July 7

"The Web of Life" How the study of biology shapes my understanding of spirituality. Susan Mayer speaking.

Susan Mayer is currently an adjunct instructor for Alpena Community College teaching Introduction to Biology. She has been a UU for about 8 years, and joined UUFoM last year after moving to Cedar Lake full-time. 

Hello my people!

I’m sitting on our deck as I write this and see the garden is out in full force at the Cook-Sonoras home. We’re planting veggies and flowers, picking bouquets, clearing out old plants and shrubs that don’t work anymore and anticipating what’s to come next. It’s a lot of work but creating something beautiful in which we can take pride makes it worth it.

Not a bad analogy for UUFOM, right?

On Sunday, June 2, 2019, 60 members (including proxies) gathered to discuss two pieces of business: Amending the By-Laws in Section 1 Composition and Election brought by the Board of Directors and Adopting a Statement of Advocacy brought by the L.O.V.E. Team. Below are final By-Laws addition and Statement of Advocacy.

Additions to ARTICLE VI. BOARD OF DIRECTORS, Section1. Composition and Election
           
Two or more members of the same household may not serve on the Board of Directors at the same time. Two or more members of the same immediate 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 on the Board. A two-year interval must elapse before a person is eligible to be elected again after serving on the Board. 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.
 
Statement of Advocacy
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.
 

Thank you to everyone for your thoughtful participation in the Business Meeting.

Now it’s time for me to get back to summer. But before I bend my back to pick another weed or prune another bush, I’ll take a moment to listen to the wind rustling through the foliage and enjoy the fruits of our labor. May you have a moment to do the same.

In grateful service and with love,

Shannon Sonoras
Board President

The Nominating Committee acts as its own entity on behalf of the congregation, with two members elected by the congregation to two-year terms, and the third member appointed by the Board to a one-year term.  The Nominating Committee is tasked with providing a slate of candidates for election at the annual congregational meeting, which will be held on October 27.
The following positions are up for election this year:

President Elect
Board Secretary
Member at Large
Nominating Committee member 

For more information about what is involved in these positions, please see the Fellowship Bylaws on the Members section of the website:

Article VI. Board of Directors 
Article X. Committees and Ministry Teams, Section 3. Congregational Committees,  Item A. Nominating Committee

If you are interested in being considered for one of these positions or would like to suggest someone else to be considered, please contact one or all members of the Nominating Committee:

Jacob Guettler [email protected] 
Donna King [email protected]   
Kathy Kinkema [email protected]  

RE-flection – Interwoven Community

Summer is finally here, and it is time for me to take a summer break.  So, I will not be there every Sunday.  I’m still on call, and I am still arranging volunteers to have adventures with our children during the service, but I will be focusing primarily on next year's programming and taking a little vacation time. It is during this time that I take a breath to reflect on how our year went, and I imagine new ways to make next year even better.  As summer begins, I do have a story to share about the last day of camp on Friday.

On the last day of our summer camp, the day began with an intense thunderstorm.  As our parents drove in with their campers, rain poured down reducing visibility to nothing.  Outside the Fellowship, the grounds turned into grassy lakes, hardly suitable for going outside.  Fifteen kids were stuck inside. The day was a whirlwind: we had fun activities and crafts.  Earth Team (the 4-7 year olds) and the Sky Team (8-12 year olds) discovered they needed each other and tore down their walls and welcomed each other into their territories.  The sun emerged, and everyone went out to play.  All in all, we had a great close to a fantastic week. 

What made it successful was not just the kids.  It was not just the volunteers and staff leading the activities.  It was not just those comforting and encouraging children.  It was not just those who made lunch, cleaned dishes, prepared snacks, took down and put away tables and chairs, put the chairs back in rows, picked up trash, put out compost, and collected unused materials for later use.  It was all of them together woven together into one interdependent web.  The theme of this year’s camp was “Blue Boat Home.” Our focus was on how all we do is interwoven, and we must do our part (even when we sometimes don’t want to do so) in order to protect our community and our world.

At the end of the day, I found myself standing at the edge of the sanctuary in a moment of peace with the appreciation of a different kind of interdependence that made this camp possible. 

May we always join together in community,

Heather Cleland-Host
Director of Religious Education

Many Paths, One Community

Next year’s religious education program will be an exploration of the world religions and how Unitarian Universalism relates to the myriad of religions and philosophies that we draw upon.  We will be focusing on five main world religions:  Hinduism, Buddhism, Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), Humanism, and Earth-Based Traditions (Paganism, Native American traditions, etc). 

Lower Elementary - More than one way to answer a question: The youngest children will focus on the different ways that religions of the world answer the questions of how to live our lives and behave toward one another.  

Upper Elementary - Stories of what is sacred: Older children will explore the core stories told by different religions and the basic beliefs of each religion. 

Teens and adults - Sharing a community that has different beliefs: Teens (and adults) will learn about each of these religions and reach out to religious communities to learn more about each other. 

The curricula we will be drawing on will include:

• Moral Tales (Tapestry of Faith)
• Love will Guide Us (Tapestry of Faith)
• Sacred Stories & Picture Book – World Religions
• Crossing Paths (Middle school and up)

Some of the possible communities we will reach out to:

• Temple Bethel (Jewish)
• Islamic Center of Midland
• Christian churches (teen choice)
• Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture and Lifeways

* For Buddhism and Hinduism, we may have to reach outside of our area.
 
I look forward to exploring the religions of the world with all of you!
 
Yours in Fellowship,
Heather Cleland-Host
Director of Religious Education

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.