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From our earliest birthdays, we know that we grow and change. We age. Is there anything you know today that you wished you’d learned earlier? How might we share these lessons with one another? At this service with Rev. Sue Browning, we’ll reflect on our most-valued learnings and how they help shape and re-shape our lives and communities.

Join us by clicking the Zoom service link here on Sunday, February 14 before 10 am, immediately followed by UUCR & UUFE Coffee Hour. Please sign in by 9:50 am so we can begin the service promptly at 10 am.

If you have a joy or sorrow for the February 14 service, please share it during the discussion or if you're not planning to attend, email the UUCR office at UUCR email by Friday, February 12 at noon.

Please come join us for UUCR & UUFE Coffee Hour at 11:00 am, on Sunday, February 14 immediately following the service (continuation of the service's Zoom link).

It's a time to see and talk to one another, and the next best thing to being there!

If you google, "Random Acts of Kindness" you'll pull up lists upon lists of small actions that make a difference: A few examples: “Give an unexpected compliment”… “Scrape the ice off a neighbor’s windshield after you’ve finished doing yours” …. “Write a letter of encouragement to a child you know is having a hard time”…”Slow down so someone can merge in front of you in traffic.” 

Being kind helps us see further opportunities for connection. Being kind reminds us of what we can do in times when the world's challenges seem overwhelming. Being kind changes our outlook. 

Being kind is a part of changing the world.

Happy Valentine's Day,  

Rev. Sue

If you haven’t already done so, please respond to our email questionnaire of February 5 (from [email protected]) asking you to let us know if you would like us to bring some homemade cookies to you on Valentine’s Day.

This is the committee’s “last call” for this special collection, which will be used to support the work of the Samaritan Group in Kent County, in particular the winter shelter. The winter shelter houses and feeds homeless individuals from January until the end of March at three different churches: the Church of the Nazarene, First United Methodist, and the Presbyterian Church of Chestertown. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the protocol has changed this year. Guests stay from 8 pm to 8 am each day and are given two bagged meals. There are more paid staff to monitor and assist the guests this season. 

Their need for funds is more critical now than ever before, and we hope that our members and friends will contribute generously to this community need. Please send your check to the UUCR church office by February 15 (marking it "winter shelter special collection") or make your donation from the UUCR website through the “donate” button by clicking here. On behalf of the committee, we thank you for your generosity.

Amy Warner, Co-chair

NAMI Family-to-Family is a free eight-week course for family caregivers of individuals with mental illnesses. NAMI-trained family members teach the course and all materials are free for class participants. The curriculum focuses on schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, clinical depression, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and borderline personality disorder, with a new resource on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The course discusses treatment for these illnesses and teaches the knowledge and skills that family members need to cope with the challenges of living with a relative with a mental illness. The next session of this course runs on Zoom March 2nd to April 20th from 6:30- 9 pm. Contact NAMI to register by email [email protected] or by phone at 443-480-0565.

Side With Love invites you to join as we livestream the premiere of PBS’s The Black Church, an epic production about the impacts of the Black church movement on American society, culture, and politics. As Unitarian Universalists with our own unique history of engaging abolition and civil rights, it is important for us to know how our history has supported and has been in conflict with the Black church. The Black Church can also help us understand the rich tradition out of which our Black UU religious professionals and laypersons came to be and all that we bring to Unitarian Universalism.  

The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song is a moving four-hour, two-part series from executive producer, host and writer Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University and director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, that traces the 400-year-old story of the Black church in America, all the way down to its bedrock role as the site of African American survival and grace, organizing and resilience, thriving and testifying, autonomy and freedom, solidarity and speaking truth to power.

For those of you who have been navigating the path to scheduling a vaccination, you know that it is challenging! Vaccine supplies continue to be very limited and all vaccinations are now restricted to residents of the counties in Maryland in which you reside or work. Bob Bjork and Lynn Dolinger continue to work to understand and update the process, any additional updates they become aware of will be sent through the new UUCR Google email group. The Health Department site in your county is your best source of information. The websites we've found most helpful are kenthd.org and marylandvax.org. 

The Kent Health Department (kenthd.org) is sending out notices to those who have registered, providing an opportunity to schedule an appointment, so we strongly suggest that you register on this site (under "Hot Topics"). We also suggest that you enroll the help of a friend or family member if you need assistance with this challenging process. If you still need further assistance, please contact the church office by UUCR email or by UUCR phone at 410-778-3440. 

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Gayle Folger, Nancy Holland, and Vida Morley

Darlene Wiggers (Office) p: 410-778-3440 | e:[email protected]