Manatee UU Fellowship NEWS

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

From Reverend Fred

PHOENIX: Up From the Ashes

February 28, 2021 kicks off our Stewardship campaign. Members and Friends will have received a letter from Rev. Fred and a pledge card for this year’s campaign to plan for our Fiscal Year beginning July 1.

Rev. Fred will host cottage meetings on Zoom on the dates below. Each group will have no more than 12 people in attendance to allow for maximum conversation. Members and friends will be asked to pick their first and second choices to attend a cottage meeting. A confirmation email will be sent of which date you have been assigned to attend with the Zoom link for attendance.

Dates:
Saturday, March 6, at 10:30 AM
Thursday, March 11, at 3:00 PM
Tuesday, March 16, at 10:30 AM
Thursday, March 18, at 6:30 PM
Tuesday, March 23, at 10:30 AM

Agenda for meetings:

Appreciative inquiry regarding experiences with Manatee UU Fellowship during this pandemic that excited us/nourished us/comforted us/transformed us.
a. What are your favorite moments here from this past year?
Mission: If there were one word that described this experience, what would it be?
a. How would you describe to someone our fellowship during this past year?
Vision:
a. What is one thing that you would want us to accomplish in the next 2 years?
b. It is estimated that the majority of Americans will be vaccinated sometime in late fall. Yet Dr. Fauci and others are stating that social distancing and mask wearing may need to continue through 2022 because of the variants that are indicating to be more contagious and deadly. Given this information, many congregations are thinking about creating a hybrid ministry where some aspects of worship, gatherings, are both online and in
person. What aspects of our ministry would you want to be in-person? what aspects online?
Creation:
a. How do we get there?
b. What is the work before us?

ANNOUNCEMENTS

AND REPORTS FOR MARCH 2021

New Website is up and running

By Ted Medrek

As you can see if you are reading these words, after months of planning and work, the new Manatee Unitarian Universalist Fellowship website (manateeuuf.org) has launched!

Over a year ago the Membership Team along with the Board of Directors researched how our visitors were finding out about our fellowship. Most of our visitors said they found us through our website. We knew then that the website was our best tool to spread our message. We also knew we wanted our website to have a newer look and be able to do more things for us. (Our hearty thanks to Bernita Franzel for running our previous website for many, many years!) In the spring of 2020, at budget time, we encouraged our Finance Committee to consider allowing for a professional website designer to enhance and improve our website. The Finance Committee approved our suggestion and we set out interviewing website designers. Along came Jody Calder of JP Global Marketing and off we went exploring the best options for us. And now after your elected officials have been in action, we bring to you and the world Manatee UU Fellowship’s new website.

While much of the new site is geared towards newcomers wanting to get to know us, there is plenty for current members and friends to use and enjoy — for example: many photos that are favorites of mine and that I’m sure will be favorites of yours, too, and a video presentation of our congregational covenant as read by Rev. Fred L Hammond during a service last year.

I’d particularly encourage you regularly to check the “News” pull down menu. There you will find the latest announcements and updates — like this one — and a calendar of activities and special events that we will be updating regularly. Between the announcements on our weekly order of service, the monthly Update and this website, you’ll always be on top of what’s happening.

There’s also a “Calls to Action” section that is especially designed for the Social Justice Committee to use to keep our community informed of important issues and ways that we can help to effect change for the better.

Please join me in thanking the following for their help, wise feedback, and photo and text contributions to this effort: Carol Alt, Carol Bartz, Sharon Chofey, Cindy Evans, Bernita Franzel, Rev. Fred L Hammond, Bill Hayes, John Isham, Sally Isham, Sandy McCarthy, Mary McClendon, AJ Wolff and Karen Salzinger.

And special thanks to our web designer, Jody, for her expertise, patience and good humor throughout the four-month development process. We literally could not have done it without her, and I’m happy to add that Jody will continue to maintain the tech side of the site to keep it safe, secure, and up to date for us.

Manatee Justice Ministry Events This Month

By Rev. Fred L Hammond

Manatee Justice Ministry (MJM, DART Chapter) is still in its formation. MJM is seeking, during this formational time, to educate its congregational members on DART’s process for creating change within its various communities. One of the steps towards creating justice is for congregational members to create a consensus on an issue of mutual concern impacting marginalized communities. DART’s model does this by hosting a rally where congregations gather to review various mutual issues and then voting on one or more particular issues. Then after doing its due diligence in researching the issue, the chapter calls for a Nehemiah Assembly where local city and county officials are invited to hear not only the concern but also the proposed solution the chapter wants the city or county to adopt. It is in the numbers of attendees that becomes a strong voting bloc to create the change needed.

Members of Manatee Unitarian Universalist Fellowship as a congregational member of MJM are being invited to attend sibling DART Chapter in Pinellas (FAST) rally on March 8 and Nehemiah Assembly on March 22 — both at 7 PM. Both will be done as a car rally and also on Zoom. It is recommended we have folks attend both events so they can observe the process of choosing an issue to address (Rally) and meeting with legislators to introduce the solution desired to be adopted (Assembly).

Details for both events are:

1. Rally! Monday, March 8, at 7 PM (drive up and zoom)

a. Zoom or Drive-In Sacred Heart Catholic Church 4661 82nd Ave N, Pinellas Park

b. Rally Registration Link: http://bit.ly/fastrally

2. Nehemiah Action! Monday, March 22, at 7 PM (drive up and zoom)

a. Zoom or Drive-In Sacred Heart Catholic Church 4661 82nd Ave N, Pinellas Park

b. Nehemiah Action Registration Link: http://bit.ly/fastnehemiahaction

Racial Concerns Discussion Group & Book Club Report

By Bill Hayes and Cindy Evans

On February 1, members of the Racial Concerns Group joined the Book Club to explore the first three parts of Isabel Wilkerson’s “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.” Her central thesis is that caste achieves its most violent manifestation in the treatment of American Blacks. She describes a correlation between American Blacks and the Indian “Untouchables,” or Dalits, as the lowest caste, while whites in America are the dominant caste equivalent to the Indian Brahmins. The book explores three caste systems in history: the Indian caste system, the Nazi caste system, and the American caste system. She explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations including divine will and the laws of nature, purity versus pollution, occupational hierarchy, dehumanization and stigma, and inherent superiority versus inherent inferiority. An artificial construction, a caste system is a fixed and embedded ranking of human value that sets the presumed supremacy of one group against the presumed inferiority of other groups based on ancestry. The member discussion differentiated between caste and race and how each supports the other — and how class differs from caste.

Parts four through seven were scheduled to be discussed on March 1, with an exploration of the tentacles of caste, the consequences of caste, its backlash and awakening.

On April 5 at 2 PM, the Book Club will discuss “Sweet Taste of Liberty” by W. Caleb McDaniel. It is the true story about a freed Black woman who was sold back into slavery, regained her freedom and then sued successfully for reparations from the government. She is the only person to have done so.

In April, the Racial Concerns Discussion Group will meet at its regular day and time, the second Tuesday of the month (April 12) at 10 AM.

All meetings continue to be held on Zoom.

Special Collection for March 2021

The Special Collection for March will benefit the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a worker-based human rights organization internationally recognized for its achievements in fighting human trafficking and gender-based violence at work. The CIW is also recognized for pioneering the design and development of the worker-driven Social Responsibility paradigm, a worker-led, market-enforced approach to the protection of human rights in corporate supply chains. This special collection will begin on Sunday, March 14, and run through Sunday, March 28. Please make checks payable to Coalition of Immokalee Workers and mail to Manatee UU Fellowship, 322 15th St. W, Bradenton, FL 34205.

For more information on the coalition, click on this link: [https://ciw-online.org].

FRED’S FLAVORINGS

March 2021

On March 11, 2020, the board held an emergency meeting regarding the pandemic. It seemed the entire country was shutting down. I remember second guessing our decision until I heard that our sibling congregations in Florida were also meeting that day and came to the same conclusion that we did. Little did we know then that we would be still meeting online one year later with over 500,000 lives lost nationwide.

Since March 11, our nation has been rocked by white supremacy with the video feed of the brutal murder of George Floyd, the riots that followed, the collapse of the restaurant and tourist industry, multiple hurricanes and ice storms that have left people homeless and the attack on our democracy by a sitting president resulting in an insurrection at our National Capitol. We had enough major events to fill several years crammed into one.

So how are we doing, friends? I will speak for myself when I say that I am exhausted by it all; the isolation, the social distancing, alarming numbers of infections and wondering if this sniffle is the Corona virus or just allergies.

So many of the usual avenues of connections have been constrained. Yet here we are one year later. I hope that all of us will survive until everyone is vaccinated so we can again be together as a fellowship. When will be able to gather again? What will our gatherings look like? Will we be able to return to full in person gatherings in the fall? Or will we do a hybrid ministry where our worship services continue online, but we gather in person for small covenant groups? Many of our sibling congregations are considering the latter.

This month we will focus on our Stewardship campaign — Up from the Ashes — as we begin to reimagine what our narrative of the future post pandemic will be. You will receive an invite to an online zoom meeting to hear from one another their perspective on this past year and where we want to be a few years from now. If for some reason, you do not receive an invite and would like to attend, please contact the MUUF office. I hope you will join us as we can only imagine the future with you as an integral piece of that future. Join us.

Blessings, Fred

February 2021

While in this continuing pandemic, we are still not working, worshipping, or meeting in our building. I miss our chance encounters while you are at MUUF for one reason or another. I miss hearing about your joys and concerns.

My relationship with you as minister is different than being your friend. When I call you, it is because I am working in my professional role as minister. It is not like a friendship where we talk idly about our days or common interests. It is perhaps the hardest aspect of professional ministry, not just for the congregation but for the minister as well.

That said, I enjoy being your minister in this time and place. I am thrilled when I see the spirit of generosity and love grow in our fellowship. But also as minister, I will not presume access to your life events like a best friend might.

I have sent this list before and thought it might be time for a reminder. The following is a list of just those times applied to every aspect of life’s stages. It is not original with me, though a few of them I have added.

Some version of this list has been circulated since at least 1957.

Call the Minister When….

You just want to talk.
When you don’t know me but would like to.
When your child doesn’t know me but would like to or you would like them to.
When your family doesn’t know me but would like to.
When you are looking for a way to deepen your spiritual life.
When your children have questions of faith and you would like me to visit with them.
When you have religious or spiritual questions.
When you are celebrating one of life’s joys and want to share the good news.
When you are feeling sad or lonely, or lost.
When you have lost your job, found a new job, been promoted or demoted.
When you or a family member is ill.
When you or you know of someone in the congregation who is going to the hospital.
When someone close to you has died or is critically ill or you’re dealing with a significant loss of some kind.
When you would like to make plans for a memorial service. When you would like to make plans for your memorial service.
When you are planning to be married. When you are challenged by the demands of marriage. When you are separated or planning to get a divorce.
When you would like your child dedicated.
When you are challenged by life’s daily happenings.
When you want to come out to your family, your church, or to me as gay or transgender.
When you feel ready to join the congregation.
When you want to share your experience of or appreciation for our beloved community. When you have concerns about the church or our faith community.
When you have a good story to share.

January 2021

The Roman God Janus was holding out on us in 2020. Janus is the keeper of transitions – rites of passages in our lives, and from one year to the next. He is the guard at the gate, the keeper of the locks to the doorways between past and future. You may have seen him as the two headed god with one face looking back and one face looking ahead. He saw what 2020 held for us and he was not telling us.

Good riddance to 2020.

Janus isn’t saying much about what 2021 will bring either but there are some things that are continuing from last year.

We can be confident that the pandemic will continue throughout most if not all of 2021. The Vaccine rollout began in a flawed 2020 fashion so getting the vaccine quickly will not likely happen soon even with the new federal administration. We seem to have a significant memory loss in methodology from previous national pandemic vaccination campaigns—polio comes to mind immediately. How quickly the new administration can get up to speed is still to be seen.

We can be confident that Manatee Unitarian Universalist Fellowship will be continuing online-only services at least through June and possibly later depending on how quickly the American people are vaccinated with one of the three possibly four vaccines available.

We know that the recovery of the economy for those directly impacted by this pandemic will continue to need assistance through 2021. Jobs have been lost; businesses have shut down. People are desperate to find food, shelter because of the impact of this pandemic. So, we can expect Manatee Unitarian Universalist Fellowship to focus our special collections towards organizations that can provide the most immediate relief to folks. This month we will be taking a special collection for Turning Points.

We will be having our annual auction in February. It will be organized differently and online but know that it will be happening. And we be having our stewardship campaign for next fiscal year. This will also be online. I am confident that our fellowship will continue to be generous in supporting the ministries of this fellowship.

But there are things that Janus is keeping very mum about. So, we will just have to wait and see how it all transpires. May we all have a healthy and prosperous 2021.

Blessings,
Fred

Email Fred

Reverend Fred L Hammond

John Isham

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

March 2021

It’s all over but the shouting and it still does persist. Let’s hope most of it dies down shortly so our new government can deal with what is more important: the pandemic, climate change, racism and poverty.

Gradually our members are getting vaccinated. But we still have a ways to go. I think the end of April would be a good time to evaluate our membership and start projecting a time when we all can start meeting again in the sanctuary. Let’s hope the rate of COVID-19 mutations has slowed due to the reduced numbers of transmitters in public. Unfortunately, there are still large numbers in the world who refuse to believe in either the virus or the vaccination.

A recent high point for us was the Black History month service on Feb 14. The 75 minute service, highlighted by wonderful music, was a sobering reminder of blatant racism and the courage of those who struggle against it. In the chat session following the service we were treated to some honest answers regarding establishing a relationship with a local black church. Fred continued the following Sunday with another inspiring service honoring Black Women in History.

Our Feb 21 service was followed by the live Auction. Despite the concern over conducting our live auction virtually with Zoom, it all went very smoothly and was not unlike the real thing. It was a fun affair with much competitive bidding and many surprises. This year’s auction was extremely well run and very successful.

Also, at the end of this month, we will begin our annual Stewardship drive with a sermon devoted to its start. It is time for people to step up once each Sunday, beginning Feb 28, to give their stories about their reasons to be UUs. Start thinking. We may call you.

Bank of America has just provided the latest instructions on the procedure to apply for forgiveness of the PPP loan we received last May. My first attempt has run into the same glitchy results which plagued BofA’s applications the first time through. It will be good to finally have that entry off our books and added to our finances.

In this pandemic, how have we done on our connectedness? We receive very little feedback from our members. The number of positive and negative suggestions are few and about equal. Some want to experience more spirituality, others more UU history, and some say the services are too short. Perhaps the board members can poll our contact lists for their opinions and suggestions. Zoom contacts bring different experiences, some likes, some dislikes and some new opportunities. Reverend Fred is going to schedule a number of cottage meetings and will ask people to sign up and discuss Manatee UUF’s future. This will be looking toward when we can return (if and how) to live services. We have a lot of time left to plan and organize a gala reopening.

February 2021

When will we hold in person meetings again? What are the CDC recommendations going to be then? Will masks be required? Everything I read seems to indicate the answer is yes. Will social distancing be required? Well, I guess if masks are required then that, too. Does it mean the end Zoom service also each Sunday? How will things evolve as time goes on? Will the virus ever be totally eliminated? Will we ever be back to normal? Or will we evolve into a new normal? Many questions, many unknowns, lots to discuss and figure out. The future of our fellowship depends on it.

Now that the dark clouds really have lifted and there is hope, we all get the urge to get busy and do something. I am deluged with environmental and social justice groups holding “how to” seminars and looking for money. All of this in the midst of being unable to move for fear of the virus. So what can we do? How can we do action? How can we choose what is best? Individually, it should really be, what is best for each one of us. There are more than enough worthy causes to spend 24 hours each and every day trying to support. There are many extremely interesting parts of these causes to learn about and take action. So choose one or a few and do them right. Tell the others you are sorry but you just can’t.

As President I am overwhelmed with emails asking for Manatee UU Fellowship’s support or with causes it “should” support. I could swamp the congregation each day with all these suggestions. I don’t because I don’t want to impose my filter on others. I do send out a few which belong in our Social Justice committee. What I would like to see are a number of small groups, each with their own favorite cause, organized as part of Social Justice and reported on at each meeting. Bill Hayes has started one with his racial concerns group. I would like to see an active climate justice group formed — perhaps one that meets independently of the SJ meetings and the MCEA meetings. Others might have ideas of their own.

We also need to be enhancing and promoting the reputation of the fellowship in the community. Perhaps we fall down in being known as a place where one can find peace and belonging. I would like to see us begin small group discussions of spirituality, a place where one can safely bare their soul, where one can express where they are on their search for truth, a place where one can hear how others are doing on their individual searches. Is there any reason why adult RE cannot be explored using Zoom? We lose a certain amount of intimacy, and the loss of body language, but with familiarity with Zoom a certain amount of intimacy returns. There are also many areas where we need to “find” ourselves as a fellowship in the midst of this pandemic. All this is food for thought and discussion as time goes forward.

January 2021

I thought by this date the election woes would be all over, but it is not so. We still have a way to go, we still have a number of conjured up tests our democracy has to pass before the lies of election fraud, which we have been hearing for more than four years, are finally put to bed. Get too close to the details and one’s anger grows. More distressing are the thoughts of the aftermath and the damage that has been done. More incredible is the question, “Why?” Why are those who want to destroy democracy, …. doing it? What do they hope to gain? Money? Power? They are destroying the very means by which they might become successful!

Next, we had hoped an efficient vaccine distribution would happen but now, it seems the same source that is messing with the elections and has messed up the whole country’s response to the pandemic, is messing up the rate of vaccine inoculations everywhere because of incompetent planning. Examples of this total incompetence are everywhere as the buck is passed to the states who are already overwhelmed with medical issues trying to save people sick with the virus.

So what can we at Manatee UUF do? Do we provide a sense of refuge, a place from where we can share our lives and be temporarily free of external upheaval? A place of security from which we can reach out and help those who are impacted by such useless ineptitude.

The election and its aftermath, the virus, and climate change are the three most pressing crises we, as human beings, face in the immediate future. We must create and maintain a healthy, stable Manatee UUF in the midst of all this for all of us and others who find a home with us. Only then can we consider what we can do about the election’s aftermath, the societal degeneration which grew from the vocal encouragement of the master degenerate himself. We must, in the meantime, also adhere to all the CDC recommendations for social behavior until the risk of infection is gone. Last but definitely not least we frogs must jump out of the heating cook pot now and tackle climate change head on to slow the warming. We have lost four years. Perhaps they are irreplaceable, but we cannot look back.

Let’s do all we can to internally strengthen our congregation by sharing ourselves in Manatee UUF’s activities. We then can jump on the bandwagon and attend the meetings of our political parties to find ways to help our new government recover its sense of decency. During this time of crisis, do all we can to help those impacted by the virus-caused floundering economy. Be constantly conscious of the environment: reduce plastic use, pick up trash, promote clean energy by attending meetings of local environmental groups and taking part in their renewed efforts to influence the passage of new legislation strengthening clean air and clean water and reducing global warming. For all of us, it is now or never to push hard for our future.

Email John

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Manatee UU Fellowship NEWS

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

ANNOUNCEMENTS

New Website is up and running

Manatee Justice Ministry Events This Month

Racial Concerns Discussion Group & Book Club Report

Special Collection for March 2021

FRED’S FLAVORINGS

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

NEWSLETTER SIGN UP

Sunday Services: 10:30

LOCATION:

941-746-0067

Unitarian Universalist Association

Manatee UU Fellowship NEWS

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

ANNOUNCEMENTS

New Website is up and running

Manatee Justice Ministry Events This Month

Racial Concerns Discussion Group & Book Club Report

Special Collection for March 2021

FRED’S FLAVORINGS

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

NEWSLETTER SIGN UP

MANATEE UUF NEWSLETTER

Sunday Services: 10:30

LOCATION:

941-746-0067

Unitarian Universalist Association