I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense,
once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.
~ James Baldwin
Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil – Tomorrow Night at 7:00 p.m.
In honor of Transgender Day of Remembrance, the UUFCM will hold a vigil of prayer and remembrance on Thursday, November 19 at 7:00 p.m. in the sanctuary. Our minister, Dawn Daniels will facilitate this gathering. For more information about this annual observation, visit this website.
"The Transgender Day of Remembrance seeks to highlight the losses we face due to anti-transgender bigotry and violence. I am no stranger to the need to fight for our rights, and the right to simply exist is first and foremost. With so many seeking to erase transgender people -- sometimes in the most brutal ways possible – it is vitally important that those we lose are remembered, and that we continue to fight for justice."
~ Transgender Day of Remembrance founder Gwendolyn Ann Smith
Memorial Service for Linda Damer
There will be a memorial service for Linda Damer this Saturday, November 21 at 2:00 p.m. at the UUFCM. Message from Cynthia Damer: “The people of the congregation were very special to my mother, Linda Damer. Even if you didn't know her very well, please feel free to come to her memorial service and join my family and me in celebrating her life.”
In Worship
Our worship theme for a very special multigenerational service this Sunday, November 22, is “What Will You Bring to the Feast?” We will of course be answering this question metaphorically, as in what gifts do we bring to the table of our fellowship – how generous are we in our sharing together as a community of faith? This service will be followed immediately by the (more literal) annual celebration of our Harvest Feast in the library annex (see article below). All are welcome! We hope you will join us – “even if you’ve forgotten your vows a thousand times, come, yet again, come!” Gotta love that Rumi…
And if you missed worship this past Sunday (Where were you, by the way? You were missed!), our minister introduced a series on “Covenant and Belonging” that will be explored periodically throughout the 2015-16 year. The text to the sermon, “Believing, Behaving, Belonging” can be found here.
Harvest Feast - November 22
The yearly Harvest Feast tradition is this Sunday, November 22nd following the service. Please come join us for food and fellowship!
We could use several food items to round out our selections if you have not had an opportunity to sign up yet. Please call or text Laura McBride with your food or to get ideas of food categories needed. Laura's cell phone number is 989-772-5512 and email is [email protected].
Remember that hot foods must come hot and in foil pans. We have extra pans at the fellowship if you would like to pick it up on Saturday. Please bring your food to the Library Annex before the service or ask one of our able-bodied youth to bring it over. We have cards to label items.
Additionally, we need photographers who could send images of our celebration to Kirsten, our administrative assistant, too!
UUth Ensemble
This Sunday, November 22, we will rehearse at 10:00 a.m., as we will be performing in service. As always, please bring your instruments!
Welcome New Board Member!
During our Fellowship Life meeting following worship last Sunday, Janis Shinn was voted in unanimously to complete the board term of Capalene Howse who moved to Grand Rapids earlier this fall and resigned her board position. Welcome, Janis, and thank you for your willing service!
Welcome Ministry Tune-up…Thank-you Participants!
The Welcome Ministry Tune-up workshop held this past Saturday was attended by thirteen members and friends who generously shared their insight and ideas and added much to the ongoing effort to infuse our ministry of welcome with energy and right practices. Thank you all!
One of the concerns shared was how do we continue this conversation and broaden our “tune-up” efforts throughout the congregation…to this end we share this piece borrowed from the UU Church of Halifax, Nova Scotia:
I’m New Here, Won’t You Please…
…Smile at me when I walk in the door. You are my first impression of the Fellowship during the first few moments I am in your building, and this first impression will probably last a long time.
…Help me find my place in the service. I will not find your help an intrusion; in fact, I will remember your kindness.
…Speak to me after the service or during coffee hour. I know you want to see your friends and settle that piece of committee business, but I may find it hard to believe that you truly care for one another unless I first see evidence that you care for the “stranger in your midst.”
…Tell me the good things about your congregation and your leaders. I want to believe I have come to a place where people love each other and where they believe they are doing something for the cause of truth.
…Notice me even if I am not a “family.” I don’t want to feel I am invisible just because I am unmarried, a single parent, a teenager or an older person.
…Talk to me again the second week when I come back, and the third and fourth. I am still not a part of the congregation family.
…Invite me to become part of some group or organization. I need more than weekend worship. I need to know that I am accepted and affirmed by a group of people within the fellowship who know me by my first name and who care about me as an individual.If you find it in your heart to do these things for me, I will keep coming back. I will join your choir, work at your suppers, and become a highly involved member of your congregation and in doing so, I will find my own life immeasurably enriched as a result of having become a member of your congregation. Thank you!
Restoration House News
Restoration House opened on Sunday, November 1 - the UUFCM is again serving as the Intake/Welcome center. If you are willing to serve as an intake volunteer from 4:15 to 6:00 any day of the weeks ahead (until the program ends on April 6), please contact Joyce Henricks at 773-4709, or [email protected]. We are also in need of volunteers to provide meals the week of November 14 and November 30 – please contact Joyce if you are able to volunteer. Thank you!
Tellabration!
The Mid-Michigan Area Storytellers (MAST) will present an evening of storytelling at the UUFCM on Friday, November 20 at 7:00 p.m. Admission is $5, and includes refreshments. Come enjoy an evening celebrating the art of story!
Read the WiRE!
WiRE is our newsletter about happenings in RE. Upcoming events and opportunities, what parents and youth need to know ahead of Sunday RE, and more can be found here on our website.
New to UU?
If you are a newcomer to out fellowship - or perhaps have been around for a while – and would like to learn more about this fellowship and UUism as a whole, our next Welcome to UU class is scheduled for Sunday, November 29 following worship at 12:15 p.m. These classes are being offered every month, typically on the 4th Sunday, but due to our annual Harvest Feast being held on November 22, we’ve moved the class to the 29th.
CAMFED Collection
We are collecting pledges/donations for the CAMFED program - Campaign for Female Education. Our treasurer asks that you write your check out to UUFCM, with an indication at the bottom that it is for CAMFED, as we want to send our contributions as a congregation, rather than as individuals. The donations gathered will be sent by November 30, 2015. We hope to do this twice a year.
First Friday Potluck - Hosts Needed!
We are in need of hosts for upcoming potlucks. If you are willing to host a potluck, please use this form to sign up to sign-up or email/phone Chris Bauerle directly at [email protected] or 989-330-8457. The upcoming dates include: December 4, February 5, March 4, April 1 (really!), May 6, June 3 and August 5. If you enjoy the potlucks, please consider hosting - it is fun and easy!
Just Mercy Discussion Group – New Additional Date
We’ve added an additional discussion group opportunity for those of you (and you know who you are!) who missed the first three sessions – we know, everyone’s so busy…but many of you admitted being almost finished with the book, so here’s the deal: you have until Sunday, December 6 at 12:15 p.m. to get your act together and join the discussion about this very compelling book. That’s even enough time for those who haven’t opened the book yet to get involved. Our commitment this year is to more deeply educate ourselves about the racial injustices that continue to be embedded in our culture – to better equip ourselves as allies and advocates for justice. This is where we start this journey together.
Book Collection for Christmas Outreach
We are collecting children's book for Christmas Outreach this year. The books should be new or gently used. They can be from age 4 through young adult. Please leave them in the box marked Books for Kids on the table in the fellowship hall. The deadline is December 7th.
Save the Date!
On Saturday, January 30, 7:00 – 9:30 p.m., you are all invited to our First Annual UUFCM Justice Party! Adults, children and friends invited. More details to follow.
In honor of Transgender Day of Remembrance, the UUFCM will hold a vigil of prayer and remembrance on Thursday, November 19 at 7:00 p.m. in the sanctuary. Our minister, Dawn Daniels will facilitate this gathering. For more information about this annual observation, visit this website.
"The Transgender Day of Remembrance seeks to highlight the losses we face due to anti-transgender bigotry and violence. I am no stranger to the need to fight for our rights, and the right to simply exist is first and foremost. With so many seeking to erase transgender people -- sometimes in the most brutal ways possible – it is vitally important that those we lose are remembered, and that we continue to fight for justice."
~ Transgender Day of Remembrance founder Gwendolyn Ann Smith
Memorial Service for Linda Damer
There will be a memorial service for Linda Damer this Saturday, November 21 at 2:00 p.m. at the UUFCM. Message from Cynthia Damer: “The people of the congregation were very special to my mother, Linda Damer. Even if you didn't know her very well, please feel free to come to her memorial service and join my family and me in celebrating her life.”
In Worship
Our worship theme for a very special multigenerational service this Sunday, November 22, is “What Will You Bring to the Feast?” We will of course be answering this question metaphorically, as in what gifts do we bring to the table of our fellowship – how generous are we in our sharing together as a community of faith? This service will be followed immediately by the (more literal) annual celebration of our Harvest Feast in the library annex (see article below). All are welcome! We hope you will join us – “even if you’ve forgotten your vows a thousand times, come, yet again, come!” Gotta love that Rumi…
And if you missed worship this past Sunday (Where were you, by the way? You were missed!), our minister introduced a series on “Covenant and Belonging” that will be explored periodically throughout the 2015-16 year. The text to the sermon, “Believing, Behaving, Belonging” can be found here.
Harvest Feast - November 22
The yearly Harvest Feast tradition is this Sunday, November 22nd following the service. Please come join us for food and fellowship!
We could use several food items to round out our selections if you have not had an opportunity to sign up yet. Please call or text Laura McBride with your food or to get ideas of food categories needed. Laura's cell phone number is 989-772-5512 and email is [email protected].
Remember that hot foods must come hot and in foil pans. We have extra pans at the fellowship if you would like to pick it up on Saturday. Please bring your food to the Library Annex before the service or ask one of our able-bodied youth to bring it over. We have cards to label items.
Additionally, we need photographers who could send images of our celebration to Kirsten, our administrative assistant, too!
UUth Ensemble
This Sunday, November 22, we will rehearse at 10:00 a.m., as we will be performing in service. As always, please bring your instruments!
Welcome New Board Member!
During our Fellowship Life meeting following worship last Sunday, Janis Shinn was voted in unanimously to complete the board term of Capalene Howse who moved to Grand Rapids earlier this fall and resigned her board position. Welcome, Janis, and thank you for your willing service!
Welcome Ministry Tune-up…Thank-you Participants!
The Welcome Ministry Tune-up workshop held this past Saturday was attended by thirteen members and friends who generously shared their insight and ideas and added much to the ongoing effort to infuse our ministry of welcome with energy and right practices. Thank you all!
One of the concerns shared was how do we continue this conversation and broaden our “tune-up” efforts throughout the congregation…to this end we share this piece borrowed from the UU Church of Halifax, Nova Scotia:
I’m New Here, Won’t You Please…
…Smile at me when I walk in the door. You are my first impression of the Fellowship during the first few moments I am in your building, and this first impression will probably last a long time.
…Help me find my place in the service. I will not find your help an intrusion; in fact, I will remember your kindness.
…Speak to me after the service or during coffee hour. I know you want to see your friends and settle that piece of committee business, but I may find it hard to believe that you truly care for one another unless I first see evidence that you care for the “stranger in your midst.”
…Tell me the good things about your congregation and your leaders. I want to believe I have come to a place where people love each other and where they believe they are doing something for the cause of truth.
…Notice me even if I am not a “family.” I don’t want to feel I am invisible just because I am unmarried, a single parent, a teenager or an older person.
…Talk to me again the second week when I come back, and the third and fourth. I am still not a part of the congregation family.
…Invite me to become part of some group or organization. I need more than weekend worship. I need to know that I am accepted and affirmed by a group of people within the fellowship who know me by my first name and who care about me as an individual.If you find it in your heart to do these things for me, I will keep coming back. I will join your choir, work at your suppers, and become a highly involved member of your congregation and in doing so, I will find my own life immeasurably enriched as a result of having become a member of your congregation. Thank you!
Restoration House News
Restoration House opened on Sunday, November 1 - the UUFCM is again serving as the Intake/Welcome center. If you are willing to serve as an intake volunteer from 4:15 to 6:00 any day of the weeks ahead (until the program ends on April 6), please contact Joyce Henricks at 773-4709, or [email protected]. We are also in need of volunteers to provide meals the week of November 14 and November 30 – please contact Joyce if you are able to volunteer. Thank you!
Tellabration!
The Mid-Michigan Area Storytellers (MAST) will present an evening of storytelling at the UUFCM on Friday, November 20 at 7:00 p.m. Admission is $5, and includes refreshments. Come enjoy an evening celebrating the art of story!
Read the WiRE!
WiRE is our newsletter about happenings in RE. Upcoming events and opportunities, what parents and youth need to know ahead of Sunday RE, and more can be found here on our website.
New to UU?
If you are a newcomer to out fellowship - or perhaps have been around for a while – and would like to learn more about this fellowship and UUism as a whole, our next Welcome to UU class is scheduled for Sunday, November 29 following worship at 12:15 p.m. These classes are being offered every month, typically on the 4th Sunday, but due to our annual Harvest Feast being held on November 22, we’ve moved the class to the 29th.
CAMFED Collection
We are collecting pledges/donations for the CAMFED program - Campaign for Female Education. Our treasurer asks that you write your check out to UUFCM, with an indication at the bottom that it is for CAMFED, as we want to send our contributions as a congregation, rather than as individuals. The donations gathered will be sent by November 30, 2015. We hope to do this twice a year.
First Friday Potluck - Hosts Needed!
We are in need of hosts for upcoming potlucks. If you are willing to host a potluck, please use this form to sign up to sign-up or email/phone Chris Bauerle directly at [email protected] or 989-330-8457. The upcoming dates include: December 4, February 5, March 4, April 1 (really!), May 6, June 3 and August 5. If you enjoy the potlucks, please consider hosting - it is fun and easy!
Just Mercy Discussion Group – New Additional Date
We’ve added an additional discussion group opportunity for those of you (and you know who you are!) who missed the first three sessions – we know, everyone’s so busy…but many of you admitted being almost finished with the book, so here’s the deal: you have until Sunday, December 6 at 12:15 p.m. to get your act together and join the discussion about this very compelling book. That’s even enough time for those who haven’t opened the book yet to get involved. Our commitment this year is to more deeply educate ourselves about the racial injustices that continue to be embedded in our culture – to better equip ourselves as allies and advocates for justice. This is where we start this journey together.
Book Collection for Christmas Outreach
We are collecting children's book for Christmas Outreach this year. The books should be new or gently used. They can be from age 4 through young adult. Please leave them in the box marked Books for Kids on the table in the fellowship hall. The deadline is December 7th.
Save the Date!
On Saturday, January 30, 7:00 – 9:30 p.m., you are all invited to our First Annual UUFCM Justice Party! Adults, children and friends invited. More details to follow.
Community Events
Native American Heritage Month
November 18: Dakota 38 Documentary and Discussion
Bovee UC, Auditorium 3 - 5:00 p.m.
The documentary film tells the story of Jim Miller's vision to remember the 38 Dakota men who were executed in Mankato, MN on December 28, 1862.
Sponsored by:Native American Programs
November 19: Keynote Speaker Joseph Boyden
Anspach 161 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Joseph Boyden is a Canadian novelist and short story writer. He was named the winner of the 2014 edition of Canada Reads. He is best known for the Three Day Road and Through Black Spruce. **Book signing following. Sponsored by: Native American Programs, Ziibiwing Cultural Center, Multicultural Academic Student Services, KCP Visiting Professors
Speak Up Speak Out
November 19: Life Interupted: Meeting the Challenge of Refugee Crises
Park Library Auditorium, 7 9:00 p.m.
The CMU Student Forums
Native American Heritage Month
November 18: Dakota 38 Documentary and Discussion
Bovee UC, Auditorium 3 - 5:00 p.m.
The documentary film tells the story of Jim Miller's vision to remember the 38 Dakota men who were executed in Mankato, MN on December 28, 1862.
Sponsored by:Native American Programs
November 19: Keynote Speaker Joseph Boyden
Anspach 161 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Joseph Boyden is a Canadian novelist and short story writer. He was named the winner of the 2014 edition of Canada Reads. He is best known for the Three Day Road and Through Black Spruce. **Book signing following. Sponsored by: Native American Programs, Ziibiwing Cultural Center, Multicultural Academic Student Services, KCP Visiting Professors
Speak Up Speak Out
November 19: Life Interupted: Meeting the Challenge of Refugee Crises
Park Library Auditorium, 7 9:00 p.m.
The CMU Student Forums
We gather in worship to find meaning and live more deeply.
Worship creates connections within, among, and beyond us,
calling us to our better selves, calling us to live with wisdom and compassion.
~ from UUA website
Got News?
The deadline for submissions to the Order of Service Insert and the UUFCM weekly e-News is
Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. Please send all submissions to [email protected].
UUFCM Board of Trustees for 2015-2016
President: Annette Pratt (989.400.0173; [email protected])
President Elect/Past-President: Laura McBride (989.772.5512; [email protected])
Treasurer: David Macleod (989.772.0595; [email protected])
Secretary: Vicki Chessin (989.463.3076; [email protected])
Trustee: Scott Daigle (989.506.5750; [email protected])
Trustee: Carol Rard (989.561.2969; [email protected])
Trustee: Janis Shinn (989.400.3724; [email protected])
The deadline for submissions to the Order of Service Insert and the UUFCM weekly e-News is
Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. Please send all submissions to [email protected].
UUFCM Board of Trustees for 2015-2016
President: Annette Pratt (989.400.0173; [email protected])
President Elect/Past-President: Laura McBride (989.772.5512; [email protected])
Treasurer: David Macleod (989.772.0595; [email protected])
Secretary: Vicki Chessin (989.463.3076; [email protected])
Trustee: Scott Daigle (989.506.5750; [email protected])
Trustee: Carol Rard (989.561.2969; [email protected])
Trustee: Janis Shinn (989.400.3724; [email protected])
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