Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of St. Croix

The Fellowship meets at the Jewish Community Center in Herman Hill (Route 83) the second and fourth Sundays September-May. Services and Sunday School are held at 10 AM.

Refreshments and conversation follow.

Upcoming Schedule of Services

1/11 Stewardship Sunday-  Rev. Qiyamah Rahman

The service will be followed by a potluck lunch

1/25 Religious Education Sunday – Rev. QiyamahRahman

2/1   Bonus Service-Guest Rev. Edmund Robinson

Covenant Group

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Stewardship Sunday: a reminder

On January 11, 2015 we will celebrate Stewardship Sunday. The focus will include how we can support our congregation with our time, talent and treasure. Susan Kraeger will briefly describe the pledge campaign for 2015.  A pledge brochure will be available at the door.  We will gather for a pot luck lunch after the service.

Minister’s Column

Happy new year to each and everyone of you. I must confess that I make new years’ resolutions although many believe it is a waste of energy and time because we tend to fall short of our promises to ourselves. I am an eternal optimist and so I make promises that I do not always keep but I find that I need to set goals for myself and push and test my resolve to carry them out. I am getting better and better with them. Perhaps I deem it important that I be as meticulous with my words and promises to myself as I am with my words and promises to others. My resolution is to keep doing those things that are working in my life and to show up with integrity to present my gifts to the world as my legacy. Sweet and Simple! Someone that inspires me to do this (and I have many role models) is the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I quote from his speech, I Have a Dream…his last before his death four days later at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, TN on April 4, 1968.  He said, “We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountain top and I don’t mind. Like anybody, I’d like to live a longggg life. But longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up the mountain and I’ve looked over and I’ve seeeeeen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. So I’m happy tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. ”

That was Dr. King’s final sermon and his final words to the public. It was the bravery of a woman, Rosa Parks, on Dec. 1, 1955 that forever changed his life and catapulted him onto the national and international arena, for he first came to our attention with the Montgomery Bus Boycott as a result of her refusal to give up her seat. Others joined in a boycott that lasted for a year and ended with black folks in Montgomery, Alabama saying, Yes We Can. Eventually bus segregation was ruled unconstitutional, hence, a major civil rights accomplishment. Dr. King as we know is known for his articulate sermons and impassioned speeches in which he spoke out against injustices, such as racism. In the spring of 1968 he began to also denounce materialism and ultimately militarism.  Dr. King challenged our nation’s moral authority and memory. He challenged America to make good on its promises of justice and freedom for all people. King’s legacy created a new narrative – one that was interfaith as well as culturally and racially diverse, a narrative that we are still attempting to make good on in this country.
Every Sunday here at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of St. Croix we affirm and invite people of different faiths, different cultures, races, economic status and different sexual orientations to join us in worship. So we are carrying on Dr. King’s legacy through the Unitarian Universalist tradition of inclusion. January 11th is Stewardship Sunday. In order to carry on Dr. King’s legacy, our Unitarian Universalist legacy we need your support. We need your time, your talents and your treasure. We need your commitment to help carry out the vision of inclusion. We need your commitment to help carry out our mission of justice, democracy and honoring the inherent worth and dignity of humanity. I am pained as I watch broken hearted the injustices and carried out day after day. I cannot bring myself to speak of them from the pulpit because of my grave distress. I would be a blubbering mess in five minutes. When I say I am heart broken I do not speak these words lightly. But I have not given up. Yes, some days I am overwhelmed that what Dr. King and so many others fought for are not even recognizable rights. I am dismayed at the state of our conversation on race. The state of our conversation on interfaith dialogue. I am holding us in the best light because I know that we are capable of so much more. What it will take to produce our highest and best good requires your time, talent and treasure. I promise to not give up and to stay the course and keep the faith if you promise that the battle is worthy of your time, talent and treasure.
Please go to the website at (  http://www.UUStCroix.org) for my complete sermon on Dr. King and getting to the Promised Land. Almost every Unitarian Universalist congregation stateside commemorates this great man during the month of January. Because we only meet twice a month it is really difficult to squeeze in all the holidays and topics deserving of our time. But two topics that are dear to my heart at the beginning of the new year is recognition that what we do matters, hence, Stewardship Sunday. And so I invite you to support the work of the UUFSC so that it continues. The other topic is Rev. Dr. King and his legacy that has served to inspire me and so many others. Let us keep the dream alive! Let us keep hope alive! Let us be dreamers and hope builders! We can make a difference!

Blessings! Rev. Qiyamah – See you on Sunday!

Adult Education at the Jewish  Community Center

Hello my U-U friends —

Rabbi Marna here, inviting you to join members of the Jewish community in our adult education opportunities over the next few months.

1) We will be diving deeply into the foundational stories of Genesis, using the wonderful Bill Moyers series BILL MOYERS: GENESIS – A LIVING CONVERSATION as our jumping-off point.  We will explore the Story of Creation, Temptation, The First Murder,  Apocalypse (Noah and the Flood), the stories of Abraham and Sarah and Hagar, the Binding of Isaac, and much more. For this study group, everyone should have a Bible (any translation is fine — and if you don’t have one and don’t want to buy one, you can — of course! — read the relevant chapters

2) Upcoming: Thinking about Israel/Palestine and Jews and Muslims

This topic was raised as one of interest by members of the Jewish community last spring.  I have chosen three

movies which. I think, shed light on some of the complexities of the situation and will stretch us and provoke important discussion.  Dates are:

Saturday January 31 – The Lemon Tree [If you’ve read the book with the same title — this is not a movie version of

the book, but an entirely different story.]

Saturday February 28 – Precious Life

Saturday March 28 – Arranged

These films will be viewed at individual homes — more information to follow. All events are stand-alone — no need to make a long-term commitment.  Come whenever you can.  If you have any questions, feel free to call me at 340-514-7578.  Hope to see many of you!

-Marna