FEBRUARY 2020
Connections
Monthly Newsletter
for UU Miami Members & Friends
|
|
Introducing our New Ministerial Intern, Shae Dent
|
|
Greetings, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Miami. I am Shae Dent, your new Ministerial Intern. Currently, I work full time as a police officer. I joined the Air Force in June 2019 as a Chaplain Candidate and I am completing seminary. I am a journalist by trade and worked in the field of public relations for several years until the job market became too scarce after the recession. I received my Bachelor of Science from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in 2011 and my Master of Public Administration from Barry University in 2018. I grew up in a local Baptist church, but began to grow in a different direction from religion to spirituality around the age of 18. I recently discovered Unitarian Universalism on my personal spiritual journey. I look forward to sharing and learning from each of you as we continue to find truth and meaning together.
Peace & Love always,
Shae
|
|
|
Religious Exploration (RE): Children & Families
|
|
RE Youth begin exploring
walking meditation/ labyrinth
and
gratitude
with Maria and Charles.
|
|
|
UPCOMING SUNDAY SERVICES in
FEBRUARY
11:00 a.m. in our Sanctuary
Theme:
RESILIENCE
|
|
FEBRUARY 2
Being Changed, Not Reduced by Life
by Reverend Tom Capo
American poet, singer, memoirist, and civil rights activist Maya Angelou wrote: “I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.” Life offers us many opportunities for change. The question is how do we respond to those opportunities in a way that we are not reduced?
(Art by Jeffrey Smith)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post-Service Activity
Social Justice Meeting
Discussing UU the Vote
February 2,
12:30 p.m., Emerson Room
Our religious community must speak with moral courage and act with prophetic clarity and determination in the 2020 electoral cycle." from
UU the Vote
Website
.
|
|
|
|
FEBRUARY 9
If You Are Going through Hell, Keep Going
by Reverend Tom Capo
|
“Someone once asked a man how he was. He replied, ‘I’m going through hell!’ Said his friend: ‘Well, keep on going. That is no place to stop!’ (“Christian Science Sentinel” in July 1969 in an article by J. Woodruff Smith) We all have had times when we felt we “going through hell”. Did it stop you in your tracks? How did you eventually get through it?
|
|
|
|
Post-Service Activity
Delving Deeper into Unitarian Universalism
by Reverend Tom Capo
February 9,
12:30 p.m., Emerson Room
Bring questions, thoughts, and interest in the history of Unitarian Universalism.
|
|
FEBRUARY 16
The Compassion of Resilience
by Reverend Tom Capo
|
Carl Rogers said 50 years ago, “The curious paradox is, when I accept myself exactly as I am, then I can change.” Can acceptance and compassion from others and from ourselves improve our ability to cope with change and be more resilient? Let’s consider why this might be so and how it might work.
|
|
|
|
|
Post-Service Activity
How Can You Get Involved in the
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Miami?
Sunday, February 16
After the service on Sunday, members of various committees and groups will be available to answer questions and present material about their groups.
Please plan to stay after the service to learn how you can get involved in our congregation. There will be lunch available after the service.Please contact Reverend Tom at
revcapo@gmail.com
if you have a group or committee that would like to make a presentation.
|
|
February 23
Resilience in the Face of
Mounting Climate Disasters
Ed Fallon
directs Bold Iowa, a non-profit focused on grassroots strategies to tackle the climate crisis. Marcher, Walker, Pilgrim is Ed’s memoir from the 2014 Great March for Climate Action. On the 3,100-mile, 8-month walk from Los Angeles to Washington, DC, marchers became a mobile village — weathering harsh conditions, sharing joys and sorrows, meeting people already affected by climate change, and intensifying their commitment to the cause as they sounded the alarm about our warming world. In his presentation, Ed also discusses the importance of developing local strategies for resilience in the face of mounting climate disasters. Ed talks about the work he and his partner, Kathy Byrnes, are doing as urban farmers in the heart of Des Moines, Iowa, and about Bold Iowa's work over the past year to pressure Democratic presidential candidates and the media to focus more on climate change.
|
|
|
|
February 23
Special Mardi Gras Lunch
|
Reverend Tom Capo will prepare his great grandmother’s recipe for Jambalaya and there will be other New Orleans’ delicacies. You might come away from the lunch with a few beads and maybe even a tiny plastic baby.
|
|
Post-Service Activity
UUCM Drum Circle
February 23, 12:30 p.m. , Room 3
and
monthly
every 4th Sunday after Service
|
|
|
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29
Emerson Room, 6:30 p.m
.
HUMANIST Wine & Cheese
Speaker this month:
Rev. Tom Capo
(on UU Humanism)
|
|
The
UU Miami Humanist
group and
the Miami Secular Humanists
co-host a
Monthly Wine & Cheese Humanist Learn-In
leading up to the World Humanist conference taking place in Miami in August 2020.
A different Humanist speaker each month will loosely address the following question:
How has Humanism helped you shed light on your area of expertise?
We will start off with wine and cheese at 6:30 p.m. Speakers will begin at 7:00 p.m. and talk for about 20 minutes
;
a 20-minute question period will follow.
Monthly
Wednesdays
in the
Emerson Room
at
6:30 p.m.
January 29
: Rev. Tom Capo on UU Humanism
Subsequent talks take place on the
third
Wednesday of each month:
February 19
: Dr. Harvey Siegel, Philosophy
March 18:
Dr. Aleksandra Hernandez, English
April 15:
Dr. Oscar Valverde-Barrantes, Biology
|
|
South Miami Men's Group
Annual Spaghetti Dinner
,
Thursday, January 30
5:30 p.m, Sanctuary
All Members & Friends of UUCM
(Men and Women) invited;
All Eat for Free;
50/50 Raffle
|
|
|
|
The Alliance
will resume
on Saturday,
February 1st at noon
in the Sanctuary.
We will share a Pot Luck lunch after a brief business meeting and then will be treated to a chat with
Andrea Mustelier featuring her recent travels.
|
|
Is it Imbolc? Is it Candlemas?
Is it Groundhog Day?
Saturday, February 1, 6:00 p.m.
UUCM’s Labyrinth
|
Whatever you may be celebrating around this time of year, you’re welcome to join us Saturday, February 1, 6pm to walk UUCM’s Labyrinth in private meditation, after which we’ll meet in the heart of the Labyrinth for drumming, poetry, and sharing. Come learn a little about the ancient histories of the different celebrations that have taken place between January 31 and February 2.
|
|
Bring a cushion (or camp chair), and water, and be sure to wear sturdy shoes. Park by the Religious Ed building and walk toward the lights of the Labyrinth.
|
|
SPIRITUAL ENRICHMENT
Practice
|
|
TaiChi in the Memorial Garden with Cam
weekly
Sundays 8:30 - 9:30 am.
|
|
thrice weekly
Gentle, Hatha, & Prana Yoga
plus brief Meditations with
our in-house Yoga Instructor, Luz
in the
Sanctuary
Luz has been a yoga instructor for 7 years & specializes in yoga for children & families.
Monday (
10-11 a.m.);
Wednesday, Saturday
(10-11:30 a.m.)
Class fees:
Mondays
: Drop-in $12; more than 2 classes paid in advance $10 each;
Wed/Sat
: Drop- in $15; more than 2 classes paid in advance $12 each
|
|
|
|
Nada Yoga Sitar Meditation, February 5
monthly
first
Wednesday
in our Sanctuary 6:00-7:00 p.m.
|
Listen to Stephan Mikes on Sitar and Bonnie Pedicord on Tambura. Find the inner silence within you and discover the beauty of quiet. Join us and regain your center. Breathe. Every first Wednesday of the month.
|
|
Join a Lunch Team!
We are asking for folks who would be willing to join a team to provide lunch for the congregation. We are working on getting 6 teams together so each team will provide lunch once every 6 or 7 weeks. The church will pay for the food from the $5 Sunday morning lunch donations. We ask each team to plan for 35 people for lunch.
|
|
|
REV TOM'S BLOG
To view Rev. Tom's latest sermons, visit :
|
|
UU Miami is committed to promoting a culture of inclusivity & anti-discrimination as noted in our bylaws: “The Congregation declares & affirms its special responsibility to promote the full participation of persons of any race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, ability, affectional or sexual orientation, age, language, citizenship status, economic status, or national origin in all of its activities, without requiring adherence to any particular interpretation of religion or to any particular religious belief or creed. As a Welcoming Congregation, we dedicate ourselves to intentional practices of Right Relationship- in language and in action- that promote equity, diversity, and inclusion for all.”
|
|
Submissions for both the
WEEKLY UPDATE
and for the
ORDER OF SERVICE
Submissions for the
MONTHLY CONNECTIONS
are due on the
15th
of the prior month. Edits may be necessary for concision, clarity, or style.
|
|
Minister's Office Hours
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: 10:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
If you need to speak to Reverend Tom in the evenings outside of his office hours, please contact him
.
Office phone:
(305) 667-3697
Administrator's Office Hours
Most Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays: noon - 7:00 p.m.;
Most Sundays: 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Sexton's Office Hours
Monday, Thursday-Saturday: 8:00 a.m. till 1:00 p.m.;
Sunday: 8:00 a.m - 2:00 p.m.
|
|
7701 SW 76th Avenue, Miami, FL 33143
|
|
UU Miami: A Spiritual Hub for Progressive
Thinkers & Doers in Greater Miami!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
