In case you missed them, be sure to check out these items on Rev. Mara's upcoming sabbatical  and sabbatical minister plans. 

 

 

• The Ruby Bridges Suite One participant in the elevator said this had been a peak experience of her life! The concert celebrates the story of Ruby Bridges, the trailblazing AfricanAmerican girl who, at age 6, integrated the New Orleans Public Schools in 1960. Pianist Darrell Grant's cantata features the choirs of All Souls, DC, and First UU, Nashville, along with a 6-piece all-star jazz ensemble and renowned vocalist Marilyn Keller.
   
• Robin D'Angelo's work on White Fragility. Several of us attended 2 or even 3 of her workshops. Dr. DiAngelo describes how race shapes the lives of white people, explains what makes racism so hard for us to see, and identifies common white racial patterns that prevent us from reaching racial equity. See this clip for a sample of her scholarship.
   
• More on White Privilege from a different workshop.  The audio is poor, but the resource handout is excellent. 
   
• Some background on the history of funding Anti-Racism work in the UUA. Baba Sanyika was one of the People of Color who left in 1969 when the UUA did not follow through with funding that was agreed to.  

• Thousands of us participated in a "Public Witness: Love Resists" in New Orleans, where we marched to celebrate expanding the notion of sanctuary to help create safe spaces for all people under threat, and to rejoice in the solidarity of working with community partners. Enjoy the music of the "Second Line" at 2:00, and a very moving, powerful poem by FreeQuency at 59:33.  Mwende "FreeQuency" Katwiwa is a 25-year-old Black, Kenyan, Immigrant, Queer, Womyn panAfricanist poet in New Orleans, LA. FreeQuency is an Anti-Racist and Reproductive Justice organizer who has spent most of her life living and writing at the intersection of arts, education and activism:  https://www.uua.org/loveresists/witness-ga-2017 (minutes 2:00 and 59:33)

Children and youth of all ages are welcome to join us on summer Sundays! Summer services will not have a dedicated time for children to leave, so parents may sign children in before the service, or slip out to do so at any time. Weather permitting, the group plays outside; otherwise they are in and/or near the basement-level nursery. Once again, should a child arrive to join the supervised group without a parent present to sign them in, staff will send them back to their parent with a "hall pass"- like mini-form for parents to sign, indicating their permission for the child to be with the group. Copies of this form are also available in the office. Parents, please cooperate with these procedures to help our staff ensure the safety of children in their care! Thank you!

1. Sign up to provide meals and/or rides by clicking the meal train links. (Please scroll all the way to the bottom.  There are 2 ride links and 3 meal links.)
2. Letting the Care Network know of other families in need.
3. Volunteering to be part of the Care Network committee. 

As many of you have probably noticed, the windows in the Lantern Room of the Meetinghouse Steeple were removed this week. They are presently in a workshop in the Northeast Kingdom where Jeff Fellinger will be completely restoring them. They will be reinstalled late this fall.

The removal of the existing bell deck rails, and installation of the new rails, is tentatively scheduled to start on Tuesday, July 25th. The work is weather dependent, and considering this summer's rainfall, the 25th is truly tentative! If things go according to plan on the 25th, a crane will be on site, and the oval drive and property on the south, east and west sides of the Meetinghouse will be inaccessible due to safety concerns. I expect the bulk of the work to be done by day's end on the 26th.

Your patience is appreciated during these two major and exciting projects.  Please contact me( bob@uusociety.org ) with any questions.