Pastor's Blog

All-Parish Meeting Sunday

REMINDER: This Sunday, June 22, worship is at 10am in Willett Hall, followed directly by our All-Parish Meeting. Agenda here. If you haven’t turned in your pledge form, it will

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News

Sign up to share your story of bravery in summer worship

This year in summer worship (June 22-August 31, 10am in Willett Hall), we will hear from one another about "how we learn to be brave," the title of a book

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Upcoming Events

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            [post_content] => This year in summer worship (June 22-August 31, 10am in Willett Hall), we will hear from one another about "how we learn to be brave," the title of a book by Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde --- which we've been reading as a congregation this Spring.

In our discussion groups we have learned, like Bishop Budde, that bravery and courage come in all sorts of ways — often starting with the challenges we have when we’re young: getting back up on the bike after a spill, learning to be calm when a bee flies into the room, standing up to a bully on the playground. These lessons help us exercise and strengthen our courage so that throughout our lifetimes, we can stand up for what is right, what is good, what is worth defending.

Throughout our lives, we are called to be brave in different amounts, in different times, in different circumstances. All of us have stories about times we learned to be brave. Bishop Budde describes the different ways we learn to be brave as:
1. Deciding to go
2. Deciding to stay
3. Deciding to start
4. Accepting
5. Stepping up to the Plate
6. Learning through letdowns

In these conversations, we discovered that everyone has found ways to be brave, so we invite you to share them with our congregation.

We would love to hear one of your stories of bravery! Sign up to share your story of bravery in summer worship HERE.


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As GBIO continues our season of relationship and power building, we have a few training opportunities coming up next week. These are both great opportunities if you are interested in learning more about GBIO, our theory of change, or are looking to get connected to others working to build justice in our community.
  • Relational Power 102: How Relational Meetings Lead to Power -- hear stories from other leaders about how they used relational meetings to build power to make change within their congregation or broader community and the commonwealth, and reflect on why you want to build power, to deepen your ability to connect meaningfully with others.
    • Offered on Wednesday, June 18th, 7-9pm via Zoom
  • Relational Power 103: Building Power in Your Institution -- Learn to conduct a power analysis of your congregation/union/institution to help understand your institution's collective power.
    • Offered on Monday, June 16th OR Tuesday, June 17th (pick one), 7-9pm via Zoom
You can indicate your choice of training using the form here. Contact Connor I. or David R. at gbio@upbrookline.org.
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  • Check your bank account activity every day. Some banks offer special programs to monitor checks.
  • Avoid writing and mailing checks, if possible.
  • If you need to write a check, mail it directly at the post office.
United Parish has worked on its risk mitigation and implemented safer procedures and policies going forward. Senior Pastor Kent French was disheartened, frustrated, and disappointed to learn that a thief stole $9,000 from a church, on Christmas Eve no less, saying “This is an outrageous betrayal of public trust by the USPS.” But to quote Psalm 126, 1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed. 2 Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” 3 The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. United Parish is “filled with joy” to have a happy ending and wants to share a word of caution to others so people can learn from this situation. [post_title] => United Parish Experiences a Miracle after Falling Victim to Check Fraud [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => united-parish-experiences-a-miracle-after-falling-victim-to-check-fraud [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2025-06-10 00:30:42 [post_modified_gmt] => 2025-06-10 00:30:42 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://www.unitedparishbrookline.org/?post_type=upb_news&p=7082 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => upb_news [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) )

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GBIO Updates

As GBIO continues our season of relationship and power building, we have a few training opportunities coming up next week. These are both great opportunities if you are interested in... Read More