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
• Ministerial Search Team Assembled
• Pledge Drive for Fiscal Year 2025 — Kick Off February 4
• Annual UUCR Auction Fundraiser Donations Needed
• Social Justice - January Outreach — updated with article
• Social Justice - February Outreach
• Orientation to Unitarian Universalism & UUCR — February 25
• Get on the Bus! Documentary Premiere — February 14
• Pastoral Care and Connection Committee
• Birthdays
• UUCR Contact Information
• End of Reflections Notice at the VERY END

UUCR’s Pledge Drive Kick Off Sunday, February 4^th

Pledge packets distributed during coffee hour, including the budget for FY 25. You will have a week to look them over, and THEN…

Sunday, February 11^th

Luncheon at coffee hour provided by your pledge committee,

followed by a budget question and answer session.

Your chance to support the work of our UUCR community!

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Your Stewardship Committee,

Jackie Mathwich, Catherine Brooks, Joy Kim, and Peggy McKee

Our Annual Auction Evening!

Saturday, March 2, 6 pm at UUCR

Both live and silent auctions will take place. Please join us for hors d’oeuvres and beverages to start with, desserts later, and get ready to bid

Here’s an event to get you thinking about what YOU could offer:

Event name: Beverages, Bats, & Bonfires

Donor: Pam Vogel

Who: 12 participants

What: We will start with a bonfire, snacks, and some beverages. Then as dusk falls, we can watch the bats swoop out of the bat house (often over 100 bats). If there is interest, we can also do a quick tour of the bees and goats too.

When: Friday, June 14^th starting at 7:30 pm. Rain date, Saturday, June 15^th, 2024.

Where: 218 Round Top Road, Chestertown (actually Kingstown).

Why: Because it will be awesome. 

Please send your donations (and questions) to

Jane Hardy at: janewhardy@gmail.com

Kathy Lee, a member of our SJ Committee, wrote the following article (link below) that was published in the January 14 issue of the Chestertown Spy. In this piece, she examines the barriers and hardships that people face in states that have restrictive laws on reproductive rights. She also cites statistics from the Baltimore Abortion Fund, the focus of our outreach this month. 

The Dobbs Decision and the Burden of Interstate Travel - Chestertown Spy

On June 24, 2022, the day the U. S. Supreme Court announced the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, I wa...

On January 7, the SJ Committee launched its outreach for the Baltimore Abortion Fund with an informative discussion after the service on women's reproductive health issues led by Lauren Harton, CNM, clinician at the Easton Health Center/Planned Parenthood. 

Speaking from her own experience, she told the group about how the Baltimore Abortion Fund (BAF) is a dependable, constant source of funds for women who go to the Easton Health Center and need money to access their and other organization's services. Visit the Baltimore Abortion Fund website to learn more about their mission and activities. 

Lauren's testimony about the BAF strengthens the committee's resolve to make a generous donation from UUCR at the end of the month. Although January 7^th's plate collection went to the fund, there are still ways that you can make a donation until the end of the month. Use the donation link on UUCR's website and designate it for "BAF" or "January Outreach Collection," or put a check in the collection plate with a note that indicates it's for BAF by January 31^st. 

Amy Warner and Vida Morley

February's upcoming Social Justice Outreach Offering and topic will be Racial Justice. The Social Justice Committee invites you to a light lunch after service on February 4th.

We've invited Jill Tolbert, who is, among other things:

• a public school math teacher,
• a member of another local (predominantly white) congregation who is committed to the value of racial justice
• one of the people who took the bus trip (along with Philip and Linda Dutton and many of our Chestertown community members).

We know Jill to be an articulate, committed educational professional and community member, and we look forward to the insights that an informal, thoughtful Q&A session may bring to UUCR's continuing search for ways to contribute to racial justice. Please plan to stay and share a sandwich and your thoughts with us after our February 4^th Sunday service. Our outreach offerings during the month of February will go to Minary's Dream Alliance.

Marilee Taussig

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