Sunday, October 29 at 10 a.m.

Rev. Karen G. Johnston, Senior Minister

FUUSB Meeting House Grounds Team

"Our Shared Humanity: One Year of Sunday Morning Breakfast Ministry"

This month marks the one year anniversary since the start-up of the Sunday Morning Breakfast ministry, where a steadfast crew shows up early on Sunday morning and ensures there is breakfast for anyone who seeks a meal or companionship. What does this Radical Welcome mean – to those who volunteer? To those who are nourished by it? To the congregation as a whole? What lessons have been learned this far and what is yet to come?

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 in the Community Room.

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.

Children & Youth This Sunday!

Erika Reif, Director of Lifespan Faith Development

Sunday, October 29

Families will begin in the Sanctuary together. After the Reflection for All Ages, children, preschool through 8th grade, and their guides will be sung out for their group explorations! If your children are not yet registered, please escort them and fill out a new family form with their group guides. The Nursery will be open throughout the service for infants and toddlers. 

This Sunday - 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.

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

October 22, 2023 FUUSB Worship Service

Daylight Saving Time Reminder

Remember to set your clocks back one hour on Saturday night, November 4. Daylight saving time ends on Sunday at 2 a.m.

Climate Justice Team Invitation

Caitlin Waddick

People and Climate: Next Climate Justice Team Meeting is October 29 after the service

What does it mean to have a people-centered approach to climate action? That question is at the heart of climate justice work! The Climate Justice Team will have a hybrid meeting with folks primarily meeting face-to-face after the service on Sunday, October 29, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. If you want to join virtually, please email me, Caitlin, here so I know to open the video meeting room (which is linked from the agenda). The meeting agenda, located at the top of our Living Meeting Minutes, will be posted here.

A topic of a special meeting last Sunday was about how and why to oppose the proposed McNeil Plant Expansion. A description of the issues by 350VT is at this link. Also, the Climate Justice Team has shifted to a shared leadership structure with rotating roles for facilitation, taking notes, and guarding group vibes. You can email me or [email protected] for more information or to propose additions and changes to the agenda.

YUUth Group Schedule

Rowan Van Ness, Director of Youth & Emerging Adult Ministries

There will be no YUUth Group on Tuesdays 10/31, 11/7, and 11/21, due to holidays and scheduling conflicts. Please save the date for upcoming sessions on Tuesdays 11/14 and 11/28 from 6-8 p.m. and Sunday 11/19 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., following a multigenerational worship service. All high school youth are welcome!

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

Holiday Wreath & Greens Sale

The Holiday Wreath & Greens Sale will begin online Wednesday, November 1 and will be active until Friday, December 1. Pick-up is Saturday 12/2 between 10-3, or Sunday 12/3 after the service, in the Community Room.

Please visit the website at Auctria.events/Wreaths2023 to purchase a decorated or undecorated wreath, evergreen swag, or memorial greens to decorate our Sanctuary this season. This year we are also offering Wreath Decorating Workshops, and for children, a Table Decoration Making Workshop.

Come join us and support this important fundraising event for our Society. If you have questions, please email Sarah Forbes here or Nina Harrington here.

FUUSB Eclipse Project

On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will cross North America, passing over Mexico, the United States, and Canada. A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the Sun. The sky will darken as if it were dawn or dusk. (NASA)

The FUUSB Eclipse Project will welcome eclipse viewers for a special fundraising event. 😎For more information, contact: [email protected].

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.

Rowan's & Erika's Schedules

Rev. Karen G. Johnston, Senior Minister



For the next few weeks, Rowan is away on a vacation planned before she accepted her position at FUUSB. We're excited for her and want to raise to your attention that this means Erika is staffing our rather vibrant faith development program on her own for these next few weeks. 

Please be patient and understanding when she does not respond to your emails right away or when balls drop. If you have the capacity to help during this time when our staffing pattern is stretched, please let Erika know.

Do You Know Who Made This?

Peggy Derby, Flower Power Team

The lovely hooked rug of our beloved Meeting House that currently hangs in the arch was made a long time ago and we no longer know who made it. We would like very much to know who created this for us. Does anyone know? Email Peggy here.

Our Society Is a Fragrance-Free Zone

Sarah Forbes

In consideration of those who are sensitive to the chemicals in fragrances, our Society has been declared a fragrance-free zone. Please refrain from wearing perfumes or cologne, using fragrant flowers, smelly hand sanitizers and air fresheners. The chemicals in these items can affect anyone at any time, causing incapacitating and even disabling illness.

Who can be affected by these chemicals?

People with: Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), migraines, Asthma, pregnant women and developing children, COPD or other breathing disorders, Emphysema, allergies, sinus headaches, Autoimmune Disorders (MS, Lupus and others), ADHD, Autism, respiratory infections or frequent colds, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and formerly healthy people who've been exposed to too many chemicals. Even You!

Thank you for caring for your fellow UU's!

Patti Casey Concert to Benefit VIA

Plan now to attend a concert on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Burlington (38 S. Winooski Ave.), by the renowned Vermont artist Patti Casey. The concert will benefit the social justice work of Vermont Interfaith Action. Patti has recorded five award-winning albums featuring her signature New England folk-storytelling-bluegrass style. She will be joined by multi-instrumentalist Colin McCaffrey. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased online at this link. For more information, contact [email protected] or (802) 651-8889.