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Solstice Service with CUUPS December 20, 2020, at 10:00 a.m. (Online Only at facebook.com/uurockford)
CUUPs
Please join us for our annual solstice service this Sunday, December 20th. We will explore the different ways earth-centered spiritual practices inform our lives, and we will hear voices from many different traditions. Special guest speakers include members of the Rockford CUUPs organization. Come, celebrate the return of the sun with us!
Happy Birthday to: Renee Ekedahl (12/09), Jill Gnesda (12/10), Rhea Overley (12/10), Victoria DeLaRosa (12/11), & David Black (12/15) Leslie Mills (12/16), Mike Ullrich (12/16), James Callahan (12/17), Jennifer Hartzog (12/17), Theresa Parrish (12/18), & Misha Sanders (12/21)!
Share the Plate with MELD
Rockford MELD’s Mission is “guiding young parents to build a strong family and lead a responsible life by providing shelter, education and life skills training”. Through our programs and services MELD offers support and resources, life and job skills training, parenting information, emergency shelter and housing. MELD provides programs for young parents and their children in our community. Click here to donate.
Please note that because of a wrong switch we shared the plate with CASA Sunday, Dec. 13. We will share the plate with MELD Sunday, December 20.
From the Caring Team:
Our condolences to the family of Gretchen Ericson, a new member of our church, who died December 9 at SwedishAmerican Hospital. Gretchen and her husband, Eric, are longtime Rockford residents who joined our church community just six months ago. Her obituary was published Sunday in the Rockford Register Star and can be found on the Fitzgerald Funeral Home website.
Former Rockford UU Daphne Cooper is recuperating from hip surgery and would appreciate hearing from her church friends. Daphne and her late husband, Morgan, were members here for many years. After Morgan died, Daphne moved east to be near family. Her daughters report that overall Daphne is doing well. Her address is: Episcopal Church Home
Unit 4 North
505 Mt. Hope Ave.
Rochester, NY 14620
We are pleased to announce that our Ministerial Intern, Omega Burckhardt, met with the Ministerial Formation Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Association last Saturday. Omega passed the interview and will be granted Preliminary Fellowship contingent upon completion of the internship with us this upcoming May. We celebrate with her!
The Ministerial Internship Committee
Winnebago County CASA assists over 300 children in our area as they navigate the juvenile justice system. That’s a great thing and we are proud of our work! The concern is that there’s 1,200 children in need of a CASA, so we just have to do more! If you have a little bit of time, and a big heart, attend this virtual ZOOM meeting and learn about the work we do, how you can help and the changes you can make in a child’s life – and your own! Join us on Dec. 16th at 7 p.m. Zoom ID: 337-267-3668
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5662364814 Meeting ID: 566 236 4814
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The First UU Rockford Annual Winter
Pandemic On-Line Auction / Marketplace / Art Fair
12 Artists, 33 art items for sale. You cannot see them in the Narthex after church, but you can see and shop for them on our auction website. www.auctria.com/auction/UUwinterauction
Four artists. Four streaming events in January. Timing is set for 5:00pm Sunday evening. You can enjoy a concert experience during your cocktail hour before dinner.
We will send you streaming information. You will be able to watch on your computer. If you can access You Tube on your TV, you might get a larger picture and better sound.
Thank You so very, very much for your enthusiastic participation.
Prison Industrial Complex 101:Virtual Training Saturday, January 16, 2021, 10:00am – 11:30pm CST
and
Saturday, January 23, 2021, 10:00am – 11:30pm CST Register here
It’s easy to feel helpless in the face of the racial and economic injustice in our society. This is an opportunity to learn and reflect on what we can do to change it. This workshop is intended to challenge participants towards growth and inspire ongoing work and action. During workshop participants will have the opportunity to:
Examine the prison industrial complex root: its reach, impact and our ability to transform it.
Connect Unitarian Universalist (UU) values to the work to divest from prisons and police and invest in building new systems of safety, healing, and accountability.
Build connections with organizations engaged in prisoner solidarity and restorative justice.
Learn about the UU Prison Ministry and how your congregation or community can support our work.
UU Annual MELD Donation Collection (with a 2020 twist) We are collecting items to be donated to Rockford MELD again this year. Rockford MELD, a non-profit social service agency, started in 1981. The organization provides programs and services for young parents and their children in the Rockford community. MELD offers emergency shelter and housing, parenting information, life and job skills training, support, resources, and prevention education.
This year, you can follow the link below to an Amazon wish list that contains items that the women have requested. You can choose to purchase as many items from the list as you’d like by adding them to your cart. When choosing your shipping address, select Terry Lynch’s Gift Registry Address. Then proceed with your payment method as usual. The selected items will be shipped to the person at MELD that is coordinating the donations. We hope this twist on our traditional donation collection at the church will be just as successful as years past. Questions can be directed to Lindsay Dunn, Director of Religious Education. Thank you so much for your support!
Ideally, gifts would be received by Friday, December 18. Thank you!
*ZOOM Church Calendar*
Most “all church” events will be 337-267-3668. This is the Personal Meeting
ID for “Thomas Kerr,” our online identity (and the minister from 1870-1900,
who used all the new technology of his time to reach those he
served). Generally, there will be a waiting room and the host will need to
admit you.
– Coffee Hour on Sunday. 337-267-3668. 11:10 am. Chris will
be host.
– Touchstones: contact your touchstones group facilitator for the time
and meeting ID, if you don’t already have it.
– Caring Team Meeting – The first Tuesday of each month at 6 pm. ID 337-267-3668
Want to have a group – a book group, a parent group, a “circle supper”, or
whatever you like? You can create a free Zoom account (40-minute limit,
though often waived by zoom at minute 35). Or, you can use “Thomas Kerr’s”
– just email Autumn atoffice@uurockford.organd she can give you the login
and password.
Literature Link for Dec 13 about apocal-optimiist. What’s Next?
• Rebecca Solnit on Hope in Dark Times, Resisting the Defeatism of Easy Despair. “This is an extraordinary time full of vital, transformative movements that could not be foreseen. It’s also a nightmarish time. Full engagement requires the ability to perceive both.” This commentary , with many links, was too engrossing not to include:https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/03/16/rebecca-solnit-hope-in-the-dark-2/
