June 3
“Flower Celebration”
How is this congregation like a bouquet of flowers? Bring a flower (or a few) from your garden (or flower shop) and take a different flower home. We’ll celebrate the traditional Unitarian flower communion and recognize the many volunteers who help this congregation flourish. This is a multigenerational service.  Led by Rev. Connie Grant and the Engagement Team.


 Upcoming Services

A special business meeting will be held after the service on Sunday, June 3 for members to vote on proposed changes to our By-laws.  Those who have been members for a minimum of 45 days are eligible to vote.  Our By-laws may be amended by two-thirds majority vote, with a required quorum of thirty percent of members.  A member may issue a general or limited proxy for use at a meeting of the Fellowship. No person shall be entitled to vote more than one proxy, proxies shall be in writing and filed with the Board Secretary before being exercised, and only members may be named as proxies.

It is customary to review, clarify and update By-laws periodically.  This is particularly important to accomplish before the search committee gathers our documents to share with ministerial search candidates.  The Board has prepared these proposed amendments for your consideration.  

In addition to editorial changes, the proposed changes:

• address membership eligibility and termination
• Sunday services, creation of an executive team
• the purpose of a minister and their role with respect to paid staff
• deletion of the Committee on Ministry
• deletion of the Shared Leadership Team

When you follow the link to the By-laws proposal, you will see the words we are proposing to remove have a line through them.  Proposed additions are in italics.

Click here to view the By-laws proposal.  If you will be unable to attend the meeting, please designate a proxy so that we meet our quorum of thirty percent of members.  Proxy forms are located under the chimes and  available to print here.
 

The fellowship will be present this year at the Great Lakes Bay Pride Festival and we are looking for volunteers to fill two hour shifts at our booth. The festival will be held on June 30th, 12-4 pm at Wenonah Park in Bay City.

We are looking for 5 volunteers per shift to help us out. Shifts are available  from 12-2pm and 2-4 pm, or you can stay for the whole event. If you have any questions, please contact Jacob Guettler by email or 989-492-4414.

Sign up at the Events board or sign up online!

June 10
“Looking Forward”  Some thoughts about where you and I are headed over the next year, before we part ways a year from now.  Reflections on being “in the interim.”  Rev. Connie Grant speaking.

June 17
“Good Enough Parents” What does it mean to be a “good enough” parent?  What are the roles of those who directly “parent” our children and of the “village” in which we all live?  Rev. Connie Grant speaking.

Re-keying the Fellowship has been scheduled for Monday, June 4.  

Our Sexton, Sandy Hay, will be available the following days/times to pick up new keys.  If you are unable to come during these times, please contact Sandy.

Tuesday, June 5 - 10am-12pm
Wednesday, June 6 - 10am-12pm, 6pm-7pm
Thursday, June 7 - 10am-12pm

DAY CAMP: JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY
Where kids can be themselves!
PLEASE REGISTER BY JUNE 4!

Discovery Camp is back! This time with full days!

When:  Monday – Thursday,  June 25-28 from 9am to 4pm
Where: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Midland
Who:    Children between the ages of 5 and 12. (Minimum twelve (12) campers)
Cost:    $60 for three days (M-W) and $75 for four days (M-Th)
Extended care available until 5pm for $5/day.
 
Expenses are shared by the Fellowship and families.  We have both volunteer and paid staff to keep costs low to each family.  Discounts are available for families with multiple children.  No child should be unable to participate due to finances.  (Message Heather Cleland-Host for more information – this will be held in strict confidentiality).

THEME: We will be having four days of fun journeying from “port” to “port” on a grand adventure of self-discovery and community building, learning more about who we each are and what is important to ourselves and our community.  We will start on the first day preparing for our journey and putting together our crew (team building).  Subsequent days will be spent exploring various “ports” – like Port Legend or Port Courage.  We will have fun activities like:  building ships for our journey, creating traveling clothes (tie dye shirts), swabbing the decks (water fun), escaping from the Isle of Deception (Solving Puzzles), creative Expression through drama, drumming, & art, and plenty more!

NOTE: PLEASE REGISTER BY EMAILING [email protected] ASAP.  

Sign up at the Events board or Sign Up Here!  
 

Would you like to strengthen your connections with others at UUFoM and enhance your participation in the Fellowship, while deepening your own spiritual life? Join a Covenant Group!

A Covenant Group consists of up to ten people who gather around an interest, affinity, or activity to meet regularly over time for spiritual growth, community building, and congregational participation.  Group members practice deep listening as they share what’s going on in their lives, getting to know each other and themselves.  Group meetings follow a specified format, and each group is led by a trained facilitator who also participates in an ongoing facilitators’ group.  Each group establishes covenants including ground rules for the group’s relationship and interaction, commitment to welcome new members to the group, and service to the Fellowship and the community. 

All groups meet at the Fellowship unless otherwise specified.  Members, friends, and potential members of the Fellowship are welcome to join a covenant group.  To register, please complete a registration form and return it to [email protected] or to the box under the Events! bulletin board at the Fellowship.

Contact respective facilitators with questions about a specific group.  Contact Rev. Grant ([email protected]) with general questions or to discuss becoming a covenant group facilitator.

Creating a Spiritual Autobiography Through Art
We will use all kinds of artistic media, including but not limited to paint, fabric, clay, movement, and written words to create and share our own spiritual autobiographies as we nurture and support one another both in times of celebration and joy and times of challenge! You need not be an artist to find and use your creative side.  Goals include deepening and challenging our own spiritual understandings and where Unitarian Universalist thinking fits in.  Meets second Sundays of the month, 12:15 – 2:15 pm, beginning June 10.  Facilitator Cathy French, [email protected].

Our Examined Lives
Using various sources of inspiration, from poems to quotations to music to books, we’ll connect, deepen and expand together as we share about our lives, perspectives, wishes, and dreams.  Meets at Shannon’s Midland home, second Mondays of the month, beginning June 11, 6:00 – 8:00 pm.  Maximum seven members.  Facilitator Shannon Sonoras, 989-708-5348 (text or call).

Heart Songs
Is there a song in your heart or a sound track in the back of your mind?  We will join in informal singing of the songs that speak from our hearts and to our hearts. Meets every other week through the summer, Wednesdays from June 13 through August 8, 6:30 – 8:30 pm.  This short-term group can accommodate an unlimited number.  Facilitator Sara Clavez, [email protected].

Where Do We Go from Here?
How will we live the rest of our lives with as much quality as possible?  How will we consider the choices and decisions we will probably need to make about our lives in the next 20 or so years?  We’ll discuss and share our feelings about such topics as living with illnesses, various housing options, and end-of-life possibilities.  The group will decide what we want to learn more about and go from there.  Meets third Wednesdays of the month, beginning June 20, 4:00 – 5:30 pm.  Facilitator Linda Rector, [email protected].

“Cakes for the Queen of Heaven”
How would your life have been different if you had grown up with a female image of the divine? “Cakes for the Queen of Heaven” is a woman-honoring workshop series of feminist theology that examines pre-Judeo-Christian cultures that worshiped the female as divine. More than Goddess 101, “Cakes for the Queen of Heaven” examines important elements of today’s women’s lives:  personal, interpersonal and societal. Meets June 25, July 23, August 27, September 24, October 22, November 12, December 10, January 28, February 25, March 25, April 22, and May 27 in 2018-2019, 6:00 – 8:00 pm.  Facilitator Christina VanPoucker, [email protected].

The Books We Carry with Us
Informed by the books (fiction or non-fiction) that have informed us on our life journeys, we will share ideas and feelings on up-to-the-minute and age-old topics.  Participants will be invited to suggest books that have influenced their lives.  Meets at Amy’s Midland home, second Tuesdays of the month, beginning July 10, 6:30 – 8:00 pm.  Maximum eight members.  Facilitator Amy Rogers, 989-750-6989.         

From the Worship Team