Question Box Sermon
Rev. Julie Brock
Sunday, September 27th 10:30am
This will be Rev. Julie's last service with you before she goes on parental leave. What do you want to hear about before she goes? What burning questions are on your hearts and minds, or what topics would you like the community to discuss. After all, Rev. Julie doesn't have all the answers, but she thinks the community combined has a good shot at tackling some of them.
Join us Via Zoom:
https://zoom.us/j/97275141173
Meeting ID: 972 7514 1173
Or Dial in:312-626-6799
CUUB Healing Session
On September 27th at 1 pm CUUB will hold a healing session to give space for the congregation to process their feelings and needs around the process and decision to reduce the SE position and go into search for a full time minister. The point of the sessions will be for each person who wants to attend to be heard and to be able to make requests of the community so as we move forward we can recommit to our values and covenant once again to how we want to be in community with one another. In order to make sure we have the proper set up, we are asking that register if you plan to attend. The zoom link will be given out after registration.
Here is the link to register: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0scuGupjoqGtTKK3F045Je_i4eKbpCGzEH
Julie's Corner
As of October 1st, I am on parental leave, expecting Joel and my child to arrive mid-October. I want to thank you for giving me this time to heal, relax, readjust, and bond to my family. You are a thriving, creative, and abundant community. I can’t wait to see what relationships you’ve formed, bonds you strengthened, and justice you’ve sewn before I return. I know I leave you in very good hands. If you are having difficulties and need someone to talk to, please contact pastoralcare@cuub.org. If you have questions about logistical or governance issues, please contact board@cuub.org. For any other issues, please contact ministry@cuub.org. Keep on building beloved community, within and beyond your walls, and I’ll see you when I return in mid-January.
In faith,
Rev. Julie Brock
SE – Spiritual Exploration
The SE team is excited to get the children’s program back up and running. But we need your help. These are different times and we want to make sure that we are designing the program to suit your family needs. The SE team has put a survey together, it would be appreciated if each SE family filled out the survey. The survey link is https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FSQ7D8R. If you have any other questions or comments please email the SE Team at SE@cuub.org or myself at secoordinator@cuub.com. Looking forward to seeing all the children soon.
Youth Group 2020
Hey CUUB Youth, check out your CREW app. We have an exciting plan for October which Shari shared on Crew. If this is not the best way to communicate with you, we need to know what you prefer. You can communicate with Shari or Lee through the Crew app, or if you prefer, you can call Lee at (313) 350-3482, or text or call Shari at 810.772.6972.
Pottery!
CUUB's annual pottery sale, usually held during Harvest Fest, will take place instead at the Brighton Farmers Market on Saturday, October 3rd, 8am-1pm. Thanks to our in-house CUUB potters and a donation from the Greater Lansing Pottery Guild for making this event a possibility. This year the proceeds will benefit two very worthy causes- the Severe Weather Network and We the People of Detroit. While this event will be at a greatly reduced capacity, with your support it can still be very successful. Any advertising or spreading the word about this event would be much appreciated!
The MidAmerica Nominating Committee Needs Your Help!
We are seeking fresh voices for leadership positions to strengthen the future of the MidAmerica Region! We have open positions for the Board of Trustees, Camp Unistar Foundation Board of Directors, Midwest Unitarian Universalist Conference (MUUC), and the MidAmerica Nominating Committee itself. Our region needs energetic people with diverse perspectives to fill these leadership positions. We are working to dismantle the legacy of white supremacy in our faith in order to create a collaborative environment with people from historically marginalized communities. Click here for more information.
CUUB Book Club
Sunday, October 4th
As a follow up to our book club discussion on the book "White Fragility", we would like to continue to have conversations on how we can be allies for racial justice. Join us on Zoom after service on Sunday, October 4th at noon if you are interested.
The Zoom link is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86116516453?pwd=dVZYbEpONFpEdjBieXNtVVFyNzllZz09 Password for the meeting is 865594
White people in North America live in a social environment that protects and insulates them from race-based stress. This insulated environment of racial protection builds white expectations for racial comfort while at the same time lowering the ability to tolerate racial stress. Although white racial insulation is somewhat mediated by social class (with poor and working class urban whites being generally less racially insulated than suburban or rural whites), the larger social environment insulates and protects whites as a group through institutions, cultural representations, media, school textbooks, movies, advertising, and dominant discourses. Racial stress results from an interruption to what is racially familiar. In turn, whites are often at a loss for how to respond in constructive ways., as we have not had to build the cognitive or affective skills or develop the stamina that that would allow for constructive engagement across racial divides. leading to what I refer to as White Fragility. White Fragility is a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves. These moves include the outward display of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium. This book explicates the dynamics of White Fragility and how we might build our capacity in the on-going work towards racial justice.
SJ Team to Sponsor ERACCE Workshop
Our Social Justice Team is hard at work making CUUB the place to be for effective action on important issues.
Past activities included a 2017 partnering with other organizations to hold the Love Rally at the mill pond to stand against hate and white supremacy & recently we participated in the Brighton Allies for Racial Justice vigil. Now CUUB SJ is hosting an online workshop for individuals and organizations across Livingston County.
This will be via Zoom on Wednesday, October 28th & Thursday, October 29th from 3-6 pm.
The goals are twofold: for individuals to deepen their understanding of systemic racism, and to strengthen connections between organizations in Livingston County through a shared experience.
The workshop will be facilitated by the Kalamazoo based group, ERACCE (Eliminating Racism and Creating/Celebrating Equity) which was founded in 2000 to help individuals and institutions understand the root causes of U.S. racism and develop strategies for dismantling systemic racism, specifically within our own organizations where we have the most impact.
So please mark your calendar TODAY and more information will be made available soon. If you have any questions on this or other SJ activities please please email Alicia Zemper at aliciazemper@gmail.com. Click here to register.