Spiritually Open, Intentionally Inclusive since 1958
510 N Leroux
Flagstaff, AZ 86001
928-779-4492e
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E-News for December 30th, 2021 - January 5th, 2022
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AN IMPORTANT UPDATE FROM THE MINISTER AND BOARD OF TRUSTEES:
BEACON’S UPDATED COVID POLICY BEGINNING SUNDAY JANUARY 2, 2022
Due to an uptick in COVID cases and the emergence of the Omicron variant, we have updated our safety policy to include proof of full vaccination status (2 or 3 shots) for ages 5 and older. This new policy is not a judgement of personal health care decisions. It is an institutional policy to safeguard the well-being of the community.
Beginning, Sunday January 2, 2022, vaccination will be required to attend worship services, participate in the choir, and be part of small group gatherings. We will still expect masks to be worn and hands to be sanitized. Committee meetings will continue to take place mostly on Zoom.
On January 2, 2022 (or the next time you attend a Sunday service) please bring your COVID vaccination card or a photo of the card on your phone. Once we have verified your status, you’ll have a small dot placed on your nametag. You can also email a photo of your COVID vaccination card to the Beacon office in advance of January 2, 2022 and we’ll put the sticker on your nametag in advance. office@beaconuu.com
Thank you. We’ll continue to adapt and update this policy along with new public health developments.
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- Sundays at Beacon -
WE’RE BACK IN THE SANCTUARY FOR WORSHIP! JOIN US.
Masks and Proof of Vaccination required.
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All-Ages Service For January 2nd, 2022, at 10am - The Better Late than Never, If You Don’t look Close Christmas Eve Reboot! “Cindy Lou Who and the Heart of the Holiday" The grumpy green Grinch, from the Dr. Seuss classic, did the Whos down in Whoville one colossal favor by “stealing” Christmas. When we first encounter them, the village inhabitants are caught up in their annual “Whobilation,” a crass tribute to wretched excess. That is, except, sweet little Cindy Lou Who, the moppet they consider a radical because she wants to spend quality time with her family and lift up the heart of the holiday. Cindy Lou reminds us that “Christmas doesn’t come from a store” as we rejoice and celebrate the season together in our Beacon Sanctuary for the first time in two years. Hosted by Rev. Robin, with Andy Hogg and the Beacon Choir, under the direction of Jason Drahos. Ancient and modern readings, familiar carols, a “Grinchy” dramatic vignette, Silent Night candle-lighting, and choir offerings galore! Holiday-themed sweaters and such STILL WELCOME. Thaw out your cookies and bring them along.
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Beacon UU – YouTube sensation! 15 months, 63 recorded and edited worship services that you can tune into anytime you’d like for a first viewing or a re-viewing. Share our channel with friends you’d like to introduce to Beacon. See our virtual service history on the "Beacon UUC" Youtube Channel You can also view past sermon descriptions and PDFs on our website here.
Come to the Post-Service Gatherings at 11!
Come to the Post-Service Gatherings at 11 am to connect, share joys and sorrows, and reflect on the service. These will be held in person, in the backyard of the church so that we may remove our masks.
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Please note: We recommend that you donate to Vanco directly from a bank account to save us the fees associated with credit card donations. More for us to sustain our congregation.
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COME AND MAKE MUSIC AT BEACON!
The Beacon Choir has resumed its rehearsals and live performances in worship. We are so fortunate that Jason Drahos has joined us as Choir Director. You do not need to “audition” to join the choir. You are welcome if you are fully vaccinated and willing to wear a mask. Special singing masks are recommended. There are many available. Click this link to see one option for a singing mask.
Choir practice is every Thursday, 7-8:30pm, at Beacon.
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Religious Exploration
The 2020-2021 year Religious Exploration classes were a great success. We are so grateful for the dedication and creativity of our Beacon teachers, Dru Monroe and Stephanie Van Belle and their counterparts at Granite Peak UU in Prescott. Click "Check it out!" to learn more about what we just completed.
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Kids at Beacon- All are welcome!
Volunteers are crucial for the success of Religious Exploration. As more children start getting vaccinated, Beacon wants to have open arms and classrooms for and child who wants to join us. RE volunteers work from 10am-11am to care for children with Alexei Besser-Gilbert. Please consider donating your time to an hour of volunteer work with wonderful kids! You can sign up in the church lobby or at this link!
Children and youth are always welcome in worship! We do ask that children over 3 years old wear a face mask while in the church building. There will be activity packets available for children during the service.
Religious Exploration is back at Beacon!
Note: There is a small error in this letter. Alexei's hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 10am-3pm.
RE Offerings for January 2nd, 2022
The CartUUns and D'oh God coordinators are excited to return to classes on January 9th, and creative play is available for kids whenever there is an in-person service. Due to the all-ages service this week, kids are welcome in the RE room if they need to cool down during the service
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Religious Exploration for Adults
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New programs coming in January! |
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Pacific Western Region camps will be open summer of 2022 to middle and high school youth with age specific programming. Woo hoo!
All staff and participants will adhere to strict safety guidelines including up to date methods to ensure COVID precautions are maintained.
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QUUest Camp - July 3-9, in Casper, WY with a bus from the Denver area
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Camp Blue Boat - July 17-22, in Ellensburg, WA
See you in the woods this summer!
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Share Your Joys and Sorrows- Chime In!
One way we can sustain connection during this time apart is by sharing our personal joys and sorrows. These can be small things or large things that effect your life. These are spoken during service every Sunday, or you can send them to Rev. Robin by Saturday night each week at minister@beaconuu.com to be shared.
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January-March 2022 Share the Plate Partner |
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Beacon’s community partner for January-March 2022 is Flagstaff Shelter Services (FSS).
Established in 2006 by concerned citizens, business owners, and faith-based organizations, FSS provides critical shelter, food, and access to resources for Flagstaff’s most vulnerable people. Regardless of faith, mental health or sobriety, and ethnicity the shelter serves any adult experiencing homelessness.
In 2014, FSS became a year-round shelter serving those in need every day and night of the year, providing personal and behavioral crisis response, onsite health clinic, and helping clients move from crisis toward self-sufficiency.
The Shelter sees 2000 unduplicated individuals per year: 20% are vets, 40% are women (98% of the women have experienced domestic violence), and 21% are older than 55. 86% of the individuals do not return to homelessness.
Undesignated contributions to this quarter’s Sunday service offerings above $250 will be presented to Flagstaff Shelter Services. Nominations for 501c3 agencies can be made through a form located in the office in the CAC folder or by contacting a CAC member.
CAC members are Susan Patrick, Katy Grant, and Lynda L. Dorweiler.
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Activate at Beacon with the Social Justice Allies! |
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Author and Professor Cathy Small will be visiting us on Sunday, February 6th.
We encourage the Beacon UU community to read her book and participate in a discussion with her. Pia Driessen-Knittle is coordinating this effort as a member of the Social Justice Allies team. piadriessenknittle@gmail.com
Cathy Small is professor emerita of Anthropology at NAU. In "The Man in the Dog Park" published in 2020 by Cornell University Press, she shares insight into Flagstaff's homeless population through her personal relationship over 6 years with Ross Moore, a homeless man she met in the dog park at Thorpe Park.
"Spurred by a personal relationship with a homeless man who became her co-author, Cathy A. Small takes a compelling look at what it means and what it takes to be homeless. Interviews and encounters with dozens of homeless people lead us into a world that most have never seen. We travel as an intimate observer into the places that many homeless frequent, including a community shelter, a day labor agency, a panhandling corner, a pawn shop, and a HUD housing office." (Cornell University Press)
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FAITHFUL DEMOCRACY
Get involved with Faithful Democracy, an organization bringing together people of diverse beliefs with a shared concern about the preservation of our democracy in the 21st century. The UUA and UUs for Social Justice are endorsers. You can use links on their website to access information, join initiatives, sign a Voter’s Covenant, and email your senator about the “For the People” Voting Rights Act (timely and crucial!)
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Together We Will, Flagstaff Postcard Writers weekly group
The postcard writers will be together every week on Wednesday at 7 PM on Zoom
Meeting ID: 841 1623 9939
Passcode: postcards
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SIDE WITH LOVE ACTION CENTER
The work that we do together to build a world in which all of us are free and thriving is interrelated. When we ground our spirits, grow our skills, and act strategically for justice in deep relationship with each other and our Movements, we choose to Side With Love.
Action Center is a place where we unite in work towards a world where we all thrive. Together we take action, Side With Love, and make deep impacts in this critical moment. Links for various action areas such as Democracy, LGBTQ and Gender Justice, and Climate Justice.
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Volunteer At Flagstaff Food Center With Beacon! |
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The Flagstaff Food Center is doing small group volunteers for their dinner service! Beacon is looking for a group of 5 volunteers to help out!
Volunteers are needed the 4th & 5th Wednesdays of every month, from 3pm-5pm. The dinner service is at the FFFC Kitchen. (1903 N 2nd Street) Beacon's next volunteer date is January 26th.
The dinner service is different during the pandemic. There is no indoor dining as we hand all the dinners out in to-go containers through a walk-up window. We need help from volunteers to portion meals into to-go containers, hand food out through our walk-up window, and wash serving pans.
Volunteer Safety: Volunteers are required to wear a mask, closed-toe shoes, and long pants, and to regularly wash or sanitize their hands and practice six feet of social distancing whenever possible. Gloves for food preparation and distribution will be provided to you at the kitchen. We have plexiglass installed at our walk-up window as a safeguard against COVID-19. We provide hand sanitizer and handwashing facilities and encourage regular use. We have enhanced cleaning protocols at our facilities and sanitize surfaces daily.
Sue Strobel will be organizing teams monthly, she can be contacted at 928 522-3284 (cell) or 928-526-5156 (home) if interested in volunteering!
More summer volunteer opportunities can be found here.
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Liminal Flagstaff
Liminal is a nonprofit community center recently opened on 217 S. San Francisco St. Offering resources, a pay-what-you can cafe, and a space to have fun freely and safely. We will share any upcoming events they have here!
You can learn more about Liminal and how to support them through their Instagram and Linktree.
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Jardines Mentales; January 13th and/or 17th Jardines Mentales, or 'Mental Gardens,' is a reoccuring workshop at Liminal that offers psychological healing through art therapy activities. January's theme is self-awareness. There are 12 spots per event, registration will be open soon.
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Lifespan Religious Exploration Resources for Learning About and Responding to Racism |
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This painful moment in time calls us to focus our learning and reflection on allyship to people of color, understanding white privilege, and reflecting on how we can part of a systemic sea change and solution in our society.
Beacon has provided resources for all ages addressing how we as individuals and as communities can learn about and respond to racism. For the full list of resources, activities and community meetings, visit Beacon's Religious Exploration pages.
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Healing Racism and Murdoch Center Programs and Events
Healing Racism Arizona and the Murdoch Community Center in Flagstaff have several events in the next few weeks that might be of interest to the Beacon community. Healing Racism Arizona is accessible through Facebook. The live events for the Murdoch Community Center are also through Facebook
And can be watched afterwards on their YouTube channel Tune in here.
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Worship Service
Saturday, January 2nd, 2022
5:30pm
The Better Late than Never, If You Don’t look Close Christmas Eve Reboot! “Cindy Lou Who and the Heart of the Holiday"
Beacon Sanctuary
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Choir Rehearsal
Every Thursday
7-8:30pm
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You can keep up with future Beacon events by checking out the Beacon calendar!
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Everyday Ways to Support Beacon UU
1. When you go to Fry's grocery store, use the Beacon phone number (928 779 4492) as the Alternate ID when it asks for it at the beginning of checkout, and you will get shopping discounts for Fry's members, as well as donating a percentage of your expenditure to Beacon. You can also sign up for an individual account if you prefer that, or want to take advantage of the gasoline discounts. You have to pick Beacon as your beneficiary when you set up your own account.
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2. If you shop on Amazon, please use "Amazon Smile" and choose Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation (do not abbreviate UU) as your recipient. We will receive a 0.5% for every purchase and that can add up! Remember that you have to start each shopping session at smile.amazon.com for us to receive the donation.
3. Another online fundraiser is igive.com. Once again, create your own account with a user name and password, then select settings, my cause, and type in Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation (do not abbreviate UU). Then you can order from any of the hundreds of organizations listed under igive. There are also coupons listed online you can use when ordering from some organizations.
4. Basha's has a special debit card that you can charge up before shopping, and a portion of what goes through the debit card gets donated to Beacon because that card is tied to Beacon. Ask Anne Wittke for further information.
Have other ideas for our income incubator? leave them on a card in the bin in the lobby, or send them to Rev. Robin.
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~ Beacon Office Hours & Contacts ~
Office Phone (928) 779-4492
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Minister,
Rev. Robin Zucker
she/her/hers
Mon: 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Wed: 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Thurs: 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Or by appointment:
978-505-7245 - talk and text (confidential line)
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Office Manager,
Alexei Besser-Gilbert
he/him/his
Mon: 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Wed: 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Thurs: 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
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~ Unitarian Universalist Seven Principles ~
Unitarian Universalist congregations affirm and promote seven Principles, which we hold as strong values and moral guides. We live out these Principles within a "living tradition" of wisdom and spirituality, drawn from sources as diverse as science, poetry, scripture, and personal experience. Learn more at beaconuu.com!
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You no longer need to forward your spam emails to spam@uce.gov, because the Federal Trade Commission is now collecting spam through a honeypot, which is an online trap. This change makes it more efficient for the FTC to collect spam that is deceptive or violates the CAN-SPAM Act. This change saves tax dollars, your time, and helps the FTC collect deceptive and illegal spam. If you lost money to a scam that started with an email, please report it at ftc.gov/complaint. There, you can also report spam you receive. Read more about how to limit spam, phone calls, and mail.
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If you are not on Beacon's dedicated Google group, you are missing out on an important communications link within our congregation. It is useful for spreading information about something going on in Flagstaff, informing others of social action activities, offering an item for sale or to give away, sharing enthusiasm about a book or movie, requesting information or recommendations -- and more! It's simple to sign up!
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Contribute to Beacon's Weekly News
Newsletter submissions must be submitted by Wednesday at 4:00 pm
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