The UUA’s “Side with Love” 30 Days of Love Event is an “annual month of spiritual nourishment, political grounding, and shared practices of faith and justice, 30 Days of Love goes from January 20 through Valentine’s Day, February 14.
Week One "We Are Home"
In January 2021, immigrant communities, organizers, and their allies met the change in the US Presidential Administration with determination and courage, focused on ending the cruel, xenophobic policies from the Trump administration.
Envisioning a pathway toward healing, over 20 immigrant-led coalitions came together to launch the “We Are Home” campaign, delivering a clear message rooted in their undeniable humanity and worth. With three concrete demands and an intersectional organizing strategy shaped by youth, worker, and multi-racial coalitions, the “We Are Home” campaign not only called out the dehumanizing policies that have long criminalized immigrants and immigrant families, but centered the essentially transformative role that immigrant communities have in a free and fair society. “We Are Home” was, and is, a message of invitation - to become a country that truly welcomes, cares for, and celebrates all.
Today, the current Presidential Administration threatens to enact even crueler policies than previous administrations. As exclusion and brutality become further codified in our nation’s practices and policies, “We Are Home” invites us to reflect honestly. Can any of us feel at home in a society that continues to deny the basic rights of millions of our friends, family members, and neighbors? |
Join the Community Change Action to win a roadmap to citizenship for 11 million undocumented people and a fair, humane, and functional immigration system. The road to victory has been and will be paved by the fearlessness of millions of undocumented, LGBTQ, Black, indigenous, labor, and immigrant leaders. In our work, we center them and their communities. This launch video and poem were written and created by undocumented artists Samantha Ramirez-Herrera and Aline Mello in 2021.
Body Practice
Ritual: “under state violence, we harbor each other” by Rev. Alaina Alexander from sacred incantations: rituals of trans wisdom for every season
Time Needed: 5 minutes
Items Needed: A handful of dirt
Context: State violence looms large over our lives as a constant threat or worry. Because of this we often feel as if we don’t belong here, wherever here may be, and we forget that we have existed and found shelter in each other since the beginning.
Ritual
Find a place outside. Sink your fingers into the dirt.
Pick it up, clutch it, smell it, experience it. Remind yourself that we are creatures of this earth. It is where we came from and where we return. You belong.
Imagine the world before states and how we cared for each other. Imagine collapse and how we support each other through. Imagine you and the people you love free from the worry of governmental harm.
Let the dirt slip through your fingers, and imagine how to bring pieces of that world to life now.
Take Action
Advocate Alongside Refugee Community Members Using Refugee Council USA’s “January 2025 Refugee Advocacy Toolkit”
Who You Are. Why You Care. What You Want.
Educate your local, state, and national elected leaders about the vital role that refugees and all newcomers play in your communities. Because the process of change takes time, meetings with policymakers should be viewed as part of a continuing process of gathering information, building relationships, and developing advocacy strategies.
Don't overlook the opportunity to also engage governors, state lawmakers, city councilmembers, mayors, school board members, and other local elected officials who will be playing a critically important role as a first line of action for pro-refugee policy, and as a firewall against harmful policies and rhetoric. These officials also play an important role informing strategy and policy within their parties and in Washington, DC, so keeping them engaged as advocates and informed about the local impact of federal policy is crucial. To find and learn more about your governor, state legislators, mayor, and local officials, click here or here.
Ice Skating Congregational Date - January 26
Karen has organized another congregational date at Hetland Skating Arena, 310 Hathaway Blvd., New Bedford, at 2:30 PM. Open skate is $7 per person, and skate renatals are $7. If you would like to attend but are experiencing financial hardship, please reach out to Karen at minister@uunewbedford.org
Save the Date! New Member Service
We want to celebrate YOU! Become an official member of our church today.
Social Justice Committee Meeting Tonight
Weekly SJC meetings happen on Wednesdays at 6:30 PM. Please visit the calendar on our website to get the Zoom link. Everyone is welcome to attend!
Did you miss Sunday service? Watch it here
***Please be aware that from now on, if you arrive on Sundays after 11 AM you will have to use the Union Street entrance. This is because we do not have a Sunday Sexton.
Karen is hosting a congregational talk after service this Sunday for those who wish to talk through how they are feeling about the current state of affairs.
January 26: Stories and Religion: The practice of building our UU identity, We Dream a World: Carrying the Light From My Grandparents Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King by Yolanda Renee King
Mary Rapoza and Elise Rapoza will be leading Sunday School in Yasmin's absence on the 26th of January.
Read/Watch Together: Where Are You From, Written by Yamile Saied Méndez, Illustrated by Jaime Kim
Contact Yasmin with any questions at flefleh@gmail.com
Please share these events with your family and friends and attend yourself.
Open Mic is FREE and open to the public. Doors open at 4 PM for a 4:30 PM start. After the event on January 19, Open Mic will occur on the first Sunday of each month through June. All donations from this event will benefit the church, so please tell your family and friends.
FREE - every 4th Sunday of the month in the Maja Capek room.
FREE Admission - Donations greatly appreciated
$5 suggested donation
FREE
Order forms will be available in the sanctuary and the Parish House for those wishing to buy concert tickets with a check. Please place the order form and your check in an envelope and either mail it to the office or drop it in the mail slot on 8th Street.
Jordan Paiva has canceled his concert on Feb. 8.
Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door.
Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door.
Save the Date! Tickets are $25 in advance or $30 at the door.
The calendar on our website shows everything happening at UUNB. Updates are displayed immediately, so you will always know what is planned.
Our Mission is to encourage diversity and mutual acceptance and work for positive change in ourselves and our community.
"We envision a congregation in which we practice the principles of our faith. We seek to enjoy peaceful reflection and inspiration in intellectually and spiritually satisfying church services. We aim to embrace the people and efforts of our church community by supporting our children and their programs, our committees and their goals, our staff and their efforts on our behalf, and each other."
Our Promises
Each person is important.
Be kind in all you do.
We help each other learn.
We search for what is true.
Each person has a say.
Work for a peaceful world.
The web of life’s the way.
Build the beloved community, free from racism and oppression.
First Unitarian Church in New Bedford
71 8th Street, New Bedford, MA 02740
(508) 994-9686
Administrator ext. 10
Minister ext. 13
Karen cell: (508) 441-9344
Thrift Shop ext. 12
Board Members & Officers
Steve Carmel, President
Charles Morgan, Vice President
Deborah Carmel, Treasurer
Cora Peirce, Clerk
Trustees
Committee Chairs
Staff
The Thrift Shop is open Tuesdays and Saturdays from 10 AM to 1 PM
(508)994-9686 ext.12
Comments