eNews for February 18

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Keep up with all that’s going on at the UUFCM!

View this email in your browser eNews for Thursday, February 18 Valentine’s and Mardi Gras On Sunday, February 14, we celebrated our holiday tea (previously observed annually in early December). The plan was to have a fun time in boring February. Spirits were high as we had a chance to open the goody bag and eat delicious homemade Mardi Gras cookies, drink tea (bags provided), wear Mardi Gras beads, and admire the collage of Valentine wishes from the RE children. We want to express our deepest gratitude to our hardy team - Kris Los, Annette Pratt, and Jen Prout (baking cookies, delivering them), Cynthia Damer and Laura McBride (Mardi Gras beads), Carolyn Hancock (tea sachets), Jakobe Neal (children’s collage), and Gisela Moffit (directories). We hope to be able to celebrate in person next February! Worship Matters We will gather online via Zoom this Sunday, February 21 to worship together with Rev. Drew Frantz, who will present “Beloved Community.” The Zoom call starts at 10:00 for social time, and the service starts at 10:30.   “The idea of Beloved Community invites us to imagine that a loving and just community can exist, and to work to make it real. What is the ideal of human community? Where in your life have you experienced something close to that? How is Unitarian Universalism approaching that ideal, and how are we falling short?”  Zoom Invitation for Sunday, February 21 Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 402489218   One tap mobile +16468769923,,5527667326# Phone - audio only +1 646 876 9923 If you happen to miss being in worship, the texts to previous sermon messages (and some of the readings as well) can be found in our website sermon archive.   Upcoming Services February 28: Beloved Conversations: Developing an Anti-Racist Mindset   Minister’s Column Read the Minister’s column at uufcm.org/andrew-frantz.  Upcoming Events - with Zoom Links Click the link to join in! - Sunday worship - RE Lesson & Kids’s Coffee Hour - Sundays at 10:45am - Welcome to UU Orientation - 4th Sundays at 12:30pm - Choir Rehearsal - Sundays at 7pm - UUFCM Men’s Group - 1st & 3rd Mondays at 7pm - UU Discussion Group - Wednesdays at 10am  - Check-In Circle with Drew - Wednesdays at 4pm - Game Night - Wednesdays at 7pm - Soulful Sundown - 1st Thursdays at 7pm - Women’s Circle - 4th Thursdays at 7pm - Coffee House Open Mic - 1st Fridays at 7pm Event links can also be found on the UUFCM Calendar. Team Meetings - with Zoom Links Click the link to join in! All members and friends are welcome to attend our UUFCM Board meeting as well as the various team meetings that occur monthly. If you are interested in attending any specific team meeting, please contact the team leader for information. Links for the various team meetings will be posted in the eNews and on the UUFCM calendar. If you are interested in helping any of these teams or committees, please fill out the Volunteer Opportunity Form 2020-2021 if you haven’t already. Meeting links can also be found on the UUFCM Calendar. Path to Membership Workshop - This Saturday Saturday, February 20 at 1pm This workshop is designed for those who want to understand the membership commitment to UUFCM. In this one and a half hour interactive session, we explore the deeper meanings and expectations of membership and shared ministry. Please contact Laura McBride ([email protected] or 989.772.5512) by tomorrow if you will attend so we may plan accordingly. Join us via Zoom. Special Offering Collection - This Sunday On Sunday a special plate collection will be taken to support the work of MUUSJN, the Michigan Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Network. MUUSJN is a very active state-wide network of the 26 Unitarian Universalist congregations and allies in Michigan who work together for progressive change. Its mission is to foster the worth and dignity of people by promoting social justice and community service. You can donate online to the Social Justice Special Plate Collections Fund at our website or checks can be sent to our treasurer made out to UUFCM with MUUSJN in the memo. We are also very much encouraging individual people to become members of MUUSJN. The work of the MUUSJN director and the three project organizers we employ has led to many accomplishments each year that support our UU values. Thus, when you become a member, you spread your small donation well beyond our UUFCM walls. Fellowship Life Meeting - This Sunday On the third Sunday of every month – immediately following our worship service – the UUFCM Board holds a brief Fellowship Life meeting to update the congregation on current happenings, plans and/or concerns within the congregation. The meeting will center on the presentation of a draft budget for the 2021-2022 year. Treasurer Terrie Robbie and President Guy Newland will be available to take questions and comments. Please plan to attend! Help Us Build a Better Website! The Communications Committee is beginning the process of revising our UUFCM website so that it better serves us and the community beyond us. To inform our work, we are looking for several members and/or friends who are willing to engage in a meeting-free research project to examine ours and other church websites – what’s essential, how it should be organized, what should it include, and what it should not include. If you are interested in participating in this project (individually during March and April) or learning more about it, please contact Terrie Robbie no later than March 6. Help Provide Meals for the Homeless Shelter At the last minute, we have been asked to provide meals for the homeless at the Free Methodist Church from Sunday, February 28, through Saturday, March 6. We need people to provide main dishes, side dishes, beverages, and desserts. If you are interested and willing to help – and for more information – please contact Joyce Henricks. Women’s Circle - February 25 We provide a safe and supportive place to explore womanhood and women’s history, discuss issues, get to know one another better, and have fun! We meet on 4th Thursdays at 7pm. Welcome to UU Orientation - February 28 This orientation is geared to newcomers, visitors, and those seeking to learn more about Unitarian Universalism and this UU fellowship. It is offered every month on the last Sunday at 12:30pm Sessions run approximately two hours. If you are interested in watching a introductory video regarding our faith, please view this YouTube video by Peter Bowden called Unitarian Universalism: You're Uni-What?. For more info or to register for Welcome to UU, contact Laura McBride (989.772.5512; [email protected]) Attend GA! General Assembly (GA) is the annual meeting of our Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). Each year UUs gather from across the United States and the world to learn, worship, and conduct the business of the Association through workshops, lectures, events, and worship services. This year’s GA will be held virtually June 23-27 with the theme “Circle ‘Round for Justice, Healing and Courage.” If you have never been to a GA, the Board is willing to pay for members to participate using our Leadership Development Funds. If you are interested, please contact Norma Bailey ([email protected]) for further information, and visit the UUA website to learn more. Of course, if you have attended before, loved it, and found it to be a valuable experience, we encourage you to attend; because GA is virtual again this year, the registration fee is relatively inexpensive at $200. Where to Donate Your Stimulus Check Recently, when each of our local agencies was asked if their need was currently in emergency status, all indicated that they were making it but that donations are still welcomed because of the increased needs of their guests. If you really do not have a need for your stimulus check but have received it anyway, follow your heart’s lead in determining where you would like to donate your money. Here is a list of local agencies, and A Guide to Helping and Getting Help During the Coronavirus Crisis, which lists ways to give, how to get help, and how to help in other ways in your community. Food: Soup Kitchen             Food Pantry Homeless shelter: ICRH Health Products: Care Store Clothing: Clothing, INC Domestic Violence: R.I.S.E.   Expanding Adult Religious Education (RE) Based on the responses from the all-congregational retreat, there is a good deal of interest in offering more adult religious education. Joyce Henricks ([email protected]) and Stacey Pattison ([email protected]) are willing to put together a plan for multiple kinds of adult RE for the year. If you have ideas of the kinds of adult RE you would like to have offered and/or you are interested in helping to develop this plan, please contact either of them. Are You in Need of Assistance? At this time of social distancing, it is important that we keep in close contact via technology. Drew has encouraged you to reach out to him if you want to talk to him via email or phone/text ([email protected]; 440.935.0129). Please do so if you need emotional support or to share your concerns. If you are experiencing financial hardship, the minister's discretionary fund may be able to help. Please contact Drew for more information. Assistance from this fund is strictly confidential. For specific needs such as rides to medical appointments or meals for people recovering from illness or surgery, please contact the Arms Around team via Gisela Moffit at [email protected] or 989-772-1602. Every effort will be made to lessen the burden on the individual or family who is dealing with a difficult circumstance. • • • Community News • • • COVID Vaccinations The Central Michigan Health department is taking sign-ups for group 1b (aged 75 and over and essential workers). Fill out the 2-minute the sign-up form. See the explanation of the essential worker groups here. Scroll and click version 4.0. Black History Month at CMU Central Michigan University invites community members to participate in events for Black History Month. Download the flyer for more information. United Way 10-Day Equity Challenge February 15-19 & 22-26, 2021 The Equity Challenge is an interactive digital resource for individuals to take it upon themselves to deepen their understanding of, and willingness to confront racism. Lifting our voice to take action begins with awareness. The Equity Challenge is an interactive digital resource for individuals to take it upon themselves to deepen their understanding of, and willingness to confront racism. Lifting our voice to take action begins with awareness. Interested? Register here.   The Black Church - Tuesdays, Feb. 16 & 23 at 9 pm on PBS The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song is a moving four-hour, two-part series from executive producer, host and writer Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University and director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, that traces the 400-year-old story of the Black church in America, all the way down to its bedrock role as the site of African American survival and grace, organizing and resilience, thriving and testifying, autonomy and freedom, solidarity and speaking truth to power. The documentary reveals how Black people have worshipped and, through their spiritual journeys, improvised ways to bring their faith traditions from Africa to the New World, while translating them into a form of Christianity that was not only truly their own, but a redemptive force for a nation whose original sin was found in their ancestors’ enslavement across the Middle Passage. U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Black History Month in 2021 comes after a year that brought new focus on racism and inequality in America. As we work toward a future that honors the dignity of all people, the Museum finds lessons and inspiration in the past: Read about the importance of countering hatred in our own lives Read about an American singer who was also a spy Watch how Black and Jewish athletes defied the “Master Race” Explore how segregated Black American soldiers defended democratic values Read about the fates of Afro-Germans in the Nazi era Watch on Facebook Live: Love Stories of the Holocaust Donate Now! The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Central Michigan is funded solely by its members and friends. ​ For your convenience, you can make a donation electronically with the button below, or via the GivePlus Church App. Please consider the option of offsetting the cost to the Fellowship for providing the convenience of making an online donation. If you prefer not to donate electronically, you may also write a check payable to UUFCM and send it to: UUFCM, P.O. Box 41, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48804-0041   Take all that you need; give all that you can! Got News? The deadline for submissions to the Order of Service Insert and the UUFCM weekly eNews is Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. Please send all submissions to [email protected]. Drew's Office Hours and Contact Information Please contact Drew via email, phone, or text. [email protected]  Phone/text: 440-935-0129 UUFCM Board of Trustees for 2020-2021 President: Guy Newland (989.944.0534; [email protected]) Past-President: Carol Rard (989.561.2969; [email protected]) President Elect: Norma Bailey (989.560.3952; [email protected]) Treasurer: Terrie Robbie (989.400.2495; [email protected]) Co-Treasurer: Jen Prout (989.400.3130; [email protected]) Secretary: Elaine Emerick (989.621.6063; [email protected]) Trustee: Jennifer Davis (989.280.7010; [email protected]) Trustee: Aaron Jones (989.501.0672; [email protected]) Trustee: Mel Bailey (989.600.6460; [email protected]) Team and Committee Leaders Worship Team - Drew Frantz Religious Education (RE) Team - Mel Bailey Social Justice Coordinating Team - Norma Bailey Coordinating Team - Gisela Moffit Building, Grounds & Safety committee - Norma Bailey Voting Rights committee - David Wagstaff Environmental Issues committee - Daniel Davis Communications committee - Sally Armstrong Membership - Laura McBride Arms Around - Gisela Moffit Welcome & Hospitality - Gisela Moffit Coronavirus task force - Drew Frantz Stewardship committee - Carol Rard   We are a religious community guided by love, transforming our lives and our world. Copyright © 2021 Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Central Michigan. All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.