Thursday, February 4 2021
We join together to encourage spiritual growth, 
build a beloved community, and act for peace and justice.
Sunday, February 7, 2021

10:30 a.m. Sunday Service

"An Evolution of Thinking" 
- Rev. Carl
with Intern Minister Jen as liturgist

Special Music:
Nick Int Veldt, Scarlet Fannin, Jeff Wilson, Marguerite Wilson, Danielle Grace, Martha Jones


Please spread the word about our online Sunday Services
to anyone you know who may be interested.
(Zoom link available at frederickuu.org)

9:00 a.m. UU Buddhist Fellowship:
Group Meditation & Discussion: 

11:30 a.m. Virtual Coffee Hour
(Same Zoom Room as Sunday Service)

11:45 a.m. New Online Art Show Reception
"Art Quilters on the Edge"
(Visit our new online art show here)
Meet the fabulous fiber artists who made the quilts & other items highlighted in our new show!
(Zoom link also available at frederickuu.org)


3:00 p.m. Atheists/Humanists/Agnostics (AHA)
Discussion Group
(Zoom link available at frederickuu.org)


Regularly check our homepage for
the next 7 days of online opportunities:
General Announcements

UUCF Focus Groups with Rev. Carl & UUCF Board
Sundays at Noon to 1:30pm for up to 12 participants in January and February 2021. Sign-up for the date that is most convenient for you at frederickuu.org/focus. Join us to explore five questions: (1) Check-in (2) Looking BACK: What have you been grateful for from UUCF during the pandemic? (3) Looking FORWARD: How might we best continue to live into our mission--"to encourage spiritual growth, build a beloved community, and act for peace and justice”--in 2021? (4) Looking AROUND: “Ask Me Anything” with Rev. Carl (5) Check-out: closing reflections.

Virtual Open Houses for the Circle of Life Cooperative Preschool! The Circle of Life Cooperative Preschool will be hosting virtual open house events for the 2021-2022 school year. Information and sign-ups can be found on their Facebook page or website, circleoflifefrederick.org. Registration is currently open for past CLC families and UUCF and Kol Ami families.

Part-time Facilities Job at UUCF: The Finance Committee and the Board have approved a temporary, part-time hire to assist Rick Anderson, UUCF's Facilities Manager, with a variety of projects. This position will be reviewed in April 2021. The individual will be paid $ 15/hour and work a maximum of 18 hrs/week. Flexible schedule days/times. This person must have a valid driver's license and reliable transportation. Some construction experience is preferred. Rick will be happy to train any individual who possesses some basic aptitude. Must be able to lift 50 lbs. All tools and materials are supplied. A liability release will need to be signed. Interested applicants should contact Rick Anderson, UUCF Facility Manager by cell: 970.370.8538.

Free Online Courses from Great Universities around the World are available through MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) such as coursera.org and edx.org. Simple search and find something you're interested in. Learn at your own speed.
Ongoing & Upcoming Events

Anti-Racism Book Discussion Series
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents:
weekly on Wednesdays, 7:00-8:30 p.m. : https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2544372955?pwd=VVBUNElZcWRMOG94dWhudnZDZyt6Zz09. Isabel Wilkerson is winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Humanities Medal, and author of the critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller The Warmth of Other Suns, which earned the National Book Critics Circle Award and was named to The New York Times’s list of the Best Nonfiction of All Time. She has taught at Princeton, Emory, and Boston Universities and has lectured at more than two hundred other colleges and universities.


"Widening the Circle of Concern: How to Build a Multicultural Beloved Community” with Rev. Carl & Intern Minister Jen: Tuesdays, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. (February 2 to April 13). Each session corresponds to one chapter of Widening the Circle of Concern, a book recently published by the Unitarian Universalist Association's "Commission on Institutional Change”: 
  1. Theology
  2. Governance
  3. Congregations and Communities
  4. Hospitality and Inclusion
  5. Living Our Values in the World
  6. Religious Professionals
  7. Educating for Liberation
  8. Innovations and Risk-Taking,
  9. Restoration and Reparations,
  10. Accountability and Resources
  11. Where Do We Go From Here?
This book is available in any of three ways;
  • free online at 
Prior to session one, please read through the end of Chapter 1 on "Theology.” To sign-up for this class, email minister@frederickuu.org with the first & last name of each participant.


First Friday February Hike (masks and social distancing required) Friday, February 5, 1:00 p.m. Antietam Creek Campsite. Please join us on our next hike. All are welcome- we have saunterers and sprinters and leave no-one behind. We'll meet on Friday February 5 at 1 pm at Antietam Creek Campsite, Sharpsburg, MD. We'll take the canal towpath towards Shepherdstown. Restrooms and ample parking at the start.If you'd like to be added to our hiking email list, please let me know. In addition to our first Friday hike, we meet for impromptu hikes when work and weather allow. Look forward to seeing you! ruthsheridan@msn.com 202 258 0788

Transcendentalism, Then & Now, a four-part Zoom class with the Rev. Dr. John Buehrens, author of Conflagration: How the Transcendentalists Sparked the American Struggle for Racial, Gender, and Social Justice (Boston: Beacon Press, Jan. 2020). Four Sundays starting February 7 at 7:00 pm. Registration for the course is through All Souls Unitarian Church in Washington, DC Copies of the paperback edition of the book ($20) are now available from your preferred bookstore, including the UUA bookstore. In early January, we will create a link to register on our church's website. This will include registration fee of $5.00 per class or $20.00 for the series. Registration is open now.

Black Poetry Readings, Saturday, Feb. 13, 3:00-4:30 p.m.
UUCF’s Dismantling Racism Team invites you to watch and listen as African American poets read their own work in a series of videos featuring: Tyehimba Jess, Terrance Hayes, Claudia Rankine, Quincey Troupe, Nikki Giovanni, Derek Walcott, Audre Lourde, Rita Dove, Saeed Jones, Nikky Finney, Frank X. Walker, Rudy Francisco, Lucille Clifton, and Aniyah Smith. Discussion will follow the readings.

The 1619 Project, Saturday, Feb. 27, 3:00-4:30 p.m.
UUCF’s Dismantling Racism Team invites you to The Fight For A True Democracy, the first in a podcast series from the New York times based on the paper’s landmark 1619 Project. The program consists of audio and a slide show created to accompany the podcast. Discussion will follow the 45-minute program. 
Our founding ideals of liberty and equality were false when they were written. Black Americans fought to make them true. Without this struggle, America would have no democracy at all.
—New York Times magazine, Aug. 18, 2019: The 1619 Project. Nikole Hannah-Jones, creator


Our Wednesday Evening 7pm Chalice Group currently has a few openings. Chalice groups meet twice a month to share around topics chosen by the group and their leaders as well as provide support for each other. If you are interested in joining this group or would like more information, please email Bobbi Mead and Carolyn Rocha at cc@frederickuu.org
Upcoming February Events with the Frederick Covenant of UU Pagans (FCUUPS)

Frederick CUUPS Imbolc Ritual
Friday, February 5, 7pm
The smallest flame can bring light into even the coldest, darkest night, and so we will honor the sparks that, together, grow into a fiery blaze. In this Imbolc ritual, we will honor the theme of hope and the growing light that is returning to the world. We will feel our hope rekindled within us. This ritual will allow space for visioning, reflection, and intention setting by meditating on the Thorns, Buds, and Blooms currently sprouting from the cold earth in the gardens of our lives and community. 
Supplies Needed:

Three Candles.
Three strips of paper (for burning).
A writing utensil.
A safe vessel in which to burn your papers. This ritual will be presented on Zoom. Please email CUUPS@FrederickUU.org for the Zoom link. Recommended donation for the ritual is $5. Facebook event here.  
 
Dark Moon Meditation: The Shadow Self
Thursday, February 11, 7pm
Join longtime Heathen witch Emily Sylvest for a Dark Moon Meditation, where we will connect to the Darkness of the Moon and our own Shadow Self. All are welcome to join. This meditation will be presented on Zoom. Please email CUUPS@FrederickUU.org for the Zoom link. Recommended donation for class is $10. Facebook event here.


All are welcome! 
Community News
National Civil Rights Museum virtually presents
FOUR HUNDRED SOULS:
A Community History of African America, 1619-2019
Part of the BOOK & AUTHOR SERIES
 
Friday, February 5, 2021
7:00pm Eastern • Virtually
 
Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African Americans, 1619-2019  is a chorus of extraordinary voices coming together to tell one of history’s great epics–the four-hundred-year journey of African Americans. The book is edited by Ibram X. Kendi, author of  How to Be an Antiracist , and Keisha N. Blain, author of  Set the World on Fire.
 
Joining editors Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain are panelists:
  • journalist and author Charles Cobb, Jr.;
  • Princeton professor of African American Studies Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor; and
  • economic and social policy expert Heather McGhee.
The topics discussed will include Civil Rights Movement, Property, and Bacon’s Rebellion, respectively.
The Equality Act, Religious Freedom & Faith Responses

Tuesday, February 16, 2021
3:00 PM ET
President Biden has promised to move the Equality Act during his first months in office, but passing the legislation is no slam dunk. Opponents of the bill are outspoken about wanting to weaken the Equality Act by adding additional religious exemptions to these civil rights protections. While they claim the Act will diminish the rights of religious organizations, existing federal laws already contain religious exemptions which would remain once the Equality Act is passed. As the legislation moves, faith leaders and organizers will play a vital role in pushing back against scare tactics in the public square and conveying how the Equality Act will enhance civil rights protections for all— including for women, people of color, immigrants, religious communities, and LGTBQ individuals - and underscoring that it does not impact the rights of religious organizations to hire individuals who are of the same faith and for houses of worship to select their own religious leaders.
Please join our panel to learn:
  • How the Equality Act strengthens our work towards a society without harmful discrimination and maintains the rights of religious organizations to make important decisions relating to religious beliefs and practices?
  • Why the Equality Act is urgently needed?
  • What to anticipate in terms of pushback?
  • What messaging tools will help shape a pro-equality faith response in the public discourse?
Click here to RSVP
 
This will be a private and confidential conversation (not open to press or streamed publicly).
Celebrate February - Black History Month! 
Join UUCF’s Dismantling Racism Team for poetry, biographies of Black UUs in history, an episode from the 1619 Project. Visit www.blacklivesuu.com for spiritual resources and more.

Locally, visit and support AARCH – African American Resources Cultural and Heritage, www.aarchsociety.org and on Facebook. You can donate online to the new Heritage Center on E. All Saints St. Photo is of Esther Grinnage, a much revered founder of a kindergarten for Black students when Frederick schools did not provide.

Nationally, the Association for the Study African American Life and History www.asalh.org carries on the legacy of founder Carter G. Woodson. This year’s theme “The Black Family: Representation, Identity, Diversity” will be the focus of a Black History Month Virtual Festival. Many sessions are free, including Trailblazers – astronaut Mae Jemison, foodways and culture – Karla Hall, education – Delta Sigma Theta president Charlene Dukes. Plus music from HBCU’s and “Finding Your roots” with Henry Louis Gates.
.
Stay Informed
We are so excited to watch Judas & The Black Messiah (finally!) with you. Join us for a Friday night movie night on Feb. 12 at 6 p.m. EST.
Director Shaka King and Will Berson co-wrote the script, which chronicles the lives of Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya), chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, and William O’Neal (Lakeith Stanfield), who served as an FBI informant to help silence Hampton and the Black Panther Party.
P.S. This is pro-bonnet space!
Save the Link & Join the Fun

Join the BLUU Salon 
for 
Community &
Political Education 
The BLUU Salon is BACK featuring Charlene A. Carruthers’ Unapologetic, a manifesto from one of America’s most influential activists. Carruthers disrupts political, economic, and social norms by reimagining the Black Radical Tradition.
Join us for a seven-week opportunity for shared learning, un-learning, and reflection with BLUU leadership and special guests.
We will gather over Zoom Mondays evenings from 7 - 9 p.m. EST. The BLUU Salon begins Monday, Feb. 15 and ends Monday, March 29.
(This is a Black Sacred Space. Non-Black folx are encouraged to share this opportunity with Black folx in their community. )
Register for the BLUU Salon
Announcements for our weekly e-newsletter are due no later than Wednesday noon. Please keep your announcement 50 words or less. If you have a graphic for the group or organization, please include that as well. Email to: office@frederickuu.org