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| Unitarian Universalist Church of Cheyenne A community of refuge where all have equal worth and are invited into spiritual exploration as a foundation for: hope. compassionate service. action.  Where is the Love? As we begin African American history month and Share our Plate with Wyoming Equality, our values call us to examine our hearts and our values more deeply and to find where Love joins with community to shape justice in the world. Let us find, once again, the courage and compassion to become more deeply involved, to honor one another’s struggles, and to build a world in which the fullness of self is prized and encouraged. Preacher – Reverend Elizabeth Mount All are welcome! For all Sunday Service connection information please scroll down  Beloveds, While I was working as a Director of Religious Exploration in a congregation in Ohio, I had a chance to be on the periphery of the children’s choir, hearing the strumming of a guitar and the high voices of children each Sunday as I walked the last of the Kindergarteners to their pretzels and goldfish crackers and parents in the main social hall. Their favorite song to sing, and my favorite to hear, was a composition made by a member of the church about their mission statement, which featured the adorable chorus, “With LOVE at the Center, LOVE at the Center…” and I thought, “yeah, sure, that’s obviously a thing we do here, but it hardly needs to be said.” I thought most religious people were working from a similar desire to find and share love, in whatever ways we understood it. Today, looking around at the piles of proposed legislation moving through our legislature with the intent to stop trans people from accessing healthcare, defund proposals for mental health support to reduce suicide rates, raise more walls between nations, control the reproductive choices of people with uteri, and ban books that might help people of color or queer youth to feel a bit less alone in the world, I have changed my mind. Expressing the vitality of Love at our center is absolutely fundamental to our ministry as Unitarian Universalists. We need to understand our centering in love as the core message of our faith; one that is truly salvific to many people in this world. The foundation of love without condition as the basic condition of all humanity, and the offering of which leads to good behavior and the desire to build community and not the other way around is a revelation worthy of our notice. Hosea Ballou expressed the human right to happiness as a part of this love which is greater than anything in A Treatise on Atonement and in his extensive preaching in and around the Boston area in the late 1700s. He stated, “… if the Almighty, as we believe him to be, did not possess power sufficient to make all his creatures happy, it was not an act of goodness in him to create them… . If it be granted that God has both power and will to save all men, it is granting all I want for a foundation of my faith.” When we start from the understanding that all people deserve love, support, and joy (or happiness) and are granted this right by simple virtue of existence, we find it our calling to offer one another a safe, supportive, welcoming place from which to go out into the world and return week after week for mutual sustenance of the body, mind, and spirit. So here, we are building community and resistance to all forms of hate and injustice. Here we are finding the beauty in our diversity and a place where we truly value one another’s contributions to this congregation. Here, we love one another not in spite of our differences but because those differences build a broader base for community and let our wholeness be expressed in so many more holy and sacred forms of revelation than any of us could hope to find alone. Here, we rest in love. Here, we are held, with Love at the center. May you find it, feel it, and be enfolded in love each and every day. In the fullness of love, Rev. Elizabeth ————————————————————————— WEEK THREE: JANUARY 30 – FEBRUARY 5 Theme – Healing :: Decriminalization An Abolition Prayer By Rev. Jason Lydon Beloved friends, I want to invite you to join me in the spirit of prayer. Let us prepare for our prayer time by breathing together. As you breathe, I want you to feel the power of your body. Make tight fists with your hands, feel your muscles as they become taught, and then relax them. Raise your shoulders up to your ears, feeling your body extend, and then relax. Your body is a blessing. Breathe. Loving Divine, We begin in thanks, thankful for the breath in our lungs, the beauty of our earth and the strength of our community. We are praying together in the spirit of abolition, in the vision of those who have come before us and with our heart’s attention to liberation. Our prayer is in our actions. Our prayer is in our resistant theology. Our prayer is in the communities that we build up. Our prayer is in the open doors that lead to sanctuaries where we can find respite, renewal, and rejuvenation. This is our prayer, this is our Unitarian Universalism. As Unitarian Universalists we do not usually pray about hell. We know that there is no hell to fear after death. During this life we share though, there is much hell to be overcome, hell that must be eradicated, hell that our faith demands we abolish Each time a family mourns their loved one gunned down by the police, hell is real Each time a prisoner is strip searched before and after a visit, hell is real Each time bail is set so high that freedom is impossible to find, hell is real Each time someone spends 23 hours locked in a cell, hell is real When phone calls from prison cost $25 for 15 minutes, hell is real Our universalist ancestors teach us that punishment does not transform the soul after death and yet, and yet, and yet punishment culture permeates our world and creates hell after hell right here on earth. Hells may be built up all around us but our faith teaches us that we can and must abolish each and every hell that people are living in. We do not pray for abolition beloveds, abolition is our prayer. we make this prayer real each time we whittle away at that which denies life. We make this prayer real when we dismantle anti-Blackness. We make this prayer real when we build up alternatives to policing. We make this prayer real when we harness the power of God, Gaia, or our human family and give life to something new. You are the prayer. I am the prayer. We are the prayer, and we are answering it even as we articulate it. However you name the holy, wherever you feel the greatest connection to love, may we each have the strength to embrace this power and go about building the beloved community, the kin-dom of heaven right here, right now. As we pray, there are no kings for us to fear or take down but kin with whom we can organize, mobilize, dance, eat, play, cry, nourish, and nurture. Let us pray, knowing the wisdom June Jordan taught us, we are indeed the ones we have been waiting for. Let the people say, amen https://vimeo.com/793167288 New Proposal for UU Principles and Purpose!  UUA Newsletter Unitarian Universalist Association January 2023 Dear Elizabeth, Happy New Year! I am sending you care as we begin another year. This, 2023, is an important year for Unitarian Universalism. We are currently in a multi-year process to consider changes to our UUA Principles and Purpose. This process began in 2020 when the UUA Board appointed an Article II Study Commission. This is a dry name for such important work. The reason is our Principles, Purpose, covenant and Sources are contained in Article II of the UUA Bylaws. Our seven Principles and six Sources – which we know and love – were adopted in 1985. They offered a substantial (even radical) change from what preceded them. The changes came through years of effort by UU women, particularly the UU Women’s Federation, to push for greater gender equality in UUism, support for women in the ministry and to eliminate sexist language from our Bylaws, hymns, and yes, from the version of Article II passed in 1961 (at the time of consolidation). But the changes didn’t just address gender, they made significant language changes that reflected the times. It removed language of God, man, and brotherhood and added the language of interdependence and the Sources reflecting the growing theological diversity of our tradition. As a lifelong UU, coming of age after these changes, I am grateful. They changed our movement in ways that were important for the success of women leaders, ministers, and for me, as our first elected woman President. These changes, at the time, brought fierce dissent. But more, they inspired excitement and possibility. Why do we need a review of the Principles and Purpose? In the mid-2010’s, the ground began to shift again – much as it did in response to the women’s movement. The emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement, the election of Donald Trump with his racist and misogynist campaign, and the urgent calls to confront white supremacy culture in our own movement – all of these compelled UUs to ask questions about whether our Principles reflected fully who we are and who we need to be. By the 2017 General Assembly, there were multiple grassroots efforts to change our Principles. The first was overwhelmingly adopted, to change “prophetic women and men” to “prophetic people” to move beyond gender binary. There was also a proposal to change the first Principle from “the inherent worth and dignity of all people” to the “inherent worth and dignity of all beings.” This proposal was ultimately tabled as delegates grappled with the reality that we still had a lot of work to do on living the first Principle for people. Discussions of the Eighth Principle were also happening and by 2020, hundreds of UU congregations had adopted it! The Eighth Principle recognized the need to go beyond aspirational principles to commitments to dismantle systems of oppression – calling us from aspiration to action. It was within this context that your UUA Board appointed an Article II Study Commission to integrate these conversations and lead a discernment process for our whole Association about core values, covenant, and purpose. The Board gave the Commission a broad charge to review, change, or reimagine Article II to “enable our UUA, our member congregations, and our covenanted communities to be a relevant and powerful force for spiritual and moral growth, healing, and justice.” After two and a half years of study and conversations with thousands of Unitarian Universalists, the Article II Study Commission submitted their report and proposal to the UUA Board of Trustees for its January 20th meeting. Read the Report & Proposal This spring, congregation delegates and the Board can propose amendments to the proposal. The proposal and amendments will be considered at General Assembly this June and a majority vote is required to continue consideration at GA 2024. If any of the delegate amendments are accepted, and if the proposal receives majority approval, then the Article II Study Commission will make any necessary changes to create a final draft for consideration at GA 2024. The final proposal will require a two thirds majority vote at GA 2024 to be adopted. Seven years ago, when I was beginning my campaign for UUA President, I approached the process with an intention to be open to the process while letting go of outcomes. My hope for us as Unitarian Universalists is that we approach discernment about Article II with similar openness. May we enter our conversations with a spirit of curiosity, holding off attachment to outcomes, and listen with our whole hearts and to the fullness and diversity of voices in our community. May the process itself deepen our understanding of and commitment to our faith. Love, Susan Rev. Dr. Susan Frederick-Gray  The next dinner party is scheduled for – Saturday 2/4/2023 1504 Stinson Avenue, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82001 Arrive by 5:45 pm. The only requirements are your time, a smile, and closed toed shoes. Contact Laura First Sunday Potluck February 5, 2023, after church Bring food if you’re able, bring friends if you like. There is abundance and room for all!   Family Fun Night February 10, 2023 5:30 – 7:30 pm We’ll have a spaghetti dinner – pasta and red sauce provided, bring a side, beverages, or dessert if you are able. Add love to the world this February by joining us this family fun night as we paint rocks with loving images to spread around our community as a shared expression of joy!    Important communications are now being sent by many people in the UUCC community via emails through Realm. Be sure you are not missing anything by adding the following email address to either your whitelist or your contacts: notifications@onrealmmail.org. If you have any questions or want to create an account on Realm, please feel free to reach out to the Realm Implementation team at uuccrealmhelp@uucheyenne.org. Winter Spiritual Practices Lectio Divina: Tuesdays at 11:30am, join Rev. Elizabeth in the library to reflect on the sacred meanings of poetry in relation to your life and inner being. Lectio Divina follows a guided format of reflection with a new poem provided each week. If you would like to recommend a piece of poetry for a future session, email it to Rev. Elizabeth at minister@uucheyenne.org. ********************************************************** Mindful Monday Meditation Please join us on the FIRST Monday of February for mindfulness practice in the Plum Village tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. Unitarian Universalist Church of Cheyenne / 3005 Thomes Avenue Room 5 – Upstairs FIRST Monday, February 6, 6:00 – 7:30 PM includes: sitting and walking meditations; readings or teachings, and discussion.Everyone is welcome. No experience is necessary. For more information, please contact Beth Howard ********************************************************** Bird and Bell Meditation The following meditation sessions are still being held via Zoom: Please feel free to join us. Tuesday Morning 7:15 – 7:45 am Now includes chanting Wednesday Evening 6:00 – 7:00 pm Thursday Morning 7:15 – 7:45 am Now includes chanting Use this link Bird and Bell Meditation Zoom Link The Sunday morning session is now in person! Sunday Morning 8:45 – 9:15 am Monday morning at the Hawthorn Tree 9:15 – 10:15 ********************************************************** Drum Circle Fourth Fridays, February 24, from 7:00 – 9:00 pm in the Social Hall Everyone is welcome ********************************************************** Bibles and Beer: every Monday at 5:30 PM – Bibles and Beer is an interfaith study session on a Bible passage chosen weekly. Join them in person at Uncle Charlie’s or via Zoom. Please email Rodger McDaniel at rmc81448@gmail.com so he can add you to the list of those sent the Zoom link each week. ********************************************************** Community Office Hours  Come and visit with Rev. Elizabeth on Tuesday mornings at the Paramount Café between 9-11 am. Did something in the Sunday service catch your attention and you want to go deeper? Need to chat about a minor pastoral issue? Find a really good book and need to tell someone about it? Just have some free time and want to spend it with someone? Come by and hang out for a few minutes with your friendly local UU minister! SUNDAY SERVICE INFORMATION We gather at 10 am for worship in our sanctuary at 3005 Thomes Avenue; masks are encouraged and optional. Order of Service Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 952 3844 3423 Passcode: 375665 One tap mobile +13462487799,,95238443423# US (Houston) +16694449171,,95238443423# US Dial by your location +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 669 444 9171 US +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 646 931 3860 US +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) Meeting ID: 952 3844 3423 Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/ac3zomnZ New to UU Meets monthly on the second Sunday at 11:30 am – 1:00 pm in the library and will meet Sunday, February 12 ********************************************************** Committees and Teams Worship team meets at 6:30 pm on third Wednesdays, and will meet February 15, at 6:30 pm in the library – contact Rev. Elizabeth to join a meeting or become a Worship Associate Board meets at 6:30 pm on first Tuesdays on Zoom and will meet. February 7, at 6:30 pm via zoom – contact President Elaine Hayes Committee on Shared Ministry meets at 6:30 pm on fourth Thursdays and will meet February 23 at 6:30 pm. in the library – contact Lauren Danley Finance Team meets at 4:15 pm on third Thursday’s, and will meet February 16, 4:15 – 5:15 pm in the library contact. Marci Linde or Camellia El-Antably We are pleased to announce that our new online giving platform is ready for use! You can securely give from our website atuucheyenne.org/give or via text message [text UUCC to 73256]. You can even create an account to set up recurring donations, view your giving history and use our free mobile app. If you’d like to set up an account, please contact bookkeeper@uucheyenne.org and we will send you an invitation to join our online community. *****************************************  This is a peanut free facility Please help us keep our congregants safe!  Please send Order of Service and Newsletter announcements to administrator@uucheyenne.org by or before Wednesday at 10:00 AM Thank you Join us Sunday, February 12, 2023 With Love at the Center Today’s worship service is a collaboration between two of our Wyoming congregations. In this worship we plan to explore and deepen our understanding of Article II, our Unitarian Universalist Association’s covenant with us and between our congregations. Each congregation will have a hand in jointly contemplating what it means to place Love at the Center and build our movement together in shared faith. |
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