Sunday Services from home. Traditional MMUUF worship using Zoom, during Vermont’s stay home, stay safe period. Email info@mmuuf.org for Zoom log-in information. Structured readings, music, joys and concerns, children’s moment, thoughtful speakers, and Fellowship response.
On November 5, from 5:30 -7:30 PM MMUUF volunteers will be making hygiene kits that are handed out at needle exchange sites in Vermont. There is no need to RSVP for this, just show up with questions and stay to make some kits.
Vermont Cares is an organization that runs needle exchanges in an attempt to reduce HIV and Hepatitis C infections for injection drug users.
There is a real need for these hygiene kits and the ones we make on November 5th will be distributed immediately outside of Chittenden County. By having volunteers make the kits, the Vermont Cares staff can focus on other aspects of their programs.
The actual kit making involves taking some medical supplies and packaging them together in small plastic bags. It’s very simple and safe. There are no needles involved or present as part of this activity!
Greetings members and friends of the Mount Mansfield Unitarian Universalist Fellowship,
I can hardly believe we have already found ourselves in September! This means it is time to join together again in faith and community at MMUUF. Our first service of the year will be Sunday, September 9th at 9:30 when we gather the waters from journeys far and near to reflect on the meaningful experiences that have shaped us throughout our summer absence. This service will be inter-generational with all youth remaining with adults for the entire service. The Religious Education program will officially begin on Sunday, September 23rd.
A few notes on summer projects, the building committee has been busy rebuilding the front porch and our driveway is well underway. The new driveway from Bittersweet Lane will shift the parking in the lot so please pay close attention to allow access. Thank you to everyone who has helped with summer cleaning, organizing, building, and planning!
I look forward to reconnecting with each of you as we start another year together. Please feel free to reach out to me or any member of the Steering Committee with questions or concerns.
In peace,
Jenn Fink
MMUUF President
We take a break from Sunday Services every summer. We stop the routine for a couple months. We take time to be with family and friends, be outdoors, travel, learn, give and receive.
“Recreation” means to create again, to create anew. At MMUUF, we take time each summer to recreate, to make room for something new.
The Road Ahead process was chartered in Fall 2017 to help MMUUF to consider our future from the perspective of our recently adopted Covenant. The Road Ahead looked at how the Fellowship might grow membership, how to provide more spiritual nurturing and guidance, and how to evolve our beloved Barn. While growth, spirituality and space are intertwined, how should we focus and prioritize our energy, talents and resources?
The Road Ahead process included an online survey, three all-Fellowship meetings over the winter, and some committee work behind the scenes.
Most participants said they like our current model of being a lay-led Fellowship. Several members would welcome more spiritual guidance and mentoring from a UU professional in some limited capacity, for example coaching our members to give sermons, providing pastoral care to members in times of joy and sorrow, and to support our Religious Education teachers. We discussed different ways to bring ministerial support to the Fellowship. Some members support hiring a part-time minister while others would prefer ad hoc arrangements to fulfill specific spiritual mentoring needs.
Most people feel our current space is adequate and we should continue to make modest improvements to the Barn. We like the current schedule of having Services two Sundays per month and we don’t want to switch to a weekly schedule. And most people agree we would like to be more visible in the community to let more people know what MMUUF is all about, so that more people will choose to attend Services and become part of the Fellowship.
From April-September 2018, the Fellowship will focus first on growth and visibility, as we gear up for resuming Services next fall after our traditional summer break. Then, beginning September 2018 we will explore different models of spiritual support and mentoring.
This work will be grounded in our Covenant – “What do we need to do to live out our covenant?” and, “How would any new initiatives help us live out our covenant?”
.In January, the Fellowship kicked off a project to explore MMUUF’s future. We’ll meet and talk together over the next few months, to reflect on where we’ve been and consider where we are called to go next as a UU community.
Should we…
The committee will host at least three meetings, on the third Sundays in January, February and March. At each meeting we’ll explore these questions and see what answers emerge. Also, the committee conducted a survey to hear initial thoughts from our Fellowship.
If you are interested in MMUUF please participate! You don’t need to be a member. Come to a meeting, or feel free to talk with the Road Ahead committee or the Steering Committee about your hopes, dreams, ideas or concerns about MMUUF’s future.
MMUUF will host a vigil on Thursday, December 14, 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m., to remember the tragedy of Sandy Hook Elementary school, as well as the 500,000 American victims and survivors of gun violence since December 2012. The MMUUF vigil is one of dozens being held throughout Vermont.
Let’s transform empathy into meaningful action to reduce gun violence in our nation. Please gather with us to remember ALL victims and survivors of gun violence, and to advocate for an end to these tragic incidents. Let’s shed a light on this public health crisis.
The candlelight remembrance vigil and call to action – Thursday, December 14, 2017, 5:30-6:30 p.m., at the MMUUF Barn, 195 VT Route 15, Jericho, Vermont.
For more information, see this press release from GunSense Vermont.
e Sunday Service on Dec. 10thService starts at 9:30 a.m. Potluck BRUNCH begins after Service is over, probably around 10:30 a.m.
All are welcome! There will be delicious food to share and friendly conversation.
We look forward to breaking bread together before heading back into the bustling holiday swirl.
Generously hosted by the MMUUF Membership Committee.
