NEW WEB ADDRESS!
We now have a new web address: www.uumtairy.org. Please bookmark it in your browser and begin using it. For the time being, both websites will work and will look the same. If you are composing an email to any of the people with a @uurestoration.us email account, you may now use @uumtairy.org instead but either address will work until some time later in the year.
COVID Protocols
Our COVID risk level has been Severe for weeks, since mid-December. We are just now approaching the Very High risk level, and we may even determine we are back to the High level within a few weeks, when we could be able to have up to 25 in the Sanctuary. Keep an eye out for this e-newsletter to see when it will be possible for us to start seeing each other in person on Sunday mornings again!WORDS OF INSPIRATION |
Upcoming Worship Services
January 30 - Intentions for a New Year February 6 - James Cone was Right |
From Our Minister
Water flows over these hands. May I use them skillfully to preserve our precious planet. – Thich Nhat Hahn
Friends, we'll visit the Buddhist spaces in our congregation this Sunday as part of our "Living with Intention" theme. What intentions are you bringing into the new year, either the year that starts on Jan. 1st, the Lunar New Year, or the year that starts on whatever anniversary you choose. What words or mantras guide you?
We'll go over some of the upcoming changes to our church life together: where to find information, what to get involved in, what re-reopening will look like. It's a good way to start out the final year and a half of our 200th Anniversary celebration.
Bring your mindfulness, a prayer mat if you want, and a sense of possibility to service on Sunday. As UU congregations all across the world will gather again remotely from the safety and comfort of the couch or chair to start again the Building of Beloved Community, one prayer at a time. This one is an adapted version of our well known Buddhist chant:
May I be well, happy, and peaceful.
May my teachers be well, happy, and peaceful.
May my relatives be well, happy, and peaceful.
May my friends be well, happy, and peaceful
May the indifferent persons be well, happy, and peaceful.
May the unfriendly persons be well, happy, and peaceful.
May all beings be well, happy, and peaceful.
May it be so.
See you soon,
love,
Rev. McKinley
One on Ones with Rev. McKinley
McKinley is back off of parental leave and would love to hear what's going on in your life! Please reach out to meet, ask questions, share photos of Baby G, or anything else. The cold of winter is a perfect time to be warmed by connection. Call, text, email, or leave a voicemail if you'd like to meet.Change for Change: January
Moms Bonded by Grief: This is a support group that brings kids and parents in families affected by gun violence together who need the support of others that share their experience.
WHERE: The Dixon Settlement House 1920 S 20th Street Philadelphia, PA 19145
WHEN: Every Tuesday TIME: 6:00 pm-7:45 pm
Instagram: momsbondedby
Facebook: Moms Bonded By Grief Support Group
https://www.traumasurvivorsnetwork.org/trauma_centers/76-thomas-jefferson-university-hospital/resources/1225
Linking to the Worship Service
Reminder that there are two ways to watch worship:Click the blue "Live Streaming" arrow on the homepage of this website: www.uurestoration.us
The Zoom link that will be opened after the service has been changed because security protocols on their end. Look at the email from Desi for the new link and the new password.
Need help with Zoom?
Here's an old tutorial video: https://youtu.be/QKgQHtc7REc
Here's helpful tips:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIkCmbvAHQQ&feature=youtu.be
Here's more helpful info: https://zoom.us/resources
Need more: Email McKinley.
UPCOMING EVENTS |
| Beginning January 30 — |
N'COBRA Reparations Workshop Series: Every Other Sunday, starting January 30, 1-3pm, in person and via Zoom
N'COBRA (The National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America, which Wayne B and Cynthia B are members of), the Philadelphia branch, is offering to us at UUs of Mt Airy a series of 6 workshops on Reparations and cultural competence, which will start on Sunday, January 30, and continue every other Sunday, from 1-3pm. They will happen in person, in the Sanctuary if possible, but will also be accessible via Zoom in a hybrid format. The tentative schedule is as follows:
DATE TIME TOPIC
Jan 30th 1pm - 3pm Introduction, by N’COBRA PHL: PHL Principles, Pedagogy, & Practice
Feb 13th 1pm - 3pm Why Reparations?: “The Maangamizi” Crimes Against Humanity
Feb 27th 1pm - 3pm What does Reparations look like for Black America?
Mar 13th 1pm - 3pm Establishing a PHL Reparations Commission: The State of Philadelphia
Mar 27th 1pm - 3pm Supporting the Reparations Movement! Be an ally/co-conspirator
Apr10th 1pm - 3pm Reflections & Next Steps
Anyone interested is invited to come, preferably if you can commit to coming to all of the sessions if possible. If you would like to participate in person this Sunday, please contact Bruce at 215-688-8747. The Board will decide over the weekend how many in-person participants makes sense. Please spread the word, and we look forward to seeing you there! Mark your calendar!
N'COBRA Resources to Prepare for Training Workshops Starting in January
When we met with Rashaun Williams from N'COBRA PHL on November 21, he indicated that the best preparation for the workshops would be to look at the N'COBRA PHL website: https://ncobraphl.org/about-ncobra/. Take a look at their agenda and some of the other tabs on the website to get a feel for their mission and approach. It is quite impressive and thorough. If you are interested in other resources that would be good background, the following Google Sheet has resources that were mentioned by Minister Ari Merretazon in earlier meetings. To help each other get the benefit of each other's research, you can indicate which of the items you have already read/viewed by putting your initials in front of it (without parentheses), and for those you would like to commit to reading before January 23, you can put your initials in parentheses: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1a5Y7IsxzTEv5cuy-dTktc_7G_J7SLFDT5g2nfRNHDe4/edit?usp=sharing
| Beginning Saturday, February 5 — |
Dinners for 8th Conversations on Covenant
Dinners for 8th Conversations on Covenant: Please Sign Up by This WeekendYour 8th Principle Team invites you to participate in at least one of our conversations about Covenant in a number of "Dinners for 8th"-style gatherings on weekends in February.
The dates will be:
Sat. 2/5, 2/29, 2/26 afternoon (1-3pm, maybe including food before if COVID allows) and
Fri. 2/25 and Sat. 2/26 from 7-9pm (again possibly including food before).
Please let us know all of those time slots that could work for you - each person will attend only 1, but we want to try to balance the numbers, so knowing your availabilities will make that more possible. The easiest way to indicate your availabilities would be to enter them on this Google Sheet. Click on the link, enter your name in the left column, and type in "Y" for each slot you are available for, "N" fore ach you're not, and possibly "?" if you're not sure. What you enter should save automatically, but you can click on the circle arrow (Refresh) if you want to be sure. If that is too complicated, just send an email to Bruce or call him at 215-688-8747 to say which slots work for you. We look forward to sharing together!
| Wednesday, February 16 — |
Book Discussion: The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
Wednesday, February 16 at 7:30pm
We will be discussing the book The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich (Little, Brown Book Group, 2020) on Wednesday, February 16, at 7:30pm. Here is a description: Based on the extraordinary life of National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich’s grandfather who worked as a night watchman and carried the fight against Native dispossession from rural North Dakota all the way to Washington, D.C., this powerful novel explores themes of love and death with lightness and gravity and unfolds with the elegant prose, sly humor, and depth of feeling of a master craftsman. If you need link information or would like a copy of the book, contact Fern C.
If you have any other questions, or would like to see supplementary resources related to the book, contact Fern or Bruce! If you have any other questions, contact Bruce!
NEWS AND INFORMATION |
Pledge Drive Committee
It’s 2022 and we have entered the second half of our program year. It is time to begin the process of ensuring the continuing health and growth of this community by creating a pledge drive committee. This will be our third year of conducting the Stewardship Campaign while concurrently dealing with the global pandemic. It is frustrating to not be able to be together to celebrate the fine work of this congregation and to dream and plan together for the years ahead. But we will find ways to celebrate. We will share exciting and hopeful dreams for our future. Moving into our third century as a congregation we will work to bring our Mission and Vision into reality right here in Mount Airy. The monies that we pledge will go to sustain our building and pay our wonderful minister and staff but also will support the work that we want to do to bring our 8 principles to life in our world and neighborhood. The Finance Committee is looking for a few individuals ready to organize the campaign. Here is a list of the tasks for the Pledge Drive Team:UUsMA Pledge Committee Tasks
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Set Campaign Goals Develop Campaign Slogan and Theme Determine Methods Used in Campaign Personal Congregational Combination Personal & Congregational |
Develop, Prepare and Deliver Kick-Off Presentation Prepare and Mail Pledge Package (may include volunteer recruitment) Follow Up and Updates Newsletter submissions Outreach Encouragement/Cheerleading |
Calling Lay Pastoral Care Volunteers!
We need two kinds of folks for the two groups that will help reconnect and reform our merry band of good-trouble-makers and freethinkers!- The first group: Are you feeling pulled to connect with and care for the folks in our congregation? Are you willing to reach out by phone, text or email once a month? If so, contact McKinley to be part of the reconstituted Care Callers team. No training necessary for these roles. You'll help connect those of us we don't see on Sundays with the wider congregation.
- The second group: If you are moved to receive some deeper training to make pastoral care visits of congregants in hospitals or at home, please reach out to get signed up for the Lay Pastoral Support team. This is a more in-depth practice that involves some specific skills and techniques. You'll be helping Rev. McKinley respond to and care for folks in crisis and through grieving times.
Music Director Search Committee Seeks Your Help
The Music Director Search Committee needs everyone's help in getting the word out! It's a busy time of year, and we're competing with lots of other searches. Anything you can do to help with publicity will be appreciated, whether it's posting on Facebook, contacting a musician you know, or talking with friends who may have connections. You'll find the job description HERE.— Thanks, Len
Final Name, Tagline, Mission, and Vision!
We have finalized our new name, Tagline, Mission, and Vision! The Board approved the last two items, the Mission and Vision, at its meeting Sunday. CLICK HERE to see the final wording of each of them. Thanks to the Name Change Committee for all of its hard work, to Harald G for some helpful suggestions that went into the final version of the Vision, and to all of us for taking the time to gradually clarify who we are and discern who we want to be! Congratulations to all of us - we did a lot of good, hard work! We now have a foundation for moving forward, and can use this base as we discuss the Widening the Circle workshops and ideas for our future at our Town Hall Meeting on November 28 after the worship service.What's the Deal with the Name of this Place?
On February 28, 2021, the congregation voted to change its name from the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Restoration to Unitarian Universalists of Mt. Airy. This was the culmination of a four-and-a-half-year process that began in 2017, included two congregational surveys (that yielded over 40 suggested names and many comments); many Town Hall Meetings/Listening Sessions/Congregational Meetings — including one exclusively for People of Color; conversations in worship services; and informal conversations with individual congregants as requested, and multiple written reports and updates to the congregation.
Why did we change the official name? The overriding goal that informed the process was to see if we could identify a name that would help us "build a bigger tent" by communicating something meaningful to the outside community about who we are and what we stand for, without the baggage of explicitly Christian language like "church." For some, "church" has been a place of welcome and community, of deep meaning and solace. For many others, however, Christianity has been abusive and harmful, full of pain and exclusion. We have roots in the Protestant Christian Tradition, but our deepest theological commitment is not about one idea of the Holy - it's about Love and Inclusion, no matter who you are or whom you love, atheist, agnostic, or other. A name that would be perceived as an "invitation" to newcomers of diverse backgrounds, without explicitly Christian language that might act as an unnecessary deterrent for those with wounds from that religious tradition, was not only a good idea, but a statement of our faith commitments.
In 2017, when a sermon was delivered in a worship service that raised the question: how do we want to be known? As part of that worship service, congregants were given an index card and asked to write down the first three words that came to their mind when they thought of our congregation and what it means to them. This word cloud was generated from the responses, and we offer it as a graphic representation of UUs of Mt. Airy, this diverse spiritual community open to all and committed to justice. We'd love to host you on your spiritual journey, no matter whether or not you pray, what tradition you identify with, or how well you sing. Welcome! #UUmtairy
Staffing Changes
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As many of us know, this next year will bring a few more big changes to our congregational family. More than just navigating the pandemic and working to continue to provide ministry and care to all members and friends of this church, our staff have been absolute rockstars the past two years. We are so grateful for their hard work, their creativity, their commitment, and their love. Some of our staff are looking forward to their next adventures in life, and will be leaving us in the next year. We're sad to say goodbye, and we are so filled with gratitude for their service that it's hard to believe there could be an "after" once they've moved on! Change is the one constant, and we are called to celebrate the service and care of our wonderful staff here at UU Mt. Airy.
And then we have Jane Hulting. What can you say about more than 35 years worth of ministry to this congregation? Restoration wouldn't be "us" without Jane. |
 As she gets ready to find the next phase of her Music Ministry, we hope you'll find time to congratulate Jane on a wonderful career at this little house of worship, leading us year after year in diverse and powerful experiences that create the transcendent encounter with Wonder and Mystery. We can never replace her, but we will try to find an interim Music Director as we chart our next course of religious journeying. The Board and Minister want to impress upon everyone that this transition will feel hard. It will be sad. It will be full of grief. These are all good things, because they mean that there's been an incalculable amount of Love given and received from Jane's time with Restoration and now with UU Mt Airy. Words will never be enough to express how much she's meant to us, how much she's given to us, and how much she'll be missed. So we grieve, we mourn, and we celebrate Jane Hulting's music ministry here in Mt. Airy. What a gem! Jane's final Sunday with us will be Music Sunday December 19th. She'll be around through the Dec. holidays, and will continue to be around on the periphery, but she's earned some time off!
The search committees and the Board will be working to provide updates on new hires for this January for interim Music Director and for the Fall for an RE Coordinator. Until then, please join us in saying more than "thank you" to these two for their generous spirits, full hearts, and beautiful minds. We have been so blessed by them and we know they will go on to be a blessing to others. What a joy to be a part of this work together. Thank you, Joanna and Jane! We'll miss you! |
First off, the wonderful Joanna Smith will be looking to wind down her time as our RE coordinator over the next six months or so. Joanna has been flexible and ingenious in leading pandemic RE classes, even increasing the kinds of engagement our kids could connect to. As she and Emlen get ready to move on, they'll help us find the next iteration of what RE Programming looks like. We can't say enough about her work ethic and unconditional love for our kids and families. We get to continue being blessed by her for a while yet, so be thinking of ways to celebrate her! We're hoping to hire a new coordinator to start in Fall 2022.
From Our Moderators
Parental Leave is a hybrid thing for us at UUsMA. It will not be a sequence of weeks that Rev. Sims will be at home with his baby/family without doing work for the congregation and then he returns to us as he was a year or more ago. To read the entire article...Looking for Zoom Coffee Hour Facilitators!
Are you comfortable using Zoom? Would you be willing to help facilitate online Coffee Hour, including guiding conversations in a breakout room? If so, we need your help if we want to have space in Coffee Hour for sermon discussion, deep check in, or other subject matter! Please reach out to McKinley, Fern, or Bruce if you're interested.Calling All Prospective Worship Associates!
Are you interested in helping lead worship? Want to read a poem or book excerpt every once in a while? Want to help plan music? Join the team! Commitment is a once a month meeting and helping with worship when you can! We'll have a worship team retreat towards the end of August/beginning of September to plan this year. Contact McKinley for more info!Ministerial Discretionary Fund
Any one who would like to donate to the emergency fund that goes towards our most vulnerable members can do so by sending in a check earmarked for "Min. Disc. Fund" or contacting McKinley directly to donate electronically. We have helped ease the strain of Covid-19 for some of our most directly impacted folks. Your donations go a long way, and offerings are always greatly appreciated.Looking for the Latest Congregational Directory?
Find all this by clicking the DIRECTORY & CONTRIBUTIONS button at the right, or on the Home page of this site. You can edit your own information from the ICON Home page or change your password on the Settings page.
If you attach a photo to an email and send it to either the Office or the Webmaster, we will be happy to add it to your profile.
Email the Office and request a new one.
RECURRING EVENTS |
| Every Thursday, 6 pm — |
Join Us at Our Weekly Black Lives Matter Vigil every Thursday
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Please join us to show our concerns about racism and white supremacy every Thursday. We line Stenton Avenue with our signs (and get tons of supportive honks) from 6-6:30pm, then join to meditate, light candles, and share from 6:30-7 pm; outside if weather permits. Bring a lawn chair and candles. Please join us, and encourage your friends, too! Now that Philadelphia is officially "Yellow," we are able to have up to 25 vigil keepers in attendance. Since we are still not going inside the buildings you need to come prepared for that (no bathrooms)! We can fit about 8 folks under the portico in chairs or stools brought from home. So when we have |
more than 8, some folks will need to sit out on the lawn, keeping the minimum of 6 feet distance, for the quieter, more prayerful portion of our hour together.
Bruce will be available with his laptop connected to ZOOM for folks at home who wish to connect with us at 6:30pm and we are still experimenting with how to get the speakers' voices amplified so everyone present can hear as well. Dress for the weather as we hold the vigil rain or shine. So remember, wear your face mask, bring something to sit on and a sign. Fern brings a few back and forth for those who wish to borrow one. |
A List of Ways to Connect and Exercise Spirit
Sunday Worship Services, 11amLivestream from the Homepage (www.uurestoration.us)
or Facebook Live (www.facebook.com/UURestoration/)
Zoom link to see faces and add joys and sorrows. Use the link emailed to you from the office.
Thursday BLM Vigil: 6pm-7pm
Working on having a digital component for the candlelight half of the gathering
Thursday Choir, 7:15pm, via Zoom
Join to sing and hear music through the magic of technology. Contact Jane Hu. for more details.
Pastoral Care Check-ins
Need to talk about anything? Contact McKinley if you'd like to talk! Phone or zoom your choice!
GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS |
Purchasing Online?
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Staples Rewards
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