Youth take the lead this week, reflecting on what it means to practice humility as UUs. What does it look and feel like to be neither too big or too small, but the right size in our community? A Bridging Ceremony celebrates our graduating seniors as they cross over into their adult lives.
Sunday Circles (formerly Coffee Hour Circles) continue this Sunday, May 23 after the service (11 a.m. to noon). Offering a time for deeper connection, with the assistance of a facilitator and other attendees, the group takes time to reflect on the sermon topic and where they are in the present moment. As an alternative to coffee hour, Sunday Circles follow a structured format where participants take turns speaking and listening.
NOTE: To join Sunday Circles after the service, use this link: bit.ly/3gYMJqG. You do not need to go to Coffee Hour first. For audio only, call 646-558-8656 (meeting ID: 891 6404 8291).
Walking Tour: The Black Heritage of Burlington
Linda Cooper, Racial Justice Team
Racial Justice Team walking tour: The Black Heritage of Burlington
This Saturday, May 22, 10:30 a.m.-noon
Take a walk along Archibald and Elmwood Streets with historian Elise Guyette to discover some of the African American history of the Old North End. As we walk and talk, we will encounter a former black church, a black-owned grocery store, the former home of black barbers who worked on Church St., a hotel that was once in the “Green Book” and more. Meet at 78 Elmwood, at the South end of Elmwood Cemetery at 10:30 a.m. We will end our walk at George and Elaine Little Park on the corner of North Winooski and Archibald. Elise Guyette is author of Discovering Black Vermont: African American Farmers in Hinesburg, 1790-1890.
Sign up with Linda Cooper, [email protected] or 922-7554. Maximum of 20 people on the tour with a minimum age of 12. Plan to wear a facial mask and be ready to keep a 6 ft. distance from others. There is no fee for this walk but we will pass a hat to subsidize the funds the Society is providing. We know you will learn and enjoy this walk!
Meet the Budget - This Sunday!
Dan House, Board President
After significant input from many interested congregants and staff, the board has approved the budget to be voted on by the congregation at the FUUSB Annual Meeting to be held via Zoom on Sunday, June 6. The board and Finance Team welcome all interested to join us for a Zoom meeting this Sunday, May 23 at 2 p.m. to discuss the budget in detail prior to the annual meeting. Bring your questions or simply come to hear an outline of how we anticipate funding our mission and vision.
If the scheduling of this meeting does not fit your personal calendar, always feel free to contact the board with questions about the budget at [email protected].
Beyond These WallsEvent - Huge Success!
Christina Fulton, Director of Operations & Finance
If you were one of the 74 Zoom participants, then you know that everyone had a wonderful time at the Beyond These Walls Musical Extravaganza. The talent was amazing, the music inspiring, and the fundraising was even better. Our goal was to raise $35,000 to purchase and install all the equipment to make us live stream-ready. And in just one night we raised 81% of our goal, or $28,371!! Woot! Thank you all for being so very generous. If you weren't able to be there on Sunday, it's not too late to make a contribution to this cause. You can contribute online from here: onrealm.org/FirstUUSociety/-/give/beyond or you can send us a check written to FUUSB with "Beyond" in the memo line. We are positive that we can raise the final $6,629 in no time. Thank you all!
Here is a Beyond These Walls Update from our Treasurer, Kameron McConnell!
Spring Vespers - Wednesdays at 6 p.m.
Rev. David Ruffin, Consulting Minister
Spring this year, perhaps more than ever, is a dance of unfurling - each of us finding our own pace for participation in the emergence, releasing ourselves in some ways and bracing ourselves in others. After all we've been through, how do we open our hearts to the vaccinated "new leaf" emerging with the new leaves?
Vespers is back with a Spring series where you're invited to join others in living such questions and finding ways of "unfurling," together. Vespers services are an opportunity to take a mid-week pause, share in music and meditative silence, poetry and presence, gratitude and grief, breath and blessings. Come as you are. All are welcome.
For audio only, call 646-876-9923 (meeting ID: 912 4388 8402).
Annual Meeting - June 6
Christina Fulton, Director of Operations & Finance
Once again, this year's annual meeting will be held on Zoom! In the next few days, if you are a voting member, you should receive your warning in the mail. This year we will be voting on four items: 1) Approve the minutes from last year's annual meeting, 2) Approve the slate of nominations, and 3) Approve the 2021/2022 Fiscal Year Budget. We need to have at least 45 members at the meeting to reach a quorum, so please plan to attend on Sunday, June 6 at 11 a.m. at this Zoom link: bit.ly/3y8h8sA. If you do not have internet access, you may call in to the meeting at (929) 205-6099 (Northeast US). Meeting ID: 937 3974 2046, passcode: 379132.
Please note that Registration opens at 10:30 a.m. When you check into the Zoom meeting you will be put into a waiting room. You may be there for a little while; please be patient. You will then be put into a registration room with a staff member who will check you in. We hope to make this year’s annual meeting a bit easier than last year. We will be voting by using the “Raise Your Hand” feature in Zoom. For those of you who are inexperienced with Zoom, we will walk you through it at the beginning of the meeting. If you have more than one voting member in your household, you may wish to log on to different devices so that we can count both of your votes.
You can find links to the Summary Budget, the Annual Meeting Warning, and the Annual Report on our website at uusociety.org/members/meeting-minutes.
We look forward to seeing you!
An Invitation to Share Needs
Linda Graves
The Member Care Team occasionally gets requests from members and friends that might be more easily filled if we were able to spread news of these very specific needs more widely; examples are “I need to find new housing” or “I need to find a new caregiver.”
We think it would be a great idea to identify members in the congregation who subscribe to Front Porch Forum (Did you know that there are 20 areas in Burlington alone, not to mention how many there might be in other communities like Essex Junction, Colchester, Williston and beyond?) who might be willing to share an occasional post. This is a very easy, concrete way to spread loving care in our community. If you are interested in helping others in this way, you would receive an occasional message through Realm to share a need via email. You would then simply copy the post to FPF, preface the post with “I am posting this from a member in my church community; if you are able to help please reply directly to this person,” and submit. With a few easy keystrokes you will potentially fill a need. There would never be a request to share personal information.
If you are interested in helping in this way, please contact Linda Graves, [email protected], and let her know which FPF you subscribe to. We are searching for only one person from each area.
Memorial Service for Ann Livingston
A memorial service for longtime First UU Society member Ann Livingston is planned for Saturday,August 28 at the First UU Society Meeting House. More details will be shared when available. An obituary for Ann can be found at this link.
Updated VIA Action Alert
Debbie Ingram, VIA Executive Director
Updated Action Alert: Contact State Legislators on Housing
The situation around funding for housing has been changing rapidly! We have an update for you, which is mostly good news. As of their meeting on May 14, the Conference Committee on Appropriations agreed to allocate $104 million in FY22 of state and federal funds to both transition people out of motels and build more affordable housing. This amount is $25 million short of what we had hoped for, but this is primarily because the Treasury guidelines for the federal ARPA funds are more restrictive than it was first thought. So this seems like the best number that we can realistically expect.
But we have also learned that even with this spending, there are still over 100 Vermonters who will have to exit motels on July 1 who are being offered the options of moving into tents, campers, or cars until the fall - and this is by those who work in the government housing sector. So we are revising our requests to include asking legislators to work with the housing organizations in their districts to provide better alternatives to these Vermonters. We were able to rally to save lives from COVID; now let's rally to save lives from lack of housing.
And finally, we still need legislators to adopt a bold vision for building 5,000 more affordable housing units over the next 3 years. They can achieve this goal if they take the money appropriated for this year and add another $120 million over the next two fiscal years. Urge them to adopt this vision and make these commitments! Please click here for steps to contact your legislators!
VIA Racial Justice Studies
Liberatory Path Workshop: What is the Work of Being Anti-Racist in 2021?
Whether you are just learning about what it means to be anti-racist or you have been working on this for decades, this 4-part workshop on the history of racism and what is at stake as we re-imagine our culture is for you.
We will spend 4 sessions on Mondays from 6:30-8:30 p.m. to:
Gain a basic understanding of how whiteness is constructed in our world
Ground ourselves in what our own interest is in fighting for racial justice
Understand how white supremacy culture and burnout impacts our ability to be effective in our communities and organizations
Establish the ongoing work of being anti-racist
This Zoom series explores how racism impacts our lives personally, in our faith communities, within VIA and the broader VT community. It is also designed to be lay a foundation for further conversations. Registration is limited to the first 20 people. A participation fee of $25 can be paid by check to VIA or through our donation link. If you have questions or have difficulty paying the registration fee, please contact Melissa. No one will be turned away for lack of payment.
Liberatory Path Book Study: So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
This 4-part study on Thursday nights from 7:00-8:30 p.m. is being offered to folks who may not have done much work already around racial justice but feel that it is time to start. There is no cost for this Zoom series. Participants will have to obtain the book; if you are unable to get a copy but still wish to participate, please let us know. June 3, 10, 17, and 24.