Earth Day Wrap-up at 1U – EV’s, The Garden, and Goodfills

April 30, 2024April 30, 2024 / Martha H / Leave a comment

1U’s Electric Vehicle Show – Sun, April 28, 2024 and Helping our Planet

To wrap up Earth Month 2024, the Green Team hosted an electric vehicle (EV) show with eight owners/vehicles and Goodfills, a refillery store, during coffee hour after worship in 1U’s garden.

The 1U Hospitality Team provided refreshments and the Garden Team provided garden tours and fresh vegetables to take home.

To learn more about the owners and their EVs, read their comments below.

To learn more about Goodfills, go to https://goodfills.co/ See their portable store that came to 1U to share their vision and offer their products.

Electric Vehicles at 1U-Hearing from the Owners

1..Why did you decide to buy or lease an EV? For environmental reasons.

2. Why did you buy/lease this particular model? Good size and excellent reviews.

Debbie Reinhart, Owner of Hyundai Ionic 5

3.Did you buy or lease – which one did you choose and why? We bought because we never lease cars.4. What is your EV’s range? 330 miles
5. EV charging – where do you do it? How long does it take? Level 2 takes about 7 hours to go from 20 to 80 %, level 3 takes 18 minutes.6.What challenges have you faced? None so far, but we’ve only had it a month.

7. What are the benefits of your EV? Charge at home, no gas stations. Smooth ride. Nice car. Great for in town driving.8.Will your next car be an EV? I think so. So far, so good. What else? Thanks!

Continue reading →

Vote Yes on 4 Rally fills Lake Eola seats

April 15, 2024April 18, 2024 / Martha H / Leave a comment

The following was selected from an article written by Jessica Corbett of Common Dreams:

The court’s early-April decision to let Floridians weigh in on abortion rights “underscores the crucial role of Florida’s ballot initiative process, which provides voters an important opportunity to take the reins when politicians aren’t representing our interests,” Yes on 4 campaign director Lauren Brenzel said earlier this month. She also said,” Polls have consistently shown well over 60% of Florida voters support limiting government intrusion in the personal healthcare decision of accessing abortion care,” she pointed out. Notably, the measure needs that percent of support to pass.“

Dr. Marian Sampson, an OB-GYN with Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, told the Sentinel, “Trust me when I say there is no medical reason for abortion bans and there is no medical reason for the government to be forcing their way into our exam rooms and standing between me and my patients. Link to photos here.

THE PLEDGE Central Florida at 1U and Beyond

April 15, 2024 / Martha H / Leave a comment

Commit at 1U and online at the website below.

“Hate cannot drive out hate,
only love can do that.”
— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Right here in Central Florida, many in our community are living in fear — fear for their own safety, fear for the well-being of their children, and fear of practicing their religion and identifying with their culture.

This IS who we are

We are committed to the promise that Central Florida is a safe community for all who live here and for all future generations. We pledge to protect and value each of our neighbors, especially those who are being threatened or feel unsafe.

I WILL lead by example, treating all people, especially those with whom I disagree, with kindness and respect.

I WILL refrain from inflammatory words and actions, and actively support those being attacked.

I WILL report threatening incidents of hate and violence to 800-423 TIPS (8477)

I WILL educate myself about antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism, homophobia, and all other forms of discrimination, and help others in my circle of influence to do the same. I WILL lead by example, treating all. See website and learn more.

“We’re All Squatters — An Earth Day Reflection” Worship Service

April 14, 2024April 15, 2024 / Carolina L. / Leave a comment

Sunday, April 14, 2024, at 10:30am

Worship Leaders: Rabbi David Kay / Judith Stein-Farrall / Aubrey Connelly-Candelario / Linnea Nelson

“We humans like to think of ourselves as stewards of the natural world, and those who count the Hebrew Bible as part of their faith tradition like to point to Genesis 1 as proof. But a closer — and perhaps more accurate — reading of the Creation narrative tells a surprisingly different story, and it gives us a very different perspective on our obligation to the earth and all it contains.”

The Green Team guided the service with Lisa- Marie S. contributing a poem honoring the beauty of the world, Jackie S offering a Action Promise for Our World and Debra R. and Mary D. at the helm . Rev. Margalie ended the Worship with a Call to Action to sign THE PLEDGE of Central Florida after service at the Mini-Fair online here and in Gore Hall on our Pledge.

The following is part of the Responsive Reading that gave us all hope as we spoke the words:

We will take up the needs of the generations to come: clean water to drink, sweet air to breathe.

Acknowledging the earth most basically as our home, we must set about the task of restoration.

In this our congregational home, we will find small and large ways to remember the environment in our worshiping, our learning, our celebrating, and our justice-making.

Aware of the urgency and complexity of our environmental crisis, we end by promising simply this:

As people of faith, we pledge ourselves to work toward a planet transformed by our care.

The Pledge asks each of us to look out for each other.

April 2, 2024April 2, 2024 / Martha H / Leave a comment

The Central Florida Pledge is a call to action for residents of Central Florida who are tired of hateful discourse and want to create a safe and inclusive community for all. The Pledge asks residents to commit to treating all people with kindness and respect, especially those with whom they disagree.

The organizers ask residents of central Florida to commit to THE CENTRAL FLORIDA PLEDGE and help eliminate all forms of harassment, hate speech, or persecution directed toward any group who resides in our community!

Building a Better Community is the goal and THE PLEDGE asks you to sign in Agreement to be and act as follows:

I WILL lead by example, treating all people, especially those with whom I disagree, with kindness and respect

I WILL refrain from inflammatory words and actions, and actively support those being attacked

I WILL report threatening incidents of hate and violence to 800-423-TIPS (8477)

I WILL educate myself about antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism, homophobia, and all other forms of discrimination, and help others in my circle of influence to do the same

Go to the website to learn more and to sign. Check out THE PLEDGE in Gore Hall. Whether you sign or not, know about THE PLEDGE and protect others as is needed. Refer people to this effort who may be be helped knowing of this community support and those who want to build a better community.

YES ON 4 – Saturday, April 13 Lake Eola at Noon

April 2, 2024April 8, 2024 / Martha H / Leave a comment

Starting at Walt Disney Amphitheater at Lake Eola Park at 195 N Rosalind Ave, Orlando, FL 32801

Parking:Downtown Orlando hosts ample paid street parking and paid public parking garages. Costs and availability will vary. It is recommended that attendees arrive early with enough time to find parking. There are a few nearby paid parking lots/garages that are within 2 blocks walking distance to the Walt Disney Amphitheater at Lake Eola Park.

Signs and Posters:

From the Promoters of the Amendment:

We welcome and encourage our supporters to bring their signs. We will have a limited number of printed signs to offer to folks who are unable to make their own signs. It is extremely important that any homemade signs remain on message and absolutely no partisan messaging or coat hanger imagery will be permitted at our rally. These are losing messages and we have a responsibility to 84k patients to WIN. If you bring an off message sign, our staff will ask you to put your sign in your car and will give you a printed placard to use. Please keep the following messaging points in mind as you craft your signs.

Key Sign Making Tips

Labels do not work. Don’t use “pro-choice” or “pro-life” Lead with empathy- we don’t know a person’s situation.

Stress that the government should not interfere with medical decisions between patients and doctors

Don’t focus on partisan politics, focus on removing governmental interference with abortion

Do’s

Vote Yes on 4

Limit Government Interference With Abortion

Stop Political Interference Doctors Not Politicians

Don’ts

Don’t say Anything about EITHER political party or candidates. Example: NO signs for or against Trump, DeSantis, Biden, Debbie Mucarsel Powell, etc. or anything about candidates running for any level of public office.

No coat hanger/ violent imagery

Keep the Government out of our healthcare.

No handmaids tale costumes

No antiquated labels like “pro-life” or “pro-choice”

Agenda:We will be beginning our rally promptly at 12 PM. We will gather at the amphitheater where we will hear directly from patients, providers, and partners that have been negatively impacted by Florida’s Abortion Bans. After our speaker rally we will grab our signs and march and chant around the park to show our strength in numbers. We anticipate our rally to end around 2 PM. Absolutely no elected officials or partisan leaders will be invited to speak at our rally as we believe ALL politicians should be removed from interfering with abortion.

Safety & Security:By attending this rally, you are agreeing to abide by Yes on 4’s non engagement policy. This means that regardless of what sort of presence we might have at our rally by anti’s, you will not engage visually, verbally, or physically.If you choose to engage with any opposition, you will be removed from our event.

We will have safety marshals, private security, and uniformed police officers present at our rally to ensure everyone’s safety. We ask for all of our attendees to remain alert and if you see something, say something to our team which will be identifiable by their bright yellow safety vests.

Help us get word out! Help us grow our rally, utilize resources from our partner toolkit to invite your networks to join us as we rally to end the 6 week abortion ban.

Gmail – How to prepare: Rally to End the 6-week Abortion Ban

If you have any questions, please reach out to volunteer@ floridiansprotectingfreedom.com

Side with Love T-shirts

March 28, 2024April 2, 2024 / Martha H / Leave a comment

We’re now taking orders between now and April 14 for these new “stand out in a crowd” T-shirts that that tell others that 1Us SIDE with LOVE.

Link to this ORDER FORM to see the sizes/measurements. (Note that these are not the “usual” shirt size measurements — they’re the measurements of the width and height of a shirt lying flat on a table.) The cut is “slim,” so you might want to order a larger size than usual if you want a looser fit, especially in the hips.

There are two options for ordering your T-shirt(s):

Fill out the online order form (link above) to speed up the process or
Fill out a paper copy of the online order form in Gore Hall on Sunday after the service

Either way, you’ll need to go to the Justice Table in Gore Hall after church on April 7 or 14 to confirm (or place) your order and pay for it with either cash or a check.

Prices: $16.00 (adult sizes) and $10.00 (youth sizes).

One more detail: the shirt printers require a minimum order of 20 paid shirts before they will start printing.

A Bit of Background Information on these Shirts: For those new to Unitarian Universalism, the following is the history of the Side with Love initiative. As you can see, the color shows up in a crowd and the shirt bears a wonderfully positive message of support.

“What is love calling you to do?”

Side with Love is a public advocacy campaign that seeks to harness love’s power to stop oppression. It is sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) and all are welcome to join

At this time, four Side with Love initiatives are: the Create Climate Justice, UU the Vote, Love Resists and UPLIFT action. To learn more, visit this link at UUA Action Center.

History

Side with Love is an interfaith public advocacy campaign promoting respect for the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Side with Love confronts issues of exclusion, oppression, and violence based on identity. With the goal of creating beloved community, the campaign pursues social change through advocacy, public witness, and speaking out in solidarity with those whose lives are publicly demeaned.

The broad message, “standing on the side of love,” emerged as a rallying point for people of faith in 2004 in Massachusetts during their early efforts for fully inclusive marriage, and later during the effort to keep the marriage equality law and block Proposition 8, in California in 2008. Originally entitled Standing on the Side of Love, born out of that slogan and song by Rev. Jason Shelton of the same name, was launched after the 2008 shooting at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, which was targeted because they are welcoming to LGBTQ people and have a liberal stance on many issues.

The Knoxville community responded with an outpouring of love that inspired the leadership at the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) to launch our campaign in 2009, with the goal of harnessing love’s power to challenge exclusion, oppression, and violence based on sexual orientation, gender identity, immigration status, race, religion, or any other identity. A video produced at the 10 year anniversary of the call to love can be seen here.

The words were changed to “Side with Love” in expand the message beyond a specific physical action.

Winged Wonders and Wildlife Day

March 4, 2024March 4, 2024 / Martha H / Leave a comment

The Interfaith Environmental Alliance of Central Florida’s Day for Winged Wonders and Wildlife sponsored a guided walk at the Orlando Wetlands Park recently. More than 30 people attended-many from 1U, some from the Interfaith Alliance and some from the Orange County Audubon. The Orange County Audubon supplied 4 guides and binoculars for all who needed one. See here for more information about birding with the Orange Audubon Society.

The leisurely one mile walk was a joy and informative due to the beautiful weather, the four knowledgeable guides, and the many questions and comments from the attendees about the habitat, the wildlife and the history of the Wetlands. Just some of the wildlife that we observed: roseate spoonbills, purple gallinule, sandhill cranes with newborns, some nesting egrets and great egrets and even a harrier hawk as well as many coots, ibis and blue teal, and, of course, a few alligators. Thank you Green Team for being a founding member of the Interfaith Alliance and organizing the sign ups and the binocular pick-up.

Spring Sharing

March 1, 2024 / Martha H / Leave a comment

Screenshot

Share your bounty with our neighboring church Joy MCC! Bring nonperishable food items to church on Sundays March 24 and 31, 2024. Collection boxes will be outside the sanctuary and in Gore Hall. Click here for specific requests. (Donation box located in Gore Hall. Bring items anytime! Click the link above for specific requests.)