The Sewing Circle met for the first time in November and made 21 colorful pillowcases that will be given to Children’s Hospital. Folks who attended had a great time sewing and ironing and getting to know each other. We will do this again on Thursday afternoon, December 1. Bring your sewing machine, or let Barb … Continue reading The Sewing Circle
We’re excited to begin our Home Set up program to welcome a refugee family to Pittsburgh!! Working initially with the Women’s Alliance and through the Refugee and Immigration Services of the Jewish Family and Community Services (JFCS), we piloted our first family last week. We were assigned a Congolese family with five members: a mother, … Continue reading First Unitarian Refugee Home Set Up
If you have not been to the Undercroft Gallery and seen the art of Miguel Hoyos, you are missing a joyful visual experience. Miguel’s work will hang in the Gallery for two more Sundays. Miguel has been visiting the Gallery after church and is likely to do that again, so you can see his work … Continue reading From Your Art Committee
Thank you for taking the time to take a serious look at the 8th principle. It is so important to engage in this conversation with respect and love for one another. Yes, for many the wording does not align with that of the other principles. Its style is intentionally different in order to call the … Continue reading Too Many Words
I remember is so well because it burned in my heart. My blood pressure went up as my hackles rose on the back of my neck. I was accused, strongly, but not harshly, in front of other religious leaders of saying something that indicated I was clueless about the dominant white culture, and therefore, not … Continue reading Dominant White Supremacy Culture
I first met Paula Cole Jones about 14 years ago when she led a workshop for Unitarian Universalists at her home church, All Souls Unitarian in Washington DC. Paula has worked on racial justice issues with UU congregations for over 20 years and was raised UU. The workshop was on different ways of and learnings … Continue reading How the 8th Principle Evolved
Or what does dismantling racism and other oppressions look like? On one level, we can’t really be sure what the 8th Principle asks of us because we’re still learning how to engage in being anti-racists. Yet, I have total faith that we can rise to the need as long as we remember our other UU … Continue reading What Does the 8th Principle As of Us?
Why are we naming racism in particular out of all the forms of oppressions and ways to marginalize people? In a word, color, or pigment. “Race” is a social construct used to interact with the artificially created caste system. Caste systems in a country are massive, made of webs of economic, legal, political and social … Continue reading What About Other Oppressed People?
We know in theory that courage (the Theme of the Month) takes many forms, yet sometimes it can be hard to imagine ourselves acting courageously. We may discount things we do or say as a courageous act because we don’t view ourselves as courageous. For many, courage is about pushing past our own inner barriers … Continue reading Pastoral Care and Connections
We had a wonderful Sunday on 10/30 with several projects and the spirit of celebration! The Pumpkinfest, our kids’ pumpkin decorating project, is back for the first time since 2020! We decorated pumpkins and showed them off in the Undercroft during coffee hour, raising over $180 to give to the East End Cooperative Ministry shelter. … Continue reading A Message from our LRED
The Theme of the Month is Courage, yet it is hard to be courageous while holding our breath. We are all holding our breath this week. We are inhaling as we watch each other engage in one of the most important rights in our Democracy, voting. We are watching to see what happens at polling … Continue reading Pastoral Care and Connections Message
