The Unitarian Universalist Church of Manchester welcomes you to join our next Sunday service! May 10th we will be continuing this month’s theme of Awakening Curiosity. Join us afterwards for fellowship and community hour, where we spend time together as a community with snacks and coffee.
If you are joining the Social Responsibility Committee meeting, our administrator Tess will be teaching a quick Church Center Introduction class. Please bring your phones, laptops, or tablets as well as something to write questions down on. Their class will not have a ton of time for Q&A but they will be doing several classes after Fellowship hour throughout the summer where there will be more time.
Announcements
This Week In RE
This week, in honor of Mother’s Day, we will be awakening curiosity by exploring a bridge to a more diverse world. The Great Kapok Tree will be part of our discussion. Mothers of our Children can expect a surprise gift today as we finish up our Earth Day toilet paper roll craft, just for you.
Current Year Pledge Payments and Contributions of Record
As we approach the end of the current fiscal year, the finance committee would like to encourage you to fulfill your FY 25-26 pledge by the end of the fiscal year, June 30th. Due to much greater than anticipated building repairs, oil and electricity use for heating, and snow removal costs, we are headed for a deficit for the current year. To minimize the deficit, we ask everyone to pay their pledge in full and by June 30th if possible. If you won’t be able to fulfill your pledge, please let our collector, Chris Monroe, know by emailing her at collector@uumanchester.org.
Also, we want to remind you about the eligibility requirements for voting at the annual meeting on Sunday, May 17th.
Voting eligibility for church meetings per our bylaws:
1) You must be a signed member of UU Manchester at least 30 days prior to the meeting. However, the BOD voted on 4/21 to grant an exception to new members who signed the membership book on 4/26, allowing them to vote at our annual meeting on 5/17.
2) You must have made a contribution of record to the church in the current fiscal year. Unidentified plate donations do not count, as the collector has no way to know who made them. You can put cash plate donations in an envelope with your name on it, and it will be credited to you. All pledge payments are a contribution of record. If for some reason, you cannot satisfy this requirement by 4/17/26 (for this fiscal year July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026), you would need to get a waiver from the minister or the president of the board in order to qualify to vote. Note that pledge payments made before the start of the fiscal year do count, as they are credited in the current fiscal year.
With much gratitude, The Finance Committee
Show Your UU Colors
UU Manchester T-Shirts will be on sale during coffee hour at a discounted price. Adult T-Shirts: $15, Youth T-Shirts: $10. These are UU Manchester original designs and have not been available for several years. Proudly wear your UU Manchester T-shirt all summer long!
Worship & Music Committee: Call for Summer Services
The Worship & Music Committee is currently planning for lay-led services this summer. Please let us know if you would like to lead a service, speak at a service, have a service theme idea, etc. We have dates open beginning June 28th and through July/August! It is a substantial task to make summer lay-led services happen, so many hands/minds make light work! You don’t need to lead alone – we are here to help! Consider leaving a service as a committee; with a friend or small group; inviting an organization you think is important; developing a service theme from a book, author, podcast, etc. Reach out to Angela Audet angelaaudet@gmail.com or Rin Cutter kcutter7@gmail.com
Volunteer Needed: Flower Coordinator
We would like to revive the tradition of congregants bringing in flowers to beautify the Sanctuary for Sunday Service! This requires a coordinator who can create a schedule and invite volunteers to sign up for bringing in flowers (and they can take them home after! Bonus!) Sunday flowers can be dedicated to loved ones, honor birthdays, celebrate a special day, etc., and the dedication can be shared as part of Joys and Concerns for the day. If you would like to take on this important volunteer role, please reach out to Angela at angelaaudet@gmail.com
Pride Volunteers Needed!
Pride Festival is coming up and UUCM needs volunteers! The Parade/Festival is June 27 from 11am to 5pm. We will need people to march in the parade, help with festival table setup and tear down, and manning the table in two hour increments. Further information will be provided as information is provided by Manchester True Collaborative.
If you are not able to participate in this year’s UU Manchester Pride 26, but wish to offer support to our effort, the Board has approved our reaching out to our members for support. We will have an Amazon Wishlist of things we would appreciate to have to make this year’s Pride event a success!
Disability Pride Tabling Opportunity!
On June 26th, there will be a Disability Pride Event in Dover, NH. Details are still being worked out by the head organizer, but this week they reached out to our Administrator to see if we would like to host a table for the event! If anyone is interested in running a UU Manchester table in Dover, please email Tess Bloodrune at admin@uumanchester.org. If you are willing to give rides to the Disability Pride event after Sunday services, please also contact Tess to arrange car pooling opportunities.
Topics: Worship