WEDNESDAY, October 21, 2020 |
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THIS SUNDAY'S VIRTUAL SERVICE |
Sunday, October 25,
Rev. Sue Browning,
"Identifying What is True"
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How are you sure something is true? Andy Rooney once noted, “People will only accept facts as truth if the facts agree with what they already believe.” Join us for this service with Rev. Sue Browning as we explore the ways we each determine what is true.
To view this service (it will be uploaded by Sunday morning), click here to go to the UUCR's Youtube channel. You may also go to the church's webpage, uuofchesterriver.org, and find the service by clicking on the tab at the bottom of the "Keeping In Touch" column on the left side of the page.
If you would like to have a Joy or Sorrow included in the service, please submit it in writing to both Rev. Sue's email and the office email by 12 p.m. Thursday and she will read them each as a part of the service.
We will also have written versions of the service available that we can email to you or mail to you by US postal service.
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Join Us for Coffee Hour on Sunday! |
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Come join us for a time to see and talk to one another. It's the next best thing to being there!
11:00 am this Sunday.
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OCTOBER BIRTHDAYS
Bill Lindsay, Oct 1
Denise Tontarski, Oct 6
Cynthia Ramsey, Oct 11
Catherine Brooks, Oct 17
We want to help celebrate your birthday! If we didn't include your October birthday, please contact Jan Whitney at UUCR email
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UPCOMING VIRTUAL SERVICES
Sunday, November 1,
Rev. Libby Smith, Virtual Service, "Fragments of Holiness"
Sunday, November 8,
Rev. Sue Browning, Virtual Service, "And We Take the Next Step"
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Please share your photos! |
All members and friends should have received an email with instructions on giving us the latest picture to be included in the UUCR photo directory. You can send them either through the web site, www.uuchesterriver.org or by email at UUCRpictures@gmail.com. We are looking forward to seeing everyone and their family.
David Biehler
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Among the Many Things We Miss, The Sanctuary |
As the pandemic wears on (and on), I know the congregation misses being together on Sunday mornings. Any novelty that may have been part of the early adjustments to the virus is long gone.
Back in the spring, when I’d talk to members about UUCR most often I heard, “I miss seeing my friends, I miss hugs, I miss coffee hour.” This fall I still hear those longings, yet recently I most often hear, “I just miss being at church. I miss the quiet moments. I miss singing. I miss the feel of the sanctuary, of being together in the sanctuary.”
There is something special about coming each Sunday, at a designated time, to a place that is familiar. There is a sense of peace; a sense of engagement; a sense of the sacred in whatever ways you understand sacred. In the absence of gathering each week, maybe we see more and more clearly what we have always appreciated about Sundays?
Through virtual services we are doing our best to offer as much of this "feel" of worship as we can. Hopefully you’ve noticed that this fall we have been offering our virtual services (at least some of them) from the sanctuaries of UUCR and UU Easton.
I know when I preach at church my experience is different than services when preaching from my home. I hope that through these services you can sense a bit of what you are missing – the connection, the quiet, the sacred.
In care,
Rev. Sue
P.S. Gratitude to the worship and tech teams who have figured out cameras and sound in the two sanctuaries, and who keep working to improve the experience.
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VOTING IN THE
2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
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How to Vote in Kent and Queen Anne's Counties: General Election 2020
General Election Day:
Tues, Nov 3, 7 am until 8 pm
Early Voting: Mon, Oct 26 – Mon, Nov. 2, 7 am until 8 pm
Voting registration in Maryland ended on Oct 13, but you may also register to vote (provisional ballot) during Early Voting or on General Election Day.
Contact the Kent County Board of Elections, 410-778-0038,
or the Queen Anne’s County Board of Elections, 410-758-0832, for details.
Three Ways to Vote
1) VOTE EARLY (in person), Oct 26 – Nov 2, 7 am – 8 pm.
In Kent County vote at the Kent County Public Library, 408 High Street, Chestertown.
In Queen Anne’s County, vote at Kennard Elementary School, 420 Little Kidwell Ave, Centreville, or Kent Island Fire Dept., 1610 Main St,Chester.
2) VOTE ON ELECTION DAY, Nov 3, 7 am – 8 pm.
In Kent County at any of the three KC voting centers:
- Kent County Public Library, 408 High Street, Chestertown
- Millington Fire House, 185 Sassafras Street, Millington
- Rock Hall Fire House, 21500 Rock Hall Avenue, Rock Hall
In Queen Anne’s County at any of the four QAC voting centers:
- Kennard Elementary School, 420 Little Kidwell Ave, Centreville
- Kent Island Fire Dept., 1610 Main St, Chester
- Grasonville Elementary School, 5435 Main St, Grasonville
- Church Hill Elementary School, 631 Main St, Church Hill
3) VOTE BY MAIL-IN BALLOT
The deadline for applying for a mail-in ballot was Tuesday, October 20. If you have applied for one already, you should receive it soon; if not, contact your local Board of Elections (numbers above) to check on its whereabouts. Once you receive your ballot, fill it out, sign as instructed, and submit it in its pre-addressed, postage paid individualized return envelope to your Board of Elections:
a) by mail (postmarked by Nov.3)
b) by placing it in a ballot drop-off box.
In Kent County:
- Kent County Public Library, 408 High St., Chestertown, or
- Kent County Board of Elections, 135 Dixon Drive, Chestertown.
In Queen Anne’s County:
- QAC Board of Elections (County office building), 110 Vincit Street, Centreville
- Kent Island Fire Department, 1610 Main St., Chester
c) by delivering to any of your county’s early voting centers
during early voting hours or to one of your county voting centers during voting hours on Nov 3.
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Links to Help with Voting Decisions |
The League of Women Voters has worked diligently to prepare
Voters’ Guides for the 2020 General Election. Hard copies will
be distributed throughout both Kent and Queen Anne’s Counties. KC Guides will be handed out at the Farmers’ Market in Chestertown every Saturday morning until November 3 – but if you’d like to see the Kent County Guide online, click here. For the Queen Anne’s County Guide, click here.
Two statewide ballot questions will be on the ballot on November 3. Want to know more about them? The League of
Women Voters of Maryland has put together descriptions of both questions, including the arguments for and against each. Click here if you’d like to see these.
Jane Hardy
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From UUCR's Social Concerns/Social Justice Committee |
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Do you remember moving into your first home, and the pride it gave you? The Unitarian Universalists of the Chester River have the chance to help a Chestertown family of five feel that
pride.
All we have to do is donate what goes inside. What? Just about everything.
Despite needing to find new jobs, due to the Covid-slowed economy, a couple with three children has accomplished everything demanded of them so far by Kent Attainable Housing (KAH). They will soon be leasing-to-buy a new modular home on College Avenue. Move-in is scheduled for early December.
The bi-racial couple had to jump through all the qualifying hoops, like classes in personal finance and a HUD certified First-time Homeowners Class, before their selection by KAH, a local non-profit committed to ending multi-generational poverty through home ownership. This home, a compact dwelling of 1,200 square feet, will be the first KAH completion.
The collection of furnishings is being coordinated by Nancy Holland and Linda Weimer, through the UUCR Social Concerns/Social Justice Committee. The committee took a look into KAH after hearing Lani Seikaly, the founding chair, present the 501-C3 charity at a meeting of the Chester
Valley Ministers Association last year. The UUCR study of racism had already informed members of the blatant discrimination by federal and private mortgage entities aimed at African-Americans for decades.
The nest egg, the inheritance that many white families have received from their parents, often based in the paid-off family home, never existed for most Black families. Helping this family
make a go of it is a rare chance for us to make a difference, a material difference in our own community.
A list of needed furniture and equipment will soon be sent out via email to UUCR members and friends. So, if clean-outs of garages, attics, or downsizing are on your autumn agenda, please hold on to your excess for a few weeks.
Linda Weimer
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It's not too late to sign the White Allies Pledge. UUCR has been assisting the Social Action Committee for Racial Justice to engage community members in supporting People of Color in their quest for justice and racial equity. We hope that you will sign the Pledge and be counted when supporters' names are published in early November.
While this is a product of the Social Action Committee for Racial Justice (SACRJ), our own Board and Social Concerns Committee are partnering with the SACRJ in support of our Strategic Plan's focus on racial equity. In addition, many of our members are actively working with the SACRJ to promote racial justice in our community, including Philip Dutton who is a member of the SACRJ Steering Committee. If you want to do more, please consider signing the Pledge and becoming a member of the SACRJ. There's a lot of information on their new website https://sacracialjustice.com. You can also contact Philip Dutton at SACracialjustice@gmail.com or Lynn Dolinger at lynnscsj@gmail.com.
Lynn Dolinger,
Co-Chair of the UUCR Social Concerns Committee
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CHESTERTOWN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - SEEKING APPLICANTS |
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Councilman Tolliver announced the hearing dates on the Human Rights Commission ordinance and also requests nominees for the commission. Nominees will send a letter of interest to the interim chair and vice-chair, who will then present a slate of nominees to the mayor and council. Nominees must live in one of the voting districts within Chestertown and have some experience or interest in human rights issues.
The dates are:
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Oct 26, 2020 Agenda 7:00 pm - Public Hearing on Ordinance 06-2020 Chestertown Human Rights Commission
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Nov 2, 2020 Agenda (partial agenda only) 8:00 pm -Consideration of enactment Ordinance 06-2020 Chestertown Human Rights
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IF YOU DIDN’T KNOW ...
Unitarian Universalists of the Chester River now has two Facebook pages. Our original UUCR Facebook Page now has a new look. This is thanks to Kate Livie, of Alosa Communications. (Click the image below to go to our original UUCR Facebook Page.)
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- Frequent posts are desirable not only because they keep our page updated with fresh content, this new content is carried forward into our followers’ newsfeeds. That’s an example of the interconnectedness of all things. We want our page to reflect a balance of news and information, not skewed too much in one direction. So far the bulk of our content is about upcoming services, ideas for family activities, and our work on racial justice. It would be helpful if we could expand our postings into other areas.
- Pat Bjorke has been posting from UU World about Unitarian Universalism so that folks not familiar with us will get some idea what we're about.
- Pat has also been posting her “BITES” on this Facebook page, as well as putting them in Reflections newsletter.
- PLEASE visit ... maybe once a week to see what's new even if you're not going to post.
- As well as our Website, our Facebook page is our public face in the now mostly virtual world. Do not post personal information about yourself or anybody else.
- If a Facebook page isn’t seen in the virtual universe, does it exist?
Our UUCR Facebook Forum is the new more personal space. Again, created by Kate Livie. (Click the image below to go to our UUCR Facebook Forum.)
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- This is a private Facebook page/group for UUCR congregants and friends only.
- One has to be admitted by someone already in the group.
- The intention is to give us a means of sharing experiences and possibly connecting in this time of distancing.
- Content posted to the private UUCR Facebook Forum group offers greater latitude than on the public Facebook page, and can include thought-provoking discussion topics, fun asides, and current local topics of interest. It is highly advisable to keep a definite boundary between the two Facebook pages.
- DICK HAWKINS MEMORIAL SERVICE -- A picture of the service has been posted on the Facebook Forum. This is your chance to join the group, if you have not already done so. Add your own pictures and remembrances. Feel free to start your own post.
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Pastoral Care & Connection |
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We are here for you! We will focus on staying directly connected with our members and friends, especially those who may need assistance or support. The caring teams from our congregation is staying in touch, but if you need to reach out, please be in touch with any of the contacts below to stay connected (and see additional contacts below for RE families).
Please know your congregation is here. We can help you find connections. Please don't hesitate to reach out and let us know what is helpful for you in this time.
Rev. Sue Browning, and the Pastoral Care Associates: Kevin Brien, Gayle Folger, Nancy Holland, and Vida Morley
or for more information, contact:
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Unitarian Universalists of the Chester River 914 Gateway Drive, Chestertown, MD 21620
Phone: (410) 778-3440
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