Join us this Sunday, February 7 for Family Chapel followed by Online Worship:
Family Chapel - 9:30-10 a.m. on Zoom
Come join Margo, Erika and other First UU friends to explore this month’s theme of Beloved Community in our first online Family Chapel. Light the Chalice, share joys and sorrows, sing, and play together. Geared towards families with children but open to all. We are so excited to come together in this new way! Zoom link:zoom.us/j/91250859555
Online Worship - 10 a.m. - "What Is Beloved Community?"
Rev. Patricia Hart, with Judy Brook
Some have said that Beloved Community becomes real “when we say ‘we’ and mean everyone.” How does such a beautiful vision come to be… and at what cost to whatever we have come to expect as normal? Where in your life have you encountered what feels like true beloved community?
Could you join a small group from your community, just once a month, for a time of deeper reflection and connection? It might be a bigger gift to yourself (and your community) than you expect. Registration is underway for our next season of Theme Circles. Groups will meet during the third week each month from February-June to explore themes of Beloved Community, Commitment, Becoming, Story, and Play. Click here for all the details!
Sign up at this link through February 7. Theme Circles will be running as Zoom meetings until it is safe to meet in person.
Contact Rodney Lowe, Theme Circles Coordinator, if you have questions: [email protected] or 781-460-3644.
Creating a Listening Community
Restorative Circles Practice & Facilitation Workshop
The Healthy Congregation Team is offering to sponsor up to 8 people to attend an online conflict resolution training called Restorative Circles (RC). During the 6-week workshop (one meeting per week) you will explore what gets in the way of listening, how to listen to understand and create a space of empathy within ourselves for others, and how we can use this way of communication to help our communities connect, when it seems impossible to hear one another.
Two sessions are being offered: Feb. 9-March 16 or April 6-May 11
The facilitator is no stranger to FUUSB! Sarah-Elizabeth Anderson has led RC trainings and reflective listening workshops to help us understand others' points of view, without changing the other person. This has served to connect us and sometimes find that common place were our values intersect. Come experience listening, being heard and feel the empathy you have deepening. Create the capacity within yourself to hold space for difficult conversations with members of our community and to bring change to the world, one moment at a time!
Contact FUUSB RC team member Sarah Forbes with questions or to sign up: [email protected] or 802-872-8743.
Winter Vespers Series
Rev. David Ruffin, Consulting Minister
After a beautiful Imbolc-inspired service last night, our Winter Vespers Series will continue next week on Wednesday, February 10, at 6 p.m.
Vespers services are an opportunity for any in the FUUSB community, and friends, who seek a sacred pause mid-week to connect with self, one another, and what inspires us on our journeys. We share music and meditative silence, poetry and presence, gratitudes and griefs, breath and blessings. And laughter, too. Though we can't meet in person, we can still be together, sharing these gifts of renewal. Come as you are. All are welcome.
Or for audio only, call 1-646-876-9923 (meeting ID: 912 4388 8402). If outside the Northeast, find your local number at zoom.us/u/aeaJZdoB8
Staying Connected
Sarah Russell, Membership Team Co-Chair
On Sunday, February 14at 12 p.m. the Membership Team will be holding a virtual “Staying Connected” gathering. “Staying Connected” is primarily intended for “newish” folks to get acquainted and learn a bit more about First UU Society. It is very informal; we simply go around the “room” introducing ourselves, collecting and answering questions. We warmly invite you to join us via Zoom. We look forward to seeing you!
Weatherization is the science of making your property more weatherproof. In Vermont this is critical to keep you warm as well as save you money on fuel. It may even keep your pipes from freezing. Weatherizing also helps our climate because we will be using less fuel. Please come to a one-hour Zoom session on Wednesday, February 17at 7 p.m. to learn more about it from Chip Patullo, Certified Energy Manager. Chip has been an energy consultant for 40 years, installed hundreds of tons of insulation over 35 years of owning his business, and air-sealed thousands of homes and businesses.
Sign up with Linda Cooper, [email protected] or text to 922-7554. See you there.
Erika Reif, Director of Lifespan Faith Development
While we still can’t be together, our furry friends can! On the weekend of March 12th your stuffed animals are invited for what promises to be an exciting and fun-filled overnight at the Meeting House (with seasoned chaperones, of course)! Start talking to your stuffies now and get them excited for the fun ahead! Details and registration information to come.
Racial Justice Resources
Peggy Owen Sands, Racial Justice Team Co-Chair
The members of the Racial Justice Team are asked for resources that would help people learn about racism and white supremacy, to help us all to look at race and racism and its impact on all of us. The resources listed here were compiled by Monica Sargent and her colleagues and she has allowed us to share them with you. This list is also available on the Racial Justice Resources webpage: uusociety.org/racial-justice-resources
Property Team Announcements
David McFeeters, Facilities Manager
Historic Preservation Grant Award
In December, Bob Furrer received notice of congratulations from the VT Division of Historic Preservation, awarding the First UU Society with Grant Funds in an amount up to $20,000 for repair projects needed for our Meeting House. Bob submitted a matching grant funds application last September for proposals to repair deteriorated mortar joints that hold the bricks of the Meeting House together, a process called repointing, and to repair rotting wood on the white sealed double doors on the southwest corner of the Meeting House. These projects will together cost between $35,000 and $40,000, so the matching funds grant will cover up to half of the actual cost. We can apply for such grants every other year. This is the third grant we have been awarded in five years! It is a grueling application process. This year 37 applications were submitted but only 13 were awarded. Thank you, Bob, for your attention to detail and persistence in obtaining these matching funds that literally act to hold the Meeting House together! The projects will be completed this summer by Alpine Restoration and Red House.
Service Project Flower Planters
Jack Tulkop, a local Boy Scout, recently contacted us asking if we would like flower planters built. Jack is working to earn the rank of Eagle Scout and a community service project is one of the requirements. Knowing that a group of dedicated volunteers plant flowers each year by the main east entryway, I accepted Jack’s offer. Jack constructed three planters, each about 20 inches high, purchasing the thick red cedar wood and soil to fill them with his own funds. Thank you very much, Jack!
JUMP's Online Auction
It is time to "Show Your Love for JUMP." The bidding process is underway. JUMP is holding its first online auction and there are 135 items available, including restaurant gift cards, lots of art, tasty baked goods, candy, books, gift baskets, special services, notecards, handmade crafts and home décor.
JUMP is a local resource for our economically-disadvantaged neighbors in search of basic human needs and opportunities to increase self-sufficiency and quality of life.
Bids are being taken through Friday, February 12 at 10 p.m. With a few exceptions, all local winners will receive their prizes in time for Valentine's Day.
