Lammas August 1, 2021, at 10:00 a.m.Onlineand In-Person Rev. Dr. Matthew Johnson Lammas is the Celtic holiday celebrating the first summer harvest; it comes midway between the Summer Solstice and the Fall Equinox – August 1st. As we begin a month on the topic of “Communion,” the Lammas holiday invites us to rethink our relationship with the land, the food we eat, and the earth we share. Lammas moves us from scarcity to gratitude and from greed to justice. Come, let us be thankful, and let us feed each other.
Or just email me at uurockrev@gmail.com and let me know and I’ll put you in the system for that day.
Thank you!
Happy Birthday to: Scott Aaseng (07/27), Paul Runestad (07/28), Laura Patterson (07/28), David Zinn (07/29), Shiraz Tata (07/29), Sonia Vogl (07/31), Tim Anderson (07/31), Nancy Holstrum (08/01), Ray DeGennaro (08/01), Jason Peckels (08/02), & Steven Hall (08/03)!
A celebration of life service will be held for Vid Pandya on July 31st at 2:00 p.m. at church. Masks are required.
I’m really excited about the proposal to expand our Woodsong School, which you will vote to approve on Sunday at a special congregation meeting.
We began the Woodsong School three years ago with the hope that we would serve a key need in our community (nature-based preschool for 2-year-olds), that we might attract young families to the church, that we could use the tuition to provide more hours to our employees, and that we would break-even, or even bring in extra revenue for the overall church budget. Despite challenges from the pandemic, we have met these goals.
We can serve 16 children at a time, and we are fully enrolled for both the current summer session and the school-year session. We would add a two-day option to the existing three-day option. This would serve all our additional goals: more children learning to love nature, more families connected to the church’s people and grounds, more hours for our employees, and – if things go well, more revenue for the church.
Thus, we need your approval, conditional on at least eight children enrolled in the two-day option before beginning:
To increase line 42011, Woodsong Tuition, by $22,160; this represents the full 16 children enrolled in the 3-day program and at least 8 in the 2-day program.
To increase line 531-Woodsong supplies, by $930.
To increase line 514, Woodsong Co-Director/RE Assistant by 20,703.32, representing an additional 16/hrs/week, and attendant benefits (including adding Health Insurance) for Lauren Smith.
Net change to the overall budget is +$526. We anticipate more than 8 children in the two-day program which would mean additional revenue for the church to use for mission and ministry, but the amendment covers the minimal number needed to “break even.”
The finance committee has approved this proposal, and the board will vote tomorrow. Having the congregation approve it (which you must do since the change is more than 2% of the operating budget) quickly allows us to start signing children up now when interest for the fall is high.
You may be wondering how this affects hours and duties for Lindsay and Lauren. Lindsay is already full-time. She’ll pick up 8 additional hours of Woodsong time, and transfer 8 hours of RE time to Lauren. Lauren is currently at 16hrs/week (12 for Woodsong, four for RE). She’ll add 8 hours of Woodsong time and those 8 hours of RE time, bringing her to 32hrs/week. Lauren helps with all the parts of the RE program – the nursery, Our Whole Lives, training and recruitment, and planning – and will be able to do more. She and Lindsay make a great team and complement each other’s skills very well, so this will be a great arrangement.
Please plan to stay after the service for the meeting. If you are joining us on zoom, we’ll use “Thomas Kerr’s Personal Meeting Room” for the meeting. Click here:https://zoom.us/j/3372673668at that time.
In faith,
Matthew
Our August Justice Theme
Each month, we will have a justice theme at the church. You’ll find that the Wonderful Wednesday programs, the Share The Plate selections, and the preaching will relate to this theme. For August, when our Touchstone’s Theme is “Communion”, our Justice theme is “Food Justice.” Food Justice is about what we grow and raise, and how, and who eats, and how and what. It is deeply intimate and highly political. It will raise questions for you about how you live – and, for many of us, lead us to think about things like diets and body shapes. But that’s not what it is about (indeed the diet industry is very much the opposite of food justice). It is about health – ours, others, and the planet we share together.
You’ll read below about an exciting Wonderful Wednesday we have to kick off this month. We’ll also be using our share the plate this week and next for our longtime partners at Cornucopia Food Pantry – and Myrna Lake will thereafter service to sign you up to get involved in helping there if you are interested.
I hope you will engage this theme with us here at the church, and consider what it might mean in your life.
In faith,
Matthew
Wonderful Wednesday, Aug 4th
The land, the food, the people
Join us at Owl’s Roost Farm, owned and operated by church members Allyson and Jack Rosemore, on Wednesday, August 4th, for our first Wonderful Wednesday of the 2021-2022 church year. Allyson will provide a tour of the farm, and discuss the current state of small-scale sustainability agricultural, mutual aid networks, and how our values are connected to how we grow and each our food. There will be ideas about how you might get involved in the work of Food Justice – our August justice theme.
We will have a Bring Your Own picnic dinner at the Farm beginning at 6:15, and the program will begin at 7. Feel free to come to both or just the program.
The farm is not far from the church – right off Guilford Road, just east of Alpine. Here are instructions about parking. If you’re able, please park in the neighborhood behind the farm on Norwich or Saratoga streets then walk to the dead end of Saratoga St and enter the farm on the path through the trees (follow the green markings on the map). Folks who need to park closer can come up the driveway for 5180 Guilford Rd until you see the garden (follow the dark red markings on the map).
Memorials are beginning again and we need volunteers
This is the most rewarding volunteer work I do. An opportunity to be of service and show final respect to our members. We need Greeters and Ushers, Deale Hall set up,food tray set up, Make coffee, Serve coffee -Punch, Clean up, dishwasher, help with flowers, callers for donations of finger food, and people to make/provide food,
If you are interested please contact Teresa Palmeno,teresacecelia52@gmail.comor text to 8159881763 Thank You. Memorial Service co-chairs are Sue Wilke, Linda Spelman, and Teresa Palmeno
General Assembly 2021: UUA President’s Report
President Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray outlined three priorities for 2021-22.
First, support of our member congregations during the ongoing pandemic. The association provides support for multi-platform ministry.
Second, implement the report of the Commission on Institutional Change entitled, Widening the Circle of Concern. This includes a 5-year implementation schedule based on the “speed of trust.” This is documented in an 18-page .pdf at:
This 41-page document plus the Widening the Circle of Concern book are available free at the UUA’s website.
Third, strengthening our country’s democracy in this divisive culture. We need to learn skills to constructively engage people with conflicting views.
Submitted by Teresa Wilmot
Social Justice Updates
Eliminate Racism 815 2021 Book and Film Series
Book Discussion
Thursday July 29, 2021 6:00 p.m.
Join us by zoom for a discussion of Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad: A Resource for white people who want to change but don’t know where to begin. It shows how to move from your head to your heart while doing this important work.
Please read the book on your own and we will discuss it.
Book discussions are presented in partnership with Rockford Public Library.
Film Discussion
Friday, August 13, 2021, 6 p.m. Ida B Wells: A Passion for Justice: Documents the dramatic life of the pioneering African American journalist, activist, suffragist, and anti-lynching crusader of the post-Reconstruction period. Join Zoom Meeting here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81211275487 The film discussions are presented in partnership with Tony Turner of Conscious Coaching, The Baha’i Community of the Rockford Area, and the Rockford Public Library.
Literature Link for July 24 about prison, love, and mercy
•No Time Like the Present by Jack Kornfield. Here is the book from which Rev. Allison Furman read an excerpt this Sunday. “Renowned for his mindfulness practices and meditations, through his signature warmhearted, poignant, often funny stories, with their Aha moments and O. Henry-like outcomes, Jack shows how we get stuck and how we can free ourselves, wherever we are and whatever our circumstances.” [public library] For a review, click here: https://www.amazon.com/No-Time-Like-Present-Finding/dp/1451693699
• Daniel Borzutzky is best known for his political works that reflect the common struggles of immigrants experiencing poverty and prejudice from those around him. According to Borzutzky, The Performance of Becoming Human is the third installment in a series of books on “how humans survive amid the worst types of state and social violence”. He is the winner of the National Book award for 2016.
Here is a 4.26 minute video of him reading a short excerpt. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVlfcgWw2Pg
• “If we are ever to heal” by Anonymous. “even a tiny flame can defeat the dark” Click on the right side of the image to go to the next page. (It’s a little Jesus-y at the end but worth the read). https://commaful.com/play/thislittlelight/if-we-ever-are-to-heal/
Online Q&A with Police Chief Candidates
July 28 @ 5:00 pm
ONLINE Q AND A WITH CHIEF CANDIDATES: The Fire and Police Commission is hosting two Moderated Virtual Community Question and Answer Forums for our Chief candidates.
Police Candidates – Wednesday, July 28, at 5 p.m.
Fire Candidates – Wednesday, August 4, at 5 p.m.
These web-based forums will offer members of the public the opportunity to ask Police Chief and Fire Chief candidates questions about their backgrounds and plans for the department if they are hired. IOS, the consulting firm hired to help the Commission with the hiring process, is asking community members to submit questions to the email addresses listed below by midnight on July 22. IOS will compile these questions and present them to the candidates during the live, virtual forums.
Fire Chief: RockfordFD@iosolutions.com
Police Chief: RockfordPD@iosolutions.com
*Church Calendar*
-Justice for All Meeting will meet on August 8th at 11:10 a.m. in the Conference Room
-Social Justice Committee will meet on September 8th at 7:00 p.m. in the Library
– Coffee Hour on Sunday Zoom 337-267-3668. 11:10 am.
– Touchstones: contact your touchstones group facilitator for the time, if you don’t already have it.
– Caring Team Meeting – The first Tuesday of each month
The next one is Tuesday, August 3 at 6 pm in the Library
-Membership Team Meetingsare on the 1st Thursday of the month at 7 pm. Meeting ID: 980 2780 4780
The Unitarian Universalist Church, Rockford, IL | 4848 Turner St., Rockford, IL 61107 | 815-398-6322 | uurockford.org |
