Whatever you’re meant to do, do it now. The conditions are always impossible.
~ Doris Lessing
This Saturday April 30: All-Congregation Retreat – “With Love as Our Guide”
The UUFCM Board of Trustees has scheduled an all-congregation retreat for this Saturday, April 30, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the UU Center…and yes, a tasty lunch will be provided, as well as coffee/tea and nosh to get our engines going in the morning!
The theme for this year’s retreat will be “With Love as Our Guide.” We will be engaging with the first part of our congregational mission: To be a religious community guided by love…as it relates to our commitment this year to educate ourselves more fully about racial inequality and racial justice. What does it mean to let love be our guide? What does it cost us? How do we engage more deeply and authentically in the work of racial justice? All important questions…how will we answer?
For those of you new to us, our congregation gathers for an all-day (or partial-day, as in this case) retreat once a year to collectively engage deeply with a particular issue(s) of importance to the community. It is also a wonderful opportunity to become more deeply acquainted with our community. All are encouraged to attend!
In Worship
Our theme for worship this Sunday, May 1 is “The Work of Transformation.” Please join us!
“This is the work of congregational life – to create and provide a real time and place in this world that opens our awareness of the world as it might be. It awakens us to the transformation already taking place within us and around us and strengthens our patience and determination to bring that transformation to fruition in the larger world.” ~ Karen Hering
And if you missed service this past Sunday – and you missed a good one! – the text to Guy Newland’s sermon (presented in dialogue with Carolina Gutierrez) “Does Reflection on Death Enhance Life?” can be found on our sermon archive page.
Upcoming Services:
May 8 - “Peace, Salaam, Shalom”
May 15 - “Our Sure Blossoming – The Annual Communion of Flowers” and our Annual Meeting after service!
May 22 - “The Gift of the Postscript”
Our “Common Read” Discussion Group
The last discussion group opportunity for the third installment of our year-long “Common Read” series on racial justice will be this Sunday, May 1 – the session will begin at 12:00 p.m. following worship.
The Selma Awakening by Mark Morrison-Reed is the book that is most personal to us as UUs for it poignantly articulates our own history with the civil rights movement – our triumphs and our shortcomings – and how it continues to shape us as a faith community. A few copies of the book are still available for purchase at the fellowship – cost is $18.00 per copy.
Infant Pantry Collection - Sunday, May 1
Donations for the Infant Pantry are collected on the first Sunday of each month. Most needed items are things for baby care - diapers (especially sizes 5 and 6), creams, shampoos, and lotions. Baby food and formula are not needed a this time. If you want to donate money, then the check should be made out to CCN (Community Compassionate Network) with memo “Infant Pantry.” Please contact Tom Moffit (moffi1tc@cmich.edu or 772-1602) with any questions.
First Friday Potluck - Friday, May 6 at 6:30 p.m.
The First Friday potluck for May is coming up! Dawn will be co-hosting with…? The theme for the evening will be "Spring Is Here" so bring what makes you happy! Your dish should serve 6-10 persons. If you are interested in attending, please contact your hosts (minister@uufcm.org or 763-6315) to add your dish to the list.
CUUPs Celebrates Beltane - Sunday, May 8
Beltane is a time to celebrate fertility and the greening of the earth, to honor the arrival of spring and new life.
We invite those of you who are interested in participating in this ritual to bring an item of food or drink
to share at the potluck that follows the ceremony. We will gather at 6 pm and begin our ceremony
promptly at 7 pm.
UUFCM Annual Meeting - Sunday, May 15
Following service on May 15, we will convene our Annual Meeting. We will be approving new board members and discussing the final budget for next year. Please plan to attend - your input is important!
UU Young Adult Conference – May 6-8 in Kalamazoo
This year’s UUA Mid-America Region Young Adult Conference will be at People's Church in Kalamazoo, Michigan from May 6-8, and it is open to young adults aged 18-35. The conference is called CONtinUUing EdUUcation, and it will be focused on issues related to education in the United States. There will be contemporary worship, as well as opportunity to play, learn, eat, and enjoy fellowship together, interspersed with engaging workshops and social justice activities.
Meals are provided, and participants may sleep at the church or make other arrangements for overnight lodging.
Registration link
Scholarship application
There is a sliding scale registration, to be paid at the door, is $25-$75 for the weekend.
Interfaith Reproductive Justice Conference
The Michigan Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Network (MUUSJN) and the Interfaith Reproductive Justice Coalition are sponsoring an Interfaith Reproductive Justice Conference at the Woodside Church, United Church of Christ, in Flint on Friday, May 20, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be updates on legislation, skills training workshops, issues workshops, and speakers from three national organizations. Registration is $20 (early bird) and is done individually (download the form here). Norma Bailey is attending, so please contact her if you would like to share rides (989-560-3952 or baile1nj@cmich.edu).
Marching in the Alma Highland Festival Parade
We are again going to march in the Alma Highland Festival Parade on Saturday, May 28 (Memorial Day weekend). While the parade starts at 10:30 and is completed by about 11:30, we would need to be there to line up no later than 10:00. Vicki Chessin is organizing us and getting our parade banner ready, so please contact her (vechessin@aol.com) or Norma Bailey (baile1nj@cmich.edu) to join us. We would love to have a large contingent of Mt. Pleasant UUs!
The UUFCM Board of Trustees has scheduled an all-congregation retreat for this Saturday, April 30, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the UU Center…and yes, a tasty lunch will be provided, as well as coffee/tea and nosh to get our engines going in the morning!
The theme for this year’s retreat will be “With Love as Our Guide.” We will be engaging with the first part of our congregational mission: To be a religious community guided by love…as it relates to our commitment this year to educate ourselves more fully about racial inequality and racial justice. What does it mean to let love be our guide? What does it cost us? How do we engage more deeply and authentically in the work of racial justice? All important questions…how will we answer?
For those of you new to us, our congregation gathers for an all-day (or partial-day, as in this case) retreat once a year to collectively engage deeply with a particular issue(s) of importance to the community. It is also a wonderful opportunity to become more deeply acquainted with our community. All are encouraged to attend!
In Worship
Our theme for worship this Sunday, May 1 is “The Work of Transformation.” Please join us!
“This is the work of congregational life – to create and provide a real time and place in this world that opens our awareness of the world as it might be. It awakens us to the transformation already taking place within us and around us and strengthens our patience and determination to bring that transformation to fruition in the larger world.” ~ Karen Hering
And if you missed service this past Sunday – and you missed a good one! – the text to Guy Newland’s sermon (presented in dialogue with Carolina Gutierrez) “Does Reflection on Death Enhance Life?” can be found on our sermon archive page.
Upcoming Services:
May 8 - “Peace, Salaam, Shalom”
May 15 - “Our Sure Blossoming – The Annual Communion of Flowers” and our Annual Meeting after service!
May 22 - “The Gift of the Postscript”
Our “Common Read” Discussion Group
The last discussion group opportunity for the third installment of our year-long “Common Read” series on racial justice will be this Sunday, May 1 – the session will begin at 12:00 p.m. following worship.
The Selma Awakening by Mark Morrison-Reed is the book that is most personal to us as UUs for it poignantly articulates our own history with the civil rights movement – our triumphs and our shortcomings – and how it continues to shape us as a faith community. A few copies of the book are still available for purchase at the fellowship – cost is $18.00 per copy.
Infant Pantry Collection - Sunday, May 1
Donations for the Infant Pantry are collected on the first Sunday of each month. Most needed items are things for baby care - diapers (especially sizes 5 and 6), creams, shampoos, and lotions. Baby food and formula are not needed a this time. If you want to donate money, then the check should be made out to CCN (Community Compassionate Network) with memo “Infant Pantry.” Please contact Tom Moffit (moffi1tc@cmich.edu or 772-1602) with any questions.
First Friday Potluck - Friday, May 6 at 6:30 p.m.
The First Friday potluck for May is coming up! Dawn will be co-hosting with…? The theme for the evening will be "Spring Is Here" so bring what makes you happy! Your dish should serve 6-10 persons. If you are interested in attending, please contact your hosts (minister@uufcm.org or 763-6315) to add your dish to the list.
CUUPs Celebrates Beltane - Sunday, May 8
Beltane is a time to celebrate fertility and the greening of the earth, to honor the arrival of spring and new life.
We invite those of you who are interested in participating in this ritual to bring an item of food or drink
to share at the potluck that follows the ceremony. We will gather at 6 pm and begin our ceremony
promptly at 7 pm.
UUFCM Annual Meeting - Sunday, May 15
Following service on May 15, we will convene our Annual Meeting. We will be approving new board members and discussing the final budget for next year. Please plan to attend - your input is important!
UU Young Adult Conference – May 6-8 in Kalamazoo
This year’s UUA Mid-America Region Young Adult Conference will be at People's Church in Kalamazoo, Michigan from May 6-8, and it is open to young adults aged 18-35. The conference is called CONtinUUing EdUUcation, and it will be focused on issues related to education in the United States. There will be contemporary worship, as well as opportunity to play, learn, eat, and enjoy fellowship together, interspersed with engaging workshops and social justice activities.
Meals are provided, and participants may sleep at the church or make other arrangements for overnight lodging.
Registration link
Scholarship application
There is a sliding scale registration, to be paid at the door, is $25-$75 for the weekend.
Interfaith Reproductive Justice Conference
The Michigan Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Network (MUUSJN) and the Interfaith Reproductive Justice Coalition are sponsoring an Interfaith Reproductive Justice Conference at the Woodside Church, United Church of Christ, in Flint on Friday, May 20, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be updates on legislation, skills training workshops, issues workshops, and speakers from three national organizations. Registration is $20 (early bird) and is done individually (download the form here). Norma Bailey is attending, so please contact her if you would like to share rides (989-560-3952 or baile1nj@cmich.edu).
Marching in the Alma Highland Festival Parade
We are again going to march in the Alma Highland Festival Parade on Saturday, May 28 (Memorial Day weekend). While the parade starts at 10:30 and is completed by about 11:30, we would need to be there to line up no later than 10:00. Vicki Chessin is organizing us and getting our parade banner ready, so please contact her (vechessin@aol.com) or Norma Bailey (baile1nj@cmich.edu) to join us. We would love to have a large contingent of Mt. Pleasant UUs!
••• Community News •••
Save the dates and attend these important social justice events!
Walking with Our Sisters Memorial Coming to the Ziibiwing
April 23 through May 7 at the Ziibiwing Centre. For more info:
Walking with Our Sisters is a commemorative art installation to honour the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous Women of Canada and the United States; to acknowledge the grief and torment families of these women continue to suffer; and to raise awareness of this issue and create opportunity for broad community-based dialogue on the issue.
Save the dates and attend these important social justice events!
Walking with Our Sisters Memorial Coming to the Ziibiwing
April 23 through May 7 at the Ziibiwing Centre. For more info:
Walking with Our Sisters is a commemorative art installation to honour the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous Women of Canada and the United States; to acknowledge the grief and torment families of these women continue to suffer; and to raise awareness of this issue and create opportunity for broad community-based dialogue on the issue.
Personal transformation can and does have global effects. As we go, so goes the world, for the world is us. The revolution that will save the world is ultimately a personal one.
~ Marianne Williamson
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 admin@uufcm.org.
UUFCM Board of Trustees for 2015-2016
President: Annette Pratt (989.400.0173; ampratt@cybersingerscafe.com)
President Elect/Past-President: Laura McBride (989.772.5512; lmcbride010@gmail.com)
Treasurer: David Macleod (989.772.0595; macle1d@cmich.edu)
Secretary: Vicki Chessin (989.463.3076; vechessin@aol.com)
Trustee: Scott Daigle (989.506.5750; sndaigle@gmail.com)
Trustee: Carol Rard (989.561.2969; cprard@gmail.com)
Trustee: Janis Shinn (989.400.3724; janis_shinn@yahoo.com)
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 admin@uufcm.org.
UUFCM Board of Trustees for 2015-2016
President: Annette Pratt (989.400.0173; ampratt@cybersingerscafe.com)
President Elect/Past-President: Laura McBride (989.772.5512; lmcbride010@gmail.com)
Treasurer: David Macleod (989.772.0595; macle1d@cmich.edu)
Secretary: Vicki Chessin (989.463.3076; vechessin@aol.com)
Trustee: Scott Daigle (989.506.5750; sndaigle@gmail.com)
Trustee: Carol Rard (989.561.2969; cprard@gmail.com)
Trustee: Janis Shinn (989.400.3724; janis_shinn@yahoo.com)
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