Sunday, October 22 at 10 a.m.

FUUSB Climate Change Response Team

Geoff Duke, Worship Associate

"Sustaining Our Future with a Sustainable Building"

The photo below shows how the Meeting House looked in the early to mid-19th century. Did you know that the vestibule and the Sanctuary of the Meeting House were built from the foundation to the steeple in only eight months? But how can that be? Because of climate change. As part of this month’s topic of Heritage, we will tie the fact that our building was born out of climate change to the fact that we can constructively respond to climate change as a congregation. The FUUSB’s Climate Change Response Team has been working diligently for four years to develop a strategy for how to get the Meeting House and three other buildings on our campus off of fossil fuels. In this service, the Climate Change Response Team will be sharing reflections on our Meeting House, past and present, in terms of energy sources, energy conservation, and what we can do in the 21st century to reduce our contribution of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, and position our campus for a fossil fuel free future.

Join us for worship in person in the Sanctuary, or online. The livestream link and order of service will be shared at bit.ly/FUUSBWorship, or visit our YouTube channel.

Following the service, all are welcome to Coffee Hour, either outside in front of the Meeting House or in the Community Room, depending on weather.

While at the Meeting House, anyone is welcome to wear a mask. In the spirit of caring for each other, please stay home if you have any cold or flu symptoms. Thank you.

Sunday Service Timing

Rev. Karen G. Johnston, Senior Minister

Several people have asked Rev. Karen what time they can expect a typical Sunday service to be over. The content of our Sunday services fills 70 minutes, so we ask that all FUUSBers anticipate that most services will conclude around 11:10. We have coordinated this with Faith Development classes, which aim to end at 11:20 - Parents are much appreciated in holding off on picking up their kiddos until that time.

Here is the video link for last Sunday's service:

October 15, 2023 FUUSB Worship Service

Climate Justice Team Presentation

Mary Andrews, Climate Justice Team

Presentation on Proposed Expansion of the McNeil Wood-Burning Plant



The Climate Justice Team (CJT) is sponsoring a presentation on Sunday, October 22 at 11:30 a.m. in the Whitney Young, Jr. Room on potential impacts of expanding the McNeil Generating Station, including impacts on health, economy, forest, and climate.  

The McNeil plant, located in the Burlington Intervale, produces electricity by burning wood chips from our forests. Burlington Electric Department is proposing an expansion of the power plant to pipe steam heat to UVM Medical Center. Burlington City Council will need to approve an expansion. 

The CJT believes UVM should prioritize our health and climate, using a networked geothermal heat pump system for a local solution to our statewide clean heat goals. 

Please join us to learn more about this issue and how you can take action, whether you live in Burlington or beyond. 

Join Our Youth Group!

Rowan Van Ness, Director of Youth & Emerging Adult Ministries

Calling all high school youth! Come join us for fun, community, pizza, and a place to explore bigger questions. We meet on Tuesday nights from 6-8 p.m. and monthly on a Sunday afternoon. On Sunday, October 22 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., we'll be carving pumpkins and engaging in other Halloween fun - Let Rowan know if you can come! ([email protected])

Art Exhibits at FUUSB

Nina Dahlstedt Buss

Did you know that we’re again exhibiting members’ artwork in the Arc Gallery onHouse? I currently have several small nature-inspired watercolors hanging there and I invite you to go up and take a look next time you’re in the Meeting House. 

We’d like to show member artwork in the gallery on a regular basis and we have a new hanging system that makes it very easy. If you have some artwork (any medium, two dimensional) you’d like to show, please email Nina here. 

New Tuesday Daytime Theme Circle

Gail Beck, Sharing Circles

This month's Daytime Theme Circle will be held on October 24 at the Meeting House. It will be meeting on the 4th Tuesday of each month, 2-4 p.m.

Theme Circles meet at the Meeting House, once per month for two hours, to discuss, explore and reflect upon our monthly spiritual theme. 

Each circle is led by a trained facilitator and follows a program outlined in the monthly guide called The Path. This publication (which is available to everyone in the congregation) includes readings, thought-provoking questions and additional resources that help participants clarify their thoughts and feelings about the monthly theme.

For more information about or to sign up for Theme Circles, please email [email protected].

Sunday, October 29 - Winter Socks, Hats, & Gloves Collection

Elizabeth Logan, Meeting House Grounds Group 

On October 29, our Sunday service will mark the one-year anniversary since the start of the Sunday Morning Breakfast ministry. We invite you to bring something from the list below. Please keep items with you in the pews, as the youth will be collecting them during the service. For those of us who attend virtually, please email the Meeting House Grounds Group ([email protected]) to coordinate pick-up/drop-off.

All items can be new or gently used (no holes, tears or stains): Warm socks, winter hats, and winter gloves.

Fill the Gap Update

Christina Fulton, Director of Operations & Finance

On Sunday, October 15, we held a special Text2Give event at the end of the worship service. The event was emceed by Peter Clavelle and Kameron McConnell, with wonderful music featuring Stephen Rainville singing "Pennies from Heaven." We all learned how to Text2Give by texting Steeple to 73256, and were also given the chance to give cash or checks.  

The response was phenomenal! The gifts were coming in so fast that I could hardly keep up with the total. When all was said and done, we had over 70 gifts and we raised $7,500 with two matching gifts of $500 each, for a grand total of $8,500! Thank you so much to everyone who participated.  

This fundraiser was part of the Board Supported Income line of the budget, which we are calling Fill the Gap. When this congregation voted for the 2023/24 Budget, we all agreed to raise an additional $47K to meet our budget needs. This Text2Give event was the first of many opportunities you will have to help raise this money. The Fill the Gap Fund will be a giving fund listed in Realm for the entire year; you may contribute to this fund at any time. Keep your eyes and ears open for more exciting events!

Rev. Karen G. Johnston, Senior Minister

Please join us for our annual Service of Loss & Remembrance on Wednesday, November 1 from 7 – 8 p.m. You can attend in person in the Sanctuary or virtually via Zoom. If attending in person, you are invited to bring a photo of any loved one to place on the high chancel. If attending by Zoom, you will be able to enter the names of loved ones in the chat so that we can include them as well. This is a service to give space and shape to all kinds of grief – when someone in our life dies, when there is a change we are struggling with, when someone needs a sacred space to experience communal comfort. Our choir will be singing. This service is open to the wider community (don’t we all have a need to grieve?), so please feel free to invite those whom you think might benefit from this.

Service of Loss & Remembrance Zoom link:

https://bit.ly/3Qa5U1Q

Grief Group

Grief is unescapable. It sits in our pews. Congregation members, in the last few years, have lost many loved ones. The holidays can be an especially challenging time.

First UU is offering a small group, for those who have experienced a loss in the last two years, to share the journey, support each other, and gather skills for healing.

It will be held the following five Tuesdays: November 7, 14, 28, December 5, and January 9, from 7:00-8:30 p.m. via Zoom.

If you have questions or wish to sign up, email the co-facilitators, Judy Brook here or Geoff Duke here.

Giving Through an IRA: Qualified Charitable Deductions

Christina Fulton, Director of Operations & Finance

Did you know that people who are 70½ or older and who have an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) have the option to donate to FUUSB through a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD)? Consider these factors (and talk with your tax and/or financial advisor) when deciding whether a QCD is right for you:

• The IRS allows donors 70½ or older to transfer up to $100,000 directly from their IRA to charity each calendar year.
• Beginning in the year you turn 73, you can use your gift to satisfy all or part of your required minimum distribution.
• You pay no income tax on amounts you donate using a QCD. The transfer generates neither taxable income nor a tax deduction, so you can benefit even if you do not itemize deductions on your tax return.
• You can make an outright gift to FUUSB or make a payment on an existing pledge.

To donate via QCD, contact your IRA plan administrator and specify that you want to make an IRA Qualified Charitable Distribution. If you have any questions contact Christina at [email protected].

Seeking Adult Nursery/Childcare Staff

(Paid Position)

Rowan Van Ness, Director of Youth & Emerging Adult Ministries



We are looking for responsible adults to help staff our Nursery (ages 0-3) on Sunday mornings and occasionally provide childcare at other times. Must be able to provide safe and warm care for the youngest amongst us and support our high school youth who also provide nursery and childcare. We try to maintain a robust list, so that we can cover all of our needs. Please be in touch with Rowan at [email protected] for more information and to apply.

Rev. Karen on Study Leave

Rev. Karen is away on study leave October 16 - 22. Study leave is one of the ways our Senior Minister replenishes and recharges. While on study leave, should a pastoral emergency arise, please reach out to Christina.

Erika's & Rowan's Schedules

Rev. Karen G. Johnston, Senior Minister



Both Rowan and Erika are working on behalf of the FUUSB faith development program, yet will be doing so away from FUUSB. Erika is attending the fall conference for professional religious educators and is away October 11-18, not responding to emails until her return (and even then, give her a little time to catch up). Rowan is away at a ministerial retreat this week. Both will be back on Sunday, October 22.

Are You Sick? Please, Stay Home.

Christina Fulton, Director of Operations & Finance

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it's to monitor our symptoms and stay home when we are sick. If you haven't been to the Meeting House lately, you may be surprised to know that we've had nearly 200 people in the building on Sundays. Our congregation is filled with people who are at varying risks of catching COVID and/or the flu. So we ask that you follow this advice from the CDC.

1. If you have any of the common Flu Symptoms or the common COVID Symptoms, please stay home.  
2. If you have been exposed to COVID but have no symptoms, please stay masked in the building.
3. If you have tested positive for COVID, please isolate.

Remember, staying home doesn't mean you will miss the Worship Service; you can always watch the live-streamed service. And meetings can be held via Zoom, by scheduling a Zoom link with Mary. 

While at the Meeting House, anyone is welcome to wear a mask. They can be found in the wall dispensers at both entrances.

Thank you!