This Sunday, we'll be celebrating the height of summer and pagan traditions of "first harvest." All are welcome to join us on the lawn in front of the Meeting House! There will be chairs, but feel free to bring your own portable chair, or a blanket if you’d like to sit on the ground. Choose distancing that makes you comfortable, and wear a mask if you prefer.
Live-streamed services begin weekly on August 15. Check the eNews and website for more information.
Bring the Family - Sunday, August 1st!
Margo Whitcomb, Faith Development Assistant
All enjoyed a multi-generational gathering at the service last Sunday! We continue this week with some quiet diversions for all ages during the service such as bubbles, coloring, sidewalk chalk and books. Please join us as we re-enter our next phase of coming together.
A New Story Path
Margo Whitcomb, Faith Development Assistant
Whether you join us for Sunday's outdoor service or are in the neighborhood, please visit our all-ages storypath installation. This wonderful book compliments our Black Lives Matter banner. Tessa Allen’s book Sometimes We March frames protest and resistance with rich illustrations in a child-friendly vocabulary.
First Sunday Anti-Racism Interfaith Vigil
Zoe Hart, Racial Justice Team
On the first Sunday of each month, we join with other faith communities in Burlington and around Vermont in standing together in faith against racism. The vigil begins at 1 p.m. and goes until 1:30. We will have as many signs as we can supply from our regular Love & Justice signs, but you're invited to bring your own as well. We'll be outdoors and you can choose distancing that makes you comfortable and wear a mask if you prefer. Please join us Sunday, August 1 at 1 p.m.
Black Lives Matter Banner
Peggy Owen Sands, Racial Justice Team
Hello FUUSB congregants -
The Racial Justice Team had hoped to provide an opportunity for any of us to get together to talk about our responses to the damage of the Black Lives Matter banner. Given our summer schedules, it is not feasible for us to pull together a gathering. If anyone would like to talk to someone from the Racial Justice Team, you may send an email to [email protected], or email Peggy Owen Sands, Geoff Duke, or Zoe Hart.
Immigration Justice Team Request
Mary Andrews, Immigration Justice Team
The Immigration Justice Team asks you to call or write Senators Sanders and Leahy and ask them to oppose the Farm Workforce Modernization Act (FWMA), which has already passed the US House of Representatives without careful consideration of its impact on farmworkers.
The FWMA requires that farmworkers seeking legal status continue working in agriculture for up to 8 years to qualify and excludes many workers, including those who cannot continue to work due to injury. This requirement effectively prevents farmworkers from defending their rights by speaking out against abuse or organizing for better working or living conditions. The bill mandates that agricultural employers use the E-Verify system, forcing immigrant farmworkers off the books and making them more vulnerable to abuse. Meanwhile, immigrant workers continue to be harassed by ICE and deported, including in Vermont.
Vermont’s African American Heritage Trail beckons…
Your Racial Justice Team takes you to Hinesburg to learn about the Black Farmers of 1790-1890:
Saturday, August 28, 10:30 a.m.–12 p.m.
Spaces are limited: Register with Linda Cooper, [email protected] or (802) 922-7554.
Leave from the FUUSB parking lot at 9:45 a.m. to carpool, or meet the group by the Black Settlers Historic Marker on Lincoln Hill Road in Hinesburg. Carpools are at your discretion; please wear a mask while sharing a car with others. Bring snacks and water for yourself.
From 1795 to 1865 an African American farming community thrived on Lincoln Hill in what we now know as Hinesburg. We will go for a walk (on a road, not through the woods) with historian Elise Guyette to see where the farms were, learn what their lives in Hinesburg were like, and see some of the remnants of the cemetery. Click here for more information!
FUUSB will pay for our speaker. I will pass a hat to reimburse FUUSB. Please plan accordingly.
Elise Guyette is author of Discovering Black Vermont: African American Farmers in Hinesburg, 1790-1890, University of Vermont Press, 2010.
From Our Youth Ministry Coordinator
Dear fellow FUUSB members, friends, and staff,
I would like to express my heartfelt thanks for two years working with our congregation’s fabulous yUUth as the Youth Ministry Coordinator (YMC) and let those of you I have not seen in person recently know that I will not be continuing in that role in the fall. I will, however, still be around working occasionally in the nursery and participating in the Racial Justice Team, so our paths will likely continue to cross.
It has been a true delight getting to spend so much quality time with a really dedicated, playful and thoughtful group of teens. Unfortunately, especially as we return to post-pandemic activities, the YMC position requires more time and creative energy than I’ve been able to give it while also teaching full-time. I could not have done it this year, even with the safety limitations, without the amazing creative and logistical support from Faith Development staff, Erika Reif and Margo Whitcomb; our amazing YUUth Group advisors, Sarah Russell, Jenn Schollmeyer, and Sal Millichamp; and last but not least, Rev. David Ruffin, who was more than willing to step up and be the creative force and leader for this year's unusual and highly successful Coming of Age program when I asked for help. I am immensely grateful to each of them for the role they have played in making yUUth programing at FUUSB the success it has been!
It is definitely sad to be stepping away from such a fun and rewarding job, but I am also looking forward to seeing a new person breathe new life and energy into the role and continuing to witness our yUUth growing into the compassionate, humble, and brave young adults they will soon become.
With Love,
Gabriel Ely
Requesting Indoor Meeting Space
Mary Williams, Society Administrator
Beginning August 1, FUUSB members and teams may schedule small indoor meetings. Outdoor spaces also continue to be an option. To request either indoor or outdoor meeting space at FUUSB, please submit a Space Use Request Form which can be found at uusociety.org/information/space-use. Our current Space Use Policies and the Zoom Meeting Request Form are also available there.
At this time, we are asking that anyone entering the Meeting House who is not fully vaccinated wears a mask. We are asking that everyone wears a mask if meeting with others indoors. As we continue to monitor the COVID situation, we will be updating our safety guidelines as needed.
Please contact me with any questions at [email protected] or 862-5630, ext. 2100.
Upcoming Services
August 8 at 10 a.m.
Outdoor Worship Service
Rev. Patricia Hart with Cheryl Herrick
August 15 at 10 a.m.
Online Worship Service
Rev. Patricia Hart and Martha Dallas
Join us online as we begin our live-streamed services! The link will be shared in the eNews and on the website.