| My name is Jan Partin, and I serve as President of UUFH Board of Trustees. My pronouns are she/her/hers. Welcome to September, a time of renewal and fresh beginnings! The Social Justice Team is alive and well at UUFH and active presently on a number of fronts. I’d like to mention three of them that stand out in my mind 1.The Green Team with the help of Rhodeena Gonzolas and Laura Early have been working hard to put together a Climate Justice Revival, an opportunity to renew our Unitarian Universalist commitment to the planet.A coalition of UU entities including UU the Vote, UU for Earth Ministries, the UU Social Justice Team and many others have created this intergenerational program, scheduled to take place Saturday, September 28 and Sunday, September 29. On Saturday, there will be a half-day workshop that will include children’s as well as adult activities. Sunday the 29th will conclude with a message by Rev. George and an action hour following the service. Through conversations, worship, and advocacy, we will work together to take on climate justice! 2.Elizabeth Ritchie and Richard Lottenburg along with Kitten Bulen launched the UUFH Democracy in Action Plan on May 26. The goal is for the congregation to complete 300 actions by the November 5th General Election. For the months of August and September, 3000 postcards will be sent to targeted addresses with a focus on the importance of early voting. You can pick up your kit of 30 postcard to complete after the Sunday service for the next few weeks. As many of you are aware, North Carolina is one of the swing states that could go either way in this coming election. We want to make sure we do everything possible to ensure an outcome favorable to our values! For me, this is probably the most consequential election in my lifetime, and I want to do everything I can to make sure we preserve our democracy! 3.Judy Bonner and team are working on another social justice program, Public Schools Strong. One of their immediate goals is to get school board candidates elected in November. According to Judy, our Henderson County chapter intends to reach 1500 new voters before November 5. She noted that Henderson County is a leader in the Public Schools Strong effort in the areas of participation and activities-including attending school board meetings, promoting the State Superintendent, Mo Green, and local board candidates, as well as phone banking. Not too surprisingly, Henderson County ranks 4th of 70 counties that are participating. Please mark your calendars for an afternoon of modern folk music, storytelling and rousing good times with Aidan Quinn and Christine Stay, otherwise known as Friction Farm. They will be performing here in our sanctuary on Saturday, September 14 starting at 3:00pm. Doors will open at 2:30. Suggested donation is $20/person. All proceeds will go to UUFH. This acoustic duo has been performing for many years and have traveled internationally with their music. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear them in person! A reception will follow the concert. Next, I wanted to fill you in on the Family Ministry doings over the past summer and beyond. What a delight it is to have Sunday Parker as our FM Coordinator. She did a wonderful job planning activities for our children over the summer months. A recap of summer highlights includes outdoor adventures of hiking together, viewing the Rutabaga Express at the Carl Sandburg outdoor amphitheater, petting the goats at the Sandburg Farm, and Tubing the Davidson River with the UUTC Church in Brevard. Sounds like my kind of fun!Upcoming events include planning a dedication event for some of our beloved church leaders and launching a service project soon.The youth and children will be participating in the Water Service with a Children’s Processional on September 8, they will be taking part in a Service project at the Carol Sandburg Goat Barn September 15, and planting native plants in October. They will also be involved in the Climate Justice Revival Sunday, September 29 and the Mountain Retreat October 25-27. According to Sunday, we now have enough children registered to move away from the one room schoolhouse model. A big thanks to Morgan, Becca, Kassie, John, and Reese for leading classes this year. Additional volunteers are very welcome!!They could especially use another nursery volunteer and classroom chalice kid volunteer. Rev. George has chosen to use the theme ‘Roots and Wings’ for this coming year to organize and provide a logical flow to his sermons. In his words, “this is intended to help get us grounded with a new shared ministry and get re-rooted after recovering from the COVID years. Thus, by regrounding and recommitting ourselves, we will recover our spirits and enter springtime with new energy and transformation- in other words, find our wings” The theme for September is Journey, how we have all come to be here in this sacred place as symbolized by water. Just a quick reminder that our big fundraiser, the Oktoberfest Auction is set for October 19 and online bidding will begin October 5. If you haven’t seen the online catalog, it is amazing how many entries there are already- both service and actual items for us to bid on in the coming weeks. You can access the catalog through the weekly UUFH newsletter. Thanks to Charlie Mitchell, head of the Security Team, we now have a roll down security door installed at the bottom of the stairs to the Fellowship Hall. It can be used in the event of an emergency, such as an intruder, to prevent entry to fellowship hall. Or, it can also be used to prevent entry to the Sanctuary area if we are renting the fellowship hall or using it for an event where we want to restrict entry to the upstairs. It is operated remotely by the security team.Charlie assures us that it will normally remain open and is barely noticeable when raised. You will soon be receiving a survey from the Board of Trustees to determine what the annual Vision of Ministry will be for the coming year. According to our Governance Policy, the congregation is asked to help select goals for our Ministry that will be carried out by the Minister and the Ministry committees. To reach as many of you as possible, we plan to have several listening circles after the services on September 15 and 22, and a Zoom meeting. A digital survey will be going out asking you to prioritize possible goals, and we will have a few paper copies on hand in the foyer. This will give the Minister, Staff, and Ministerial Committees a common focus for the year. As I wrap up this month’s message, I want to leave you with this thought to carry forward: In the words of Douglas Gallagar, “As Unitarian Universalists we believe that each individual is free to determine what is finally good and right and true, and that freedom carries with it the responsibility for each of us honestly and vigorously to seek out life’s deeper meanings”. So let us remind ourselves, that our quest is neither trivial nor inconsequential, but of primary concern if we are to live well and fully. Please know, your feedback is important, so don’t hesitate to reach out with your thoughts and insights. Thank you for being an invaluable part of our community. See you soon! Jan |