Sunday, February 25, 2024 - 10 am

In-Person & ZOOM

“Hello! Is Anyone Listening?” 

How often are you in conversation with someone and suddenly you’re distracted? We all do it. In this service, Rev. John Wright will speak to the difference between “hearing” and “listening,” and its effect on communication and our relationships.

• Rev. John Wright, Guest Speaker
• Annie Lavin, Service Leader
• Michael Casey, Musician
• , Youth & Teen Welcome
• Peggy Christie & Mark Handschuh, Greeters
• Joy Kim, Coffee Host

Please CLICK HERE for the link to join us via Zoom.

PLEASE REMEMBER to attend the Orientation to

Unitarian Universalism and UUCR after Coffee Hour!

Welcoming Families and Children on Sunday Mornings

Each Sunday, UUCR offers childcare and simple age-appropriate activities for children of all ages. If you have any questions about UUCR's programming for families and children, please be in touch with Rev. Sue. 

So You Don't Miss Anything!

• This Week's Worship Service Information
• Upcoming Worship Services Information
• Newsletter Index
• Helpful Links, Office Hours, Upcoming Events Calendar
• Ministry Visioning Survey
• Pledge Drive Results & Deadline
• Orientation to Unitarian Universalism & UUCR — Feb 25
• UUCR Auction Donations Deadline — Feb 25
• Scott Legacy Fund Team
• March's Outreach Collection — Sustain Ukraine
• Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) Legislation 2024
• Pastoral Care and Connection Committee
• Birthdays
• UUCR Contact Information
• End of Reflections Notice at the VERY END

UUCR is in the process of hiring a 1/2 time minister to take Rev. Sue Browning's place upon her retirement in June. Your opinions and experiences will provide valuable information to the Search Committee during this process. Please take the time to complete and submit this survey https://forms.gle/VXKqtCNNHZn1JBts8. 

Survey will close Friday, February 23, 2024.

(NOTE: If you were present at the Ministry Visioning Session on Feb 18 following the worship service, please do not complete this survey.)

The Stewardship Committee would like to thank everyone who has already sent in their Pledge Form for FY25! We are two and a half weeks into our Pledge Drive and have reached 83% of our goal.



The Drive is ongoing until February 28, and we hope to hear from YOU! Why not put pen to Pledge Form, and drop the form in the mail today? Your Committee is standing by.

Thanks again everyone,

Your Stewardship Committee

The Membership Committee will host an information session about Unitarian Universalism and the Unitarian Universalists of the Chester River (UUCR) on Sunday, February 25, after service. A light lunch will be provided. If you have been visiting for a while, have just dropped in, or want to learn about what being a member of a UU congregation is about, please plan to attend.

Diane Shields

Our 2024 auction fundraiser will be held at UUCR on Saturday, March 2, starting at 6 p.m. Please join us for a delightful evening, including beverages, hors d’oeuvres, and desserts, as we raise some “fun” as well as “funds” to help us maintain our work in this beloved community. The event is free of charge and open to everyone. 

Our auction evening is actually two auctions — a silent auction, which commences at 6 p.m., for special objects donated to us, including a named Hegland Glass piece, David Winter cottages, an antique quilt, camping equipment, a portable outdoor stove, pottery, prints, posters, — even a small chain saw! 

Our live auction will start at 7 p.m. Items on auction include: dinners (Italian, Crab and Veggies, Oktoberfest); meals delivered to your door (bean soup, chili); parties (bats, beverages and bonfires, cocktails, scrabble, bourbon-tasting, tea and sandwiches, painting with a local artist, building temporal art on the beach); excursions (Christiana Mall, Baltimore Museum of Art); services (garden consultation, genealogical research, tennis lesson; Reiki sessions); and other special times, including being a Riverkeeper for a Day, sitting in on a practice session with a local band, and/or enjoying a pass to all 2024 National Music Festival events in Chestertown. 

If you would like to make a donation yourself, please do so before Sunday, February 25, by contacting Jane Hardy at janewhardy@gmail.com.

Can’t come to the auction, but see something you’d like to bid on? We can provide a proxy bidder for you! Contact Jane Hardy at janewhardy@gmail.com.

Don’t miss this terrific evening!

We hope to see you on March 2.

UUCR’s Fundraising Task Force: Linda Dutton, Joy Kim,

Jane Hardy, and Mary Pritchard

Amy Warner and Bob Bjork have agreed to join with M.Q. Riding to work on the policy and procedures to use the Scott Legacy Fund, based on guidance and feedback from members, friends, and the Legacy Advisory Task Force. You can read the report, generated from those sources and produced by the Board, using this link. linkedin.com/in/mqriding

M. Q. Riding

March's outreach collection will be for Sustain Ukraine, an initiative founded by local residents Neal and Sandra Jackson. We will be running this collection differently than usual, in that members and friends will give donations directly to Neal (see below). 

First, a bit about this worthy cause. Sustain Ukraine is a group of volunteers — citizens in Chestertown, Poland, and Ukraine — procuring nonlethal supplies and equipment and getting them directly to the fighters. It has no bureaucracy, and 100% of every dollar contributed goes to support the volunteer fighters. Your support goes directly to the Ukrainian Territorial Defense and Border Guard volunteers fighting to keep their nation free.

Neal and Sandra, now residents of Heron Point, retired to the Eastern Shore after distinguished careers. Neal was a lawyer in DC, first in a law firm where he specialized in commercial and administrative litigation, then for 12 years as Vice President and General Counsel of NPR. After leaving NPR in 2008, he took an unusual turn and began working as a consultant on the business of photojournalism and, from time to time, as a photojournalist himself. His work took him to all but two continents and many countries, including Ukraine. Sandra has worked or traveled as an executive in business, government, and nonprofit organizations in more than 75 different countries. One of these was Ukraine. Over a six-year period, she served on the board of East Europe Foundation, which met in Kyiv and throughout the country to help Ukrainian NGOs deliver social and economic services, meeting the specific needs of an emerging demography.

Neal and Sandra will be joining us for a discussion about Sustain Ukraine on Sunday, March 3, after the worship service. A light lunch will be provided for those who are staying. 

Here’s how to contribute throughout the month of March: 

1. By check, payable to Neal Jackson, and mailed to him at 470 Gull Ct., Chestertown, MD 21620 (He can also take your check on March 3.)
2. By Zelle electronic transfer from your online banking. Create a Zelle account (super easy), then “Add New Recipient” for Neal Jackson, using either this email address (nealjackson@3creekfarm.com) or his mobile phone number (202-365-4070). You can then send money directly to him for free.
3. By PayPal, if you have a PayPal account, you can send money to nealjackson@3creekfarm.com. Make sure it is designated as “sending to a friend.” 

Please do not write, send, or give checks to UUCR for this month's outreach collection, and do not donate via the website. 

Please note that Sustain Ukraine is not an entity — it is simply a conduit of caring people that enables you to support Ukrainians defending their nation, so your contribution is not tax-deductible. 

Amy Warner 

YOU MAY NOT BE SEEING THE ENTIRE NEWSLETTER

If you don't see "VERY END of REFLECTIONS for February 22, 2024"

at the VERY END of this email, you're not seeing the entire email.

To view it to the end please Click here

It is week six of the 2024 legislative session, and the companion bills in the House (HB 403) and Senate (SB 443) presented at this session as the "End-of-Life Act" have had hearings in both the House and Senate, but they have not been voted out of committee yet. It is anticipated they will be. The Eastern Shore legislators do not serve on the committees hearing these bills, so the push will come when the bills reach the floor of the legislature for passage. It will be important for you to contact our legislators at that time. The best source of information about these bills and the five other issues supported by the UU Legislative Ministry of Maryland is their website, which provides access to the weekly update and contact information for legislators: info@uulmmd.org.

If you have specific questions, don't hesitate to contact Lynn Dolinger at lynn.thirdwish@gmail.com.

Thanks for your interest and support.