to see you there, bring blankets and a good appetite.

-Your friends from the Justice Ministry.

Our ministers play a central role in shaping the spiritual life, care, and community that make our church such a special place. We are deeply grateful for their dedication and service, and we also believe that thoughtful feedback helps all of us continue to grow and serve more effectively.

The survey is designed to help us better understand:

• what our ministers are doing especially well,
• where their gifts are having the greatest impact, and
• whether there are areas where we can support continued growth and improvement.

Your honest and constructive feedback is incredibly valuable. We encourage everyone to take a few minutes to complete the survey. Responses will help us strengthen our ministry and ensure that our church continues to be a welcoming, vibrant, and spiritually enriching community for all.

Thank you in advance for your participation and for the care you show for our church and its leadership.

The survey can be accessed using the link here: https://forms.gle/vGbBLHRNYtMqeHDaA

or by using the QR code provided here:

-Christian Ehrbar

Personnel Ministry Chair

Sandwiches & Walkers Needed

We are looking for sandwich makers and a couple walkers for Outdoor Church on Sunday afternoon May 31st. We meet at Harvard Epworth Methodist Church (1555 Mass Ave) at 2pm on Sunday afternoon, deliver sandwiches to the homeless in Harvard Square and Central Square and are usually done by 5pm. Making the sandwiches is a fun family service project and delivering them is a great father-daughter, mother-son (or any combination of a couple people) activity. Rev. Loughlin usually just needs 2 or 3 walkers at most. Please signup here to make sandwiches or walk.

Youth Programming

In observance of Memorial Weekend, Junior Forum and Forum will take a break this week. We will return to our normal programming the following week, 5/31.