Grace is the ability to redefine the boundaries of possibility.
~ Manning Marable
Selma Screening Planned - April 9
In support of our current Common Read, we have scheduled a viewing of the movie Selma for Saturday, April 9 at 7:00 p.m. at the UUFCM. We hope you will join us.
In Worship
Have you ever struggled to articulate for someone what Unitarian Universalism is all about? Please join us for worship this Sunday, April 10, as we wrestle with an examination of “Our UU Identity Crisis”…Dawn’s message is titled “On Mining the Core.”
“I don’t believe it is possible, however, to discover our core identity by continuing the elevator speech strategy; that is, by continuing to pile up a variety of ideas about whom we think we are. It might serve us better, rather, to uncover our core, like a stonecutter chipping away at all the unnecessary rubble in order to reveal what’s been there all along. It is in this spirit—surprising as it might sound— that I would begin by suggesting our UU identity is not based upon our theological diversity, our seven principles, or our tolerance of others, the three characteristics most commonly expressed in our elevator speeches.”
~ Rev. Dr. Todd F. Eklof
Looking ahead…
April 17: “Our Blue Boat Home: An Earth Day Celebration for All Ages”
Pledge Forms, Please!
In case quirky Michigan weather and spring breaks have side tracked your attention from returning your stewardship forms, please complete the 2016-17 pledge form and volunteer opportunities form and return them to Dave Macleod, Treasurer or Laura McBride, Stewardship Chair. You may return them Sunday or by mail: P.O. Box 41, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48804
Thank you for your support of our fellowship!
Shocking News at UUFCM
In the interest of congregational safety and preparedness, there will be an introduction to our external defibrillator use and basic life support after worship on Sunday, April 10 at 11:50 in the Sanctuary.
Happy Birthday to You…
We are happy to report that within a month we gathered every adult's birth date and entered it in our birthday calendar. A monthly listing is posted in the fellowship hall, but the entire calendar is available here on our website. Please check yours for accuracy, and if you were inadvertently omitted, contact Gisela Moffit right away. At the First Friday Potlucks we will be celebrating the birthday people in our midst. The next potluck is scheduled for Friday, May 6. Everyone is invited.
How Refreshing!
Thank you for the many tasty treats provided over the last several months! We have been fortunate to have delicious goodies to nosh while visiting after the service. The new sign up sheet for May through next September will be going up very soon! Please share your favorite treats with us, or leave a monetary donation for goodies to be purchased to share. Thank you all!
Nepal Handicrafts to Support Butterfly Home - a Message from Mari Potter
Thanks to many of you, I was given the opportunity to volunteer at the Early Childhood Development Center/ Butterfly Home orphanage, with Pushpa Basnet, in Kathmandu Nepal, for a month, last July. While I was there, I told Pushpa that I would be willing to try to sell, in the USA, some of the handicrafts that the children, and their mothers in prison, created to raise money for extracurricular activities. This Sunday and also on the 17th, during Coffee Hour, I will have a table set up in the Social Hall with the handicrafts and a slide show of my photographs from Nepal. I have not priced any of the goods, but instead will ask for a donation for each item. The goods include hair accessories; stone jewelry; embroidered placemats, table runners and coasters; and embroidered or painted tote bags.
I want to thank you for your past and future support of me, Pushpa Basnet and the Butterfly Home. I will be returning there for 3 weeks in July to volunteer at the new Butterfly Home where Pushpa’s family moved into in January 2016. Check out the home and the handicrafts!
Our Next “Common Read”
The third installment of our year-long “Common Read” series on racial justice is set to begin. 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. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the fellowship starting this Sunday – cost is $18.00 per copy. Discussion groups will be scheduled for later in April.
“In this book, Morrison-Reed places the iconic moment of Selma in the larger context of Unitarian Universalism. Within this larger frame, he both accentuates the importance of participation in Selma, highlights all that could have happened and delineates what did not. By showing how UU participation was NOT inevitable, he underscores the significance of that participation while placing it in a proper scale with the other commitments and non-commitments made in the arena of race relations. An essential read for anyone continuing the struggle to embrace the need for continued racial justice work today.”
~ Rev. Leslie Takahashi-Morris, co-author,
The Arc of the Universe Is Long: Unitarian Universalists, Anti-Racism, and the Journey from Calgary
“As I read Mark Morrison-Reed's The Selma Awakening I found myself shedding tears as I relived the events of 1965. Unitarian Universalists, civil rights activists, anyone alive in those turbulent times, and those yet to be born will find themselves caught up in these vivid recollections of those critical days. The book includes insights, anecdotes, and personal stories and it acknowledges for the first time key contributors to the success of the march from Selma to Montgomery. In particular, the section on women and the march elaborates on the under-reported story of women in the struggle for civil rights, and the broader ongoing struggle for women's liberation. Perhaps this book has been waiting for a scholar who identifies as both African American and Unitarian Universalist to do the diligent research required and bring the story of Selma to light.”
~ Rev. Orloff Miller, witness to the attack that killed Rev. James Reeb in Selma in 1965
“Selma changed the United States, and Selma changed Unitarian Universalism. Mark Morrison-Reed tells the story in exquisite detail, tracing the hundred-year history and the interdependent web of relationships that led hundreds of Unitarian Universalists to march for justice in Selma. In a work of scholarly depth and heartfelt passion, Morrison-Reed gives voice to both his admiration for the achievements of Unitarian Universalists and his anguish at our shortcomings, inviting all of us align our values in practice with our espoused values.”
~ Dan McKanan,
Ralph Waldo Emerson Unitarian Universalist Association Senior Lecturer in Divinity, Harvard Divinity School
About the Author
Retired from Unitarian Universalist parish ministry, Mark Morrison-Reed is an affiliated faculty member at Meadville Lombard Theological School and the coordinator of the Sankofa Archive there. He is the author or editor of several other books from Skinner House Books.
Mark Your Calendars: April 30 All-Congregation Retreat!
The UUFCM Board of Trustees has scheduled an all congregation retreat for Saturday, April 30, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the UU Center. 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. The agenda for this year’s retreat is still being finalized, so stay tuned for details to come...
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 (see flyer). Norma Bailey is attending, so please contact her if you would like to share rides (989-560-3952 or [email protected]).
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 ([email protected]) or Norma Bailey ([email protected]) to join us. We would love to have a large contingent of Mt. Pleasant UUs!
In support of our current Common Read, we have scheduled a viewing of the movie Selma for Saturday, April 9 at 7:00 p.m. at the UUFCM. We hope you will join us.
In Worship
Have you ever struggled to articulate for someone what Unitarian Universalism is all about? Please join us for worship this Sunday, April 10, as we wrestle with an examination of “Our UU Identity Crisis”…Dawn’s message is titled “On Mining the Core.”
“I don’t believe it is possible, however, to discover our core identity by continuing the elevator speech strategy; that is, by continuing to pile up a variety of ideas about whom we think we are. It might serve us better, rather, to uncover our core, like a stonecutter chipping away at all the unnecessary rubble in order to reveal what’s been there all along. It is in this spirit—surprising as it might sound— that I would begin by suggesting our UU identity is not based upon our theological diversity, our seven principles, or our tolerance of others, the three characteristics most commonly expressed in our elevator speeches.”
~ Rev. Dr. Todd F. Eklof
Looking ahead…
April 17: “Our Blue Boat Home: An Earth Day Celebration for All Ages”
Pledge Forms, Please!
In case quirky Michigan weather and spring breaks have side tracked your attention from returning your stewardship forms, please complete the 2016-17 pledge form and volunteer opportunities form and return them to Dave Macleod, Treasurer or Laura McBride, Stewardship Chair. You may return them Sunday or by mail: P.O. Box 41, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48804
Thank you for your support of our fellowship!
Shocking News at UUFCM
In the interest of congregational safety and preparedness, there will be an introduction to our external defibrillator use and basic life support after worship on Sunday, April 10 at 11:50 in the Sanctuary.
Happy Birthday to You…
We are happy to report that within a month we gathered every adult's birth date and entered it in our birthday calendar. A monthly listing is posted in the fellowship hall, but the entire calendar is available here on our website. Please check yours for accuracy, and if you were inadvertently omitted, contact Gisela Moffit right away. At the First Friday Potlucks we will be celebrating the birthday people in our midst. The next potluck is scheduled for Friday, May 6. Everyone is invited.
How Refreshing!
Thank you for the many tasty treats provided over the last several months! We have been fortunate to have delicious goodies to nosh while visiting after the service. The new sign up sheet for May through next September will be going up very soon! Please share your favorite treats with us, or leave a monetary donation for goodies to be purchased to share. Thank you all!
Nepal Handicrafts to Support Butterfly Home - a Message from Mari Potter
Thanks to many of you, I was given the opportunity to volunteer at the Early Childhood Development Center/ Butterfly Home orphanage, with Pushpa Basnet, in Kathmandu Nepal, for a month, last July. While I was there, I told Pushpa that I would be willing to try to sell, in the USA, some of the handicrafts that the children, and their mothers in prison, created to raise money for extracurricular activities. This Sunday and also on the 17th, during Coffee Hour, I will have a table set up in the Social Hall with the handicrafts and a slide show of my photographs from Nepal. I have not priced any of the goods, but instead will ask for a donation for each item. The goods include hair accessories; stone jewelry; embroidered placemats, table runners and coasters; and embroidered or painted tote bags.
I want to thank you for your past and future support of me, Pushpa Basnet and the Butterfly Home. I will be returning there for 3 weeks in July to volunteer at the new Butterfly Home where Pushpa’s family moved into in January 2016. Check out the home and the handicrafts!
Our Next “Common Read”
The third installment of our year-long “Common Read” series on racial justice is set to begin. 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. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the fellowship starting this Sunday – cost is $18.00 per copy. Discussion groups will be scheduled for later in April.
“In this book, Morrison-Reed places the iconic moment of Selma in the larger context of Unitarian Universalism. Within this larger frame, he both accentuates the importance of participation in Selma, highlights all that could have happened and delineates what did not. By showing how UU participation was NOT inevitable, he underscores the significance of that participation while placing it in a proper scale with the other commitments and non-commitments made in the arena of race relations. An essential read for anyone continuing the struggle to embrace the need for continued racial justice work today.”
~ Rev. Leslie Takahashi-Morris, co-author,
The Arc of the Universe Is Long: Unitarian Universalists, Anti-Racism, and the Journey from Calgary
“As I read Mark Morrison-Reed's The Selma Awakening I found myself shedding tears as I relived the events of 1965. Unitarian Universalists, civil rights activists, anyone alive in those turbulent times, and those yet to be born will find themselves caught up in these vivid recollections of those critical days. The book includes insights, anecdotes, and personal stories and it acknowledges for the first time key contributors to the success of the march from Selma to Montgomery. In particular, the section on women and the march elaborates on the under-reported story of women in the struggle for civil rights, and the broader ongoing struggle for women's liberation. Perhaps this book has been waiting for a scholar who identifies as both African American and Unitarian Universalist to do the diligent research required and bring the story of Selma to light.”
~ Rev. Orloff Miller, witness to the attack that killed Rev. James Reeb in Selma in 1965
“Selma changed the United States, and Selma changed Unitarian Universalism. Mark Morrison-Reed tells the story in exquisite detail, tracing the hundred-year history and the interdependent web of relationships that led hundreds of Unitarian Universalists to march for justice in Selma. In a work of scholarly depth and heartfelt passion, Morrison-Reed gives voice to both his admiration for the achievements of Unitarian Universalists and his anguish at our shortcomings, inviting all of us align our values in practice with our espoused values.”
~ Dan McKanan,
Ralph Waldo Emerson Unitarian Universalist Association Senior Lecturer in Divinity, Harvard Divinity School
About the Author
Retired from Unitarian Universalist parish ministry, Mark Morrison-Reed is an affiliated faculty member at Meadville Lombard Theological School and the coordinator of the Sankofa Archive there. He is the author or editor of several other books from Skinner House Books.
Mark Your Calendars: April 30 All-Congregation Retreat!
The UUFCM Board of Trustees has scheduled an all congregation retreat for Saturday, April 30, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the UU Center. 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. The agenda for this year’s retreat is still being finalized, so stay tuned for details to come...
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 (see flyer). Norma Bailey is attending, so please contact her if you would like to share rides (989-560-3952 or [email protected]).
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 ([email protected]) or Norma Bailey ([email protected]) to join us. We would love to have a large contingent of Mt. Pleasant UUs!
••• Community News •••
CMU University Theatre presents: Marvin’s Room
by Scott McPherson; directed by Lauren McConnell (her first play that she is directing at CMU)
Marvin’s Room is a darkly funny and poignant look at a dysfunctional family’s attempt to rally and bond in the face of crisis. Using humor, the tale exposes the beauty of the human ability to grow in times of turmoil and pain. New York Times critic Frank Rich described it as, “one of the funniest plays of [the] year as well as one of the wisest and most moving.” It’s uplifting and graceful handling of serious themes likely led to its selection as the winner of the Drama Desk Award for Best Play and the Outer Critics Circle Award.
Where & When:
• Theatre-on-the-Side (Moore Hall near Bush Theatre) - CMU Campus
• April 7, 8, and 9 at 7:30 p.m.; April 10 at 2:00 p.m.
• Tickets: CMU Ticket Central (989-774-3045 - CMU Events Center)
• Prices: Advance Purchase $7 - $9 - If any tickets are available, tickets are $10 each at the door.
Reminder: performances are likely to sell out quickly!
Women's History Month at CMU
Events through April 11. For complete information, visit CMU's College of Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences page or download the calendar of events.
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
Events through April 14. For complete information, visit this calendar of events.
CMU Pride Week 2016
Events April 11-15. Download the flyer here. Offered by CMU's Office of LGBTQ Services.
CMU University Theatre presents: Marvin’s Room
by Scott McPherson; directed by Lauren McConnell (her first play that she is directing at CMU)
Marvin’s Room is a darkly funny and poignant look at a dysfunctional family’s attempt to rally and bond in the face of crisis. Using humor, the tale exposes the beauty of the human ability to grow in times of turmoil and pain. New York Times critic Frank Rich described it as, “one of the funniest plays of [the] year as well as one of the wisest and most moving.” It’s uplifting and graceful handling of serious themes likely led to its selection as the winner of the Drama Desk Award for Best Play and the Outer Critics Circle Award.
Where & When:
• Theatre-on-the-Side (Moore Hall near Bush Theatre) - CMU Campus
• April 7, 8, and 9 at 7:30 p.m.; April 10 at 2:00 p.m.
• Tickets: CMU Ticket Central (989-774-3045 - CMU Events Center)
• Prices: Advance Purchase $7 - $9 - If any tickets are available, tickets are $10 each at the door.
Reminder: performances are likely to sell out quickly!
Women's History Month at CMU
Events through April 11. For complete information, visit CMU's College of Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences page or download the calendar of events.
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
Events through April 14. For complete information, visit this calendar of events.
CMU Pride Week 2016
Events April 11-15. Download the flyer here. Offered by CMU's Office of LGBTQ Services.
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children
of men and women as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run
than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.
~ Helen Keller
Service Cancellation Policy
In case of inclement weather, a decision to cancel the service will be made by 9 a.m. An announcement will be posted on our web site (uufcm.org) and on Facebook as well as sent directly via email. Those who are not online will be phoned. If you have questions, call Annette Pratt (989-400-0173). We hope we won't have to resort to this very often, but we live in Michigan after all, so we need to be prepared!
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])
In case of inclement weather, a decision to cancel the service will be made by 9 a.m. An announcement will be posted on our web site (uufcm.org) and on Facebook as well as sent directly via email. Those who are not online will be phoned. If you have questions, call Annette Pratt (989-400-0173). We hope we won't have to resort to this very often, but we live in Michigan after all, so we need to be prepared!
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])
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