Sunday Service – October 8, 2023

“This Is Not My Beautiful House!”
Speaker: JD Stillwater

One of our culture’s foundational myths is about ownership, security, and permanence. In the natural world and indigenous cultures, these are aberrations! In this service, we dig deep into what ownership means, and how it plays out in the natural world and throughout history. Can we try on a new, more stewardship-based relationship with our “stuff ”? JD offers a bit of science, some personal experiences, and a Talking Heads song as puzzle pieces toward a new, more vulnerable humility.

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Sunday Service – October 1, 2023

“The Trade-off of Freedom”
Speaker: Reverend Kim Wilson

One of the foundational elements of Unitarian Universalism is our commitment to the individual freedom of belief. Being a UU gives each of us the opportunity to participate in developing a faith that is personally meaningful. Yet it is not always an easy path. In making the choice to embrace this freedom, what are we sacrificing or giving up? And what responsibilities are we taking on?

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Goddess Gatherings:

All women in mind, body, and spirit are welcome to attend our Goddess Gathering meet-up where we share, laugh, and learn together in the sisterhood of the female experience. Please join us!

SEPTEMBER 2023:

8 SEPTEMBER (FRI)- 12-1:00 PM.  
22 SEPTEMBER (FRI)- 12-1:00 PM.  

JULY 2023:

7 JULY (FRI)- 12-1:00 PM.  
13 JULY (TH)- 7:30-8:30 PM.  
21 JULY (FRI)- 12-1:00 PM.  
27 JULY (TH)- 7:30-8:30 PM.  
Join us!

AprilL 2023:

UUFP Goddess Gatherings in April: Thursday, April 6, 7:30-8:30 PM; Frida, April 14, 12:00-1:00 PM; Thursday, April 20, 7:30-8:30 PM; Friday, April 28, 12:00-1:00 PM

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Appreciation from Building & Grounds

A shoutout goes to Chad, Justine, and family for their hard work in helping to beautify and maintain our grounds. Chad has taken on the task of mowing and weed whacking the property on alternate weeks with Jon. He has also cleaned out and organized the shed! It’s now possible to walk into the shed and find what you are looking for without tripping on mower parts or the garden rake!

Chad ordered a huge pile of free organic mulch, which is now located next to the shed. Justine, Henry, and Finn spent a Saturday morning moving mulch from the pile to the playground. They made at least 40 trips back and forth, making a substantial dent in the mulch mountain. That takes dedication and endurance! We are also thankful for Chad’s honey bees on our property. The bees have been busy pollinating our garden plants and flowers, as they make honey. They are a useful educational tool and a demonstration of “the interdependent web… of which we are a part.” Speaking of pollinating plants, Justine has added pollinator-friendly native plants to our Monarch Garden and helped with weeding the plot around the Peace Pole.

Thank you so much for all of your hard work. It shows!

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Garden News!

Our gardens are thriving, with all the sun and rain we have been getting! We are harvesting pounds of cherry tomatoes and cucumbers. The kale this year has been remarkably free of the cabbage moth caterpillar, which had been a problem in the past. (I am hoping that the birds have been feeding them to their nestlings.) After having been eaten back by the groundhog, the beans have recovered and are bearing nicely. The pepper plants are doing well; we just have to be patient and wait until they turn from green to yellow. Recently we planted collard seeds and we’re looking forward to garnering a nice fall crop. A full bed of potatoes has been harvested as well as a bed of garlic. Both have been delivered to the Cluster.

When the weather gets a little cooler we plan on weed whacking the garden paths, covering them with landscaping fabric and topping it all off with a thick layer of mulch. This will make the garden area neater and a lot less weedy. We would also like to clear the weeds and grasses out of the compost bin area and get back to creating our own compost. If anyone would like to help out with this effort please let me know. Since the garden committee meets only once a week (every Wednesday from 10:00 am until 12:00 pm), there is always so much more we could do with one or two extra helping hands. As always, thanks so much to my gardening partners, Sam and Mary. Your help is much appreciated!

Kay

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Fall Cleanup Bash! Saturday, October 7

Save the date for our Annual Fall Cleanup on Saturday, October 7th, 9:30 am-1:00 pm. Join with other members and friends to spiff up our UUFP property and prepare for the season ahead. There is lots of mowing, weeding, weed whacking, leaf raking, and shredding to tackle, along with various other outdoor tasks.

Please bring a bag lunch and a beverage.

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Social Justice

Join UUs for Just Economic Community, UUs for Social Justice, Side with Love, and UU Ministry for Earth in Washington D.C. September 26–28 to learn about our food and farming system and advocate with our Senators for an equitable and climate-smart 2023 Farm Bill.

Every five years, Congress proposes a multiyear farm bill legislative package. We need your voice to join a growing coalition to support sustainable, regenerative, and equitable farm policies. We can not concede to the normal corporate agri-businesses to dominate the conversation. Farm bills address many issues UUs care about including food quality and food chain security, soil and water contamination, food deserts, equity for small-scale producers, conservation, research, crop insurance, and nutrition programs. The Farm Bill presents an important opportunity to create an agricultural sector that serves the needs of consumers and farmers in a way that is fair to all, protects the environment, and helps avoid a climate crisis. For more information, go to https://uujec.net/climatejusticeconference2023

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Religious Education

Welcome fall, and welcome to a new year of Religious Education! We would like to invite all UUFP members to become involved in our Religious Education (RE) program this year. Every person’s life is nourished by the love and support we receive in community. It is a real privilege to be given the opportunity to help guide our young people as they grow spiritually, develop their sense of personal and social responsibility, and take joy in our engaging programs.

There are many ways to be involved. 1) Each Sunday before RE classes, the entire UUFP community worships together for a short 3-5 minute lesson. Time for All Ages can range from meaningful songs, dances, and theatrical lessons to read-aloud books and conversational lessons. 2) Conduct a multigenerational service or activity where people of all generations are engaged in mutual activities (e.g., Children’s Labyrinth Walk, Christmas Eve service, Creative Spirits service). 3) Teach a class. We typically have three separate groups: The Rainbow Room (infant to pre-school), RE (our elementary school learners), and Discussion and Doughnuts (a.k.a., D&D to our middle school kids). The age-appropriate lesson is chosen by that week’s teacher.

All teachers have current clearances on file. If there is interest but trepidation, we would be happy to schedule a teacher training. If inspiration is needed, it can be found on the Unitarian Universalist Association’s (UUA) Worship Web Library (www.uua.org/worship) or Curricula & Faith Development Library (www.uua.org/re). Please contact Director of Religious Education Ruby Barnthouse at RE@uupottstown.org for more information.

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President’s Message — September 2023

The tans will fade but the memories will last forever. ~ Anonymous

While summer doesn’t technically end until the autumnal equinox in late September, Labor Day has always been the symbolic end to the summer. And what a summer we have had at the UUFP. The Worship Committee needs to be congratulated for scheduling some very dynamic speakers during what is usually a very slow time. In addition to some fantastic services led by our own members, we had some very provocative presentations by guest speakers. People are still talking about J.D Stillwater’s presentation on “Defiant Love: Interrogating our Inheritance” and Diane Trieb’s service entitled “The Stray Cat. To Feed or Not to Feed – That Is the Question.” If you missed these services (or any other), remember that we record each service and post it on to our YouTube channel. While it’s not the same as being there in person, it is a great option for viewing (or watching again) our services because you can do it at your leisure. Thanks also go out to the Sunday Technology crew who make this happen. One additional note regarding Sunday Services is that Rev. Kim Wilson will be returning this month as the “First Sunday of the Month” presenter.

Our garden was very bountiful this summer hence a lot of produce was donated to the Pottstown Cluster. Unfortunately, word got out about how delicious our crops were, and a groundhog decided that our vegetable plot was his personal Farmer’s Market. The Garden Committee declared war (humanely) and the battle went on all summer. Not sure who’s winning; however, I feel our Garden Committee is far more frustrated with trying to keep the groundhog out than the groundhog is feeling about getting back in. The joys of nature.

One additional item is that our long-term rental, New Earth Traditions, will start up with classes again this month. They utilize our space on Wednesdays, so please keep that in mind if you need to be at the fellowship on a Wednesday.

Lastly, putting together and distributing the Sojourner to members and friends takes a lot of time and effort. For years, the women behind the scenes doing all this work were Erica Duske and Kay Price. This month marks a change in that line-up. While Erica will continue in this role, Kay Price will be stepping down. I want to take this opportunity to thank Kay for all her work in this capacity. It is greatly appreciated. Taking her place will be Kim Kulp. Welcome Kim!

With Gratitude, Linda K.

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Sunday Service — September 17, 2023

Spotless Minds

Speaker: Emily Quarles-Mowrer

In the beautiful book, “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” by Charlie Mackesy, one of the thoughts the boy shares is, “I wonder if there is a school of unlearning.”  Wouldn’t it be lovely, if there were a place where we could go to roll back the lessons that we never meant to internalize?

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