Dear Friends,

September always brings with it a sense of anticipation. Over a decade of schooling will do that to you, I think. It ingrained a sense of a new beginning as the weather turns cool and the leaves begin to fall. A curiosity of what new courses, new classmates, new hallways will bring, or a return to the familiar territory of previous years’ adventures. These days, September is just another month, with the same daily routine, sights, and sounds.

Even still, I get those butterflies in my stomach when the weather is just right, and I catch myself wondering what this year will bring and hold. It’s only fitting, then, that September’s theme at First Parish is “embracing possibility.”

I feel like the past few years has been nothing but embracing possibility—what choices did we have as a community, as a people? We embraced virtual meetings, embraced best practices to keep ourselves and others safe, embraced a new way of feeding our spirits. And now, still, embracing the uncertainty as we head into fall, the winter, wondering what our year will look like, what familiarity we’ll find, what changes we’ll make.

This year will bring new surprises and joyful reunions as we come together for a new year. As we begin returning to in-person events and worship, we have new possibilities that we get to explore together, whether in new events or re-envisioned worship experiences. I know I’m feeling that familiar anticipation and think this year has the potential to be great.

Looking forward to this year,

Kate Larson on behalf of the Board of Trustees