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Sunday, September 13 will be our "welcome back" service and will include our annual Water Communion ceremony. Because we will not be physically together for this year's service, we are inviting you to email us a picture of water that is meaningful to you and we will include a medley of "water" pictures in the service.

To have your water picture included, please send the image by email to Rev. Sue at sue.browning2@gmail.com by 8 pm TODAY, Wednesday, September 9.

Come join us for a time to see and talk to one another. It's the next best thing to being there!

Click on the Coffee Hour Zoom Link at

11:00 am this Sunday.

As we approach the first Sunday of the church year, I feel the excitement of past years. I picture folks hearing the opening hymn and sensing a return to shared community. My mind walks through the service that Annie Lavin and I have created for September 13, and I wonder if any final tweaks are needed? Will "it" meet the needs of our community?

Sure, the service is in a virtual format, but it will be ok (won’t it?). The Water Communion offered through images set to music will be cool enough (won’t it?)

Preparing for a return to community has always included this sense of anticipation. The rituals of welcome and return remind us to ask how we can best include everyone. We want to offer an experience of belonging to those we already know, and to those seeking community. We want the experience to be invitational and renewing.

Interestingly, these aspirations for our Sundays have not changed in light of the pandemic. Even the "Do we have it right?" questions feel familiar. Yes, my "slightly terrified" feeling about the coming year has a few added dimensions this year, but in reality, it’s not all that different. We’re just figuring out what it means to be truly welcoming, with a few additional challenges.

For now the building will be closed, but the Unitarian Universalists of the Chester River community will be anything but closed. Each week there will be a chance to share in a Sunday experience (ok, on YouTube), and there will be a coffee hour at 11 a.m. (ok, on Zoom), and we can continue to create opportunities for learning, fellowship, and community outreach together (ideas welcome!).

As a start, I invite you to consider what it will look like to show up for one another this coming Sunday? What will help you engage? What will help you return in love? (If you have "tech" or other questions, please ask.)

We need one another, especially this year.

In faith and love,

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.

What can white people do to eliminate racism and create a more equitable society for everyone? You can educate yourself by using the available systems and resources about how to stop racism. Here is "25 Challenges for White People" to become more aware of systemic racism in our country. The point is for you as a white person to choose a challenge that makes you step out of your comfort zone. Persons of color have to live in discomfort and endure the trauma of racism every day. White people must pick up the baton and learn to be uncomfortable as you move to eliminate racism. Saying you are not a racist does not mean you are an anti racist. Step out of your comfort zone: conquer new challenges on this list.

For the next five weeks, Reflections will list five items from the list:

1. Join the Social Action Committee for Racial Justice - there is a lot of great work going on locally:

2. Smile at, look in the eye and greet persons of color (POC) in the community so they know they are no longer invisible to the white community.

3. Stop using the N word and do not allow it to be used in your presence. Educate people on how hurtful this derogatory term is to black people. If you need the language to explain it to others check out this video with Ta-Nehisi Coates

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO15S3WC9pg.

4. Get to know a person of the black race personally. Go out to lunch or dinner with them. Share a meal, invite them to your house or have a day outing.

5. When you hear someone say “all lives matter” tell them white lives have always mattered. Black people have been shown repeatedly that their lives don’t matter. We need to show people of color that their lives DO matter.

UU the Vote is a UUA-sponsored initiative to provide resources to help get out the vote for this November’s election. If you are interested in making phone calls to voters in key states, go to uuthevote.org, and click on “sign up to phone bank.” This takes you to the UU the Vote phone banking hub. From there, scroll down to select a date and time and click on “register.”

The Social Concerns/Social Justice Committee has been exploring various ways that our members and friends can get involved in getting out the vote (GOTV). We hope to continue to offer other ways to get involved up to this critical election.

Dear UUCR Members and Friends,

During my sermon on Sunday, June 21, I encouraged each congregant to make one specific commitment to support ending racism. As I explained, I will host a Zoom call on the first Wednesday of each month at 7 pm, where we will be able check in with one another on our progress. The call will be brief, and will focus on encouragement and learning. Rev. Sue Browning

 If you have questions, please be in touch with Rev. Sue at email.

Rev. Sue Browning, and the Pastoral Care Associates: Kevin Brien, Gayle Folger, Nancy Holland, and Vida Morley

or for more information, contact:

Jan Whitney (Office) p: 410-778-3440 | e: uuofchesterriver@gmail.com