You are welcome here! Interested in learning more about the congregation, our faith, and our community? Would you like to join with us for online Sunday worship services? We invite you to check us out! Contact us here or email Sheri.

Join our Partner Church Committee for an unforgettable evening of musical entertainment featuring a concert by virtuoso pianist Shuai Wang, with special guest Dr. Clif Hardin, livestreamed from the RRUUC sanctuary! The program is FREE with suggested donations to benefit our decades-long partnerships with Unitarian congregations in Fiatfalva, Transylvania & Mawblang, N.E. India, where RRUUC supports educational programs benefiting communities in need. To receive the link to the live Zoom performance, please REGISTER BY FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23 at: http://bit.ly/PartnerFest28.

New Time, 9am!

Each Sunday, we join with folks from Cedar Lane UU Congregation for an informal drop-in information session before the service. Each Sunday focuses on a different aspect of our shared tradition. Drop in to any one, at any time. This Sunday, Membership and Congregational Life. Please contact Sheri to receive the Zoom link for this program.

The Gardener will assist one family at a time during a 30-60 minute masked, socially-distanced outing to harvest and sow in the RRUUC garden. You don’t have to have kids to sign up! This program is approved by the RRUUC Covid-19 committee, and sponsored by the Earth Ministry and Religious Education. To schedule a visit for any day/time, email Walter at Garden@rruuc.org.

Grounding: Pre-Peak

The grounds are beginning to show the beginning of a colorful fall. Read Joe's Grounding blog this week: https://www.rruuc.org/connect/grounding/.

Hugh Abrams-Helde, a former Montgomery County Election Judge and self-professed current election nerd, and our Go-Vote 2020 team have put together an incredible resource in a Voting Logistics Guide. This easy set of steps can help you make your voting plan if you haven't yet, and remind you of your plan if it's already underway. Our Covid Team also recommends that we take a look at the CDC guidelines for protecting your health and the community as we vote during the pandemic. You can also find more voting tips for Marylanders here.

Harvest the Power Week of Action, October 21-27

Join nearly 1000 Unitarian Universalists in committing to join UU the VOTE’s Harvest the Power Week of Action for a final push to get out the vote. There is a different event planned for each day of the week. To learn about actions you can participate in, including phone banks and virtual rallies, go to: https://www.uuthevote.org/harvest-the-power-week-of-action/.

Tell your U.S. Senators to demand that the EPA address the unjust burden of climate change and pollution on frontline communities. UUSJ provides talking points, a sample letter, and a new online letter. Go to http://uusj.net/wp1/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/WHWN-Handout-10_20-Environmental-Action.pdf.

Our Partner Church Program supports RRUUC’s two partner churches in Fiatfalva, Romania, and Khasi Hills, India. Resources from abroad, including from RRUUC, have been essential in keeping the Unitarian movement alive in Transylvania, where it originated. In India, resources are used to support the salary of three teachers at the Unitarian School in Mawblang. Please support our Partner Church Program on Sun., Oct. 25 during the service's Extend the Offering and throughout the month by contributing online or through check donations to RRUUC (designate Partner Church). Also, please join us for the Sat., Oct. 24 PartnerFest!

Engaging Communities, Food Distribution with Clifton Park Baptist Church

Racial liberation - for blacks and whites - begins with relationships, like those many of us are forming with people of color at Clifton Park Baptist Church. They’ve invited us to work alongside them as we distribute food to their nearby community. Contact your Engaging Communities team to learn about participation and scheduling needs.

As part of our ongoing commitment to the activists who are interrupting gun violence on the streets of our cities, we are saddened yet honored to memorialize the names of those in our area lost to gun violence over the week. These lives continue to matter: Baltimore: Marcus Parks, Jerome Jefferson Jr., Shamall Roundheart, Rico Benton, Daniel Brewer, Tyrek Harvin, four names not released; Columbia: Juan Michael Ross; District of Columbia: Darnell Mack, Simmeon Williams, Marcus Nelson, Eugene Miller, Yisa Jeffcoat, Michael Bright, Bobby Plummer, Demetri Harvin, Alexander Nwogu; Hyattsville: Talante Brown; Lanham: Tavon Davis. Every life lost to gun violence shatters the world for each of us, and every life saved by those who interrupt the violence helps knit us back together.

For other RRUUC social justice events and programming, go to the Social Justice Calendar.

Film Salon Documentary & Discussion, The Ruins of Lifta, Oct. 18, 3pm, Zoom

Panelists include filmmaker Menachem Daum; Hebrew University of Jerusalem law professor and Save Lifta Coalition coordinator, Daphna Golan; and Washington University in St. Louis professor Angela Miller. View the film first, then join the salon. Register at TinyURL.com/VFHLoctober2020. Co-sponsors: St. Louis Friends of Bethlehem and VoicesFromTheHolyLand.org.