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Sun Mar 12 2017 Winter #12
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From the Minister
I'd like to recommend a couple books. First, this year's UUA Common Read: Rev. Dr. William Barber, The Third Reconstruction. (For the Common Read info: CLICK HERE). I'll be preaching about this on Mar 26, and we'll have an Adult RE discussion of the ideas on Thu Apr 20, 7:30.
I saw William Barber speak at General Assembly. To get a sample, take a look at this 3-minute clip on youtube: CLICK HERE.
Barber's book, growing out his experience starting in summer 2013 rallying people across North Carolina in protest of voting restrictions, describes a new justice movement. As "Moral Mondays" protests spread to several other states, Barber sees the evidence of a Third Reconstruction -- after the First, in the years after Emancipation, and the Second, in the civil rights era. It's an important book, and I look forward to talking about it with you on Sun Mar 26 and Thu Apr 20.
The second book I'd like to ask you to get and read is Michael Eric Dyson, Tears We Cannot Stop. The NYTimes Book Review said: "One of the most frank and searing discussions on race ... a deeply serious, urgent book, which should take its place in the tradition of Baldwin's The Fire Next Time and King's Why We Can't Wait." Our Anti-Racism Social Justice Team has scheduled a discussion about this important book for after the service on Sun May 20.
Last April we took a stand as a congregation to say that black lives matter -- which was necessary to say because in so many ways black lives are treated as not mattering. I behooves us to continue learning more about both the realities of injustice and the possibilities for justice.
Yours in the faith we share,
Meredith |
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Practice of the Week
Gardening
There are some spiritual practices that aren't for everyone -- but just might be your thing. With spring nearly here, perhaps you're ready to consider cultivating your soul by cultivating plants.
READ MORE...
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Lifespan Religious Education
The Ides of March is coming, but do not let that scare you because March at CUUC is full of mercy, our theme of the month. We are here for a moment of pause from and reflection on the ailments that the world continues to bring our way. The fun and friendship inside our doors will show you mercy through laughter and connection.
Please see the following six (6) announcements:
1) This Sun Mar 12
Variety Show Vote
K-7th and Youth Group start in Fellowship Hall where they will vote on
three
social justice organizations to see who will be the recipient of the proceeds from
this year's Variety Show fundraiser.
Start thinking about what your act will be this year!
Classes
Pre-K - Chalice Children
K-1 - A Discovery Year: My Family: Sharing and Caring
2nd-3rd - Free to Believe: What Are Different Images of God?
4th-5th - Toolbox of Faith: Justice
6th-7th - Riddle and Mystery: Oh My Soul - Part II
8th-9th - Our Whole Lives: STIs (Fri eve session: Consent Education)
10th-12th - Youth Group: Youth Service Planning
2) Last Chance to be a Special Friend
Sign up today to make a new friend at CUUC!
Children and adults will be paired as anonymous pen pals, exchanging letters each week. Then you find out your partner's identity at the Pancake Brunch on Sun May 7 at 11:30am and share a meal together.
Contact Perry at [email protected] to sign up or for more info.
3) Bingo Night This Fri Mar 10
RSVP to [email protected] by today!
A fun, social event for all ages.
6:30 - Pizza and pasta dinner
7:00 - Bingo begins
$5 adults; $3 children; $15 max per family
Please help by donating a prize (baked good, game, toy, book, wine, craft item).
4)
The Sock Hop Is Coming Apr 2 at 1 p.m. after the brunch.
CUUC Choir leads this family fun event. See ad below.
5)
Family and Friends Weekend
A group of CUUC families are headed to Unirondack Camp & Conference Center for Memorial Day weekend.
This is a great opportunity to get to know other CUUC families in a fun UU atmosphere. Get away together!
For info about the weekend and to register,
CLICK HERE.
Contact Rebecca Rugg at [email protected] to connect with the other CUUC families attending.
6) Variety Show Pics and Vids Needed
We are looking for pictures and videos from past CUUC Variety Shows.
Did you capture a Variety Show moment? Please share it with us so we can create a special presentation for this year's show.
Contact Perry at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Perry
Director of Lifespan Religious Education
and Faith Development
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Upcoming Worship Services
Sun Mar 12
The Blues
Rev. Meredith Garmon
Sadness is an essential part of joy. Banish the sadness, and you disconnect from reality and from empathy. Disconnect from reality and empathy, and you've taken away the basis of joy.
More about Sunday's music here
Sun Mar 19
Education is the Key
CUUC Youth Group
In this year's edition of the annual youth service, our high schoolers explore issues in our educational system and how variability in the system affects us all. They share their personal experiences with education.
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Science & Spirituality
Thu Mar 16, 11:30am
We are meeting off-site today, so please contact us for details! Our group meets on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month. We are reading Jared Diamond's The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies? (learn more here). Get a copy and join us! Barbara Mair ([email protected], 914-769-7186).
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Sign Up & Be Counted
This Sun Mar 12, the CUUC Social Justice Teams invite you to visit the activity tables after worship and add your name to three petitions on current issues before government. The CUUC Women's Issues Social Justice Team asks you to sign a petition to the New York State Senate urging them to vote in favor of the NY State Comprehensive Contraceptive Coverage Act. The NY State Assembly has twice passed this bill, but the Senate to date has not passed it. Read the CCCA petition here.
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The CUUC Racial Justice Team invites you to sign a petition to support Raise the Age NY. New York and North Carolina are currently the only two states that prosecute 16 and 17 year olds as adults. This bill would raise the age of adult criminal responsibility from 16 to 18 so that youth who are charged with a crime may be treated in a more age-appropriate manner. Read the Raise the Age petition here.
The CUUC Racial Justice Team is also asking your support for the proposed New York State Dream Act. This bill would create a DREAM fund and commission to help provide scholarships to college-bound children of immigrants. The bill also eliminates obstacles to obtaining State financial aid and expands the opportunities for undocumented students to attend higher education institutions in NY. In addition, it allows immigrant families the ability to open a NY State 529 family tuition account. Read the NYC Dream Act petition here.
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Special Musical Guest
On Sun Mar 12, legendary jazz pianist Charles Eubanks will be our guest musician during worship. A performer since age 11 when he joined "The Soul Messengers," he has appeared with such jazz greats as Woody Shaw, Art Blakey, and Max Roach, and recorded with Tony Bennett. Charles is a critically acclaimed composer and a National Endowment for the Arts grant recipient.
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Social Justice Opportunity
How You Can Support PrideWorks
, the annual youth conference for LGBTQIA youth and their allies:
1. Sun Mar 12, 3:00-4:30pm, Pace University Pleasantville Campus, Miller Hall, 861 Bedford Rd, Pleasantville Help assemble name tags and folders for the conference. No need to reply--just show up.
2. Wed Mar 15, 7:40am, Pace University Pleasantville Campus, 861 Bedford Rd, Pleasantville The morning of the conference, it is our UU tradition to hold the Standing on the Side of Love banner and greet conference attendees as they arrive. Please contact Mary Cavallero ([email protected]) if you would like to be a greeter.
Breakfast Run, Sun, Mar 19, 7:00am met, 8:20am leave for NYC, 10:00am return, First Unitarian Society of Westchester (FUSW), 25 Old Jackson Road, Hastings-on-Hudson Like the Midnight Runs only in the daylight. Food and clothing donations needed along with volunteers to prepare, pack, drive, and deliver. Clothing and toiletries can be dropped off in advance using the white bin on the CUUC porch. Contact: Annie Patton (914-588-4782), Art Lowenstein ([email protected], 914-844-4189, or 845-424-3638).
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Clarifying the Future Vision of CUUC
On Sat Mar 18,
we will be hosting Visioning Sessions that we hope all Members and Friends will attend. The Visioning Sessions are designed to help our congregation clarify and articulate its 10-year vision as a statement, and create a starter list of goals that can later be incorporated into a long-range plan. It is a highly participatory process, designed to involve as many Members and Friends of the congregation as possible in small group sessions.
During either a morning or afternoon session on Sat Mar 18, you will be invited to take part in a workshop that will address the most basic questions about our shared sense of purpose: What are we individually called to do? Where do we want to go together? What vision of the future do we have for the congregation? How can we get there? A member of our congregation recently described the goal of the visioning process to me in a perfectly succinct way: "How good do we want this place to be?" Food will be provided at each of the sessions.
You can sign up for a Visioning Session online at
cucwp.org/searchforthefuture and there will be signup sheets after worship for the next several Sundays. Childcare will be provided (please indicate if you will need childcare when you sign up). If you have further questions, please contact Creighton Cray ( [email protected], 914-830-0987).
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Outside Events at CUUC
Baroque and Beyond Festival, Sat Mar 11 & Sun Mar 12, 7:00pm
The Hoff Barthelson Music School presents their annual performances of student choral and instrumental ensembles, focusing on music composed between 1600 and 1750. $18 suggested donation.
hbms.org,
914-723-1169.
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Social Justice Training
Introduction to Active Nonviolence Workshop, Sat Mar 18, 9:30am - 12:30pm, First Baptist Church, 456 North Street, White Plains
Are you new to activism or experienced and want to brush up your skills? This workshop covers the purpose and technique of active nonviolence. Offered by the MLK Institute for Nonviolence. $20 pp or $5 for students/the currently unemployed. Only 20 spaces remaining so register now
mlkiworkshopanv.eventbrite.com. Contact: [email protected], 914-949-6555.
De-Escalation and Non-Violent Resistance Training
, Sun Mar 26, 1:30-4:00pm, CUUC
Presented by the five UU congregations of Westchester. Are you looking for tools to disrupt and de-escalate hatred and bigotry? Are you searching for non-violent ways to resist the growing culture of dehumanization? Come train with creative direct action expert Monica Hunken. RSVP via Facebook by clicking
here
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Music at CUUC Concert Series
"Let's Go to the Hop" with the CUUC Choir, Sun April 2, 2017, 1:00pm
Shine up your penny loafers and dust off the poodle skirt, a SOCK HOP is coming to CUUC! As soon as you finish your brunch prepared by the fantastic Brunch Committee after service on Sunday, April 2nd, head back into the '50s in the Sanctuary for a fun time for cats and kittens of all ages. Join Lisa N. Meyer and pianist Georgianna Pappas with the CUUC Choir, soloists, duos, and trios for a concert full of popular Rock 'n' Roll from the '50s Sock Hop era. Golden oldies such as "Rock Around the Clock," "Rockin' Robin," "At the Hop," and "Blue Suede Shoes," among others, will be included in the event. Dancers as well as listeners of all ages are welcome -- costumes encouraged! !!Discounted tickets will be sold at coffee hour after service in March!! Or purchase online at
cucwp.org/concert-series.
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Registration is open! General Assembly (GA) is the annual meeting of our Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). Attendees worship, witness, learn, connect, and make policy for the Association through democratic process. Anyone may attend. Housing is available now and fills up quickly and registration rates increase May 1, so register now. uua.org/ga/registration.
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Board of Trustees Notice
Nominations for the Board of Trustees
The Nominating Committee is now accepting applications for nominations to serve on the Board of Trustees beginning in June of this year. Openings include Treasurer (1-year position), Secretary (1-year position) and three trustee positions (each for 3-years) as well as one trustee position for a 1-year term (to fill an open trustee position). If you would like to self-nominate or have questions about the requirements and responsibilities, you can speak with any member of the Nominating Committee (Janet Bear, David Bowen, Scott Damashek, Jane Dixon, Cynthia Heller, or Drew Swiss) or email Cynthia Heller at [email protected].
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Plate Share for March
Westchester Coalition for Police Reform
In the month of March, we share half the non-pledge Sunday collection with the Westchester Coalition for Police Reform. The WCPR was started by organizations and individuals in the White Plains area after the death of Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr. at the hands of the White Plains police. WCPR holds monthly meetings that are open to the public, and hosts regular events that explore the issues around police oversight and accountability. WCPR has started meetings with local governments regarding the development of civilian oversight boards. In April, the WCPR will be convening a conference involving leaders and experts on police-civilian review boards from around the state, at Pace University Law School. WCPR.org
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Caring & Sharing Circle
If anyone knows of another among us who is in need of a caregiver, please contact Gail McLeod (914-235-8212) or her backup Liz Laite ( [email protected] or 914-366-4211
).
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Step Right Up
...and be a CUUC Coffee Hour Host
You or your group can support our mission of hospitality by hosting Sunday morning coffee hour after worship. It's easy - click here! Hosts currently needed for Mar 12, Apr 9, May 7, and more. If you can't host, consider bringing a snack to share. Contact: Pam Parker ([email protected], 914-946-1660 x2).
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This Week at CUUC
The full calendar can be found here. Room numbers subject to change; please check the board on Sunday morning.
Thu Mar 9
11:30am Science & Spirituality Group
6:00pm Caring & Sharing meeting
7:30pm Journey Group - P. Montrose
7:30pm Journey Group - T. Litcofsky
Fri Mar 10
11:00am Journey Group - C. Davidson
6:30pm OWL Class
6:30pm CUUC Bingo Night
Sat Mar 11
10:00am Zen
10:00am Suzanne Walldorf Funeral
12:00pm Journey Group - S. Cleary
4:00pm Building Rental
Sun Mar 12
8:45am Choir rehearsal
9:30am Nursery Care
10:00am RE Classes
10:00am Worship
11:15am Coffee Hour
11:30am Meal Preparation for HOPE
11:40am Journey Group - Rev. Garmon
11:40am Journey Group - C. Heller
11:40am Journey Group - S. Bear
11:40am Journey Group - T. Arrien
11:40am Canvass Committee
11:45am Youth Group - Music Rehearsal
4:00pm Building Rental
Mon Mar 13
6:30pm T'ai-ch'i
Tue Mar 14
10:30am
Building Rental
7:00pm
Building Rental
7:30pm
Choir Rehearsal
Wed Mar 15
7:30pm Worship Committee
Thu Mar 16
7:30pm Journey Group - B. Kurth
Fri Mar 17
6:00pm Searching for the Future Facilitators
6:30pm Journey Group - Families
Sat Mar 18
9:00am Searching for the Future
10:00am Zen
Sun Mar 12
8:00am RE Council meeting
9:30am Nursery Care
10:00am RE Classes
10:00am Worship
11:15am Coffee Hour
12:00pm Searching for the Future Facilitators
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Contacts
Director of Lifespan Religious Ed. & Faith Development: Perry Montrose, [email protected], 914-946-1660 x4
Congregational & Communications Administrator: Pamela Parker, [email protected], 914-946-1660 x2
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Your Moment of Zen
The touch my lover brings, breeze in the pines,
That email to answer, moon rising over a winter lake,
A bowl of oatmeal, the prick of a pin,
The fluttering fall of a red maple leaf,
My friend's sweater, a moment's fear,
The raising and lowering of the teacher's eyebrows,
Flowers among the grass, playground sounds,
And the riverbank talks of the waters of March --
Everywhere, oneness never stops reducing.
For more about Saturday morning Zen practice, click here.
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The
E-Communitarian
newsletter is e-mailed each Thursday.
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