First Unitarian Congregational Society Brooklyn

Is it true that god won’t listen

First U Bklyn — Sun, 06 May 2012 15:00:54 +0000

Is it true that god won’t listen

If I call him the wrong name

Or I call him her — or her him

But I’m wrong

Is it true, is it true

Is it true that there are lots of gods

Is it true there’s only one

Is it true there isn’t any god at all

Is it true, is it true

Is it true that god knows everything

But even so gets mad

And punishes the things that humans do

Is it true, is it true

Is it true that we have many lives

And no one really dies

Is it true that there’s a heaven

Where we’ll fly

Is it true that death is dark as night

Or one great godly light

Is it true that no one knows

just what we’ll find

Is it true god spent a life down here

and afterwards went home

to spend eternity upon his throne

Is it true, is it true

Was Jonah swallowed by a whale

But somehow lived to tell the tale

‘Cause from that stomach God heard Jonah’s prayer

Is it true, is it true

Did the world begin right in gods hand

Did god take clay to make a man

Did everything begin in one big bang

Is it true, is it true

And how can it be true that only god can take a life

But people go and kill – in god’s name

And howwwww could god’s angel tell a man to raise his knife

And kill his only son to show his faith

And how could god drown everyone

To end their wicked ways

Then promise not to do it — everagain

But still stand by and watch as millions of his children die —

Now and then—-

now and then, now and then

now and then—

now and then…

Is it true god made a universe

a trillion planets wide

but people in his image have just one

Is it true, is it true

Is it true that those who believe in god

should conquer those who don’t

and drive them from their shores forevermore

Is it true, is it true

Is it true that some folks know the truth

and some don’t have a clue

Is it true there’s no such thing

as truth, at all

Is it true, is it true

©beisenstadt2010

Haiti Celebration – Saturday May 12th – Forum 4:30 pm, Fundraising dinner 7:00 pm

rpearl — Thu, 03 May 2012 17:50:03 +0000

CELEBRATION OF HAITI – May 12, 2012

4:30 PM – Weaving the Fabric of Diversity and FEDADSE (Federation des Associations du Sud Est – a 501(c)(3) organization) to jointly sponsor a Forum on Haiti. Free Admission

7:00 PM – WFD and FEDADSE to jointly sponsor a gala dinner with entertainment to provide direct aid for Haitian home towns. Admission $20.

Last year we held an exciting dinner/entertainment event that raised funds for direct aid to Haiti. The funds were used in part to reconstruct an earthquake-damaged road to the mountain village of Gondou. This was the first paved road Gondou ever had and was laboriously created without heavy machinery, by volunteer labor and donated funds. The proceeds from this year’s event will be used to buy materials to continue that important project, and other projects in towns and villages in the South-East of Haiti.

Prayer Shawl Ministry Meeting – Sunday April 29th

First U Bklyn — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:27:27 +0000

On Sunday April 29th, the Prayer Shawl Ministry will be meeting in the youth room in the Undercroft from 1-2:30 pm. Please join us for some crafting and community!

This year, the ministry will continue its work of making prayer shawls for members of the congregation in need of special support. Knitters and crocheters of all ages are invited to join in this ministry of caring and community, regardless of level of experience. If you do not currently knit or crochet, please join us and we will introduce you to the basics of these crafts. If you are aware of someone in the congregation who could benefit from the tangible form of support a shawl represents, please contact the Ministers or the Pastoral Care committee. For questions about the ministry, please email Elizabeth Shaw or Diana Lu at fuubshawls@gmail.com.

JOIN US FOR A MOTHER’S DAY WALK-A-THON

First U Bklyn — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 21:36:09 +0000

Many of you already know that First UU in the past few years has raised the money to sponsor four micro-credit lending banks in Haiti in partnership with FINCA. You may not know we are well on our way to establishing a fifth bank for $5,000! Help us reach this goal on Mother’s Day by pledging or asking others to sponsor you as you join us on our annual Mother’s Day walk-a-thon before church on Sunday, May 13th.

We are planning on walking a little over 5 miles (8.5 KM) starting at church and ending back at the church. We would meet on Sunday morning at about 8:00 for some juice and bagels and such and then head out by 8:30 to walk over the Manhattan Bridge to Manhattan, through city hall park and back to Brooklyn over the Brooklyn Bridge, then down along the water through Brooklyn Bridge park and the promenade back to church. Google estimates the walk should take one hour and 47 minutes so we left a bit of cushion there.

This year FINCA has indicated that the greater need would be for a micro-credit bank in Afghanistan so we plan to donate the money for the establishment of a bank in that country. In the next few days you will be able to link from fuub.org to make a donation online through Networkforgood.org, or, you can encourage far away friends and relatives to make pledges online at this URL:

https://www.networkforgood.org/donation/ExpressDonation.aspx?ORGID2=13-5596771

There is a line in which you specify what the donation goes towards and make sure you write “micro-credit” so the office will know your intention.

If you are going to be there for the walk we would encourage you to donate by cash or check which actually saves five cents on the dollar more for the cause. You can also learn more about FINCA and the work they are doing at FINCA.org. Also, over the next couple of Sundays we will have pledge forms and a walk-a-thon sign up sheet at the welcome table. Please contact Catalina Bertani, Sara Stevens-Miles, or Pat Bernstein if you have any questions or suggestions for this event. We look forward to walking and chatting and laughing and raising money and starting off the day with you in such a wonderful way!

Standing on the Side of Love – Valentines

First U Bklyn — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 06:23:59 +0000

On Sunday, Feb 12th, our Senior High Youth led an educational service project with our children, as part of the Standing on the Side of Love campaign. After teaching our children a bit about love, marriage equality, and justice, we made Valentines to send to the NY State representatives who voted to support Marriage Equality. Being a Brooklyn congregation we sent the cards to Brooklyn representatives. We also included Valentines to our Federal Senators, Mayor, Governor, and the four Republicans (state-wide) who made a stand on personal conscious across party lines. Please watch the video here to learn more!

Video by Demonstrous Productions (Cooper Miller and Juliette Richey)

Music Performed by The Suaverinos (Rick Bruner and Dawn Elaine Reed)

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.

Moment of Witness about Occupy Wall Street

Marymost — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 15:00:23 +0000

Good morning! I’m Mary Most, and I was born and raised Unitarian. I came to this congregation about 19 years ago, and my children were raised here. I have served on the Bd of Trustees, and on the Communications Committee for many years. If anyone here would like to help with promoting the activities of our congregation, come find me. But today I’m up here to talk about Occupy Wall Street.

I work in the Financial District and I go to Zuccotti Park – or Liberty Square, as they prefer to call it — every day at lunch time. I pull on a pair of latex gloves and join the Sanitation team to remove garbage so they don’t get shut down for health violations. We collect recyclables and composting, because we want to do the right thing.

Pretty much every weeknight I drive in and drop off your donations of warm clothing & blankets. Whatever I can do to help.

I know there are many other people here in this congregation who have done their bit to support Occupy Wall Street — who else has gone to Zuccotti Park or to a rally? or donated supplies or money? or shared a link on Facebook? (Show of hands – there were a LOT).

When I go to Liberty Square, or Zuccotti Park, I feel a tangible surge of energy, of possibility, of hope, of the real potential for change. In this leaderless movement, there is no “They” – it’s US. Unless you’re one of the 400 people who are making more than the other 15 million of us COMBINED (and if you ARE, please see the Stewardship Committee!) – WE are the 99%. We’re in this together.

This sense of inclusion is something I always felt here at First U: There is no “they” here; it’s all “us”. Church as co-op. We define, we create where we’re going, and how we’ll do it, as a congregation.

There are many many conversations going on at – and because of – Occupy Wall Street. Facebook is brimming with political and economic discourse. People on the subway are talking about economic injustice. Charts and graphs are circulating. Within a matter of weeks, this has become a international movement. Today there are over 1600 “Occupied” cities.

The media is down at Occupy Wall Street. They interview someone and think they’ve got it covered… I laugh. Y’know the story about the blind scholars who try to describe an elephant? One touches the tail and says an elephant is just like a snake. One touches the leg and says an elephant is just like a tree. You can’t get the whole picture as long as you still use “They”. As long as you expect to find a single spokesperson. It’s like expecting any of us in this room to tell you what Unitarians should believe.

Occupy Wall Street is criticized because “They” don’t have a cohesive message, a list of demands. Here’s what I see going on in Liberty Square: you talk to 10 different people, you’ll get 10 different points of view. Everyone’s ideas are different, and everyone’s ideas are respected. Every one co-exists peacefully, in a participatory democracy.

Does that sound familiar? Yeah! OWS is a very Unitarian gathering.

So in keeping with my Unitarian principles, I support Occupy Wall Street. If anyone has donations you’d like me to bring, please find me during Coffee Hour. Thank you!

Youth Social Justice Program 2011-2012

First U Bklyn — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:53:22 +0000

The Youth Social Justice Program creates opportunities for community service and social action, teaches about community organizations in Brooklyn, and deepens Unitarian Universalist identity. The program engages the congregation’s senior high (9th-12th grade) youth in partnering with community organizations to put their faith into action. The main components of the program are monthly service projects and group reflection on the connections between Unitarian Universalism and social justice.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! Saturday Service Projects
(these are tentative dates and may change)

October 8 @ East New York Farms
November 12
December 10 @ the UU-United Nations Office Youth Conference at FUUB
January 7
February 11
March 10
April 14 @ Hands On New York Day
May 12

Details about time and location will be communicated to parents and youth over the course of the year.

NOTE: All youth must have a signed permission form from a parent/guardian in order to participate in the service projects.

Rev. Mark Kiyimba to speak about the struggle for LGBT Rights in Uganda

First U Bklyn — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 21:24:27 +0000

Sunday, October 16, approx. 1 PM, Frances White Room, after services
The Role of the Church in the Struggle for LGBT Rights in Uganda
with Rev. Mark Kiyimba

With the overt participation and support of a strong evangelical community in the United States, the Ugandan parliament is currently considering legislation that would make homosexual activity a crime in that country, subject to possible capital punishment. The Unitarian Universalist Church of Kampala is one of the few worshipping communities in Uganda that welcomes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people into its fellowship. In 2009 and 2010 it hosted conferences to protest the legislation that attracted more than 200 people, including gay and lesbian Ugandans and their allies who risked possible arrest for their participation.

Come and hear that congregation’s pastor, Rev. Mark Kiyimba, deliver a guest sermon, and later describe the current struggle to preserve the rights of LGBTs in Uganda.

Rev. Mark Kiyimba, UU minister and political activist, is the founding minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Kampala, Uganda. A speaker at GA in June in Charlotte, he has received international attention for his courageous public fight against the inhumane anti-homosexuality legislation now before the Ugandan parliament.

This event is co-sponsored by the All Souls Adult Education Program and the UU Office at the United Nations.

Rev. Dr. Horn’s words on CLF’s

First U Bklyn — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:18:34 +0000

Here’s a link to Rev. Dr. Horn’s excerpted piece “Another Kind of Knowledge”: www.clfuu.org/quest/2011/10/horn.html

The Church of the Larger Fellowship was founded over 50 years ago to serve the needs of isolated UUs (see our history). Membership in CLF brings you lots of benefits and services. CLF’s mission is to provide a ministry to isolated religious liberals, and to offer a spiritual home within the Unitarian Universalist movement. The CLF promotes the understanding and growth of Unitarian Universalism and institutes programs to that end.