News from the First Unitarian Universalist Society

Windows Weekly June 25, 2020

Albany UU Windows Weekly

Greetings,

Welcome to Windows Weekly, Albany UU's central source for news and updates. Please stay safe and stay connected to your Albany UU Community during this uncertain time in the many ways provided online - all described below.

If this email was forwarded to you, and you would like to receive it directly, please sign up here.

-Blessings and Be Well

We welcome everyone. Our Unitarian Universalist community seeks truth and deeper meaning, pursues justice through inspired action, and cultivates compassion and love for all connected by the web of life .

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VIRTUAL SUNDAY SERVICE VIA ZOOM

June 28 UUA General Assembly Worship Service

Join us virtually at 10:00 AM for the largest annual gathering of UUs joining in worship. The worship service will include a collection for the Tomaquag Museum , an indigenous museum featuring an extensive collection and archive of Southern New England tribal communities. Join the live streaming of this service here.

VIRTUAL SUNDAY SERVICES - 10:00 AM

We are now in summer session!

Albany UU Virtual Summer Services

Summer services continue through September 6.

8:30 a.m. Virtual Sunday Meditation continues through the summer and we will have Virtual Service at 10:00 AM each Sunday. Summer services are coordinated by Randy Rosette, with a delightful list of guests in the pulpit, including Rev. Sam.

Find more information about our summer services here .

July 5 “Sharing the Spirit,” Joseph Bruchac

In our Native American communities, it's often said that sharing is one of our most sacred duties-- a sharing of food and shelter, a sharing of kindness towards each other, a sharing of song, of giving thanks and prayer. Joseph's service will begin with a traditional opening prayer of thanks to all Creation and including some music on drum and flute.

An enrolled member of the Nulhegan Abenaki Nation, Dr. Joseph Bruchac is a traditional storyteller and musician whose over 170 books for young people and adults include Keeper of the Earth, Thirteen Moons on Turtle’s Back and Our Stories Remember .

Music: Alyssa Yeager

July 12 “Is Doing Your Best...Good Enough?” Rev. Sam Trumbore

Dr. Conrad Trumbore (Rev. Sam’s father) has a favorite expression: “Do your best and to hell with the rest.” Doing “your best” is a common admonition today that is remarkably free of context. Do what best? How do we define what one’s best is? And is one’s best … good enough … as compared to what?

Rev. Sam Trumbore has served as minister of Albany UU since the fall of 1999. Before coming to Albany UU, he served a small Fellowship in Port Charlotte, Florida for six years. He is married to Philomena Moriarty and they have an adult son Andrew.

Music: Elena Karpoff

July 19 Wellspring Highlights

Wellspring offers a place to explore and choose for yourself what’s important for your body, mind and heart. Together we set out on a journey of deep listening and compassionate connection, along with some laughter and fun along the way. Attendees from both the Sources and Sacred Arts program will be presenting!

Music: Elena Karpoff

July 26 A Kaleidoscope of Time,” Sigrin Newell

We Americans tend to think of time as something fixed, something from which we cannot escape, an ever-present part of our daily lives. As the pandemic shut-downs have demonstrated, we have equally strong opinions about personal spaces and public spaces. That time and space might be experienced in any other way seems unnatural and strange. Yet other cultures envision both time and space in radically different ways. In a global world, these unconscious expectations frequently clash, causing problems for tourists, business people, and politicians. Exploring differing views of time and space adds depth to our practice of UU principles: accepting one another and believing in the dignity of every person.

Dr. Sigrin Newell has been active with Albany UU for more than 30 years. She has given many sermons, sings in the choir and is the music librarian. She retired from Walden University, a distance-learning graduate school where she taught students earning their PhDs in education.

Music: Alyssa Yeager

Joys and Concerns for Online Services

We have three ways that you can share your joys and concerns.

One: Use the online form. If you use this form, you can indicate if you would like to have your joys and concerns shared at the Sunday service, and you can leave contact info if you would like a Pastoral Care Associate to follow up with you.
Two: Email your joy or sorrow to joysandsorrows@albanyuu.org before Sunday morning to have them read aloud during the service
Three: We will be giving you instructions during the Sunday service about how to share your joys and concerns then.

Sunday Offering

If you would like to make a contribution to the Sunday Offering "Plate", click https://tinyurl.com/albanyuu-donate or send your check, with Sunday Offering on the memo line, to the church: 405 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12206. Mail is being processed while the building is closed.

Try our text to give option! Simply text the amount and fund (for example: 20 offering or 20 pledge) to 844-976-2618 . There's a helpful video to watch with step by step instructions and a informative written guide with visuals.

Sunday services will be online via Zoom at 10:00 AM EST. There will be no service, religious education or other activities in the church building until further notice.

Wearing your Zoom “Name Tag”

When signing into a Zoom worship service on a Sunday morning, you can't put on your traditional name tag to be welcoming to others, but you CAN rename your screen so that it displays your full name. This is the new way to practice hospitality with everyone who is part of the online worship service.

To change your screen name, look for three white dots, usually appearing in the upper right corner of your zoom window when you hover over it with your cursor. Click the dots, and a dropdown menu will appear. One of the options in the dropdown menu is "Rename." Click that option, and a box will pop up that displays the name currently showing in your Zoom window. If it's not your full name or names, change it to your name(s) and click the "Save" button.

If you have any questions, feel free to send an Usher a message in the Chat on a Sunday or email Tammy Hathaway - admin@albanyuu.org anytime. Thanks for taking this extra step to be welcoming!

Online Giving

UPCOMING WAYS TO CONNECT

Start your Sunday Morning with Meditation - 8:30 - 9:15 AM

Sunday morning meditation, led by Rev. Sam, begins with a ten-minute talk by Sharon Salzberg or Joseph Goldstein from their course on Insight Meditation. We will sit together for twenty minutes then have some conversation about the talk, meditation methods or experiences followed by a live loving kindness meditation.

Use this link to join:

https://tinyurl.com/vql8erv

To dial in by phone call: 1-929-436-2866 and enter

Meeting ID: 299 018 7785

Password: 0000

Philosophy Group

At 10:00 AM every Tuesday , the Albany UU Philosophy Group will meet via zoom and discuss their topic of the day. All are welcome.

Use this link to join:

https://tinyurl.com/AlbanyUU-Philosophy

To dial in by phone, call: 1-929-436-2866

Meeting ID: 987 7102 4708

Password: 0000

Ps and Qs

Projects and Quilts (Ps and Qs) will zoom next on Wednesday, July 8 at 10:00 AM.

Use this link to join:

https://tinyurl.com/AlbanyUU-PsandQs

To dial by phone: 929-436-2866

Meeting ID: 970 3238 2631

Password: 0000

Albany UU Sings

Sing along in Virtual Community on the following Wednesdays for the Summertime:

July 8 and July 22

August 5 and August 19

At 7:00 PM, join your friends and sing your heart out! We will supply the music and the lyrics. Hope to see you there.

Use this link to join:

https://zoom.us/j/935725639

By phone: 1-929-436-2866 Meeting ID: 935725639

Walker Book Group

Join the Walker Book Group, Sunday, July 12 at 6:00 pm . We will discuss, Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. Learn more here .

Use this link to join:

https://tinyurl.com/vql8erv

To dial in by phone: 1-929-436-2866:

Meeting ID: 299 018 7785

Password: 000

Note: Congregational Checkins may have run their course. Stay tuned for more info as we rethink what this might look like in the near future.

A MESSAGE FROM OUR PRESIDENT

Thank you!

-Patti Jo Newell

As the 2019-2020 years winds down, I’d like to take this time to thank those leaders who will be stepping down from their positions, as well as others who “retired” from a particularly long held position this year:

David MacLeod – vice president

Fred Eames - trustee

Nancy Shay – trustee

Todd Thomas – coordinator of Caring Network

Sigrin Newell – lead coordinator of Holiday Bazaar

Matt Lesniak – chair of Social Responsibilities Council

Leah Akins – chair of Religious Education Council

Barb Manning – Ministries and Operations Team

Dave Munro – Ministries and Operations Team

Their volunteer efforts are greatly appreciated, and especially for stepping up to fill a leadership need. Our congregation is enriched by each individual’s experience, perspective and contribution. The commitment of time and energy is no small thing, and, combined with the passion each brought to their respective tasks, we have benefitted greatly from their work in support of our beloved congregation.

INCLUSIVITY RECOMMENDS

Baratunde Thurston explores the phenomenon of white Americans calling the police on black Americans who have committed the crimes of ... eating, walking or generally "living while black." In this profound, thought-provoking and often hilarious talk, he reveals the power of language to change stories of trauma into stories of healing -- while challenging us all to level up. ( 17 min TED talk)

https://www.ted.com/talks/baratunde_thurston_how_to_deconstruct_racism_one_headline_at_a_time

Our Inclusivity Team is offering resources for our ongoing education and reflection to address white supremacy culture at Albany UU. Are you finding that you have some time for reading and watching videos these days? Consider settling in with these titles by authors of color to help you become familiar with a diversity of human experiences.

Both books are available in hard copy and digital and audio downloads from the Upper Hudson Library System.

For adults and youth (with guidance, as needed):

So, You Want to Talk About Race, by Ijeoma Oluo (2018).

What is intersectionality? What is a model minority? What should you do if you put your foot in your mouth in a conversation about race? Oluo explains terms and offers us the words to talk intentionally and sensitively about race.

For children:

Bud, Not Buddy, by Christopher Paul Curtis (2001). Set in the Great Depression, Bud, Not Buddy, follows the adventure of a young boy looking for his father. It is a Coretta Scott King and Newbery Medal winner.

STONEWALL REMEMBRANCE DAY

This Sunday, June 28 is Stonewall Remembrance Day! Fifty years ago, the first “Pride Day” was celebrated, commemorating the Stonewall Riots a year earlier, in which LGBTQ people rebelled against the police raids on gay bars in New York City. That first Pride Parade, billed as the “Christopher Street Liberation Day March,” didn’t include sparkly floats, corporate sponsors and millions of cheering spectators like the Pride Parades of recent years. Instead, a few hundred people carried placards and shouted for their rights, marching up Sixth Avenue from Greenwich Village to Central Park for a gay “be-in” at Sheep Meadow. At that time going on a Pride parade was a risk, an act of rebellion and defiance in and of itself. Marchers took to the streets demanding equality, with the law, politics, and culture of the time predominantly set against them. Imagine that time: when gay sexual acts were illegal in 49 states, when gay people were vilified and attacked as “deviants,” and there were no healthy gay characters or relationships in the movies or on TV. Washington and the media were as one in rendering LGBTQ lives as illegal and invisible.

So take a moment this Sunday – a day on which many of us would be marching joyfully on Lark Street – to honor those first Pride marchers and the courageous activists, lawyers and lovers who worked over these 50 years for the right of each of us to be who we are. The Pride Center of the Capital District is hoping to reschedule Albany’s Pride Parade for a later date. https://www.518capitalpride.com/

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Homemade HOT FUDGE to Benefit Albany UU

It's the perfect time to buy Randy's Hot Fudge sauce to enjoy with summer ice cream, fruit, or just by the spoonful. Made with love, this popular Auction item is always Gluten Free. $10 per jar (full price goes to AUU)

Order a jar or severa l by emailing Randy at: rosette_jensen@juno.com

You can also call her at 518-630-6930.

Pickup and Pay date is July 2nd from 10am-12 pm at Albany UU. (If this pickup date doesn't work for you, let Randy know and an alternative can be arranged!)

Church Administrator Vacation

Please note that Church Administrator, Tammy Hathaway, will be out of town Sunday, June 28 thru Wednesday, July 8. If you need assistance, please contact Administrative Assistant, Sapphire Correa: office@albanyuu.org. Thank you!

Virtual Sunday Service Survey

We’ve been doing online Zoom services for three months. As we head into our summer service schedule, it is a good time to evaluate how we are doing in the virtual Zoom environment creating meaningful, stimulating, uplifting, challenging, inspiring, moving, and connecting services on Sunday morning. Please give us some feedback on your satisfaction using this form:

http://members.albanyuu.org/wp/virtual-sunday-service-survey/

The survey is designed to be very quick to fill out, 2 minutes, to let us know how we are doing. While testing the survey we’ve already identified a good change to improve the experience, you’ve got others too. Please don’t delay, and fill out the survey TODAY! Thanks from your Sunday service Production Team.

Helping an Albany UU Member or Friend in Economic Distress

There are times our members find themselves in a temporary economic shortfall and need some help to get through their crisis. There are two ways you can help.

The first way is our Economic Distress Fund that was created in 2008. This fund is a very modest fund without a lot of money right now but can make a big difference when it is needed. If you’d like to contribute to this fund to help an Albany UU member in need in the future, make a donation to the fund by denoting it should go to the “Economic Distress Fund.”

The second way is helping one person. You may know of a specific member or friend in financial need. If you wish to assist that person and would like to have your donation be anonymous there is a way to do that through our congregation. You may 1) make a donation to the Minister’s Discretionary Fund, 2) alert the minister that you have done so and the person you would like to direct the money to. 3) A check will be written to that individual in that amount (or collating several donations as one) and 4) be sent to that person with a note from the minister.

Either method is a way for members and friends of our congregation to help each other when they find themselves in economic distress.

Pledge year alert!

As our church fiscal year (2019-20) winds VERY quickly to a close (June 30, to be exact) this is a good time to remind everyone to write on your checks which pledge year you are contributing to. Some folks have already started paying on their 2020-21 pledge, some still are on 2019-20. Please, please write ‘Pledge’ and the fiscal year you’re paying toward on the memo line.

Log into Church DB ( Getting Started with Church DB ) to find out your balance or email Assistant Treasurer, Kathy Harris: harr70@nycap.rr.com

Scheduling Zoom meetings

We currently have two zoom accounts that we can use for meetings. To request a Zoom meeting, please do so just as you would when requesting a room to use in our building - using Church Database. When you choose your resources, or "room", choose between Zoom 1 and Zoom 3. There are links to instructions below. This is the preferred method but requests can also be sent via email to Sapphire: office@albanyuu.org.

When you send an email, please have a few dates and times that will work for your meeting to minimize a lot of time consuming negotiating. Thank you!

Getting Started with Church DB

Adding events to Church DB

YOUR'RE INVITED TO JOIN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Public Events for Virtual General Assembly

UUs from across the US and around the world will join together online for General Assembly, the annual meeting of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations (UUA).

Thursday, June 25

General Session 2 (UUA Pres. Susan Frederick Gray’s Report; proposed Actions of Immediate Witness, which are social justice statements)

1:30 - 2:45 p.m. ET

General Session 3 (Report of the Commission on Institutional Change, which is the commission charged with assessing systemic racism and white supremacy culture in the UUA. Their final report is now online )

4:00 - 5:00 p.m. ET

Service of the Living Tradition ( Stirring service that honors religious professionals who have died, recognizes those who have completed active service, and welcomes those who have received fellowship, credentialed, or certified status)

6:00 - 7:00 p.m. ET

Friday, June 26

General Session 4 (Bylaws amendments and business resolutions)

1:30 - 2:45 p.m. ET

Synergy Bridging Worship (Celebrates youths transitioning to young adulthood)

6:00 - 7:00 p.m. ET

Saturday, June 27

General Session 5 (Vote on Actions of Immediate Witness)

1:30 - 2:45 p.m. ET

General Session 6 (Final Reports, installation of incoming co-moderators)

4:00 - 5:00 p.m. ET

Register as an online participant for $150 per person, which gives you access to the Ware Lecture to be given by Naomi Klein on Saturday at 6 p.m., the Welcoming Session, and a variety of workshops and special events on topics including anti-racism, colonialism, spiritual practice, stewardship, and more. You will be able to watch and ask questions in live sessions, while our delegates will also be able to propose amendments, participate in debates, and vote.

More information can be found at www.uua.org/ga, or contact Peggy Sherman ( msherman@nycap.rr.com).

GREEN SANCTUARY FORUM

Across the country voting machine vendors are recommending and selling voting machines that are not secure, and not reliable. Find out what you can do to ensure that your county or town doesn't buy these risky systems. Make sure your vote counts for the candidates and issues of your choice – and is not miscounted by computer error or stolen by a hacker to support other candidates. https://smartelections.us/your-vote-is-under-attack

Join us Monday, July 6 at 7:00 PM for a Zoom forum with Lulu Friesdat, sponsored by the Green Sanctuary Committee.

Lulu Friesdat is a journalist and documentary filmmaker whose election security investigations have received over 4 million views and been featured in Politico, The Hill, Now This, MSN.com , the Young Turks, The Christian Science Monitor, Salon and TruthOut. Over the course of a more than ten-year career in network news, she has had assignments with NBC, CBS, Nightline, and contributed to Emmy award- winning programming at ABC. Her first documentary "Holler Back - [not] Voting in an American Town" was featured in The Hollywood Reporter as part of a group of "thoughtful and provocative” films being made by women. She is a Co-Founder of SMART Elections. Follow her on twitter @LuluFriesdat.

Please RSVP/register here (no charge):

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/online-election-security-forum-tickets-110850657300

Use this link to join:

https://tinyurl.com/y72x3638

Meeting ID: 518-366-4532

Password: 4051842

RELIGIOUS EXPLORATION

-Leah Purcell, Director of Religious Education and Family Ministry (DREFM), lpurcell@albanyuu.org

Welcome to the summer newsletter, the Summer Sizzler

This is for all the adults involved in Religious Education – parents and caretakers, guides and RE Council members.

https://mailchi.mp/f6f64b5ee14a/updated-info-5001186

This Sunday Unitarian Universalists from around the country are invited to the online morning worship at General Assembly at 10:00 am

Leah encourages families to attend – these GA services are like nothing else! One of my colleagues has created a Visual Order of Service for this service – for youngsters and anyone who appreciates something to doodle on during a service. More info and how to log on is at https://www.uua.org/ga/off-site/2020/sunday-worship

Story Time

Tracey Hickey is volunteering to read the chapter book at 7:00-7:30 pm Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays - geared for children in 2nd-6th grade.

Open to people of all ages.

Zoom link to join:

https://tinyurl.com/AUU-story-time

Dial in: 1 929 436 2866 Meeting ID: 801 480 305

Password: 4051842 (our address and the year the congregation was founded)

To share your Joy or Sorrow with our Albany UU community, you may submit it on a yellow card during the service or by using our online form.

Join us in keeping our members and friends in your thoughts as they share their joys and concerns.

Need to Talk? Albany UU Pastoral Care Associates are here to listen!

Our Pastoral Care Associates have been trained in compassionate listening skills and are available to all members and friends of our congregation. To contact a Pastoral Care Associate, email: listeners@albanyuu.org , contact Rev. Sam Trumbore , the Albany UU office at 518.463.7135, or one of them personally. They are: Sharon Babala, Chuck Manning, Donna Meixner, Dan Miyake, Phil Rich, Randy Rosette, Dee VanRiper and Erik F. vonHausen.

Albany UU Caring Network

The Caring Network (CN) reflects the words of the Albany UU chalice lighting - “to sustain a vital and nurturing religious community.” The CN provides encouragement and short term support to Albany UU members who, due to hospitalization, sickness, loss, or isolation, need assistance. Services typically include transportation to medical appointments, meals and shopping during recovery, and friendly “check in’s” from Caring Network members. Please reach out to the Caring Network .

SAM'S OUTLOOK

Our Need for Physical Social Presence

Albany UU changed Internet providers to get faster data rates and save money on Tuesday. I was in the building to meet the technician from Spectrum Business who was making the switch. I am familiar enough with our phone system and Internet configuration to offer assistance if necessary. The tech looked at our aging PBX phone system and informed me it probably would break after he made the switch to their service. Then he told me it wasn’t his responsibility to help me fix it if it did. He also didn’t have a phone handset to be sure the telephone numbers had been switched correctly. Fortunately, your minister is very clever and knowledgeable about electronics. With the help of Doug, our office computer consultant, an old phone, some spare RJ-11 cables, a screwdriver, and crude wire stripping tools, I had everything up and running by the end of the day. (Made me feel a tiny bit like Scotty fixing the warp drive engines on Star Trek)

As I was walking around the silent building by myself getting this job done though, my heart felt very heavy. As I passed through the kitchen, I thought of how many times I’ve been there after the Sunday service, during a memorial service, cooking for fund raising dinners, making my lunch or dinner, or cleaning up. Sitting in my office getting the internet configured, partly remotely, it felt so empty without Leah, Sapphire or Tammy there and the constant flow of activity. Elizabeth Baldes stopped by wearing her mask to pick something up and it felt so good to talk to someone (with lots of physical distance of course) in person rather than on Zoom. In Community Hall I reflected on how hard I’d worked to get the sound problems resolved. I reflected on all the wonderful events we’ve had in that space over the last 13 years and the memorial services too. And getting a box from the Sanctuary, remembering the services, the weddings celebrated along with memorials.

Social contact is such an important part of pre-COVID-19 ministry that used to happen daily as I went from office meetings to community events and meetings to restaurant meal meetings. While I still go to a lot of meetings on Zoom, I don’t have those casual hallway meetings, especially on Sunday morning that allow me to keep in wider contact and keep in touch many people. I’m the type of person who is fed by these kind of social contacts – the kind we just can’t replicate in the virtual environment – at least not yet. Maybe if we could do a Sunday service with a virtual reality helmet …

Listening to a public health expert on a Deep Background podcast with Noah Feldman, I heard her acknowledge how central social life is to most people’s humanity. Expecting people to stay home and avoid all social contact can happen for a month or two in extreme situations but few if any of us are willing to do it for an extended length of time. It isn’t acceptable to expect people to stay in quarantine endlessly. What public health officials must do is help people understand what are tolerable risks that allow us to fulfill our social connection needs.

The latest concept being discussed is forming social bubbles or “podding” with a few other people who take the same care in virus infection avoidance that you do. This is important for families to allow children to play together, play that is critical to their psycho-social development. Several retired couples might make a pod-pact. Podding also is an approach to facilitate romantic relationships.

Podding public discussion is increasing my desire for social connection to open up a little bit within our congregation. I know that there has been ongoing connection with people getting together for walks and sitting six feet apart on their backyard decks sharing a beverage together. We’ve seen each other at Black Lives Matters demonstrations that followed George Floyd’s murder.

As the number of new COVID cases decrease to 0 in the Capital Region, I wonder how much more we might be able to gather safely. Could we have a congregational picnic in Washington Park? Thatcher Park? What about a physically distant backyard barbeque? Could we even risk a small meeting in Channing Hall in a big circle? What about a service in the amphitheater in Washington Park masked and all spread out with my wireless black speaker and microphone?

We are still learning about the methods of virus transmission. Things that worried us at the beginning are less worrisome now and other transmission risks are more of a concern. If you are elderly with kidney, heart or lung problems forget about this discussion. But for those of us who are willing to consider a very small increase in risk, let us consider ways we might meet our social needs while keeping the risk as low as possible.

Let us recognize our quality of life requires some level of risk. I’m willing to risk shopping and going to demonstrations. Others cannot take that risk. We cannot expect everyone in the congregation to operate at the same risk level.

Whatever we do or refrain from doing, we can make sure we have the widest experience of religious community for everyone’s risk level whether high or low or close to zero. And together, we can continue to be a community of mutual support.

Rev. Sam