February 2021 Communicator

Celebrate

Black History

Month

The Communicator

February 2021 Volume 38 Issue 2

Join us this Sunday!

Please join us on Zoom this Sunday, February 7th at 10:30 AM for our service titled The Heart of our Faith with guest speaker, the Reverend Kristina Spaude.

Join Zoom Meeting Sunday at 10:30am

https://zoom.us/j/98733916229

No password needed

Or, follow the link on our webpage for audio only: uucfm.org

Thank you to Sunday's Participants:

The Reverend Kristina Spaude, Guest Minister

Mary Cline Golbitz, Lay Minister

Suellen Kipp, Director of Music

Karen Brown, Worship Associate

Peter Golbitz, Musician

Lesley Peterson, Musician and Tech Team Member

Mark Brandon, Tech Team Member

Walter Peterson, Tech Lead

Holley Rauen, Tech Team Member

Jill Carville, Tech Team Coordinator

Jen Smith, UU Dialogues Host

Helen Dixon, UU Dialogues Host

UU Dialogues & Breakout Rooms

~After the Service

To participate in UU Dialogues, stay in the main zoom meeting after the service ends and do not accept the breakout room invitation that pops up.

All are welcome to attend this intentional dialogue session, especially newcomers.

If you'd rather join a breakout room for casual conversation, please accept the pop up invitation.

Community Sharing in February- ACT

ACT (Abuse Counseling Treatment) is a private, not-for-profit agency committed to serving victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. ACT provides services to all persons without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, citizenship, marital status, gender identity (or expression), language spoken, immigration status and any other protected class. Services are free and provided to everyone. After several years of working out of their own homes to help provide services for women and children in trauma situations, they incorporated as a non-profit in 1978. More info can be found at actabuse.com.

Vespers Service

Join Albie and Mary via Zoom bi-weekly Thursdays from 6:30PM-7:00PM. The next Vespers Service will be February 11th. Join Zoom Meeting:

https://zoom.us/j/91800250314?pwd=MmRRenNOUjNUdjcvU1Y3VTIxNFBTQT09

Meeting ID: 918 0025 0314

Passcode: 743236

Vespers Service: a time of prayer, meditation, and contemplation. Have your soft lighting (candles) ready.

What to expect:

We may experience crystal/Tibetan bowls, flute, violin, lite drumming, poetry, short quotes, and testimonials. In addition to a time for prayer, meditation, and chanting, maybe short story telling, and dance. Each service is different but will always include prayer, meditation and contemplation. During Vespers, many will desire to share. At times we may experience story telling, and movement.

Charitable Contributions

If you would like a receipt for donations made to UUCFM in calendar year 2020, please email your name(s) to: uuchurch@uucfm.org

The UUCFM Book Group

The Monday Book Group will meet at 1:00 pm on February 8th to continue our consideration of Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson with a discussion of Chapters 15-18. If you’re joining for the first time, please email Mary Studer. She will send you the link to zoom. mstuder929@gmail.com

UUCFM/Caloosahatchee Mindfulness

The Caloosahatchee Mindfulness and UUCFM Meditation Book Group will be starting a new book on Wednesday, February 10- The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness by Rhonda V. Magee

The author "reveals that the work of racial justice begins with ourselves. The practice of embodied mindfulness--paying attention through our thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations in an open, nonjudgmental way--increases our emotional resilience, helps us to recognize our unconscious bias, and give us the space to become less reactive and to choose how we respond to injustice."

The group meets from 10 a.m to 11:30 a.m. on Wednesdays. Contact Helen Leddy at h elen.leddy@gmail.com or Mary Robinson at mindfulness579@gmail.com for more information.

Notes from the Generosity + Campaign

Special Gifts

Thanks to the three generous people who are giving their recent stimulus check from the government to UUCFM. If this resonates with you, please apply any special gifts to the new pledge year (April 1, 2021 – March 2022). As you saw from our Treasurer’s last report, UUCFM is managing the current year’s budget. In the next year we are looking for sustainability. We do not want to rely so much on reserves or unexpected gifts, and we look forward to other sources of income from rent and fundraisers.

It is easy to make your pledge online: http://www.uulead.org/fairshare/

Want More Information? Zoom with Us!

Please join the Stewardship Committee for a Zoom Forum tomorrow, Friday February 5th at 2:00 pm. Leaders will be in attendance and we look forward to your comments and questions.

To Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/93848828986

Meeting ID: 938 4882 8986

Passcode: 160534

Win Gulf Coast Symphony Passes!

Don’t forget, if UUCFM receives your pledge by February 15th, you will be eligible for winning a free pass for two people to a Gulf Coast Symphony performance. There will be a drawing, and four people will win a pair of passes.

Celebration of Life for Nancy Letts

There will be a celebration of Life for Nancy Letts on Saturday, February 13th at 1:30 PM on Zoom. All who knew her including all UUCFM members and friends are invited to attend and recall her beautiful life and Spirit. Gifts may be made in Nancy’s memory to:

The ALS Association

1300 Wilson Blvd. Suite 600

Arlington, VA. 22209

https://donate.als.org

Hope Hospice (Health Park)

9470 Health Park Circle

Ft. Myers, Florida 33908

https://donate.hopehcs.org

Join Zoom Meeting Feb. 13 at 1:30pm

https://zoom.us/j/93617178988

Update on LIFE (Lee Interfaith for Empowerment)

We, as a congregation, are still actively participating, through zoom, in the advocacy work of Lee Interfaith. As one of fourteen faith congregations in Lee County, we are asking the Fort Myers City Council to create an Affordable Housing Trust Fund (AHTF) of $3 million dollars that will provide badly needed housing for persons/ families making less than 80% of the average median income (AMI) in our county.* This socioeconomic group is sometimes referred to as“ the working poor”.

The Council has taken action in the past year to create an AHTF of $1.5 million which was aimed to assist those persons/ families making the AMI. This socioeconomic group is referred to as “ the workforce” citizens.

LIFE ‘s goal is to focus housing assistance on our more vulnerable fellow citizens.

We will keep you posted as to how you can help. Please mark your calendar for two important upcoming dates: the LIFE rally on April 12th and the Nehemiah Action on April 26th

We are gladly aware that many UUCFM members have been supportive of past LIFE initiatives and hope that tradition will continue.

Justice for life; LIFE for justice.

Kathy and Deep Ford

ktromford@gmail.com

*AMI is $47,000 for one person; $53,700 for two.

Member to Member Fundraiser

Let's buy and sell from UUCFM Members! Check out the listings HERE.

Birthdays in February

February 1 Tony Borras

February 2 Jill Carville

February 3 Albie Johnson

February 4 Russ Rosenthal

February 7 Stephanie Hoffman

February 9 Katie Ireland

February 9 Don Maron

February 12 Jan Beemer

February 17 Tom Sizemore

February 24 Mary Alice Pierce

February 26 Don Ehat

Amazon Smile donates to UUCFM when you do your online shopping by following this special link

smile.amazon.com/ch/59-1160337

Want to Become a Member?

If you are interested in becoming a new member of UUCFM, please email

memberservices@uucfm.org.

UU News

You're Invited! 6-7pm Central time, 7-8pm Eastern, this Friday, Feb. 5, join Unitarian Universalist music minister Rev. Erin Walter and her band Parker Woodland for a spirited musical happy hour online. The free event celebrates the new EP, “The World’s On Fire (and We Still Fall in Love),” which includes music Rev. Erin plays in worship as well as in rock clubs. In Friday’s event, you'll hear songs and stories, get sneak peeks of Parker Woodland's newest music videos, and Zoom with UUs from around the U.S. and Canada. Parker Woodland music is a part of Rev. Erin's traveling community ministry (affiliated with Wildflower UU Church in Austin, TX). The event is free and open to the public. RSVP here to get the Zoom link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-worlds-on-fire-ep-release-video-watch-party-tickets-138090517455.

Community News

The Deaf and Hard of Hearing Center located at 1860 Boy Scout Drive, Fort Myers 33907 is for a limited time offering free hearing amplifiers for hard of hearing persons. If you are interested, please phone Ms. Alicia Miller, Executive Director at 239-461-0334, ext. 6. Their web address is: www.DHHC.life.

Also available is a CaptionCall phone. This desk phone has a screen similar to captioned television which allows one to hear by adjusting the volume to your comfortable loudness, while reading what the other person is saying. This phone might also have no charge depending on verification of hearing loss. (We have obtained both pieces of equipment for my 96 year old mother-in-law and have improved her quality of life tremendously.)

Thanks,

Kathleen (Kathy) T. Ford

ktromford@gmail.com