"The River"

March 26, 2023

10:30 am

March 26

Speaker: Lucy DeCrace

Outreach Manager

Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group

Celebrant: Greg Sherman


Since 1999 she has been engaging community volunteers and students in salmon habitat restoration in the Skagit and Samish watersheds.

This is 4th Sunday. Your donations will go to SFEG Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group

Order of service
Link to  service
Dial in:
+1 253 215 8782
Meeting ID: 83222201810
Sunday Service On-Line:
Click the link on Sunday morning to join our services on Zoom

Services are in person 10:30 am at the Fellowship, 500 W Section St, Mount Vernon and on Zoom

If attending services in our building

 

You need to be fully vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19 per the current CDC guidelines. 

 

 Masks are still to be worn during the service and masks are now optional during coffee hour. Do NOT attend if you have had a runny nose or cough or fever in the previous 5 days.  

Services coming in March and April

April 2

Doris Brevoort

Building your own Theology


April 9

Joseph Bednarik

Postcards from Your Spiritual Journey


Recently a person nearing 90 said eight words that are teeming

with reflection and adventure: "I want to write down my spiritual

journey." This Easter Sunday we reflect on our unique spiritual journeys and imagine what it would be like to write postcards to loved ones, trying to describe what we're experiencing along The Way.

April 16

Rev. Barbara Gildaky


April 23

4th Sunday Famillllllllias KUKnidas Por la Justica


April 30

Iman Jamal Rahman

Listen to previous SUUF services here
Link to Rev. Bode's service 3/18/23

SUUF Events and news

Pat Young's family wants you to know that she is now sleeping peacefully all the time, and just days away from taking her final journey. They are going to leave her at Birchview for this transition; it was a sad decision but in her best interest. While you are still welcome to stop by and say your goodbyes, do be prepared for this reality. She has her daughters as constant companions now.  


And Dave? The "Wednesday Walkers" visited with him at their Bayview home yesterday, getting in a good visit and a peek at his fabulous rock collection.


Here is a picture of Pat in happier days, being her silly self last December. Wonderful memories, for sure! 

Sally Riggers

Our thoughts are with Pat Young and her family at this time.


If I Should Go - by Joyce Grenfell

If I should die before the rest of you,

Break not a flower nor inscribe a stone.

Nor, when I’m gone, speak in a Sunday voice,

But be the usual selves that I have known.

Weep if you must,

Parting is hell.

But life goes on,

So sing as well.

Save the Dates for SUUF Picnics

Sunday, July 30th: Hillcrest Park Gazebo

Sunday, August 27th, Bowman's Bay


Our monthly movie night is on April 8, second Saturday will show the movie The Princess Bride. Come join the fun!

Doors open at 7 pm, movie starts at 7:30 pm

SUUF West will be meeting at the Anacortes Library Community Room from 12:30 until 2:30 in March, April, and May. It is okay to bring bag lunches as long as we clean up. If you live in Anacortes or other places west of Mt. Vernon, you are invited to join this informal discussion group. Please call Rosemary with any questions. (360-293-4146)

The Covenant Circle is a mid-week gathering, a chance to chat and share with others outside of the Sunday service.

Covenant Circle 

Tuesdays at 5:30. All are welcome! The conversation is wide-ranging and easygoing. ("Who could ask for anything more?")


Zoom link here


Passcode: 407993

SUUF Zoom Links For This Week


(Click on an item during the meeting time to attend.)


Sunday, March 26, 10:30 AM | Sunday Service 


Tuesday, March 28, 5:30 PM | Covenant Circle



Thursday, April 13, 6:30 PM | Board Meeting

Happy Wanderers Wednesday Walking GroupEnjoy a walk in the great outdoors with fellow SUUFers, Due to weather variability, the weekly walk day and time may vary or get changed as the weather is assessed. If folks want the weekly walk info, please contact Linda Kuller 360-420-1506. and she will add you to the texts with walk info and notices of any changes.

4th Sunday recipients list


You can send your donation using our online donation link or by mailing a check to SUUF.


 Apr - Familia Unidas por la Justica

May - OPOP One parish One prisoner

Jun - Helping hands foodbank

Happy March birthdays!!! Best wishes to Matt B, Jasmine, Iola, Susan Wi, and any others celebrating your special day this month.

Hospitality

If you are attending services in person, drinks or snacks that you bring to share are much appreciated


A group of us are meeting with Vashon Island UU and Quimper UU in Port Townsend for the UU Common Read. Our team has Andra, Brenda and Dundas, Jim Heard, Linda Riggers, and me. Brenda is the contact person.

Cheer-ho,

Donna Rieper


NOTES TO SHARE, from MARCH 2, 2023 DISCUSSION, "MISTAKES AND MIRACLES"

(Present from Skagit UUF team: Dundas Winn, Brenda Cook, Linda Riggers, Donna Rieper)

Agreed the SUUF Board has power, backed by Fellowship's approval for how budget is allotted. Under them, the Worship Committee has power over progamming the ministers and speakers who will address the Fellowship during the year . Celebrants also have power, as they work with the speaker to choose music and words for the elements of the service. The Fellowship makes suggestions for which organizations would like to have speak for Fourth Sunday services (organizations represented receive the offering). The Social Justice Committee makes its recommendations to finalize 4th Sunday speakers.

We noted that change is hard for everyone. For any such change as we have been discussing, to become a "Beloved Community," and have that intention stated in the mission and bylaws, for example, it is crucial for everyone to be on board from the very beginning. One participant commented they didn't sense any resistance among the members toward these ideals.

To involve our members and get their support for these ideas and changes will require education for everybody. We are a small, but growing Fellowship, so it is hoped most everyone will feel ownership and that they have a say in what happens at SUUF. That's where we are right now, at the beginning of the process.

------- Other ideas bandied about, not included in this report for the book grou:

Need a new banner for outside the building that expresses who we are /what we stand for; maybe a group session writing ideas could be productive.

What about a "Bread Communion" for fall harvest celebration? One of the congregations in the book, Phoenix, does this --sounded cool --everybody brings a type of bread to share typical of their heredity, home country, ancestors -- no matter how long ago one's relatives came to the U.S. (or are indigenous to US, as far as that goes).

Also a discussion of power in the neighborhood and neighbors who cut down trees willy -nilly, and other neighbors can do nothing about it.

News from SUUF members and Friends 

This space awaits a photo or poem or news or reminiscence from you when you're ready. Email your contributions to the office.

Please join me in registering for the 2023 Compassion Course Online. It'll be my fourth time through, and I would like to share my experience with those interested in a Practice Group at SUUF (details TBD). The program starts on June 21 and is a year long. The registration fee is $79, with an optional certificate of completion program for $65. Find out more and sign up at https://compassioncourse.org

In Peace & Hope - George (g.rodgersclark@gmail.com if you have questions for me)

Speaking Our Truth: An Evening for the LBGTQ+ Students and Their Allies

Saturday, May 13th at 7:00         

The Lincoln Theatre, Mt. Vernon

 Free Admission

“A poetry reading featuring Seattle poet Luther Hughes and LBGTQ+ poets and their Allies” 


Rosemary Stevens

March 10, 1660   A conference between Roman Catholics and Unitarians took place at Roznow, Poland. Andrew Wissowatius took the lead for the Unitarians. July 10 of the same year had been fixed as the date by which all Unitarians who refused to conform to the Catholic religion would have to leave the country. John Szafraniec Wieolopolski, a senator of the kingdom, presided over the conference. He said, ”If all Hell had been let loose, the whole infernal host could not have defended the cause of the Socinians more valiantly than Wissowatius had done, standing alone.” The Unitarians lost the debate and they were forced to leave the kingdom in what became known as the Great Exile.


(More on the march in Selma)


March 11, 1965 James Reeb, a Unitarian minister died in Selma, Alabama, after a civil rights march. Two days earlier, segregationists had attacked Reeb and the two ministers he was with hitting Reeb on the head with a club. He was one of more than 125 Unitarian Universalist ministers who answered Martin Luther King’s call to march in support of voting rights for black Americans. Two other civil rights activists were killed during the Selma protest—Jimmy Lee Jackson, an African-American farm laborer and church deacon, and Viola Liuzzo, a Unitarian Universalist layperson from Detroit.


March 13, 1733  Joseph Priestly was born in Fieldhead, Yorkshire, England. He was educated for the Dissenting ministry and became an outstanding theologian. He wrote many books on religion, including the influential History of the Corruptions of Christianity (1782), which Thomas Jefferson credited with his conversion to Unitarianism. Priestley also became a successful preacher, despite a marked and painful stutter. However, he is best known chemistry, the hobby he took up in his mid-thirties. He took part in a group of accomplished liberal religious thinkers (called the Lunar Society because it met when the full moon promoted safe travel) who also engaged in science. Priestley is credited with a number of discoveries, including oxygen and a method of curing scurvy at sea, which was used by Captain Cook on his voyages. His inventions included anesthesia, carbonated water, a process for measuring the purity of air, and pencil erasers. Supported by his wife’s brothers, Priestly made his inventions available to the public and received no money for any of them. Priestley’s major ministries were in Leeds and Birmingham in England, and then in Philadelphia. He taught at Warrington Academy, a Unitarian school for training minister and a predecessor of Harris Manchester College at Oxford. There he conducted many of his scientific experiments and wrote science textbooks. Extremely liberal in his politics, Priestly was forced to leave England for America in 1794 after a mob burned his home and laboratory over his support for the principles of the French Revolution. He received numerous honors during his lifetime. Priestly died on February 6, 1804. 


 Rosemary Stevens

Community events and news

Forest Defenders'

Dear Earth Cherishing Friends,

Please consider taking the actions suggested here, which were passed along to me by Alex Harris from Resources. I wanted to let you know also, that on Monday March 27th, there will be a wonderful opportunity to hear Brel Froebe of the Center for Responsible Forestry, Alex Harris from ReSources, and Michael Feerer from the Whatcom Million Trees Project presenting, and in conversation with one another and those gathered that evening, on their work with trees and forests in the local efforts to build climate resilience and protect biodiversity. Please see the Save the Date poster below. I know this will be a lively, informative and inspiring event sponsored by the Multifaith Network for Climate Justice. A flyer with more details is included here BELOW! 


Jillian and I feel deeply moved by how many of us are sustaining the effort to stay on the path of protecting the legacy forests. I know it was not long ago that I imagined that these online efforts might or might not bear fruit; the possibility of "wasted time" created resistance to taking a few minutes to follow action steps, such as those listed here! I am now a convert to JUST DOING IT. Why? Because I have seen results that feel so important. More than once, I have witnessed forests come into protection through these simple acts we can take. Please consider engaging with these steps, and passing along the email to others in these grassroots efforts.


Warm greetings of spring on the horizon, Elizabeth 


ACTION STEPS HERE, FROM ALEX:


1. Contact DNR: If you haven’t already done so, please submit a comment to protect Brokedown Palace HERE—and please share this action widely with your networks. HERE is the informational webpage (the video is embedded on this page). Over 1,400 people have signed so far — we need to keep up the pressure!


2. Contact your legislators: HERE is the campaign page to ask state leaders to protect “carbon dense, structurally complex” legacy forests as part of the Climate Commitment Act. Please share this widely as well.


3. Urge Whatcom County to weigh in: We need 15-20 people to testify at the Whatcom County Council meeting at 6pm on April 4th to show support for the Brokedown Palace Forest. Let us know if you’re able to show up in person (or via zoom) to testify — more details and talking points to come.


4. Attend a town hall with your state reps: Town halls for the 40th and 42nd legislative districts are happening on Saturday 3/18. We need as many people as possible to show up and raise their hand in support of protecting Brokedown Palace and all WA legacy forests.

40th town hall: 11am-12pm, Skagit PUD #1, Aqua Room, 1415 Freeway Drive, Mount Vernon (MAP)
42nd town hall: 1-2pm, Ferndale High School Auditorium, 5830 Golden Eagle Drive, Ferndale
Eileen Gribble

Hello Skagit Advocates, this email has some announcements and updates!


Thank you to all the wonderful folks I met last weekend that the sign waving event, it was great to hear from you all. Below are all the sign up forms for the upcoming sign waving events with the times and location of each event. Please consider using these forms to sign up so we can begin to keep track of attendance! This kind of information helps us know how we can best support attendees with things like supplies.


The next thing I want to announce is that this Wednesday’s event will have the theme of ‘Bans Off Our Bodies’ in response to the pending mifepristone case. This will occur that the usual location, with an emphasis on building community around this upcoming court decision. The link to RSVP is below, please share this with friends and family! Check out our Instagram @mtbakerpp if you would like to share the post.


Skagit Sign Waving

Bans Off Our Bodies Wednesday, March 22nd https://www.weareplannedparenthood.org/a/mount-vernon-planned-parenthood-sign-waving-2

Saturday, April 1st - https://www.weareplannedparenthood.org/a/mt-vernon-planned-parenthood-rally-2

Saturday May 6th - https://www.weareplannedparenthood.org/a/mt-vernon-planned-parenthood-rally-3


If you are interested in becoming an official volunteer please consider coming to an orientation session. When you are a volunteer you will get access to exclusive events, regular updates, a shared group chat, and individual volunteer support. The orientation is a two hour training held online on Zoom with information about safety, volunteering, and reproductive rights. The next orientation will be in April, the link will be below.

Saturday, April 8th at 10am Orientation - https://www.weareplannedparenthood.org/a/volunteer-orientation-14


If you have any questions please feel free to reach out. Additionally, the volunteer lead contact for this event is Debbie, email her at debbiegrant01@gmail.com if you have any questions!


Jade Phillips (she/her)

Community Organizer

Occasionally, we get notification of an event and it is too late to get it in the weekly announcements. If you are interested in getting additional emails about racial/ social/climate/ justice issues please email me at brendundas@outlook.com or call (360) 424-5003.

The contact person for OPOP (One Parish, One Prisoner) is Eileen Gribble.

Skagit Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (SUUF)
PO Box 1203
Mount Vernon, WA 98273

Here's the address above for mailing pledge checks and donations. Thank you for your continuing support!
Donate or Pay a Pledge to SUUF
Link to online pledge card 2022-23
Visit SUUF website http://skagituuf.com
Email SUUF skagituu@gmail.com
Office Administrator, Newsletter: Claire Phillips skagituu@gmail.com Hours: Tue. & Thur. 12-4 pm

Board contact: Emily Bianconi, President pres@skagituuf.com
2022-23 Board of Trustees
Emily Bianconi - President
Rosemary Stevens - Vice President
Ken Stern – Treasurer
Linda Kuller – Secretary
Mike Murdock
Pete Smith
Jim Heard
Donna Rieper
Skagit Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
500 West Section St.
PO Box 1203
Mount Vernon, WA 98273