Minister’s Message | April Services | Religious Exploration | Pastoral Care | Board Update | Ministerial Search Update | Pledge Drive | Legacy Giving | Membership Committee | At Your Service | Working for Justice | Immigrant Justice | Indigenous Awareness | Teen Center | MUUSAN | Habitat for Humanity | Charities with Soul | Concerts for a Cause | Classifieds | MAY Article Deadline
Rev. Justine’s Message
Without darkness, nothing comes to birth, as without light, nothing flowers.
~ May Sarton
Beloveds,
It cannot be an accident that the Christian holiday of Easter is celebrated at this time of nature’s renewal and rebirth, a time when evidence of resurrection abounds. As I write this, the sun is shining, and the temperature has risen into the 60s. Surely, we’ll have a few more episodes of winter weather, but spring is on the way.
The crocuses and daffodils and poking through the once-frozen ground, and the grass is starting to look almost green again – sure signs that spring has sprung.
And alongside the hopefulness of spring, we have the despair of yet another war, this time in Ukraine with thousands of civilians (including children and babies) killed and injured, homes destroyed, whole lives up-ended by senseless violence.
Many groups are trying to help. Our own Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) has an emergency fund and is working with people on the ground in Eastern Europe to get much needed humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine. You can reach the UUSC Emergency fund here https://www.uusc.org.
Here at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick, you have been living with uncertainty, not just the universal experience of the uncertainty of living with a pandemic but also a challenging time of acknowledging the end of one beautiful, longtime ministry while looking forward to what lies ahead, to what you all can create together. It is a joy and a privilege to witness your searching, your longing, and your exploring of your many gifts. I am confident that the work you have done to prepare your deep, rich soil and to plant seeds of hope and joy, and above all, love – will yield beautiful flowers and abundant fruit.
In the coming weeks and months, there will be some shifts that we will all feel. Soon you will meet the minister your search team will invite to be your candidate for settled ministry. Your focus will rightly be on that person and the ministry that you will create together. During that candidating week (scheduled for April 24 through May 1), I will still be your minister and will be available for any urgent pastoral care needs, but I will make myself scarce during that week to avoid any distraction or obstacle to your making a connection with your candidate minister.
If all goes as imagined, and you call that minister, we will celebrate that together. And then you and I will begin to say goodbye. Saying goodbye well is an opportunity to acknowledge our importance in each other’s lives and truly to wish each other well. We will take time to do this, but for right now, let us be here together, reveling in all that we have created and learned in this interim time.
In faith,
Justine
UUCB Services in March
Apr 3 — “Earth was Given as a Garden”: A reminder that we are called to be good stewards of our precious planet earth. Officiant, Rev. Justine Sullivan; Time for All Ages, DRE Toben Cooney-Callnan; Music by Nell Britton
Apr 10 — Palm Sunday: The start of “Holy Week” in the Christian calendar. Officiant, Rev. Justine Sullivan; Time for All Ages, DRE Toben Cooney-Callnan; Music by Nell Britton and the UUCB choir.
APR 14 – Maundy Thursday at 6:30 PM: The Thursday before Easter (Holy Thursday, also called Maundy Thursday) tells the story of Jesus’ last supper with his disciples before his death by execution the next day. This will be a brief service of reading and meditation and will end in darkness and silence. Choir practice will start a bit later (7:15) to allow time for attendees to leave the service in silence or sit in quiet reflection before choir practice. Nell Britton will play and members of the choir will sing.
APR 17 — Easter Sunday: Officiant: Rev. Justine Sullivan; Time for All Ages, DRE Toben Cooney-Callnan & music by Nell Britton and the UUCB choir.
Apr 24 — Candidating Week! This is a special time in the life of this congregation. Your ministerial candidate will arrive and lead the service on Sunday, April 24th with special music from Nell Britton, the UUCB choir, and other musicians in the congregation.
May 1 – Candidating Week! This second Sunday of Candidating week includes a worship service led by the ministerial candidate, followed by a Congregational meeting for Discernment and Voting to call the new minister. The service will feature music from Nell Britton, the UUCB choir, and other musicians in the congregation.
Join us in the sanctuary or watch us live on youtube at UUCB AV .
Religious Exploration
Rejoice in Reunion
Welcome Families!
I am very excited to welcome families back to in person worship and programing in the UUCB building!
Since it’s been a while since been a while and there have been some changes since we were last together, I thought I’d take this opportunity to go over what Sunday mornings at UUCB look like.
On a typical Sunday, kids will start off in the Sanctuary with their families. We will light the chalice together and there will then be a special Time For Ages Story. Children are welcome to stay in the service and may sit up front on the rug or stay with families. Activity pages will be provided for those who like to keep their hands busy during the service. On Sundays when there is a Religious Exploration Meeting, kids will be sung out to the Merry meeting Bay Room after the story. We we will hold one large Religious Exploration Meeting meeting for everyone.
Meetings will be theme based and include Joys and Concerns, music, meditation, passing the basket for collection, and an activity based on the theme.
The schedule for those meetings is as follows:
- March 27th
- April 24th
- May 8th
We are currently running the Our Whole Lives Program for Grades 4/5/6 on Tuesday evenings. Youth Group for Grades 9-12 will meet once a month over Zoom and twice a month in person.
I look forward to seeing all our amazing families!
Thank you,
Toben
Pastoral Care Notes
Mary Ann Gesner asks for prayers and healing thought for a speedy recovery from knee replacement surgery, which took place on March 15.
UUCB Board Update
Hi! I’m Sienna Dode, a member of the Board of Trustees and the Coordinator for our trial program “At Your Service”. We are delighted that more and more folks are coming back to church each week for our live services. And, coming with children in hand. However, for everyone’s safety, comfort and good health, from the very youngest to our more elderly, the Board unanimously wishes to continue to maintain a conservative and gradual approach to lifting restrictions within our community. We have been very fortunate and want that to continue. The Board is extremely grateful to everyone for their understanding, patience and support. Thank you all!
Our hope is that people will use this opportunity to connect with each other, share their talents, and make new friends through the At Your Service column. More about that in a minute..
April is blossoming with activity at UUCB!. As the Pledge drive winds down, don’t miss the next round of Circle Suppers on April 9th. On April 15th Passover, Tax Day and my birthday are what’s happening, and quickly following on its heels, Easter Sunday on April 17th. . Look for me at the front door in my Easter Bonnet debuting as a Sunday Greeter. And last but hardly least, April 24th begins Candidating Week for choosing a settled minister, commencing with the Congregational Determination and vote on May 1st.
A final word about the new At Your Service column:
- Not sure how to take advantage? It’s as easy as sending an email!
- Want to provide a service? Or, do you desire a service?
- See something you like?
- Contact the person directly by email
- Tell them who you are and that you want their service and
- Tell them how to get in touch with you by email or phone
From the UUCB Board of Trustees,
Sienna Dode
Ministerial Search Update
Message from the Ministerial Search Team
Your Ministerial Search Team has been quiet, but very, very busy. We have completed our three pre-candidating weekends, and if all goes well, we hope to announce our candidate by mid-April. We will announce the news via all church emails and other church notices/announcements, so stay tuned! We appreciate your patience with the process.
Also, we are planning a candidating week for April 24th-May 1st. More details to follow in April.
Irene Austin,
on behalf of the team
Annual Pledge Drive
Deepening Our Roots – Growing Our Vision
We hope you’ve been enjoying the video introductions to our valued staff members. If all goes well, the last video will air Sunday, April 3, and we’ll declare victory! It’s been heart-warming to see how many pledges have been increased since last year: we know you’ve been listening.
But even more important than reaching our dollar goal is achieving 100% participation from members and close friends. If you’ve already pledged, many thanks. If you haven’t, please take this opportunity to enter a pledge online at https://www.uubrunswick.org/our-work/pledge-drive/ or drop a note into the lockbox in Fellowship Hall. We look forward to your generosity in this important year.
Your Pledge Drive Team,
Jane Danielson, Penny Elwell, Carol Gillespie, and Cindy Parker
Legacy Giving
Ways to sustain our beloved church
by Carol Evans
It is now easier than ever to find ways to support the work of UUCB after your life is over. Many of us have already given a thought to this but may have pushed off taking action. It is easy to procrastinate on these end-of-life decisions. But you can do great good by taking some small steps.
Legacy Giving or Planned Giving is a way to have an impact in the well-being and spiritual life of others for many years to come.
A gift of any size will be added to investments which contribute to longer term needs including church programming and community outreach. This might be planned through a gift by will, through retirement funds, life insurance, a charitable gift annuity or a gift during your lifetime.
UUCB now has a Legacy Giving Program which you can explore. To receive a brochure, please contact Carol Evans at "> or (207) 406-4417, or contact Shirley Bernier, UUCB Office Administrator at (207) 729-8515 or ">.
From the Membership Committee
Next Circle Supper – Saturday, April 9th
Circle suppers, arranged by the Membership Committee, provide a great opportunity for both long-time and new members to get better acquainted in a comfortable small group setting. Groups of 6-8 people attend.
Suppers are informal, “pot luck ” style with the host providing the main course and others bringing appetizers, sides, desserts and beverages. Circle Suppers are a delightful way to spend an evening where friendly people, share lively conversation, lots of laughter and delicious food.
Sign Up!
We are looking for both hosts and participants! Sign-up sheets are available at the Visitors Table on Sundays. You can also contact one of these folks with questions, or to sign up as either a host OR a guest:
At Your Service
At Your Service is a Board initiative is a Board initiative for 2022 to help keep us connected. Submissions should include: name, brief description, category of service, email. Send
Sorry no merchandise. Not open to General Public.
Desire a Service
Provide a Service
- Pete & Betty Horton will help write/edit ads, social media, blogs.
- Sue Michaud will provide transportation for a trip up to 2 1/2 hours away
- Sienna Dode will provide up to 4 hours of caregiving.
- Hannah, a student of Brennan Healing Service, will provide 1 hour of healing touch to healthy adults with no chronic medical conditions.
Exchange Services
-
- Your name could be here if you’d like to exchange services
Working for Justice
Immigrant Justice
A New Mainers Welcome Center opened officially on the Brunswick Landing on February 18 in space contributed and renovated by the town of Brunswick. Local new Mainers will be able to gather at the Center to socialize as well as to hold and attend meetings and presentations. Lewiston-based Immigrant Resource Center (IRC) will hire a total of 4 staff people to provide the community support to asylum seeker households previously offered by Brunswick’s former cultural broker. Already hired is a multilingual (Lingala, Portuguese and French) staff person who will assist with applications for housing, benefits, jobs and other basic services. A day long children’s dental clinic is being planned in collaboration with Oasis Clinic with services to be provided by Brighter Maine Smiles. Organizations working with local new Mainers are meeting with IRC and town of Brunswick staff to delineate and coordinate overall efforts moving forward.
Once housing can be found and arranged, Brunswick and Bath anticipate the arrival of several Afghani families who will be assisted initially by Jewish Community Alliance (JCA), the organization designated to provide 3 months of settlement services. Mid Coast New Mainers Group (MCNMG) is exploring how it can most effectively sustain support, as needed, after those initial 3 months.
If you would consider working with others to offer mentoring or other support to a new Mainer family, please talk with Cathey Cyrus (.)
Indigenous Awareness
Thanks to all who submitted testimony in favor of LD 1626 An Act Implementing the Recommendations of the Task Force on Changes to the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Implementing Act. We understand there were at least 70 testimonies by UU’s from all across the state of Maine, and the bill has advanced to consideration by the full legislature. Letters of concern to Governor Mills are needed and encouraged since it appears she will veto the bill even if passed by the legislature. There aren’t, at this time, enough votes to override her veto.
Teen Center
Two teens – new Mainers from Angola joined the Center this month. They join two other long-time members from other countries.
Exciting news! Thanks to community support, the Center has purchased the Teen Center/People Plus van and will not need to raise funds for it.
The UUCB/Teen Center Support Group voted to donate $100.00 of the congregation’s past donations to the Gelato Fiasco fund raiser. Come and enjoy a delicious gelato on April 27th, and support the Center at the same time.
Don’t forget the St Charles Fish Chowder Friday take-out dinner pick up, which supports non-profits, including the Teen Center.
Jordan, the Center’s director, wrote: Thank you to members of Universal Unitarian Church for your weekly donations and drop-offs of snacks for the kids!”
MUUSAN – Maine Unitarian Universalist State Advocacy Network
The four-member team of UUCB’s MUUSAN is proving to be incredibly effective in its role as liaisons to the legislative ministry that is MUUSAN. In addition to offering testimony on the bills prioritized this session, we have provided weekly legislative alerts to interested congregation members. We also participated in a worship service on January 16 highlighting WFJSG and the work of MUUSAN.
As Faith Woodman, UUCB and MUUSAN Steering Group member writes:
MUUSAN has a much larger impact at the legislature than our UU numbers represent and has shown that Unitarian-Universalism is a force in the public domain. I see MUUSAN’s work as very much a part of our Unitarian Universalist tradition of social justice dating back to the early abolitionists and continuing today to fight for our principles and moral beliefs, just as Working for Justice has done through its work at UUCB and throughout the Brunswick community. I very much believe that what WFJ and MUUSAN are doing is very important and critical work, and I hope UUCB recognizes that and will support it.
Habitat for Humanity
Spring Walk to Build 2022
SAVE THE DATE! Spring Walk to Build 2022 has been scheduled for Sunday, May 15 and will be an “In Person” event this year! It will start at the First Congregational Church in Wiscasset and include the site of a new Build expected to start sometime in May or June. Registration is from 1-2pm with the Walk starting at 2:00. Signup and support information will be available at the church beginning in April. Please contact Gretchen Kamilewicz or Cuffy Chase for further details.
Charities with Soul
Our Charities with Soul are supported exclusively with contributions to the “plate” passed every Sunday during the service or virtually.
Three ways to give:
- At uubrunswick.org, click “Donate Online” Choose the “Plate” option
- Text the amount of your donation to (855) 962-0440, and follow the prompts to complete your donation
- Mail a check to: PO Box 129, Brunswick ME 04011, Memo Line: “plate”
April’s Charity: Four Directions Development Corporation
Four Directions is a Native American nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) based in Orono, ME. We provide the following loan products and services for Native Americans and direct descendants living in Maine:
- Home mortgage and improvement loans for on & off reservation properties
- Free tax preparation services for low-income, elderly, and disabled taxpayers
- Free financial counseling
- Artisan/small business support
- Tribal working capital loans for predevelopment work and operational funding gaps
- Construction Financing & participation lending for affordable housing development projects and community facilities.
2022-2023 Charities with Soul Nomination Form
Please use the form below to nominate a charity to be considered for one of the remaining five months. Each parishioner may submit one or two nomination forms. Completed nomination forms may be electronically scanned to Lynn Ellis at or mailed to the church office at PO Box 129 Brunswick ME 04011. These forms must be sent by April 15, 2022.
Ballots consisting of all charity nominations will be available to the congregation for voting in May. The five charities having the greatest vote totals will be announced at the June Annual Meeting and published in the June Parish Messenger.
The Working for Justice Steering Group
Concerts for a Cause
Pretty Girls Sing Soprano
Pretty Girls Sing Soprano performed for the Concerts for a Cause series on March 12, 2022 nearly selling out the seats. The “girls” beautiful voices blended perfectly and their repertoire was enjoyed by all. Have you ever heard Stevie Wonder on a ukulele? That was just one of the surprises of the night.
Thanks to Jud Caswell for being our excellent sound engineer.
Paul Sullivan
Save the Date
Saturday, May 14 @ 7:30 pm
- A Grammy Award winner who has enjoyed a richly varied and distinguished career as a composer and pianist.
- His music style blends jazz, classical and earth music.
- He has performed around the world with everyone from Paul Winter to Leonard Bernstein and Arthur Fiedler.
- He has worked in some of New York’s most prestigious jazz clubs, sharing the stage with a variety of jazz masters such as Benny Goodman and Tommy Flanagan.
- In the theater world, he has worked on many Broadway and Off-Broadway productions as music director, pianist, and conductor.
- As a composer, he has written music for theater, dance, choirs, & corporate advertising.
- He has 18 CDs which have sold hundreds of thousands of copies.
- Tickets available in the church office and online at https://ticketstripe.com/sullivanjazzz
Profits raised from this season’s concerts will support the
Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program
and Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project.
Heather Masse & Jed Wilson
Save the Date
Saturday, June 25
Heather was a regular guest on “A Prairie Home Companion” as a solo performer or doing duets with Garrison Keillor, or as a member of popular folk group, The Waylin’ Jennys.
Heather and Jed were both jazz majors at New England Conservatory of Music giving them a unique approach to jazz, folk, pop, & bluegrass.
Art Gallery
The Art Gallery Committee hopes that you are enjoying the artwork that is currently on display in our fellowship Hall and the May Sarton meeting room. Paul Peranteau, Steve Black, Dick Brown and Bill Kunitz have photographs, collages and assemblages hanging for you to see. They have changed the displays and added new works in March.
If you would like to share your artwork in the Messenger or display it in our Fellowship Hall please contact Joanne Allen
“Classifieds”
Attention ALL women of the church!
We will have a luncheon for all of you on Thursday, May 5, at noon, at the Dipper Cove clubhouse on Orr’s Island. This is the community that Gretchen Kamilewicz lives in. Please contact Gretchen by either email () or phone (833-5125) if you plan on coming, and let her know what you would like to bring to share. The clubhouse has room for 40 people. Hope to see you there.
Cat Sitting
UUCB member, Lynn Ellis offers reliable and reasonably priced cat sitting services. Contact:
WANTED: Jewelry for the UUCB Holiday Fair Table
Spring cleaning? Downsizing?
Keep your eyes open for jewelry you no longer want!
The success of our Church Fair depends in part on donations of costume jewelry from all of you. The jewelry team will clean and polish your long-loved treasures, and then present them beautifully for someone else to purchase and love.
Donations do not need to be elegant! You can hold onto them for now, or drop things off at Lisa Durrell’s, or let her know if you’d like it picked up. There is generally a jewelry basket in the back of the church. If you’d like to be part of the Jewelry Team and help with the sorting/polishing, we’d love to have you!
For more information, email Lisa Durrell at