Faith and Politics

With the idea that Jesus calls his disciples to be salt and light, we will be offering a forum on October 5^th following worship to discuss faith and politics.  We will be using as a backdrop the interviews done by Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church with both candidates on August 16^th.  We will focus our attention on questions regarding faith and implications of candidates’ positions on issues important to peoples of faith.  The complete transcripts of the interviews are available at http://rickwarrennews.com/transcript/.   It is our hope that you will read, carefully consider what was said, and come to help make our discussion lively, enriching and informative.  We hope to see you there!

 Book Discussion

We have also selected our next book for our book discussion, which will be held on November 2^nd.  The book is The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.  Randy was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and told he had limited time left to live.  He attempts, facing his own mortality, to answer the questions we all will face- what matters most?  What wisdom do we want to impart?  How will we spend our remaining time to make it meaningful and memorable? These questions have transformative potential for us all as people of faith, and will therefore make for an inspirational reflective study.

Upcoming Second Church Social Events 

Save these dates… 

Roaring Jelly Contra and Square Dance Band  Saturday, October 25, 7:30-9:30 pm

This will be a fun evening of toe-tapping live music and dancing, with a caller to teach and lead each dance. Light refreshments.

$10 per adult; children under 18 with adult admitted free of charge.

 Progressive Dinner   Saturday, November 22

We’ll meet together for appetizers and desserts and divide into groups of 8-12 for dinner. If you are interested in hosting any course, or being a host helper, or learning about what is involved, please call Nancy Palmer at 617-244-8745 or email her at palmern@comcast.net or call or email the church office.

Christmas Lunch and Carol Sing  Sunday, December 21

The perennial festive favorite event of the year, right after church in Fellowship Hall. 

And Recipes

While we’re on the subject of food, be ready to pull out your favorite recipes for a new Second Church cookbook, to be published in time for Christmas 2009. We’ll be collecting recipes beginning this fall. More information to come.

A Note from your Parish Visitor

 Several years ago I participated in a program titled “Awaken Your Call” which was designed to help group members identify core values in life, what things we felt most strongly about.  Over the course of the several day program and in the times we talked and/or gathered afterward, I felt as though I had indeed, named what was most crucial to me as I move through my life.  Our task was to write a “stand” – what was it we stand for in life – and to turn back to this “stand” regularly to keep our focus on what was most important to us.  It was not until later that I realized how key this program was to my stepping out into the world of new possibilities.

My effort resulted in a four-legged stand – I guess in the interest of stability!  It isn’t necessary that I share with you the various legs of my stand but I would tell you that the constant thread, the over-arching call in my life is to relationship.  I cherish time spent with others, hearing stories, being present – sometimes not talking but listening only, or even sitting in silence when words are wholly inadequate.  I am of course aware that relationships don’t just happen; they need to be given time.  Relationships grow out of trust and need to be nurtured.

In the coming months as I try to learn the many names and faces of this church family, I pray that we might begin to build relationship.  Guided by the Holy Spirit, given new life in Christ, and cherished by a God who is Love itself, may we be blessed in the meeting; surely trust and caring will follow.

With many blessings,

Gay Williams

Parish Visitor

This is an exciting new year for music at Second Church.  The Children’s Choir is off to a great start and is always welcoming children ages 3^rd-8^th grade to participate.  They meet in room 111 from 11:15-12:15 on Sundays.  Also older singers are welcome to attend as well and will be invited to take on leadership roles with the children.

 We have a number of new musicians that have joined us and it is exciting to introduce them to you:

 Lori L'Italien is our new Children’s Choir Director.  She is a mezzo-soprano and is a master's degree candidate in Opera Performance at Longy School of Music.  She is a graduate of the University of Maine where she earned her bachelor's degree in music education with a concentration in voice. She taught general music, band, chorus and dramatic arts for grades K-8 in a public school setting in both Maine and New Hampshire and is now teaching privately in the Cambridge area, and would also accept students in Newton.   Ms. L'Italien's performance experience includes choral music, recital performance, opera and musical theater.  She participated in the 2007 Key West Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Program as a performer and a teacher for the children's program. Her teachers have included Nancy Ogle, Donna Roll and currently Robert Honeysucker.

 Rebecca Harrold-Dasilva is our new Children’s Choir Accompanist. Rebecca plays for the Boston Ballet Center for Dance Education, has worked extensively with The Company Theater, the Voice Studio of Robert Honeysucker, and recently with Burklyn Ballet of Vermont.  Rebecca is a vocal soloist for Faith in Action, a women's jazz/gospel a cappella group who has sung for “Dance on the Top Floor,” a locally produced extravaganza featuring area choreographers and members of the Boston Ballet. Faith in Action has also had an appearance on WGBH “Basic Black” featuring a music education workshop under the direction of Bobby McFarren.  Rebecca has worked as Music Director for Turtle Lane Playhouse Children's Theater workshop, Atrium School Children's Theater workshop, and Walpole High School Drama Department.

Shiba Nemat-Nasser our new alto section leader has numerous opera and recital appearances in San Diego and Boston to her credit.  Her main areas in performance focus on Baroque music, bel canto repertoire, contemporary works, and experimental theater.  She completed a Master's in voice at New England Conservatory, and holds a double B.A from the University of California, San Diego in music with honors, and in literature.

Tom Oesterling is our new tenor section leader.  He is heard frequently on the opera and concert stage in the Boston area. The Boston Globe has praised him for the ‘Sweetness, awe and clarity’ of his singing of Uriel in Haydn’s Creation under the baton of Robert Shaw.  He is also committed to opera outreach and education, since 1994 serving as managing director and principal tenor soloist with Opera to Go, an outreach opera company which brings opera to thousands of children in schools each year.   He has been invited by various opera companies to create outreach and classroom programs to introduce school-aged children to opera and to teach children to participate in opera performances.   Mr. Oesterling is an alumnus of Washington University and holds a Master of Music degree from The Boston Conservatory and a diploma from the Boston University Opera Institute.

David Walther our new bass section leader is a graduate of The Juilliard School of Music, with a Baccalaureate in musical composition.  At Juilliard he studied voice with Oren Brown, and composition with Vincent Persichetti, David Diamond and Otto Leuning.  David holds a Master’s Degree in vocal performance from Trenton State Teachers College (now called The College of New Jersey). He also attended Rutgers Graduate School of Philosophy and finished all but three credits of his PhD work at Boston University in musical composition.  In addition he is the artistic director, composer in residence, and a regular bass soloist with The Acting Singers Project.  Currently, he is preparing the role of Edward II for a three hour movie version of an opera by that name of his own composition with the Acting Singers Project.

 Upcoming Events

On Saturday, October 18^{th at} 7:00 pm, I will play a recital of music by Johann Pachelbel for harpsichord in the Sanctuary.  The recital will include selections from a recording I will be making in October consisting entirely of Music by Pachelbel.  Two days later I will travel to Germany and Austria, to record on historic organs contemporary to Johann Pachelbel.  There will be a suggested donation of $15 all of which will go to the music program of Second Church.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
ADULT AND YOUTH
FALL SCHEDULE *

*    Click here to see more details

Nursery School News

 October 2008 is the month for application to the Second Church Nursery School.  Acceptance to the nursery school is automatic to all church families with a child 2, 3 or 4 years old, provided the application is returned by Tuesday, October 14, 2008.  We offer a $500.00 deduction to all Second Church families in the 3 and 4 year old classes. 

This year the nursery school is celebrating its 74^th Anniversary, 1934 – 2008.  The school began as a morning program by a small group of Second Church families and has evolved into a non-sectarian nursery school, serving families in Newton and surrounding communities.  We now offer extended day, toddler and summer programs to approximately 80 families, many of whom are second-generation alumni.

Ecumenical Group Re-Convenes

 The Ecumenical Group which has met for probably 40 years on Thursday mornings at 10:00 in the Second Church Living Room will start its new season on October 2, and we welcome all women to share our wide-ranging conversation.

 We might choose a book to read together, share an article one of has found inspiring, or spend the whole time discussing some current world or local issue.

 You are invited to join us any Thursday morning at 10:00 for stimulation and fun.

Virginia Hayden
Irene Egan

ALTERNATIVE DONATIONS

Do you have things that you do not need and that others might use?  Click here to see a list of organizations who might like to have your donations.

Shaw’s Receipt Rewards Program
Save your Shaw’s and Star Market Receipts 

Second Church is participating in the Shaw’s Receipt Rewards Program.  Church members collect register receipts from Shaw’s Supermarkets and Star Markets.  Receipts may also be submitted by family, friends, business associates, neighbors, etc.  On register receipts paid by credit card, you may black out your name and credit card number, but please DO NOT cut off that information.  Bring or send receipts to the church office, c/o Barbara Cancellieri.  Six percent is then deducted from the total.  This deduction represents items excluded from the program:  tax, postage stamps, money orders, lottery tickets, gift cards, phone cards, prescriptions, photo processing, milk, tobacco and other items prohibited by law or otherwise excluded from this program.  Receipts are bundled in lots of $5,000.  Second Church will then receive a check in the amount of 1% of eligible receipts submitted.

*** DID YOU KNOW? ***

 Celebrating 225 Years, a bound collection of articles and factoids which were written during our anniversary year about Second Church’s history, is now on sale in the Church Office.   To obtain a copy, call or email (office@2ndchurch.org) the Church Office.