Unitarian Fellowship of Lawrence MONTHLY NEWSLETTER May 2016 Mark Your Calendars! Upcoming Events and Important Dates this Month Saturday, May 7 Spring Work Day, 8-12 noon (food!) Saturday, May 7 Women’s Group, 2-4 p.m. (Barbara Schowen’s) Monday, May 9 Executive Board meeting, 7:00 p.m. at UFL Saturday, May 14 We serve at L.I.N.K. Sunday, May 15 Children and Youth Art Show Reception, 10:30 a.m. Sunday, May 15 Special Congregational Meeting, noon (with lunch) Sunday, May 22 Annual Business Meeting, noon (also with food!) Sunday, June 5 Jon Coffee’s sermon, 11:00 a.m. Sunday, June 5 Jordinn Nelson Long’s ordination, 4:00 p.m., All Souls, Kansas City Sunday, June 12 Jordinn’s “Good-bye” sermon, 11:00 a.m. Reception following SPRING WORK DAY THIS SAT., MAY 7, 8:00 a.m.-noon Buildings and Grounds Team invites you to help with a work task of your choice, and stay for lunch. Goals for UFL Work Day include: • upright mailbox • upright swing set • sweep stones off road by driveway and fill puddle holes • wash outdoor chairs and table(s) • wash windows • add mulch around swing set • add crushed white limestone around building perimeter • clean steps and vestibule at Founders Hall • trim low boughs on Bradford Pear trees Bring your favorite cleaning tools and supplies. Coffee will be ready at 0800; lunch at noon MINISTER’S MUSINGS Sunday, June 5: Ordination of Jordinn Nelson Long We're so proud of our two members, Jon Coffee and Jordinn Nelson Long, who felt their call to the Unitarian Universalist ministry while at UFL. For the past three years, they've been students at Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago, and have just completed their congregational internships: Jon at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, and Jordinn at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church in Kansas City and The Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF.) In our UU tradition, ministers are credentialed and fellowshipped by the Ministerial Fellowship Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Association. But only congregations may ordain a person to the ministry. On Sunday June 5 at 4:00 p.m., the Unitarian Fellowship of Lawrence will ordain our member, Jordinn Nelson Long, in conjunction with All Souls and CLF. This will be a memorable and meaningful event in the life of UFL -- the first time we've ordained one of our members! The ordination ceremony, which will require a larger sanctuary, will take place at All Souls in Kansas City. Members of Jordinn's Ordination Committee are working to organize food for the reception, carpooling to KC from Lawrence, and other important details (the committee members are Carol Eades Delnevo, Rebecca Gant, Joe Gant, Michelle Iwig-Harmon, Sydnie Kampschroeder, Vaun Kampschroeder, Jake Kipp, Barbara Schowen, and Dick Schowen.) Many of our members have given ribbons to be woven into a special ordination stole as a gift to Jordinn. The UFL choir will join other members of the I-70 and All Souls choirs, and special music will be provided by UFL vocalists. Barbara Thompson, as UFL Chair, and Rev. Jill Jarvis will have formal roles in the ordination service representing our congregation. It will be a day to be remembered! Jon Coffee will return from Tennessee to participate in Jordinn's ordination, and will lead worship for us at UFL on Sunday morning. Then we're all invited to proceed to Kansas City to ordain Jordinn at 4:00 p.m. and stay for the joyful celebration afterwards. Jordinn and her family will be moving in July to Fairhaven, Massachusetts, where she's been called to her first church. SOCIAL ACTION/SOCIAL JUSTICE NEWS Community Connections The Community Connection for May is Van Go The mission--To improve the lives of high-needs youth using art as the vehicle for self- expression, self-confidence, and hope for the future The organization--Van Go, Inc. is an arts-based social service agency that provides year-round after-school and summer job-training programs to high-needs and under-served youth, ages 14- 24. Using art as the vehicle, Van Go delivers constructive activities to youth at risk for drug and alcohol use, teen pregnancy, truancy or delinquency. Founded in 1997 as an innovative way to help fill existing gaps in social services, Van Go has been a lifeline for hundreds of kids and teens in crisis, providing them with valuable life and job skills as they create art for the community. What Happens to our Sunday Collections for the Community Connections? See photos below. Unitarian Fellowship of Lawrence Social Action/Social Justice Team representatives present community connection checks for to Ecumenical Campus Ministries (left; April 18; with Rev. Jill Jarvis) and Centro- Hispano (right, April 19, 2016). Special Offerings on 5th Sundays 5th Sunday, May 29 “In order to continue our proud tradition of giving our collection to community agencies, it is important to look inward and give to ourselves. If we don't take care to insure the future of UFL, we will not be able to offer the gifts we cherish giving to others. It is in this spirit, at this time of true financial crisis, that the collection from this Sunday's offering will be donated to the UFL's 2016-17 budget, that we may continue blessing others in the spirit of love and generosity that define this congregation.” ~Elliott Smith Vacek, Member SAJT Events May 9--A rally and press conference is planned for May 9 at the Kansas Statehouse to kick off a statewide grassroots campaign in support of KanCare (Medicaid) expansion. The campaign will help organize voters and leaders in communities across the state to help elected officials see that a large majority of their constituents support KanCare expansion. The event is sponsored by the Alliance for a Healthy Kansas and will be 1:30-2pm on May 9 at the Kansas Statehouse, Room 582-N. May 21--The Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty is sponsoring a gathering at St. John’s Church on May 21 at 7pm. Speaking will be Floyd Bledsoe who was exonerated of first-degree murder after spending 15 years in prison. The meeting is in the Parish basement, at 1234 Kentucky. http://www.ksabolition.org/ T-shirts and Wrist Bracelets Social Action/Justice Team has wrist bracelets that say Black Lives Matter to Unitarian Universalists in adult, small wrist and toddler sizes. Please contact Barb Johnston or any one of the SAJT members to receive one, or more. Social Action/Justice Team has or can order a Standing on the Side of Love t-shirt for anyone interested. Please contact one of the SAJT members—Barbara Johnston, Pennie Von Achen, Jake Kipp, Graham Kreicker, Paula Monroe, Emily Russell. And there are youth t-shirts available at no cost. SAJT Summer Reading Group As part of the Social Action and Social Justice Team's effort to bring issues associated with Black Lives Matter to the UFL congregation, Jake Kipp will be leading a reading circle devoted to Pulled Over: How Police Stops Define Race and Citizenship by Charles R. Epp, Steven Maynard-Moody, and Donald P. Haider-Markel. The book was published in 2014 as part of the ChicaGo Series in Law and Society. Professor Charles Epp addressed this research in his brief remarks at the Kansas Interfaith Action meeting in Topeka. SAJT has purchased a copy of Pulled Over for the Fellowship Library. SAJT believes that this work can provide insights into a key aspect of Black Lives Matter. Those interested in taking part should contact Jake Kipp at [email protected] or phone: 785-841-2856. The schedule for the summer reading sessions is open. SAJT-Related Events at UFL and around Town Join SAJT at ACLU Forum Featuring Leonard Pitts, Saturday, May 21 Kansas ACLU will hold their Free State Forum at Abe and Jake's Landing from 3:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, 21 May. Afternoon sessions will offer a film about immigration issues, and panel discussions about reproductive rights and voter suppression in Kansas. Included in the $35 cost are a cocktail reception and dinner plus a presentation by Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, Leonard Pitts, Jr. Eight SAJT members have already paid for one table. Let's join them with a second. Contact Graham Kreicker at 842-2332 or email [email protected] UFL serves at LINK Saturday, May 14th Sign up sheet is in the lobby This is a wonderful way for meaningful service that takes just a few hours LINK (Lawrence Interdenominational Nutrition Kitchen) serves hot nutritious meals in a safe and welcoming environment to families and individuals at no cost. Every other month the UFL provides and serves a meal for LINK. We bring 15 or more meat dishes, two vegetarian dishes and one vegan dish. Homemade desserts are also welcome. Fifteen or so volunteers are needed to help serve and clean up. Please come join us as we put our UU principles into action to help our community. Food and volunteers need to be at LINK (basement of First Christian Church on the SE corner of 10th and Kentucky) by 12:30 PM. We serve from 1-2 PM, and clean up is usually finished by 2:45. If you have any questions, please contact Joe Gant at 832-1030 or [email protected] LET’S PULL TOGETHER! Sadly, the little train representing our 2016-17 giving campaign was stalled in April. Thankfully, the Success Express has begun chugging up the hill again towards our goal of $179,000.