UUFA this **SATURDAY** May 18th, 10am. Come, come, whoever you are for friendship, community and a little exercise, to this SATURDAY Spring Work Day at UUFA. We will start at 10 am and go until 4 pm. Any and all contributions of time or other resources, including morale building, will be much appreciated!! A pizza lunch will be planned for about 1 pm.
The tasks for this work day include: Dispose of old picnic table, put down more crumb rubber and check playground equipment, fix rotting bench bases in the grove, general weeding of undesired plants, repair tree shelters on our new trees, build entry doors for the vegetable garden, replace roof ridge cap, clear a site path to the new sign, paint kitchen door frame, remove dead ash tree overhanging entry ramp, wash windows, and open memorial fountain.
**SUNDAY** MAY 19, 2019: Our UUFA Choir will sing and Brian Richards will speak with us about keeping faith as faith, not certainty. He writes: A meaningful connection to something greater than ourselves has been shown to have innumerable benefits, including happiness, a longer life, and more meaningful relationships. UUs can appreciate that any path to a higher power greater than ourselves is a very personal, winding journey.We’ll discuss how faith is a far different thing than certainty. I’ll also share some of my stories of finding faith and struggling to softening the ears of those who are all to certain they’ve found the one and only path.Stories are best with cookies and milk or iced coffee, so I’ll bring those too. Coffee at 10:30; Service at 11:00.
ATHENS LGBTQ PRIDE PARADE: The UUFA Board voted to support the Athens LGBTQ Pride Parade set for Saturday, June 8, 2019, and voted to pay for insurance for the event. We encourage members to show up for the pride parade and march together under our banner. We’ll be passing out information about our UUA purposes and principals, and about our fellowship.
COMMITTEE ON MINISTRY: At our recent annual meeting, we elected Marsha N. and Wenda S, to join Robin B, and Jackie W. on the ministry committee. That committee will also serve as our membership committee. There first meeting will be Sunday, June 16th after service. Meetings of this committee are closed, but you can speak to members in advance about your ideas and/or concerns.
ANNOUNCING 2019-2020 UUFA BOARD MEMBERS July 1, 2019-June 30, 2020, as determined at our annual meeting: President: Barb H., President Elect: Susan W., Board Members: Katie E., Brian R., Jessie R., Roberta R.. Treasury: Roberta R. with Patrick G. Sexton: Richard T., Secretary: Vacant. The secretary is an appointed position—-might YOU be interested?
WELCOMING COMMITTEE TASK FORCE: At our recent annual meeting, we voted to participate again in the UUA Welcoming Committee initiative. Barb H., Susan W., and Fred S. agreed to lead this initiative.
GREEN INITIATIVE TASK FORCE: Brian R., Katie E., Barb H. agreed to serve as our Green Initiative Task Force to explore Green Sanctuary, Interfaith Power and Light, and the Zero Waste Initiative options for our fellowship. At our recent annual meeting, we all voted to do that task force.
UUFA BOARD RETREAT: The UUFA Board decided to have a retreat in August, hopefully together with our UUA Central East representative, Sunshine Wolfe.
UUFA PROGRAMMING AND RE COMMITTEE MEETING: Friday, May 17th at 6pm via Zoom. Contact Wenda S, Katie E., or Brian R. for log-in information. All members welcome.
WEEKLY GREEN TIP: The Earth Justice Network of environmental committees from various Athens area churches is encouraging us to publish a weekly green tip in our “Greensheet” newsletter. Here’s another green tip, from https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/green-tips: “80% of dry cleaners in the U.S. use perchloroethylene, a solvent that has been linked to cancer, nervous system damage and hormonal disruption. Seek out a non-toxic professional dry cleaning alternative or “green cleaner” in your area.”
FUTURE SUNDAYS:
May 26th: Memorial Day Picnic at the Fellowship
June 2nd: Presentation by delfin bautista, who until this year directed OU’s LGBT Center, and formerly served as program coordinator for the Unitarian Universalist Association’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Ministries program based in Washington, D.C. Read more about their UUA work here: https://www.uuworld.org/articles/lgbt-trans-issues
HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR THE GREENSHEET: Please email items to wendasheard@yahoo.com and put “Greensheet” in the subject line. New ideas, new columns, announcements, artwork, photographs, biographies, joys, sorrows, birthdays, anniversaries, and whatnot all welcome for possible inclusion in the Greensheet. Deadline for each week: Midnight Monday. Thanks!