Merging Waters Fall Festival

Sunday, October 4, 1-4pm

Come and bring your family and friends! Merging Waters is going to celebrate fall and our community this Sunday, October 4. We'll have a short Sunday service outside at 1pm. The service will be a Pet Blessing service. Only bring a picture of your pet for the blessing. Following the service, there will be a petting zoo, balloon art, pumpkin decorating, and of course donuts and cider. It will be a fun time to relax and enjoy fall together.

Zoom Option - For those unable to attend in person, Rev. Krista will be on Zoom from 1:00-1:20pm to offer virtual pet blessings.

In Person: UCCNB, 1000 Long Lake Road

Online: Merging Waters Zoom Room 

Rev. Krista's Office Hours

Zoom appointments available by request.

Pot Luck & Coffee House, Sat., October 3, 5:30pm & 6:30pm

MW Fall Festival, Sun., October 4, 1-4pm

Write Postcards to Texas Voters, Sun., October 11, after church

Monthly Potluck & Coffee House
Saturday, October 3

5:30pm (Potluck), 6:30pm (Coffee House)

In Person: Pilgrim House

Online: mergingwatersuu.org/zoom

Come to the monthly MW pot luck and coffee house this Saturday night at Pilgrim House. Come and perform or just come and enjoy! If want to sign up to perform, contact Kevin Sitter at ksitter@jdklein.com.  

Defend Democracy!
Sunday, October 11, After Church

After the service on Sunday, October 11, a group of us will finish writing 200 postcards to likely voters in Texas.

Please join in the work and fun of being together for the greater good.

NOTE: Postcards were provided by the Environmental Voter Project. EVP has done excellent research showing that environmentalists who vote in presidential elections don't vote in mid-term elections. They will vote if given a nudge, like getting a postcard in the mail!

UUA Board of Trustees Statement on Religious Practice of Faithful Dissent, Noncompliance, and Civil Disobedience

On September 20, 2026, the Board of Trustees of our Unitarian Universalist Association released a statement on Faithful Dissent, Noncompliance, an Civil Disobedience. This statement grounds resistance to authoritarianism in our UU history and Values.

“Rooted in our powerful history of religious witness for just action and faithful dissent, we declare that Unitarian Universalists must stake our faith tradition today on the urgent call to act for liberation in our country and condemn the anti-democratic forces of authoritarianism. Such a call encompasses civil disobedience, noncompliance, and direct actions of protest, as it has in the past, while preserving our commitments to human dignity and democratic society. This commitment is essential to sustain with integrity our UU religious values of justice, equity, interdependence, and pluralism, and our Constitutional rights and freedoms,” says the statement, which was unanimously passed by the UUA’s Board of Trustees at its August meeting. The Board of Trustees exercises the highest level of authority delegated by the General Assembly, which is the core ecclesiastical body of Unitarian Universalism.

UUs have actively resisted the growing authoritarianism coming from the current federal administration and its allies for a decade. Since January 2025, and during the first term of this administration, UUs have exercised their First Amendment rights to protest and speak out against policies and actions they believe are harmful. Some UUs have been assaulted and faced physical violence from law enforcement. Many UU leaders and people in the pews have been arrested – and some have been convicted — as a result of the exercise of their First Amendment rights.

The full statement can be found here: https://www.uua.org/pressroom/ingoodfaith/faithful-dissent-statement-2026

October Worship Theme: Courage

Courageous people change the world. So many names fall easily from our lips: Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sojourner Truth, Harvey Milk, Marsha P. Johnson. The list goes on and on.

We rightly honor such giants. But the problem is most of us aren’t that tall. Or are we? 

Here’s what we have to help each other remember: In addition to the heroic acts that alter history, there are also the daily choices that prevent history from altering us! 

-from Soul Matters Small Group Workbook

Mist Ranges is a grassroots ecological-restoration program in the Mount Elgon region in eastern Uganda. The combination of climate change and population growth has led many families to plant crops too close to the rivers, resulting in soil erosion and devastating floods. Mist Ranges grows and plants bamboo seedlings along riverbanks where its unique root structure can stabilize the soil and stem floods. Mist Ranges also strengthens the community fabric by offering steady income to the members of its team. They hope to expand their work to partner with local women’s groups to teach them how to grow kitchen gardens in the soil near their homes. This twin approach aims to restore the natural power of bamboo to the ecosystem while also empowering women to feed their families. David Weiss will share more about Mist Range’s unique mission during our October 18 service.

More importantly, Spero Academy provides hope. Traditional public schools can often be unaccommodating places for children with disabilities, and many of these students unintentionally fall through the cracks. When families feel like their school is failing their child, they turn to Spero.

Merging Waters Women's Book Group

October 3, 9:30am

Online: Our Zoom Room

Book selected: Fiction-Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett

In the spring of 2020, Lara’s 3 daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.

The Merging Waters Women's Book Group is a gathering of female (identifying as female/feminine, LGBTQ+ inclusive)) members and friends who meet the first Saturday of each month to discuss books written by female identified authors. The group alternates between fiction and non-fiction works recommended by one or more of the group members.  Contact Pat Ferrian (ferri004@gmail.com) to be added to the email list.

Meetings are held online via ZOOM, 9:30 am to 11:30 am. Unless otherwise noted, use the “Our Zoom Room” (Yellow Button) on the mergingwatersuu.org home page. 

Merging Waters Sunday Evening Book Group

October 11, 7pm

Sig & Marti’s

(The Residences at St Anthony Assisted Living)

Treats: Barb

Book Selected:         

The Escape Artist by Jonathan Freedland. 416 pages. Published in 2023.  

The astonishing true story of Rudolf Vrba, the man who broke out of Auschwitz to warn the world of a truth too few were willing to hear. In April 1944, Vrba became one of the very first Jews to escape from Auschwitz and make his way to freedom— a nearly impossible feat. He did it to reveal the truth of the death camp to the world.

The Merging Waters Unitarian Universalist Congregation (MWUUC) Sunday Evening Book Club meets the second Sunday of each month except in August.  Contact Pat Ferrian (ferri004@gmail.com) to be added to the email list or for questions.