UUCGL Masthead

WEEKLY UPDATE |September 18-24, 2022

September 25, 2022 | 10:00am


"Shameless"

Rev. Dr. Victoria Weinstein, Parish Minister

Worship with us at 10:00am

in the Sanctuary and on Facebook Live!

The Jewish high holy days, with their emphasis on deep inner reflection, accountability for sin and the attempt to apologize for wrongs done to others, invites us to reflect on guilt, shame, accountability and cancel culture. This service will feature special choral music and we will be joined by soloist Krystal Marin. Scott Nowka will report to us about our community partnership with ECCO and their urgent social justice initiatives for which all our support is needed.


We will be together at church and on Facebook Live [https://www.facebook.com/UUCGL]. For the morning offertory you may donate online: uucgl.org/donate.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Collection

Continues Through the Month


Thank you for your generous donations of peanut butter and jelly for our sandwich-making nights!

Each time we gather at the church we make 250-275 bagged meals for guests at My Brother's Table. We will continue our collection through the month if you were unable to donate at our September 11 Ingathering Sunday.


Please join us for our next Meal Prep on Tuesday, September 27 at 6:30pm in the Parish Hall.

A Message from Rev. Vicki

In the Spirit

 

As we build and strengthen community, we would like to reconvene a covenant group for deep sharing and relationship-building. It is always hard to know when to schedule such offerings, so if you would be interested in being part of a small group, would you let Rev. Chris or me know what days and times work for you, and also frequency? The Dialogue Group is a great model that has worked for a long time, and is convened twice a month.

 

Save the Date: I would like to invite those who would like to be better equipped for trauma-informed caring conversations to attend an October 30 training session after church. Everyone is welcome, but especially if you consider yourself to be part of the Pastoral Caregivers Ministry Team.

 

On the healthy bodies front, I got my bivalent vaccination yesterday, which gives me a sense of reassurance. I hope you will get one if you are eligible. It's "funny" (not ha ha funny, but you know what I mean) that as the weather cools and kids are back in school, many folks are getting little colds and sore throats and naturally, worrying that it's Covid. Remember that we have tests in the front foyer if you want to grab some. What a time to be alive, when we give enthusiastic thanks for having "just" a common cold.

 

It's a very busy and buzzy time of year, and it has been more delightful than I can fully express to see so many of you and your kids. Let's keep reaching out and reaching in, and creating the strong, progressive community that the world so deeply needs and that so many people know in their heart of hearts that they would really like to be part of. Do not hesitate to invite, call, and encourage (couer).

 

In faith, hope and love,

Rev. Vicki

Faith Development

This This Sunday children & youth will put together meal bags for My Brother's Table.


Our children & youth faith development programs had a great start last Sunday. This Sunday, all PreK through high school students are invited to gather at 10am in the Skylight Room to assist our Social Justice Ministry Team’s monthly efforts in putting together brown bag dinners for My Brother’s Table. We will have some time to get to know each other and to begin to choose a story to use for this winter’s video pageant, as well!

 

For more details and to register, check out our programs for children webpage here. Or go directly to registration here.

 

See you Sunday!


Rev. Chris Scheller

Minister of Community Life and Learning

Celebration at UUCGL

Join us in Celebration of Rev. Vicki's 10th Anniversary at UUCGL


Over the last 10 years, Rev. Vicki has served as our Parish Minister. She has journeyed with us, collectively and individually, through so many trials and challenges, joys and milestones.

 

We will celebrate this important anniversary together after worship on November 6th, and to prepare we are asking for your help now!

 

Because it takes time to document, arrange, and prepare, we are asking you to share some of the memories and appreciations that you have of her this month, by September 30th! We are using an online platform called Kudoboard to make it easy for everyone to add a personal note of appreciation, a memory, along with any photos or videos that might go along with those appreciations if you’d like. Click here to go to the board.

 

If you’d prefer, you may also email your memories, appreciations, and pictures to Rev. Chris Scheller, at cscheller@uucgl.org, or drop them by the church office, and we’ll add them for you. Then we will create and print a book to give to her on November 6th.

 

Gratitude is a wonderful gift and a wonderful practice, so let’s get started and please save the date of November 6th to celebrate this important milestone of the church together in person.

UUCGL Reopening Update

Reopening Task Force Update


The Reopening Task Force has met infrequently in the last six months as Covid transmission has slowed and testing and vaccines have become widely available. With a return to cooler weather and indoor activities, and hopefully larger gatherings at church, we encourage members of our congregation to follow CDC guidance and use common sense when it comes to masking or staying home if ill. The latest Covid variant is being widely transmitted (40%) by asymptomatic people, so please test if you think you "just" have allergies or feel at all unwell. Our staff will be testing frequently, and the Minister tests for Covid twice a week and always on Saturdays.

 

We also urge everyone who is able to receive the new updated Covid booster and help reduce the risk of community spread. Stay healthy and we look forward to seeing you at church for Ingathering on September 11!

 

For more information about the CDC's masking recommendations or the new booster available 9/7/2022, see https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html and https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s0901-covid-19-booster.html.

UUCGL Programming

Poetry-Writing Workshop

Art & Spirituality series continues!


Sunday, October 2 | 11:30am-12:30pm

Fellowship Room at UUCGL


Our Poetry-writing workshop time is moving! We will meet the first Sunday of October, December, and February (no meetings scheduled for November or January). For our October meeting, all are invited to bring a poem about your favorite season to share and workshop with the group, or just drop in to get your creative juices flowing. Award-winning resident poet, Clem Schoenebeck, will lead the workshop. Questions? Email Rev. Chris Scheller at cscheller@uucgl.org. I hope you can join us!

The Impacts of Climate Change

With Professor Stephen Young


Wednesday, October 12 | 7:00am-8:00pm

UUCGL Sanctuary & Facebook Live


Join us in hosting, in partnership with the Swampscott Conservancy, UUCGL member and Professor Stephen Young from the Geography and Sustainability department at Salem State University. He will discuss the science of why our climate is changing, and what to expect in the future. Professor Young will also discuss how New England’s climate is changing and the impacts that our coastal communities will face in the future.

 

We have left a stable climate which our civilization developed in, a climate that fluctuated but would return to long-term temperature and precipitation averages. Our new, transitional climate will not return to long-term averages and will continue to warm and as it continues to heat up, droughts, floods, fires and sea-level rise will intensify for decades to come. We are just beginning to witness the punishing influences of climate change-induced impacts.

 

Joining Professor Young will be Yaroslava Shiryayeva, a senior at Swampscott High School and climate activist who will provide a youth voice to the urgency of action.

 

Wednesday October 12, 7:00-8:00pm, in the UUCGL sanctuary and live on our Facebook page: [https://www.facebook.com/UUCGL]

Community Drum Circle

Embodied Spiritual Practices series


October 16 | 1:30-3:30pm

Third Sunday of each month

UUCGL Sanctuary

 

Our Community Drum Circle, formed over 14 years ago continues on the 3rd Sunday of every month in the church Sanctuary!

 

Over the years this group has offered a wonderful embodied spiritual practice, built friendships, and created community. Many in the group play the African Djembe, but other types of drums and percussion instruments are welcome. Suggested donation is $5-$10.

 

Open to individuals 10 years-old and up, the Drum Circle plays African based rhythms along with free-formed ones, that blend together, in a moving, spiritual way. It is a way to express yourself. You will leave the afternoon feeling inspired and relaxed. No experience necessary! Come out and plan to have an afternoon of spiritual awakening, fun and meeting wonderful people. Drums are available for borrowing, and you are free to dance if the spirit moves you. These events are open to the larger community and so please feel free to bring a friend and spread the word!

Ways to Help Our Community

Meal Bags for My Brother's Table


Tuesday, September 27 | 6:30-8:30pm

UUCGL Parish Hall


Join us September 27, at 6:30pm in the Parish Hall as we make lunch and dinner bags for My Brother's Table. The bags are given out to the guests to supplement their main meal. We are making 75 lunch bags and 175 dinner bags. It takes about 10 of us a little over an hour to make these bags. If you are interested in helping out, please email Michael at michaelcelona@yahoo.com.

Food Insecurity in Our Local Communities

How can you help?

Please visit the Social Justice Ministry Team's page here to read about how to contribute food to our partners St. Stephen's Food Pantry and My Brother's Table. Sending a check (or donating online) is very helpful, as is volunteering to unload the truck from the Greater Boston Food Bank at St. Stephen's and helping guests get their bags filled. There are also community refrigerators in Lynn that you can fill with fresh produce and Anchor Food Pantry in Swampscott that also makes it very easy to volunteer.
Green Sanctuary Ministry Team -
Our Environment and Opportunities
to Take Action

Would you like to do more for our environment? Would you like to find ways that you can help? The Green Sanctuary Ministry Team offers a list of organizations that support the environment and offer opportunities to take action, click here for their resource list. For more information about current and past activities of the UUCGL Green Sanctuary Ministry Team, click here.
UUCGL History

UUCGL Church History Ministry Team


Sunday, October 16| 11:30am

Fellowship Room


The Church History Team's mission is to preserve, organize, and make available pertinent materials relating to our church. Materials include church relics and documents, such as minister's sermons, annual reports, minutes of the church board, ministry teams and church committees and other church records. The Team usually meets on the first Sunday of each month. Anyone interested in preserving and organizing important church records is welcome to the meetings. The Team's next meeting will be on Sunday, October 16th, in the Fellowship Room following the service.

UUCGL Financial Matters

Pledge Payments and Donations

 

There are three easy ways to make a donation to the church. Please indicate whether your payment is toward your pledge or for another purpose.

  1. Send or deliver your check to the church (101 Forest Avenue, Swampscott, MA 01907).
  2. Set up a bill-pay system with your bank and have the check sent to the above address.
  3. Donate online. To donate online, click here for our website and click “Donate” in the upper right-hand corner. 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 through your credit card.

 

Thank you for your support!

UUCGL Resources
Stay Connected with UUCGL

Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions or if we can help. Click below to email one of us. Stay well, stay connected!

UUCGL BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2022-2023

 

President: Mary Gatlin

Past President: Clare Campbell

Treasurer: Rebecca Greene

Clerk: Jim Olivetti (through 2023)

 

At Large Trustees:

Nicki Buscemi (through 2025)

Jack Butterworth (through 2025)

Loretta Connolly (through 2023)

Cathy Cubby (through 2024)

Mark Shilo (through 2025)


Weekly Update Schedule

The next issue: October 2, 2022

Deadline: Wednesday, Sept. 28, 10am

Please send your notices to Angie Kern (akern@uucgl.org).

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 UUCGL Programming
Meditation
Group

Mornings
7:30-7:50am Zoom

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. Click here for sign up, more information.

Dialogue

Group


2nd & 4th Sunday each month

5pm - Zoom


"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. 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. You can connect to the Zoom meeting here.

Wisdom
Circle

2nd Wednesday each month
12-1:30pm
at UUCGL
A monthly gathering geared toward seniors to share the perspectives and life experiences of older age. All are welcome, even if you have not participated before. More information can and be found on our website in our Lifelong Learning page. For meeting information contact Gloria Kozlosky or Ruth Griffin.
Visit Us
Sunday Schedule
Fellowship Hour: 11am

(781) 595-8836
Like us on Facebook, or view sermons on YouTube!
Facebook  Youtube  
JOIN OUR MAILING LIST!