Share the Plate with UUHP
Today and through Sunday Service, May 24, we will Share the Plate with UU Helping People (UUHP), which helps the food insecure and unsheltered people outside our doors. The need now is more acute than ever.
You can participate using a credit card by clicking the Donate button at the top of your YouTube screen,
using the GivePlus app
or by going to
UUStPete.org
and clicking on
Giving/Donate Now
! and selecting Other Contributions. You can also write a check and mail it to the church - write Share the Plate on the memo line. These contributions will be split 50/50 between UU Helping People and income for the church. If you prefer to make a contribution that goes 100 percent to the work of UU Helping People, select Social Justice-UUHP (online) or write UUHP on the memo line of your check.
Thank you for for generous support.
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Dear Friends and Congregants of UUSP,
The UUA has posted some suggested guidelines for all of the UU churches. The UUSP Board has decided that we will not be opening in the immediate future (summer or fall) and will continue to review the reports of the experts for guidance and for our own program planning.
Guidance from the Unitarian Universalist Association:
UUA President Susan Frederick-Gray writes "based on advice from experts, we continue to recommend that congregations not gather in person. We also recommend that congregations begin planning for virtual operations for the next year (through May 2021)." Click
here
for details.
Stay Well!
From your UUSP Board of Trustees
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This Week at a Glance:
Tuesday:
Zoom Lunchtime Check-in/Chat 12:00pm
(mindful meditation* on your own, pre or post).
Wednesday:
Zoom Adult Religious Studies Discussions (10am/7pm) F.M. Lappe's Daring Democracy, Chpt 4
Thursday:
Zoom Citizen's Cafe' 12:00pm lunch hour & conversations on the news of our times
Zoom invitations are sent to all members and also to friends who request invitations.
Email
Pastor Jack
directly to be added or removed from the distribution list.
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Pastor Jack's Weekly Wonder
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Dear Friends,
The Annual General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association
(see below)
is entirely online this year, from Wednesday 6/24 to Sunday 6/28. The General Assembly (GA) brings together members from most of the continent’s UU congregations – some coming on their own, some as voting delegates – to learn, share, and make some decisions about how the Association should serve its foundational congregations.
I hope you will go immediately to the UUA website for GA (uua.org/ga and also uua.org/ga/programs) to see what this year’s Assembly is focusing on and offering. A considerable part of the focus seems to be our Unitarian Universalist and American heritage from the Pilgrims who arrived here 400 years ago with such vast impact on this continent and its peoples.
You can attend a number of the events in June just by clicking in. But to have access to the full range of amazing speakers, programs and interchanges for all ages, you’ll have to register ($150).
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UUA Virtual General Assembly
June 24 - 28, 2020
Have you ever attended a UU General Assembly? This year, for the first time, General Assembly is 100% virtual. You can learn more about the this year's theme
here
. Registration is $150 - quite the bargain, with no travel expenses! You can
register here
.
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Wednesday Zoom Adult Religious Studies Book Discussions
May 27, 10:00am & 7:00pm
We will begin a five-session discussion of Frances Moore Lappe’s
Daring Democracy: Igniting Power, Meaning, and Connection for the America We Want
. Quotes will be provided as the focus of each discussion. Contact
Pastor Jack
to receive the Zoom Link and Discussion points.
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Children's Religious Education:
May 24, 2020
This month’s theme for Religious Education is
Thresholds
.
Exploring the threshold of courage to go into the unknown.
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Check out our lessons and more in our weekly newsletter
What? - you aren't receiving it?
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Click on the pictures for the Lessons of the week from our RE Staff!
Miss Trish (above) K - 3rd grade
Miss Jeanay (below) 4th - 12th grade
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Online Weekly Meditation Schedule
(feedback appreciated)
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Contemplative Meditation Readings (Mondays & Thursdays)
Monday, May 25 & Thursday, May 28
*Mindfulness Meditation Sessions
(Vipassana/Insight Meditation) guidelines:
1) Set your alarm for 5 to 40 minutes;
2) Sit erect, breathe deeply once or twice to relax;
3) Breathe normally, watching your breath come and go;
4) Count in cycles of ten breaths if it helps stay focused on your breath;
5) If breath-focus is lost in thoughts or feelings, note them and return to your breath;
6) Sometimes, for deeper peace, try shifting attention to consciousness itself or to just being.
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Caring & Connected Newsletter
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We are continuing to sent out the e-newsletter
“Caring & Connected”
to help sustain our UUSP community during uncertain times. Click
HERE
to read it and learn “how can I help?” and "how can I stay connected?” during the church closure.
for the Communications Team
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An active member of our congregation since 2017, Carol Ulmer recently updated her long-term planning documents to include becoming a UUSP Legacy Builder.
Carol named our UU St. Pete permanent Endowment Fund to receive a percentage of her Individual Retirement Account (IRA) after she’s gone.
She commented, “This congregation means much to me. I love knowing that future generations will benefit from my legacy gift.”
“Few things survive after we’re gone. I know this gift for the Endowment Fund will continue giving every year. It will express my values long after I die,” Carol emphasized.
This long-term plan is easy to set up. You control the transfer of your IRA assets at death without changing your will or living trust. Simply complete a beneficiary designation form with your IRA plan administrator. Also note that this gift will be 100% tax-free from your estate.
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Staying Connected With Pastor Jack & Staff
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Pastor’s Open-Air Office Hours:
:
For those experiencing a serious sense of isolation, you are welcome to contact
Pastor Jack
(352-327-6166) to arrange a visit online or in the open air at the church.
For members with mobility limitations, upon request, he will be glad to visit with you at any open-air location (eg, backyards, porches, local parks).
Our UUSP staff members will continue their duties in a safe, cautious manner to the fullest degree possible. Our Church Office Administrator is now working from home and can be reached at
[email protected]
.
During this challenging time, may we remember that we need to pay close attention to how everybody is doing and how we can help.
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Helping One Another:
If you need help, or need to talk. Or if you know of a UUSPer who might? Please notify
Patti Hanks
, Care Committee or Reach out to
Pastor Jack
.
Joys & Concerns:
Share those
joys
you are having during this time of separation, as they will help us all feel the light. You may also have
concerns
, reach out to
Pastor Jack
or
Patti Hanks
so we can help lift you up or lift those that may need it.
Our UUSP Sermons
(printed or audio) are available on
UUSP's website
: C
lick the Spirituality tab, click Worship Services and Sermons. Scroll down the services and you will see "Sermons and Readings" and Audio Icon (small speaker) and will now be on our
UUSP YouTube Channel
.
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Thank you for your interest in UU St. Petersburg!
From me to you and to those around you, Be Safe and Be Well!
Kelli DeGraw, part of your Communications Team.
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Our mission is to be an
inclusive
,
evolving
religious community that inspires
spiritual
and
intellectual
growth to make our world a
better place
.
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Unitarian Universalist Church of St. Petersburg
727.898.3294
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