"The River"
This Sunday
April 7
Speaker: Sister Susan Wells, SNJM
Celebrant: Sally Riggers
Food for Thought: Making Connections Between the Food we Eat and the Farmworkers who Harvest it.
Sister Susan Wells, Director of the Catholic Community Services Farmworker Center, will share her experiences working with the Migrant Farmworker community here in Skagit Valley. Did you know that 60 -80 % of the Farmworkers in Skagit and Whatcom Counties come from Indigenous regions of Mexico and Central America and do not speak Spanish as their first language? Come learn about the unique challenges that Indigenous Migrant Farmworkers face and learn ways to view your food through the lens of justice. Sister Susan will be joined by Marta Martinez and Eustolia Ramirez, who will share some of their stories of being Migrant Farmworkers.
Reminder:  The Tulip Festival is underway. You may need to allow more time to get to church. You don't want to miss any of the fascinating, upcoming services.

THANK YOU to the all of you who moved the pyramid last Sunday. About half of the people who attended manhandled the monster to make way for the playhouse. Rosemary
For the Children:   Children's Religious Education will follow the service on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Sundays of each month.

Also the smaller babies room now was a speaker system installed. If you should need to leave the service, you can still hear everything in there..
This watch was found under the playyard pyramid when it was moved. It was found by Esther, Tonya's daughter. Thank you Esther for your sharp eyes, and thank you pyamid movers for you your muscles!

This very nice sport watch is in the office waiting for you.
Happy April birthdays!!! Best wishes to Suzan, Jorge, Becky and any others celebrating your special day this month.
April 2019 services
April 14
 Speaker: Rev. Amy Beltaine
Celebrant: Anneliese Sherman
From our Sixth Source: Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.
For millennia, Paganism and Earth-based Spirituality has been practiced and refined by hunters, farmers, indigenous people, and those who live close to the land and the sea. This Sunday we will look at some of the rich theo/alogies, traditions, and histories that fall within the ‘Earth-Centered’ label. Then we will explore some of the gifts of these paths for Unitarian Universalists.

April 21
Speaker: Rabbi Kalish Leviel
Celebrant: Jorge Manzanera
A Midrash About Jesus
Since the gospels were written decades after Jesus died we really don't know much about Jesus's life as a Jew in the first century of the Common Era. Using "story created using imagination" as the meaning of Midrash , Rabbi Kalish returns to share some possible stories about his life. While today's talk is not at all about the religious aspects of Easter Sunday or our beliefs , it is important to remember that many religions honor him today in ways that have always included widely varying interpretations. Today, Rabbi is just focusing on Jesus, A Simple Man.

April 28
Speaker: Rev. Barbara Gilday
Celebrant: Jim Heard
Clean Underwear.
Remember what they used to say about wearing clean underwear?
It got me to thinking about control: Who has it? Who controls you/me? Are you in control? Is there such a thing? Come on the 28th and we’ll talk.
The 2019 Ware Lecturer is Richard Blanco! Selected by President Obama to be the fifth inaugural poet in history, Richard Blanco joined the ranks of such luminary poets as Robert Frost, Maya Angelou, Miller Williams, and Elizabeth Alexander. He is the youngest, first Latinx, first immigrant, and first openly gay person to serve in that role. Whether you're gearing up to attend General Assembly in Spokane or not, we highly recommend his two collections of poetry published by Beacon Press.   
 
How to Love A Country: Poems  by Richard Blanco

As presidential inaugural poet, memoirist, public speaker, educator, and advocate, Richard Blanco has crisscrossed the nation inviting communities to connect to the heart of human experience and our shared identity as a country. In this new collection of poems, Blanco continues to invite a conversation with all Americans.Seeking answers, Blanco digs deep into the very marrow of our nation through poems that interrogate our past and present, grieve our injustices, and note our flaws, but also remember to celebrate our ideals and cling to our hopes. His message of interdependence and connection amidst the repeated heartache and tragedies we face speaks powerfully to the theme of this year's General Assembly, "The Power of We."
This space awaits a photo or poem or news or reminiscence from you, when you're ready. Email your contributions to the office.
Miriam and Simme will share an  Interfaith Passover Seder on  Saturday, April 20 from 2-6 pm at the Skagit Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (SUUF) in Mount Vernon. 
During the seder many faith traditions will be discussed and questions will be encouraged. Simme and Miriam have prepared a special Haggadah (Seder booklet) which we will share together along with the traditional foods of the seder. There will be a potluck following the seder. 
Please contact Simme,  yogaheartspace0@gmail.com  or text/call 206-790-4862 no later than April 13th to reserve a seat/s -- or register right here. She will then send suggestions for the potluck.
Feel free to share this invitation with family and friends. Shalom and Blessings.
General Assembly is the annual meeting of our Unitarian Universalist Association. Attendees worship, witness, learn, connect, and make policy for the Association through democratic process. Anyone may attend; congregations must certify annually to send voting delegates. The 2019 General Assembly will be June 19-23 in Spokane, Washington.
Nancy B. Miller is offering an interactive class on the 7 principles based on Rev. Bruce Davis , "A String of Pearls", An introduction to the UU Principles and Purposes. This class will be on the 2nd Sudays following coffee hour.
It began Oct. 2018 and will continue for seven second Sundays omitting the second Sunday in Dec.

Our Fifth Unitarian Universlaist Principle...........
"We covenant to affirm and promote the right of conscience and the use of the Democratic process within our congregations and society at large" It is this search that we will explore together. Please join us.

The meaning of the word "conscience" has evolved dramatically in the last thousand years. It is derived from the Latin, consciere, which means literally to "know with". The original meaning of the word was to know something with another person, as in shared knowledge or a shared secret. By the fourteenth century, its meaning has had evolved to imply "inward knowledge", distinct from knowledge that may be discovered in texts. Conscience began to denote the whole of mental life, including reasoning, thinking, and ruminating within oneself. For a time the notion of conscience and consciousness were nearly equivalent, and the old English word inwit, meaning the knowing within, was synonymous with conscience.

Conscience is the source from which our ethical actions emerge, yet your take on right and wrong may differ from mine. There would be no need to speak of the "right" of conscience if we didn't have some variability among us as to what is good or true. I may appropriately assert my view of the good, but not in a way that overshadows your own view of the good. This is akin to the free and responsible search for truth and meaning of our fourth principle, by which I must not let my search violate yours.

Please come and share your current thoughts on how you feel connected or not to each of the 7 Principles as they are each individually discussed.
Looking forward to your sharing and connecting.
May you be blessed with wisdom,
Nancy B. Miller
The Covenant Circle discusses periodical and book and news. Lately the topics have centered on major socioeconomic issues of the times. The discussion is lively and the spirit is convivial.

They meet every Thursday afternoon at 1:30 at Haggen on Division Street, except the second Thursday of the month, when they convene over lunch somewhere at 1:00. Call Joy Lindberg (360-424-8090) for further information.
New email address:
 skagituu@gmail.com
The Board of Trustees meets the first Thursday of the month from 6:30 to 8:00 p. m. Any member may attend and observe the meetings, and all members are welcome.
Office Administrator, Newsletter : Claire Phillips skagituu@gmail.com Hours: Tue. & Thur. 12-4 pm
Worship Team Leader : Sally Riggers suufmusic@gmail.com Board contact: Rosemary Stevens rr_stevens@comcast.net