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Email admin@uucsjs.org or call Jess at 609-965-9400 if you need assistance

• Upcoming Sunday Services
• Announcements
• Notes from the Board
• Events This Week
• Connect to Our Monthly Theme
• Last Sunday
• Connect to Our Larger Faith
• Caring Team

Always Use Your Best China . . .

Presented by Rev Charlie Dieterich

This is not a tale of magical bowls and enchanted chalices. This is a story about awareness, and subways. Come join the party.

BIO: After a first career as a television system designer, Charlie Dieterich changed directions, attended Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley California, and then interned for two years in New Orleans. He was ordained by UUCSJS on September 30, 2012, serving the congregation for three years. He then moved to Norfolk, VA and Erie, PA, then retired home to Kingston in central NJ. Although no longer a parish minister, Charlie remains active in the UU Trauma Response Ministry, uutrm.org.

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.

*Masks are currently optional at UUCSJS.

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

There is no doubt that refugees are coming into New Jersey in large numbers from all over the world -- Afghanistan, Syria, Africa, Latin America, and truly all over. More than ever before, and they need assistance in learning to live in the US.

Join UU Faith Action NJ on June 1st at 8pm on Zoom for a short presentation from both the Beacon/Summit congregation and the Princeton congregation about what they are doing for refugee support, and consider what our congregation might do. There will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions that could focus on what each specific congregation might be able to do.

More information can be found here: uufaithaction.org/event/immigration/

The Front Runner by Patricia Neil Warren

Harlan Brown is a tough, conservative track coach hiding from his past at a small college. Billy Sive is a brilliant young runner who is homosexual and doesn’t mind who knows it. When they fall in love, they enter a race against hate and prejudice which takes them to the ’76 Olympics and a shattering, shocking conclusion. With 10 million copies in seven languages, this landmark classic is the most popular gay love story of all time.

Meeting Friday, June 16th at 7:00 on ZOOM (www.tinyurl.com/uucsjszoom).

All are welcome to attend!

Questions: morellb@msn.com

The Greenlight Coffeehouse is making a comeback! We need people who are willing to make that happen. If you are interested, speak to Katy Cardwell or Deb Dagavarian.

We have been trying to plan an Emergency Evacuation Drill for several months. According to our Emergency Evacuation Action Plan we need twelve volunteers for the Evacuation Team. We now have eight congregants who have agreed to help us. We need four more people to volunteer before we can schedule this drill. Several years ago, we had a committee who wrote an action plan that really is quite concise. Our plan is to conduct a congregation drill at least twice a year. We are hoping to get more than twelve volunteers so we have alternate people that can step in if needed. If you can volunteer, please reach out to Marty Quish or Jessica Dunn Safonof.

UUCSJS will present a concert video of Craig Hella Johnson's choral oratorio, "Considering Matthew Shepard" during Pride Month. This year is the 25th anniversary of Shepard’s death, which captured national attention. This performance by the nation's first LGBTQ+ chorus, The Stonewall Chorale, was filmed on March 25th, 2023. The soaring musical work first premiered in 2016, and was nominated for a Grammy. The presentation will be followed by a discussion with the filmmaker, Colin Taber, who found himself captivated by this material and inspired to promote awareness of the piece and the work of The Stonewall Chorale. It will be presented on Friday, June 23, 2023 from 7:00-9:00 pm, in the UUCSJS sanctuary.

BIRTHING JUSTICE FILM

This is an 1hr 25m film which is currently available to view on PBS until 6/9/23 and may be available (www.birthingjustice.com) on other streaming sites.

The US is the only industrialized nation in the world where maternal mortality is rising. Black woman are three to five times more likely to die from pregnancy complications than white woman and 80% of those deaths are preventable.

This film addresses this national crisis by turning the spotlight on the progress being made by health initiatives and uplifting evidence-based practices to adopt more widely. The film offers solutions that can be implemented in communities across the country.

A limited number of grocery gift cards for Shoprite and Acme are available for purchase on Sunday morning. Proceeds from the sale of these cards benefit UUCSJS operating budget.

Please complete the following form using the link below to indicate your interest in purchasing cards and whether you would be interested in making regular purchases of these cards.

Do you love the arrangements you see on the chalice table each Sunday? Are you feeling creative? Sign up to bring floral or other arrangement for our chalice table!

Let Colby know ahead of time or text 609-442-0967 to schedule your arrangements.

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.

The Margaret Circle will meet on Thursday, June 1, at 1:00pm. The topic this month will be aphorisms, maxims, sayings, whatever name you give to expressions such as “a watched pot never boils.” Everyone is asked to bring in the ones they already know from their lives, and we will see how much of this folk wisdom we collectively carry. The Margaret Circle is open to all women of the congregation.

The theme of the month is Delight. Sometimes it gets buried by the messiness and busyness around us and we need to remember to open ourselves to delight. Here are some questions you can ask yourself to get started:

• What age has been most full of delight for you?
• What is the oddest thing you delight in?
• What summer activity delighted you most as a child?
• What word delights you when you say it?
• Has delight ever helped you survive something difficult?
• Have you faked delight in the past year?
• Do you have a story you delight in telling to others over and over again? (Maybe that you tell so much that your family rolls their eyes when you begin telling it again.) What role do you think these frequently told tales play in our lives?
• Who taught you the most about cultivating delight?

Check out these videos to help you with some inspiration.

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.

Fast-tracking the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) was included in the draft debt ceiling deal, the “Fiscal Responsibility Act,” along with other measures the People Versus Fossil Fuels (PVFF) coalition views as poison pills. Side With Love, UUSJ, and many other UU organizations are members of the People Versus Fossil Fuels coalition.

These proposed measures would roll back the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and strip social benefits for disadvantaged communities. These "sacrifice-zone" constituencies are asking PVFF to mobilize everyone possible to join in urging Congress to vote on a clean debt ceiling bill and reject these fossil-fueled poison pills.

Email your legislators — no special treatment for Mountain Valley Pipeline!

Call Leader Schumer and other Senators, urging them to vote for a clean debt ceiling bill.

Calls to Schumer: 866-961-4293

Calls to Senators from your state: 877-852-4710

Suggested Script:

Short version

"Hi __, I’m __ from __. As a person of faith, I urge you to please oppose the “Fiscal Responsibility Act” and pass a clean debt ceiling bill.”

Longer version

"Hi __, I’m __ from __. I'm calling as a person of faith to urge you to please oppose the “Fiscal Responsibility Act” and pass a clean debt ceiling bill that rejects all poison pills that would harm environmental justice communities, working families, and our climate.

I am part of an interfaith coalition that joins nearly 200 environmental & environmental justice organizations in calling on Congress to bring a clean debt bill for a vote.

The poison pills in the current deal would greenlight the climate-killing Mountain Valley Pipeline and roll back the National Environmental Policy Act, including provisions that limit public input on fossil fuel projects, and allow corporate polluters to effectively rubberstamp the projects they’re proposing. Exempting the Mountain Valley Pipeline from the law and judicial due process is unconscionable and sacrifices impacted communities. Gutting core environmental protections, slashing social safety nets, punishing the working class and forcing completion of the MVP must be rejected.

Harmful permitting legislation--like that negotiated by House Republicans and Pres. Biden--does not belong in debt ceiling negotiations.

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
• Helen Utts at (609) 338-3391 email: HelenUtts@aol.com
• Tony Zitelli at (201) 463-2800 email: happy85a@aol.com
• Barbara Morell at (215) 805-7599 email: morellb@msn.com
• Janet Longo at (609) 748-8608 email: jilportnj@comcast.net

Caring Team is looking for members who are willing to attend monthly Zoom meetings and help out when congregants are sick or suffering from hardships. Please contact Tracey Catino if you can join our confidential group.

Sunday Services 11 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

Mailing Address: PO Box 853, Pomona NJ 08240
Phone: (609) 965-9400
Facebook: facebook.com/uucsjs
Twitter: @UUCSJS