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Weekly Communicator
October 19, 2023
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Minister's Musings
“The purpose of a doctor or any human, in general, should not be to simply delay the death of the patient, but to increase the person’s quality of life.” ~ Patch Adams
Join us this week as Mary Cline Golbitz and I explore the concept of Being Mortal. Informed by the book by Atul Gawande that our book group has been reading together, and personal experience, we will examine different approaches to the end of life.
Upcoming Themes for Sunday Services:
- October 29: Samhein/Day of the Dead (Rev. Sue, Lesley Peterson and CUUPS)
- November 5: Turning Back Time Leslie
- November 12: Talking Trash Sue
- November 19: With Gratitude Sue
- November 26: Reluctant Ministers and Messiahs Sue
revsue@uucfm.org
WhatsApp call or message: +506 8891 2847
US phone number: 603-395-7559
Facebook Messenger: Sue Gabrielson
Skype: suegabes
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Please send all newsletter articles by
12pm Wednesday for publication in Thursday's newsletter.
Send articles to newsletter@uucfm.org
Newsletter articles should be limited to 250 words. Send artwork or photos in jpg format. If multiple posting dates are desired, please include that in your request.
**Please do not send requests to the office manager email**
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THANK YOU, GENEROUS SUPPORTERS OF UUCFM
From Nancy Hutchins for your Stewardship Team
We are halfway through our year together (April 2023 – March 2024), and we are so grateful for the steadfast support of our members and friends who pledge. You can expect to receive an email soon, which will report the current status of your pledge.
As you know, the records are kept by our Office Administrator for confidentiality.
Please call her if you have questions about the report ( 239-561-2700). Again, thank you for
your generosity.
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Message from the Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees would like to share this report on the first half of the fiscal year. As you can see, the operating budget appears to be deeper in deficit than we projected. However, several large upcoming budget actions are not yet reflected in the report; the “real” budget status is a very small surplus. Please contact Pati Maier, Treasurer, at treasurer@uucfm.org if you have any questions.
The Board greatly appreciates your continued support and generosity.
To view the report please click here:
Report to the Congregation
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Volunteer of the Month
Barbara Shearer is Volunteer of the Month. We are so fortunate that a librarian should walk through our door just as we are enriching our book collection with banned books and books promoting social justice. Barbara was our Grand Marshall for the procession of books from the sanctuary to the library and is working on creating a database for the collection.
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Neil A. Yesu
January 4, 1935 - August 21, 2023
“When he shall die, Take him and cut him out in little stars, and he will make the face of heaven so fine That all the world will be in love with night.” (Shakespeare-Romeo and Juliet)
Please join Neil's wife of 38 years, Diane Buckley, Rev. Sue, Mary Cline Golbitz , Peter Golbitz, Jon Dalton and the choir as we pay tribute and celebrate Neil's life. We will gather for a Celebration of Life service on Saturday, October 21st at 11:00am in the Sanctuary.
Please join us for a reception with light refreshments in the Narthex immediately following the service. For those of you who want to continue the conversations, there will be a luncheon at Nino's Pizzeria and Restaurant at 18767 S. Tamiami Trail, Fort Myers, FL 33908.
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Social Justice and the Northwest Woods!
Wow!
Transgender Lives and Disability Activism!
And Climate Activism!
Triple Wow!
It's official! We're reading Exile and Pride. Eli Clare is a brilliant writer. He makes the beautiful deep green Northwest Coast come alive, while simultaneously presenting thought-provoking questions on a variety of topics involving gender, queerness, disability, and environmental protection..
We've moved the start date back a week, to October 25, so that you'll have a chance to get the book. Please let me know if you have trouble getting it. There are a couple of options.
We'll be meeting on Zoom, Wednesdays from 2pm to 3:30. For information and Zoom link, contact Cat Pivetti (equalrightscommittee.org).
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LIFE for Justice
There is so much going on at UUCFM this weekend that you might feel like you live here. Well, live here a little longer and attend the Annual Assembly of LIFE, Lee Interfaith for Empowerment, which we are privileged to host in our own sanctuary next Tuesday, October 24, at 6:30. If you made UUCFM your spiritual home because of its dedication to social justice, this is the event for you. This is also the event that Rev. Sue changed her flight for so that she could offer the opening prayer!
It will be exciting to welcome groups from other congregations from all over the county. At the meeting we decide on what will be our social justice project for the year through a democratic process that you will not want to miss! We will have a chance to caucus and then to vote. The more people from UUCFM
who come, the more votes we have. For further information, contact margaretgonzalez@me.com
Justice for LIFE
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Being Mortal
Classroom 2 at 9:15 am Oct.15
Medically Assisted Dying and Deciding What’s Important
This Sunday’s program in the continuing series, Being Mortal, will discuss medical aid in dying and consider the serious questions about end of life concerns addressed in the Five Wishes initiative. Founder Tony Ray of Florida Death with Dignity and Mary Studer will present.
Please note the upcoming Pre-Church Programming:
Oct. 29 - Honoring Our Ancestors (Beatrice Muhlenbruch)
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October is
LGBTQIA+
History Month
"The majority of [UU] congregations that have not gone through the Welcoming Congregation program have smaller memberships." ---UUA website
Why do you think Welcoming congregations are larger than others? Why should we care? Isn't this something that only affects a tiny minority of our congregation?
This post may be a bit dry compared to what I usually try to write, but I hope you'll read it anyway.
When people talk about LGBTQIA+ history, especially LGBTQIA + history in the United States, they often cite the Stonewall Inn Uprising as if it were the beginning of our history. Of course, that Uprising was not the beginning. It wasn't even the first significant conflict between Transgender women and the police who harassed them, not even the first to be called a "riot:"
"The Compton's Cafeteria riot occurred in August 1966 in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. The riot was a response to the violent and constant police harassment of drag queens and trans people, particularly trans women. The incident was one of the first LGBT-related riots in United States history, preceding the more famous 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City. It marked the beginning of transgender activism in San Francisco." ---Wikipedia
"...the majority of congregations that have not gone through the program have smaller memberships"---UUA website
"In 1987 the Unitarian Universalist Association established the Common Vision Planning Committee, a diverse group of clergy and laity from around the North American continent that was tasked with collecting information about how welcomed and accepted gay, lesbian, and bisexual persons felt in their Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations.
"Although the Unitarian Universalist Association had been on record since 1970 as supporting the rights and worth of lesbian, gay, and bisexual persons, the lived experience of these people in UU congregations spoke a different, painful truth. The committee published a report (PDF, 21 pages) that exposed many negative attitudes, deep prejudices, and profound ignorance about bisexual, gay, and lesbian people, which resulted in the exclusion of bisexual, gay, and lesbian people from UU congregations." ---UUA website
It's interesting to see that, although UU congregations as early as 1970 wanted to think that they welcomed Queer members, those Queer members themselves reported "deep prejudices, and profound ignorance." The Welcoming Congregation Program was established to counter these experiences.
Please join us as we explore ways to help our own congregation grow and thrive. We will present a variety of activities this History Month and in following months, many of them designed to increase understanding of Queer/Trans/GNC+ people, others intended to highlight the fact that Q/T/GNC people are also Indigenous people, also Latinx people, also Black, also Asian, also people with disabilities, and a lot more "also's."
For information about the Welcoming Congregation Program, or about QUUeer/Trans/GNC rights, or reading recommendations, contact Cat Pivetti (equalrightscommittee@uucfm.org)
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UU and You — All seekers are welcome!
Note: new date*: October 22 - After Sunday service
Newcomers and recent visitors are warmly invited to this discussion of beliefs and values Our focus is the Seven Principles of Unitarian Universalism & Sources. Marge Gonzalez will facilitate.
After the service, you are welcome to stop by Hobart Hall and grab a beverage and/or nibbles to bring with you to Classroom 2 (directly across from the Sanctuary). We’ll plan to adjourn by 1:00 pm.
We look forward to becoming better acquainted!
Questions? contact judyburget@gmail.com
* Originally scheduled for Oct. 15--Instead a potluck lunch will follow, all are invited.
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Poets at the Intersection:
LGBTQIA2+ History Month
Indigenous People's Day
Hispanic Heritage Month
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This month we honor, celebrate, and engage in learning more about those who embody two or more of these identities. The poetry of Indigenous Queer and 2-Spirit People can provide a way into deeper understanding. Please join us as we read some of my favorite poems by these stunning poets. We also have poetry by a Palestinian and by a Jewish American.
The poetry group will meet on Zoom on Saturday, October 21, at 6:30 pm. Please let me know if you want to come. We hope you will!
Contact Cat Pivetti (equalrightscommittee@uucfm.org) for information, poems, and links.
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Men’s Group Returns
After our summer respite, the Men’s Group will resume monthly luncheons on October 19th at 11:30 AM. We will be meeting on the third Thursday all season. We are looking forward to seeing as many UU men as possible. No reservations needed; just show up for lunch and camaraderie with other UU men.
We will meet at the Cross Creek Golf Club clubhouse. You can order from the regular menu or the golfers’ menu and we will get separate checks.
Dave Hutchins and Len Cohen will both be away on October 19th. Dave Katz has volunteered to host.
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My Little Pony Was Right
Discussion of Rev Cecilia Kingman's Berry St. Essay
MONDAY, OCTOBER 3O
at 6:30 PM
with our own dynamic duo,
Marge & Cat!
As you can imagine this discussion will be a light-hearted evening of laughter. Not. But it will a offer an opportunity to discuss concepts of deep importance to the survival of our democracy and to our commitment that we made to the 8th Principle, to dismantle oppressions.
UU minister Cecilia Kingman's lecture/essay highlights the strategies of fascism and how the language of oppression is being used to support authoritarian power. It's an extremely useful introduction to understanding what fascist strategies are and why certain groups are being chosen for demonization.
We hope that you'll join us for this facilitated discussion as we explore the implications of Rev Kingman's work for our own work as a congregation and within our local community. We are looking forward so much to this opportunity to share responses with each other. Our discussion on October 30 will be on Zoom at 6:30 pm. Contact Cat Pivetti (equalrightscommittee@uucfm.org) or Marge Gonzalez (margaretgonzalez@me.com) for more information or for registration and Zoom link for the discussion.
Here's a link to the essay, in print and as a lecture:
https://uuma.org/berry-street-essay/2023-berry-street-essay-
See you on the 30th!
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CUUPS News
From the CUUPs team, we want to thank all of you that have supported our coffee service and soup with sides, it is our service to the community.
Now mark your calendars for upcoming events:
Oct 28th - Samhain ritual. Gather at 5:00 at the amphitheater to begin promptly at 6:00. Bring a chair to place at the fire pit and something to share for our community feast. Samhain is honoring our ancestors of land and blood, it is a solemn and joyful time. This ritual is open to all but we do advise younger children must be with a parent as some of the ritual is of adult nature.
All this bring us to November. We will let you all know as time gets a bit closer, but a heads-up, there is a community gathering in the works for Solstice gathering in December.
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LGBTQIA+
History Month in Our Library
Books by and about LGBTQIA+ people, especially if they have Queer or Trans People of Color as protagonists, especially if they're aimed at children or young adults, are the most banned books in the United States. This is tragic for these children and youth, who are likely to grow up invisible except when they are being bullied.
How fortunate we are to belong to a community that wants to provide these kids with books in which they can see themselves reflected. For many of them, these books are literally lifesavers.
You can find books here, in our very own DEI Library, with stories for or about children and youth of different ages, that represent Queer and Transgender children and youth, superheroes and gods, of different ages and ethnicities. You can find books that will reflect who they are and who they may want to imagine themselves to be, and you can find books that will open children and youth to the experience of people different from them.
Check them out!
For more information, to volunteer, or for age-specific book recommendations, contact Cat Pivetti (equalrightscommittee@uucfm.org).
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Community Sharing for October
Our Community Sharing partner in October is Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida. The mission of Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, an affiliate of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc., is to provide affordable access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care and accurate health information through patient care, education and advocacy. This affiliate began operations in 1966 and presently provides vital sexual and reproductive health services, as well as comprehensive sexuality education to women, men and teens throughout southwest and central Florida.
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