InfoNet: News & Updates
July 10, 2020
"Home is Where the Heart Is"

   Join the Virtual Coffee Hour for further discussion via Zoom after the
Sunday Service (11am or so), Zoom Meeting Link

 Check out our Virtual Gatherings & Worship Services page for more information about the programs we are using to bring UUSP to you
including our Meditation Sessions and our RE Lessons!

Click here for our July 5, 2020 Sunday Service
This Week at a Glance:
  Tuesday : 8am Weekly **Meditation reading, "Declarations: Wollstonecraft & Jefferson" After Pride" UUSP Meditations YouTube Channel
Tuesday: Zoom Lunchtime Check-in/Chat 12:pm ( Summer Schedule August 4).
Wednesday: July 29 * Zoom Discussion Adult Religious Studies: Albert Camus', the Plague, translated by Stuart Gilbert Summer Schedule
Thursday: Zoom* Citizen's Cafe' 12:00pm ( Summer Schedule - will meet July 30 & August 27) .
Many covenant groups and committees are meeting virtually; contact your group leader for details.
*Zoom links will be sent to all regularly and on the website.
Email Pastor Jack directly to be added or removed from the distribution list.
Building a Community in a Pandemic E-vents
There are no scheduled events this week but YOU can remedy that by hosting or co-hosting a discussion, worship, cultural experience, craft-making, cooking, learning.....possibilities are endless.
Please contact  Sabine  to schedule an e-vent.

Pastor Jack's Weekly Message
Dear Friends,

I’m on two of the four weeks of Study Leave that the minister gets each year to plan and prepared for the new church year. But I’m staying in touch and am available by phone, email, text or personal visit anytime..

Just a quick thought: You may have noticed the centering reading for this week’s UUSP YouTube meditation was not, as publicized, from Mary Wollstonecraft, Thomas Jefferson or Frederick Douglass as were shared in the Independence Day Sunday service. Instead, the centering reading was the epitaph of a gravestone that stands in the Old Hill Burial Ground in Concord, Massachusetts. I have a rubbing of it in the church office.

Religious Education
Wednesday Zoom Adult Religious Studies Book Discussions
July 29, 2020, 10:00am & 7:00pm

Wednesday Adult Religious Studies Discussions For the Summer: Please note we are holding only one Wednesday Book Discussion Zoom meeting per month in July and August.   For July 29, it’s Nobel laureate Albert Camus’  The Plague , an inspiring reverent novel about humans in pandemic .   Click here for August reading and More...
Children's Religious Education:
July 12, 2020
Check out some great information in the weekly newsletter
What? - you aren't receiving it?
Please contact RE@UUStPete.org
 and click on the picture to the Left .
For this weeks' lesson from Ms. Trish and Ms. Jeanay, click on the recording box below.
This month’s theme for Religious Education is  Family

Sabbath Space Week 5

To build a place that helps us remember what is important, nourishing and sacred in our lives.
Contemplative Meditation Readings
(Moving to Tuesday)

**How to do Mindful Meditation
  1. Set your alarm for 5 to 40 minutes;
  2. Sit erect, breathe deeply once or twice to relax;
  3. Watch your breathing ease to normal, observing breath come and go;
  4. Count in cycles of ten breaths if it helps you keep observing – or repeat a “sacred” word for focus (e.g., peace, grace, life, thanks, care, see, being);
  5. If deep focus is lost to extraneous thought, feeling, or sensation, note it simply as “thought” or “feeling” or “sensation” and return to your breath or word;
  6. Sometimes, for deeper peace, try shifting attention to consciousness itself or to your sense of being.
  7. When your timer goes off, remain awake.
UUSP Community
Jeanay Johnson is UUSP's New Communications Coordinator
We’re so pleased to announce the appointment of  Jeanay Johnson  as our new 5-hour/week Communications Coordinator. She will focus on building online engagement, developing content in collaboration with staff & congregation members, supporting the work of the committee, and looking for opportunities to help us stay connected and reach new audiences.

Congratulations, Jeanay! We are so happy that you are here!
Our New uustpete.org   Website
On June 29, we introduced our  new user-friendly website  using a UUA WordPress template with content provided by congregation members. Calendar and member directory functions are included; document storage functions will be added later this summer. Content will be managed by our webmaster Amy Putkonen and designated content providers (typically committee chairs).

A big thanks to Amy, who led this team effort... it literally took a village to pull it off.  Email Amy  with your comments and questions .

Thanks to Website team members: Amy Putkonen, Alan Frolich and Michael Killoren... and to Morgan Gresham and Michael Pohl who managed and hosted our old website for many years.

The UUA General Assembly Sunday Worship Service Remains Online at UUA.ORG/GA/2020. Excellent talks by UU ministers Mykal Slack and Joan Javier-Duval, as well as a superb rendition of “We Are” by Isaye Barnwell and choir.  Highly recommended to hear the call of our movement.

Staying Connected With Pastor Jack & Staff
Pastor’s Open-Air Office Hours:   :   For those experiencing a serious sense of isolation, you are welcome to contact Pastor Jack (352-327-6166)  to arrange a visit online or in the open air at the church.

For members with mobility limitations , upon request, he will be glad to visit with you at any open-air location (eg, backyards, porches, local parks).

Our UUSP staff members will continue their duties in a safe, cautious manner to the fullest degree possible. Our Church Office Administrator is now working from home and can be reached at officeuustpete.org@gmail.com .

During this challenging time, may we remember that we need to pay close attention to how everybody is doing and how we can help.   
Resources within UUSP
Joys/Concerns & Helping One Another: Share those joys you are having during this time of separation, as they will help us all feel the light. You may also have concerns. Just reach out to Pastor Jack or Patti Hanks, Care Committee so we can help lift you up or lift those that may need it through a message at Sunday Service or just to talk to them.
 
Our past UUSP Sermons are available on UUSP's website
For some of our services prior to the COVID-19 changes, Click the Worship menu and choose Past Worship services. All services are now on YouTube. All Services from mid-March - current will now be on our UUSP YouTube Channel .
Thank you for your interest in UU St. Petersburg!
From me to you and to those around you Stay Safe and Stay Well!

Kelli DeGraw, part of your Communications Team.
Feedback and suggestions are welcome (pubs@uustpete.org).
Our mission is to be an inclusive , evolving religious community that inspires spiritual and intellectual growth to make our world a better place .