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Reverend Denis Letourneau Paul, Minister

revdenispaul@gmail.com Minister's Calendar

Together you donated $309.32 to Farm Fresh Rhode Island, and $446.72 to Trans Health at Thundermist Health Center of South County! Thank you for your continued generosity! Submitted by Barbara Beckwith

When Joe and I moved into our house last August, there was a tsunami of Japanese knotweed in the back yard. It was an area of about 1,000 square feet, and the non-native invasive weeds were as tall as seven feet. I did a little online research and learned that the root systems of the weeds are so destructive to foundations and stone walls that in in the UK houses can’t be sold until the owners prove there is no knotweed on the property. The only way to get rid of it is by, as one organic gardener put it “blitzing the weeds with chemicals for five years.”

It’s terrible stuff, this Japanese knotweed. It’s choking out all the other plants in our yard, the plants we want, and it’s doing damage to our centuries old stone retaining wall. Cutting it down or pulling it out and breaking up the roots only makes it worse. The disturbance gives it more strength. I have to cut it down, dry it out, burn it, break up the roots, and keep mowing it down every couple of days, or spray it repeatedly with glyphosate, which is horribly toxic. Consequently, I have spent the spring killing baby shoots. Some days it feels like the main activity of my life.

As I am doing this, I am keenly aware of what is going on in our country politically. Several states have limited abortion access so much that they’ve made it impossible to legally terminate a pregnancy. And now, with the leaking of one court document, we’ve learned how the Supreme Court is going to overturn Roe v. Wade. I’m sick at heart about it. It feels like the nation is fighting back an invasive, destructive force that is more concerned with preserving potential life without consideration for the negative effect it has on others.

I keep thinking what it must be like for someone who is dealing with an unwanted pregnancy, and the devastating effect it could have on their life if they are forced to carry a fetus to term.

I keep thinking about couples who have all the children they can handle, and how being forced to have one more will negatively affect the lives of the children they have.

I keep thinking about anti-abortion activists who claim to care for “the unborn,” and how they aren’t the ones who are going to actually care for the babies who are born against the will of their parents. They aren’t the ones who are going to raise them, pay for their care, or find loving families to raise them.

I keep thinking about how I have never been and will never be faced with an unwanted pregnancy, and how deeply the overturning of Roe V. Wade would affect me, because the implications go far beyond reproductive rights and access to health care. If Roe v. Wade is overturned, it will give states the right to ignore federal laws to the detriment of their residents and national sovereignty. That affects all of us, in ways we can’t even begin to imagine.

It’s really sickening.

Meanwhile, I keep killing those unwanted and destructive Japanese knotweed shoots, trying to stop another tsunami.

In Peace,

Rev Denis

The Coordinating Council will meet on Zoom, Wednesday, May 11 from 4-5:30 pm. The proposed budget for 2022-2023 will be presented, followed by a Q&A. All committee heads and other interested parties are welcome to attend. Be prepared to offer a very brief update on your committee. Bring your questions, your ideas and your enthusiasm! 

for Victoria Shinagel 

As previously reported in this newsletter, UUCSC has received a bequest from the estate of our beloved Carolyn Hurdis. Accordingly, a restricted-use endowment fund, the Carolyn Steere Hurdis Fund for Social Justice, has been established.

Proposals for projects supported by the fund, which would honor Carolyn’s passion for Social Justice, are now being solicited from the congregation.

The guidelines for submitting proposals are as follows:

The UUCSC garden is now home to a newly planted selection of pollinator and bird-friendly shrubs. We have added blueberries, winter berries (including nativar “Berry Poppins”), red twig dogwood, amsonia, and holly. We will be adding “people-friendly” herbs and flowers soon! We’d like to find a couple of volunteers to clean and re-fill the hummingbird feeder weekly through the summer.

Contact Barbara Nowicki at Nowicki.barb@gmail.com if you can help.

The UUCSC Antiracism Group will attend this event instead of our regularly scheduled meeting and encourage all to join us.

Register at tinyurl.com/anti-racism-think-tank.

The UUCSC Share the Plate committee recommends one of these four organizations that are providing support to Ukrainians in crisis.

Upcoming programs from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities include the world premiere screening of Becoming Muhammad Ali: A Musical at the Columbus Theatre on May 9th and a panel discussion at the Museum of Natural History and Planetarium at Roger Williams Park entitled Indigenous Artists and Unpolished Echoes, facilitated by the Tomaquag Museum, on May 14th. Submitted by Johnette Rodriguez

I was matched with a person in Texas last summer. Our letter exchange has been very gratifying for both of us. This link will tell you more about the program. www.WorthyNow.org/pen-pals/

In preparation for the annual meeting, please email your annual report

by May 15 to our Congregational Administrator, Sara at uucscri@yahoo.com.

Please join the Antiracism Group on Monday, May 23, (note change of date) 2022, at 7pm on Zoom. We will be discussing Firekeeper's Daughter, the 2022 Reading Across RI book, by Angeline Boulley. We highly recommend reading it, but if you do not read the book feel free to join us and listen in on the conversation.

bethanysorrentino@uri.edu or 401-451-4104. 

Helping hand volunteers are also needed.

UUCSC Committees always need help and new ideas.

Find where you might contribute and join a committee today!

List of Black owned businesses from RI Monthly magazine. Patronize these businesses all year long. This small effort can help undo racism. Please send pics and reviews to Etta for sharing here and on website.

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