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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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the
Beacon
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Minister's Musings...
ALERT: Scam Minister Emails are on the rise again!
If you receive an email asking for money or gift cards, please know these are bogus emails and I would never ask you to send me or anyone money by email. Hackers seem to be targeting gmail accounts. Please do not respond to these emails; mark them as spam; delete.
My preferred and legitimate email addresses are:
[email protected]
or
[email protected]
.
. . . . .
Dear Ones,
Beginning this Friday, April 24 through May 8, UUCGT members will be receiving a phone call from someone from the UUCGT Board, the Transition Team, or the Leadership Development Committee to ask you for the name/s of someone you would trust to represent you on the Search Committee.
This team will have lots of work to do and needs to be in place by the end of May. To this end, the Transition Team held an information session after the service in January, and you will find a comprehensive summary of that session below.
What follows is a repeat from last week's message...
The purpose of that gathering was to give you information about the search process and provide you an opportunity to share your thoughts about who you would like to serve on the Search Committee to select your new Settled Minister. To refresh your memory, here are the essential questions that we would like for you to consider:
- What are the good qualities needed for someone to serve on a Ministerial Search Committee?
- Who in the Congregation works well with others?
- Who can represent and serve the whole Congregation well (including looking out for the needs of children) and not just a piece or "faction" of the Congregation? Who would have no "axe to grind?"
- Who knows (or can learn) the history and culture of the Congregation, whether a member of long standing or relatively new? Who can use this history proactively instead of reactively on behalf of the Congregation?
- Who has been and/or is active in the Congregation and has demonstrated both responsible participation and responsible leadership?
- After a high salary, the most attractive quality a Congregation can have is self-awareness - awareness of strengths and weaknesses, what the Congregation is like at its best and at its worst, as well as on an average day. Who would be able to know and relate all this to potential ministerial candidates?
- After thinking about all of these questions, who would you trust to serve on the Search Committee on behalf of the Congregation?
Summary Report of Congregational Gathering - Sunday, January 19, 2020
A Congregational Gathering was held on Sunday, January 19, following the service, to discuss the ministerial search process and to take the first steps towards selecting a Search Committee. The gathering was organized by the Transition Team and the Leadership Development Committee. In addition to Team and committee members, approximately 30 other congregants participated. The meeting began with a carefully prepared and presented introduction to the UUA Ministerial Search Process, which we will follow to recruit and select a new Settled Minister for UUCGT.
Following the presentation, during a working lunch, those attending were divided into small groups and asked to consider three questions: 1) What do you bring to the Congregation, 2) What do you receive from the Congregation, and 3) What are the good qualities needed by someone to serve on the Search Committee?
Following analysis of the individual answers, your Transition Team has noted a very solid overlap between the characteristics we say we bring to the Congregation and those that are needed for our Search Committee members. The results suggest that we are looking for individuals who are emotionally mature, who are skilled at working within the Congregation, who are knowledgeable and well respected, and who are both able and motivated to make the commitment to serving on a Search Committee. For the committee as a whole we are looking for a diversity of age, gender, length of membership, and geographical location within the region. We are also looking for a balance of experience and fresh perspective.
With love and faith,
Cathy
Please Note: The quote in Tuesday's Ministry Message was incorrectly attributed to Brene Brown. The author is
activist Sonya Renee Taylor and bears repeating here:
We will not go back to normal. Normal never was. Our pre-corona existence was not normal other than we normalized greed, inequity, exhaustion, depletion, extraction, disconnection, confusion, rage, hoarding, hate and lack. We should not long to return, my friends. We are being given the opportunity to stitch a new garment. One that fits all of humanity and nature.
https://www.sonyareneetaylor.com/
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Sunday Service - Join us on Zoom
April 26 - 10:30 AM - "Beginning Again in Love"
Rev. Cathy Harrington, Pam Hendrick
, B
etsy Hammerberg, coordinators
A covenant is a promise that we make to one another to show mutual respect, kindness and compassion, and acceptance as we express our shared goal of living in right relationship with one another.
Covenant is central to who we are as Unitarian Universalists. As we move through this pandemic and begin to imagine life post-Covid-19, how will we live into our covenant with one another and also with our neighbors, our nation, and nature?
Start signing in at 10:00 AM
For security purposes you will first enter a 'waiting room' and
then be 'greeted' into the service
Meeting ID: 929 3373 6336
Phone: 1 646-876-9923
Check our UUCGT website -
www.uucgt.org
- for information and links on how to connect with Zoom.
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Religious Education - Children
& Youth
9:45 AM Sunday Morning RE on Zoom
We had a small Zoom gathering last week to celebrate Earth Day. We discussed our Seventh Principle and created vehicles out of recycled materials. Below is a boat created by one of our RE families!
This coming Sunday we will learn about the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which begins on Thursday, April 23.
For check-in this week, please bring something that another person has made for you or has given to you.
We hope to see you soon!
Betsy
Please note:
Zoom meeting link for Sunday Morning RE will be sent to families in a separate email. If you have a child who would like to attend the RE gathering and you did not receive the link, please contact Betsy,
[email protected]
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2020 UUCGT Annual Meeting
Sunday, June 21 ~ 12:00 PM
The UUCGT Board of Trustees has set Sunday, June 21 at 12:00 pm as the date and time for the Congregation Annual Meeting.
This is two weeks later than our normal Annual Meeting, but gives us extra time to prepare for a meeting that will not be routine. We will likely hold the meeting using Zoom since we expect social distancing to still be the norm even if other restrictions have been lifted.
This will be a very important meeting in that we will be electing four members of the Search Team for our new Settled Minister.
Mike McDonald, Board President
May Board meetings via Zoom
Wednesday, May 6 at 7:00 PM
Wednesday, May 20 at 7:00 PM
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UUCGT Calendar -
Stay Up to Date!
Sunday Services, meetings and classes are
hosted on Zoom
until further notice.
Need help with Zoom? Click on Zoom links below.
Rev. Cathy will be attending the
Accredited Interim Ministry Conference
next week so there will be no Open Office Hours on Wednesday or Thursday.
However, if you would like a personal visit with Rev. Cathy via Zoom or phone, please contact her by text or email:
231-301-3177;
[email protected]
Friday, April 24 - 8:00 PM
Vespers - A quiet time to connect with others, relax, breathe
**
Come early for social time @ 7:30 PM
Order of Service will be in your email on Friday
Sunday, April 26 - 9
:45 AM
Religious Education for Children
Sunday, April 26 - 1
0:30 AM
** Sign in after 10:00 AM
Sunday Service - "Beginning Again in Love"
Meeting ID:
929 3373 6336
Phone: 1-646-876-9923
Order of Service will be in your email on Friday
Monday & Wednesday - April 27 & 29 - 10:00 AM
Stretch & Strengthen Class - Stay Fit at Home!
Every Tuesday - C
ommunity Lunch @ Friends Church - 10:30 AM
Thursday, April 28 - 4:00 PM
Small Group Experience with Susan Lio
Wednesday, April 29 - 5:30 PM -
Wednesday Happy Hour on Zoom!
The Wednesday Supper group is continuing to meet for Happy Hour at 5:30 PM every Wednesday via Zoom!
All are welcome!
Bring your beverage of choice and share in fellowship! P
lease contact
Mike and Sandra McDonald
for the weekly Zoom invite.
New to Zoom?
Check out these Zoom introductory videos & FAQ's
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We are a beloved community...
reaching out, staying connected, standing steady
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FUN Workshops for All Ages!
New Dates & Times!
Mondays @ 2:30 PM
Mandala Art Adventure
April 27 & May 4 - 2:30 PM
Mandalas are everywhere! Patterns in nature, designs from various cultures, and throughout the universe. Participants will design and create their own mandalas. Materials will be whatever you have at home - as simple as a piece of paper and a pen, or as involved as paint and multimedia!
Tai Chi Black & White Me
April 30 & May 7 - 2:30 PM
Learn 4 easy
T'ai C'hi
movements! Then we will draw or paint
what we experience or understand about this dance of spiritual energy
using only black and white.
Workshops facilitated by
Claire Crandall,
RE teacher
To sign up for Mandala Art Adventures or Tai Chi
Black and White Me
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Contemplating a Good Death in the Time of Crisis
A family member in New York suffered a stroke about six weeks ago, right before COVID19 took over our lives. She is 77, and up until her stroke, she was healthy, active, and looking to the future. Her future is uncertain now, compounded with a possible exposure to the virus contracted in the rehab facility she's in. Family can't visit her, healthcare policies are a moving target, and information is contradictory. Arranging for her to come home has its own complications not the least of which is possibly exposing her children and home healthcare workers to the virus. Fear and anxiety are part of my New York family's daily life. These are not normal times, especially in New York.
In Northern Michigan, the situation is different. We're more spread out and most people, I've observed, are now practicing social distancing and wearing masks. All are good public health practices. But even if we're doing all the right things, we are experiencing a high level of community anxiety about this highly contagious and potentially life threatening virus. And, even if it's unspoken, we're all thinking about our own mortality.
Click here to read more...
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New information updates and recommendations on COVID-19
NMC International Affairs Forum
Special Global Hot Spot Discussion
COVID-19 from a Refugee Perspective
Monday, April 27 - 4:00 PM on Zoom - Sign in at 3:30 PM
Voting for Everyone
Expand and secure Vote by Mail nationwide for November election
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Check out an informative video and links at
Thank you for your generous contributions of support
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Face Masks are available
Face masks have been lovingly hand-crafted by several UUCGT Peacemaker Needleworkers and Friends. Masks and a donation box are in the front entryway of the UU building. All donations will support the Ministerial Search Committee and are appreciated.
Masks are in individual plastic bags to guard against hand-to-hand contamination. Please choose your mask and please do not rummage through and please wash or sanitize your hands before and after.
If you would like to have a mask(s) mailed to you, please contact Sandra McDonald at 231-935-3759.
Stay informed, be safe, save lives
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UUCGT Bulletin Board
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Safe Harbor Volunteer Feedback
We will be hosting a Zoom meeting on Tuesday, April 28 from 1:30 pm until 2:30 pm for any of our Safe Harbor Volunteers who want to provide feedback or make suggestions based on their experiences as volunteers this past season. Rich Faller, Katie Grier, Betsy Wacker, Sandra McDonald and I will be hosting the meeting and anyone who has feedback or suggestions is welcome to attend. The Zoom information for the meeting follows:
Meeting ID: 991 4531 6156
One tap mobile:
+19294362866,,99145316156#
Dial by Phone:
+1 929 436 2866
Meeting ID: 991 4531 6156
Soul Matters Monthly Packets
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End Note...
Life...
is the principle of self-renewal.
It is constantly renewing and remaking
and changing and transfiguring itself.
~ Boris Pasternak
NYT Photographers distill life under
quarantine
What are you distilling from this time of quarantine?
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UUCGT office will be closed until further notice
Stay up to date on Facebook & UUCGT website
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