 |
|
Spiritually Open, Intentionally Inclusive since 1958
510 N Leroux
Flagstaff, AZ 86001
928-779-4492
|
Please click on the links below to read more about Beacon's Action Plan:
|
- This Sunday at Beacon -
Sunday, April 12, 2020
Virtual Sermon
"Faithful Over a Few Things"
Rev. Robin Landerman Zucker
with music from Gabe Hernandez and Rebecca Prizznick
Blind faith? Leap of faith? Free faith? How does the word, "faith" strike you? For some, it is a poke in the eye, an uncomfortable vestige of a rigid religious past. For others, it remains a positive, re-imagined resource for moving through the joys and sorrows of life. What does it mean to be "faithful?" -- not to everything or to what we are told to be faithful to; but rather, "faithful to a few things" that truly matter to us. We are a creedless religion, but there are still things we would "give our hearts to" (the true meaning of the word "credo"). Is "faith" a word you might reclaim on your own pilgrim path? On Easter Sunday, we will explore this fertile terrain together.
Download the April 12 OOS here: PDF or Word
*You can still find the links to previous OOS in the description under the YouTube videos*
~ Please join us after the service ~
Virtual Social Hour on Zoom at 11:00 am
Or call +1 253 215 8782 and enter
Meeting ID: 675 489 291
|
|
|
Joys and Concerns
While Beacon maintains our Social Distance, please email Reverend Robin if you would like any Joys and Concerns shared with the congregation. Please submit the Joys and Concerns to
[email protected] by Thursday at 12:00 pm for inclusion in that Sunday's worship.
|
Supporting Beacon Financially
Beacon has adopted an online giving program called Vanco used by thousands of congregations across the US. It is very easy to use either for one-time or recurring donations using either a credit/debit card or you can even connect your bank account. One does not need to set up an account with Vanco to give, however if you would like receipts, to make recurring donations, or to track your donations you will need to create an account.
Please take a moment to follow think link below and give to Beacon today or after our Sunday Service:
|
|
A message from Beacon's Treasurer
In an effort to keep Beacon's accounts in order, we would like to remind the Beacon community to designate what fund their donations are directed to. Please remember to include a memo on all checks indicating whether you wish to give to our Capital Campaign, your Annual Pledge, or to the "plate" fund.
A small effort on your part helps our our Treasurer and Bookkeeper immensely.
Thanks!
|
|
Religious Exploration
We encourage Beacon families to continue Religious Exploration at home!
Religious Exploration for Children
~ Beacon At Home ~
"Horton Hears A UU: Life Lessons from Dr. Seuss"
April 12, 2020 - "Too Many Daves"
Click
here to go to our website for full lesson details including links to videos and fun activities for the whole family.
Religious Exploration for Middle Schoolers
"Building Bridges"
"Building Bridges is rocking! Five youth attended our class via Zoom last Sunday on Hinduism. WHAT an amazing religion!! The commonalities and differences with Unitarian Universalist beliefs is fascinating to consider! We are taking a break for a couple of weeks and will
meet again on Sunday, April 26 at 10:00am via Zoom. Say tuned for some questions on our new topic and a Zoom link."
Wishing everyone peace and wellness,
Religious Exploration for Adults
LUNCH WITH THE TRANSCENDENTALISTS....and Rev. Robin
"We will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds...A nation of men (sic) will for the first time exist, because each believes himself inspired by the Divine Soul which also inspires all men." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
|
|
|
Let's have lunch with the Transcendentalists! This series of brown bag virtual ZOOM gatherings with Rev Robin will offer the opportunity to get acquainted with the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Margaret Fuller, through the Skinner House "Spiritual Guides" series by Rev. Barry Andrews. Handouts of all readings and reflective questions will be provided in advance in the weekly e-news, beginning April 8. Attend any or all; drop ins welcome.
Wednesdays, 12 noon - 1:15 p.m. (come early and leave late, as desired)
(April 15, 22, 29, May 6, 13, 20)
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 733 037 2039
Resources and Handouts for April 15:
- What is Transcendentalism: (pdf)
- Henry David Thoreau at Walden
- Chapter on "Solitude and Silence" from Barry Andrews' Thoreau as Spiritual Guide (with discussion questions) - please read this before our session (pdf)
The Beacon website has other resources and activities listed for adults
here.
"OUR WHOLE LIVES" at BEACON UU CONGREGATION
Real World Sexuality Education for Young People
OWL has been postponed until in person meetings are once again possible. For attendees of the 2020 OWL Program, please keep an eye on your email box for updates from the coordinators.
|
|
Life at a Distance
Weekly Web Hangout for Middle/High School Youth
Feeling bored, lonely, flooded with online schoolwork? Need a break from making Tik Toks and staring at a wall? We know this is a tough time for kids and families and are here to support. Andy Hogg and Grace Ditsworth will provide a weekly guided conversation for middle and high school age youth about keeping yourself and your family safe during the Coronavirus. We'll talk through how you're feeling and what can make the best of the time that we have, together and apart.
First session: Wednesday, April 15, 6:00-7:00PM. Event will be held over Zoom (video) and/or phone.
Zoom Meeting Password: TogetherUU
|
|
Our Caring Connections
Please complete this Survey to let Beacon know how we can help and/or what you can offer to members of our community during this difficult time.
Confidential Pastoral care is available to all members and friends, new and longstanding. Our Caring Circle works with our minister to offer support, practical assistance, and companionship. Please let us know (through our team, staff, musical or affinity groups) of needs for a listening ear and caring connections. Contact Rev. Robin or Dorothy Rissel at
[email protected]
|
|
Beacon Stewardship
NEEDS YOUR HELP
Pledges needed to sustain Beacon through the end of June 2021 have fallen far short of what is needed. Job losses and fear of health risks are creating an environment of uncertainty. Stewardship is more than fundraising, it is also taking care of each other and supporting each other in times like this. Our focus now is in staying connected while social distancing. This newsletter offers a few ways to do just that. Please reach out to ask for or to offer support. Let this be your commitment to Beacon and if possible, ensure that our congregational home and the place where we seek our vision of a welcoming and loving community can continue.
Our
Beacon stewardship
for 2018 -19 had an estimated income $169,237 of which $131,840 came from pledges. Last summer Beacon passed a budget for 2019-20 with total expected income of $155,710 of which $120,010 was from pledges. The drop has been covered this year by cuts to some programs and delays in hiring replacements. It was hoped that
our annual campaign for
2020-21 would restore support for our programs and staff. However, we have currently received pledges for
$92,305
and will need to continue the campaign until we have enough pledges to sustain Beacon.
Members of Beacon who have not yet pledged and friends of Beacon who may wish to pledge should have received a letter with a pledge form in the mail. If you did not receive a pledge form click
here
to download one.
Alternatively, you may email the amount of your annual pledge for FY 21 to
Dennis at
[email protected]
or Ben at
[email protected]
. We can attach your email to a pledge form to be signed later.
Thank you all so much for supporting our Beacon community.
Dennis Spurlin
Stewardship Co-chair
|
|
Spotlight this Week!
Connect with UUs far and wide:
worship services (including ours!), vespers, learning programs, film screenings with discussions, social justice meet-ups, online potlucks, and small group gatherings. You can search date, category, venue, and organizer. Check the time zone to be sure to show up at the scheduled time.
|
~ Monthly Touchstone Theme: God/The Divine ~
~If you enjoy the Touchstones Journal, here's a virtual event you may wish to attend~
Touchstone Vespers at First Unitarian Church of Rochester, NY
Every Wednesday 7:00 - 8:00 PM EST (4-5 PM Arizona time)
Details and Zoom links at:
Other ongoing UU small spiritual exploration groups that will be meeting virtually are listed on the www.communitynowuu.org website, such as:
- Sanctuary Boston small group gatherings on Mondays 3:30-5:30 PM (Arizona time)
- UU Wellspring online - two hour sessions meeting every other week, beginning April 7. 4-6 PM (Arizona time)
|
|
Chalice Circles
Our own Virtual Beacon Chalice Circles will take place on
Sunday, April 26 at 12 noon and Tuesday, April 28 at 7 PM.
ZOOM links and a small group discussion guide will be posted in the e-news on April 22.
All are welcome!
The theme for April is God/The Divine. This month's Touchstones journal link can be found here.
Touchstones Chalice Circles are designed to meet our needs for belonging (intimacy) and meaning (ultimacy) by building friendships and providing opportunities to ponder life's questions, small and large, with others who share the common values of our UU Principles. All are welcome.
Chalice Circle continues to meet on the 4th Sunday & Tuesday of each month. Discussion examines subjects as provided in the monthly journal of Unitarian Universalism,
Touchstones.
To meet the needs of the congregation, we have made attendance open.
For further information contact Char Tarashanti or Lynda L. Dorweiler at
[email protected]
|
|
UUA General Assembly
Providence, RI. June 24-28, 2020
Rooted, Inspired & Ready!
We are in touch with our theological roots, we are engaged in transforming our faith and we are fired up to take action in the wider world. Featuring Naomi Klein, 2020 Ware Lecturer.
|
|
UU Justice Arizona Network
UUJAZ has several ongoing campaigns that we would encourage members to look into and contribute to.
Petition for Compassionate Release
Following the lead of groups of UUs organizing in Ohio, New York, California, Chicago and Boston, we in Arizona are calling for compassionate release of those in detention centers and prisons. Our UU values call us to recognize the inherent worth and dignity of all people. No one deserves to die in a cage from a preventable virus, yet those who are incarcerated lack the cleaning and personal care, space, and medical care, to stay protected from Covid-19. We remember that Anne Frank didn't die in a gas chamber, rather from a communicable illness in a crowded detention center. Future generations will ask us what we did in this time. Let's be people we can be proud of.
Mutual Aid Pods
Mutual Aid is simply neighbors being neighbors... folks who have a need, ask; and folks who can fulfill it, offer. There are already pods organizing on Facebook for the Phoenix Metro Area, for Tucson, and Prescott is sharing resources through the Quad-city Interfaith Council. ANYONE can start a mutual aid network... it can be as small as your block (I started one in my apartment complex last week). Here are some easy instructions. For caring
teams and neighborhood groups: what it would look like to expand your relationships to non-UU neighbors?
We want to be the people who lived our values out loud, reached beyond our walls, and walked our talk for justice.
CARES Act support for Non-Profit Partners
Are there UUs who can read through paperwork for applying for a non-profit forgivable loan (basically an emergency grant) from the government through the CARES Act that was recently passed? It will provide money for payroll and health benefits, so it is the difference between keeping folks fighting for justice, or leaving them without jobs. It doesn't take specific prior knowledge, just the willingness to read and fill out forms. If so, please contact Janine [email protected]: we have several partner groups needing help in staying afloat in this critical time.
|
|
Camp de Benneville Pines
In response to public health concerns, UU Camp de Benneville Pines has waived their $75 non-refundable deposit for camp registration. Camp de Benneville Pines offers a variety of family, youth and adult camps throughout the summer and fall in the mountains of southern California.
Registration for Summer and Fall of 2020 opens on April 1st. You can register
here.
|
|
Flag Friends
Anne Wittke is in charge of a group called FlagFriends, that she and another person took over from Joy Danfin. This group encourages local folks from Flagstaff to make friends with foreign students attending NAU for anywhere from a semester to 4 years, and the students have a wide range of interests, from hiking, chess, traveling, music, to you name it.
Flagfriends.org is a website that students and hosts sign up on, so potential hosts can browse the list of students and propose matches. Students can't see anything unless someone proposes a match, so your private information is protected. The website does have some shortcomings, but I much prefer that to having to match students and hosts by hand! I just need to find more interested hosts so the students don't spend all their time here unmatched.
To sign up, go to the website, fill in the forms, and respond to the automatic email to verify your address. We have gotten a number of new students signed up this week.
|
|
|
Virtual Worship
Sunday, April 12, 2020
10:00 am - 11:00 am
|
Virtual Social Hour
Sunday, April 12, 2020
11:00 am
|
Lunch with the Transcendentalists
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
12:00 pm - 1:15 pm
|
Core Leadership Committee Meeting
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
|
If you would like to submit a calendar event, send an email to
[email protected]
. With all requests, please indicate the following: proposed start and end time of the event, the space/room preferred, and a rough group size. On the occasion of a cancellation or rescheduling of an event, please let the office know in a timely fashion to ensure that your event is correctly represented in the newsletter and order of service. Thank you!
|
|
Everyday Ways to Support Beacon UU
1.
When you go to
Fry's
grocery store, use the Beacon phone number (
928 779 4492
) as the Alternate ID when it asks for it at the beginning of checkout, and you will get shopping discounts for Fry's members, as well as donating a percentage of your expenditure to Beacon. You can also sign up for an individual account if you prefer that, or want to take advantage of the gasoline discounts. You have to pick Beacon as your beneficiary when you set up your own account.
2.
If you shop on Amazon, please use "Amazon Smile"
and choose Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation (do not abbreviate UU) as your recipient. We will receive a 0.5% for every purchase and that can add up! Remember that you have to start each shopping session at
smile.amazon.com
for us to receive the donation.
3. Another online fundraiser is
igive.com.
Once again, create your own account with a user name and password, then select settings, my cause, and type in Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation
(do not abbreviate UU)
. Then you can order from any of the hundreds of organizations listed under igive. There are also coupons listed online you can use when ordering from some organizations.
4.
Basha's has a special debit card that you can charge up before shopping, and a portion of what goes through the debit card gets donated to Beacon because that card is tied to Beacon. Ask Anne Wittke for further information.
Have other ideas for our income incubator? leave them on a card in the bin in the lobby, or send them to Rev. Robin.
|
~
Beacon Office Hours & Contacts
~
Office Phone (928) 779-4492
Minister,
Rev. Robin Zucker
Mon: 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
Wed: 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Thurs: 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Or by appointment:
978-505-7245 - talk and text (confidential line)
|
Director of RE
Our engaging programs for all ages continue while
we search for a new Religious Exploration Director.
Rev. Robin can answer your RE questions.
|
Office Manager,
Ben Jefferies
Mon: 9:00 am - 2:00 pm
Wed: 9:00 am - 2:00 pm
Thurs: 9:00 am - 2:00 pm
|
|
~
Unitarian Universalist Seven Principles
~
Unitarian Universalist congregations affirm and promote seven Principles, which we hold as strong values and moral guides. We live out these Principles within a "living tradition" of wisdom and spirituality, drawn from
sources
as diverse as science, poetry, scripture, and personal experience.
Learn more at beaconuu.com!
|
The Beacon website has gotten more of the right kind of attention lately. A slight increase in registrations by NAU and Flagstaff folks is perhaps the result of our increased presence on YouTube. We also have an increase in the number of registrations from scammers and spammers. I am thankful for the online services available for identifying hacker IPs so they may be removed from our site. I am also thankful for new content on our website provided by Rev. Robin and Ben Jefferies. Beaconuu.com is a happening place. Check it out and register if you have not already.
Dennis Spurlin
|
If you are not on Beacon's exclusive Google group, you are missing out on an important communications link within our congregation. It is useful for spreading information about something going on in Flagstaff, informing others of social action activities, offering an item for sale or to give away, sharing enthusiasm about a book or movie, requesting information or recommendations -- and more! It's simple to sign up! Email our Office Manager, at
[email protected] or Visit:
https://groups.google.com/d/forum/uuflag
|
|
Contribute to Beacon's Weekly News
Newsletter submissions must be submitted by
Wednesday at 4:00 pm to
[email protected]
in order to be included in the newsletter.
|
|
|
|
|
|
