Our lives are full of moments worth sharing: joys, sorrows, milestones, changes, and everything in between.Community Care Corner is a place to let our First Church community know what’s happening in your life, much like lighting a virtual candle during worship. Whether you’re celebrating a new beginning, grieving a loss, marking a milestone, facing a challenge, or simply have a life update to share, we invite you to share it with the community. Submissions are shared in our weekly newsletter, The Unitarian, so our community can celebrate with you, hold you in care, and stay connected. Share your joy, sorrow, or life update here→

We are happy to announce that Season Memberships for the Second Friday Concerts 2026-27 season are now on sale. Here’s the deal: Members and friends of the First Church Belmont community can purchase a SOLO or DUO Season Membership, which helps us support our charities and artists. Each $100 SOLO membership enables you to purchase ONE ticket for 1/2 off the regular ticket price. Each $200 DUO membership enables you to purchase TWO tickets for 1/2 off the regular ticket price each. A Season Membership is good for EVERY First Church Concert, including: 2nd Friday Concerts at FCB; Classical Concerts at FCB; and Community Concerts at FCB. (This coming year we’ll have at least 4 Classical Concerts!) When you purchase your Season Membership, you will be given a special promotional code to use in order to access your 1/2 price ticket(s). As always, 100% of the net proceeds benefit our chosen charities. Credit card charges will be from First Church in Belmont. You will receive an email receipt and instructions for applying your discount from admin@secondfridayconcerts.org. Musically, The Second Friday Team

Hello First Church RE Program Families, This Sunday, September 27th, will be the first Curriculum Sunday of the program year! Religious Education programming will be offered at the 11am service. We will begin all together in worship, and the teachers will accompany youth down to the classrooms after the "story for all ages." Volunteering opportunities Help out with Spaghetti Dinner on October 5th! Sign-up for October is here. Future Spaghetti Dinner sign-ups are on this form here. Upcoming Events October 5th 5:30-7:30pm -- Welcome Table Spaghetti Dinner for Families October 12th 9am-noon -- Belmont Serves. Families are welcome to a Day of Service on Indigenous People's Day! More information here. October 31st -- Halloween Party for Families. More information to come! Special Notice Starting this Fall, we will not offer RE programming during the 9am worship service. We will only offer classes at 11am. Thank you for your understanding! Schedule of upcoming Sundays: September 27th -- Curriculum Sunday, Classes Kickoff! October 4th -- Curriculum Sunday, One Service Outside at 10:30am October 11th -- All-Ages Children's Chapel October 18th -- Curriculum Sunday October 25th -- Multigenerational Worship, Day of Remembrance As always, your RE staff are here to support your family. If there is anything we can do for you, don't hesitate to reach out.

Book Group September 23 · 7:30 PM · Online Please join the book group for a discussion each month, generally on the 4th Wednesday from 7:30- 9 PM online.

The welcoming community at First Church in Belmont, UU is home to worship, music, religious exploration, and programs for all ages rooted in justice and love. We are a home for seekers, a community for justice, guided by a spirit of love—all are welcome here. top Rev. Martha Durkee-Neuman Repair Age-based Religious Exploration Classes 9:00 AM & 11:00 AM Our kids are back in school! What can we all learn about the “new year” of September? How do we come back to each other and begin again in love? This will be our first “Unplugged and Connected” 9:00 AM service of the season, featuring music by Elton John, R.E.M., and others, sung by Jon Svetkey. Religious Exploration classes will launch on this day during the 11:00 AM service and childcare will be available for our littlest during both services. 11:00 AM Livestream Worship Sunday Services Join us at 9:00 am and 11:00 am Community-led music at 9:00 am Livestream services at 11:00 am Outdoor Worship First Sunday of September, October, May & June at 10:30 am Summer Worship Sundays at 10:00 am June 21 to September 6 Parish Hall Sandy Island Family and Individuals Weekend Retreat September 18 - 20 Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire MEALS • ACTIVITIES • WATER SPORTS • FIELD GAMES • CAMPFIRES • WORSHIP • ARTS & CRAFTS • AND MORE! REGISTER NOW Upcoming Events Message Board Updates September 27 · 6:30 PM · Parlor Religious Exploration Youth Group: Pizza Party Kick-off The FCB Youth Group welcomes all high school students (9th-12th grades) to explore their faith, identity, and role in society… Show More October 3 · 7:00 PM · Parish Hall Social Action ON THE ROAD TO REPAIR: Developing a Congregational Commitment to Reparative Justice—A 4-Part Series The FCB Legacy of Slavery Project invites you to join us for ON THE ROAD TO REPAIR: Developing a Congregational… Show More October 4 · 8:45 AM · Parish Hall Fellowship All Church Pancake Breakfast The Fellowship Committee is hosting an all church pancake breakfast and other treats in Parish Hall prior to the outdoor… Show More October 5 · 5:30 PM · Upper Hall Religious Exploration, Newcomer Welcome Table Spaghetti Dinner for Families Join us on the first Monday of each month for a drop-in family-style spaghetti dinner! This is a time to… Show More Community Care Corner What’s happening in your life? Share your joys, sorrows, milestones, and life updates through Community Care Corner. Submissions appear here in our weekly newsletter, helping our community celebrate, support, and stay connected. Click to learn more about the process and make your submission today for next week's edition. 1 day ago Second Friday Concerts 2026-2027 Season Memberships Now On Sale Members and friends of First Church Belmont can purchase: $100 SOLO — one 1/2-price ticket per concert $200 DUO — two 1/2-price tickets per concert Memberships cover every First Church concert, (2nd Friday, Classical, and Community Concerts), and 100% of net proceeds benefit our chosen charities. Click to learn more and get your membership today! 1 day ago What's Happening in RE this Sunday? Religious education classes begin! Also learn about fun upcomping events, and signups for Spaghetti Dinner volunteering are open! 1 day ago Register for a Small Group by September 27! Registration for Small Group Ministries for next year is closing soon! Click to learn more and register by September 27. Questions? Email Rev. Martha at mdneuman@uubelmont.org Sep 16 Volunteers Needed For Spaghetti Dinner The Welcome Table Spaghetti Dinners need volunteers to run. Click to sign up to volunteer for the October 5 dinner today! Sep 16 View Complete Calendar

The First Church in Belmont, MA is a welcoming Unitarian Universalist congregation offering worship, music and lifelong learning opportunities. The Legacy of Slavery Project explores and is developing an understanding of the First Church in Belmont’s ties with slavery during the nineteenth century, through the substantial benefactions of the Atkins family. Funded by a grant and informed in part by the UUA Commission on Institutional Change , the ACLP researches other similarly situated organizations (e.g., churches, schools, and universities) to learn how these organizations have developed awareness of their own historical ties to slavery, as well as any formal steps they have contemplated or taken in response. The ACLP will share this understanding with the congregation to promote awareness and inclusion in any recommendations resulting from it. FCB Legacy of Slavery Project Group Members: Gina Carloni, chair Devon Beckett Kathryn Bonfiglio Karen Brennan Charles Hubbard Reverend Chris Jablonski Douglas Massidda Lanier Smythe Pegeen Wright Fran Yuan Background: How the Project Began In early 2023, members of The First Church in Belmont History Group organized a two-part informational series, “Confronting Our History: The Stories Behind the Tiffany Window,” to share what they had begun to learn about the church’s ties to slavery in Cuba in the 19th century. Later that spring, the Parish Board put forth a charge for the creation of an Atkins Cuba LegacyTask Force (ACLTF), whose role it would be to: further explore the church’s connection to the enslaved and indentured workers on the Atkins family’s plantation in Cienfuegos, Cuba, investigate how other similarly situated institutions are addressing their legacies ofslavery, share with the congregation what they learn through their research, and ultimately, put forth recommendations based upon those research findings. Members of the task force began their work in October 2023, and continue to meet monthly. In the spring of 2024, they presented a proposal to the Parish Board requesting to change their name to The First Church in Belmont Legacy of Slavery Project (LoSP). The new name was approved and adopted at that time. Overview of the Legacy of Slavery Project Group’s Work (2023-2025) Investigated the history of the Atkins family, whose principal sugar plantation, Soledad, used enslaved and indentured African individuals in the late 19th century, as well as looking into the extensive role that New England played in the sugar and slave trades. 1 Reached out to houses of worship, universities, and groups in the Boston area who are engaging in similar work to better understand their own connections to slavery. 4 Learned about a bell that the Atkins family gifted to the Belmont Hill School in 1927, which had originally been on the Soledad plantation and is now housed at The Robbins House Museum in Concord. Organized a presentation in the spring of 2024 by Dr. Maria Madison of The Robbins House to hear more about the bell’s history and her 2023 research trip to the Soledad plantation, and took part in a guided tour of the museum. 7 Gina Carloni, chair of the project group, gave a presentation in December 2024 to update the congregation on the findings and work of The Legacy of Slavery Project. 10 Dr. Ulbe Bosma, author of The World of Sugar and the 2023 Boston Globe article about Edwin Atkins, entitled The sugar baron of Boston , gave a talk at the church in April 2025 about Edwin Atkins, his role as a sugar magnate and prominent Bostonian, and his connection to Cuba and slavery. 13 Applied for and received a grant from the Unitarian Universalist Association in the spring of 2025 to continue the project’s exploration of the history of First Church’s legacy of slavery and shepherd a process of repair, deepening, and growth for the community and the descendants of the enslaved individuals from Atkins’ sugar plantations in Cuba. 16 $2,869 (half of the total donations collected at worship services during the month of December, 2025) were donated to Friends of Caritas Cubana, a Cambridge-based NGO that supports humanitarian and social services in Cuba, including projects in Pepito Tey, the current name of the town where the Soledad plantation was located. Funding will provide mosquito nets for people in Pepito Tey to help combat the epidemic of mosquito-borne illnesses currently plaguing the island. 19 Helped to develop annual worship services in 2023, 2024, and 2025 that included Afro-Cuban music and reflections by project members about the work of the group. 2 Began learning more about reparations and connecting with organizations that are currently working on this. 5 Started looking into ways that FCB can forge ties and collaborate with Afro-Cuban communities and organizations in Cuba and the U.S. This included hosting a meeting with leadership of the Christian Center for Reflection and Dialogue (Cuba/Dominican Republic) in fall 2024 and agreeing to donate half of the December 2024 worship service collections to that organization as part of the congregation’s “Share the Plate” efforts. 8 Sponsored two book group meetings in January 2025, one online and the other in-person, to discuss The Cubans: Ordinary Lives in Extraordinary Times , a non-fiction book by New York Times correspondent Anthony DePalma. 11 Offered a documentary film series, Cuba and Race, in April, May, and June of 2025, which included the following documentaries: A Tuba to Cuba (2018), The Harvard Cubans (2017), and Black in Latin America: Cuba (2011) 14 At the Cuban music worship service in November 2025, described by some congregants as one of their most moving experiences at First Church, four Cuban members of the community read aloud the names of the 177 enslaved individuals. 17 Researched about indentured Chinese laborers brought to Cuba to work in the sugar fields, including those who later worked on the Atkins family’s plantation. 3 Participated in a presentation with First Parish in Cambridge in early 2024 about both congregations’ historical ties to slavery. 6 Organized a movie presentation and discussion of Traces of the Trade: A Story From the Deep North in December 2024, led by Dr. Sophia Boyer, an educational consultant and professional facilitator. 9 Project member and former history teacher, Karen Brennan, gave a presentation in March 2025 about slavery and Boston’s prominent role in the triangle trade. 12 Collaborated with historians Orlando Félix García Martínez and Anabel García García in Cienfuegos, Cuba, who were able to uncover an 1881 list of 177 enslaved individuals connected to the Atkins family who worked at the Soledad plantation in Cuba. 15 Immediately following that November service, Gina Carloni, project member Kathryn Bonfiglio, and FCB parish historian, John Howe, gave a project update to the congregation. The project group then unveiled a 6-panel, photographic and informational display focused on centering the lives of Soledad’s enslaved individuals and honoring them by name. 18 The Legacy of Slavery Project Events 2026 Fri 23 January 23 · 7:00-9:00 PM · Parish Hall An Introduction to Reparations The LoSP will be partnering again with Dr. Sophia Boyer, who will be guiding the congregation through this next phase of its work, helping us to understand more about reparations and guide our church as we begin to consider how to define reparations at FCB now that we are more informed about our church’s complex history. Sun 26 January 25 · 6:30-8:30 PM · Parlor Information Session w/ the FCB Youth Group In collaboration with Reverend Martha, members of the Legacy of Slavery Project will lead an informational session and discussion with the FCB Youth Group, engaging them in conversation about the work of the LoSP and opening up opportunities for their involvement in the project. Fri 6 February 6 · 6:30-8:30 PM · Parish Hall Traces of the Trade: Film Showing and Discussion We are planning a second viewing of the film, Traces of the Trade , with a thoughtful discussion about reparations led by Dr. Sophia Boyer. We offered a similar viewing event with this film in December 2024, and it was an enormous success. We are hoping that now that more congregants are aware of and interested in this project, we’ll have even greater turnout and another opportunity for learning and growth. Sat 21 March 21 · 9:00 AM-12:30 PM · Parish Hall The Truth of Our Past: UU Reparations Summit The Legacy of Slavery Project group invites you to join us for The Truth of Our Past: UU Reparations Summit, a gathering on March 21, 2026, from 9:00AM-12:30PM here at First Church Belmont. Five area UU churches, including FCB, will present on our explorations of our legacies of slavery and efforts toward repair, followed by a workshop with Dr. Sophia Boyer. Coffee and a light breakfast will be provided. Register at https://UUreparationsSummit.eventbrite.com Sun 12 April 12 · 12:30 PM · Parlor Presentation on Enslavement in Boston and New England LoSP member and former history teacher, Karen Brennan, who presented on the Transatlantic Triangle Slave Trade last year, will give a presentation on enslavement in Boston and New England, shedding more light on how the institution of slavery enriched this area, and its lasting impact to today. Sun 10 June 5 · 12:30-2:30 PM · Parish Hall Creating a Working Definition of Reparations for First Church Dr. Sophia Boyer will lead a workshop for the congregation with the goal of helping usdevelop a working definition of reparations for First Church.