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eNews

July 21, 2017
Latest News
Summer Worship Services
Senior Minister Summer Schedule and Pastoral Care Coverage
Senior Minister Sabbatical News
Summer eNews Schedule
Introducing Our 2017-18 Monthly Themes!
General Assembly Recap
Religious Education 2017-2018
Summer worship & childcare
Care Network News
Facilities/Projects Update
H.O.P.E. Works Lawn Display 7/22
Summer PRIDE Theater Festival
Sacred Singing Workshop
New UU Class August 12th
 
 
 
Upcoming Services
Sunday, July 30th

Israel Buffardi, Guest Preacher

10 a.m.

Setting the Communal Table
Have you ever experienced a sense of connection with the universe so strong that it brings you to tears? Guest preacher Israel Buffardi shares an experience of finding connection and a call to justice in a humble pot of zucchini soup. He will also lead us in a celebration of community, connection, and interdependence through story, song, and ritual.  

Guest Bio
Israel Buffardi is a candidate for UU ministry and M.Div student at Harvard Divinity School. He is coming from Portland, ME where he has served as intern minister at Allen Avenue UU Church, chaplain intern at Central Maine Medical Center, and a dedicated community activist in the local food justice and anti-racist movements. His spiritual exploration encompasses food sovereignty, food and spirituality, and exploring spiritual practice beyond traditional religious institutions.





 

 
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Summer Worship Services

Sunday, July 30th at 10 a.m. - Israel Buffardi, Guest Preacher

Setting the Communal Table
Have you ever experienced a sense of connection with the universe so strong that it brings you to tears? Guest preacher Israel Buffardi shares an experience of finding connection and a call to justice in a humble pot of zucchini soup. He will also lead us in a celebration of community, connection, and interdependence through story, song, and ritual.  

Guest Bio
Israel Buffardi is a candidate for UU ministry and M.Div student at Harvard Divinity School. He is coming from Portland, ME where he has served as intern minister at Allen Avenue UU Church, chaplain intern at Central Maine Medical Center, and a dedicated community activist in the local food justice and anti-racist movements. His spiritual exploration encompasses food sovereignty, food and spirituality, and exploring spiritual practice beyond traditional religious institutions.
 
Children's Choir Singing 7/30

Spiritual Songwriter & Former UU choir member and children's choir director  Dawna  Hammers will be leading the music for the  July 30th  service at UU Society  from 10-11am

She invites all of her former choir members (Children's, World Unity, and  Dawna  & the Dreamers) to come join her in song. Following the service we'll go sing on Church St and have brunch.

Please email her at dawnahammers23@gmail if you will be joining her.
   
Senior Minister Summer Schedule and Pastoral Care Coverage

Rev. Mara's summer schedule will be a little different than previous years. She will be spending much of July and August in the office attending to administrative tasks and preparing for the fall program year. This will include hiring for new staff positions, creating 2017-18 work plans with current staff, meeting/retreating with lay leaders to set goals and plan programs for the coming year, planning the 2017-18 worship calendar and services, and catching up on various administrative tasks (whew!). She'll be available for pastoral care during that time as well.

During July and August, Mara will generally be keeping a Monday-Friday daytime schedule. As is our custom, summer services will largely be covered by guest preachers and members of the Worship Associate team, but Mara will be preaching on August 20, before heading off for her sabbatical time.

Here's Rev. Mara's summer schedule-at-a-glance:

Weeks beginning: 
7/24: Vacation
7/31, 8/7, 8/14: In the Office
8/21: Sabbatical Begins
 
Senior Minister Sabbatical News

In case you missed them, be sure to check out these items on Rev. Mara's upcoming sabbatical  and sabbatical minister plans
 
Summer eNews Schedule

eNews is on its summer schedule: 

August 11
August 25
September 8

Introducing Our 2017-18 Monthly Themes!

At First UU, we are starting our third year of what's called " theme-based ministry ." Each month from September to June, we have a broad spiritual theme that guides our worship services and Theme Circle groups and inspires other programming. Our themes, and the related material for  The Path -  our monthly spiritual  newsletter - come from the Soul Matters Sharing Circle , a collective of UU congregations engaging in "theme-based ministry." 

Our themes for the upcoming program year will be:

September - Welcome       
October - Courage
November - Abundance
December - Hope
January - Intention 
February - Perseverance
March - Balance
April - Emergence
May - Creativity
June - Blessing

Consider joining a Theme Circle this fall to explore these topics and get to know other folks in our community in a small group setting! More info on registering for Fall Circles will be coming soon.

 
General Assembly Recap  
Valerie Wood-Lewis


Missed the UU General Assembly? Here are some don't-miss resources to check out submitted by those who went to New Orleans. Explore any or all as you are moved, and join us for a "Mini-G.A." experience on October 29th . This will be an opportunity for you to get a small taste of some of the inspiration and learning that happened there! In no particular order:
  • The Ruby Bridges Suite One participant in the elevator said this had been a peak experience of her life! The concert celebrates the story of Ruby Bridges, the trailblazing AfricanAmerican girl who, at age 6, integrated the New Orleans Public Schools in 1960. Pianist Darrell Grant's cantata features the choirs of All Souls, DC, and First UU, Nashville, along with a 6-piece all-star jazz ensemble and renowned vocalist Marilyn Keller.
     
  • Robin D'Angelo's work on White Fragility. Several of us attended 2 or even 3 of her workshops. Dr. DiAngelo describes how race shapes the lives of white people, explains what makes racism so hard for us to see, and identifies common white racial patterns that prevent us from reaching racial equity. See this clip for a sample of her scholarship.
     
  • More on White Privilege from a different workshop.  The audio is poor, but the resource handout is excellent. 
     
  • Some background on the history of funding Anti-Racism work in the UUA. Baba Sanyika was one of the People of Color who left in 1969 when the UUA did not follow through with funding that was agreed to.  
  • Thousands of us participated in a "Public Witness: Love Resists" in New Orleans, where we marched to celebrate expanding the notion of sanctuary to help create safe spaces for all people under threat, and to rejoice in the solidarity of working with community partners. Enjoy the music of the "Second Line" at 2:00, and a very moving, powerful poem by FreeQuency at 59:33.  Mwende "FreeQuency" Katwiwa is a 25-year-old Black, Kenyan, Immigrant, Queer, Womyn panAfricanist poet in New Orleans, LA. FreeQuency is an Anti-Racist and Reproductive Justice organizer who has spent most of her life living and writing at the intersection of arts, education and activism:  https://www.uua.org/loveresists/witness-ga-2017 (minutes 2:00 and 59:33)
Enjoy!


Religious Education 2017-2018
Martha Dallas, DRE

children kids calendar banner If your children/youth will be part of our programming, they need to be registered each year. Please find the form here.

If you're interested in a volunteer stewardship role in our RE Program, please complete this online form and I'll follow up with you.

Details about RE class groupings, next year's RE calendar, and September Start-up events will be emailed to parents and stewards in the coming weeks. If you have any questions about our programming, contact me:  martha@uusociety.org or 862-5630 x 28.

Meanwhile, Happy Summertime!

Summer worship & childcare
by Martha Dallas

Children and youth of all ages are welcome to join us on summer Sundays! Summer services will not have a dedicated time for children to leave, so parents may sign children in before the service, or slip out to do so at any time. Weather permitting, the group plays outside; otherwise they are in and/or near the basement-level nursery. Once again, should a child arrive to join the supervised group without a parent present to sign them in, staff will send them back to their parent with a "hall pass"- like mini-form for parents to sign, indicating their permission for the child to be with the group. Copies of this form are also available in the office. Parents, please cooperate with these procedures to help our staff ensure the safety of children in their care! Thank you!

Care Network News

Dear Members:

I ask for your assistance in support of our 1st, 2nd, and 7th principles. Providing meals and rides both support the inherent worth and dignity of every person and provides compassion in human relations.  In addition, offering rides helps us respect the interdependent web of all existence by reducing car emissions.  You can help in 3 ways:
  1. Sign up to provide meals and/or rides by clicking the meal train links. (Please scroll all the way to the bottom.  There are 2 ride links and 3 meal links.)
  2. Letting the Care Network know of other families in need.
  3. Volunteering to be part of the Care Network committee. 
I look forward to hearing from you.  
  
On behalf of the Care Network, respectfully, 
Sarah Weber
(802) 373 0197 (Call with any questions)
 
(We are using the Meal Train application to help schedule rides.... this link is really for rides, not for meals.)
 
 
 

Facilities/Projects Update
Bob Furrer

As many of you have probably noticed, the windows in the Lantern Room of the Meetinghouse Steeple were removed this week. They are presently in a workshop in the Northeast Kingdom where Jeff Fellinger will be completely restoring them. They will be reinstalled late this fall.

The removal of the existing bell deck rails, and installation of the new rails, is tentatively scheduled to start on Tuesday, July 25th. The work is weather dependent, and considering this summer's rainfall, the 25th is truly tentative! If things go according to plan on the 25th, a crane will be on site, and the oval drive and property on the south, east and west sides of the Meetinghouse will be inaccessible due to safety concerns. I expect the bulk of the work to be done by day's end on the 26th.

Your patience is appreciated during these two major and exciting projects.  Please contact me( bob@uusociety.org ) with any questions.
 
H.O.P.E. Works Lawn Display 7/22

H.O.P.E. Works, (formerly the Women's Rape Crisis Center), an organization serving Chittenden County since 1973, whose mission is to end sexual violence through healing, outreach, prevention and empowerment, will be installing a one day "Clothesline Project" on Saturday, July 22nd. This event had been scheduled for April 22nd, but was cancelled due to inclement weather.

The project consists of a display of t-shirts made by survivors and friends of those affected by sexual violence. Again, the project will be removed by day's end Saturday.

It's important to note, that although we've fostered a long time tradition of sharing our lawn with organizations in our community serving survivors of violence, we also understand and empathize with those survivors who may find such displays troubling and difficult. If you have any related concerns about this or future displays, please feel free to share them confidentially with Rev. Mara who can be reached at   rev.mara@uusociety.org

Summer PRIDE Theater Festival

  Sponsored in part by the Vermont Conference United Church of Christ, Vermont Pride Theater presents on stage the concerns and issues of lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, and queer Vermonters. The goal: to build understanding among them and their families and friends, and within the wider community. 

VPT's 7th Annual Theater Festival, Friday July 21-Sunday July 30, presents Vermont premieres of a screwball comedy, a medical drama, and a full evening of LGBTQ shorts. 
Performances of the two full-length plays will be followed by talkbacks with performers and directors, and all performances will be followed by complimentary receptions to meet and greet them.

Adults: $20 in advance, $22 at the door; students, $15 in advance, $17 at the door; a 3-admission pass for $50. Single tickets and the pass are available online at www.chandler-arts.org, or Chandler's box office: (802) 728-6464.
 
Sacred Singing Workshop
Burlington Sacred Harp Singing Group

Intro to Shape Note Singing Workshop: FREE!
Tuesday, July 25th from 6-6:30 p.m., followed by singing from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
United Methodist Church, 21 Buell Street, Burlington

Do you like to sing? Join us for an evening of community harmony singing that uses shape notation to make singing easy and rewarding for beginners and experienced musicians alike. We will teach how to read shape notation and which voice part to sing. Shape note singing is one of America's oldest musical and social gathering activities. All are welcome! No singing experience necessary. Contact Anna Mays at anna.mays@gmail.com with any questions.

New UU Class August 12th

Would you like to learn more about Unitarian Universalism? Find out more about our own Burlington UU Congregation? Meet other newcomers? If so, please sign up for the New UU Class!

The class will be held August 12 th from 9 a.m - 12:30 p.m. at the Meeting House. There is a sign-up sheet on the bulletin board outside the Parlors or you may e-mail Nina Dahlstedt Buss at  nina@uusociety.org