UU St Pete Weekly: November 5, 2021

November 5, 2021

We fall back an hour November 7. So change those clocks Saturday evening or you may be Sunday Service.

This is a great time to change the batteries in your smoke and carbon dioxide detectors.

Worship Service

Sunday,

November 7, 2021

10:30 am

Holding Disability History,

Making Disability Justice

Beth Stombaugh, Jon Arterton & James Mack, Rev. Ben Atherton-Ze man, Jeanay Johnson

"Our world is built for able-bodied, neurotypical, hearing, and sighted people; people with disabilities are seen as not “normal,” or even as a “problem.” Fortunately, the Disability Rights movements have reframed the “problem” as our inaccessible culture, and the solution is to change systems and attitudes. From the Americans with Disabilities Act to individual histories, today’s worship leaders hold our history while envisioning a future where access and disability justice is the norm."

This will be a Share the Plate Service

We invite you to an outdoor viewing of the Worship Service!

Please bring masks and a chair, and please arrive early. The seating begins at 10:15 a.m.

This is an All Ages Worship!

Join us on our

UUSP YouTube Channel

if you cannot join us at the church.

There are 32 Afghan families who will soon arrive in the Tampa Bay area, and Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services Refugee Resettlement Office will assist them in their resettlement.

This is the same organization that introduced us to the three Congolese families whom this congregation has supported over the past almost six years. Each family is doing very well, and we now occasionally reach out to each other. Of course, they hold a special place in our hearts.

Based on our experience with these families — we know that the Resettlement Office will go all out to welcome and place these Afghan families. Sunday’s Share the Plate will support their efforts of — finding housing, providing furniture and household goods, medical checks and vaccinations, jobs, and language training.

Please, please be generous! Thank YOU!

You can designate a donation on our website, under Giving (U USP Online Giving Page) and choose Share the Plate or feel free to mail a check to the church (address below at the bottom of the page) THANK YOU

Message from the President

It was wonderful to gather with some of you last Sunday, and I hope more of you will join us this Sunday as we meet safely outside, socially distanced, and with masks on.

If the COVID #s continue to improve in Pinellas County, we will hopefully gather SOON in person, indoors, and with live services.

So how will we make that decision? It will be based on the In-Person Gathering on Church Property during the Pandemic POLICY that your Board passed during our September meeting.

This policy is grounded in loving concern for one another and follows science. Like many other UU Churches — decisions on UUSP gatherings will be based on the risk level as reported in the COVID ActNow database. You can access the database, and sign up for updates for Pinellas County. This risk framework was developed by the UUA in partnership with the Harvard Global Health Institute and the Harvard Edmond Safra Center for Ethics. Our current Risk Level = Medium.

The past 18+ months have taken a heavy toll on each of us. I know it is hard to see other organizations meeting. Why not UUSP? As a Church, we come from a tradition that protects the most vulnerable among us. So please hang in there a bit longer — for everyone’s sake.

Love you all — Karen

Weekly Message from Rev. Ben

Please write to Rev. Ben for any reason - joys, concerns, etc. He would love to hear from you. Feel free to email him here.

"Wonderful article in the UU World written by our Oct. 24 guest worship leader, Zoe Johnston.

Zoe covered this a bit during the online Coffee Hour but didn't talk much about it during the worship service itself since the worship service was mostly finished before the People Vs. Fossil Fuels action in Washington. It's a brief article and a good read." Rev Ben

Religious Education

Children's Religious Education

Theme Angle

Our theme this month is Holding History. One of the key ways we UUs hold history is to remember that people die, but love doesn’t. We have fond memories in our hearts that make us smile. We also sometimes feel like there are messages and voices in the “ear” of our heart. These are the memories of loved ones and pets who have died who can guide us, inspire us, and support us through the memory of who they were, how they lived and how they loved. So holding on to the history of who they were is no small thing. We wouldn’t be who we are without it.

“Here are some earbuds. Well, headphones on a cat here. We use them to listen to music and stories. Have you ever listened for a message that isn’t spoken out loud? Maybe it felt like someone, or something was speaking to you, but wasn’t really? It might be from remembering someone who has died.

This is also a great way to think about our monthly theme: Holding History. Because one of the key ways we UUs hold history is to remember that people die, but love doesn’t die. We have fond memories in our hearts that make us smile. We also sometimes feel like there are messages and voices in the “ear” of our hearts. These are the memories of loved ones and pets who have died who can guide us, inspire us, and support us with the memory of their love. In our UU faith, we hold history in memories of our loved ones who have died. So today we’re going to explore a bunch of ways in which holding tight the memories of loved ones allows them to comfort and guide us still.

This Sunday, please join us in our All Ages worship with your outdoor chairs and children! We will be in our front yard starting at 10:15. The service starts at 10:30.

UU St. Pete Connects

Check out our Calendar on our website to check out what's going on here at our

UU St Pete!

UU St. Pete Church Calendar

Membership Update Form

Hey Members of UUSP! Take a moment to update your membership information by completing the form above. For any membership information, reach out to our Membership Lead, Ayliah Canon.

Friday Night Picnic Kudos & Needs

We've had an uptick in guests lately so we are extra grateful for your generous contribution of food and supplies.

Next week, we could use:

Sandwiches: 160

Fruit: 80

Hardboiled eggs: 72

Salties: 80

Protein bars: 36

We are good with desserts and water. So no additional needs for these items.

Also - A big THANK YOU to Christine Chorowski for providing hair cutting/shaving services with a flair!

Thank you!

Sabine

Above: UUSP Trunk or Treat event inspired trunk full of community food donations from soups to cereal to rice & healthy canned foods.

Right: Donations delivered to DayStar Life Center by Virginia and Cal Fox and Mason and Jane Bunker.

Trunk or Treat!

Our 2nd Drive Thru Trunk or Treat & Food Drive was another HUGE success. Thank you to all that participated to make this a wonderful event. The food donations went to Day Star Life Center and Southside Food Bridge. We also had some money donated that will benefit our Friday Night Picnic.

Click to Check Out More Pictures!

Social Justice

Our Next Food Drive is scheduled for: November 9

Help our food insecure neighbors! Donate non-perishable, high protein easy to open food donations by Noon, Tuesday, November 9.

Examples include: Peanut butter, pull top tuna/chicken or fruits, crackers, etc...

Three front door home drop off locations:

Gay Brueler & Billy: 6220 24th Ave S., Gulfport

Karen & Dave Coale: 111 26th Ave NE, St. Pete

Dani Skrzypek & Deb: 6051 3rd Ave., So, St. Pete

Contact:Virginia Fox (V@vcfox.net).

St. Pete Youth Farm Visit

On the morning of Saturday, October 30, Rev Ben, The Coales, The Foxes and Rebecca Wilson joined in with Carla Bristol, students, supporters & volunteers at community day at Southside St. Pete Youth Farm. The PSTA public bus was on display covered with mural done by student artist ????

UUA Wide Social Justice Awards — Some very exciting news.

The UU St Pete Tiny Homes for Vets project was chosen as one of the nominees for the UUSJ Social Justice Awards. The Awards Ceremony takes place on November 4th via Zoom.

A round of applause for Reggie, Sabine, and the many others who donated their creative gifts, hard labor, and materials. What a team!

Social Justice Awards Ceremony

This Sunday at 4 pm ET

Keynote address by Rev. Mary Katherine Morn, President & CEO of the UU Service Committee
Awards made from the group of 18 nominees, all announced at the event Oscar style
The opportunity to meet our UUSJ Board of Trustees

UUSP Ways To Give

Ways of Giving

We give in gratitude for each other, for our time together, for our sacred space, for those in our wider community, and for those who lead us to be our best selves.

Members and friends set up a plan to make a gift from

their estate to the

Endowment Fund of UU St. Pete. Leaving a portion of the assets one has accumulated over the course of a lifetime ensures the continuation of the spiritual home that they have come to cherish and perpetuates our UU values.