UUCSJS Midweek Message

• Call to Action
• Caring Team
• Announcements
• Explore Our Monthly Theme
  
• Notes from the Board
• Events This Week
• This Sunday
• Last Sunday
• Connect to Our Faith

Dear congregation,

June 12 at 0815 will be our first road cleanup under my watch. Please consider joining us before the service to help keep our sides of the road clean. Gloves, safety vests, grabber tools and bags will be provided.

Thank you,

Nancy Watson

Volunteer to be a worship associate! Contact Colby Tippins today!

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
• Barbara Morell at (215) 805-7599 email: morellb@msn.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.

Now that we are into spring, and summer, let’s lift our spirits with displays of flowers in our view as we worship together. Many of you have access to flowers from your yards, or can purchase them, and might like to take a turn arranging them on our chalice table. Colby Tippins has created a simple way to do this: Sign up for a Sunday of your choice on the signup sheet at the back of the sanctuary. In the event that no one has taken a particular Sunday, Colby will continue to put plastic flowers from our collection on the table. We hope that many of you will use this opportunity to enhance our Sunday experience.

On May 22, following the service, we invite all who are new to our congregation to a special gathering. The purpose is to get to know each other better, and to help you to learn enough about us that you no longer feel new. After we introduce ourselves, we plan to speak to the following:

• How do we plan to run Church without a minister?
• Some bits and pieces from our proud history.
• What is our current social outreach?
• Ways that you can become involved in the life of our congregation.
• How does one become a member?

We will begin as soon as we can in the sanctuary. We promise to go no longer than 90 minutes. We will take a short break during the program and sandwiches will be available. Afterwards, you can choose to take a tour of the building if you can stay a little longer.

If you would like to attend, please respond to the RSVP box below.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Betsy Searight and Judy Pereira

Membership Committee

“Will I be pretty?” It’s more than a song whose tune is stuck in our heads. For so many of us, it’s a burden stuck in our skin. One can’t talk of nurturing beauty without addressing the way our culture distorts and disrupts our relationship with our bodies and souls.

Poet Katie Makkai takes this head on in her poem "Pretty." In it, she unfolds the challenge of reclaiming and transforming the call to be “pretty.”

After listen to Makkai read the poem below, you are invited to turn her call into a spiritual exercise by completing one (or maybe all) of these sentences:

• “I am most proud of the fact that I am pretty ____________.”
• “I hope my child knows they are pretty ____________.”
• “I love my partner because they are pretty _____________.”
• “I never knew I was pretty _____________ until ____________ helped me realize it.”
• “The moment I realized I could be pretty ____________ was when I ____________.”
• “I still want to become pretty ______________.”

(from Soul Matters)

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 FIVE WOUNDS BY KIRSTIN VALDEZ QUADE

The Five Wounds is a miraculous debut novel from a writer whose stories have been hailed as “legitimate masterpieces” (New York Times). Kirstin Valdez Quade conjures characters that will linger long after the final page, bringing to life their struggles to parent children they may not be equipped to save.

Book club will meet on Friday, May 20th at 7:00 pm on ZOOM (www.tinyurl.com/uucsjszoom)

Everyone is welcome to join in the discussion or just listen. Diane Dreby will lead the discussion.

June selection is THE ADDRESS BOOK by Deidre Mask

Study of Dragonflies and Damselflies – Saturday, May 21

Offered by Mike Hannisian and Nancy Watson, both nationally known experts and photographers on this subject, and members of our congregation.

• The first session of the day , from 10:00 to 12:00, held at the UU Center, will be an illustrated introduction to the subject.
• The second session will be from 1:00 to 3:00 - a field trip at a small pond in Port Republic. Wear boots and bring small focus binoculars if you have them.

You may select each session singly or select them both. Cost is $25 for each, and $40 for both.

To purchase one or both of these everts: Contact Betsy Searight, or visit the signup sheet in the back corner of the Sanctuary and follow the instructions.

Guest Speaker Dr. Marcia Fiedler

What they want us to "hear" (Midrash - Rabbinical/Religious/Patriarchal Commentary); what they want us to "see" (various English translations - what is added, what is missing); what they want us to "think" as a result of what we hear and read. Listen to the original Hebrew Biblical Text. Read the literal translations from the original Hebrew Biblical Text. Come to your own conclusion.

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.

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.

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