November 25
“Contemplating Life’s Paradoxes: Shifting from Negadoxes to Posidoxes”  Dr. Joseph Ofori-Dankwa, guest speaker, is H.R. Wickes Endowed Professor of International Business at Saginaw Valley State University.  He thinks of his work as a journey and his life’s expedition is called “diverse-similarity.”  He thinks, studies, researches, and teaches the message that diverse-similarity is the bridge to understanding and appreciating our differences.  His passion reaches audiences that range from little kids, to students and even Fortune 500 company executives.  His journey leads him to places nearby, here in the Saginaw Valley, and to far away locations like his Ghana homeland where he has met with government officials on ways for the country to succeed.  What started as a simple notion has grown from the 1995 publication of a children’s book called The Adventures of Diffi and Simi, to published work in The Academy of Management Review and Human Relations, noted as one of the top 10 most influential journals in organizational behavior.  Dr. Ofori-Dankwa is the founder of the Makola Institute in Ghana that provides financial literacy skills for market women. He is also the co-founder of CEMATHS in Ghana, helping schools to improve the math competencies of students. He is married with 5 wonderful children, one of whom is UUFoM member Connie Ofori-Dankwa.

For information on Upcoming Services, click here.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow.  Many of us are blessed to be able to spend this day together with family and friends. Some members of our fellowship have no family close by. If you have room at your table,  please consider inviting a Fellowship member or two. You may contact Donna Wedge at 989-600-7567 or another member of the Pastoral Care Team and we will connect you .

In Fellowship,
The Pastoral Care Team

Saturday, December 1
12:00 – 4:00 pm
 Free Lunch & Childcare
 

Calling all parents and caregivers! We are once again holding a parents’ break on the first Saturday in December!  Come, get refreshed in preparation for the holidays (and maybe get some early shopping done)!  From 12:00 to 1:00pm, parents (and caregivers) will enjoy a catered adult lunch together at the Fellowship (while kids eat separately)!  Afterwards, from 1:00 – 4:00 pm, you will have the option of free childcare on-site while you go shopping or go on siesta with your partner or a friend or maybe see a movie!  Three hours will be entirely yours!

Childcare will be provided at the Fellowship and will include lunch and games.  We will have at least two adults supervising and plenty of teens assisting in making this as fun for the kids as for their parents.  Please sign up ASAP with Heather Cleland-Host or at the Fellowship, so we know how many providers to have on-site.

We would like to thank everyone who has sent us photos for inclusion in our Congregational Packet. If anyone still has pictures that should be included in the packet, please forward them to Chris Nakamura at [email protected] as soon as possible.

If the packet is our resume, our website is our internet billboard, showcasing the Fellowship and ourselves. It will be one of the sources of information about us that will be sought out by ministerial candidates. The more representative of us, up to date, and welcoming our website is the better. If you are a committee chair or group leader, we ask you to check out the information about your group currently on the website. Please contact Wendy Altmeier at [email protected] to update it to reflect who you are and what you would like everyone to know about your group or program. We thank you for your ongoing support in this process and appreciate the assistance you continue to provide as we travel this road together.

The Sharing tree is up and red tags are still available! The red tags represent ongoing needs through gift cards and donations. They can be purchased on the online store. Red tag purchases made on cyber Monday will be matched! Thank you for your generosity! 

Please wrap and return gifts to the Fellowship, with green tags attached, by December 2.

Every year, the Sharing Tree program provides gifts to hundreds of Midlanders without resources or family to help them out during the Holidays.  This is a special boon to the handicapped, the elderly, and people who live in poverty all year 'round. 



Click here to view the Sharing Tree Impact Store!

The Midland County Emergency Food Pantry Network is a cooperative effort of area churches and other organizations to provide food and supplies to people in Midland County who have emergency needs and are living near or below the Federal poverty level income guidelines.  At UUFoM, we collect donations for the Food Pantry Network on an ongoing basis.  Bring your donations with you when you come to the Fellowship and place them in one of the bins in the UUFoM Donation Center outside the sanctuary, and we will transport them to the Food Pantry.  

The UUFOM can receive $1.00 each for recyclable empty ink cartridges. Not all cartridge types are eligible, but please bring to the Fellowship any empty cartridges you have and they will be turned in, with a credit then being issued to the UUFOM for eligible cartridges. Ineligible cartridges will be properly disposed of. This is an on-going collection effort that in the past was facilitated by RG Converse. Please bring in empty cartridges and deposit them in the labeled collection bin in the UUFoM Donation Center outside the sanctuary. If you are allowed to collect empty ink cartridges from your workplace this can greatly increase our return.