From Susan Frances: August 5, 2022

Dear Friends, 

I hope you are enjoying your summer. My wife and I are still being cautious about where we go and who we see, so we have been spending a lot of time enjoying our back porch. The photo is of our climbing morning glories, snap dragons, geraniums, herbs, and the ridiculous fish planter that we imagine looks like a lionfish, which are bringing bees and butterflies flying through our lunch breaks on the porch. 

I am starting to look toward the fall as the programming staff and I start to collaborate on fall classes and events. Save the date for our Ingathering on Sunday, September 11, 2022 at 10:30 am. Please note that our service time is changing. Ingathering Sunday is when we come back together after the summer to share stories and resume regular programming. We have big plans for this year’s Ingathering Sunday.  

During our Ingathering worship service, we will have our annual water communion. Please be thinking about the source of the water you might bring that Sunday. Maybe some place that has brought you comfort, joy, respite, or adventure – your bathtub, your kitchen sink, Lake Michigan, or water from somewhere you have visited. 

We will be ending the worship service with an evacuation drill. With the pandemic, this will be the first one in many years. Once all of us are outside after the evacuation drill, we will gather around our Black Lives Matter sign on Ridge and take a congregational photo. If you are not able to join us at 10:30 am for the worship service, we hope you are able to stop by at 11:30 am to be in the photo.  

We will end our morning together with a congregational potluck picnic. There will be tables and chairs set up outside. We now have the mechanism for the door at the top of the ramp completed, so you are able to get in and out of the building without having to knock on the glass door. You are encouraged to bring a blanket, bubbles, or anything else that will contribute to our picnicking fun. 

Please bring a food dish to share for our picnic. We will be using compostable plates and our new silverware and plastic glasses. We will serve inside and eat outside. We will continue to wear masks inside. Masks are not required outside. One of the new kitchen guidelines is that we will not be leaving any food behind in the kitchen, so before you leave for the day, please make sure to collect your dishes and any leftovers.  

While you wait in line for food, a representative from the hearing loop company will be available to answer your questions. If you have hearing aids, please make sure to wear them and bring your phone to find out if you are able to download the app and use the new hearing loop system with your hearing aids. 

And that, my friends, is a preview of our first Sunday of the new congregational year. There are many ideas and lots of energy percolating within the congregation. When you return in the fall, here are some of the upcoming programs and events:  

• The Denominational Affairs Team will be facilitating a discussion series about the Unitarian Universalist Association Article II Study Commission’s review of the Principles and Sources;  
• Our New Member Team and Membership Engagement Task Force have restyled the membership classes to include new and returning members;  

• The Anti-Oppression Task Force is engaging us in a congregational survey and then will be addressing those results;  
• An emerging Reproductive Justice team is determining how our community can best support abortion access;  
• The UU the Vote team, which has already reached 20% of our 40,000 Points of Love initiative, will continue to provide opportunities to get out the vote through the election in November;  
• The REAL Team is running a two-session book discussion of Kindred by Octavia Butler; and  
• The four restructured hospitality teams have reduced the volunteer days to 4 days a year per person for the Greeters Hospitality Team, Kitchen Hospitality Team, Money Counters Hospitality Team, and Virtual Hospitality Team. 

If you are interested in getting involved with any of these, please contact me. 

I will be on vacation and then study leave from August 12-29, 2022. I’m wishing you an August full of whatever you need right now – comfort, joy, respite, or adventure – and I’ll see you in September! 

 

Yours in faith, 

Rev. Susan