Fellowship

First Friday Potlucks

Adult First Parishioners and friends gather on the first Friday of every month for an evening of  good food and fellowship, starting with hors d’oeuvres in the Common Room at 6:00 pm. Each month a different volunteer is in charge of organizing the dinner. Those who attend the potluck should bring appetizers, salad, a main dish, or dessert to share. Some potlucks spotlight a certain cuisine or have a theme such as “Fifties Nostalgia.” Sometimes there is impromptu music-making or dancing. But all potlucks have in common a spirit of celebrating the bonds of friendship that make us a community.

Intergenerational Potlucks

Periodically throughout the year, we also gather together for intergenerational potlucks where children of all ages are included at the table. These often include family entertainment of some kind after dinner. This gives us an opportunity to share social time with our children as part of the larger community. These are held on Saturday evenings and begin and end earlier than Friday potluck dinners to accommodate the younger members’ schedules. These are announced in The Parishioner.

Circle Suppers

Another means of deepening our fellowship is by entertaining one another in our homes. Those who sign up for these suppers commit themselves to attending or hosting a small dinner party of 7-10 people throughout the year. A rotating schedule is set up so that people are sorted out into new groups each month. You can sign up as an alternate at anytime during the church year if you miss the initial registration time.

Short Story Discussion Group

The First Parish Short Story Discussion Group meets virtually most Thursday mornings (from October to June) from 9:30 to 11:00 am. It is a drop-in group open to everyone. The group selects a story each week to read in preparation for the discussion the following week. Often the story is from an anthology that has been chosen by the group. Please contact the church office for more info or with questions.

Women’s Book Group

Women of First Parish meet once a month on a Sunday evening to share a light potluck supper and discuss the book of the month. Books are suggested by the members of the group and suppers are held in individual’s homes or at church. Folks can come to one or all, read or don’t read —  just make sure to RSVP to the host each time so there will be room for all.

Ferry Beach

Each year for a weekend in May, all First Parishioners are invited to spend a relaxing time together at Ferry Beach, a Unitarian Universalist conference center on the ocean near Saco, Maine. We bring bedding, frisbees, tennis rackets, guitars, kites, and kids. We eat and talk and lie on the beach and play board games and square dance and sing by the fire and walk by the ocean. An informal worship service is held Sunday morning at Ferry Beach.

Snapshots from Ferry Beach 2009
Snapshots from Ferry Beach 2009