River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation

To grow and deepen in Community, Spirit, and Service



eWeekly

April 11-18, 2024

Inviting Interdependence

River Road Worship Team

One service, in-person and virtual

April 14, 10am: Hybrid Service, also on YouTube

11am: Coffee Hour, in person in Fellowship Hall and online via Zoom

Watch for two links in the Saturday email: a YouTube link for the service and a Zoom link for virtual Coffee Hour. Recording will be posted on our YouTube channel. You can find our Order of Service online; if you are not watching in real time the Order of Service may not be available.

Sanctuary Hybrid, Online and In-Person: Service will be available via YouTube.

Join us online or in person for worship at 10am. By attending an in-person service, you are giving RRUUC permission to use your likeness in videos and photographs. Sunday service is broadcast live, and may include wide shots of the crowd in the sanctuary.

In this service, we’ll lift up the idea that we can’t go it alone and explore how being connected/interdependent helps us make it through. How do we nurture our community and how does it nurture us?

Family Ministry

Spirit Sunday!

Children participate in the full service with the exception of those in RE Play (room 20), OWL (Fiatfalva), and Youth Group (room 32). Childcare for children under 3 years old will be available in room 14.

Did you know? There's a virtual coffee hour following every Sunday service, where we catch up on connections and strengthen friendships. This is especially great for River Roaders who have moved to senior living or out of the area. We'd love to have you come aboard - join us! The link is in every Saturday worship emaiil.

A Note from our COVID Advisory Committee

Our COVID Advisory Committee continues to monitor viral trends. Sunday services and other in-person RRUUC activities are mask-optional; masks are available in the RRUUC main entryway. We ask everyone to be considerate of those in our communal care: if you feel unwell, or have symptoms indicating illness, please refrain from attending in-person activities. Please utilize our virtual offerings (live-streaming and recordings) available via the eWeekly and the RRUUC website.

Notices & Online Ministry Offerings

Save the Date!

The 2024 Annual Meeting of Members is scheduled for Sunday, June 2, 2024. For the first time since 2019, we're going to have this meeting in person at RRUUC! We haven't figured out the precise start time yet, but we will begin after the 10:00am service has concluded, so probably around 11:15am or 11:30am. We will broadcast the meeting so that members and friends who cannot attend the Meeting will be able to watch it remotely.

Draft Budget Town Hall

The Board of Trustees invites any interested RRUUC members and friends to learn more about the draft RRUUC budget for the upcoming fiscal year, 2024-2025, which begins on July 1. The Board will offer two sessions:

• Sunday, May 5 (in person) immediately after the service
• Thursday, May 9 (via Zoom) at 7:30pm

The Finance Committee will be available at both sessions. After considering input from the congregation and the outcome of the Financial Stewardship Committee's pledge drive, the Board will approve a final budget for the congregation at their June meeting.

Retreat News - Focus on Family-Friendly Fun

Registration for the retreat is now open! You can take a look at the schedule of activities and register on the RRUUC website:

• 2024 Retreat Program Schedule
• Retreat Registration

We have planned plenty of activities that will be fun for all ages. Some of our family friendly offerings are:

• Learn a circus skill with Natalie Schall – intro to scarf juggling and more
• Zip, Zap, Zop – Join Laura Piervincenzi for some fun theater games and perhaps a little improv!
• Creation Station – Drop by throughout the day to have some creative fun! Tie-dying, bird-feeder making, and more will be available!
• A drumming circle led by drummer Katy Gaughan – make some joyful noise together!
• Frisbee fun with Doran Flowers
• Pick-up lawn games (corn hole, horseshoes, bocce ball, badminton, etc.)
• A kid-friendly playground dedicated for our use
• Board games and cards – drop in to play a bit – you can bring a game to share
• Exploring the park’s many hiking trails
• Biking around the park

Stop by the Retreat table on Sunday in the fellowship room to learn more. We hope to see you in the park!

Join Earth Ministry to celebrate Earth Day at our meeting on Sun., April 21, 11:30am. Vegan Earthday Cake will be served!

Earth Ministry is sponsoring THREE programs at the RRUUC Retreat at Seneca Creek State Park! All are on Sat., April 27.

• 11:00: Green Investing & Banking with Will Bruno – How to make sure your money is doing its best for both you AND the planet!
• 2:00: Weed Warriors with Nancy Koran – A park ranger will guide this hands-on Earth Ministry program. We’ll be cutting invasive autumn olive using long-handled pruning shears. This activity is limited to 20 and requires pre-registration.
• 3:00: What Time Is It? Past, Present and Future in Climate Poetry with Heidi Mordhorst – Take a deep dive into 3 short poems by climate poets to see how each uses their past and present experiences to imagine the future of humanity. We’ll let one personal experience generate a hopeful poem.

Learn More and Register!

The Auction Approaches!

It's almost time for the Spring Services Auction - bidding starts May 5, but first we need donations! It's time to think about Growing Our Connections by seeing what you have to offer the River Road community.

Check out this list of ideas if you need some inspiration. Please submit your proposed donation via this donation form by April 30!

Any questions, check out the RRUUC Services Auction webpage or contact auction@rruuc.org. Come visit the Auction table on Sunday in the Fellowship Hall!

Child Dedication May 12

We are offering the rite of passage of Child Dedication on May 12 during worship. At RRUUC, the ceremony introduces the children to the congregation and the congregation commits to love and support them as they learn and grow in their spiritual lives. Children of all ages can be dedicated. If you'd like to participate, please contact Beth Irikura, Director of Lifespan Religious Education.

Fine Arts Exhibit: "Light, Shadow and Texture"

Richard Levine's exhibit "Light, Shadow and Texture" is now on display in the Fellowship Hall until April 28.

Richard, born in Newark, NJ, is a painter and photographer whose professional career has spanned more than 30 years in the graphic arts working for prominent design firms and corporate clients. He has exhibited widely on the East Coast from Virginia to Maine in both solo and group shows. Learn more about Richard's career on our website.

About his work, Richard says, "I find myself especially drawn to the vernacular architecture of rural New England and Nova Scotia The simple, clean geometry of farm barns with their angles and planes, weathered texture, and shadows elicit a strong response in me. They represent a connection to tradition, a timeless bonding with the land. These structures are rapidly disappearing from the American landscape, so, in a way, to paint them is to also document and preserve their presence."

Join the UU Climate Justice Revival

Reimagine Together: From An Extractive Age To A New Era

September 28-29, 2024

Learn more and check out some frequently asked questions.

UUs are coming together to inspire, reawaken, and transform our churches through climate justice. Bring your justice teams, problem solvers, and dreamers. The planning team will provide everything needed: facilitation toolkits, training, music, projects, coordinated justice action, and more. No matter your congregation’s size or resources, you can join and together we will enter a new era of climate action. Let's go—appoint two volunteer facilitators who will be trained to participate.

Action: Join efforts to save democracy!! 

This Sun., April 14, at 11:30am in room 21.

Come to a community building activity while working to maintain the democracy of our country. The Actions4Justice group is hosting an in-person postcard writing session following the Sunday service. Light snacks will be provided.

We have 540 postcards to write for Suffolk County, VA. If you can’t attend the in-person writing session, you may pick up all necessary materials to write in the comfort of your home, and even pick up materials for others to write with you.  

Middle East task Force Presentation - open to all!

We invite you to watch an excellent discussion by two eminent scholars: How did we get here? A Deep Dive into the History of Israel and Palestine.

As the Israel/Hamas war continues into its seventh month, many of us struggle to understand its background and history. The Middle East Task Force invites you to view a four-part presentation that takes you from the 1880s to the present day in the light of the current conflict. Presented at Fordham University by Palestinian American scholar Dr. Hussein Ibish and Professor David Myers, Chair of Jewish history at UCLA, the lectures offer a in depth and highly interesting journey into the history, politics, and culture behind the conflict. This is a presentation you can return to again and again and that opens up opportunities for further reading if you choose.

We invite you to begin by watching parts one (1882-1948) and two (1948-1967). We will have a Zoom discussion together on Sun., April 21, at 3pm. Note the changed date! The Zoom link will be shared at a later date. This event is open to all - we hope you watch & attend whether or not you are part of the METF.

If you're interested in the METF, please sign up for our mailing list. Thanks and hope to hear from you! 

Friday Morning Book Group

The book group meets on the third Friday of the month beginning at 10am to discuss a book selected by the group. In the coming months we will be discussing the following books:

April 19, 2024: Thunderstruck by Erik Larson

May 17, 2024: Bearing Children: A Memoir of Choices by Andrea Abrams and Rubicon: The Love Story of Emily Dickinson's Brother, Austin, and Mabel Todd, the Woman Who Saved Emily's Poetry by Candace Ridington. This special meeting will be in person starting at 10am in the Fireside Room. Each author will give a presentation about her book and then respond to questions. 

Contact the River Road office to be put on the email list for the group.

Parents of Young Adults Book Discussion

Save the date and read the book! Join other parents at this point in their parenting journey on Wed., May 15 at 7:30pm to discuss the book You and Your Adult Child by Laurence Steinberg.  

Planning for Capital Pride! 

River Road is joining with other local UU congregations for the 2024 Capital Pride parade! Planning is already underway. For more info or a link to the next meeting, please contact Rev. Amanda. 

Mental Health First Aid Workshop

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Rockville (UUCR) is offering a virtual workshop on Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) on May 4 and May 11, from 9-noon each day. Registrants are required to attend both days. Both members of staff and congregation are invited to register.

MHFA teaches you how to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges among adults. You’ll build skills and the confidence you need to reach out and provide initial support to those who are struggling. You’ll also learn how to help connect folks to appropriate support. 

Spots are limited and the last day to register is Fri., April 12. The program is being offered at no-charge and will be led by staff from Mosaic Community Services. Please note that there is about two hours of self-paced, online pre-work required to be completed before the first day’s session on May 4.

Register Now for Voter Mobilization Organizing School

Sat., April 27, 10-3pm at All Souls Church 

Whether your congregation has a long history of voter mobilization or you’re just starting to think about it, we hope you’ll join with other UUs from DC, MD, and VA for Organizing School! We are all more effective when we gather together in our power. Organizing School is a chance to gather in person for spiritual grounding, relationship building, and concrete skills training–all towards the goal of engaging as many people as possible in the 2024 election. We strongly encourage congregations to send teams of at least 3 people to help build momentum. Congregations that start in the spring are best positioned for success later in the year! Also, we are excited to welcome youth and offer programming to several other age groups in conjunction with the organizing school. Click here for more information and registration. 

DRUUMM Public Worship

When: Wed., May 8, 8:00pm

Register

Each year DRUUMM hosts a worship service that is open to all. As our ministry and membership grows, this worship is also our major fundraiser to support our pastoral care, community organizing, and antiracism work. This year's donations and sponsorships will specifically help us establish a new DRUUMM Fellowship for seminarians and young organizers. You are an important part of our community. We hope you will join us and share the word with your networks. We invite you to join us for:

Choosing Joy! DRUUMM Public Worship

Rev. Ali K.C. Bell, Guest Preacher

Saunder Choi, Musical Guest

Wed., May 8, 2024

8:00pm Eastern

OPEN TO ALL

Available via Zoom & Livestream

Our worship is grounded in the theme of Choosing Joy! Living with Intentionality and Purpose. Be with us as we explore sustaining joy amidst adversity, inspired by Proverbs 17:22: "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." Discover how a joyful heart can be your sanctuary, even when spirits are tested. A celebration of resilience, purpose, and the healing power of joy. Rev. Carol Thomas Cissell is our liturgist.

West Virginia Service Learning Trip 2024

Registration is open for our 10th service learning trip to McDowell County, WV to work with Big Creek People in Action. We spend the week working to help make people's homes safer and more accessible. We also learn about the rich Appalachian culture. August 4-10. Cost is $500 with a sliding scale. Sign up here. Contact Beth Irikura with questions.

April Extend the Offering: Trans Maryland

Trans Maryland is a multi-racial, multi-gender, trans-led community power building organization dedicated to Maryland’s trans community. By trans folks, for trans folks.

You may donate to Trans MD all month long by making online contributions (select "Extend the Offering") or by making check donations to RRUUC (designate Trans MD).

Lost to Gun Violence

As part of our ongoing commitment to the activists who are interrupting gun violence on the streets of our cities, we are saddened yet honored to memorialize the names of those in our area lost to gun violence recently. These lives continue to matter: Annapolis: David Winchester Jr. Baltimore: three persons with names withheld, Devron Tyler, Jordan Taylor, Eugene Fitzgerald. Crofton: Tommy Lee Williams Jr. District of Columbia: Avion Evans, Irving Laboard, Marquis Ward, Michael James Quander Jr., Amaru Cureton, Philip Prendergast. Gwynn Oak: Idongesit Udosen. Hyattsville: Cesar Benitez. Laurel: one person with name withheld. Every life lost to gun violence shatters the world for each of us, and every life saved by those who interrupt the violence helps knit us back together.

RRUUC Land and Labor Acknowledgement

We acknowledge that the land on which we worship is the traditional land of the Nacotchtank and Piscataway people and the land through which other Indigenous Peoples traveled. We acknowledge that enslaved African people and their descendants likely labored and lived on this land. We recognize these and other people displaced, enslaved, or harmed by past injustices.

We pledge that we will follow our faith in love and work to make our congregation and our larger community more accessible, inclusive, and equitable. We pledge that we will be good stewards of the land by encouraging healthy ecosystems. We pledge to remember the past while building a more just and welcoming future for all. 

River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation

6301 River Road, Bethesda, MD 20817 | 301-229-0400 news@rruuc.org | www.rruuc.org