E-Octagram
February 16, 2017
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   Save the Date         UUC Sunday Service     Serve      UUC Committees      
   
What's Happening at UUC     Adult Religious Enrichment      UUC and Beyond       
Save the Date! 
                        February

February 16, Thur: Social Justice Council, 6:30-9:00 pm, (Social Hall)
February 19 Sun:  Open Issues, 9:30-10:30 am, Patio Room
February 19, Sun: Worship Service, 10:30-11:45 am, Octagon
February 19, Sun: Mindfulness Course, 12:30-2:00 pm, Patio Room
February 19, Sun:  Humanist Monthly Mtg, 12:30-1:30 pm, Octagon 
February 26, Sun: Annual Fellowship Breakfast 9:00 am, Social Hall
February 26, Sun: Worship Service, 10:30-11:45 am, Octagon
February 26, Sun: Open Issues, 9:30-10:30 am, Patio Room
February 26, Sun: Black Lives Matter, 12:15-2:15, Chorale Room
February 26, Sun: PSI Symposium/Buddhist Fellowship, 12:30-2:00, Patio Rm

March

March 2, Thursday: Compassion and Choices, 1:30-3:00 pm, Patio Room
March 3, Fri: Readers Forum, 10:30-11:30 am, Chorale Rm
March 4, Sat: Covenant Group Annual Spring Brunch, 11:30-2:00 pm, Social Hall
March 4, Sat: Art Reception, 7:00-9:00 pm, Octagon
March 5, Sun: Open Issues, 9:30-10:30 am, Patio Rm
March 5, Sun: Worship Service, 10:30-11:45 am, Octagon
March 5, Sun: Potluck Annual Canvas, 11:30-12:30 am, Social Hall
March 5, Sun: Joining UUC, 12:30-1:30 pm, Chorale Rm
March 11, Sat: Social Justice Council, 9:30-12:00 noon, Westwood Rm
March 12, Sun: Open Issues, 9:30-10:30 am, Patio Rm
March 12, Sun: Worship Service ALL MUSIC SUNDAY, 10:30-11:15 am, Octagon
March 15, Wed:  Soup Potluck 5:30 in Social Hall,  Exhale Service 6:15-6:45 in Octagon, Post Soup  6:45-7:30.
March 17-19: Youth Conference in Tallahassee
March 17, Fri: FAST Rally, off site, 7:00 pm (more info to come.)
March 19, Sun: Open Issues, 9:30-10:30 am, Patio Rm
March 19, Sun: Worship Service, 10:30-11:45 am, Octagon
March 19, Sun: A Course in Mindfulness, 12:30-2:00 pm, Patio Rm.
March 19, Sun: Humanist Monthly Meeting, 12:30-1:30 pm, Octagon.



Meet with Rev. Patrice Curtis

If you would like to meet with Rev. Patrice contact the office at 727-531-7704. If you wish to contact her, please call

(510) 852-9304.

Rev. Patrice Curtis
  Service 
Sunday at 10:30

February 19, 2016
Question Box Talk
  Worship Leader: Rev. Patrice Curtis

February's Theme: 
Curiousity

  Pastoral Care Associates

UUC has a strong team of lay Pastoral Associates who offer confidential, emotional support and spiritual companionship to fellow church members. You can access pastoral care by contacting Rev. Patrice Curtis at 727-531-7704 ext. 5 or [email protected].

Please note that emails sent to the front office are not confidential; emails to Rev. Patrice are.

This week’s pastoral care associate is Susan Hegner and is available at 727-531-7704 ext. 5.   
What Is 'Spirit Space'?
It's the space on the upper level of the Sanctuary where children can go during service for quiet activities. Be sure to go check it out with your little ones.

           Open Issues
Sundays at 9:30 a.m.,
Patio Room

19 Feb. Bill Foley.”Immigration: Our Troubled History”. Bill, the author of Pillar of Fire, a novel about the Klan and the immigrant experience in the 1920s will share his research about the myth of welcoming immigrants. He will carry his review of American nativism up to the present with photographs and documents.  Signed copies of his book will be available for $10.00

  Flowers for Sunday Services
If you would like to supply the flowers for an upcoming Sunday service in honor of a special event or person in your life, please email Patricia  here. She will help you coordinate your contribution. 
Exhale! 
A Gathering for Sitting and Moving Mindfulness.
Third Wednesday of every month thru May 2017. Next Exhale and Soup Supper is Mar 15th
6:15 to 6:45 in the Sanctuary.

  5:30 - pre service soup potluck

6:15 - 6:45 Exhale! service in Octagon

6;45 - 7:30 post service soup potluck

 Love offerings are accepted to help cover shared costs.

Wednesday Soup Supper
pre and post Exhale! service
Extend the moments of nourishment for the body and spirit by joining fellow Exhale participants pre AND/OR post service at our Soup Supper. 
  It's easy. Just bring some soup to share, or bread or salad, maybe a dessert. Crockpots are great. Listing ingredients is very helpful. 
  To support ease of cleanup and to keep our footprint tiny, please plan on bringing your own bowls or help with cleanup. 



 

FAST: INFORMATIONAL MEETING

After last week’s successful Affordable Housing meeting sponsored by UUC’s FAST Justice Ministry Team, interest was raised in learning more about FAST’s multi-cultural, interfaith justice ministry in Pinellas County and how it works to make our community a better place for all people.  To learn more about FAST, you’re invited to a house meeting in Largo  WEDNESDAY, February 22nd at 6:30 PM.  For more information, please email or phone Theo Betjemann:  [email protected]  or 727-498-7470.


SHARE UUC's Facebook Page and help us be a beacon.
Our Facebook page is a vital, essential social media tool and we use it to get the word out to the world about all the amazing things we are doing here. But it needs YOUR PARTICIPATION to really make it effective. While not everyone is on Facebook, there are many of us who check it regularly and have a considerable network of friends. By following us you will receive our posts and then your part in getting the word out begins. Liking is just ok, but SHARING the post is the way to go! Did you know you can share a post without writing a comment so it's quick and easy and all of a sudden we are reaching thousands of people and our reach becomes exponential. So go to the page and start following us. Invite your friends to follow, and Share share share. It's quick, easy, and every share is valuable. Click below on the link and Share UUC with the world!
Fundraiser and Funraiser - Annual Fellowship Breakfast
***SAVE THE DATE***

Sunday Feb 26th our All-Church, Semi-Annual, *Fundraiser & Funraiser*, the Fellowship Breakfast. Your gentle men of UUC invite you to enjoy chocolate chip, sensitive classic, and GLUTEN-FREE pancakes, and golden WAFFLES (by zee-chef, Ken Nichols) with whipped cream & blueberry toppings + BACON, 3 syrups (genuine maple, regular, and sugar-free), hard-boiled eggs(!), butter, OJ and coffee, coffee, coffee….(serving 9-10:10 a.m.). Free-Will Offering. Always a fuun time. Plan to be there!

UUC  Where all the woman are strong, all the men good-looking, and all the children are above average.   Garrison Keillor

Help Us Sell Fair Trade Coffee Once per Month
Attention New Members!
The Social Justice Council is looking for a person (or persons) to take over the Fair Trade products sales. This means selling coffee and other fair trade items after services one Sunday a month and ordering products on an as needed basis. For more information contact Donna Polhamus ([email protected])
I
Training and help would be provided. 

Once a month spend Sunday service in the tech booth. 
We want to train several people to be able to handle the sound and lighting and av for services and events. It's not that hard to learn and full training will be provided. Contact Carol Kay at [email protected] if you are excited about being a part of this team of intrepid techies.
UUC In Action... Upcoming Committee Meetings
Please get your meeting information to [email protected] NO LATER than one week before the next E-Octagram (publishes on Thursdays). If there are changes, they must get to the above email NO LATER than the Wednesday before publishing. Thank you. 

-- Social Justice Council:  Thursday, Feb. 16, 6:30-9:00 pm, Octagon

We will be exploring ways for different progressive groups in North Pinellas to work together for our mutual benefit. The discussion will be led by leaders from Awake Pinellas, who have worked on projects with different groups in this way since Gov. Scott was elected.
Coffee at 6:30; Meeting at 7.

-- UUC Humanist Group:  Sunday, Feb. 19, 12:30, Octagon
    (Changed from Feb. 5th)

Our speaker is Professor Jeff Lipkes. His topic will be "Has Human Evolution Continued into the Historical Era?"

There is no question that after the migration out of Africa around 50,000 years ago, population groups of homo sapiens continued to evolve.  But did cultural practices result in artificial selection for certain traits by some groups much more recently?  The question is controversial.  This talk will explore the theses of some economists and anthropologists  concerning the Jews and the English.   Why did the Jews become traders and moneylenders in medieval Europe?  Why did the English pioneer the industrial revolution and then create an empire that, at its height, ruled more than a quarter of the world’s population?  The answers a few courageous scholars have provided are intriguing, and worth a close look.  

Jeff was born and raised in Los Angeles and educated at U.C. Berkeley and Princeton.  He has taught at Northwestern, Penn State, Hollins College, and University of South Florida. He’s the organizer of Humanistic Jews of Tampa Bay, an affiliate of the Society for Humanistic Judaism.  Lipkes is the author of Politics, Religion, and Classical Economy in Britain, as well as Rehearsals: The German Army in Belgium, August 1914.  He translated Henri Pirenne’s Belgium and the First World War. Under the nom de plume, Josh Michaels, he published a novel, Outlaws.  Lipkes has also published a number of articles in scholarly journals, and a dozen short stories.

-- Black Lives Matter Committee: Sunday, February 26, 12:15-2:15, Chorale Room

Please join our monthly Black Lives Matter meeting Sunday February 26 from 12:15 to 2:15 pm in the Chorale Room. We will be discussing the book  Waking Up White  by Debby Irving, watching some short videos and doing a relevant exercise. For this meeting, please read sections  Childhood in White  (pp. 1-26) and  Midlife Wake-up Calls  (pp. 27-60). Ordering info at  www.debbyirving.com/the-book/ .

-- Garden Meeting: Friday, February 24, 6:00-9:00 pm, Gazebo

HAVE SOME FOOD, FUN, FROLIC and GROW COMMUNITY!!! 
We are initiating this 2017 INAUGURAL monthly gathering to bring a diverse, intergenerational, multicultural, multiracial, interfaith crowd to our garden... and perhaps join us if our (minimal) effort.

This is also a POTLUCK, for those inclined to share food (optional).

We are crowdsourcing ideas and energy to determine how YOU, our beloved community, would like to see our garden evolve and grow.
Input from the invested will be directly incorporated into the planning for creation of the space that will best serve the needs of the growing local community. YOUR INPUT IS VALUED!!!
 
https://www.facebook.com/events/146188489223736/


-- Compassion and Choices, Thursday, March 2, 1:30-3:00 pm, Patio Rm  All are welcome.

What's Happening at UUC

New Art Show Opens March 4th in Octagon

Spiritual Art

Artists:   Margaret Donehoo, Diane Clement, Diane Steves, Jan Kadushin, Val Weaver, W. Keith Smoke, Colleen Baxter

Opening Reception:  Saturday, March 4, 2017, 7:00 - 9:00 pm

Last day of show:      April 4, 2017

Gallery Hours: 9:00 am - 12:00 noon Tuesday - Friday 
        9:30 - 10:30 am and 12:00 - 1:00 pm Sunday

Refreshments will be served

FREE
Contact: Charlene Carnes
[email protected]
 










  Blues PowerArt Show ongoing til February 23rd

Viewing Hours: Sunday, 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. & 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.; Tuesday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. 

From our UUC Librarian Bruce Gotts: 
There is an assortment of Buddhist statues and memorabilia in the Maxwell Library that needs to find a home other than the library. 

'Check Out' This New Book!
UUC Library's Latest Acquisition
HUMANIST VOICES IN UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISM. In this highly anticipated collection, Unitarian Universalist Humanists present their faith perspectives in 23 engaging and thought-provoking essays. The contributors, both lay and ordained, demonstrate why Humanism has been one of the bedrock theologies of Unitarian Universalism for the last hundred years. They reflect on what it means to be a religious Humanist today and how they see the movement evolving in the twenty-first century. They explore Humanist history, beliefs, approach to life, social justice, community, and religious education. Together, these voices proclaim a passionate affirmation of a rich and dynamic tradition within Unitarian Universalism.


The UUC Library is across from the Social Hall entrance. It is open on Sundays after service and books are available for check out with a self-checkout system. For more information contact our Librarian, Bruce Gotts  [email protected]
Readers Forum
We will finishThe River of Doubt by Candace Millard Feb.3rd. Next is America's First Daughter by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie for Feb.11, 18. After that, we'll start The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. We meet Fridays 10:30-11:30 in Chorale Room and all are welcome.




Adult Religious Enrichment Presents
 
A COURSE IN MINDFULNESS
 
This course will begin by examining the common elements in mindfulness practices, how they address everyday psychological distress and how we can begin integrating mindfulness practice into a busy life. It  will also address how to use mindfulness and meditation to engage with challenges such as alienation, aging, trauma, illness, and death.  In addition the course will cover the role of wisdom and ethics in psychological well-being from both ancient and modern scientific perspectives. 
 
Course contains 24 lectures for 12 individual sessions.Each session will discuss two 30 minute 'Great Courses' lectures featuring Dr. Ronald D. Siegel, a clinical psychologist on the faculty of Harvard Medical School. 
 
These sessions will be followed by a discussion.  Ruth Samuel, a member of UUC who has led the course at OLLI (Osher Learning Centers) for several years, will facilitate the series.  
 
Lectures will be held in the Patio Room on Sundays starting at 12:30 p.m. Meets once each month, check calendar for specific dates. 
February's lecture is this Sunday, Feb. 19th.
 

Beyond UUC...
 

Friday, February 17, 2017 7:00pm 
Harsh Landscapes: Ixcanul 

Saturday, February 18, 2017 7:00pm 
Auditory Ecosystems: In Pursuit of Silence 

Sunday, February 19, 2017 2:00pm 
Planting Lives: City of Trees 

Monday, February 20, 2017 7:00pm 
Blood and Oil: Oloibiri 

Tuesday, February 21, 2017 7:00pm 
The Lives of Animals: At the Fork 

Wednesday, February 22, 2017 7:00pm 
Climate and Culture: The Anthropologist 

Thursday, February 23, 2017, 7:00 pm

Climate Science - Antarctica: Ice and Sky

Friday, February 24, 2017 7:00pm 
Visionary Voices: Look and See: A Portrait of Wendell Berry 

Saturday, February 25, 2017 7:00pm 
Planting Hope: Seed: The Untold Story 


ENVIRONMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL AT ECKERD COLLEGE

Eckerd College Dan and Mary Miller Auditorium

4200 54TH AVE. S, ST. PETERSBURG, FL 33711


Price: Free.

Phone: (727) 864-7979

http://www.eckerd.edu/eff


 
Water is Our Life 
Watch the Video Invitation for the 3rd Annual Florida Interfaith Climate Assembly

Now is the time to register for the 3rd Annual Florida Interfaith Climate Assembly Feb. 23-25, and reserve a discounted room at either the Quality Inn in Winter Park, or the Quality Inn at the Orlando Airport. 

UUs:

1)     Please register both at our website here:  http://www.uujusticefl.org/BookingRetrieve.aspx?ID=92979 (so we know who are the first two members of your congregation to receive the $50 rebate each) and on the official registration page here:  www.interfaithflorida.com

2)     Disregard the note about a “coupon code for discount” on interfaithflorida.com:  your registration here http://www.uujusticefl.org/BookingRetrieve.aspx?ID=92979 as one of the first two from your congregation will confirm your eligibility for the rebate.

3)     Deadline for applying for the $50 rebate is Friday, February 17.