eNews for Wednesday, February 28

2/28/2018

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eNews for Wednesday, February 28

I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.

~ E.B. White

Worship Matters

What does it mean to be a people of balance? That is the guiding question for our worship services for the month of March. Please join us this Sunday, March 4, as we begin our exploration together with a message from our minister titled “What Holds the Center?” - a look at the challenge of finding the balance between pluralism/diversity and a having a theological center in Unitarian Universalism. Please join us!

“Some among us are asking, “Is there a center to Unitarian Universalism?” Or is it like the old story of blind persons describing an elephant, with a twist. Do we have a theological center? And why are we asking about this? When did pluralism become a problem? But there is another reason some are asking about what holds us all together, and if we have a center. They are not troubled by shifts in old structures of power and privilege. Rather, they are alarmed by the increasing fragmentation of life.” ~ Rebecca Parker

You can read more about our monthly theme as well as explore some supplemental resources here. And if you happen to miss being in worship on any given Sunday, the texts to previous sermon messages (and some of the readings as well) can be found in our website sermon archive.

Upcoming Services

March 2018 Worship Theme: What Does It Mean to Be a People of Balance?
March 11: Imperfect Being, Seeking Balance
March 18: In Defense of Imbalance
March 25: Something in the Way – sermon by Guy Newland

First Friday Potluck - This Friday, March 2

Join us for our March First Friday communal nosh! Tom and Gisela Moffit will be the hosts and invite you to a "Celebration of the Irish". If you can make an Irish dish, it would be wonderful. If not, just add some green garnish on whatever you want to bring! We will also be celebrating the March birthdays of Don Rust, Leslie Hildebrandt, Beth Macleod, Mary McDowell, Victoria Sladek, and Morghan Brassard. The potluck begins at 6:30 p.m. - helping hands are welcome at 6:15 p.m. to assist with set-up preparations.

We need hosts for upcoming potlucks! If you are willing to host a potluck, please contact Jen Prout (989-400-3130; [email protected]) or George Lentz (248-346-4039; [email protected]). Upcoming dates include: April 6, and May 4. If you enjoy the potlucks, please consider hosting - it is fun and easy!

Infant Pantry Collection - March 4

Donations for the Infant Pantry are collected on the first Sunday of each month. Most needed items are things for baby care - diapers and pull-ups in sizes 4, 5 or 6, creams, shampoos, lotions, and baby food in jars. Formula is 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 (989-772-1602; [email protected]) with questions.

RE News

The overnight this past weekend was a success! The kids made cinnamon rolls from scratch, edible slime, played games, and watched Moana!

The next event is a Slime-a-palooza on March 17th at 2:00pm. We will be making all sorts of slime and having some snacks. Please let Anna V. know if your children will participate as soon as you can!(517.930.6927; [email protected]).
This month our RE classes are talking about and doing activities together that help us explore the question of what it means to be a people of balance - our themes in RE each month are in concert with what the grown-ups are exploring together in worship...so all of us are sharing together in our learning. If you would like your child to attend but have difficulty getting them to church on Sundays - please let us know! Contact Anna V. (517.930.6927; [email protected]).

Challenging Racism Workshops at UUFCM
- Sunday, March 4 & 18

The Social Justice Coordinating Team is facilitating two more workshops to engage members and friends in racial justice work, utilizing the Interfaith Toolkit on Challenging Racism developed by MUUSJN. We will continue these adult RE sessions in the sanctuary on March 4 and 18, from 12:00-1:30 p.m., and a light lunch will be provided. Our sessions will involve articles, video clips, activities and discussion, with an emphasis on deeper understanding of white privilege and systemic racism. If you plan on attending, please contact Norma Bailey (989-560-3952; [email protected]) so that we can know numbers for the light lunch. Feel free to come even if you were unable to attend previously.

To prepare for the workshop on March 4, please read the following articles:

Are You Sure You’re Not a Racist? Article by Jodi Picoult
Different Rules Apply Article by Matt Zoller Seitz
What I Said When My White Friend Asked for
My Black Opinion on White Privilege Article by Lori Lakin
Also, please take the Implicit Bias Test from Harvard.

Celebrating Jean Daab’s Life

The memorial service for our dear Jean Daab has been scheduled for Saturday, March 10 at 11 a.m. at Clark’s Funeral Home, 114 S. Bradley Street, Mt. Pleasant. The service will be followed by a luncheon where we can exchange memories with her family and friends. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made to our UUFCM fellowship. Envelopes will be available at Clark’s Funeral Home. Condolence messages can be sent to her family via her daughter, Kelly Green, at 3453 E. Walton, Shepherd, MI 48883.

Young Adult Potluck Schedule

At our young adult potluck gathering, the following schedule for future potlucks was decided: we will gather to share a meal and engage in conversation and some game-playing or video watching (or whatever strikes our fancy) on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month at 2:00 p.m. in the UUFCM Social Hall. The fellowship will provide a main dish and beverages, all others may bring a dish to pass. But if you're short on time or energy to bring something - don't worry! Please come anyway. Our next potluck gathering is scheduled for Sunday, March 11 at 2:00 p.m. Please join us!

A New Threat

The Michigan Interfaith Reproductive Justice Coalition is providing this program on Thursday, March 15, at 7:00 pm in Southfield, MI. The program will include speakers presenting the truth and the consequences of a new federal Civil Rights division, Conscience and Religious Freedom, as well as a legislative briefing on reproductive justice. For a list of speakers and other specific information, download this flyer. If you are interested in attending, please contact Norma Bailey at (989-560-3952; [email protected]).

Don't Miss This Opportunity!

This year we have the opportunity to send a good number of people from UUFCM to the General Assembly (GA), the annual meeting of our Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). Attendees worship, witness, learn, connect, and make policy for the Association through democratic process. This year the GA 2018 will be held in Kansas City, MO, June 20-24.

Attending a General Assembly is an amazing experience! If you’ve never been to a GA, feel free to see other people who have – Laura McBride, Dawn Daniels, Gisela Moffit, Jim and Liz Dealing, Chris Bailey, Mary Alsager and Brigitte Bechtold, and they will confirm!

Because an anonymous donor has given money in support of leadership development to send more people to GA this year, all expenses will be paid (registration, housing and transportation [car]) except for meals. If you are interested, please contact Norma Bailey at 989-560-3952 or at [email protected]. We will have to have the final count by April 15.

Our Whole Lives (OWL) Survey for Parents

A George Mason University researcher seeks UU parents for a survey that may support the use of the Our Whole Lives/ Sexuality and Our Faith curricula as well as the Parents and Caregivers as Sexuality Educators Small Group Ministry curricula to be published online later this year.

Participants Needed: Seeking Unitarian Universalist parents (includes biological or adoptive parents, legal guardians, foster parents, and stepparents) to participate in a study focused on parent-child communication around sexual health. Parents interested in participating in this study will need to meet the following criteria:
- Attend a Unitarian Universalist congregation in the United States
- Have at least one child between 12- and 15-years-old
If you are interested in participating, please complete the online survey. If you have any questions or concerns, contact Amanda Gordon, M.S. The survey should take approximately 30-45 minutes to complete.
Institutional Review Board, Project Number: 1178132-2

Want to Sing in Our Choir?

If you like to sing, we hope you’ll consider joining our Joyful Noise Choir. We meet on Wednesday evenings at 7:00 and Sunday mornings at 9:30 to rehearse, and you don’t need to be able to read music to sing with us as we learn the music together. Feel free to contact Norma Bailey (989-560-3952 or [email protected]) if you have any questions. We’d love to have you!

• • • Community Events • • •

Screening of Walk With Me - some tickets still available
Monday, March 5 at 7pm at Celebration Cinema in Mt. Pleasant
Walk With Me takes place inside the world-famous monastery of Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh, and captures the life of a monastic community who have given up all their possessions for one common purpose – to practice the art of mindfulness. If you plan on attending, please buy your ticket at
https://gathr.us/screening/22302.

Celebrating Life Pow Wow
March 17 & 18 at the
Kulhavi Events Center,
McGuirk Arena in Mt. Pleasant
Grand entries are on Saturday at 1 and 7 p.m. and Sunday at noon. Doors open to the public at 11 a.m. General entry (11+) is $7; children 10 and under are free. SCIT members with ID and CMU students with ID are free. For more information, see Native American Programs at cmich.edu/powwow.

There is peaceful
There is wild
I am both at the same time

~ Nayyirah Waheed

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].

Mindfulness in Parking Requested
Let us be mindful to leave the parking spaces directly across from our Wisconsin entrance open for our friends who have mobility issues. Thank you for your consideration.

Service Cancellation Policy
In case of inclement weather, a decision to cancel the service will be made by 9 a.m. There are multiple ways to learn the status of a Sunday service in our snowy months. Members and friends may request to join the Remind app and receive cancellation news via a text or email. In addition, an announcement will be posted on Facebook as well as sent directly via email. Those who are not online will be phoned. If you have questions, call Laura McBride (989-772-5512). 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!

UUFCM Board of Trustees for 2017-2018
President: Norma Bailey (989.560.3952; [email protected])
Past-President: Laura McBride (989.772.5512; [email protected])
President Elect: Mary Alsager (989.773.2595; [email protected])
Treasurer: Chris Bailey (989.775.8257)
Assistant Treas: Ricky Courlander (989.772.4457; [email protected])
Secretary: Brigitte Bechtold (989.954.1123; [email protected])
Trustee: Janis Shinn (989.400.3724; [email protected])
Trustee: Joyce Henricks (989.400.9743; [email protected])
Trustee: Ethan Kolek (413.387.7321; [email protected])

Copyright © 2018 Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Central Michigan, All rights reserved.

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Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Central Michigan · 319 S University Ave · P.O. Box 41 · Mount Pleasant, Mi 48858 · USA

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