Are you, or your UU group creative?

We are looking for different individuals & groups to create the banner/wreath/wall-hanging/textiles that will represent the spiritual theme for each month. Each piece will hang in the arch above the pulpit for its designated month. The idea is to have some wonderful art pieces, made with love and enthusiasm to visually support the spiritual theme that will be spoken of from the pulpit and in the Path and Afterword.

We would like the theme word to be incorporated into the item, the size to be roughly 3' x 4' and it needs to have some way to hang it.

Spiritual Themes are: October-Deep Listening, November-Hospitality, December-Expectation, January-Inheritance, February-Love, March-Imagination, April-Resistance, May-Growth, June-Delight.

Please contact Sarah Forbes for a project outline if you or your group is interested! sarahforbesdesign@comcast.net

Hello UU 8th grade families. 

Interested in:

  Join UU friends to welcome Nicaraguans to Burlington with a Cultural-Exchange Pot Luck and Community Festival at First Unitarian Universalist Society of Burlington.  

Come learn about a 2018 Youth/Family/Multi-generational service-learning opportunity in Nicaragua via Planting Hope, the Montpelier non-profit providing education and community-based learning and cultural exchange in the central mountains of Nicaragua.    Share food, music, dance and community with six Nicaraguan staff-members visiting Vermont this fall in a Nicaragua to Vermont Cultural Arts and Education Exchange.   Learn about their work to improve Nicaragua's education system and the cultural immersion, service opportunities they coordinate with U.S. volunteers.   Hear from Burlington and Montpelier UU Youths about their experiences on Planting Hope community-based volunteer trips.

When:  Sunday, October 16,  5:00-7:00pm

Where:  UU Burlington Community Room

Who:  Anyone interested in learning about Planting Hope and a UU service-learning trip to Nicaragua.

How:  RSVPs helpful for food planning purposes:  email  plaser@hartlaser.net 

All ages welcome! Potluck side dishes appreciated

This year, there's quite a contrast in the size and energy of our 9:00 and 11:00 hours, since we've experienced an unusually large slide of families with sixth graders out of 9:00 and into 11:00.

9:00, therefore, is quite intimate and sweet!

Our one group has done some growing but totally has room for more. So, if you have children in preschool - 5th grade, and your family rises early on Sundays and/or your children do better in a smaller, quieter atmosphere, I invite you to check out9:00!

During the past two years, the FUUSB Facilities Manager, Bob Furrer, and Safety Team (Rev. Mara, Martha Dallas (Director of Religious Education), Suzy Comerford and Becca Grimm) have done substantial work to prepare for a lockdown situation prompted by an emergency at, or in the area of, the Meetinghouse. In January, we ran a partial drill encompassing our RE classes.

On Sunday, October 16, we will hold our second drill during our Sunday morning programming, this time involving the whole Meetinghouse. About half-way through the hour during each service, there will be a message broadcast throughout the Meetinghouse advising that a lockdown has been initiated. Simultaneously, blue lights will flash in the Sanctuary, Community, Whitney Young and Susan B. Anthony Rooms.

In the Sanctuary, since this is our first run, we will do a "talk-through" version of the drill, which we expect to take about ten minutes. All present in the Sanctuary and Parlors should remain quiet, still and in place, as described in our lockdown procedures. Reverend Mara will speak from the pulpit about the drill, explaining our procedures for emergencies in and out of the sanctuary. While there will not be time to ask questions during the drill itself, after each service, FUUSB staff and Safety Team members, as well as a member of the Burlington Police Department, will be in the Sanctuary for an informal Q&A time. BPD officers will be present for the drills to observe and be able to offer suggestions for improvements in the future.

For RE stewards, Martha Dallas, our Director of Religious Education, will provide training to stewards at 8:30 and at 10:30 on both Oct. 9 and 16. This will involve a brief walk-through, and a time for questions.

Children will be guided by RE stewards to conduct the drill in their classrooms. They will follow our lockdown response procedures, including drawing shades, turning out lights, locking the door, and sitting quietly on the floor until it is announced that the drill is over. Parents who wish to be with their children during the drill are welcome to do so, but should plan to join the group when it leaves the Sanctuary at the usual time. Once the drill has begun, we ask parents in the Sanctuary to remain there and reunite with their children at the close of worship as usual, as our procedures outline should happen in the event of an actual lockdown.

At the completion of the drill, the blue lights will be turned off and there will be a second message broadcast throughout the Meetinghouse advising that the drill has been completed. Though these drills will certainly cause a brief, though emphatic, interruption in the normal flow of worship and RE programming, we ask for your understanding of, and attentiveness to, proceedings involving the drill. While we know this type of drill may seem strange and even scary to some adults, school children are quite familiar with them. We believe that conducting them is an important part of our First UU safety practice. At the same time, we understand that the drills may be especially challenging or triggering for some of us, based on personal history or experience. Accordingly, we will have a few designated folks on hand in the Sanctuary after each service/RE hour should you find yourself in need of a pastoral listening ear. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Bob Furrer, our Facilities Manager (bob@uusociety.org) For questions specifically about children during the drill, contact Martha Dallas (martha@uusociety.org).

General information about lockdown protocol is found elsewhere in this eNews. Some specifics that affect children and parents: 

There will be written and verbal announcements about the drill in the sanctuary on Oct. 16. 

For the drill, the classes will follow the protocol with teacher guidance. The drill will last 5-10 minutes, after which time classes will return to scheduled activities. 

Talking points for children:

Sometimes there may be an emergency, such as an ill or injured wild animal - or a person - who is not behaving right, on church property.

We are practicing how we need to be so that the helpers can best do their work to help right the situation. 

Any questions or concerns about our lockdown drills as they pertain to children and youth, please contact Martha Dallas (martha@uusociety.org) or Safety Team members Suzy Comerford-Joyce (scomerfo@uvm.edu) or Becka Grimm (vtgrimms@burlingtontelecom.net).

It takes just five minutes, and ensures that our teachers know to expect your child in their group.The form is here.