UUCSJS Midweek Message

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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

Creativity and Connection

Jessica Dunn Safonof, UUCSJS Director of Religious Education

"The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need those who can dream of things that never were." (John Keats) Bring your doubts, your worries, and your insecurities to this all-ages makerspace service. Creativity can be difficult when done alone and the world's problems look so big. The secret to creative self-expression? Staying connected to each other! So join us for a service of problem-solving, creativity, and community building.

BIO: Jessica Dunn-Safonof has been a member of UUCSJS for 10 years and has served our congregation in many ways, including as an RE volunteer, RE Committee Chair, and as Secretary of the Board. She worked as a mental health case manager in children's residential treatment facilities before leaving that field to homeschool her children. She has been the Director of Religious Education at UUCSJS since 2018.

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.

Deb Dagavarian is putting together another Poetry Service! If you are interested in reading one or two poems – your own or someone else’s – please contact Debbi as soon as possible. Show off your creativity!

We will hold Blue Jean Sunday THIS SUNDAY, May 7th, right after the service. The work needed includes dusting, scrubbing, windows, yard work, and mulch spreading. Folks who are comfortable with heights are needed to help with some tall items. Contact Barbara Miller or Richard Schurig for more information. There will be NO Coffee Hour that week but lunch will be provided to the volunteers.

Due to a recent family situation I am looking for folks to take over running Coffee Hour for the foreseeable future. My time is going to be scattered between care-taking, home, a full time job and my current contractual obligations to UUCSJS. It isn't complicated and I will be glad to share information for those willing to pitch in. Anyone who is interested please contact Richard in person at service or: 609-782-1335 (text preferred) or @ r.schurig2007@comcast.net.

Yard Work and Lawn Mowing: Looking for folks to help with this. As mentioned above my time is at a premium for a while. Depending on the growing season mowing and trimming is on an as-needed basis and if things grow a bit long here and there the foragers will be grateful.

Parking restrictions! Due to the current soggy areas on both sides of the driveway please do not park there for the time being. A car got stuck there two weeks ago and ruts are being left due to the marsh-like conditions. Folks are welcome to park in the driveway parallel to the grassy areas.

Wanted: A gently used card table. See Richard S. Thanks.

A huge shout out to Helen Utts and Janet Longo for gracing our chalice table with floral arrangements in the month of April. Thank you so much.

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.

Due to various conflicts, last month’s BOOK CLUB was canceled – sad news. But now the GOOD NEWS !!!! We will be doing two books in May !!!! Pretty sure we can handle it and there is actually kind of a connection between both books.

FRESH WATER FOR FLOWERS by Valerie Perrin

Violette Toussaint is the caretaker at a cemetery in a small town in Bourgogne. Her life is lived to the predictable rhythms of the often funny, always moving confidences that casual mourners, regular visitors, and sundry colleagues share with her. Violette’s routine is disrupted by the arrival of Julien Sole – local police chief –and their lives intertwine. Judy Pereira will lead discussion.

THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY by Matt Haig

Between life and death there is a library. When Nora Seed finds herself there, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels that she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change. Marsha Hannah will lead discussion.

We will be meeting Friday, May 19, at 7:00 pm on ZOOM (www.tinyurl.com/uucsjszoom) .

All are welcome and encouraged to attend. Questions: Barb Morell

The Greenlight Coffeehouse is making a comeback! We need people who are interested in making that happen.

For those of you who don’t know what the Greenlight Coffeehouse was, it was a one-Friday-a-month evening at the UU Center offering entertainment for UUs and the general public. We drew musicians, poets, and comics from all over the area to come and entertain whoever was there. Candle lights on tables (the LED kind), and we served coffee, tea, and light snacks. It was fun and a chance for anyone to sing, dance, speak, or whatever – all in front of an appreciative audience.

Anyone who wants to talk about this and bring it to fruition, please come to a planning meeting on Sunday on May 21st, after the service. We need your thoughts!

The last Circle Dinner of the Spring will be held on June 3rd. Sign-ups will begin this Sunday, April 30th , and continue until May 21st. If there is enough interest another dinner will be scheduled for the Fall.

Sign-up sheets along with a complete description are available at the back table in the Sanctuary. In brief, dinners are generally 8 people. Each couple, or singles grouped as a twosome, are assigned a course. Hosts hold the dinner in their home and provide an appetizer. Other assignments are Main Course, Salad and Bread, Dessert.

The schedule with course assignments will go out shortly after the May 21st deadline. You may also sign up my emailing mariet@comcast.net , be sure to include your name, preferred email, address, and phone number.

Circle dinners are a great away for newer members and friends to get to know us in a fun, relaxed atmosphere. The feedback from the dinners has been very positive. Please consider joining us.

Marie Taylor

Did you know nearly 7,000,000 adult Americans are in jail or prison, or are on parole or probation, while more than 40,000 young people are wasting away in juvenile detention?

Now is the time to obtain your copy of Defunding Fear by Zach Norris, and possibly start reading. However, the discussion concerning this book will not take place until the third Sunday in June after the service. This is a UU common read. Jess has ordered three copies which can be borrowed.

We would like to thank everyone who participated in the time change survey for Sunday services. The Board will meet next week to discuss the results. In the meantime, we will continue the 11am start time through the month of May.

Marty Quish

President, UUCSJS Board of Trustees

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.

Margaret Circle will meet on Thursday, May 4th at 1:00 pm. Think about a time when your gender delineated your treatment in life and your intimate decisions. How did this manifest itself? Were you comfortable with it or not? We will discuss these ideas when we meet again. All women of the congregation are welcome to attend!

In the videos below, various artistic types talk about how their art has led them to view life in a unique way. And how viewing it that way has offered them some kind of comfort or challenge.

This week, set aside some time to watch the videos and discern which artist and which artist’s worldview you resonate with the most. Which of their “artistic eyes” capture how you see life, or how you want to see life?

• The Storyteller: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qRfiWVW3yQ
• The Painter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scDF8eIfoNs
• The Stitcher: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EITLA0fvx0I
• The Folder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ch25z9om5w
• The One Who Couldn’t Read: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK18ez9Sapc
• The Tinkerer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NA6lX6OglY

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.

Unitarian Universalists unequivocally support the right and access to abortion care for all. Our faith tradition calls us to advocate and fight for reproductive justice, and all reproductive health care, including access to abortion care, for everyone.

We stand firm in our opposition to any legislation or judicial decision that interferes with private reproductive health care decisions. We should all be free to exercise our right to bodily autonomy. These decisions should be made by individuals and their trusted medical professionals, without interference from legislators or judges.

We know that the recent decision by the North Texas U.S. District Court to block the use of mifepristone, a FDA approved medication that has been used safely for over 20 years, and in over 60 countries, is a blatant attempt to usurp the right to make our own reproductive health care choices. While this case works its way through the appeal process we know that opponents of abortion care will stop at nothing to impose their will on the rest of the nation.

We also know that the people who are most adversely impacted by this decision, and all of the many restrictions on abortion care that have been put in place since the Dobbs decision are those with the least access to care. The most vulnerable, people who are uninsured or underinsured, BIPOC & Indigenous people, young people, and our rural neighbors are the ones for whom abortion access is often impossible. It is our moral duty as Unitarian Universalists to speak out against these discriminatory policies and to advocate for change.

The UU FaithAction Reproductive Justice Task Force stands in solidarity with all who are working for a future where reproductive justice is available for all.

This is a rapidly changing situation, and we continue to closely monitor developments. Please be on the lookout for an Action Alert from the Reproductive Justice Task Force, as we are partnering with other reproductive justice organizations to determine our next steps.

Sincerely,

Jami Thall & Carol A. Loscalzo

Reproductive Justice Task Force Co-Chairs

reprojustice@uufaithaction.org

Rev. Charles Loflin

Executive Director

charles@uufaithaction.org

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