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Congregational
Mission
Statement
We are a Congregation creating a better world by nurturing the heart and expanding the mind.
We provide a safe, caring community where all can freely explore diverse religious thought.
We work for justice and equality with the power of compassion and compassionate power.
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UUCGT Quicklinks
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If you would like to receive our monthly newsletter
the Beacon
please contact
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IF YOU LISTEN, YOU CAN HEAR IT COMING...
Dear UUCGT Members and Friends: 
Your Stewardship Team has been meeting and has developed a beautiful new brochure to share with you about our 2021-2022 Fiscal Year Pledge Drive. Watch your inbox for a "Special Edition" Flash which we'll send tomorrow, Friday February 12, as we anticipate the official opening of our new Drive on Sunday. There'll be links to the brochure and to copies of the Pledge Form.
Some of you have already received the pledge packet in the mail and some of you have even returned the Pledge Form! If you've got the blank form that came in the mail, please fill it out and send. If you have not received it, please print out and fill out the form that tomorrow's Flash will link to.
Still no pledge form, or no access to a printer? Please call (231) 947-3117 or e-mail the office and Guy will get one out to you in that day's mail.
No matter how you receive your form, please fill it out and send it to: UUCGT, 6726 Center Road, Traverse City, Michigan 49686
If you have any questions please contact one of us on the Stewardship Team.
John Hoffmann, Alison Kadlec, Karl Keinath, Jon Luoma,
Mary Anne Rivers, and Rick Walter
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Sunday's Service
2.14.2021
Church is a place where you get to practice what it means to be human.
Dear Ones,
We will kick off our annual stewardship campaign this Sunday with the theme of New Beginnings. Now is the time to invest in the future of this congregation that was founded 56 years ago by a few families who wanted to create beloved community and support one another in a search for truth and meaning. They wanted to create a safe environment to instill in their children a sense of justice and fairness and provide the fertile soil in which they can grow into their full potential.
There is a wise African Proverb that says If you want to go fast, go alone. It you want to go far, go together. Now more than ever, it is important that we "go together."
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For Sunday's Service the Zoom link is here.
The Service is at 10:30 AM but you can begin
signing in at 10:00 AM to visit.
Again, the Zoom link for SUNDAY SERVICE is
Sunday's "Reminder" Flash will have a link to the Order of Service, which will be posted on our website homepage at uucgt.org as well.
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Vespers for Peace
Join us on Friday evenings for a calming time of
music, contemplation, poetry, and inspiration.
This Friday, February 12, 2021 at 8:00 PM
Begin signing in at 7:30 to visit
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MINISTERIAL SEARCH TEAM REPORT
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"What's in the suitcase under your bed?" That question comes from Rev. Cathy's sermon this Sunday and refers to our fondest personal desires that get packed away as we use our time for more practical issues. It might be a good question to ask ourselves as a congregation. After several periods of fending for ourselves between ministers, (and getting quite good at it!), we may have packed away some fond wishes while focusing on a good survival.
With the help of our excellent Temporary Minister, Beth Marshall, and our beloved Interim Minister, Cathy Harrington, we have come to know and appreciate ourselves more. We can now feel confident that the experience gained through the good times and the challenging ones, can lead us into a period when we can begin unpacking our suitcase of desires, starting with a new settled minister. We're on our way!
Your team,
Mary, Geoff, Charles, Dusty, Jim, Chris, Jan
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  Financial Summary
as of January 31, 2021(58.3% of fiscal year)
Current Yr (2020-21) Prior Yr (2019-20) Budgeted Inc Rec'd YTD $140,834* 51.9% $179,613* 68.2%
Budgeted Exp Paid YTD $165,525 59.9% $154,531 58.7%
"For Those in Need" YTD $ 6,291 $ 6,885
*Income for 2020-2021 is less than 2019-2020 due to an accounting change that recognized prepaid pledges for 2020-2021 in the 2019-2020 fiscal year. Approximately $32,000 in excess income for 2019-2020 is on the balance sheet in our operating account and can be used to offset future losses, should they occur.
Budgeted income includes the total of all pledged and unpledged donations and miscellaneous income including building rent, etc. "For Those in Need" collections are in addition to Budgeted Income Received and are disbursed quarterly to worthy causes, including Congregational Care, Tuesday Community Lunch and other Community needs outside our congregation. The percentage reflects the portion of the total amount of income or expense budgeted for the fiscal year.
Please note that we have had a slight fall off of current year pledge payments and a significant fall off of rental income and "for those in need" contributions during March through January due primarily to the Coronavirus pandemic. We need your help. If you can, send your pledge payments and "for those in need" contributions to the office or contribute on-line at uucgt.org.
Detailed financial statements are included in each month's Board Packet on our website. Questions can be directed to your Finance Committee:
Dusty Culton, Nancy Doughty, Karl Keinath,
Mike McDonald and Jim Walworth.
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A FEW NOTES
The Virtual Ensemble is spending the next few weeks recording hymns from our teal hymnal. We felt the Zoom services provided us a chance to introduce lesser known hymns so we can begin to incorporate them into our "familiar" repertoire. With the launch of our Stewardship Campaign and the focus of moving forward, we thought hymn #1017 Building a New Way would be a fun one to jump into. Something to think on as you listen to the lyrics and sing along: why are we building a "new way" and who are we building it for? As you think on that, here is a familiar song about starting anew but interpreted by musicians from around the world. Listen to how each singer and instrumentalist shares their voice in their own unique way, adding to the overall beauty and changing something that is familiar into something shared and new.
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RE-OPENING TASK FORCE: CALL for VOLUNTEERS
Friends -
In anticipation of re-opening our sacred space sometime this year, your Board of Trustees is calling for volunteers to create a "Re-Opening Task Force," filled by you, our Congregants. The Task Force will be asked to research all Local, State and Federal guidelines and requirements, along with gathering recommendations from the UUA. All meetings will be electronic - no in-person meetings are necessary. We will make this decision based on science-backed data and will abide by all regulations related to COVID-19. We will gather information from all sources and make a recommendation to the Board about the timing of the re-opening.
Of course, we all hope this is sooner, rather than later, but will abide by the science and orders of our authorities. If you are interested in serving on this Task Force, please contact Board of Trustees member Judy Myers at [email protected] by February 15, 2021.
We appreciate any input and hope you will consider this important responsibility.
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You can access the calendar online
Rev. Cathy's virtual office hours will return next week, 12:00 - 1:30 PM. That Zoom link is here.
Yesterday your staff had a MEETING! An IN-PERSON meeting, if you can imagine such a thing. (We know, we know!)
Most (not all, Claire Crandell was sorely missed) of us gathered at appropriate distances from one another in our Fellowship Hall to share a terrific lunch from Spanglish and to talk together about our work, our near-term future, and - to a small degree - what's going on in our own lives. We were grateful for a chance to see each other face to face and to catch up over a light meal that supported one of our local hospitality-industry businesses that has been hit - like all such - by the pandemic.
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UUCGT Bulletin Board
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SOCIAL JUSTICE ACTION:
OPPORTUNITIES TO BE HEARD
If you support decent wages for all, please call your Michigan Senators!
Senator Debbie Stabenow: 1-202-224-4822 Senator Gary Peters: 1-202-224-6221 and Your U.S. Representative Click HERE to Find Your Rep's Name and Phone # Urge them all to support the "Raise the Wage Act of 2021" and help lift 1.3 Million Americans out of poverty.
POSTPONED: The "How to be an Anti-Racist" book group will be postponed until mid to late March. Start date TBD. You can still sign up for it now, and I'll keep you posted.
The Wednesday dinner group has tried to stay connected these past months, socially distanced picnicking in the UU parking lot when we could, on ZOOM when it was rainy. We are going to weekly ZOOM now, 5:30 every Wednesday. If you would like to join us, contact Mike and Sandra McDonald for the ZOOM invite. You may bring your glass of wine.
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End Note:
"You only grow by coming to the end
of something and
starting on something else."
The World According to Garp.
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The UUCGT building is closed until further notice;
however the office is again staffed (at least) Tuesday-Friday, 9am-3pm.
Stay up to date on the UUCGT website
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