UUCSJS Midweek Message

• Minister's Midweek Meditation
• Announcements
• Notes From the Board
• Stewardship Campaign
• Events This Week
• This Sunday
• Last Sunday
• Call to Action
• Connect to Our Faith

Rev. DC is available for pastoral care appointment Wednesday through Friday 10am to 3pm. Email minister@uucsjs.org to schedule an appointment.

Join Rev. DC in the video below, as we finish this month of renewing faith with Joan Javier-Duval's "Meditation for Challenging Times" below.

Contact a member of the Caring Team

Team members can provide you with support during/after an illness, a death in the family, or other loss or hardship. They can find you resources, run errands, or provide meals in time of need.

Reach out to:

• Tracey Catino at (609) 674-8721 email: Traceysnaps@msn.com
• Denise O'Meara at (610) 316-7495 email: denome53@gmail.com
• Helen Utts at (609) 338-3391 email: HelenUtts@aol.com
• MaryLou DeMaria-Berhang at (201) 247-5635 email: MLberhang@gmail.com
• Tony Zitelli at (201) 463-2800 email: happy85a@aol.com

To have your announcement placed in the Midweek Message, please send an email to admin@uucsjs.org by Noon on Wednesday.

Planning a special event? The Communications Team can help. Visit https://uucsjs.breezechms.com/form/42685e for more information.

From the Pandemic Response Team:

The Pandemic response team has advised that as of Friday, March 31st, 2022, we will be lifting the mask mandate requirement for people attending the UU center. This is in accordance with New Jersey State guidelines, and with current COVID 19 transmission risk currently in the "green" zone (low risk).

We will still be encouraging social distancing and other safety measures, including an updated health and safety pledge.

The team is also exploring ways to safely bring back coffee hour and other social events at UUSCJS, so stay tuned...

Thank you in advance for your cooperation! Please contact any member of the Pandemic Response Team with any questions.

Melissa Hutchison, Karen York, Jeff Taylor, and Janet Longo)

There are still a few spots left in the Utts Wine Tasting Auction Event scheduled for April 30, 2022 at 5:30pm. The Paul and Helen are still working out the details of the menu and wine choices but if you would like to join them, and didn't win a spot at the Service Auction, contact Paul Utts today! They would be happy to have you.

Please continue to bring your coffee, tea, other beverages and snacks, food etc. on Sundays. Especially for those that travel a distance each week. Set the coffee maker to brew before bed. Prep the picnic basket for grab and go in the AM just in case you hit snooze on the alarm!! There is always bottled water in the refrigerator. Remember to take and / or bring meds too! The microwave is available for warm ups.

Margaret Circle will meet in person at the UU Center on Thursday, April 7, from 1-3 pm.

Debbi Dagavarian will be presenting the program in April, which will allow each person to share their thoughts on different topics.

Feel free to bring a snack and/or drink, if you like, as we are not yet serving food in the building.

Margaret Circle is open to all women.

will be held on Sunday, April 10th

Our participation in “Adopt-a-Road” had been in jeopardy…

… UNTIL we turned out in such force on January 23!! It was a wonderful response and thank you all. Eleven stalwart UUs +1 turned out that Sunday in below freezing temperatures, although walking warmed us up quickly. So many turned out, in fact, that we ran out of safety vests and even grabbers; both of those two necessities, and gloves, too, have since been obtained from ACUA (along with more recycle and trash bags).

What I’m saying is that we’re now ALL READY for you on Sunday, April 10 – whether you’re coming for the thirtieth time or the first time ever: new vests, new grabbers, new gloves, so please don’t hesitate. We have this one more cleanup to do to fulfill our quota (4) before Earth Day, April 22, 2022.

After this last one is done, our new coordinator will be Nancy Watson. I’m grateful that she has graciously stepped forward and she will be wonderful at the task. Nancy just told me she and Mike Hannisian will not be going to Florida after all, so they will be here for this, our last cleanup for Earth Day Year 21/22.

And finally, point of privilege: since I happen to know that Sunday, April 10 is also Betsy Searight’s birthday, I hereby take this opportunity to excuse her publicly from road cleanup on that day; Betsy, please honor this decree!

Special thanks to you who rescued road cleanup from jeopardy in January; can we keep it up? Namely: John Brilla, Jesse Connor, Mike Hannisian, Barbara Miller, Jack Miller, Alice Miller, Barbara Morell, Judy Pereira, Maryellen Riche, Betsy Searight, Nancy Watson, and David Weesner. (We missed you, Diane.)

Thank you for your participation over the years since I took over from Michele Bellinger. I’ll still be there (most but not all the time).

Judy Pereira

Book Club is open to anyone who likes to read.

April’s book is PAPER WIFE by Laila Ibrahim, who will be joining us on Zoom! Ms. Ibrahim calls herself “a devout Unitarian Universalist” and has had an interesting life.

Please join us on Zoom on Friday, April 15, at 7:00 pm to discuss the book. It follows a young Chinese woman who migrates to California in 1923 as the wife of a Chinese-American man whose first wife has died. The book is readily available through most libraries or bookstores.

Use our usual Zoom link to participate.

Kit Marlowe

UUCSJS Board President

Thanks to all who came and shared during the Stewardship Sharing Circles these past few Sundays. If you have not yet pledged, and would like to do so, the stewardship brochure and pledge cards will be available after services from Karen York. If you would like to pledge remotely using an electronic pledge card, here is the link: https://forms.gle/5GJUQ7WfasVBRKDQA

~ Karen York, Stewardship Chair

Click on the graphic below or visit the calendar at uucsjs.org for more information on events and meetings.

CLICK HERE to reserve the Zoom Room or to add your event to the calendar.

Rev. DC Fortune

April is a time for awakening! Spring is finally underway and cannot be denied. Stewardship season is in full swing, and it is time for us to look forward and consider what the days ahead have to offer us.

PLEASE NOTE: This service will be in person at UUCSJS and streamed live on our Facebook page. A recording will be available later in the day on our YouTube Channel.

Currently, we are aware of a need for tutors of English for Afghan refugees. This can be done in person (at a local library) or on zoom. These are folks being served by Catholic Charities, a partner of ours. If you are interested, please provide the following information.

• What time of day/day of the week do you prefer to tutor?
• Where do you live (if you wish to tutor in person.)?
• Do you prefer to tutor in person or via zoom?
• Is there a specific population you prefer to work with?
• Do you speak any language other than English?
• Do you have any teaching experience (of any subject) or experience tutoring ESL? (These are not requirements.)

After we hear from you, we will forward your information to Vincent Mancuso at Catholic Charities Dept of Refugee Resettlement & Immigration. Vincent makes matches between tutors and students.

Drivers are also still needed to transport people to appointments. If you can help, please reach out!

Please contact Deb Dagavarian if you have any questions or to volunteer.

Volunteer to be a worship associate! Contact Sheila Stoner or Rev. DC today!

Here you will find ways to learn about and connect with our faith and opportunities to connect with other UU's from outside our congregation.

Click on the images for more information.

YOU ARE INVITED to the first session discussion on topics raised in the book The Day the World Stops Shopping by J.B. MacKinnon.

Voluntary simplicity vs. overconsumption is not a new subject or personal challenge, but it has new urgency—and it raises the question, “Are we ‘haves’ willing to leave the ‘water’ of unexamined consumerism to swim toward a lifestyle of relinquishment to save livelihood on this planet? And, thereby, to discover new bounty?”

We’ll begin with “The Prologue; We must stop shopping but we can’t stop shopping,” and the five chapters of “Part I: First Days.” We ask each participant to bring their beginning thoughts on the subject, some phrases and surprises from the reading that are worth noting and sharing, and what challenges this subject raises for you. Many libraries have the book.

Bring a journal if you’d like to use this opportunity to answer the questions, “What does the 1.5°C temperature rise deadline of 2030 ask of me and mine?” and “What can we do to build a movement of UUs to save natural life as we know it?”

Our first meeting, Thursday, April 14, 8 p.m. EDT (7/6/5 p.m. across the continent) will be facilitated by Rev. Lucy Hitchcock. We will decide then how and when to continue.

Sunday Services 10 am in person and livestreamed on Facebook.

Email: admin@uucsjs.org
Website: www.uucsjs.org
Location: 75 S Pomona Rd, Egg Harbor City, NJ, USA
Phone: (609) 965-9400
Facebook: facebook.com/uucsjs
Twitter: @UUCSJS