Weekly E-News
May 21, 2020
Inspired by love, we transform ourselves and serve others.
This Sunday, May 24th
Our sermon this Sunday May 24th is “Good Grief?” Because it is the day before Memorial Day, we will have an opportunity for you to recognize a friend or loved one who died during military service. We will be using the “Menti Ap“ again that we used for the flower ceremony. While watching the service please have on hand another device to enter the person’s name when we prompt you. If you listen to our service via “Live Stream”, feel free to email Rev. Beard or Jenn Blosser your person’s name before 5:00 pm on Saturday. Thank you!

The Reverend Margaret L. Beard, Minister
Suellen Kipp , Director of Music
Jenn Blosser , Director of Religious Education, Tech Team Member
Gary Robbins, Worship Associate
Albie Johnson, Worship Associate
Mary Cline Golbitz, Musician
Peter Golbitz, Musician
Lesley Peterson, Musician and Tech Team Member
Mark Brandon, Tech Team Member
Walter Peterson, Tech Team Member
Holley Rauen, Tech Team Member

And YOU!

This is the Zoom meeting link for Sunday's Service:

If you join before 10:30 AM, you will be placed in an online "Waiting Room," and will manually be added when the worship team is ready to begin the service.

If you would like to make a pledge or donation to UUCFM at any time,  you may mail a check to UUCFM, 13411 Shire Lane, Fort Myers, FL 33912 or visit our PayPal at:
 

Type in your donation and in the notes section, please add either for UUCFM or Community Sharing or how much to split between both.
Annual Meeting Online This Sunday!

Members and friends,

This Sunday, May 24th, 2020, is our Annual Meeting. The meeting will be hosted via Zoom, as noted in your annual meeting packet that you received in the mail.

Please note that the Annual Meeting has a different Zoom meeting code than the Worship Service.

The worship service code is the same code as usual. There will be a short break, less than an hour, and then the Annual Meeting will begin at noon via this link:  https://bit.ly/3gkg1xg  ( Note:  This IS a Zoom link, it is just coded for security. Please use this one to log in.)

As a reminder, the votes that were in the packet have been tabulated and will be presented. There will be no voting on the Zoom call.

Thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely,
Allie Carville
2019-2020 Board Secretary
Our Community Sharing  partner this month 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. 
Upcoming Events
School of Wizardry!
Enrollment for the 2020 term of the School of Wizardry is open. The term begins on Monday, June 29th, and ends Friday July 3rd.

If we can't physically gather for camp, our team of dedicated volunteers are working to bring the School of Wizardry to their campers digitally! This virtual version of camp, scheduled for the same week, will be offered for a suggested donation of $50 per participant.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact:
Krista Hopper, Camp Director
Phone - (239) 464-1333
Email -  camp@uucfm.org
Classes & Groups
The Book Club  
The UUCFM Book Club now meets online. Our current book is  Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain , by David Eagleman. Clicking this link will take you to the next meeting, Wednesday, May 27 at 1:00 PM.

If you prefer to access the meeting without the link, use this information to log on: 

Meeting ID: 784 376 873
Password: 329478

You'll be able to join the meeting as early as 12:45 PM Wednesday and we'll begin our usual check-in at 1 o'clock. If you’re joining for the first time via Zoom, please sign in closer to 12:45 pm to allow for any extra time you may need. Mary Studer is hosting the Zoom meetings, so if you have any problems or questions, call or text her at 269-449-2488.

The discussion schedule is as follows:

May 27: Chapter 6, Why Blameworthiness Is the Wrong Questions up to the section titled “The Shift From Blame to Biology.”

June 3: Completion of Chapter 6. The next book selection will be chosen at this meeting.

June 10: Chapter 7, L ife After the Monarchy
New Connection Circle Forming by Zoom 
Whether you are new to UU or a long-term member, whether you are in Florida or far away, you are invited to participate in a Connection Circle by Zoom. Now is your chance to experience this way to connect with others on a deep and meaningful level. Trained facilitators, Mary Cline Golbitz and Leslie Gatto, will choose timely topics for discussion. This is a covenanted group, where group rules protect confidentiality and promote compassionate dialogue. Participants are expected to attend all sessions. The Zoom circles will be held: 

Weekly on THURSDAYS from 1:00 to 2:30 pm from June 4 through July 9

Please contact Leslie by phone or text at 239-850-9664 or email gatto.leslie@gmail.com  to join this circle. Let me know if you need help setting up Zoom. Looking forward to connecting with you. Stay well, stay home, stay connected! 
UUCFM News
Online Photo Directory   
During social distancing, it’s a great time for new members to get their photos into the UUCFM Online Photo Directory. That’s also true for other members whose photos aren’t yet in the Photo Directory. To make this happen, please email a head and shoulders digital photo of either single or couple members along with your full name(s) to Denis Jensen at 
 dalanjensen@gmail.com  and I’ll get you in the Photo Directory.
 
If you have never accessed the UUCFM Photo Directory, the directions for UUCFM Members are as follows:

  1. Go to the UUCFM website
  2. You can log in to the website by clicking on the light green login or register at upper right. If you’ve never logged in before, you need to email Lesley Peterson at president@uucfm.org so she can allow you access. You will use your email as your user name and you must choose a password. Once your access is granted, you can log in.
  3. Once you’re logged in, click on Photo Directory from the Member Services block at left and you are in. You can also do a Membership Search or perform other activities once you have access.
From Our Caring Network
If you or another member of the Congregation needs some extra attention during this time your Pastoral Care Committee is here to help as much as we can while keeping us all safe and protected.
 
Our Committee members include Mary Faegre,, Joan Hickok, Deborah Lewis, Mary Alice Pierce, Mary Tracy-Sigman, Patricia Vivier-Naidl, Holley Rauen and Suzanne Ziemer. If any members of the Congregation are available to help during this crisis please contact Mary Golbitz
 
We have been holding weekly calls as a check in at the beginning of this crisis. Since the need for these calls seems to have dwindled we will  not  be holding these calls any longer. If you feel strongly that you would like these calls to continue please contact Mary Golbitz. Thanks to all who participated and supported one another.
 
There is an on-going Connection Circle on zoom right now and another Connection Circle beginning June 4. If you would like to join in connecting with other Congregation members please contact Leslie Gatto by phone or text at 239-850-9664 or email at  gatto.leslie@gmail.com  to
 
We can connect with you individually by phone if you are feeling isolated and offer other assistance. Please contact Mary Golbitz for information or assistance at  marygcline@gmail.com  207 479-4082 (phone or text) or Holley Rauen at  holleyrauen@gmail.com  or 239 464-6556
Social Justice
South Fort Myers Food Pantry

Hi everyone! We would like to provide you with an update on how things are going at the food pantry. 

Clients continue to drive through to pick up pre-bagged items. This is going well and allows our clients and our volunteers to be safe by socially distancing. Just this past Monday we served 175 clients and we anticipate this number to increase.

Each week we are going to grocers, warehouse stores and places such as dollar stores and big box stores to shop for much needed items to stock our shelves. We are receiving ample meat and fresh vegetable supplies from Harry Chapin, however canned goods are somewhat sporadic. The 28th annual Mail Carriers Food Drive scheduled for May 9, has been postponed to a yet to be determined date. This food drive normally supplies Harry Chapin with many of the canned goods that we would receive during the summer months.

As restrictions loosen would you consider having a food drive to help stock our shelves? The items we are finding hard to obtain in large quantities are peanut butter and jelly (please no glass containers), cereal and breakfast bars. Always happy to receive canned fruit and vegetables, tomato sauce products, protein-rich soups and beans.

For questions, call Fran Rose at 617-750-0470. Leave a message and I will get back to you. There are still a lot of hungry people out there. If you want to drop food off at the pantry the address is 8260 CypressLake Drive, Fort Myers. Best time is Monday at 9 AM or 4 PM. franrose512@gmail.com
May 21 Mary Cline Golbitz  
May 23  Cathy Snow
May 24 Janene Larson
May 29 Stephanie Moreland
May 30 Diane Buckley
Did you know your purchases can help us?  Amazon Smile  donates to UUCFM when you do your online shopping by following this special link to Amazon: 
Want to Become a Member?
If you are interested in becoming a new member, please email  memberservices@uucfm.org
UUCFM Staff
Minister  The Reverend Margaret L. Beard  revmbeard@uucfm.org
Director of Music   Suellen Kipp  music@uucfm.org
Director of RE   Jenn Blosser  dre@uucfm.org
Office Manager  Jill Carville  officemanager@uucfm.org
Building Supervisor   Mickey Kellam  buildingsupervisor@uucfm.org
Nursery Supervisor   Liza Kellam  lhiz_sierra@yahoo.com
Please send all newsletter articles by  Wednesday at noon  for publication in Thursday's newsletter. Send articles to  newsletter@uucfm.org .