MqtUU This ‘n That ~ March 2015

The “Share the Plate” March Recipient:
MI Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Network (MUUSJN)
Mission: To foster the worth and dignity of people by promoting social justice and  community service.  
www.uujustice.org

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Congratulations to Megan And Douglas Foulks on the birth of their son on Thursday, March 12!  More details to come!
If you would like to be a part of the food effort for Megan (and maybe get a peek at baby boy Foulks), please email her at mfitzharris@alumni.nmu.edu. When she returns home from the hospital, she will email you back a personalized link to her page at MealTrain.com. On the page, you will find the family food preferences, address, and a list of possible dates to bring her and Douglas a meal, along with other useful information. You can select a date to bring the family a meal at that time, if that works for you.
What a way to welcome the coming of Spring!

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Another way to welcome Spring…

 United By Light and MqtUU CUUPS
invite you to come and celebrate!
OSTARA/Spring Equinox
Friday, March 20 @ 6pm
PLEASE BRING: A small building/event donation, and a dish to share. Coffee and tea will be provided.

Spring Equinox is the time of year when the length of daylight hours and night are equal. The days will be growing longer and gardening season will be upon us soon!

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Regional Assembly will be held APRIL 17 -19 at the Marriott Hotel in Naperville, Illinois (near Chicago). KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: The Reverend Rosemary Bray McNatt is the new president at Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, and The Reverend Dr. Marlin Lavanhar is Senior Minister at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa. Regional Assembly workshop tracks will include: Stewardship, Multicultural/Inclusion, Social Justice, Deepening UU, Worship, and New Era. We’ll have two sessions for workshops on Saturday afternoon. Mark your calendar now and plan to attend!
The MidAmerica Region is building a new era in Unitarian Universalism, where UUs visibly live our faith, create connections, grow our membership, and welcome all persons who share our UU values.

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IMPORTANT INFORMATION…

The Peter White Public Library will be closed on Sundays beginning March 1st! Why, you ask? Due to required budget cuts as a result of Duke Lifepoint tax refund agreement with the city of Marquette. More closures will result if continue tax breaks are allowed by the MI Tax tribunal.
PWPL Board of Trustees Meeting – Tuesday, March 17 @ 5pm Marquette City Manager, Bill Vajda and City Finance Director, Gary Simpson will be presenting the Mqt City CFO Forecast and associated budget process for managing revenue volatility. All board meetings are open to the public. You are invited to join as the public guests, take good notes on the presentation and ask questions during the public comment period. Thank you! 

Dennis Liimata, Marquette Township Supervisor is presenting for the MqtUU Adult Forum on Sunday, March 22 @ 9:45am to answer all your questions and help plan a Community Call to Action! Please join us for this important forum!

For more information, a Facebook group was created, Save MQT, Save MI! Please check it out, get informed and get involved!

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SAVE THE DATE
Saturday, May 4th @ 1 pm- 4pm

We will again be making blankets for the campers at Camp New Day. This will be an intergenerational activity with children, teens and adults working together on making these blankets. So please save the date and time! More info to come.

Any questions? Give Nancy Sullivan a call.

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Sermon Contest Covenant of the Unitarian Universalist Pagans Announces its Second Sermon Contest – theme: Re-enchantment Winner to receive $500

You do NOT need to be an ordained minister or a seminary student, nor do you need to be a member of CUUPS, but you do have to have delivered your sermon, live and in person, to a UU congregation between October 31, 2014 and October 31, 2015.   The sermon must be made available in audio, preferably digital (.mp3), or it can be recorded phone call if necessary.  Submissions: info@cuups.org   Our panel of judges will listen to them and pick their top four finalists by the end of 2015. These four top sermons will be broadcast between January and April of 2016, then CUUPS membership will vote for the winner, online, in May. The winner will be announced at General Assembly 2016 and will be invited to deliver the sermon at the CUUPS annual meeting.

The sermon-writer retains ownership of copyright. We request a digital copy of the Order of Service in which the sermon was presented. CUUPS has the right to broadcast all submitted sermons on our podcast and make sound file and Order of Service available to our judges and to our membership. Sermons with adequate sound quality that are consistent with CUUPS mission are played on the CUUPS podcast at our discretion.   (Thanks to reader Rebecca Crystal, candidate for Unitarian Universalist ministry, for this announcement.)