MMUUF News

Opioid Crisis – MMUUF making hygiene kits

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Teaming up with Vermont Cares, MMUUF volunteers will make hygiene kits that are handed out at needle exchange sites in Vermont.
December 11, 2017,  5:00 p.m – 7:00 p.m. at the MMUUF Meeting House Barn, 195 VT Route 15, Jericho VT.
This event is open to the public and all are welcome to participate.
Vermont Cares runs needle exchanges in Vermont 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 will be distributed immediately.  When volunteers make the kits, the Vermont Cares professional staff can focus on other aspects of their programs.
The actual kit making involves packaging medical supplies in small plastic bags.  It’s very simple and safe. There are no needles involved or present as part of this activity! There is no need to RSVP for this, just show up with questions and stay to make some kits. A short educational video will be shown.
This will be the second time MMUUF volunteers will make kits for Vermont Cares.

Holiday Potluck, Dec. 10th at 10:30 a.m.

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Join us for the annual Holiday Potluck! 

Brunch after thDSC_0049e Sunday Service on Dec. 10th

Service 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.

 

Haunted Barn & Halloween Party

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Thank you to everyone who came to the Annual Haunted Barn & Halloween Party!IMG_6662

Over 100 people enjoyed a community dinner, crafts, games and a spooky maze.

This Fellowship event raised over $500 for our programs and community outreach.

Exploring justice, equity & compassion

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principle_2Several Worship Services this year will focus on the
Second Principle of the
Unitarian Universalist Association – “Justice, equity and compassion in human relations.”

This principle calls on us to act collectively as a community and as a culture.

Through stories, readings, sermons and songs we will explore how we can live up to this principle and help create a more just world. Different speakers will share different perspectives and challenge us to act. Are we ready?

 

Banner on the barn

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Have you seen the new banner? MMUUF is “Standing on the side of love.”

Unitarian Universalists affirm unconditional, universal love as a foundation and grounding for our actions in the world. We strive to be of service to our communities and advocate for change on local, state, national, and international levels.

Through the Standing on the Side of Love campaign UU congregations amplify the voices of the oppressed through online media; we show up in partnership at justice events across the country; we lobby national leaders on immigration reform, racial justice, equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people, religious freedom, and more; and above all we work to make love real in the world.

Over eighty percent of Unitarian Universalist congregations, and many more individual UUs and others who care about justice, have become a part of Standing on the Side of Love.

Mahatma Gandhi did it. Mother Theresa did it. Martin Luther King, Jr., did it.

We do it.

Standing on the side of love

 

Covenant adopted

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At the annual meeting on June 4, 2017, MMUUF adopted a covenant. Thank you to the Steering Committee for giving us guidance and latitude in the right measures, to Karen Bellavance-Grace from the UUA New England region for guiding us through the process, and to committee chairs for sharing thoughts during Covenant Minutes during spring Services. We look forward to having this covenant guide us in good times and bad, and also provide welcoming clarity for visitors.     -Kelly McCutcheon Adams
             Mount Mansfield Unitarian Universalist Covenant

We, the members and friends of Mount Mansfield Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, covenant together to create and sustain a spiritual community that welcomes all. We create this fellowship as a place to actively explore big questions in community, to nurture our spiritual curiosity, to deepen our faith, to support each other in times of trouble, and to celebrate together in times of joy. Guided by the Seven Principles of our Unitarian Universalist Association, we make these promises to each other…..    Read full text of Covenant here

Declaration of Conscience signed for the Fellowship

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At yesterday’s service, Dana read the Declaration of Conscience (below) from the pulpit. He then asked those members present to vote to add our congregation’s name to the declaration. The vote was approved unanimously. So today he logged in and signed the declaration on behalf of MMUUF.
Declaration of Conscience:
At this extraordinary time in our nation’s history, we are called to affirm our profound commitment to the fundamental principles of justice, equity and compassion, to truth and core values of American society.
In the face of looming threats to immigrants, Muslims, people of color, and the LGBTQ community and the rise of hate speech, harassment and hate crimes, we affirm our belief in the inherent worth and dignity of every person.
In opposition to any steps to undermine the right of every citizen to vote or to turn back advances in access to health care and reproductive rights, we affirm our commitment to justice and compassion in human relations.
And against actions to weaken or eliminate initiatives to address the threat of climate change – actions that would threaten not only our country but the entire planet – we affirm our unyielding commitment to protect the interdependent web of all existence.
We will oppose any and all unjust government actions to deport, register, discriminate, or despoil.
As people of conscience, we declare our commitment to translate our values into action as we stand on the side of love with the most vulnerable among us.
We welcome and invite all to join in this commitment for justice.
The time is now.

This message is also available on UUA.org.

“There Will be no Peace or Justice Without a Planet” by Ruah Swennerfelt

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Join us Sunday, January 22nd, 2017 at 9:30am. “There Will be no Peace or Justice Without a Planet” by Ruah Swennerfelt
 
Ruah Swennerfelt, a member of the Burlington Friends Meeting (Quakers), will speak from her spiritual experiences in the natural world, and her decades of work for peace, justice and Earthcare. She gives the case for the intersectionality of all the issues we face today. Her work and life are filled with joy and she’s sows the seeds of hope.
 
Please remember that each Sunday we ask Fellowship Members to bring a donation for the local Jericho Food shelf. Our Fellowship has been asked to provide canned fruit when possible. Our contributions are critical to their important work!

Please send any announcements or gratitudes for the Order of Service insert to admin@mmuuf.org. Deadline is the Friday before the service. Thank you.

MMUUF will celebrate Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 4pm

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MMUUF will celebrate with readings and music around a theme of accepting and welcoming others into our holy days and spiritual traditions. Families welcome.

Celebrating the winter holidays, Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations express our commitment to our Sixth Principle: We covenant to affirm and promote the goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all.

Unitarian Universalists celebrate Christmas as a time during winter’s low dark sky, to look to the miracle of light as a sign of rebirth and a source of hope. We celebrate the promise of new life and recommit ourselves to the protection of everyone’s right to his or her own radiant humanity.

Holiday Potluck-Dec. 11 Brunch

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Join us for the annual Holiday Potluck, after the Sunday Service on Dec. 11th, at 10:30am. All are welcome! There will be delicious food to share, crafts for children (and adults!) and some singing of traditional holiday songs.

We look forward to breaking bread together before heading back into the bustling holiday swirl.

Generously hosted by the MMUUF Membership Committee