Monday Night At the Church - Oct. 18th at 7:00 PM

The Welcoming Committee presents the film "Preacher's Sons" for the Monday Night At The Church program on Oct. 18th at 7:00 PM.

Produced for the California Council for the Humanities, "Preacher's Sons" is an intimate study of how two men give permanent, loving homes to five at-risk, hard-to-place children lost in the foster care system. Over 100 hours of filming are gathered over five years, in four different cities, to reveal how two Gay men (one a UU minister) parent ( and adopt) five foster boys.

"Discrimination often complicates the adoption process for gays and lesbians. Research shows that less than 20% of adoption agencies attempt to recruit gay or lesbian adoptive parents. Approximately two million gay and lesbian people have considered adoption."

The film is both heartbreaking and ultimately very inspiring. It doesn't shrink from showing local prejudices and/or the many real hardships in raising children with severe and different needs.

If time allows we will have a brief discussion period following the film, ending around 9:00 PM.

Meet Rev. Mark Kiyimba from Uganda

Meet Rev. Mark Kiyimba from Uganda on Wednesday, October 6, 2010 7:00 p.m. at Brookfield UUC Church, 9 Upper River Steet, Brookfield, MA.

Contact the church office at 508 867-5145 for more information or to arrange handicap access.

Who is Rev. Mark Kiyimba and why do we want to meet him?

Beginning in 2009, a horrendous legislation was put before the Ugandan government as a private bill: the Anti-Homosexuality Bill which, if enacted, would broaden the criminalization of homosexuality by introducing the death penalty for people who have previous convictions, are HIV-positive, or engage in same sex acts with people under 18 years of age. The bill also included provisions for Ugandans who engage in same-sex sexual relations outside of Uganda, asserting that they may be extradited for punishment back to Uganda, and included penalties for individuals, companies, media organizations, or non-governmental organizations that support LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) rights. This bill would also punish those who knew of someone who was homosexual, or even only suspected that someone was homosexual, and did not report that information.


Rev. Mark and his church, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Kampala, took a strong and courageous stand against this bill. They organized a conference, called "Standing on the Side of Love: Reimagining Valentine's Day," held February 14, 2010. All details were kept secret until that day, knowing, as one organizer put it: "If we walk through the streets [for this protest] we will surely be stoned."

According to Rev. Mark, whose church members include many LGBT persons, "I cannot stand by and watch as my community is exterminated. My church will become illegal and cease to exist if this bill becomes law" The intense international reaction to the bill, which was stirred primarily because of Rev. Mark's conference, caused President Yoweri Museveni to form a commission to investigate the implications of passing the bill. In May 2010, the committee recommended withdrawing it.

The Unitarian Universalist Association of Kampala includes the urban congregation of about one hundred members in Kampala as well as a rural community that oversees a school and orphanage for HIV/AIDS orphans near the town of Masaka.

First U Yard and Book Sale on October 2nd

It's not too late to donate items to the yard sale!

Donations are still needed for the Yard sale and Book sale. We'll take them right through this Friday up until 9:00 pm.

Anyone interested in providing baked goods for sale, please drop off baked goods Friday evening or Saturday morning.


Larger items or big loads of items can be dropped off on Thursday evening between 6:00 and 8:00 pm or Friday evening between 4:00 pm and 9:00 pm.

Items could also be dropped off Saturday morning before between 7:00 am and 8:00 am. We'll have volunteers to help unload Thursday and Friday evening and Saturday morning before 8:00.

Throughout the rest of this week items can be dropped off during church business hours. All items should be left along the bench areas in Unity Hall.

Please note that what is not sold in the yard sale will be picked up by the Central MA Housing Alliance's Donations Clearinghouse and the Big Brothers/Big Sisters.

The families that the DCH serve are generally leaving shelter to make a new start in an apartment and very much need the following:

Dishes, pots and pans, kitchen utensils, small working kitchen appliances. bureaus, dressers, kitchen tables, lamps.

The Big Brothers-Big Sisters will take children's clothes, games, household goods and books.

Monday Night At The Church September 27, 2010

Genesis Club Overview and Discussion at 7:30 p.m.

Genesis Club has been a Worcester institution for over 20 years. The Club, one of about 400 club houses around the world, assists individuals who have struggled with mental illness or mental health issues. The club assists people by providing a place to come to, with employment and education opportunities, with a place to develop meaningful relationships, and with a place to return to. Genesis is also a training center, helping other clubs on every continent in achieving certification.

Genesis member, Walt Cunningham, and its Executive Director and founder, Kevin Bradley, will give a brief overview, answer questions, and invite discussion.

UU Sisterhood Plans for the 2010-2011 Church Year.

The UU Sisterhood is getting ready for the 2010-2011 church year.  We are a warm and friendly group that enjoys eating, socializing, field trips, and fun activities.  The group is open to all women, not just those at First U.  We gather once a month for a potluck dinner followed by a brief business meeting and an activity.  Last year we learned how to Zen Tangle which is an easy drawing technique, exchanged gifts through a Yankee swap, watched a documentary on suffrage, and shared at a show and tell. 

Typically, our potluck dinners are held on the third Friday of the month.  We start gathering at 6:00pm, eat at 6:30pm, and move to an activity by 7:30pm.  Our first potluck will be held on Friday, October 15 in the dining and Bancroft rooms.  The theme is “Non-Talent” so think of what you might like to do better and plan to describe it to your fellow sisters. Don’t forget to bring friends and relatives.  Save November 19 and December 17 for potlucks as well.

 

The Opportunity Fair is being held on Sunday, September 26.  We need people to man the table and to bring goodies.  Make the goodies especially yummy so they entice people to come visit our table and talk to us.  If you can help, please call or email Mary Frandsen.

 

Any questions about the UU Sisterhood may be directed to Mary Frandsen at 508-852-8122 or mkfrandsen@charter.net.

Worcester Community Chorus at First U

Jim Scott brings Worcester Community Chorus to First Unitarianwith Pete Seeger and Songs of Conscience Songfest, Tues. Sep 14th, 7-9 PM

Jim Scott (composer of songs in our Hymnbooks and co-creator of the Green Sanctuary) will be starting his Worcester Community Chorus season with a special "Songfest - Pete Seeger and Songs of Conscience" Tuesday, Sept. 14th, 7-9 PM, at First Unitarian, 90 Main St. Worcester, singing many of Pete's well-loved songs such as “If I Had a Hammer,” “Turn, Turn, Turn,” “Where Have All the Flowers Gone" and mony others. A suggested donation of $7 requested.

Begun last year, the Worcester Community Chorus is is welcoming new members. Open to all singers of any age and level of experience, the chorus sings many styles of music celebrating community, diversity, ecology and peace. A $56 membership fee contributes to 14 rehearsals and a notebook of choir music. To register your interest or find more info. visit www.JimScottMusic.com or call Jim at 508-755-0995, or email: Jim@JimScottMusic.com

The Church's New Dual-Fuel Burner

During the summer, the church’s new dual-fuel burner was installed in our boiler to enable us to burn either oil or natural gas as market prices vary. (Natural gas also has a substantially lower carbon impact than fuel oil.) J.J. Bafaro, Inc. completed the installation of the burner, and gas company NStar ran a new hi-pressure gas line within an existing pipe from Main Street, directly below our Memorial Garden. New pipe needed to be laid at an “elbow” located near the lower State Street door to the church. To save the church the cost of having NStar remove the brick entryway and dig a 2-foot deep, 15-foot long trench to the building, Bob Shaw and the Building and Grounds Committee organized a ditch-digging work party on July 10. At the height of the summer’s heat and humidity, an enthusiastic crowd of men and women (and one very dedicated 5-year-old!) brought their shovels and buckets and made light of the task. Work was completed by noon, and Nstar came the following week to complete the work on the pipe connections and meter installation. A “warm” thank-you to those who invested sweat equity in this project!