What does the future hold for this First Unitarian Universalist Society of Burlington? None of us can know for sure... but often the best way to predict what's coming next is to notice where energy is showing up now. Imagining what a letter looking "back" from 2030 might include.
The Choir will sing!
Join us for worship in person in the Sanctuary, or online. The livestream link and order of service will be shared at bit.ly/FUUSBWorship, or visit our YouTube channel. While inside the Meeting House, masks are strongly encouraged.
Following the service, all are welcome to Coffee Hour in the Community Room.
Children & Youth This Sunday!
Erika Reif, Director of Lifespan Faith Development
Sunday, March 19
This Sunday, CROSSING PATHS will have a field trip! Children in 5th-8th grades will travel to Essex Alliance Church as part of their exploration of neighboring faiths. The transport departs promptly at 9:15 a.m. from the parking lot. Other families will begin in the Sanctuary together. Following the Reflection for All Ages, children and their teachers will make their way down to the lower level. Kids in kindergarten through 4th grade will explore their place in the universe through story, ritual, and play in Spirit Play (Jordan-Latimer Room), and children preschool and younger will engage in free play in the Nursery. Classes run from roughly 10:20-11:20.
Conversation with Your Board of Trustees
Hope Baker-Carr, Board President
This Sunday, March 19 at 11:30 a.m. in the Parlors
All interested members and friends are invited to a Conversation with your Board of Trustees this coming Sunday after the service. Grab coffee downstairs if you need it and join us in the Parlors. After introductions around the circle, the board will make a short 10-15 minute presentation on the role of the board at FUUSB and some of the work that we have done in the last year. This will be followed by a question and answer and/or sharing time. We are particularly interested in YOUR thoughts about your experience at FUUSB. I hope to see you there!
Welcome Ambassadors Welcome!!!
Kind, heartfelt welcoming can be expressed in a multitude of ways, and we need your help welcoming all who join us at FUUSB every Sunday!!
The Membership Team cordially invites any interested FUUSB members to help us welcome newcomers (and all others) by serving as Welcome Ambassadors at Sunday in-person services. This commitment would involve showing up for services (probably once a month), arriving around 9:30 and staying through most of the coffee hour. At least two Welcome Ambassadors would serve each Sunday, staffing and placing UU materials at tables located in the front and side vestibules. Additional details and a Job Description will be shared with anyone requesting more information.
Even if you are not able to serve as a Welcome Ambassador at this time, we encourage you, when attending FUUSB events, to continue to extend the kind, cordial welcome so many Society members regularly show toward others who join us. The Membership Team believes that the quality of our “welcome” is one of the most precious features of our Society, one that most memorably defines us as a congregation.
If you are interested in the possibility of serving as a Welcome Ambassador, or if you simply would like more information, please email Deborah Ragione or Susan Warner-Mills.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Flower Power Team
Looking for More Members
If you have an interest or experience in creating flower arrangements for our Sunday services, please be in touch. We will work with you to get you comfortable and Sarah Forbes is available to mentor new people. If you are interested or just want more information, please email Peggy Derby.
From the Climate Justice Team: Third Act’s National Day of Action
Jud Lawrie, FUUSB Climate Justice Team, Third Act VT
Third Act’s National Day of Action Against “Bad Banks” - Defunding Fossil Fuels
The climate crisis is fueled by the massive funding of the fossil fuel industry by the “bad banks.” The four largest offenders are Chase, Citibank, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America. Join us in our campaign to end this climate-destroying funding of fossil fuels.
Tuesday, March 21, 3:30–5 p.m., Chase Bank, top of Church Street Marketplace (1 Church St), Burlington
Please join us and bring your signs (lots of ideas at thirdact.org). We will have spare signs if you need one. We will march down Church Street and back, then gather in front of the bank for some introductory remarks, skits, a credit card cutting ceremony, and music. Many of us have signed the Third Act pledge to no longer bank at the “bad banks” and will cut up our credit cards and close our accounts unless they change their ways. Take the Pledge!
Carpooling? If you need a ride or can offer one, please sign up here. Organized by Third Act Vermont: thirdactvt.org
Game Night
Erika Reif, Director of Lifespan Faith Development
Saturday, March 25, 4:30-7:30 p.m. - Community Room
All ages are invited to play, eat, and be together!
We have lots of games at the ready, but feel free to bring the one you want to play. There are generally several things happening at once. It's okay to come with a group of friends and the intention to play a particular game. You can bring children and play with them or have them play with childcare staff while you try out a game with an older crowd. Make it what you want!
We'll have a "no-stress" potluck; you can wow us with your culinary skills or pick up a loaf of bread and a tub of hummus from the market. The point is to have fun together and not go hungry. We'll have coffee and tea available, plates and utensils.
Come for a little bit or stay the whole time. Come ready to make new friends and reconnect with the old!
Annual YUUth Group Service
Margo Whitcomb, Faith Development Assistant
Sunday, March 26, 10 a.m.
David Ruffin leads our high school YUUth Group in this multigenerational service with a fun and meaningful exploration of what it means to be HAPPY. Please join us - one and all.
Nina Harrington
Spring Time in Vermont, this year’s UU online auction, is up and running. We have already received several donations! We encourage everyone to go to the website (auctria.events/FUUSBSpringAuction2023) and enter an event, outing, get-together or gift certificate that will help build community and push us toward our goal of $12,000, the budgeted amount for fundraising. And don’t forget this year we will celebrate with a live event including food, music, raffles and loads of fundraising fun! Please contact springauction@uusociety.org if you have questions or need help.
From the Ministerial Search Team
Tom Hyde
Our days are filled with reading ministerial records, watching videos of sermons, and calling references, and our meetings are filled with orderly discussions of each of our pre-candidates' skills and qualities. We need to be prepared to make a decision after our last interview weekend, because there are only a few days between it and the date we have to submit our choice to the Unitarian Universalist Association.
We are working together more and more efficiently, but we are definitely tired of Zoom. Fortunately, April won't be such a pressure cooker, as we plan for "candidating week," when the chosen candidate and the First UU congregation will meet for the first time and get to know each other.
Please email us with your questions and comments at ministerialsearch@uusociety.org, or look for our blue name-tags at coffee hour.
Some Thoughts About Stewardship
Christina Fulton, Director of Operations & Finance
I've worked in this job for over 20 years and have helped with the Stewardship Campaign every year. I've come to think of Stewardship as the time we raise money. I would guess many of you have come to think of it that way, too. This morning I decided to look at the definition of Stewardship and found this: "the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care." Well look at that, my entire job is Stewardship. You all entrust me with the careful and responsible management of this Society's operations and finances. And taking that one step further, our Society's ancestors entrusted the careful and responsible management of this Society to all of us.
So yes, during our annual Stewardship Campaign, we are asking you to think about your own personal situation in order to make a financial pledge to the stewardship of this congregation. But it is also a time to think about all pieces of stewardship that have been entrusted to you and how you might also be able to contribute in other ways. Maybe that's singing in the choir, making sandwiches for the Sunday Breakfast, joining a committee, or volunteering to work with children in our faith development program. Maybe it's calling a member who you haven't seen in a long time and brightening their day. Whatever it is, it is important. Every dollar pledged, every phone call made and every sandwich made. It's all part of your Stewardship to our congregation.
We are nearing the end of this year's pledge campaign. We had an amazing concert on Saturday with so many of our talented members. Many people came and made decisions to increase their pledges or to make a special gift. It is not too late; you can complete your pledge card here, or you can email Christina with your pledge if you prefer. If you'd like to make a special gift, you can do that by clicking here and choosing the Spring Sing fund. All your gifts and pledges toward the stewardship of this congregation will be gratefully received. Thank you.
Elmwood Snacks
Martha Molpus
Thanks to everyone who donated snacks for the Elmwood Community Shelter, our new neighbor. It was a generous sharing for FUUSB's first turn to provide snacks for this week, especially on such short notice. The "Elmwood Snacks" box will remain in the alcove for ongoing donations of packaged, nonperishable snacks, for now and for future sharing. The Meeting House Grounds Group thanks you for making caring connections with the unhoused.
Still Hiring!
Christina Fulton, Director of Operations & Finance
We are still in search of a new Facilities Manager. If you know of anyone who might be interested in this position, please share this link to our website with them: job description, or encourage them to email Christina at xina@uusociety.org. It's a wonderfully challenging job, working with great people, with a generous salary and benefits!
Laurentian Singers Concert at FUUSB
St. Lawrence University’s Laurentian Singers will continue their annual Spring Break Tour, this year to New York and Boston, with a concert on Sunday, March 26 at 3 p.m. at the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Burlington. The concert is free and open to the public. More information about the concert can be found on our website at this link.
