First Unitarian Congregational Society Brooklyn » Groups and Committees

Women’s Alliance Accomplishments 2011 – 2012

First U Bklyn — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:22:43 +0000

2011-2012 accomplishments:
Supplied a Field Placement Grant to continue supporting our female Seminarian, Beth Dana.
Contributed monetary support for additional productions of the highly successful play “Mother Wove the Morning”.
Establishment of a Google group so that we can communicate better about the activities of the Women’s Alliance fuubwomensalliance@googlegroups.com
Continue to administer The Miriam Campobasso Memorial Fund which provides financial assistance to Women’s Alliance and Congregational women with a life threatening illness.
A reception with our new interim minister, the Rev. Holly Horn.

Still to come in 2012:
Run a series of workshops on “Computer Literacy for the Mature Person.”
Address the issue of Gender with a film series.
Refashion the Older Women’s Support Group.
Reestablish our monthly Board Meetings which are open to all.

First Unitarian Parents Association Meeting: 9/13 1p

Marymost — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 06:36:02 +0000

Sunday, September 13, 1:00pm in the Chapel

The Religious Education Council announces the formation of our very first Parent Association for parents and guardians of children enrolled in our Religious Education programs! The opening meeting of this new P.A. will be held after Coffee Hour this Sunday.

We need ALL parents and guardians to attend so that we can introduce the current leadership and outline the role we envision for the Association. We will also use the P.A. meeting to introduce you to our Religious Education programs and help you all better understand what exactly our 1st U children can expect this coming RE year.

Please attend the meeting and come see how you can involve yourself in the process of developing your child’s faith. Come learn about the curricula being taught this fall. Learn about the social activities we’re planning for all our young members and come see what we think your child can expect from this year of Sunday School.

First U Social Justice Project

Marymost — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 03:49:02 +0000

The congregation is in the process of choosing its first congregation-wide, year-long social justice project. The brainstorming meeting on March 28 yielded the following two projects, chosen as the best of the ideas presented. At our Annual Congregational Meeting on May 17, members will choose one of these to be our project for next year.

We want to hear what you think about these projects and any ideas you may have to improve them. There will be two opportunities for input, so these concepts can be finalized prior to the Annual Meeting:

1)     HOUSE MEETINGS on Sunday, April 26, 5-7 pm
      Our Bodies, Our Spirits, Our Lives – at the Church
      Simple Gifts – at the home of Vonda Brunsting, Cobble Hill
For the house meetings, please RSVP to Jocelyn Smith at jsmith929@hotmail.com OR
2)     INFORMATIONAL FORUM after service on Sunday, May 3, 12:45pm

Project descriptions:

Our Bodies, Our Spirits, Our Lives:

Equal Rights and Equal Care for People of All Sexualities and Genders

This project proposes that the congregation spend the next year working for equal rights for people of all sexualities and genders. Unitarian Universalists have been at the forefront of the struggle for gender and sexuality equality. Our own congregation has a long history of supporting women’s rights, reproductive rights and gay rights. This year finds our state and our nation at a tipping point where goals we have hoped to achieve for many years now appear to be within reach.

If we choose this project as First Unitarian’s social justice focus for the coming year, we would have the opportunity to apply our progressive faith’s values toward justice issues pertaining to sex and sexuality discrimination. The project will allow congregants to work on activities such as promoting comprehensive school-based sex education in NYC, legalizing civil marriage for gays and lesbians in New York State, preserving legal abortion in the U.S., joining with local UU congregations to implement a young adult OWL (Our Whole Lives) sexuality curriculum, joining with UU congregations nation-wide to advocate for the repeal of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy in the military, and supporting federal financing of comprehensive family planning programs — including abortion — around the world.

Simple Gifts

“Simple Gifts” proposes that the congregation work with other institutions to create a social and economic justice network. The idea was brought to us by the Coordinator of Community Service at St. Ann’s School, and partnership with local schools and with other faith institutions would be an intrinsic part of this effort. We would join together to coordinate monthly “drives” to collect necessities such as food, clothing, books, computers, etc, and make sure they are delivered to people who need them. We also hope to establish one-on-one partnerships with groups serving those we intend to help. Finally, we would host forums on social and economic justice issues.

This project would help us address the needs of those who have been hit hardest by this economic downturn, take an active hand in reusing valuable resources that might otherwise be discarded, and allow us to strengthen our ties with other institutions and individuals in the community. Congregants could get involved in a number of ways, including by publicizing or coordinating the “drives,” by planning the forums, and by taking part in volunteer opportunities with the groups serving the individuals we are helping.