eNews for 12/11/13

“No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin,
or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate,
and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love,
for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

~ Nelson Mandela, from “Long Walk to Freedom”

Movie Night
Movie Night is every second Saturday at 7 p.m. at the UU Center. The movie for this Saturday, December 14th is Temple Grandin, 2010, featuring Claire Danes. A strong, satisfying, fascinating story of an autistic woman learning (one of the very first to do so) to live with her autism, do college and grad school and go on to re-shape the American livestock industry. She is amazing; the issues of disability and animal treatment are compelling and provocative. Contact Jim Dealing with any questions - [email protected] or (989) 772-0269.

Sunday Worship
The sermon for December 15th is Beyond Sanctuary: the Advent of a new Liberal Religious Community. In the current issue of the UU World, Rev. Tom Schade writes that "We need to turn ourselves inside out to turn the world upside down." (You can find his featured article here.) At this Sunday's service, we'll hear a report from our Transition Team and consider how we might build on our strength as a welcoming and inclusive congregation to transform ourselves and our community. In the midst of the holiday season, we ask: What new hope within us is about to be born? How might we not just welcome, but participate in the return of the light?

Upcoming services this month include:
December 22: Carol Sing: What are the songs that, this time of year, you can't help but sing?
December 24: 4:30 p.m. Christmas Eve/Yule candlelight multigenerational service.
December 29: Burning Bowl service, led by Ricky Courlander

Holiday Tea News...
When: Sunday, December 15, 2013, immediately following the service
Where: Fellowship Hall
Who: You and yours!
What is still needed: Finger sandwiches, fruit, savories/appetizers and we still have 1-2 tables available for decorating.
How: email Laura with your request at [email protected], call/or text her at 989-772-5512 (please include your name, too!).

Christmas Outreach
This year our holiday giving will go to Christmas Outreach, which is a community-wide project that has helped numerous families in the last 20 years. Mari Potter will organize our involvement in this worthwhile endeavor. You can help in two ways:

1. Monetary contributions (made out to Christmas Outreach)
   
2. Volunteer to help with the distribution on Dec. 16 and 17, (8 a.m. - 6 p.m., in two hour increments)

Mari will have sign up sheets on Sundays, and can be reached at 989.773-7167 if you have questions. For those who have already signed up, please plan to be at Finch Fieldhouse (south door facing the CMU Library) at your volunteer time. Thank you to everyone who has already donated items and/or time!

We Are on Board!
UUFCM will be actively involved in the Isabella County Restoration House. 21 volunteers have signed up to donate their time and talents to help the homeless people in our community. We are partnered with the First United Methodist Church for the week of January​ 12 to 18. Joyce Henricks will be our volunteer coordinator. Thank you in advance for living your faith in action.

Thank You!
Thank you to Jim Dealing, Laura Frey, Hank Zeniewicz, and Sally Van Cise for donating to UUFCM the poinsettias they bought from the Busch family fundraising to support the strings music program in the schools. A wonderful touch of the season's beauty for our sanctuary!

Harvest Feast Addendum!
An additional heartfelt thank you to Glenn Lewandos for his assistance in setting up for the feast!

Congratulations to Beth Macleod
Beth’s book “Virtuoso: The Life and Times of Fannie Bloomfield-Zeisler” has been accepted for publication by the University Press of Illinois. It is a biography of the American concert pianist of the late 19th and beginning 20th century who gave ​concerts all over Europe and America to great acclaim. Kudos to Beth! 

Guest at Your Table
On Sunday, November 24, we kicked off our congregation's annual celebration of the tradition of Guest at Your Table, a Unitarian Universalist Service Committee program to advance human rights and social justice in the United States and around the world. 

We are asking that each person or family take a Guest at Your Table box, put it on the table where they eat their meals, each day talk about one of the pictures or stories and then put their extra change in the box. On January 5, we will collect all the boxes, count the money, and then send it to the UUSC to fund their efforts.

Our Whole Lives
Our Whole Lives is a series of sexuality education curricula for six age groups that helps participants make informed and responsible decisions about their sexual health and behavior. It equips participants with accurate, age-appropriate information in six subject areas: human development, relationships, personal skills, sexual behavior, sexual health, and society and culture.

We are going to offer two age group series this winter, grades K-3 and grades 4-7. The required parent meeting for both groups will be on Sunday, January 5, from 2-4 p.m. at the Fellowship. Both groups will meet on Sundays, January 12-March 2. The grades K-3 group, led by Laura McBride, will meet in place of the regular RE program, and the grades 4-7 group, led by Mary Alsager and Norma Bailey, will meet from 6:30-8:00 p.m.

Much more information will be provided at the required parent meeting. However, if you are interested and/or wish more information, please contact Laura McBride (989-772-5512 or [email protected]) for the grades K-3 program, or Norma Bailey (989-560-3952 or [email protected]) for the grades 4-7 program. We will need to know numbers of participants in order to provide the resources of the programs.


•••Community Events•••
“Silent Night” on PBS
On Friday, Dec. 13 at 9 p.m., the opera “Silent Night” will be shown nation wide on PBS. It was 
composed by Kevin Puts, the son of Millie and John Putz from Alma and received the Pulitzer​ ​
Prize for Music in 2012. It recounts the miraculous moment of peace during World War I, when ​ ​
the British, German and Scottish soldiers agreed on a truce for Christmas only and its aftermath.

No More Silence: A Call for Remembrance and Resolve
A commemorative event on this Saturday, December 14, the one year anniversary of the massacre at Newtown, will be held at 11:00 a.m., at Union Missionary Baptist Church, 500 S. Martin Luther King Blvd., in Lansing. The theme is No More Silence: End Gun Violence. A flyer is available - please share it widely!

“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” 

~ Nelson Mandela, from “Long Walk to Freedom”

The deadline for submissions to the Order of Service Insert and the UUFCM weekly e-News
is Tuesday at 5 p.m. Please send all submissions to [email protected]

Important Contacts
Building Manager: Tina Christy (989.506.2985; [email protected])
Caring Committee: Mary Alsager (989.773.2595; [email protected])
Children’s RE Committee: Bill Tinsley (989.488.8505; [email protected])
Hospitality: Norma Bailey (989.560.3952; [email protected]),
     Laura McBride (989.772.5512; [email protected])
Membership: Gisela Moffit (989.772.1602; [email protected])
Social Action: Norma Bailey (989.560.3952; [email protected])
Social Fun: Laura McBride (989.772.5512; [email protected])
Stewardship: Grace Rollins (989.772.1204; [email protected])
Transition Team: Norma Bailey (989.560.3952; [email protected])
Worship Team: Vicki Chessin (989.463.3076; [email protected])