Weekly Communicator

Weekly Communicator

June 8, 2023

Sunday Service

Join us this Sunday at 10:30am in the Sanctuary or via Zoom

https://zoom.us/j/5264858673

Minister's Musings

"Why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands?" - Author Ernest J. Gaines

This week, Leslie Gatto joins me in the pulpit (from afar) and will remember those impacted by the violence at the Pulse Nightclub. The service will be one of two PRIDE services this June. Please join us in person or by Zoom. After the service we will enjoy a delicious social hour with refreshments provided by CUUPS. Following our social time together, Sue will be available to answer questions and facilitate a discussion about the UUA's Article 2 potential changes that renew the section of the UUA bylaws about our Principles and Purposes.

revsue@uucfm.org

WhatsApp call or message: +506 8891 2847

Facebook Messenger: Sue Gabrielson

Skype: suegabes

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**

Community Sharing for June

The SWFL RESET Center was founded in 2020 by UUCFM members and committed community activists seeking to be a positive force for change in SWFL. The RESET office is located on the UUCFM Campus. RESET contributes to the Community Gardens and will continue to partner with other organizations seeking to teach and practice regenerative agriculture, permaculture, and community leadership.

SWFL RESET Center offers ongoing free programs and online RESET Conversations educating the public about real solutions for Clean Water, and Environmental Justice in our bioregion. Check out our positive daily messaging called Earth Moments and help us spread the word by sharing, reflecting, and commenting on social media. Stay tuned for our upcoming programming called Being a Good Relative, a UUSC, UUFJ, RESET partnership about working with our Indigenous neighbors in the Everglades on Climate Justice.

If you cannot attend in person, you can still donate by mailing a check to the office with "community sharing" in the subject line, or by using the "donate" button on the website and marking it "community sharing".

Dialogues

Let's keep talking and sharing…

All Zoomers are invited to join the after-service Dialogues. We will plan to discuss ideas from the service that inspired us. Or…we can discuss what part UUism plays in you life. Or… we

can discuss what is on your mind. Stay after service and the next half hour may change your life.

Board of Trustees Meeting

The Board of Trustees meet on the 2nd Tuesday of every month at 5pm.

Join Zoom Meeting:

https://zoom.us/j/91338742461

No password required.

There will be time for questions and concerns at the beginning of the meeting.

RESET Conversation: Cultivating Abundance

Learn how to help reduce hunger and solve the food insecurity crisis here in SWFL from this congregation! It is unacceptable that the average food insecurity rate (based on population percentage) for four southwest Florida counties was 12.3 percent! (This is higher than Florida's statewide rate of 10.6 percent!). Learn how in a special 1-hour Zoom at 6 PM on June 13, when experts Ellen and Dick Burnett of Cultivate Abundance join the RESET Conversations crew to discuss practical opportunities for small-scale food producers (e.g., home gardeners, church/nonprofit gardens {like our Family Gardens}, small farms) to engage in grassroots, mutual aid efforts to address food insecurity in our community! REGISTER to attend free.

All UUCFM members are encouraged to attend.

Connections! ~ UU and You*

Sundays, June 18 & July 2 ~9:00-10:00 a.m. Room 2

June 18:

What do you want to retain from your past religious heritage?

What are you looking for from UUCFM and Unitarian Universalism in general?

July 2: (Note date change)

The Seven Principles of Unitarian Universalism & Sources

How to take our values out into the world!

Guided discussion with Marge Gonzalez, V.P. Membership.

Refreshments served ~ Sign up appreciated.

*All who are seeking community are welcome! Attendance at both sessions is optimal.

Celebrate Pride Month

With our Welcoming Congregation Renewal Committee

We are gay and straight together,

And we are singing, singing for our lives!

We are trans and cis together,

And we are singing, singing for our lives!

Holly Near, after the murder of Harvey Milk in San Francisco,

STLT #170, Modified by Dr. Qwo-Li Driskill for the International Transgender Day of Remembrance, 2022

"An understanding of the experience of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer persons is fully incorporated by a Welcoming Congregation throughout all programs, including religious education."--UUA commitments of welcoming congregations

Our Library Keeps Growing!

We have an increasing collection of books focusing on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

June is Pride Month, so this month, our Library display in Hobart Hall will feature books about Queer and Transgender experience and about ways in which cis, straight people can be effective allies.

This matters more this year than it ever has, because there has never before been a Pride Month like June of 2023 in Florida. We are not only seeing a wave of anti-Queer and anti-Transgender legislation, but also books dealing with Queer and Transgender lives are the most-banned books in Florida and in the nation.

But HOORAY! Books will still live here! Check them out!

And if you want to help or to donate books contact Cat Pivetti.

HEART-WARMING NEWS

From your Stewardship Team

The Board has recently been informed of a generous bequest from the trust established by John Pittman. We have missed John’s presence these recent months, and extend heartfelt sympathy to Margot White, his longtime partner. Much gratitude to John and to Margot and his family for caring about the future of UUCFM enough to invest in our future.

We are reminded by this gift of all the energy and care that John contributed to our congregation. For example some of us know that it was John who initiated the service auction years ago in order to raise money for the grand piano that we have today. As we reflect on John’s commitment, perhaps this is a good time for some of us to make a plan to support this beloved community in the future when we are no longer here. To those who already have planned giving that includes UUCFM in their wills or other documents, thank you so much. There is a brochure on planned giving available on request at the Welcome Table. A member of the Stewardship Committee would also be happy to help you if you would like. A gift can be designated for the Endowment Fund or undesignated, leaving it to the future to determine the best use.

Under our current policies and situation, John Pittman’s undesignated gift is divided as follows: Half to pay down a loan we have from the Endowment Fund and half to reserves. Reserves are primarily to fund important building repairs or upgrades, and as it happens, we have a roof repair coming up. It seems our former cherished departed members are looking out for us.

Banned Book Project

STEP ONE - SIGN UP TO BUY, READ AND SHARE A BANNED BOOK. This step is complete because all 30 books are spoken for!

STEP TWO - BRING THE BOOK BACK WITH THE REVIEW SHEET — Fifteen books and their review sheets have been returned! Fifteen to go. COME BY IN COFFEE HOUR TO SEE WHAT MEMBERS THINK.

STEP THREE - BORROW THE BOOKS AND TO FIND OUT WHAT THE ISSUES ARE. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!!! Take a book out for 2 weeks. LET’S MAKE UUCFM THE BEST INFORMED COMMUNITY ON BANNED BOOKS IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA.