First Parish’s Summer Services program has been a real success this year with weekly attendance of up to about 50 people. Pretty good for a quiet summer!
We started off in mid-June with a presentation by Jay Woodruff regarding 383 years of First Parish history to be found in the Archives closet, from a letter from a U.S. president to a circa 1723 bible owned by one of First Parish’s most notable ministers.
Sunday, June 30 saw Joel Angiolillo, President of Weston Forest and Trail Association, give a talk on Rachel Carson, whose books Silent Spring, The Edge of the Sea, and other books helped give birth to the global environmental movement.
On July 7, Roger Des Forges, professor emeritus of History at the University of Buffalo, gave an outstanding presentation, “How to Maintain Peace and Secure Justice in the Taiwan Straits.” Roger’s view that negotiation is preferable to war in solving this long-simmering international issue was well received.
July 14 featured Chauncey Wilson with his thought-provoking discussion called “Free Will: Philosophical Perspectives and Debates.” Are our actions our own, or are we simply predestined to act out paths that have been set before us? Or is it something in between?
July 21’s summer Sunday presentation was courtesy of Matt Shear, who offered “Love Me, Love Me, I’m a Liberal.”
Matt points out that this country was founded on liberal ideals, but our democratic republic and the freedoms it affords are under existential threat. Matt applied his backgrounds in behavior and cognitive science, politics and – more recently – as a full-time Lay Preacher, and he discussed how changes adopted this year at General Assembly might have an impact on our liberal religion.
Look for more summaries of summer services in August.