This Sunday, May 17th
Our Sunday service will be streamed via our website,
uucfm.org at 10:30 AM
and also available on video by
Zoom
gathering. There will be no physical service in our Sanctuary.
The service theme is
Moment to Moment: Following Our Hearts
and is made possible by:
Joe Donatone
,
Guest Speaker
Joe Donatone is in his 4th year of UU seminary, at Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado. He recently completed a chaplaincy internship at the Cleveland Clinic, in Ohio, and currently serves as Ministerial Intern for Tri-County Unitarian Universalists, near The Villages, Florida. Joe was born and raised in Ohio but has made Central Florida his home for the past 8 years.
The deconstruction and intentional reconstruction of theology is a hallmark of the Iliff program and Joe is deep in that process. Academically, he focuses on Liberation, Queer, and Recovery Theologies. Personally, he holds a steadfast belief in three things: the power of Universal Love, human resiliency, and potlucks.
Suellen Kipp,
Director of Music
Jennifer Grant,
Worship Associate
Leslie Gatto
, Chalice Lighter
Peter Golbitz,
Musician
Mary Cline Golbitz,
Musician
Lesley Peterson
,
Musician & Tech Team Member
Mark Brandon,
Tech Team Member
Walter Peterson,
Tech Team Member
Allie Carville,
Tech Team Member
And YOU!
This is the Zoom meeting link for Sunday's Service:
If you join before 10:30 AM, you will be placed in an online "Waiting Room," and will manually be added when the worship team is ready to begin the service.
If you would like to make a pledge or donation to UUCFM at any time,
you may mail a check to UUCFM, 13411 Shire Lane, Fort Myers, FL 33912 or visit our PayPal at:
Type in your donation and in the notes section, please add either
for UUCFM
or
Community Sharing
or how much to split between both.
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Our Community Sharing
partner this month is
Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida.
The mission of Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, an affiliate of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. is to provide affordable access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care and accurate health information through patient care, education and advocacy. This affiliate began operations in 1966 and presently provides vital sexual and reproductive health services, as well as comprehensive sexuality education to women, men and teens throughout southwest and central Florida.
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Upcoming Events
School of Wizardry!
Enrollment for the 2020 term of the School of Wizardry is open. The term begins on Monday, June 29th, and ends Friday July 3rd.
If we can't physically gather for camp, our team of dedicated volunteers are working to bring the School of Wizardry to their campers digitally! This virtual version of camp, scheduled for the same week, will be offered for a suggested donation of $50 per participant.
Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact:
Krista Hopper, Camp Director
Phone - (239) 464-1333
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Classes & Groups
The Book Club
The UUCFM Book Club now meets online. Our current book is
Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain
, by David Eagleman.
Clicking this link will take you to the next meeting, Wednesday, May 20 at 1:00 PM.
If you prefer to access the meeting without the link, use this information to log on:
Meeting ID: 784 376 873
Password: 329478
You'll be able to join the meeting as early as 12:45 PM Wednesday and we'll begin our usual check-in at 1 o'clock. If you’re joining for the first time via Zoom, please sign in closer to 12:45 pm to allow for any extra time you may need. Mary Studer is hosting the Zoom meetings, so if you have any problems or questions, call or text her at 269-449-2488.
The discussion schedule is as follows:
May 20: The latter half of Ch. 5,
The Brain is a Team of Rivals
, beginning with the section "Of Many Minds".
May 27: Ch. 6,
Why Blameworthiness Is the Wrong Questions
up to the section titled “The Shift From Blame to Biology.”
June 3: Completion of Ch. 6. The next book selection will be chosen at this meeting.
June 10: Ch. 7, L
ife After the Monarchy
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New Connection Circle Forming by Zoom
Whether you are new to UU or a long-term member, whether you are in Florida or far away, you are invited to participate in a Connection Circle by Zoom. Now is your chance to experience this way to connect with others on a deep and meaningful level. Trained facilitators, Mary Cline Golbitz and Leslie Gatto, will choose timely topics for discussion. This is a covenanted group, where group rules protect confidentiality and promote compassionate dialogue. Participants are expected to attend all sessions. The Zoom circles will be held:
Weekly on THURSDAYS from 1:00 to 2:30 pm from June 4 through July 9
Please contact Leslie by phone or text at 239-850-9664 or email
[email protected]
to join this circle. Let me know if you need help setting up Zoom. Looking forward to connecting with you. Stay well, stay home, stay connected!
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UUCFM News
Online Photo Directory
During social distancing, it’s a great time for new members to get their photos into the UUCFM Online Photo Directory. That’s also true for other members whose photos aren’t yet in the Photo Directory. To make this happen, please email a head and shoulders digital photo of either single or couple members along with your full name(s) to Denis Jensen at
If you have never accessed the UUCFM Photo Directory, the directions for UUCFM Members are as follows:
- Go to the UUCFM website
- You can log in to the website by clicking on the light green login or register at upper right. If you’ve never logged in before, you need to email Lesley Peterson at [email protected] so she can allow you access. You will use your email as your user name and you must choose a password. Once your access is granted, you can log in.
- Once you’re logged in, click on Photo Directory from the Member Services block at left and you are in. You can also do a Membership Search or perform other activities once you have access.
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Transition Team Scheduling Member to Member Listening Groups on Zoom
We hope you will join us on Zoom Saturday, May 16 at 10:00 AM. We will set up future dates in case you miss the May meeting, but we hope to have a small group of up to 8 people on these May Zoom video calls. We have four questions we want to ask you. It will help us plan out our future together.
All you need to do is email Karen Brown at
[email protected]
or call her at 862-432-0173. Once you make a commitment to join the call, you will be given an invitation link to get on Zoom via email. We hope many of you will email Karen or call her if you have questions. If you are not a Zoom fan, once we are together again, we will set up in-person groups. It will be a delight to gather together as we have been apart for so long.
Warmest regards from the Transition Team,
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From Our Caring Network
If you or another member of the Congregation needs some extra attention during this time your Pastoral Care Committee is here to help as much as we can while keeping us all safe and protected.
Our Committee members include Mary Faegre,, Joan Hickok, Deborah Lewis, Mary Alice Pierce, Mary Tracy-Sigman, Patricia Vivier-Naidl, Holley Rauen and Suzanne Ziemer. If any members of the Congregation are available to help during this crisis please contact Mary Golbitz
We have been holding weekly calls as a check in at the beginning of this crisis. Since the need for these calls seems to have dwindled we will
not
be holding these calls any longer. If you feel strongly that you would like these calls to continue please contact Mary Golbitz. Thanks to all who participated and supported one another.
There is an on-going Connection Circle on zoom right now and another Connection Circle beginning June 4. If you would like to join in connecting with other Congregation members please contact Leslie Gatto by phone or text at 239-850-9664 or email at
[email protected]
to
We can connect with you individually by phone if you are feeling isolated and offer other assistance. Please contact Mary Golbitz for information or assistance at
[email protected]
207 479-4082 (phone or text) or Holley Rauen at
[email protected]
or 239 464-6556
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Social Justice
South Fort Myers Food Pantry
The South Fort Myers Food Pantry never shut down and has been operating for the last few weeks as a drive through pantry, passing out bags of prepackaged food reminiscent of the early days before the pantry became a walk through “choice pantry”. They have worked out all the problems that this system presented and this week they will begin to register new clients. The volunteers there have been working very hard to make this happen.
You can probably imagine what has happened to their food source. They are still getting food from Harry Chapin Food Bank but of course every food pantry and mobile pantry that they send out are swamped with more and more clients every week. The churches are closed so they are not getting weekly food from the coalition churches. The markets and retail stores that were always a backup when the supply was getting low are now having problems keeping their own shelves stocked and are limiting regular shoppers to certain amounts per family. So what’s the solution?
Many of us may be feeling frustrated during Shelter in Place, wishing there were something we could do. It would be wonderful if you could fill a bag with food and bring it to the Food Pantry behind the Cypress Lake Presbyterian Church at 8260 Cypress Lake Drive in Fort Myers on any Monday between 9 & 10 AM or 3 to 3:30 PM. Remember your mask! Better still you could call friends or neighbors, tell them you are making a run to the South Fort Myers Food Pantry because they will be serving a big influx of people in the next few weeks, and would they like to donate some non perishable items? It sounds as though they could use almost anything but the items they mentioned were rice, cereal, pasta & pasta sauce, peanut butter, soup, canned vegetables and fruit.
If you do decide to do this, please, say that you are from UUCFM or just the Unitarian, Universalist Church. I think they’ll know which one. If physically you cannot do this maybe you have a friend that would be willing. Just a thought. There’s such a big need.
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May 14 Jim Stout
May 17 Elaine Swank
May 21 Mary Cline Golbitz
May 23 Cathy Snow
May 24 Janene Larson
May 29 Stephanie Moreland
May 30 Diane Buckley
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Please send all newsletter articles by
Wednesday at noon
for publication in Thursday's newsletter. Send articles to
[email protected]
.
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