• Connect to the Monthly Theme
• Minister's Midweek Meditation
• Notes from the Board
• Announcements
• This Sunday
• Last Sunday
• Events This Week
• Connect to Our Faith

We all are playing.

Playing it up, playing it down, trying to play fair.

Playing for keeps, playing favorites, playing it safe,

sometimes too safe.

He plays hardball; They’re playing house; I’m playing it by ear,

or at least learning to play it by ear.

She’s tired of playing second fiddle; He’s playing right into their hands.

Please God, can’t we all just throw out the playbook and start again?

Sometimes we’re just played out; it’s not always bad to play possum.

And what about playing with fire?

Let’s hope so friends.

Don’t you want to feel again that burning within,

and let it loose?

Welcome to the month of play. May we all take it seriously!

-From Soul Matters

This week's links:

While Rev. Dawn is off, you can catch up on past Minister's Midweek Meditations on the YouTube Playlist.

Contact a member of the Caring Committee!

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

Rev. Dawn Recovering

On Thursday afternoon, The Rev. Dawn Fortune called to say that their medical leave is going well. They are recovering apace and expect to be back in the [virtual] office on Wednesday, June 16th. As in prior years, they will “leave” soon thereafter to [virtually] attend General Assembly, which runs from June 23rd – 27th.

Our Sunday morning schedule does not show Rev. Dawn as a speaker before September.

Respectfully submitted,

Kit Marlowe

Board President

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.

See the above link for the final version of the UUCSJS Bylaws to be voted on June 6, 2021. Contact our Board Secretary, Angela Wexler, at alogwex@comcast.net or 609-476-4325 with any questions or if you need assistance.

We are very excited to prepare for services to resume in our UU Center. The Building and Grounds Committee has set aside June 12 and June 19 for Cleanup. We will meet from 9-11, which may be flexible depending on the job.

Please let Barbara Miller know which day you are able to come and whether you prefer indoor or outdoor work. Email admin@uucsjs.org or RSVP below. If you prefer to work on a weekday, that can be arranged.

After this long time of isolation and inactivity, it will feel good to do something good. I am reminded of these words from our hymnal:

"Love cannot remain by itself – it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action, and that action is service. Whatever form we are, able or disabled, rich or poor, it is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing; a lifelong sharing of love with others.”

— Mother Teresa

Have you read a poem lately that you were awed by, or do you have a favorite poem that you love? Maybe you write poetry yourself and would like to read it to an audience. Deb Dagavarian is putting together a Sunday service on August 22 on poetry.

You can pre-record yourself on your phone and Jess will put it together with others for the service. This is a great chance for someone who doesn’t enjoy speaking in front of others to participate in a service. You don’t even need to be a member of the congregation to do this! All ages are welcome.

And feel free to select more than one poem, especially if you wrote it yourself.

Please email or text Deb soon with the poems you'd like to perform: dagbonar4@gmail.com or 609-233-8470.

Book Club group will be meeting on ZOOM on Friday, June 18th at 7:00pm.

We will be discussing books for the 2021-22 reading list. This will be our last ZOOM meeting as we will be meeting outside or in the UUC building - possibly returning to ZOOM in the Fall as it worked out so well.

All are welcome to join the ZOOM meeting using the www.tinyurl.com/uucsjszoom - link !!!

We will also discuss the book QUICKSAND by Nella Larson which is available on audio on the LibriVox free online app where the book can also be downloaded. This site has many free books available.

Quicksand, Nella Larson’s powerful first novel, has intriguing autobiographical parallels and at the same time invokes the international dimension of African American culture of the 1920s. Born to a white mother and an absent black father, and despised for her dark skin, Helga Crane has long had to fend for herself. As a young woman, Helga teaches at an all-black school in the South, but even here she feels different. The story follows her as she tries to carve out a comfortable life and place for herself.

Questions: morellb@msn.com

-Birch Spick, Guest Speaker

No matter who we are, making sense of our lives and seeking out direction is a profound commonality we share as human beings. It is a journey that many people make in each other’s company, often in religious or spiritual communities. But for a variety of reasons, many LGBTQ people struggle to feel welcome in joining and staying in these communities. Join us as we consider what it means to be LGBTQ and spiritual, religious, or seeking deeper meaning in our lives.

Sunday at 10 am at www.tinyurl.com/uucsjszoom or call in to (929)436-2866 then enter: 2246776604#, 0#, 306591#. Make sure to update your Zoom software before Sunday morning so you aren't late to church!

Information on upcoming services can be found HERE.

For those hearing-impaired, pdf copies of the sermon are available on our website at the link above. Also, entire services are uploaded to our YouTube channel each Sunday afternoon where Closed Captioning is available.

See what you missed if you weren't able to join us!

"RE on TV" has come to an end. You can view past episodes of our series on the Youtube playlist below. Visit the RE Virtual Learning Lab at http://uucsjs.org/childrens-re/ to see the new learning opportunities we have for families this month.

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

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

Margaret Circle will meet on Thursday, June 3, at 1:00 pm, AT THE UU CENTER!

We will decide then whether to meet indoors or outdoors, depending on the weather.

Judy Pereira will lead the program. She says: “As we emerge from our obsession with cleanliness during the pandemic, come meet a few of the nearly 200,000 species living with us in our own homes. ‘Even when the floors are sparkling clean and the house seems silent, our domestic domain is wild beyond imagination,’ according to biologist Rob Dunn, author of Never Home Alone. We will discuss how our interactions with living things in the domestic habitat affect our health and well-being.”

Because COVID-19 rules that we will agree to follow do not yet permit the sharing of food, Denise O’Meara will provide store-bought and individually wrapped snacks.

If you would like to attend and are not on the Margaret Circle contact list, contact our administrator Jessica Dunn Safonof at admin@uucsjs.org and you will be welcomed.

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

Click on the images for more information.

Important decisions about who Unitarian Universalists are and what we will do as a denomination occurs at our General Assembly (GA).

This year, GA is a 100% virtual event. It will occur online from June 23-27, 2021. Many people find the GA a very meaningful experience.

UUCSJS normally certifies three voting delegates to GA. So far, no one has volunteered to represent UUCSJS. Would you like to be one?

Contact Kit Marlowe (krismarlowe@verizon.net) if you would like to represent the congregation.

To attend as a non- delegate, visit https://www.uua.org/topic/general-assembly/ga-registration.

Sunday Services 10 am on Zoom at tinyurl.com/uucsjszoom

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