Sunday, April 20 — 10 am

"Joy Comes in the Morning!"

This Sunday is both Easter Sunday and the closest Sunday to Earth Day!! How is the cycle of rebirth calling us to live with Love at the center of our lives?

• Rev. Kathryn Adams, Minister
• Kim Agee, Worship Leader
• Michael Casey, Musician
• Nancy Holland, Greeter
• Joy Kim, Coffee Host

Please CLICK HERE to join us via ZOOM.

This week's hymn numbers:

• "Morning has Broken" #38 (grey hymnal)
• "Blue Boat Home" #1064 (teal hymnal)

APR 27 | "Recovering Our Universalist Roots" — In-person & Zoom

"I think that in our ongoing struggle to define or describe 'Unitarian Universalism' we have lost track of the essence of both Unitarianism and Universalism." Greg will explore our Universalist heritage; its legacy, uniqueness, and relevance today. This is a follow up to his discussion on Unitarianism last month.

• Rev. Greg Chute, Guest Speaker
• Nancy Holland and Joan Caivano, Worship Leaders
• Michael Casey, Musician

MAY 04 | "Imagine Possibility" — In-person & Zoom

This is our flower communion. Today, I invite us to imagine the fecundity of flowers. How many millions of seeds can come from each flower. Seeds can grow in the most unlikely of places. Seeds hold our heritage and take them into an unspecified future. Today, let us explore what imagining possibility looks like for us.

• Rev. Kathryn Adams, Minister
• Connie Schroth, Worship Leader
• Michael Casey, Musician

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• This Week's Worship Service
• Upcoming Worship Services
• This Issue's Contents
• Helpful Links, Office Hours, Upcoming Events Calendar
• Minister's Column
• First Thursdays Conversations
• UUCR Grounds Clean Up — April 19
• Lot Line Update
• Annual Congregational Meeting — May 18
• Discussion Leaders Needed
• From Your Social Justice Committee
• From Your Worship Committee
• From Your PROC Committee
• Birthdays

Easter and Earth Day are coming together next week. This invited a reflection on their intersection. 

One way of making meaning of Easter is hope in the darkest places. Today, I am thinking of that as a seed. Each seed holds the potential for a new life. That potential for new life IS hope.

Let's engage that idea at various scales. Starting with self-reflection, what needs to break open within ourselves for new life to grow? In ever-widening circles, our family (given or chosen) systems, our social groups, our congregation, our larger community, Maryland, or nationally.

There is an illusion of independence. Life is not independent; life is interdependent. Every biological system shows us that. The ongoing ministry of the early Christians would not have been possible after Jesus' state-sponsored murder without the ongoing ministry of the Apostles. Early Christian communities received them in "house churches," offering food and fellowship. No one did ministry alone. Jesus welcomed the outcasts because no one is better than anyone else.

Now, just as then, we are not alone. We are in community with each other, even when we disagree. People are organizing the way people organize. Unions are engaging, protests have been prevalent, and more. Our human siblings need us now. The hard outer shell of the seed is breaking open. May new growth follow.

Rev. Kathryn will be scheduling appointments for in-person conversations on first Thursdays starting at noon. Reach out, and we can book a time to talk and get to know you in our ministry.

Grounds Cleanup on Saturday, April 19 at 9 am (postponed last Saturday due to weather). We will focus primarily on weeding and cleanup of dead/downed twigs and branches around the church building. ALSO, the weeds are continuing to grow and spread seeds! If you have time before Saturday, feel free to weed on your own. Place weeds and debris behind the church building, near the trash can and the B&G Committee will dispose of them.

At the end of last year, our neighbor, Mr. Larson, mistakenly paved part of our property on the north property line.

The board engaged Lance Young, Esq., to send Mr. Larson a letter

instructing him to remove his property, gravel, and asphalt from our

property. On Monday, Diane Shields, Lance Young, and M.Q. Riding met with our neighbor, Mr. Larson, to understand where he is in this process.

It was a respectful and positive meeting. He is planning on having a

contractor remove the paving & gravel that is on our property. The work should be completed by May 1^st, depending on his contractor's availability. He said he has already found an experienced contractor. 

Mr. Larson has mentioned in the past that our trees on the property line shed sap and needles onto his property. During the meeting, when the tree limbs were brought up, we agreed to have our arborist trim the trees.

This has been a challenging situation for UUCR; however, we seem to be coming to a positive resolution. Many thanks to everyone who has

supported this effort with suggestions and their time.

Annual Meeting Scheduled for May 18, 2025

After our church service on Sunday, May 18^th UUCR will have our Annual Meeting where we vote on the budget, slate of officers, and other items for the 2025/26 church year. It is an important meeting, please plan to attend. More information will be forthcoming in the next few weeks.

There are numerous slots that need to be filled for our informal Summer Session Discussion Services that begin June 1. Please sign up on the sheet provided on the whiteboard. If you have questions, please contact Nancy Holland.

We are feeling spring in the air at last! Our focus on the environment for the month of April will motivate us to get talking, moving, and giving to protect our beautiful rural surroundings and waterways.

Read about these opportunities by clicking the following links. Both Interfaithchesapeake.org and ShoreRivers.org are reliable partners who share our UU values. They have so much to share with us.

On Sunday, April 27^th, we invite you to stay after the service for our light lunch and the opportunity to learn new skills from Paul Chakroff. Paul and his wife Marilyn are seasonal residents of Chestertown as well as experienced UUs. You may have met them already, as they have begun attending our church! Paul has recently completed a Ph.D. in Climate Change and Sustainable Development Policy at the University of Lisbon (Portugal). On April 27^th, he will lead an interactive dialogue on the need for climate advocacy to be responsive to people’s immediate needs and everyday concerns to elicit the general support needed to advance climate change mitigation in America, especially in times when progress depends inordinately on state, local, and individual action. The discussion will address public- and private-sector climate governance and the nexus between global warming and kitchen-table issues of concern to Americans today. 

Greetings from the Worship Committee. We realize that several of the Sunday services have run overtime recently, so this seems to be a good time for some reminders and information for our many

new attendees.

• Announcements of upcoming events, etc. can be submitted for Reflections or the Sunday Order of Service by sending them to Darlene at uuofchesterriver@gmail.com by the Tuesday of any given week.

• Announcements may also be given in writing to the service leader on Sunday mornings before the service, but please keep these announcements brief, two to three sentences. It’s helpful to include: “See (person’s name) for more information.”

• Acknowledgements of the Heart is the time we share joys or concerns of the heart and spirit. Please share Informational or event items with the service leader for announcements rather than during Acknowledgements of the Heart.

Please feel free to speak to any members of the Worship Committee if you have any questions or concerns about sharing information on Sundays. We also appreciate any and all feedback on worship at UUCR. Committee members are: Kim Agee, Annie Lavin, Margo Long, Nancy Holland, Jan Sprinkel, and new service leaders Joan Caivano and Connie Schroth. Rev. Kathryn also welcomes feedback and questions. We are grateful for this sharing and caring community.

WANT TO SUBMIT AN ARTICLE TO REFLECTIONS?

PLEASE READ THIS FIRST

During these times of stress and upheaval many of us are called upon to take action, join up, sign up, make a difference. And, if we know of an event that might be of interest to our congregation it is important to spread the word. But, our weekly newsletter can contain only so much; if we go beyond the “one-page” length, readers have to click to another site to continue reading, and valuable information may be missed. How can we best balance our need to share information with our space limitations?

Hoping to hold Reflections to a reasonable length, we, your Public

Relations, Outreach, and Communications Committee, would like to set out the following priorities for content:

First: UUCR Sunday Services, business, events, etc.

Second: UUA business, events, etc. 

Third: Local events that align with our values        

As for sending mass emails outside of Reflections, UUCR leaders try to preserve these for VERY special circumstances (annual meetings, selected fundraisers) so as not to annoy our members and friends with floods of messages. It may behoove committee chairs to set up specific interest distribution lists for emailing urgent information. 

So, yes, please help UUCR spread the word about worthwhile events and activities, but keep submissions as succinct as possible, with the priorities listed above in mind. And, if they’re available, be sure to include links to sites that can provide relevant information or attachments from which we can create our own links. And, don’t forget that the deadline for submissions to Reflections is noon on Wednesdays. 

With thanks for your patience and understanding,

Your PROC Committee: John Ramsey, David Biehler, Jane Hardy, Dave Hart, Eileen Kessler, Elisabeth Tully and Linda Weimer

APRIL

06 | Stan Salett

07 | Tom Tontarski

09 | John Ramsey

13 | Amy Warner

16 | Connie Schroth

17 | Jim Lavin

17 | Eileen Kessler

22 | Elisabeth Tully

30 | Kim Agee

We want to help celebrate your birthday!

If we didn't include your birthday, please contact the UUCR office by email