May 2018 Volume 35 Issue 5
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Worship in May: Truth
Service at 10:30 am Sundays in the Miller Sanctuary
Flower Communion May 6th!
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Community Sharing in May: Planned Parenthood
The mission of Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida is to ensure the right of all individuals to manage their sexual and reproductive health by providing medical services, education, and advocacy.
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Humanist Forum
The Humanist Forum meets every Sunday at 9:15 am in Hobart Hall. All are welcome to attend. This week the Humanist Forum will be discussing
The Serenity of Reality,
the third part of the
I Wonder
series.
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Coffee Hour
Sunday's Coffee Hour happens after church every week and is provided by volunteers from the Women's Circle on the first Sunday, CUUPS on the second Sunday, Humanist Forum on the third Sunday, Men's Group on the fourth Sunday and if there is a fifth Sunday, it is All Church. Any donations of food, snacks or cash are welcome.
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BURN Youth Group
The Youth Group meets on Sundays at noon, usually in Room 4!
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From the Minister
This Sunday, May 6th, join in our yearly tradition of flower communion. This ritual is celebrated near the end of the church school year in many Unitarian Universalist congregations. To participate, bring a flower from your home or roadside to contribute during the flower communion ritual. We will celebrate the truth that each of us brings to this community as we devote ourselves to love, grow, and serve. We will have flowers available for guests and those bereft of flowers as well! Just part of trying to be a radically inclusive and generous place. Looking forward to celebrating with you this Sunday!
Rev. Allison Farnum
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Religious Education News
Good folk of UUCFM, our budding youth group, Burn, is running their first annual car wash fundraiser this month! Tickets will be available THIS SUNDAY in Hobart Hall after service. There are only 15 slots available and they will be sold first come, first serve.
The tickets are $20 and entitle you to...
- park in a reserved space behind the church offices
- have the outside of your vehicle scrubbed down from bumper to bumper
- Rain X applied on your windshield
- drive away in a shiny, clean vehicle by noon
You can purchase tickets for either the 13th, 20th, or 27th of this month while supplies last.
Proceeds from this fundraiser will go directly to Burn Youth Group events like social justice projects, lock-ins, workshops, and more. Our youth are all looking forward to receiving your generosity and giving your car a good scrub!
Jenn Blosser
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Music Notes
To all my dear friends of UUCFM,
After much deliberation and with a heavy heart, I must announce that I will be stepping down as Director of Music as of Sunday, May 13th. I have been struggling with the "invisible illness" that is autoimmune disease, and Rev. Allison and I have agreed that it will be best for me to focus on my health and family. As Rev. Allison works together with the Board President and Personnel Chair to program music after the 13th, and with continued support from our musically gifted congregation, the future of the music program is bright indeed. I'm filled with gratitude for these last three years, doing work I love at my beloved church home, singing with all of you.
Amy Laursen, Director of Music
Musical Calendar
May 6:
Classical flute and piano duo Angela Massey and Dean Zhang offer beautiful selections from CPE Bach, Chaminade, and Scriabin for our annual flower communion. Plus the Choir shares a fun new version of
For the Beauty of the Earth
.
May 13:
For Mother's Day, Rebecca Donlan sings Josh Groban's ballad
You Raise Me Up
and the Choir sings of the divine feminine in
Lady of the Season's Laughter
.
May 20:
In honor of Harvey Milk Day, Karen Feinan covers Pauley Perette's 2016 pop song
Beautiful Child
, and the Choir harmonizes Fred Small's heartfelt folk song
Everything Possible
.
May 27:
Peter Golbitz covers Bob Dylan's
Blowin' in the Wind,
and the Choir sings beloved UU hymn about the beauty of religious diversity,
Let This Be a House of Peace
.
The next
Music Committee
meeting is TBA.
The UUCFM Choir
rehearses most Wednesday nights from 6:45-8:15 pm, and on Sunday mornings from 9-10 am in the sanctuary. It's free and there are no auditions. Please email me in advance so that a music folder can be prepared for you. Come join us in singing!
The UUCFM Band
rehearses most Wednesday nights from 6:00-6:45 pm, and on Sunday mornings from 9-1 0am in the sanctuary. If you would like to play your instrument during a Sunday service, please email me to coordinate the details. Come join us in making music together!
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Special Events
Wizard Camp
Sign up for Wizard Camp! This year's summer camp will start on June 11th and finish Friday, June 15th with a banquet in Hobart Hall. You can register here:
uucfmwizardcamp.webs.com
We are also seeking volunteers!
Whether it's
teaching a class, assisting with those who teach, or any of the prep work, we need you!
Future wizards and soothsayers can partake in a Sorting Hat Ceremony, become Quiddich players, make cloaks and wands, send out Wishes for the World, take classes on Incantations, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Muggle Studies, and more! Alchemy, potions, and divination await them at the School of Wizardry Summer Camp,
June 11 through June 15th from 9:00 am -4:00 pm.
(with optional before and after care). Prices range from $175-200. Also, there will be a feast on Friday at 6:00 pm as a culmination of our week of wizardry!
Be sure to register soon! Once a certain number of campers is reached, registration will be closed. Feel free to Contact Us on our web page with any questions you might have! We look forward to hearing from you soon!
- email Krista at
[email protected]
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FUUn BUUnch Returning!
Bob Nies and I will restart the FUUn BUUnch Dinners on the last Saturday of May, 2018. We will use your input from the questionnaire filled out during the Christmas Eve FUUn BUUnch Dinner on December 24th, 2017. The restaurants suggested without objection were, Bianca's, Sunflower Cafe, and Mimi's. Unless there are objections, we will use them again this year.
Even though the following were suggested, endorsed or rejected, after careful review, we have decided to reject the following for the reasons indicated:
Ford's Garage, Shrimp Shack, Duffy's, Sr. Tequilla,(too noisy)
Origami, Bahama Breeze, Clam Bake, Christoff's, (too expensive)
Perkins, 6 mile Cypress (food quality)
Thai Garden, (too small)
Over the summer weeks, we will review the following suggestions:
Miller's Ale House, Oasis, Famous Daves, LaMotta, Cheddars, and others you may suggest.
We will continue with The Islamorada Fish Restaurant in Bass Pro Shop and LaGrotta again because there were equal numbers of rejections and endorsements. NOTE: LaGrotta is particularly useful for our purposes because of the size of the restaurant, the varying menu, food quality, management's efforts to control the costs and their willingness to seat a large groups late on Christmas Eve where most other restaurants aren't open.
To make suggestions, endorsements or rejections, please contact:
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Book Group
The book group will be reading
No Time Like the Present: Finding Freedom, Love, and Joy Right Where You Are
by Jack Kornfield. The group welcomes anyone who is interested in the book and will meet in the Library (next to the office) on Wednesdays from 1:00-2:30 pm.
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For Upcoming SoulCollage
High quality collage materials are needed for upcoming SoulCollage workshops. In June we will be offering two SoulCollage workshops after church, one for adults and one for children the following Sunday. For the younger children, it would be very nice to have large colorful, happy, images of animals and flowers and so on. It would be very helpful to have the pages torn out of the magazines or books if possible.
Please give materials to Debra Leigh, Dianne Sweeney, Jenn Blosser, or leave in the "Collage Materials" box in Hobart Hall. Thank you!
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Mindfulness Meditation
Join us on Monday evenings to explore the very simple and satisfying practices of mindfulness and meditation. You don’t need experience with meditation, nor do you have to be a Buddhist. Do please bring an intention to quiet the mind and the body in a supportive group of UU members and friends with a similar intention - people who want to carry mindfulness into their daily lives. We meet Mondays from 6:30-8:00p in the Sanctuary. If you have any questions, please contact Gary Robbins at
[email protected]
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Optimal Living Group
The Optimal Living Group is open to all and does not require attending every session. We meet in the Sanctuary on the first and third Wednesdays of each month from 4:00-5:30 pm. We discuss how to live optimally, including practical ways to cope with life's challenges and issues. Helping others and developing maturity in ourselves is part of our quest. We explore many paths and techniques for enriching our lives and making a difference for others. For more information, fill out a blue card found in the pews or email Neil Yesu:
[email protected]
.
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UUCFM Athletics Club
The UUCFM Athletics Club is dedicated to preserving and practicing a variety of historical martial arts for entertainment and fitness purposes. We meet at various times (determined by interest) most often at 12:00 pm after the service on Sunday to practice archery and tomahawk/axe throwing. Other activities and times can be found on our facebook page of the same name. All are welcome to join us.
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UUCFM Gaming Group
The UUCFM Game Group is the club for you. We do our best to meet in Room 7 on Sundays after church from 1:00-4:00 pm. Those of us with children can't always make it so please check the Facebook group page (UUCFM Gaming Group) to see if games are scheduled.
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Rissho Kosei-kai Buddhist Group
The Rissho Kosei-kai Buddhist group meets Sundays at 1:45p in Room 1. All are welcome to join us.
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Community Wednesday
Community Wednesday is held in Hobart Hall. All are invited. Bring friends and neighbors, too. Join us each Wednesday for a delicious meal prepared by Chef Joy for a small donation. After the fellowship and fine fare from 6:00- 6:45p, join your favorite programming event, committee meeting, or social activity. Child care is provided until 8:30p.
Community Wednesday Activities for May:
4:00-5:30
Optimal Living Group (1st & 3rd Wed)
6:00-6:45
Community Meal
6:00-6:45
Band Rehearsal in Sanctuary
6:45-8:00
Choir Rehearsal in Sanctuary
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Help Care for the Plants in our Sanctuary
Some plants do not always need weekly watering.There are some potted plants in Memorial garden and by the choir side door. If you like plants and would like to help care for our serene Sanctuary - please apply.
Thank you, Kimberly Littleton
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A Reminder from your Caring Network
Free Hurricane Preparedness Seminars will help get you ready
Lee County Emergency Management has scheduled additional Hurricane Preparedness Seminars that are open to the public. The free seminars will include information on how to prepare families and homes for hurricane season, how to use new hurricane-related technology and how Emergency Management responds to hurricanes and other disasters.
The seminars now scheduled are: 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 9 – Large Meeting Room A at Lakes Regional Library,
15290 Bass Road, Fort Myers
6 p.m. Wednesday, May 9 – Veterans Park Recreation Center, in the gymnasium,
55 Homestead Road South, Lehigh Acres
10 a.m.Tuesday, June 5 – Fort Myers Regional Library, in Meeting Room AB,
1651 Lee St., Fort Myers
2 p.m. Tuesday, June 26 – Large Meeting Room at Cape Coral Lee County Public Library,
921 S.W. 39
th Terrace, Cape Coral Seminars are open to the public. Additional seminar dates and locations will be posted at
leeeoc.com;
check the website to see if registration is necessary for individual events.
In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Lee County will not discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities in its services, programs, or activities. To request an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication or a reasonable modification to participate, contact Debbie Quimby, 239-533-0622, Florida Relay Service 711, or
[email protected]
. Accommodation will be provided at no cost to the requestor. Requests should be made at least five business days in advance.
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From Guatemala
Here's what's happening in Guatemala with Genelle Grant from GRACE Project with the Fertility Bracelets and Menstrual Kits-this is the Reproductive Health workshop in a public high school.
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South Fort Myers Food Pantry
The response for food donations has been consistently good over the last year. The need is still there and UUCFM has been a strong supporter of the pantry. I have not been able to post the pantry newsletter but there is one at the Social Justice table listing the number of people fed by the pantry for the last year. Easter is early this year which means many people will be heading north earlier too. Consequently, many people will lose seasonal jobs and the need for food donations and volunteers will be just as great as it is now. Keep that in mind. Remember to bring at least one can each week and consider volunteering during the summer months. Questions? Email Fran Rose:
[email protected]
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Our UU Story
John Quincy Adams
A Questioning Unitarian
John Quincy Adams (July 11, 1767-February 23, 1848) spent most of his youth and adult life in public service to the United States, as senator, diplomat, secretary of state, president, and congressman. He made his greatest contribution to his country after his presidency, while serving in the U.S. House of Representatives as a staunch opponent of slavery and expansionist war.
The second of
John
and
Abigail Adams's
five children, Johnny was born in the North Precinct of Braintree, Mass., which later became Quincy.
John and Abigail Adams were members of the First Parish Church of Quincy, part of the liberal wing of New England Congregationalism that became Unitarian as a result of the schism resulting from the Unitarian controversy.
Adams's religious thinking, like his political thinking, appears to have been continuously evolving. Politically, he moved from a Federalist to a near-Republican position; religiously, he moved from a near-Calvinist to a Unitarian position. In 1819 he wrote in his diary that "although the churches here [Washington] are numerous and diversified, not one of them is of the Independent Congregational class to which I belong, the church to which I was bred, and in which I will die." Two years later he became one of the 27 founding members of the First Unitarian Church of Washington.
His acceptance of the Unitarian name by no means signaled an abrupt change in his thinking. His deep interest in the study of theology and the Bible, despite the uncertainties that went with this, indicates that, in the best Unitarian tradition, he was a dedicated seeker after religious truth.
Predictably, Adams was often critical of what he heard or read of the emerging Unitarian denomination. He strongly rejected Joseph Priestley's materialism and ultra-rationalism, just as he was later to oppose the Transcendentalism of
Ralph Waldo Emerson
and Orestes Brownson, calling them "vipers" and "enemies of public virtue."
Adams evidently found comfort in corporate worship and regularly attended two services on Sunday when in Washington—Unitarian and, most often, Episcopal and Presbyterian.
In 1826, shortly after his father's death, Adams formally affiliated with the Quincy church, conceding at the time that he should have taken the step 30 years earlier, given that he had been a supporter of the church for many years and attended when in town.
Near the end of his life he summed up his personal credo in these few words: "I reverence God as my creator. As creator of the world. I reverence him with holy fear. I venerate Jesus Christ as my redeemer; and, as far as I can understand, the redeemer of the world. But this belief is dark and dubious."
by Charles A. Howe
Edited by
Joy F. Sokeitous
About My UU Story
Each month, the Membership Committee would like to publish your UU story- either converted or born UUs. How did you become a UU, or how did our religion affect your life? Alternatively, do you have a one paragraph remembrance of your first reaction to being in a UU church and/or learning about the religion? To share your story, please contact Joy Sokeitous at
[email protected]
Joy will help you edit and she will provide questions to help you develop your story.
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Looking for Help with Family Gardens Updating
The maintenance time is coming up for updating some of the garden beds’ wood pieces: changing out rotting boards for new boards. We could use 2 or 3 able-bodied church members handy with wood tools for a few hours on Saturday, May 19th (or an alternative date). It’s great working outside and helping the church fulfill its community Green Sanctuary commitments. Respond to Bill Petrarca at
[email protected]
or 239 810-4608.
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Unitarian Universalist Church of Fort Myers.
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Do you have something to offer, trade, or sell? Are you looking for something? Free ad space here for personal items only. Will run ad for 4 weeks. Email
[email protected]
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If you are a UUCFM Community Sharing Partner, a regular Facility User, or have UU related news to share, you are welcome to submit announcements for publication in our Greater Community section of the newsletter. Please send announcements in by Wednesday for publication in the Thursday E-news.
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Note:
The following camp is for Home School Rocks, a renter of UUCFM. This camp is not run by or sponsored by UUCFM.
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May 1 Judith Lancaster
May 3 Matt Hoffman
May 6 Arlene Goldberg
May 8 Peg Clayton Fischer
May 9 Alison Carville
May 9 Helen Dixon
May 9 Walter Peterson
May 12 Fran Rose
May 14 Jim Stout
May 17 Priscilla Jeffcoat
May 17 Elaine Swank
May 21 Mary Golbitz
May 23 Cathy Snow
May 24 Nancy Beecher
May 24 Elise Sexton is 17!
May 29 Stephanie Moreland
May 30 Diane Buckley
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Newsletter Editor: Jill Carville
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Board of Trustees
President
President Elect
Secretary
Treasurer
VP Finance
VP Programming
VP Ministerial Services
VP Operations
Member at Large
Staff
Minister
Director of Music
Director of RE
Office Manager
Building Supervisor
Nursery Supervisor
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