This Week at UUSMV, Friday, September 3, 2021

UUSMV Community
UUA COVID Guidelines
Dear UUSMV Family,
We are hopeful that as many of us as possible can gather this Sunday, September 5^th at 11 am for our annual Ingathering, which is being planned by our Worship Committee. It will be good to be together as we begin a new church year!
The Ingathering will be held outdoors in the backyard of the Chapel. While we know that not everyone will be able to attend, we ask that everyone who does please wear a well-fitting mask (we’ll have extras if you forget one), and we encourage all who are eligible to be vaccinated. These precautions and others are in accordance with updated COVID guidelines from the Unitarian Universalist Association (summarized below).
Our leadership will continue to monitor the COVID situation and consider guidance from our denomination and public health officials. The Parish Committee and Worship Committee will meet with Rev. Rob on Saturday September 18 at 10 am to further discuss a plan to carefully transition to hybrid services that can accommodate both virtual and in-person attendance. Please reach out to members of the Parish or Worship committees before the 18^th if you have any input/questions/concerns you’d like us to consider.
In the meantime, here are UUA recommendations shared recently by UUA President Rev. Dr. Susan Frederick-Gray:

For all indoor gatherings, regardless of size, vaccination status, or transmission risk for our area: require good ventilation, well-fitted masks, physical distancing of at least 6 feet, no singing, no food, and no drinks.
Require well-fitted masks for large outdoor events or any outdoor events where unvaccinated children or other vulnerable people are included.
As children below age 12 cannot yet be vaccinated, hold any activities for children outdoors.
The Dukes County transmission risk is currently (September 1, 2021) listed as low (source: COVID ACT Now data). That said, we all know businesses that have closed for a designated time with an outbreak of 3 or more people, usually staff, this summer. We must not let our guard down so that we protect all of us from contracting or transmitting the COVID-19 or Delta variant. The leadership continues to monitor the risks of gathering that are reasonably safe if precautions are followed.
We urge everyone to get vaccinated to participate in any gathering of UUSMV members.
Any decision of gathering indoors or outdoors can change based on new information about transmission of the virus or new variants.

Again, we hope to see as many of you as possible on Sunday for our Ingathering at 11 am in the backyard of the chapel.
In faith,
Rev. Rob Hardies, Consulting Minister and Rita Brown, President of the Society

Help Clear the Backyard at Stevens Chapel
Join the Out Back Team at Stevens Chapel on Tuesday, September 7,
9 am and the Backyard Brush Club at 10 am to start clearing the brush
and undergrowth in the back yard. Lots of hands will make it go quickly
and easily, Bring gloves and bring tools for clearing, if you have any.

This year

’s Guest at Your Table campaign has started. Please invite a guest to your table. The UU Service Committee (UUSC) serves as our proxy for advancing human rights all over the globe. Every year we symbolically invite guests to our tables by collecting loose change (paper money too!) in temporary banks during September and October. Banks can be special Guest at Your Table banks, mugs, Tupperware containers, or any container that can hold donations. At the end of October we collect the proceeds for the UU Service Committee.

If you would like an official Guest at Your Table bank please contact Mimi Davisson, who will personally deliver a bank to you.
Thank you in advance for sharing the abundance of your lives with those who face horrifying challenges that we can’t even imagine.

- The UUSMV Universal Justice Network

UUSMV in the News
Read the Martha's Vineyard Times article Have Faith: Meet the Rev. Dr. Robert Hardies
Unitarian Universalist church welcomes interim minister while they search for a more long-term leader.
https://www.mvtimes.com/2021/09/01/faith-meet-rev-dr-robert-hardies/

Rev. Hardies Contact Information and Office Hours (virtual and in-person!)
Dear Friends,
Please be aware that I serve UUSMV on a half-time contract. If you contact me on a day I’m not working, you can generally expect to hear back from me on my next UUSMV work day. If you have a pastoral emergency or a time sensitive matter that requires attention before my next work day, please call or text me and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
My availability for August and September is as follows:
Week of August 29: Tuesday August 31, Thursday September 2
Week of September 5: Tuesday September 7, Wednesday September 8
Week of September 12: Monday September 13

**I will be on the Vineyard from Friday September 17 through Wednesday September 22, and available for appointments Saturday through Wednesday. During that time, I hope to connect with as many of you as possible, in small groups and one-on-one. Please contact me to schedule a face-to-face appointment!**

Week of September 26: Tuesday September 28, Thursday September 30

Thank you!
My UUSMV contact information is:
Email: revrobuusmv@gmail.com
Mobile: 202-294-9032

ROB

In Our Island Community

Sacred Ground Martha's Vineyard Fall 2021

Don't miss this chance to sign up for the second Scared Ground program series, a film-based dialogue series on race and faith and part of the 'Becoming Beloved Community' initiative of The Episcopal Church, a long-term commitment to racial healing, reconciliation, and justice in our personal lives, our ministries, and our society. Email to register: Sacredgroundmv@gmail.com
MV CROP Hunger Walk-A-Thon running October 1 – 17
MV CROP Walk Day on Sunday, October 17

As you have heard previously, the 2020 MV CROP Hunger Walk-A-Thon, our 30th CROP Walk event, was our most successful fundraising effort ever – $37,772 raised to help provide food for hungry or food insecure people around the world and on our own island.
When the MV CROP committee met to begin planning for our 2021 event, we knew we wanted to build on the success of last year’s innovative Walk-A-Thon and the flexibility it offered. We also deeply wanted to have a true community event to raise money to fund efforts to fight hunger. In 2021, we'll do both!
We’re now working to make improvements in how we support our Walk-A-Thon participants and their fundraising. We're also looking forward to an entirely outdoor Walk Day with several changes for our walk routes (yes, several walk routes of varying lengths so everyone who wants to can walk) and our Walk Day events, especially with an eye on thoughtful COVID precautions. Stay tuned for more particulars as we finalize them, but mark down October 1 – 17 for our 2021 Walk-A-Thon and Sunday, October 17 for our 2021 Walk Day. We’re excited to be moving forward!
On behalf of the MV CROP Organizing Committee and with much hope and faith,
*UUSMV is looking for 1 or 2 people to organize this year’s Crop Walk. Please call or email Rita Brown. (508-221-8347 or rabrown1950@comcast.net).