What’s Bubbling Up?

We only had three dogs and one frog show to up to represent the entire animal kin-dom on Sunday, but they were SUCH good representatives! The frog was well-behaved and I didn’t hear a single bark the entire time. All three of the dogs should be designated as North Parish therapy dogs if it’s up to me, which it isn’t. (But I was thinking… maybe we could invite calm dogs to the sanctuary every Sunday? I suppose there are allergies and phobias. What do YOU think we should do next year? I’d love to hear your ideas about a creative collective art or planting or justice project for the congregation’s 380^th birthday in October!)

This week, we marked the 250^th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill (Tuesday) and the 160^th anniversary of the start of Juneteenth (Thursday.) These two events are related to each other in complicated ways. If you missed the Memorial Day service this year, you might not know that Andover was well-represented at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Both Black and white soldiers from town fought in the war; slavery was abolished in Massachusetts only after the war. (See the history page of the website and the North Parish history book And Firm Thine Ancient Vow by Juliet Mofford to learn more.)  Our siblings at Andover Baptist Church will host a Juneteenth celebration on Saturday.

It was great to see so many of you showing up proudly, joyfully religiously in public last weekend! We are once again living through “interesting”- perhaps historic- times. We often say that we go into “quiet summer mode” during July and August but this year, especially, it feels important to continue to speak out, to connect and offer mutual care to each other and to those beyond our walls. How can we show up for each other, in love? How can we engage in good, clever mischief together? I hope you will stay tuned to events in the Enews and website and spread the word to those who tune out. New gatherings are bubbling up every week. For example, there will be a NP gathering at Pawtuckaway state park and beach on Saturday July 12^th and a De-Escalation training on Sunday July 27^th; both involve registering beforehand. I’d just like to add that in case of emergency -or great joy- let’s meet at North Parish.

Yours, in love with calm dogs and frogs,
Rev. Lee

P.S. Our hearts are with all families and youth impacted by the Supreme Court decision this week to uphold a TN ban on certain medical treatments for minors who are transgender. If you talk to families impacted or friends who are outraged, please tell them about McVagly GLBTQ+ youth support group and about Prideful, the new LGBTQ+ and allies group for adults. Need more info? Email the office.