March 12, 2021

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME BEGINS
this Sunday, March 14. 
Set your clock up one hour Saturday before you go to bed. If your clock says 3:00, move it up to 4:00.
This is a good time to change the batteries in your Smoke & Carbon Dioxide detectors.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:

With great sadness, we announce the death of UUSP member Roy Price. Roy was beloved companion in marriage with Sue Price for fifty years and we grieve with Sue. Roy was a musician, music educator, and a person who lifted all our spirits with his presence.  We will miss him greatly.  Sue sent the following message to us all: "Roy died at 7:30 Sunday night in St. Francis Hospital surrounded by friends and many pretty nurses. We want to thank you for your support of cards, texts, calls, , food, prayers, and help during his illness. Peace and love, Roy and Sue."
Pastor Jack
Outdoor Worship Service Viewing this Sunday @4pm. Details Below.
Pastor Jack's Sunday Morning
Zoom Discussion Group
9:15am (Zoom link here)
Discussing Source #6 from which the UU tradition draws in our search for truth and meaning: Spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature. Discussion starter: How spiritually earth-centered are you?
Sunday Morning Women's Discussion/Covenant Group
9:15-10:15am
March 13 (NOTE: Saturday, 10 a.m.-12 noon) F-2-f Get Together
March 21: Your Questions: Commitment
March 28: Your 30-Day Challenge

March 15: Contemplative
“Divinity’s Ascent” by 19th Century Sufi Muslim poet Bibi Hayati – for Women’s History Month
Noon Zoom Cafe Check-In,
March 16
UUSP’s mid-week opportunity to check in with one another and with our wider communities in the news.
Learn how to meditate here.
Adult Religious Studies Zoom Discussion 
March 17 - (more information below)
A People’s History, chapter 6, “Liberal Religion and Humanism, 1935-1960”.  
The Board of Trustees met this past Thursday, March 11. Stay tuned for the March updates.
Come volunteer or provide a dish every Friday at
UU St. Pete for our Friday Night Picnic.
Email Sabine for more details on how you can be of help!
Pastor Jack's Weekly Message
Hello Friends,

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! – though it’s said that Padraig was captured by Irish raiders as a boy, enslaved for several years, escaped to his wealthy family in Britain and later got revenge by creating Irish Catholicism. Oh, the confessions I’d have been saved if the boy had remained safe in Britain and Ireland had remained spiritually earth-centered.

With that caution to be careful what you celebrate, I’d like to plug our up-coming Wednesday Religious Study of UU minister Robert Fulghum’s From Beginning to End: Reflections on the Rituals of Our Lives. Realizing, perhaps, the prematurity of thinking Everything I Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, Fulghum explores the important transitions, periodic new beginnings and accompanying rituals common to our lives. I hope you’ll get the book (warmly written) and join me in the exploration.

In the earthy spirit of the week, Go Green,
Religious Education
Wednesday Zoom Adult Religious Studies
Religious Studies Discussions
March 17 @ 10:00 am

Discussing selections from John Buehrens’ Universalists and Unitarians in America: A People’s History, section 6, “Liberal Religion and Humanism, 1935-1960”. 

The Zoom link will be sent out Tuesday. Contact Pastor Jack if you have questions or don't get the link on Tuesday

On the 3rd Wednesdays, we’ll forego a meeting so folks may attend the African American Heritage Association monthly presentations.
Sunday Children's Religious Education:
March 14 at 11:30 am on YouTube.

March's Theme is
"Commitment"

Our faith is a living tradition. We describe 6 Sources of our living tradition, instead of one holy book or one prophet. And when we learn new things, we expect our faith to change. We vote on adding new sources and new principles, as well as changing them. We are committed to keeping an open mind about anything that might challenge and change our faith. So, what’s one of the ways our faith guides us into becoming a people of Commitment? It tells us,

“Everything changes, so be ready to never stop growing!” 
What? - You aren't receiving it the
RE Weekly Newsletter?
UUSP Community
Don’t forget our covenant groups continue to meet monthly, these days mainly on Zoom. We currently have eleven covenant groups in the congregation with over 100 people participating. A Covenant Group is a group of 10 or so people who gather regularly (at least monthly) to share and converse about how life is going for the individuals in the group and often for our wider circles of life. Contact Pastor Jack for help to join a group.
Building a Community in a
Pandemic E-vents
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UU St. Pete Newsletter
UU St. Pete Weekly
Outdoor Worship Service Viewing
We will be hosting our outdoor Worship Service viewing in the back patio of the church.

We will be following all church social distancing protocols. The viewing will begin at 4:00pm.

Hope to see you there!
Contact Sarah Craig to RSVP
Part Time Office Administrator Needed

The Unitarian Universalist Church of St. Petersburg is looking for a part-time Office Administrator to perform communications, office and facilities-related functions for a vibrant congregation of 150+ members in downtown St. Petersburg. The position is primarily self-directed under the general supervision of the Minister. It requires initiative and a welcoming, flexible manner in accordance with the church’s mission to be "an inclusive, evolving religious community that inspires spiritual and intellectual growth to make our world a better place."

The hourly wage is $20 an hour. During the pandemic church closure the position works 10-15 hours a week; upon re-opening the position works 25 hours a week.
For details, a full position description and to submit an application, contact Rev. Jack Donovan at jfdonovan@bellsouth.net.
Social Justice
Guest at Your Table

Thank you for your generosity!

UUSP contributed $955 to support the continuation of our Guests work:

Chief Shirell Parfait-Dardar and her community in southern Louisiana 

Sujauddin Karimuddin and Rohingya refugees in Burma

Mark Stege and Marshall Islanders 

Adela Ramírez in Guatemala
Immigration News:

As part of the leadership of the Pinellas Coalition for immigration Justice, of which UU St. Pete is a member, we met with Rep. Crist’s local and DC based staff to express our concerns about reopening Homestead facility to house unaccompanied immigrant children. We also provided a list of requests to ensure the children’s health and safety — including hands-on oversight.  

Since the end of January, 105 children who were separated at the Mexican Border from their parents have been united with them. 
Concern for our Neighbors:

UU St. Pete signed on to a letter to Dave Eggers, Chair of the Pinellas County Commission — requesting more equitable distribution of COVID vaccines within our county.  

The Big Nehiamah Action is coming up!

Our big Action is March 22 (via Zoom) to ask County officials to explain and change their intentions and practices.

Click below if you would like to be put on our UUSP/FAST contact list and/or get the Zoom invitation for the March Events.
UU Ways To Give
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.
Contribute online to any of the UU St. Pete funds by clicking here. Create a profile and log in or contribute without logging in. Creating a profile gives you immediate access to your online transaction history.
UUA Corner
Check out the UUA Southern Region's March Newsletter and some upcoming webinars.
Thank you for your interest in
Unitarian Universalist Church of St. Petersburg!


Stay Safe and Stay Well!
Kelli DeGraw,
part of your Communications Team.
Feedback and suggestions are welcome
(reply to this email). For technical support, click the button below.
Our UUSP staff members will continue their duties safely, cautiously to the fullest degree possible. 

Thank you Cathy for your service to our UU St Pete, Jeanay, Jon, and James, And many volunteers!

During this challenging time, may we remember that we need to pay close attention to how everybody is doing and how we can help.  
Our mission is to be an inclusive, evolving religious community
that inspires spiritual and intellectual growth to make our world a better place.