Weekly E-News, May 20, 2021

Unitarian Universalist Congregation

of Fort Myers

Weekly E-News

May 20, 2021

Our Sunday Service

This Sunday, May 23rd at 10:30 AM, we will explore the importance of stories in our lives. Members of our Congregation will share some of their own stories. What are the important stories in your personal life? What stories do we tell ourselves that we can change? What stories have we grown up with in our society? This will be a time to reflect on the stories in our lives and hear some stories that nourish our hearts. We hope you can join us.

Join Zoom Meeting Sunday at 10:30 am

https://zoom.us/j/98733916229

No password needed

Or, follow the link on our webpage for audio only: uucfm.org

Thank You to Sunday's Participants:

Mary Cline Golbitz, Lay Minister

Suellen Kipp, Director of Music

Mary Wilson, Vocalist

Hank Flandysz, Worship Associate

Leslie Gatto, Storyteller

Barb Boynton, Storyteller

Gordon Woodworth, Storyteller

Phyllis Brewer, Storyteller

Peter Golbitz, Musician

Lesley Peterson, Tech Team Member

Mark Brandon, Tech Team Member

Walter Peterson, Tech Team Member

Jill Carville, Tech Team Coordinator

Holley Rauen, Tech Team Member

Helen Dixon, UU Dialogues Host

Jen Smith, UU Dialogues Host

Community Sharing in May: Alliance for Fair Food

The Alliance for Fair Food (AFF) is the vibrant, diverse ally network of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), the internationally-acclaimed farmworker organization transforming human rights in the U.S. agricultural industry. The principal focus of the Alliance for Fair Food is the Campaign for Fair Food, a farmworker-led, community-powered movement that successfully holds major food retailers accountable to the highest human rights standards in their produce supply chains.

www.allianceforfairfood.org

Memorial Service for Don Ehat

Please join us on Friday, May 28th at 10 AM on Zoom for a Memorial Service for long time member, Don Ehat. All welcome. An Ash Spreading will take place on Saturday morning in the Memorial Garden, time to be announced at Memorial service.

Topic: Don Ehat Memorial

Time: May 28, 2021 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/91976377200

Vespers Services will Return in the Fall

Vespers Services will take a break for the summer season and return in the Fall. There will be no Vespers service this evening. Please watch this newsletter for the next Vespers date.

UUCFM Board of Trustees Meeting

The next Board of Trustees meeting will be Tuesday, June 8th at 5:00 PM. Here is the Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/92925862711

All who are interested are invited to attend.

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better,

It’s not! ~Dr. Seuss

Volunteers of the Month

Volunteer of the Month for April, Leslie Gatto

It’s hard to say Leslie is volunteer of the month, because she has generously volunteered for so many years in so many ways! She’s led Connection Circles, been the co-chair, and then chair of the Worship Associates/Team and an all-around go-to person for our Choir as well. For the month of April, the Board of Trustees thanks Leslie Gatto as Volunteer of the Month.

Volunteer of the Month for May, Kathleen Ford

Kathy heard about the 45,000 Quilt from Holley Rauen and it touched her. She brought together our Social Justice team and their support team to bring the plight of those still detained in camps by ICE. Not slowed down by that, Kathy took on the mantle of rallying our congregation to this year’s mission of L.I.F.E. - Lee Interfaith For Empowerment. Thank You Kathy for bringing us back to the team and keeping our Social Justice team aware and active.

Special Shout-Outs and Thank Yous

We could not keep our congregation running without the hands-on help of our volunteers who just jump in when needed. This month we thank Dorothy Van Howe, Suzanne Ziemer, our Lay Ministers Alberita Johnson and Mary Cline Golbitz and last but never least, Peter Golbitz. Each of you have given so much of your time, talent and treasure to our community, we thank you with all our hearts.

UU Dialogues

Do you get a lot out of participating in our after service UU Dialogues? If so, have you thought about volunteering to be a Dialogue Moderator? This is what it is all about-

Our UU Dialogues are a sacred space for intentional discussions with our speakers, whether they be visiting ministers, our lay ministers, our worship associates or other invited guests.

UU Dialogues is hosted by two Moderators and a Tech support person; they occur

immediately following the Sunday service. Ideally both Moderators attend the half hour Service Rehearsal on the Wednesday before the Sunday Service and decide between themselves who will be Moderator A and Moderator B.

Moderator A starts the meeting/dialogue and then opens it up. “Please feel free to explore all aspects of today’s service. The floor is open…”

Both Moderators watch for hands and keep the discussion flowing.

Moderator B’s role is to once again thank the visiting minister/speaker and to close the Dialogue with a poem, a quote etc. relevant to the theme of the service.

Sounds doable, right?

Please contact Lay Minister Albie Johnson albiej@uucfm.org or Kathy Ford

ktromford@gmail.com and we will sign you up.

UUCFM Monday Book Club

The UUCFM Monday Book Club will convene via Zoom May 24th to discuss Part One from Redefining Realness by Janet Mock. If you’re joining for the first time, please email Mary Studer. She will send you the link to zoom. mstuder929@gmail.com

UUCFM/Caloosahatchee Mindfulness

The Caloosahatchee Mindfulness and UUCFM Meditation Book Group is reading The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness by Rhonda V. Magee.

The author "reveals that the work of racial justice begins with ourselves. The practice of embodied mindfulness--paying attention through our thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations in an open, nonjudgmental way--increases our emotional resilience, helps us to recognize our unconscious bias, and give us the space to become less reactive and to choose how we respond to injustice."

The group meets from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on Wednesdays. Contact Helen Leddy at helen.leddy@gmail.com or Mary Robinson at mindfulness579@gmail.com.

Social Issues Book Group Resumes

Started Wednesday, April 21 from 1:00-2:30 PM and continues weekly

Book: My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem.

My Grandmother's Hands is a call to action for Americans to recognize that racism is not only about the head, but also about the body. The author introduces the reader to an alternative view of what we can do to grow beyond our entrenched racialized divide. He takes the reader through a step-by-step healing process based on the latest neuroscience and somatic healing methods.

Coming to the Table (CTTT)

We are inviting interested members to join together in the formation of a Coming to the Table chapter in Southwest Florida. CTTT provides leadership, resources, and a supportive environment for all who wish to acknowledge and heal wounds from racism. For further information about CTTT, following this link:

https://comingtothetable.org/.

Contact Helen Leddy for details on the book group or CTTT: helen.leddy@gmail.com

60th Anniversary Pave the Way Fundraiser

Our goal is 100 commemorative bricks at $100 per brick for $10,000.for

our General Budget. Our Endowment Fund will pay production costs so

each $100 goes right to the Budget.

59 bricks have been donated. 39 other bricks have been moved from the Eco-Preserve that were the 2011 50th Anniversary Fundraisers. Thus, 98 engraved bricks grace the walkways into our Sanctuary. They are a blessing to read.

Each 4" X 8" brick can be engraved with up to 3 lines of 13 characters/spaces on each line. Examples of donated bricks are UU quotes, memorials, names & sayings, such as:

She loved and was loved. Nancy Letts

Service is our Law. Go Forth!

Remembering (name, birth-death)

Albie & Mary, Lay Ministers, Thank You

To Donate a Brick: Contact suzanneziemer@gmail.com, 812-332-3450 or

helendixon9@gmail.com, 239-633-4989.

UUA General Assembly

General Assembly (GA) is the annual meeting of our Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). Participants worship, witness, learn, connect, and make policy for the Association through democratic process. Anyone may attend. This year’s GA is a 100% virtual event and will be held June 23-27. Registration costs $200 and is done on-line at https://www.uua.org/ga/registration. One registration scholarship has been funded anonymously and is available to a member of the congregation.

UUCFM has four voting delegates; the Board of Trustees has allocated three of them. One voting delegate position is available for a member of the congregation to represent UUCFM.

If you are interested in the scholarship and/or the voting delegate position, please contact Jill Carville at 561-2700 or officemanager@uucfm.org.

Southern Region Links

Find out what's happening in our district! https://www.uua.org/offices/organizations/southern-region-uua

Attention All Members and Friends!

Come visit our new accessible labyrinth anytime. The labyrinth is located at the back of our campus next to the Family Gardens. Parking is available at the Shetland Lane small parking lot.