Weekly E-News, September 24, 2020

Above: Members of our Tech Team film Musical Elements for our Service

This Week's Service

Sunday, September 27, 10:30 AM

The Days of Awe: Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur

*Please have a candle ready for the Centering and Reflection part of the service. We will light our candles together.

Join Zoom Meeting Sunday at 10:30am

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89150482747

Meeting ID: 891 5048 2747

Password: chalice

Or, follow the link on our webpage for audio only: uucfm.org

Thank You to Sunday's Participants:

Reverend Roger Grugel, Guest Minister

Suellen Kipp, Director of Music

Helen Leddy, Worship Associate

Walter Peterson, Tech Lead

Lesley Peterson, Musician and Tech Team Member

Mark Brandon, Tech Team Member

Jill Carville, Tech Team Coordinator

UU Dialogues Continue this Sunday!

After our virtual service each week we have been going to breakout rooms to chat. This is working very well, and we will continue with the breakout rooms. Now we are adding a new option. We will have a space for UU Dialogues right after the service. To participate in UU Dialogues, just stay in the main zoom meeting and do not accept the breakout room invitation that pops up.

We will show a video for newcomers, obtain contact information from guests and visitors, have a general Q&A session, have guest speakers and musicians from the service, and most importantly, participate in intentional dialogue. All are welcome to attend this session.

September Community Sharing

LIFE (Lee Interfaith for Empowerment) is a group of Lee County, Florida congregations coming together based upon our shared value of justice. Their welcoming statement reads in part, "We celebrate today and every day our differences- we speak, pray, and think differently and we welcome each other’s authentic expressions of faith. We do this because we know that bringing diverse congregations together allows us to collectively and more effectively address the issues that face our community. LIFE for justice, justice for life." Current issues include establishing an Affordable Housing Trust Fund to create $3 million of revenue to use each year for housing for those making less than 60% of Area Median Income; addressing the over 200 babies on a waitlist for childcare vouchers; and following up after our state bill was passed requiring law enforcement to document why certain children are arrested, rather than issued a civil citation. LIFE is funded by member congregations and by individual members who make this work possible.

UUCFM Hosts Virtual House Meeting for LIFE

All congregation members are invited to join us as we share our stories and answer the following questions:

-When is the last time you felt righteous indignation? Who were you angry for and why?

-What systems are impacting your life or the life of family or friends? (Criminal justice? Healthcare? Education? Any?)

We are gearing up for our 10 th year of justice work and need to hear from you! LIFE is growing with several new congregations, more issue work, and an upcoming new focus area. Make sure the voices of UUCFM are heard.

Virtual Zoom Meeting: Wednesday, October 14th at 7:00 PM.

Topic: UUCFM Justice Ministry LIFE Meeting

Time: Oct 14, 2020 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/3729424134?pwd=NGdQOGZWQmJmMG5tQmxmNTF3UUE3UT09

Meeting ID: 372 942 4134

Passcode: Justice

UUCFM Members and Friends

We want YOU to submit your thoughts, memories, and words of wisdom from your time in the military serving your country. Or, you might speak about one of your favorite veterans in your family. You can shoot the video from your phone and submit to the church office at [email protected]. If you need help with tech, call the office at 561-2700. The fabulous UUCFM Tech Team will be creating a tribute to our veterans for a November service.

Please submit your Veteran Videos from now up and until October 15th. Please title your email video submission "Veteran Video" to help us keep track of all submissions.

Thank you for your help!

Suellen Kipp

Director of Music

Enhancing Our Website

My name is Lesley Peterson. Not only am I currently serving as the President of the Board of Trustees, I’m also the website developer who created our church’s website, uucfm.org. As our congregation has experienced so many changes over the last few months, it was time to do a number of updates to our website. These updates included providing more information about our virtual services, our online groups and activities, and our lay led services and leadership. But I also want to make you aware of some exciting enhancements to the website!

First, we now have an easy to use toolbar that allows individuals with vision impairments to be able to read the website more easily. Options include making fonts larger or smaller, line spacing farther or closer, even a font designed to make reading easier for those with dyslexia. There is also an option for text-to-speech, so that the words on the website page can be read to you! These changes are fully WCAG (Website Content Accessibility Guidelines) compliant. These enhancements are intended to make our website an easy and friendly resource for our visually impaired members and website visitors.

The other change is a selection tool that allows you to pick which language in which you’d like to read the website. There is a large list of languages available with accurate translations. And, in combination with the text-to-speech feature mentioned above, you can now have the web pages read to you in any of the wide selection of available languages. UUCFM’s website is now officially multi-lingual! This is just another way for us to offer inclusivity to our visitors.

To watch a video showing how to use these new features, please visit:

http://uucfm.org/images/videos/Website_Upgrades_Visual_Multilingual.mp4

UUCFM Online Classes & Groups

New Connection Circle

A Connection Circle is forming and you are invited to join! This Connection Circle will be co-facilitated by Mary Cline Golbitz and Leslie Gatto.This circle is open to all members, friends, and guests. No matter where you are, you are welcome to Zoom in. This is a covenanted group where confidentiality is protected.

We will share in compassionate dialogue about the topic of the day in order to get to know each other on a deep and meaningful level and grow personally and spiritually.

We will meet from 1:00-2:30 on the following Mondays: October 5 & 19, November 2, 16 & 30 and December 14. Participants are asked to attend all sessions. For more information and to register, contact Leslie Gatto at 239-850-9664 or [email protected]

Caloosahatchee Mindfulness

Our book group has completed the reading of White Fragility. On Wednesday, September 30 at 1 p.m., we will begin a study of Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson, the author of The Warmth of Other Suns.

"Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings."

We are now meeting on Wednesday from 1-2:30 p.m. on Zoom. For more information and to join, contact Helen Leddy at [email protected].

The UUCFM Book Club

The Wednesday Book Club will be continuing its consideration of Marjory Stoneham Douglas’ The Everglades: River of Grass with a discussion of Chapters 4 through 7. We meet on Zoom Wednesdays at 1:00 PM. If you’re joining for the first time, please email Mary Studer at [email protected] and she will send you the link to Zoom.

New Group

What do you want to be, have, or do, this lifetime, in 3 years, 3 months? Join a group of up to 8 people to support and encourage one another in realizing your dreams. Set up goal of 3 years, 3 months, and step to take in 3 weeks.

Goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic,Time based.

Based on the book called Teamworks by Barbara Sher available online for about $5. Email Frances Pake for more information: [email protected]

Social Justice

South Fort Myers Food Pantry

The board and volunteers at the Food Pantry say thank you for the food that you have dropped off during these very difficult months.

The best times to drop off food are 9 AM or 4 PM on Monday at the pantry itself, located at 8260 Cypress Lake Drive, Fort Myers in the back of the Cypress Lake Presbyterian Church. Any size donation will be accepted. Most needed foods are peanut butter & jelly, cereal, breakfast bars, canned fruits and vegetables, pasta and tomato sauce, protein-rich soups and beans. Please, no glass containers.

Caring Network

If you or another member of the Congregation needs some extra attention during this time, your Pastoral Care Committee is here to help as much as we can while keeping us all safe and protected. Our Committee members include Mary Faegre, Joan Hickok, Mary Tracy-Sigman, Patricia Vivier-Naidl, Holley Rauen and Suzanne Ziemer.

If any members of the Congregation are available to help during this crisis, please contact Mary Golbitz.

We can connect with you individually by phone if you are feeling isolated and offer other assistance. Please contact Mary Golbitz for information or assistance at [email protected] 207 479-4082 (phone or text) or Holley Rauen at [email protected] or 239 464-6556.

Campus Renaissance: An Update

The Summer of 2020 brings both gloom and bloom to our congregation. COVID keeps us apart and brings a level of dread that we hope will surely be behind us soon so that we can all be together once again. While we have a closed campus, we have not been wasting this time.

With the support of our members and the Endowment Committee we have embarked on several efforts to update aged equipment and facilities AND upgrade our A/V and technological amenities to ready our congregation for a “renaissance” in the ways we worship together and the ways we share our campus with our new community partners: the Gulf Coast Symphony and the Southwest Florida RESET Center.

The Operations Team thought many would enjoy seeing some of the new developments as they progress. So, here are a few snapshots of some of the changes happening while we remain Zoomed out.

Theatrical light rails are being installed in the ceiling.

These are the new audio and lighting control consoles. The A/V room has been painted black.

This is the new video console housed in the room behind the A/V room, which will double as the Symphony’s ticket office. Our new service productions will originate here.

Five remote control video cameras have been installed around the Sanctuary like these two at the center doors. Two more are at the sides and one by the choir loft.

Staff offices have been consolidated into the large office area, giving staff more workspace.

The north room of the Admin Building (old staff offices) has been remodeled to make room for the SWFL RESET Center offices.

The Board Table and chairs in the Library have been upgraded, giving the room a warmer feel.

Two new Trane units have been installed behind Hobart. The two older units remain as backups.

Water pipes had to be re-routed to make way for the new air handlers above the men’s restroom and the kitchen ceilings.

Thanks to the hard work of Walt and Simone Ittenbach, all buildings are being cleared of shrubs for next month’s weatherizing and painting.

Well, that’s the update for this month. Next month, we’ll highlight the new Hobart Hall flooring and new classroom technology. A hearty “Thanks” to Mickey Kellam, our Building Supervisor, for getting supplier bids, coordinating scheduling, and overseeing the work for us. We are all proud of the improvements in our “brick-and-mortar.” Work remains, however, on the “mortar” of our faith community.

Respectfully submitted,

Operations Council