Upcoming Worship Services
Sunday, October 8 at 9:30am and 11:15am
"Theist and Humanist"
Rev. Joel Miller, preaching
Anna & Otto Cuyler, co-leading
Our plate collection will help support IBERO- Puerto Rico Disaster Relief Fund
Sunday, October 15, 2017 at 9:30am and 11:15am
Rev. Vail Weller, preaching
Rev. Tina Simson, co-leading
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Our October Worship Theme:
Intersectionality
As UUs, how do we understand
the spiritual challenge of Intersectionality?
...Who are you?
I am a white man. I am a white cisgender man. I am queer.
I am transgender, and I am deaf.
I am young. I am a woman. I am a young woman. I am black.
I am Latinx. I am a college educated, professional male.
I am a woman, an old woman. I am poor.
I am an old, poor white woman.
I am a Unitarian Universalist. I am white. I am liberal.
I am depressed.
Each of us exists in the world with many intersecting identities. As we navigate our society, some of our identities elevate our status, others denigrate it. When many of our identities are disparaged by societal structures, we experience compounded bias and oppression. This is intersectionality.
Intersectionality
is a term coined by American feminist, legal scholar, and civil rights advocate Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw.
From Wikipedia: “…intersectional identities usually are not addressed in normal social discourses and often come with their own set of oppression, domination, and discrimination. Laws and policies only address one aspect of the marginalized identity. The intersections of multiple oppressed identities are overlooked. Since these identities are ignored, there is a lack of resources needed to combat the discrimination, and the oppression is cyclically perpetuated. Intersectionality proposes that all aspects of one's identity need to be examined as simultaneously interacting with each other and affecting one's privilege and perception in society, and that these facets of identity cannot simply be observed separately.”
As Unitarian Universalists, our first two principles call us to affirm and promote:
1. The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
2. Justice, equity, and compassion in human relations.
We are a people of faith, guided by these principles. They are not a creed, but a moral compass that directs us in our relationships with one another and the world. These principles call us to understand our own privilege and how our various identities, and those of people in our community, fit into the structures of oppression. Our principles also call us to work to change those structures that perpetuate the oppression especially in our own lives, our church community and our religion.
This will be a challenging worship theme, one in which an open mind and an open heart are essential. We will do the spiritual work of unpacking our own privilege, our own biases, and our own oppressions. We need to engage our ability to listen deeply to one another. We need to be gentle with others and ourselves. And at the end of this work we will understand better how we, as a beloved community, promote justice, equity and compassion in ALL our human relations.
In Faith,
Rev. Tina
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Here are the latest opportunities to stay informed, strengthen
your faith, and connect with the community:
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Gratitude, Joys and Sorrows
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We are grateful for
First U children and Honduras Task Force guests who wonder together about the many identities of the Honduran woman who stitched this gift in their hands, as part of our 2017 educational exchange program! (photo above).
Thank you for your generosity!
Two weekends a month, our plate collection goes to a community organization outside our church. On the other weekends, the collection goes directly to support our church budget. This fiscal church year, we have already donated $6,090 back to our greater community.
Details here
.
Please hold the family of
Matthew Denk, Larry Denk, Maureen McDonald and Alison Denk
, in your hearts and prayers. Matthew died on Thursday, September 21, 2017. A memorial will be held at our church this
Saturday, October 7, at 10:00am.
The memorial for
Jim Goff
, husband of
Brian Hurlburt
, will be held at our church on
Saturday, October 21, at 1:00pm
. We continue to hold Brian and Jim’s sisters, Janice and Wendy, in our hearts.
Please hold the family of church member
Peter Cardegna
in your thoughts and prayers. Peter died this past weekend from a short but serious illness. His Celebration of Life will be held at the First Universalist Church on Clinton Avenue on
Saturday, October 21, at 2:00pm
. Rev Joel Miller and Rev. Michelle George-Yates will officiate. Peter and his children belonged to First Universalist when the children were growing up.
"To live in hearts that love is not to die."
If you have a concern about a member of our congregation, please don't hesitate to contact Rev. Tina at 585-271-9070 x104.
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Soul Assembly:
Join us for this new monthly celebration of music and arts, featuring our in-house band, Orange Sky, on
Saturday, October 7, at 7:00pm.
Our church bookstore
will be open this
Sunday, October 8, 10:00am-1:00pm
.
More here
.
Congregational Meeting:
The Board of Trustees will hold a Special Meeting of the Congregation on
Sunday,
October 8, at 1:00pm
in the Sanctuary, with the following agenda:1. Establish a Quorum. 2, Approve Minutes of the Annual Congregational Meeting. 3. A motion to approve a change in policy to allow incidental minor changes to the bylaws. 4. Receive Reports of Social Justice Task Forces. 5. Vote on future Task Forces of the church.
Facing Racism: This Sunday, October 8 at 7:00pm, j
oin us for a
presentation by racial justice educator and author Debby Irving, who wrote
Waking up White and Finding Myself in the Story of Race
, with a reception and book signing following the talk.
Details here
.
Aging Gratefully
next meets
Thursday, October 12, 1:30-3:00pm
and the topic is
“
Ourselves as Parents.”
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Connect & Breathe
is a talkline supporting those impacted by an abortion experience, and was founded right here at our church! We are actively recruiting volunteers. For details,
click here
.
Office Volunteers Needed!
The Church Office is seeking additional volunteers to help with the Information Desk (Monday through Friday, 10:00am – 2:00pm), as well as other projects throughout the year.
Click here
for details.
Friend In Faith:
Our church is seeking patient and caring individuals to act as a ‘friend’ to children with behavioral challenges. For more information,
click here.
According to the Annual Report from the
Brighton Food Cupboard,
in the last twelve months, our church has contributed 2159 pounds of food and toiletries.
Pledge Payment Options:
You have options in the way your pledge payments are processed. For details,
click here
.
Click here
for this month's
Green
Tip from Your Environmental Climate Task Force.
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Roof construction is underway, so until further notice, the south parking lot is unavailable for church use. Also note that the back door is to be used as an emergency exit only.
All are welcome to a
LAVA
club discussion of
Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel
by Carl Safina on
Friday, October 13, 7:00pm
in the Susan B. Anthony Lounge.
More here
.
FUUn Bunch next
meets on
Friday, October 27, 7:00pm.
For more information,
click here
.
Café Veritas:
Lucy Kaplansky performs at Café Veritas on
Saturday, October 14, at 7:30pm
. For more information or for tickets, go to
www.cafeveritas.org
.
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First Unitarian Church
220 Winton Road South
Rochester, NY 14610
Church Office is open
Monday-Friday, 10:00am-2:00pm
585-271-9070
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All entries are subject to editorial approval.
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