Weekly Communicator

Weekly Communicator

August 4, 2022

Sunday Service

On Sunday 8/7 we are honored to have 3 of our members, Patricia Vivier-Naidl, Gary Robbins, and Karen Brown, share their wisdom about covenant and community. We invite you to come and listen to how our promises to one another help us to build a more Beloved Community. We hope you can join us.

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

https://zoom.us/j/5264858673

or listen to audio only at UUCFM.org

Please send all newsletter articles by

12pm Wednesday for publication in Thursday's newsletter.

Send articles to [email protected]

**Please do not send requests to the office manager email**

Covid Protocol Update

The efficacy of vaccines and treatments has significantly reduced Covid’s danger for most of us. As a result, the protocols for campus events have been revised:

Masks will continue to be required in the sanctuary during worship services.
Masks are optional for coffee and other functions in Hobart Hall.
In the library, classrooms, and other small spaces, masks are required UNLESS everyone present agrees otherwise. We’ll continue to be respectful and protective of those of us whose immunity is impaired.
Worship services will continue to be available on Zoom.

Although the Covid risk level will continue to fluctuate, I’m sure all of us hope the worst of the pandemic is behind us. We’ll continue to monitor the risk and change the guidelines as needed to protect our congregation.

Please reach out to me with any questions at [email protected].

Namaste,

Mary Studer

President, Board of Trustees

Minister’s Musings

A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge.-Thomas Carlyle

I am writing this on August 1st, the first official day of my service to you. Of course, I have already had many meetings with many of you. I am so excited to be learning all about your successes and challenges, hopes and dreams. I like to think of our new relationship as a grand experiment. We are courageously embarking on an adventure that is unprecedented. We will learn together, grow together and evolve. How fortunate we are to be part of an evolutionary religion that has a “loving heart” at its center in order to try to find “knowledge”. Each week, I will share a few thoughts in this weekly newsletter to help maintain our connection to one another even from a distance.

With a loving heart, Rev. Sue

Board of Trustees Meeting

The Board of Trustees is meeting via Zoom at 5 pm August 9. You are welcome to attend at https://zoom.us/j/92925862711.

We hope you'll join us.

Mary Studer, President

IT’S TIME FOR RADICAL HOSPITALITY

We will soon welcome Reverend Sue Gabrielson to UUCFM. She will be traveling from Costa Rica several times during her tenure with us. We want to extend UUCFM RADICAL HOSPITALITY to her when we she visits in person. We have the following opportunities for members to consider as we plan for these visits. Please read the information below and sign up for one or all of the options. Contact Helen Leddy and indicate your preferences and availability.

Home Hospitality: Overnight accommodations including breakfast

If you have a bedroom and private bath available, can provide breakfast for several mornings, and can allow space in your refrigerator for guest supplies, please let Helen know. You may not get much advance notice. You will need to provide a parking space for an additional vehicle as Rev. Sue will have a car. Please understand, too, that Rev. Sue will be here in a professional capacity and may seek privacy.

Hosts: Members who wish to provide meals for Rev. Sue during her stay

If you are unable to provide home hospitality but would like to entertain Rev. Sue for a meal (in or out of your home), please let Helen know. Rev. Sue may choose to request that the meal be prepared and presented to her for solo eating.

Sharing your favorite restaurants, sights to see, and other interesting facts about Fort Myers and the surrounding area

Rev. Sue will want to know more about the Fort Myers area. We can help by providing information about our favorite restaurants, sights to visit, theaters, music, and other interesting facts about the larger Ft Myers community. Please send your selections to Helen.

Thank you for being willing to provide radical hospitality as we welcome Rev. Sue.

Volunteer Opportunities

There are multiple volunteer opportunities available. If you would like to help out, please reach out to one of the following people:

Sunday Social Hour Kitchen Help contact Dorothy Van Howe

Sunday Tech Team contact Walter Peterson

Brewer Family Gardens contact Bonnie Jean Clancy

Band/choir contact Suellen Kipp

Community Sharing for August

ACT offers a 24-hour helpline, 3 safe shelters, children's program, counseling (both individual and group), an economic empowerment program which includes financial and health literacy, Injunction for Protection legal service, life skills education, job skills evaluation and training along with GED assistance and ESOL. In the non-residential outreach program, they provide long-term counseling, therapy and support, economic empowerment services, a rape crisis center where they do the forensic examinations, advocacy department that provides advocacy through the judicial system, and a legal program for Injunctions for Protection. They also provide community education, professional trainings, and prevention education. All services provided to victims of domestic violence and their children, and survivors of sexual assault, dating violence, stalking and human trafficking are available free of charge.

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".

Poetry Circle

Come, come, Poets and Lovers of Poetry!

We read and discuss in detail a variety of poems, often related to our UU experience, usually centered around a weekly theme. Members share their own work for discussion as well, if they want to, but you do not need to be a writer to join. We offer weekly prompts, although there is no obligation to follow them.

This is an ongoing Zoom group. New members can join at any time, and we really hope you will. Contact Judi Dettorre or Cat Pivetti for more information.

We meet every other Tuesday from 1-3pm.

Newcomers - Continuing Discussion Group

Sunday, August 7

11:45am-1:15pm - Room 2

Marge Gonzalez facilitates conversations with visitors and newer members about Unitarian Universalism.

Bring your own sack lunch if desired. (Mark the sack with your name if stored in kitchen ‘fridge during Services.)

Questions? Contact [email protected]

Monday Book Club

The Monday Book Club will meet on August 8 to begin discussion of its new book, The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters for Social Equality. Contact Mary Studer for details.

November trip to Guatemala

Summer work continues with building a berm on the Shetland Avenue border for perennials and cleaning up and covering (with plants or hay) abandoned beds.