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Sunday, October 15,
9 a.m. and 11 a.m.
Geoff Kaufman,
Guest Preacher and Musician
"Reaping What We Sow: The Power of Our Hearts, Illustrated Through Song"
Geoff will use "heart" as the focus in singing and discussing several songs that have been important touchstones in his own spiritual development.
Guest Bio: Geoff has been presenting music in concert and in Sunday services for UU congregations for 35 years. He has sung at General Assembly, first in 2003 as song leader for the Closing Celebration in Boston, then in a workshop called "Singing the Spirit Home: Achieving Community Through Song" in Long Beach, and in 2005 with Pete Seeger in Fort Worth for the Opening Celebration.
Worship Associate: Woody Fulton
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| We Are Back to Our Two-Service Schedule! |
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Please note that we are now
back to our regular two-service schedule.
Services are at
9 a.m. and
11 a.m.
on Sundays. We hope you will join us this week!
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Join Us for Worship This Week
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Sunday, October 8 at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.
Rev. Phyllis B. O'Connell, Sabbatical Minister
"Is Health in Our Hands?"
Is good health a matter of good fortune, good genes, or good lifestyle choices? Do we really know? In what ways does courage play a role in health? Health and health care are much on all of our minds these days. It's a subject worth thinking and preaching about.
In addition to Rev. Phyllis's sermon, Ed DeMott who is a member of FUUSB and a Public Health Specialist, will speak briefly about Vermont's 3-4-50 program.
Worship Associate: Melinda Lee
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| Religious Education Class Schedule |
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Upcoming Sundays for preschool through 7th grade:
Oct. 8: Classroom Sunday
Oct. 15: Classroom Sunday
Oct. 22: Classroom Sunday
Oct. 29: Classroom Sunday
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| "Bathroom Buddies" and Greater Safety |
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Martha Dallas, Director of Religious Education
During 11:00 RE class time, we now will have a teen on call in the Community Room to escort children, one at a time, from our two Spirit Play classes to and from the restroom. This new practice is part of our safety policies revision. Questions about this or any protocols for children's safety? Contact Martha Dallas (
[email protected])
or any member of the Safety Team.
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| Disaster Relief and Socially Responsible Santa |
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Many of you are familiar with our annual program called Socially Responsible Santa. We all give money on one Sunday in December, and then we give that money directly to people in our community to use as they see fit. The idea behind this program seems to bring out the best in us, I think, trusting that members of the community should be allowed to make their own decisions and purchases for the holidays. Many organizations support holiday programs that have people choose a name from the holiday tree and purchase gifts for that person or family. Think about that model for a minute: Who gets to decide what a 7-year-old boy will want or what a 75-year-old grandmother would want? Who gets to have the pleasure of shopping for items, wrapping them, and giving them? Yes, it certainly makes people happy to know that there will be something under their tree on Christmas morning, but I would imagine it would also take a little piece of their dignity away to know that they had no part in making it happen.
What does this have to do with disaster relief, you might ask? Well today I spent a chunk of time researching the best places to contribute money for disaster relief. I did this because our congregation is going to give 100% of
its Sunday cash collection for disaster relief on October 8. As I began reading about different organizations, I came across an article from Black Lives UU (BLUU) that invited me (and us) to really think about who we give our money to. Like many other places, FUUSB has had a policy to only give our Loose Plate for Charity money to 501c3 organizations. It always felt to me like this was a prudent and safe thing to do. What I learned today was that many of these large organizations are entrenched in white supremacy culture and may not always work to get help to people of color in a timely manner. BLUU offered us many alternatives. Most of these alternatives involve giving directly to people of color through small organizations and/or Go Fund Me type websites. At first my reaction was: Oh no, we only give to official non-profits; we can't give directly to people. And then I thought of Socially Responsible Santa and wondered: What is the difference?
We could give all our money to the UUA Disaster Relief Fund or the One America Appeal. AND/OR we could think outside of our white supremacy culture box and give money directly to people who need the help right now. So this Sunday, October 8, you will have the opportunity to contribute to Disaster Relief. Please come prepared to give generously! All cash collected and checks with "Relief" in the memo line will be divided equally between the organizations recommended by BLUU, helping victims of hurricanes in Texas, Florida, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, and also the earthquake in Mexico. Like with Socially Responsible Santa, our contributions will go to help people in our community, but wonderfully our community has just expanded a bit.
Respectfully,
Christina Fulton,
Director of Operations and Finance
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| What it Means to Be an Ally |
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Zoe Hart
After the service this Sunday, October 8, at 10:15 a.m. or 12:15 p.m., join members of the Racial Justice Task Force in the Community Room for a discussion of what it means to be an ally in racial justice work. This discussion is one of a series of events aimed at helping our Society make a decision about supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and putting up a Black Lives Matter banner.
Helpful reading in preparation for the discussion includes:
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| Children's Choir |
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Hello, everyone! We begin Children's Choir rehearsals in the Sanctuary this Sunday, October 8 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.! No experience necessary. If you have questions, please feel free to contact Jennifer Carpenter, Music Director at
[email protected]
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Thank you! Hope to see you there!
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| News From the Labyrinth Ministry |
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Labyrinth Sunday, October 8
Join us at the Labyrinth after the service, weather permitting. The flags will be out around the Labyrinth and someone from the Labyrinth Ministry will be there to answer questions and guide you on your walk. Labyrinth Sundays are held on the second Sunday of the month until the snow starts flying!
Candlelit Veterans Day Labyrinth Walk
We are exploring the idea of a candlelit Veteran's Day Walk on Friday, November 10 at 5:30 p.m. If anyone would like to work with us on this we are open to ideas, feedback and help. We are also looking for connections into the Veterans Community. Please contact Carol MacDonald (
[email protected])
or Jen Kristel ([email protected]).
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| Signing Sunday |
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Nina Dahlstedt Buss, Membership Coordinator
Did you know? If you've taken the New UU class and made a pledge of financial support to the First UU Society of Burlington but have never signed the Member Book, you are still not an official member! The final step of signing the Member Book is quick and easy but sometimes gets overlooked. You can arrange to sign the book at any convenient time, but to make it even easier we have a Signing Sunday on the third Sunday of each month. On Signing Sundays the Member Book is available in the Sanctuary right after each service for those who are ready to sign. Just meet Nina up at the chancel. The next Signing Sunday is October 15, so "come on down" and make it official!
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| What Does Moral Courage Look Like? |
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We hope you'll join us for an interfaith film screening of the PBS documentary, Defying the Nazis: The Sharp's War (www.defyingthenazis.org) which will take place from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. on October 15 at the Meeting House.
This film, co-directed by Artemis Joukowski (along with Ken Burns), who is the grandson on the Sharps, tells the story of two young Unitarians who stood up boldly and courageously against injustice to defy the Nazis and rescue Jews, dissidents, and other refugees during World War II. Following the screening (roughly 90 minutes), Artemis has generously agreed to be with us as part of a panel to discuss the film. He will be joined by other local community and interfaith partners to explore modern stories of moral courage and solidarity with immigrant, refugee, and faith communities.
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Adult RE: Cakes for the Queen of Heaven
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We have enough sign-ups - YEAH - and wonder if anyone else wants to join us?
ADULT RE Class - "Cakes for the Queen of Heaven"
Mondays 6:30- to 8:30 p.m., October 16, 23, and 30, and November 6 and 13.
This is a 5-session class AND you have to sign up in advance to attend.
Sign up on the bulletin board across from the church office or by emailing
[email protected]
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Sign up if you can attend 4 out of 5 sessions.
"Cakes for the Queen of Heaven" is a woman honoring adult RE curriculum by Rev. Shirley Ranck. Join Sally Russell in examination of pre-Judeo Christian cultures that may have worshiped the female as divine. Here is a link to the website for more details:
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| Adult RE: Born on Third Base Book Group |
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Born on Third Base book discussion group:
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Helping With Meals and Rides -
Making It Easier to Volunteer! |
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Did you know that in 2017 so far, our congregation has collectively donated almost 100 meals to other families in our faith community who could use some extra support? BRAVO! BRAVA! Thank you.
To make it even easier for you wonderful cooks/drivers to find out who could use some help on any given day, we now have one consistent link to all the active meal and ride requests. Click below and then bookmark the page. The link is also on our First UU Society home page.
Thank you so much for all you do.
- Sarah Weber, on behalf of the Care Network
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| Help JUMP Meet Their Goal! |
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JUMP is 75% of the way to the $12,000 goal for the 2017 Run for JUMP fundraiser. Contributions are welcome!
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