Rev. David Ruffin with Rev. Patricia Hart, Linda Patterson and Vespers Team Members
“Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.” – Mary Oliver
“True Stories”
How do we experience another’s care? How do we feel that we really belong? One thing that seems clear is it doesn’t happen when we’re busy pretending everything is fine. This has been one of the strange gifts accompanying the pandemic. Less room for pretending. Even from a distance, many of us have found ways to share our true stories with one another, including our despair, but also our joys, gifts, and quirks. As we return to “normal,” what would happen if we took this opportunity to make this version of caring and belonging our norm. What new stories could we tell together?
Back by popular demand — with a new name — Sunday Circles (formerly Coffee Hour Circles) will begin again this Sunday, May 16 for five weeks on Zoom, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. after the service (you may arrive anytime after 10:45 a.m.).
Sunday Circles provide time for connection with others after the service through a “deeper dive” with a more structured format than Coffee Hour. Groups of 5 to 8 members, friends, or guests meet to reflect upon the sermon topic and/or how they are doing, taking turns speaking and listening. A facilitator is present to help guide the time together. Join us!
NOTE: To join Sunday Circles after the service, use this link: bit.ly/3gYMJqG. You do not need to go to Coffee Hour first.
For audio only, call 646-558-8656 (meeting ID: 891 6404 8291).
Sunday Circle Dates*: May 16, 23, 30 and June 13, 20, 27. *June 6 is our FUUSB Annual Meeting.
"Beyond These Walls" MUUsical RevUUe
Raising funds to help First UU Society of Burlington connect with people everywhere!
This Sunday, May 16 at 5 p.m.
Everybody welcome! Invite your friends to a great show!
Join us on Zoom for a very special musical event featuring performances by FUUSB members and friends (many recorded in the Sanctuary).
Our goal is to raise $35,000, to cover all costs of upgraded systems in the Sanctuary. Starting in September, every Sunday service will be livestreamed from the Meeting House.
You can contribute by texting, via your Realm account, or by calling in during the event. We’ll keep everyone informed as contributions and commitments come in! You don't have to wait until Sunday to contribute! Visit uusociety.org/donate, click on the purple "Make a Gift" button, then choose Beyond These Walls as the fund.
Here is a special invitation from our Treasurer, Kameron McConnell!
Spring Vespers - Wednesdays at 6 p.m.
Rev. David Ruffin, Consulting Minister
Spring this year, perhaps more than ever, is a dance of unfurling - each of us finding our own pace for participation in the emergence, releasing ourselves in some ways and bracing ourselves in others. After all we've been through, how do we open our hearts to the vaccinated "new leaf" emerging with the new leaves?
Vespers is back with a Spring series where you're invited to join others in living such questions and finding ways of "unfurling," together. Vespers services are an opportunity to take a mid-week pause, share in music and meditative silence, poetry and presence, gratitude and grief, breath and blessings. Come as you are. All are welcome.
For audio only, call 646-876-9923 (meeting ID: 912 4388 8402).
Walking Tour: The Black Heritage of Burlington
Linda Cooper, Racial Justice Team
If you missed it last year, here is your opportunity…
The Racial Justice Team brings you a walking tour: The Black Heritage of Burlington
Saturday, May 22, 10:30 a.m.-noon
Take a walk along Archibald and Elmwood Streets with historian Elise Guyette to discover some of the African American history of the Old North End. As we walk and talk, we will encounter a former black church, a black-owned grocery store, the former home of black barbers who worked on Church St., a hotel that was once in the “Green Book” and more. Meet at 78 Elmwood, at the South end of Elmwood Cemetery at 10:30 a.m. We will end our walk at George and Elaine Little Park on the corner of North Winooski and Archibald.
Elise Guyette is author of Discovering Black Vermont: African American Farmers in Hinesburg, 1790-1890.
Sign up with Linda Cooper, [email protected] or 922-7554. Maximum of 20 people on the tour with a minimum age of 12. Plan to wear a facial mask and be ready to keep a 6 ft. distance from others. There is no fee for this walk but we will pass a hat to subsidize the funds the Society is providing. We know you will learn and enjoy this walk!
Invitation to Meet the Budget
Dan House, Board President
After significant input from many interested congregants and staff, the board has approved the budget to be voted on by the congregation at the FUUSB Annual Meeting to be held via Zoom on Sunday, June 6. The board and Finance Team welcome all interested to join us for a Zoom meeting on Sunday, May 23 at 2 p.m. to discuss the budget in detail prior to the annual meeting. Bring your questions or simply come to hear an outline of how we anticipate funding our mission and vision.
If the scheduling of this meeting does not fit your personal calendar, always feel free to contact the board with questions about the budget at [email protected].
VIA Action Alert!
Debbie Ingram, VIA Executive Director
A month ago, VIA leaders and clergy held a virtual action in which 75 of us asked Senate and House appropriations members to commit the funds needed to create 5,000 units of housing as soon as possible, as well as to fully fund the transition out of motels for hundreds of Vermonters.
To date, these requests have not been met. Join us from now until the legislative session ends on May 21 to make your voice heard so that EVERY Vermonter can access safe, affordable housing with supports.
Step 2: Use this script as a guide to either call or email them.
Hello, my name is [Your Name] and I'm calling from [village/town/city]. I’m calling on you, [state legislator], to support another $90 million now to ease the transition of our unhoused neighbors out of motels and to allocate $147 million over the next 3 years to build and rehab more affordable housing units in Vermont. Hundreds of Vermonters will exit motels in the next 2 months with very few options. With a rental vacancy rate at 3.4%, now is the time to rapidly rehouse these Vermonters and build another 5,000 affordable units to ease the burden on our housing market. Can we count on you to support a bold vision to help Vermonters access safe, supportive, and affordable housing? Thank you.
Step 3: Repeat steps 1 & 2 as many times as needed to connect with your state legislators; it’s important that they hear from you! It often only takes hearing from as few as 2 or 3 constituents for our legislators to notice that what they are doing is not what Vermonters want!
VIA Corrections Reform Action - June 2
Much has been written in the press about conditions at the Chittenden Regional Corrections Facility in South Burlington, Vermont’s only prison for women. The Organizing Committee that focuses on Corrections Reform has been doing research for months and is ready to have an Action!
We will invite the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections and the members of the Joint Legislative Judiciary Oversight Committee to listen to a research report, hear stories from people who have experienced the system firsthand, and ask them to commit to steps to create a corrections system that values a Culture of Wellness for residents and staff alike.
Please join us by Zoom on Wednesday, June 2 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. to show your support for these changes to the corrections system. Please register here: bit.ly/3vYQjFg.