Shana Yansen speaks to a full house of fellow travelers
on the Journey to Justice.
Larry Prusak
Storyteller
Larry Prusak was born and brought up in Brooklyn, NY, and moved with his wife, Brenda, to Lexington 36 years ago. They joined First Parish soon after settling here, and are very happy with both decisions. Larry has studied human and organizational knowledge for the past 30 years as a consultant, teacher, researcher and writer for a variety of universities and organizations, always discovering something new.
Deborah Weiner Soule
Storyteller
Deborah Weiner Soule is Interim Director of Religious Education at First Parish in Bedford, MA. For 20 years at the UUA, she worked with congregations to support their growth, vitality, and mission formation. Also for the UUA, she went to the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina, telling stories of those who received support from the Gulf Coast Relief Fund. She has been a member of First Parish in Lexington for 25 years.
Mark Buckles and Matt Meyer
Musicians
Mark David Buckles is a conductor, composer, singer, educator, and multi-instrumentalist. His many roles include Director of Music at Arlington Street Church in Boston, Music Director of The Sanctuary Boston, and Lecturer and Affiliated Artist of Music Theory at MIT. Matt Meyer has a degree in hand drumming from Berklee College of Music and has studied in Cuba, Ghana, and Central America. He has performed with Ysaye Barnwell, Pete Seeger, Emma’s Revolution, Jim Scott, Nick Page, and the Halalisa Singers.
Ben Soule
Storyteller
Ben Soule grew up in the First Parish community and has been involved in music, worship, child and youth programming, and board membership during these years. He has done service/learning work, mostly with youth, in the Boston area, Louisiana, West Virginia, Washington D.C., and the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. He is grateful to Voices on the Green for this opportunity to share some of those experiences. He is married to Deborah Weiner Soule.
Rev. Tyronne Edwards
Minister/Community Organizer
Rev. Edwards is a Baptist pastor in Louisiana, where he helped restore the community in Plaquemines Parish, one of the areas hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina. He works with the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, to undo racism in our society, and he founded the Zion Travelers Cooperative Center, connecting with many coalitions around the country to build communities.
Mark Buckles and Matt Meyer
Singers/Song Leaders
Play: We’ll Build a Land
Play: Little Love in Your Heart
Play: One of These Days
Shana Yansen
Storyteller
Shana Yansen served in the Peace Corps in Honduras as a child survival and maternal health volunteer and later worked throughout South Asia for many years on public health projects. She founded Jute and Jackfruit in 2008 to empower women in developing countries through income-generating opportunities, and currently works at the Harvard Global Health Institute.
Marianne Boswell
Storyteller
Justice-Program_11-30-18_min
Marianne Boswell has been a life-long UU with a few side steps. She was a youth advisor and leader of Coming of Age for many years at First Parish. In the fall of 2015 she started a community-based group to help refugees that became the Lexington Refugee Assistance Program (LexRAP).
Stephen Shick
Minister/Storyteller
Stephen Shick is a UU minister and member of First Parish. Professionally he has been a peace activist, radio broadcaster, parish minister, and founding director of Unitarian Universalist programs to end the nuclear arms race and childhood poverty, and to protect human rights. Skinner Books has published two books of Stephen’s poetry, prayers and meditations. He teaches the spiritual art of speaking without a script.
Play: If I had a Hammer
Play: I am Willing
