May 31, 2020 Weekly Update

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WEEKLY UPDATE | May 31-June 6, 2020

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Sunday Worship on Facebook/YouTube

Youth Sunday May 31, 2020 | 10am

"We Will Get Through This

If We All Stick Together ... Six Feet Apart"

Our Youth Group, Kate Henneberry, Youth Advisor

and The Rev. Dr. Victoria Weinstein

When our minister met recently (online) with the youth, their advisor and mentors to plan this year's youth service, she asked the youth what message they wanted to convey. One of them responded with the words of the title of the service.

Please join our youth and their adult mentors for a service about their lives and experiences right now, and to celebrate our high school graduates Shannon Dunnigan and Charlotte Andrews.

You can sign into the church Facebook page here , where the YouTube video will be posted. You can also use this link to create a Facebook account. Or you can connect to the church YouTube page here .

You can click here for a copy of the May 31 Online Order of Service. Our offertory donation link can be found in the Order of Service, but you may also connect to our donation page here .

Virtual Children's Chapel

This Sunday, the children are invited to join Mark and Susan (and a special guest) in a short Children's Worship time. We'll have a chance to check in and share joys and concerns, hear a story related to one of the 7 Principles (with a nice lesson) and perhaps even sing a song or two!

Parents will be sent an email with the Zoom link and login information. Please contact Mark LaPointe if you have any questions or don't get the email.

Church Building Closed thru Summer

Please be aware that the church building will remain closed through the upcoming summer. We intend to use this time to develop a re-opening plan. This plan will be developed by a small church task force. Similar to Governor Baker's approach, we will be guided by information produced by trusted science and health agencies, as well as the experiences of other churches. The health and wellbeing of our members, staff, friends, and visitors is paramount. Once we have a plan and a sense of when our building will re-open (and what that might look like), we will share it with you. Meanwhile, church services and activities will continue online. Thank you for your understanding and be well. I hope to "see" you soon!

Michael Celona, President

Virtual Fellowship Hour

Sundays | 11am

Sunday Fellowship Hour Online!

On Sundays after the virtual service, you all are invited to an online Zoom Fellowship Hour, beginning at 11 a.m. Grab a mug of coffee or tea and your favorite snack, join the meeting, and visit with friends online.

We hope that this will be easy for you to do and offer some simple instructions below under Our Many Ways to Connect .

We would love to see as many smiling faces as possible to hear how you all are doing in these unusual times. We miss you!

Join Virtual Fellowship Hour on Zoom:

https://zoom.us/j/658052013?pwd=cUpmemtpQXlnTmtUai8xcTlBUC9FQT09

Or you can join by phone:

1-646-558-8656

If needed, enter the following when prompted:

Meeting ID: 658 052 013

Password: 079017

See you Sunday!

Annual Scholarship Available

David Tumulty Scholarship

Nominations are now being accepted for the David Tumulty Scholarship. This scholarship, established in memory of David Tumulty by his parents John and Carol Tumulty, is awarded annually to a graduating high school senior who best demonstrates a humanitarian spirit. First preference is given to youth of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lynn, but selection is not limited to young persons connected to the church.

Any student wishing to be considered for this scholarship should submit a brief letter to the church office, Attn: Tumulty Scholarship, Grants Committee. Nominations are also encouraged on behalf of students. Please submit letters and nominations no later than June 6.

Chris Hansen, Grants Coordinator

Our Church Vegetable Garden

Thanks to The Food Project for donating plants and compost for our garden. They delivered prudent purple and sweet cherry tomatoes, sweet peppers, collard greens, lavender, basil and snapdragon flowers this month. The Food Project has supported more than 1,300 community garden beds through their Build-a-Garden initiative. And special thanks to Trinidad Martinez and Mary Gatlin for prepping and planting our garden plot. Let the GSMT know if you would like to participate in the weekly watering calendar. And, of course, everyone is welcome to share the bounty in the fall.

We need volunteers to help water the church's raised bed garden this summer! Sign up here . The time commitment is about 15-30 minutes per watering session, 2-3 times per week unless it's been a rainy week. There will be supplies available for sanitizing common touch points, and this is a great social-distancing volunteer activity. Mary Gatlin will email all volunteers with more details. Thank you!

Interested in getting your own garden started? Check out The Food Project's Gardening Guide for Socially Distant Times here .

Coronavirus Safety

Masks and Coronavirus Safety

Rev. Vicki ordered 30 lined silicone masks for the most vulnerable members of our church who are still having to go out for groceries or other necessities. If you are immuno-compromised, please let us know. We want you to have as good a mask as we can find.

ECCO Covid-19 Response

ECCO, Our Social Justice Ministry Team, and You

This is a time of crisis and it gives us all a real opportunity to live our faith. SJMT supports our partner's initiative ECCO Covid-19 Response . There are real opportunities for you to help and to be involved, including:

* Employ Shine Together Co-op for grocery shopping and "take out" meal prep-all delivered to your door, using "no contact" standards (payment logistics currently being worked out, but identifying interested customers is very helpful!);

* Donate to support those at risk of homelessness or hunger - 100% of funds go directly to those in need;

* Volunteer to help Shine Together in "no contact" delivery;

* Receive or Provide Emotional Support.

For details and contact information, see our Live Our Faith section below.

Thank you and stay well.

-The Social Justice Ministry Team

Our Many Ways to Connect

We continue to explore ways to enrich our lives as a spiritual community during this physical-distancing time. Here you will find ways we are connecting via Zoom.

We hope that this will be easy for you to do and offer some simple instructions in light of Zoom’s new sign-in procedures:

If you already have the Zoom software, just click on the link provided for each gathering. In most cases, it will take you directly to the gathering.
If you do not yet have Zoom installed, click on the link and you will be prompted to download and run it—a very fast process—after which you should be taken to the gathering. (To save time, you might want to download and install it before the gathering by going to https://zoom.us/download. How the software is installed is dependent on the device or browser you are using.)
If you have the Zoom software installed and it is asking for the meeting ID number and password, enter those specific numbers underneath the link below and you will be taken to the meeting.

Zoom Helpful Hints . . .

If you are hosting a Zoom gathering , it is helpful to have an assistant who can monitor the waiting room or handle any technical needs, while you, the host, can attend to the gathering.

Hosts and attendees: when the gathering is over, follow the prompts, click leave meeting and be sure to close out of Zoom , if you don't, people can still see or hear you! Not closing out can make for some funny stories, but really, there’s only so much we want to know about you! Seriously though, be careful when you Zoom!

And now, enjoy each other's company in one or all of our Zoom gatherings. We miss you!

Soul Strength Gathering

Soul Strength has concluded its first six week session.

Stay tuned for its return later in the summer season.

Rev. Vicki

Mindfulness-Based Meditation Practice Group via Zoom

Mornings 7:30-7:50am with Anne Principe

While we are apart, we can breath together . . .

All are welcome to be a part of a small group ministry to practice mindfulness meditation. Now more than ever, our connections with each other are vital to our sense of calm and hope.

Each morning’s meditation will offer

introduction of core concept
silent meditation of 5-10 minutes while seated comfortably in your own space

Click here for sign up, more information, and to find out what you’ll need in preparation for the practice.

UUCGL Privacy Reminder

Sharing and Privacy

Our church is a caring community, and that is evident especially during these highly unusual isolating times as we keep in virtual touch with one another. This is a reminder that we need to respect each other’s privacy, especially in personal or medical issues, in all our church communications. We may not share any medical information in any church communication vehicle without the permission of the individual. That includes listservs, the Weekly Update, all church social media, etc. Continue to reach out and keep connected to our parish family, but please do not share personal, especially medical, information through church communications unless invited to do so. Thank you.

How to Support Your Church

Have You Turned In Your Pledge Card?

The building may be temporarily closed, but pledge season is always open. Thank you to those who have already returned their pledge cards. So far, we have received 63 pledges for a total of over $68,000. That’s fantastic under the circumstances! But we still need your support.

Here are two ways you can pledge your financial support for our next church year:

· You may mail in your card to the church (we are still receiving and processing mail); or

· Pledge by e-mailing [email protected] .

Your pledge counts! Thank you.

We Need Your Financial Contributions

Even though we are no longer able to meet in person on Sunday mornings, the work of the church continues, and so do our expenses. Please help us continue our good work during these trying times. While we can't pass the plate in person on Sunday mornings, you can still donate.

Please send your check to the Church (101 Forest Avenue, Swampscott, MA 01907) or donate online.

To donate online, please go to our website ( uucgl.org ) and click “Donate” in the upper right-hand corner. We are also appealing for offerings to the Minister’s Discretionary Fund (MDF in the Notes field) to support unemployed parishioners and members of the community.

After you fill in the information page, click “Submit.” You will then be offered options to pay through your PayPal account, if you have one, or to use your credit card.

Thank you for your support!

A Reminder from the Board of Trustees

Our Church Community

Hi everyone,

We hope you are managing this evolving crisis in the best way possible. As you know, the church building is still closed. Staff are working from home and can be reached at the email addresses listed below. Please do not go to the church

building. Stay home, stay safe!

The church has a number of ways to help you. Please see the more detailed information below.

The Board, its committees, and church staff are still working on behalf of the congregation - that means YOU! Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions or if we can help.

Thank you and be well!

Michael Celona, Eileen Cummings, Rebecca Greene,

Jeff Gunther, Suzanne Forgione, Sarah Cecil, Ruth Griffin,

Mark Vander Linden, Scott Nowka

Contact Information:

The Rev. Dr. Victoria Weinstein

[email protected]

Michael Celona, UUCGL President

[email protected]

978 835 7724

Elizabeth Muller, Business Administrator

[email protected]

Angie Kern, Administrative Assistant

[email protected]

Mark LaPointe, Director of Community Life & Learning

[email protected]

Kenneth Griffith, Director of Music

[email protected]

Chris Hansen, Grants Coordinator

[email protected]

Claire Wilson, Pastoral Care Coordinator

7 81-595-8836 ext. 16

UUCGL Resources

Reminder from your Grants Committee

and the Grants Coordinator

We would like to remind all our parishioners that we are here for you should you need help with rent or utility bills during this difficult time. We can provide aid through our Spinney Mudge Emergency Funds. We also provide scholarships to college students. Please call Chris Hansen, our Grants Coordinator at 781-595-8836, ext. 23 and leave a message with your name and telephone number and she will get back to you or email her

at [email protected] .

Thank you,

The Grants Committee

Pastoral Care Ministry Team

The good news is that, presently, no one in our congregation, of the calls our Pastoral Team has been making, is symptomatic of the coronavirus. We count our blessings. Each of us is challenged not only by a barrage of information but also by creatively adapting to new ways of "life, as

usual." Feeling lonely? Need groceries? Got coping ideas to share? Is there a change in your contact info (since September)? Call 781-595-8836 ext 16.

Claire Wilson, Pastoral Care Coordinator

Sermons Online

We are exploring many ways to enrich our lives as a spiritual community during this physical-distancing time. One such way is to be able to listen to past sermons and we now have added many recent ones given during Rev. Vicki’s sabbatical period. Click here for the link on our website that takes you to both our YouTube channel for recent sermons, and Rev. Vicki’s sermons.

Live Our Faith

No One Stands Alone

The COVID-19 crisis is painful for everyone, but is hurting the most vulnerable among us the hardest - immigrants and people of color who so often pay the highest price in our unjust economy. To respond to the crisis, the Essex County Community Organization ( ECCO ), a North Shore organization with which the UUCGL has long partnered, is inviting our community to support one another, especially those most directly impacted, while also sowing seeds for a different future. There are three ways to make a difference:

First , you can donate and help raise funds for ECCO's No One Stands Alone COVID-19 Solidarity Fund , which will provide direct funds to ECCO families at severe risk of hunger and homelessness. Your contributions will go directly to ECCO families like that of Dolores, who has been sick with COVID-19 and has no way to pay the bills for herself and her two small children.

Second , you can support ECCO's immigrant worker-owned Co-op, " Shine Together", which has launched Shine Together Delivers to provide grocery shopping, and delivery services and the preparation of prepared meals during this time of crisis. You can act in solidarity by:

*Becoming a Solidarity Consumer that orders delicious prepared foods and/or groceries brought to your doorstep through no-contact delivery. Or, you can purchase gift certificates for future Shine Together cleaning services, to be redeemed once the COVID-19 crisis is over.

*Becoming a Solidarity Volunteer with Shine Together Delivers by shopping for groceries and/or offering no-contact delivery of Shine Together food and/or groceries.

Third , we invite you to offer and receive emotional solidarity to others in the ECCO community. You are invited to participate in this effort and/or to volunteer to help set up systems of emotional support.

We here at the UUCGL will be participating in all of these activities and will be reaching out to our church community, through calls and emails, in the coming days to ask if you are in need of food delivery services, or if you are willing to become involved in the Covid 19 Response in other ways; we will be providing you with the specifics on how you can donate and/or volunteer.

This is a time of crisis and it gives us all a real opportunity to live our faith.

To learn more about all of these opportunities, go to

www.eccoaction.org/covid-19-response

and/or contact any of the following church members:

Martha Curry - [email protected]

Scott Nowka - 781-244-5335; [email protected]

Debbie Boggs - 781-258-1353; [email protected].

Thank you and stay well.

-Martha, Scott and Debbie and the Social Justice Ministry Team

Contact Information Reminder

Does the Office Know Your Current

Contact Information?

Please keep your name, address, phone number, and e-mail current in the church office. E-mail Elizabeth Muller with your correct information.

Not sure what information we have on file for you?

Call Elizabeth at:

781-595-8836, ext. 10

Recurring Gatherings

"Dialogue" is a way of practicing deep listening that enables us to share personal experiences and thoughts in a way that collectively builds a more expansive understanding of ourselves and the world around us.

Note: Due to the current church closure, this group is currently meeting via Zoom each Sunday at 5pm. You can connect to the Zoom meeting here . Dialogue and the discursive meditation are part of the method of Cafh, a path of spiritual unfolding. Click for more information about the discursive meditation , and Cafh here .