Sunday, December 1, 2024 - 10 a.m.

"The Practice of Presence in Anticipation and Community"

December 1^st will be both the First Sunday of Advent and World AIDS Day. At first blush, these may seem to have nothing to do with each other. In December our theme will be presence. For Advent, the invitation is to join the story of creation and await the coming of Christmas with stillness, quiet, and prayer or meditation with various personal rituals. World AIDS Day honors the over 32 million people lost to AIDS, per the CDC, the experiences of those affected by AIDS, and celebrates the 40 years of progress in the diagnosis and treatment. The call this year is for "Collective Action: Sustain and accelerate HIV progress." Join us for a reflection on presence as a spiritual practice, a social justice practice, and more.

• Rev. Kathryn Adams, Minister
• Nancy Holland & Connie Schroth, Worship Leaders
• Michael Casey, Musician
• Joy Kim, Greeter
• Amy Warner, Coffee Host
• Theo Kehm, RE

Please CLICK HERE to join us via ZOOM.

This week's hymn numbers:

• "Spirit of Life" — # 123 (grey hymnal)
• "How Could Anyone" — # 1053 (teal hymnal)

December 08 | "To Meet a Stranger and See a Neighbor" — In-person & Zoom

How do we bless a world full of broken-hearted people? In a world where hurt people hurt people, how do we help to heal? 

• Rev. Kerry Mueller, Guest Speaker
• Kim Agee, Worship Leader
• Michael Casey, Musician

December 15 | "What to Expect When You're Expecting" — In-person & Zoom

December is a time of waiting, as the calendar connects us to holy days of anticipation, hope, and expectation. Sometimes the waiting helps us find stillness, and sometimes it brings anxiety. Together we’ll explore what it means to wait and dwell in possibility.

• Rev. Kimberley DeBus, Guest Speaker
• Jan Sprinkel, Worship Leader
• Michael Casey, Musician
• Judy Graham, Greeter

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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
• Thanksgiving
• "Shared Values" — new feature
• UUCR Building Use is in High Demand!
• Calling All Singers!
• Soup Sampler Supper Fundraiser — Dec 13
• MD Lynching Truth & Reconciliation Public Hearing — Dec 7
• Feed the Homeless & Coat Drive in Chestertown — Dec 12
• Birthdays

Companions,

This Thanksgiving, I am grateful for the conversations leading us to schedule a gathering on Wed, Dec 11^th, at 3 pm. This will be a time to share our feelings, be together, and weave community. 

My prayer is that we feel our feelings and offer ourselves and each other grace and compassion. For those who are feeling the need to do something right now and don't know what, I recommend the UUA Threats from Without, Care from Within congregational safety webinar that was recently highlighted by the UUA Executive. 

This week, I have been sitting with the wisdom of Buddhist teacher Pema Chodron, "We can let the circumstances of our lives harden us so that we become increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us and make us kinder and more open to what scares us. We always have this choice." If further conversation would be helpful, please make an appointment for Zoom or the afternoon of Dec 5^th. 

In gratitude,

Rev Kathryn

SHARED VALUES

This is a new section of our newsletter for UUCRs to share what they value about UUCR. Board members that want to participate will start us off and then congregants can join in. Please start thinking about what you value about UUCR and would like to share. Submissions can be made now and they will be published chronologically.

Reflections of a trustee on what UUCR means to me:

It is the traditional season of gratitude, during which the practice of giving thanks is forefront in our minds. At the same time, climate change is producing more and more disasters, the world is torn by regional wars that threaten to spread to wider conflicts, and anticipating the upcoming administration is anxiety-producing for many. Now more than ever, I appreciate my membership in the community of the Unitarian Universalists of the Chester River. With my attention pulled in so many directions, UUCR is a place where I am centered.

I joined this community in 2019, shortly before Covid changed our world. My local family maintained a tight quarantine, and I was suddenly alone. All of the community connections that I had developed in the four years since I retired to Chestertown were abruptly severed. During this difficult time UUCR became my North Star. Our early attempts at online services were not professionally polished, but they didn’t need to be. Our community was connected. Safely.

I am grateful that at this point in my life I am still physically able to travel. I love the experience of seeing new places and meeting people with very different perspectives, and I intend to do it as long as I am able. So I am not always in attendance at Sunday services. But no matter where I roam in the world I never forget that my spiritual home is here, with friends who are my chosen family.

Elisabeth Tully

We have been having many more requests to use the building from both internal and external groups. Please check the UUCR calendar (available at the UUCR website or here in the newsletter under "Links and Contact" above) before assuming it will be free. Many groups use the entire facility, or your activity may interfere with their use (or vice versa). Please contact the UUCR office to schedule your building use so that it can be added to the calendar. Thanks!

We are grateful for the generosity of our congregation, as ALL of our Kent County Department of Social Service (DSS) Adopt-a-Family gift tags were claimed last Sunday! Our four individuals will be receiving four gifts each! Thanks everyone in advance, and please bring those wrapped gifts into church this Sunday or the next, which is December 8^th. USE THE GIFT TAG YOU TOOK FOR IDENTIFYING THE FAMILY. This is how DSS will know which individual the gift is intended for.

*FYI, please don’t purchase the Xbox subscription requested by the 11-year-old male. We have found this is nonrefundable and impossible to deliver as it goes directly to a specific computer! Yes, we will tell the folks at our Kent County DSS office about this snafu.

If you didn’t get a tag but want to contribute to the families served by Kent County DSS, you are encouraged to purchase a gift card from a local store and add it to the packages we are collecting. Our holiday tree will be up in the sanctuary before Sunday, December 8^th. In the interim, gifts may be left in the church office.

Thanks to everyone for their generosity throughout our 2024 Social Justice Outreach Offerings. 

Please consider subscribing to the UU Legislative Ministry of Maryland email news as this is a hugely valuable resource for any work we do in our wonderful state of Maryland. Please CLICK HERE for their most recent email.

If you are interested (or think you might be interested) in singing in a UUCR Choir, please join us on Sunday, December 8, following the service. We will meet to assess if there is sufficient interest in forming a choir and hopefully explore rehearsal logistics and music. If you have questions or are interested but cannot attend the meeting, contact Nancy Holland or Michael Casey.

ONLY TWO WEEKS REMAINING TO PURCHASE TICKETS!

So far we

haven't met the

UUCR budget's

set goal for this fundraiser.

NOVEMBER

02 | Kathy Lee

18 | Jan Brandon

24 | Diane Shields

29 | Paula Hubbard

DECEMBER

07 | Pat Bjorke

08 | Lynn Donahue

We want to help celebrate your birthday!

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