May 26
“For Peace and a New Hope?”  The poet Archibald MacLeish wrote “The young dead soldiers do not speak. Nevertheless, they are heard in the still houses…. They say: whether our lives and our deaths were for peace and a new hope or for nothing we cannot say; it is you who must say this….”  How will we respond?  Rev. Connie Grant speaking.

Dear Friends, 

I have made the difficult decision to step down as President of the UUFoM Board effective May 31st. 

This may seem like a sudden decision but, in fact, it has been a long time coming.  When I agreed to be Board President Elect in September of 2017, my life had a very different balance of work and family and community activities.  Four months after I said yes and one month into the role, I decided to run for office and my priorities and time shifted drastically.  And though I lost the election in 2018, my decision to continue the campaign to the 2020 election has meant that the constraints on my time have not lessened much while my responsibilities to the fellowship have increased in this new year as I took on the President role.  It has become clear that I can't hold it all and do it all well and, what it comes down to is, UUFoM deserves a leader that can be dedicated to the task. 

Per our bylaws, Shannon Sonoras, current President Elect, will assume the role of President for the balance of 2019 and per our past practice, the remaining board members will search for an interim president elect.  I want to thank Shannon and the rest of the board for their flexibility and understanding. 

Stepping down was a difficult decision but I do so knowing that we have exciting changes heading our way and I can't wait to be part of all of what's to come with all of you. 

Light and Love, 
Sarah Schulz 

Thank you very much to everyone who attended the program “Beyond Binary: A Conversation About Gender” last Friday, May 17. We had somewhere between 30 and 40 people attend this successful event. We hope everyone was able to take away a better understanding of what it means to be Transgender and what the Transgender experience is like. Special thank you to Amy McDonald from Family & Children’s Services for leading the conversation and moderating our panel discussion, and to the three panelists for their willingness to be vulnerable by answering audience questions and talking about their experiences as members of the Transgender community. Finally, many thanks to Rev. Connie and Amy Rogers for their leadership in making this program possible, to Denise Reiling for providing supporting resources (see below), and to everyone who brought snacks for intermission. If you were unable to attend the program, please see the links below for resources used during the program as well as extra educational materials.

                      From The Living Our Values Everyday (L.O.V.E.) Team

Resources & Educational Materials
I’ve Lived as a Man and a Woman 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=lrYx7HaUlMY

How to Talk to Transgender People 
https://www.ted.com/talks/jackson_bird_how_to_talk_and_listen_to_transgender_people

National Park Service LGBTQ Heritage Study 
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/tellingallamericansstories/lgbtqthemestudy.htm

Genderbread Person: A teaching tool for breaking the big concept of gender down into bite-sized, digestible pieces 
https://www.genderbread.org/

National LGBT Health Education Center: Glossary of LGBT Terms for Health Care Teams 
https://www.lgbthealtheducation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Glossary-2018-English-update-1.pdf

Unitarian Universalist Association’s “Transgender 101: Identity, Inclusion, and Resources” 
https://www.uua.org/lgbtq/identity/transgender

Special business meeting:  By-laws amendments and Statement of Advocacy
A special business meeting of the congregation will be held at noon on Sunday, June 2 for members to vote on (1) proposed changes to our By-laws recommended by the Board of Directors and on (2) a statement of advocacy proposed by the Living Our Values Everyday (L.O.V.E.) Team.

(1) Proposed By-laws changes are as follows:

 

Add to ARTICLE VI. BOARD OF DIRECTORS, Section 1. Composition and Election

Two or more members of the same household or family may not serve on the Board of Directors at the same time
 
Term Limits:  No member may serve more than two consecutive two-year terms.  A two-year interval must elapse before a person is eligible to be elected again after serving two consecutive full terms. Appointment or election to fill a partial term will not count toward the maximum of two consecutive two-year terms.

Vacancies:  A vacancy on the Board of Directors occurring between Annual Meetings of the Congregation will be filled by majority vote of the remaining Board members.  A Board member so-appointed will serve until the end of the fiscal year.  If a full year still remains at the time of the next Annual Meeting, the Nominating Committee will recommend a candidate to be elected by the Congregation to serve the remaining partial (one-year) term.

 
(2) The proposed Statement of Advocacy is as follows:

 

We, the members of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Midland, hereby endorse the following Congregational Statement of Advocacy:
 

We affirm the full inclusion and participation of people of all genders in our religious community and in society at large.

In witness to this Statement of Advocacy, a “Progress Pride” flag will be hung on a flagpole on the Fellowship grounds.

 
Those who have been members for a minimum of 45 days are eligible to vote.

The required quorum for the meeting is thirty percent of members.  Our By-laws may be amended by two-thirds majority vote.  A Statement of Advocacy requires 75% affirmative vote of those present in order to pass. 

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.   A proxy card is available at the Fellowship.
 

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 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. Non-perishable foods, self-care items, paper products and cleaning supplies are accepted.  The Food Pantry is unable to accept any types of medication, including vitamins and over the counter medications. 

Please check your pantries for any unopened food items that can be donated.  

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.

Pests are trying to invade the Fellowship!  Please do not leave any open food packages or containers on the kitchen counters or anywhere else in the Fellowship building.  Before you leave the building, please take any trash containing food waste to the large trash bin outside the back door.