The Communicator
January 2020 Volume 37 Issue 1
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Our Sunday Service
begins at 10:30 AM in the William Miller Sanctuary. This Sunday, January 5th, we bring you a service entitled
On the Threshold
.
The Humanist Forum
meets every Sunday at 9:30 AM in Hobart Hall. All are welcome to attend. Join us as we engage in a new topic each week.
Our Community Sharing
partner for January is the
GRACE Project.
The Guatemalan Rural Adult and Children’s Education (GRACE) Project designs and delivers health, art, and teacher capacity-building programs for Latina, Maya and Mixteco women, youth, community leaders, and educators in Southwest Florida and in Central America.
The GRACE (Guatemalan Rural Adult and Childrens’ Education) Project began in 1997 and grew through collaborations between the Lee County School District’s Migrant Education Program, the Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking (FCAHT), the Florida Migrant Interstate Program at Florida Gulf Coast University.
The Director of the program is Genelle G. Grant, Ed.D, who has worked with indigenous and migrant farm worker families in Southwest Florida since 1993 and is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fort Myers.
Sunday's Social Hour
happens after the service every week at 11:45 AM. Come join us for coffee and snacks. Newcomers, visitors, friends, and members are all welcome. Sponsoring groups are the Women's Circle and CUUPs. Donations of food, snacks, or cash are welcome.
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The FUUn BUUnch
The FUUn BUUnch will resume on Saturday, February 8th at 6:00 PM at
Monarca's Mexican Restaurant
at the Edison Mall. (4125 Cleveland Ave.) Those UUs who participated there last year gave the restaurant rave reviews. The FUUn BUUnch offers opportunities to meet other UUs and to enjoy a good meal at the same time. You can order from their yummy menu, and pay for your own tab. You don't want to miss this. RSVP to Linda Jensen,
[email protected]
by Feb 4. See you. Adios. Linda
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The Covenant of UU Pagans:
There are tiers for tickets, $25 day passes, $75 weekend passes, and $88 weekend passes includes Saturday Cycle of Season's Feast. More Details are on the Brown Paper Ticket site.
Vendors: $20.00 plus weekend pass. Tent Set Up is Friday, Jan. 31, 2020 between 2PM-4PM. Gates open at 5PM, Opening Ritual 6PM.
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Groups & Classes
New Connection Circle Coming!
Want to connect on a deeper level with other UUCFM members, visitors, and friends? Then come to the Connection Circle on Wednesdays from 4:30-6:00 pm beginning
January 8, 2020.
Our circle will be meeting every week for 6 weeks so the meetings will be January 8, 15, 22, 29 and February 5th and 12th. Small group Connection Circles like this help promote bonding in a supportive atmosphere through facilitated discussions on spiritual topics that pertain to you and your life. Come join us in Room 2 and discover more about one another and about yourself.
For more information and to register please contact Mary Cline Golbitz at
Additional Connection Circle
Another Connection Circle is forming and all visitors and new and longtime members are invited to join! Bond with others on a deep and meaningful level in this facilitated group by discussing different topics as they pertain to your life. Always lively and heartfelt, participation in the Connection Circle is a great way to meet new folks and to deepen connections to those you already know. This facilitated 6 session group will meet after Sunday services from 12:15 -1:45 PM in Room 7 on the following dates:
January 12, February 2 and 16, March 1, 15 and 29. Please contact facilitator, Leslie Gatto, for more information and to register. 239-850-9664 (text or phone) or
[email protected]
.
A Brand New Circle
There is a Connection Circle starting with Debra Leigh focusing on Compassion, Compassion burn-out, and Resilience. We will explore how to nurture and build inner resilience and resilience as a community. Sundays 12:00-1:45pm, Jan. 26, Feb 9, Feb. 23, March 8, March 22, & April 12. Please reserve your space:
The
Men's Social Group
meets the second Tuesday of each month at 11:45 AM at Cross Creek Country Club (off Daniels at Cross Creek Blvd). This is time for UUCFM men to get together for fun, conversation, socialization, and lunch. Put this on your calendar and bring a friend. If you’re new to the UUCFM Men’s Social Group, please RSVP to Denis Jensen at
[email protected]
Great Decisions
Want to learn more about China's Road into Latin America? Artificial Intelligence? Modern Slavery & Human Trafficking? Our Great Decisions group is now enrolling new participants. We meet for 8 Thursdays starting on January 23 from 7:00 to 8:30 PM in Hobart Hall. For more information, please contact Helen Leddy
[email protected]
Dreamwork Group
Come discover the wisdom of your dreams. Learn to interpret your dream symbols and unique dream language as well as the universal archetypes throughout. Participate in the safety and support of a caring group where we share dreams and learn the concept of "Projection," taking responsibility for what we contribute.Reservations: Debra Leigh, Facilitator
[email protected]
or (831) 818-1418. We meet in Room 2 from noon till 1:45 PM on the following Sundays-January 19, February 2, February 16, March 1, and March 15.
A
rt in the Narthex
Every month the art work of our member artists is hung in the Narthex.
The paintings for December were done by Priscilla Jeffcoat. They are done in a variety of mediums and styles and represent what has inspired the artist for the past 25 years. The show is titled "The Orange Show" due to a unifying element that can be seen in all the works. Each month a member artist will be featured on our Narthex wall. If you would like to be a member of this group email Priscilla at:
[email protected]
Caloosahatchee Mindfulness
and UUCFM members
invite participants to join our weekly meditation book group. The group meets weekly on Wednesdays from 10:00 to 11:30 AM in Room 3. Please contact Helen Leddy if you want to join.
The UUCFM Choir
rehearses most Wednesday nights from 6:30-8:00 pm, and on Sunday mornings at 9:30 in the sanctuary. It's free and there are no auditions. Come join us in singing!
The UUCFM Band
rehearses most Wednesday nights from 5:45-6:15 pm, and on Sunday mornings at 9:10 in the Sanctuary. Are you interested in playing an instrument with the UUCFM band for worship? If so, please schedule an audition time with me by email. Come join us in making music together! Suellen Kipp, Director of Music
Mindfulness Meditation
Come explore the simple and satisfying practices of Mindfulness Meditation. You don’t need experience with meditation, nor do you have to be a Buddhist. Please bring intention to quiet the mind and body in a supportive group of UU members and friends with a similar intention - people who want to carry mindfulness into their daily lives. We meet
Mondays from 6:30-8:00 PM
in the Sanctuary. Contact Gary Robbins at 302-540-5899.
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The Book Club
meets Wednesdays at 1:00 PM in the Library. All are welcome to join in facilitated discussion and group bonding. We are reading
On the Brink of Everything
, by Parker Palmer. Palmer explores the question age raises and the promises it holds.
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Guided Campus Walk--
Twenty Two stops are on the guided walk of our campus. We will start from Hobart Hall and visit the Miller Sanctuary, Nature Trail, and more, and end at the Labyrinth by the Family Gardens. We walk after Sunday Service at Noon. Please wear comfortable walking shoes. Reservations required. Contact Patricia Linhoff, 612-382-5927
[email protected]
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News
South Fort Myers Food Pantry
The South Fort Myers Food Pantry began a fund drive in June to replace their truck. The goal was to raise $45,000 of the total estimated cost of $75,000.
Although the goal was not met in full, they were able to reduce the cost to $70,000 and they received a trade in value for the old truck of $5,000; thus reducing the cash needed. They have collected $36,000 from the 16 Coalition Members and Supporting Partners, Pantry volunteers and friends of the Pantry. To this, they added the balance from the reserves for equipment replacement to reach the needed $65,000. As the truck fundraising effort comes to an end, the South Fort Myers Food Pantry Coalition, Inc. expresses their gratitude to the UUCFM members. They hope to have our continued support in the future as they strive to fulfill their mission, to feed the needy of South Fort Myers.
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From your Social Justice Team
Give the Gift of Freedom this Christmas
Write for Rights - Write a Letter - Change a Life
Amnesty International has its largest annual human rights campaign throughout the fall to mark Human Rights Day on December 10th. And it works! Letters we send out support people and help end abuses. Many people all over the world are wrongfully imprisoned for the peaceful expression of their beliefs or identity - Prisoners of Conscience. Here is how you can get started!
WRITE from now until Jan. 31, 2020
ASK questions and get help by contacting Zeke Johnson at 212-633-4256 or Maya Delany at
[email protected].
There will also be information at the SJ Table in Hobart Hall.
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For Sale
For Sale: 2005 32’ Fleetwood Terra Motor Home with one slide out in good condition. Asking price $16,500. Call Jeff Letts at 401-741 -3162.
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Our UU Story
Horace Greeley
“Go West, Young Man”
Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811-November 29, 1872), Universalist journalist, reformer, and politician, is best known as the longtime, innovative publisher and editor of the
New York Tribune
. In 1872 he campaigned unsuccessfully for the United States presidency as the candidate of the Liberal Republicans and Democrats, running against incumbent Republican Ulysses S. Grant.
Horace was born in Amherst, New Hampshire, the third child of Zaccheus Greeley, a farmer and day-laborer, and Mary Woodburn. His family moved often, and he was erratically home-schooled until the age of 14. A voracious reader, he was largely self-educated.
After serving as a printer's apprentice to Amos Bliss, editor of the
Northern Spectator
, a newspaper in East Poultney, VT, and working as a printer on the
Erie Gazette
in Erie, PA, in 1831 he went to New York City to seek his fortune as an editor. Three years later, having worked as a printer for the
Evening Post
and several other newspapers, he had accumulated enough capital to launch a weekly literary and news journal, the
New Yorker
, and, in 1840, a Whig campaign weekly, the
Log Cabin
.
Greeley was introduced to Universalism, first by reading periodicals, and then by hearing a sermon preached around 1830 in Buffalo, NY. In 1831, soon after coming to New York City, he visited, and quickly joined,
Thomas Jefferson Sawyer
's Universalist church on Orchard Street. "Horace Greeley was generally present [at weekly Bible class]," Among his friends were
Ralph Waldo Emerson
and Henry David Thoreau.
In 1841 Greeley founded the
New York Tribune
, which he edited and operated the rest of his life. The
New Yorker
and the
Log Cabin
were soon absorbed into the
Tribune
to become a weekly edition for out-of-town subscribers. Over the next two decades circulation rose to more than a quarter of a million, and the
Tribune
became the most influential newspaper in the country.
Greeley was famous for promoting western development and emigration. Although he may not have originated the slogan, "Go west, young man, go west," often attributed to him, he frequently gave that advice in person and in print. "If any young man is about to commence in the world," he wrote, "with little in his circumstances to prepossess him in favor of one section above another, we say to him publicly and privately, Go to the West; there your capacities are sure to be appreciated and your industry and energy rewarded."
Edited by Joy F. Sokeitous
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Did you know your purchases can help us? AmazonSmile donates to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fort Myers when you do your online shopping by following this special link to Amazon:
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Want to Become a Member?
If you are interested in becoming a new member, please pick up a Membership Kit Sunday mornings in the Narthex or in the office during the week. Thanks!
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Our Greater Community
Rissho Kosei-kai Buddhist Group
The Rissho Kosei-kai group meets Sundays at 2:00 PM in Room Number 1. We do not meet on 5th Sundays.
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Pachamama Alliance SWFL Presents
Waging Peace: Global Adventures of a Lifelong Activist
a talk by
David Hartsough
Tuesday, Jan 7th, 2020, 6:30pm
Collaboratory,
2031 Jackson St, Fort Myers, FL 33901
David will share stories of his work in peacemaking and building nonviolent movements since meeting Martin Luther King at age 15.
David Hartsough knows how to get in the way! He has used his body to block Navy ships headed for Vietnam and trains loaded with munitions on their way to El Salvador and Nicaragua. He has crossed borders to meet “the enemy” in East Berlin, Castro’s Cuba, and present-day Iran. He has marched with mothers confronting a violent regime in Guatemala and stood with refugees threatened by death squads in the Philippines. Waging Peace is a testament to the difference one person can make. Hartsough’s stories inspire, educate, and encourage readers to find ways to work for a more just and peaceful world. Inspired by the examples of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., Hartsough has spent his life experimenting with the power of active nonviolence. It is the story of one man’s effort to live as though we were all brothers and sisters.
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An Invitation from the Quality Life Center
Abdul’Haq Muhammad, founder of the Quality of Life Center, (the Q) has invited members of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fort Myers to attend this year's annual meeting. We at UUCFM have been involved with the Q for many years and because of our continued support, Mr Muhammad would like us to share in this happy time. It’s a special year as it has been thirty years since the Quality of Life Center was founded in 1990. Also, the construction of the Teen Center for Leadership Development was recently completed. It is impressive and so much good is being done at the Q. The meeting will be held on Saturday, January 11, 2020 at:
The Quality of Life Center
3210 Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd.
Fort Myers, FL. 33916
Parking available on Cuba Street, next to the center.
There will be a breakfast at 8:30 AM, followed by the board meeting, and an annual address covering accomplishments and problems over the last year. The morning will close with the presentation of their Legacy Wall.
I encourage people who have been around since the Q’s beginning years to come but anyone interested is welcome. Please, email me by Monday, January 6 if you plan to come so that I can give them an accurate count. email:
[email protected]
. Email is best but if necessary, call & leave a message for Fran. Phone # 617-750-0470.
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Happy Birthday!
January 2 Roy Green
January 3 Marshall Hoffman is 8!
January 3 Julie Clark Ireland
January 4 Bruce Leddy
January 4 Neil Yesu
January 6 Elyana Hutson is 17!
January 8 Margie Kolde
January 10 Ellen Erickson & James Kolde
January 15 Torben Snow is 14!
January 19 Declan Ireland is 15!
January 26 Emily Hutchinson
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UUCFM | 13411 Shire Lane Fort Myers FL 33912
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