Sunday Services Schedule

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March Ministry Theme: Trust

Join us at 9 or 11 AM. The 11 AM Zoom service login and call-in information is shared through the congregational eblasts on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Subscribe to the eblast by sending a message to uuseoffice@uuse.org or call the UUSE office at 860-646-5151.

Sunday, March 2nd: Strengthening Our Connections. This morning we kick off our 2025 UUSE Annual Appeal. We celebrate our recent achievements. We articulate the challenges that lie ahead. We ponder the meaning and the value UUSE has in our lives. We strengthen our connections to each other. Coordinator: Rev. Josh Pawelek.

Sunday, March 9th: Trust in Action. By trusting in each other‘s unique gifts, we are able to build a community of love, support, and action at UUSE. Do you manifest trust as a spiritual practice? And if so, how? Please join our speakers as they reflect on their personal engagement with trust. Coordinators: Sandy Karosi & Kate Kimmerle

Sunday, March 16th: Trusting. This morning we continue exploring our March ministry theme, trust. We are joined in worship by the UU folk-rock band Meeting House. We’ll look for metaphors in the music! Coordinator: Rev. Josh Pawelek.

Sunday, March 23rd: Love Will Guide Us Through the Hard Night. This morning we welcome the Rev. Carolyn Patierno to our pulpit. Drawing on our Universalist spiritual heritage, Rev. Patierno will explore how we tap into the power of Love to find resilience and hope. Coordinator: Rev. Josh Pawelek.

Sunday, March 30th: The Truth About Trust AC.

Coordinators: Stacey Musulin & Martha Larson

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Community Outreach Ministry

Charitable Giving for March

As always, thank you for your generosity.

We do not gather our gifts only for ourselves, but to share with the larger community.

Continuing our practice of sharing our gifts with the community beyond our walls, fifty percent of our Sunday plate collections for the month will be shared with:

• CT Alliance to End Sexual Violence

Please contact Louisa Graver at uuseoffice@uuse.org, David Lacoss, or Nancy Madar at nuuseoffice@uuse.org.

Checks made out to UUSE will be treated as follows. If the memo line:

✓ is blank or “pledge” - all will go toward your pledge.

✓ has “COM” or the name of the charity - all will go to the charity.

✓ has “1/2 pledge, 1/2 COM” - it will be divided equally.

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2024/2025 Ministry Themes

September: Invitation

October: Deep Listening

November: Repair

December: Presence

January: Story

February: Inclusion

March: Trust

April: Joy

May: Imagination

June: Freedom

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Minister's Column

Dear Ones:

Our ministry theme for March is trust. I recently discovered a short list of lessons on trust from the writer, activist, and organizer adrienne maree brown. She compiled these lessons from a 2019 workshop in New Orleans known as an “emergent strategy immersion.” The lessons speak to me about the role of trust in a congregation. In fact, as you read the list below, every time you encounter the word “people,” I invite you to substitute the word “congregation,” and think about UUSE as you do. Here’s the list:

trust the people who move towards you and already feel like home.

trust the people to let you rest.

trust the people to do everything better than you could have imagined.

trust the people and they become trustworthy.

trust that the people are doing their work to trust themselves.

trust that each breach of trust can deepen trust or clarify boundaries.

trust the people who revel in pleasure after hard work.

trust the people who let children teach/remind us how to emote, be still, and laugh.

trust the people who see and hold your heart.

trust the people who listen to the whales.

trust the people and you will become trustworthy.

trust the people and show them your love.

trust the people.

I especially like the notion that in trusting the people (congregation), the people (congregation) become trustworthy. AND, in trusting the people (congregation), we become trustworthy. I like the sense of mutuality at the heart of this notion. I like the way trust moves back and forth between people. I like how our trustworthiness grows in relation to our willingness to trust. Trust is infectious: the more I trust you, the more you trust me. And the more we trust each other, the more vulnerable we can be, the more honest we can be, the more human we can be.

The presence of trust does not mean breaches of trust won’t happen. Breaches do happen. These lessons acknowledge this reality. But if handled well, breaches of trust provide opportunities for the clarification of boundaries, the clarification of community norms, assumptions and agreements, the clarification of what works in community and what doesn’t. And as we gain clarity, we restore trust, and the cycle continues.

For now, I invite you to spend some time with brown’s lessons on trust. Read them closely and slowly. Return to them throughout the month. Which lessons speak the most to you? Which are most important for us as a congregation? Please share your thoughts with other UUSE members and friends. Please feel free to share them with me. What does it mean to you to ‘trust the people?’

With love and care,

Rev. Josh Pawelek

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President's Column

Ability and Disability

Ability and disability are two sides of the same coin. We all have both abilities and disabilities, and sometimes a disability can be an ability in disguise. And, certainly “disabilities” have led to remarkable achievements by members of the human race. Nevertheless, disabilities can also lead or at least be associated with exclusion, loneliness and cruelty.

It is a human trait to feel comfortable with those similar to yourself and to gravitate away from those that are different. This “prejudice” or “bias” is part of being human and we need to recognize it. If we are aware and accept this, we will be most successful at countering our unfair biases against others.

Now a word about noticeable physical, intellectual and mental “disabilities” that lead to unfair prejudicial exclusion of others. Not all disabilities are easily apparent to others, but those that are tend to lead to unfair bias. Do we think first of a person with obvious, significant physical disabilities to be our leader or to be “in charge” of a group. Why did Franklin Roosevelt go to such great lengths to prevent the public from seeing that he was wheelchair bound? I think most would agree that his disability did not actually interfere with his abilities as a national and world leader, but both he and his advisors thought that it would if it were widely seen by the public. I was happy to see that his Memorial Park in Washington D.C. presents him in his wheelchair.

It is possible to turn our own disabilities into abilities. For those interested in Greek Mythology, the god Hephaestus was considered “lame” and was cast off Mount Olympus by his own mother because of his disability. Despite this, Hephaestus went on to craft much of the magnificent equipment of the gods, such as the “winged helmet”, special chariots, bows and arrows, etc. He turned his perceived inadequacy into his strength. The Pulitzer Prize winning author, Saul Bellow, wrote, “It was probably no accident that it was the cripple Hephaestus who made ingenious machines; a normal man didn’t have to hoist or jack himself over hindrances by means of cranks, chains and metal parts. [His inventions were] in the line of human advance”. On a personal level, can we look at ourselves and find ways to turn our “disabilities” into “abilities”?

I’ve shared this with some of you in the past, but one of my favorite pieces of artwork is James Christensen’s painting: “Sometimes the Spirit Touches Us Through Our Weaknesses”. This piece of art gives us a message both for our own perceived disabilities but also those that we may see in each other.

Peggy Webbe, President

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Director of Children & Youth Ministry Column

Community Is Resistance

“Community is Resistance” has become my favorite slogan coming out of difficult times. I find it to be the bottom and truest line of every concern and question I have right now. As a result, it’s also serving as my personal mantra every day. So what does it mean? Well, I can tell you what it means to me as a leader in our Children & Youth Ministry at UUSE.

First, let’s consider the structure and purpose of community. On a base level, community in action involves people working together to address issues and create change in their communities. How it works: identify problems (community needs and goals), build power (strengthen bonds by showing up), create solutions (brainstorm and network together), and working for change (sharing gifts and resources resulting in meeting the community needs and goals). This process never ends but continues over a spiral, passed down through the generations. Community organizing often takes place at a local level, based on proximity. This could be geographical proximity, or a proximity in shared values and goals. I personally find myself working on both simultaneously.

I’m not claiming or aiming to be a community organizer per se, but I am thinking deeply and acting purposefully with community strength at the forefront. Folks who read my columns or attend stakeholder meetings have heard me talk about the importance of building a sense of community, in terms of belonging and support, both at UUSE and as a personal, spiritual practice within all he circles and spaces we inhabit. When considering a community that is geographically spread, such as ours at UUSE, community action also involves implementing a broad communication system as well as intentional regular gatherings to be together.

Identify needs and goals, build power, create solutions, work for change: if any of these pieces are missed, the cycle is halted. As you might be putting together, I’m looking through this lens of community organization to support my approach to our community in Children & Youth Ministry. With life changing for families at rapid speed over the past 5 years, we are appropriately at the first phase of identifying community needs and goals. It can feel like an ever-evolving and moving target. But I’m learning we need not overcomplicate it. What are our most basic needs? We are fortunate to have safe shelter at UUSE with indoor plumbing and flowing water. What’s next? Food! When I put out an ask for donations of snacks and refreshments on the Garden Level folks showed up in full force! When was the last time you were able to loan your neighbor a cup of sugar? It feels good and doable! It’s a grounding act that literally feeds one of our most basic human needs. This is the vein I am starting in.

So let’s start there: food (ministry). I am personally doubling the size of my annual CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share of vegetables and herbs this year, in part because my share is largely paid for by a USDA grant and my personal cost is very low. I wouldn’t be able to afford it without the grant, and I see an opportunity to put the excess produce to good use at UUSE. I’d like to process single ingredients through drying, canning, and freezing with others, as well as host a couple community meals over the summer at UUSE! I am dreaming up a “cooking club” of sorts for families to be together, for children to learn kitchen and self-sufficiency skills, and for us adults to learn from them. Food and feeding others is a common stressor for many people (myself included.) It feels SO much better to do with others. So give me a shout if this sparks some interest for you! But it will be open and advertised to everyone regardless. Keep thinking of ways to strengthen the foundation of our community! Community is Resistance!

Emmy Galbraith (she/her/hers)

Director of Children and Youth Ministry

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Upcoming Events

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Ford Family Concert -

Music for All Ages

Join us Friday, February 28th at 7:00 P.M. for a fun evening of classical and modern music from Ryan (bass, violin), Margeaux (violin) and Simone (cello) and friends. A small reception will follow. Suggested donation which will benefit UUSE is $15, but no one will be turned away!

Snow date: Sunday, March 2 at 5:00 P.M.

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High School Youth Group Soup Fundraiser!

The High School Youth Group is holding a soup fund raiser to benefit UUSE and the High School Youth Group’s activities.

If you have ordered soup, frozen soup orders will be available for pick up in the lobby after both services on Sunday March 2, 2025. A $5 minimum donation per pint is due at pick up. We will accept credit cards, cash or checks.

Please contact Michelle Spadaccini at uuseoffice@uuse.org with any questions. Proceeds will be split between UUSE and the HSYG. Thank you for your support!

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Special Screening: Intersexion

Tuesday night, March 25th, at the UUSE meeting house 7:00 PM

Co-sponsored by UUSE’s Adult Religious Education and Social Justice/Anti-Oppression Committees.

We’ve heard it said recently that there are only two genders. Indeed, the first question most new parents ask … “Is it a boy or a girl?”

What if it’s neither?

Fact: 1 in 2,000 babies is born with genitalia so ambiguous that the doctors cannot easily answer this question.

In this groundbreaking documentary, intersex individuals reveal the secrets of their unconventional lives – and how they have navigated their way through this strictly male/female world, when they fit somewhere in between.

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Annual Appeal 2025

Our theme for this year’s Annual Appeal is “Strengthen Our Connection.” As we confront uncertainty about our future, it is vitally important that we build and strengthen our connection to each other and to communities of faith committed to justice work. This idea is especially resonant this year in the swirl of unrest here and around the world. We are grateful for our UUSE community of faith where we are free to express our thoughts and feelings without fear of reprisal.

Rev. Josh will kick off the 2025 Annual Appeal with the March 2 Sunday service. Each member and friend will receive a letter with information on our accomplishments from this past year and our aspirations for the next fiscal year (July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026). This year we again ask each member and friend to complete a pledge form and electronic funds transfer (EFT) form (if desired) and return to the church office. In addition, we will offer pledging potlucks to be together and share our hopes and dreams for UUSE.

If you have not returned your letter or attended a potluck by March 16, a steward will contact you. The Annual Appeal ends on Sunday, April 6.

In our forthcoming letter, we describe financial challenges we continue to face that with your creativity and generosity, we can overcome. This is what makes us a resilient and thriving community. We look forward to sharing our talents, time and treasure with you and this beloved community. Thank you for your contribution.

The Stewardship Committee: Louisa Graver, Larry Lunden, Stan McMillen, Patricia Wildes and Phil Sawyer

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Keep up to date on all UUSE happenings here.

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Stewarding Opportunity!

We are looking for people to canvass members & friends. Being a steward is a way to get to know new people, to share your enthusiasm and commitment for UUSE and to help make our Annual Appeal a success. The commitment time is relatively short with one training session and a couple of weeks to contact 3 or 4 members or friends. The stewardship conversations are a time of fellowship and sharing our dreams and aspirations. Talking about financial commitment is a small part of a much larger conversation about generosity and community. So please consider volunteering to be a steward this year. We especially want people who have never been stewards before, especially parents!

For those who did not mail in their pledge or did not attend a potluck, the steward will use a personal visit (if both feel comfortable), email, phone calls, or texts to get in touch with people to answer any questions and remind them to fill out their pledge form and return it to Annie. Personal canvassing will be from March 20 – April 4, 2025.

We will provide training on Saturday morning, March 1, 2025. Specific times will follow.

Please email Phil Sawyer at uuseoffice@uuse.org or call 860-646-5151 if you are willing to help or have any questions.

Our Annual Appeal occurs from March 2 – April 4, 2025.

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NLDC Annual Recruitment

The Nominating and Leadership Development Committee (NLDC) is starting our annual recruitment effort for the July 2025 - June 2026 term. On March 2nd after the 11:00 A.M. service, the NLDC will be recruiting for new chairs and committee members. We will have handouts outlining committee charters and chair responsibilities available for review and posted on the bulletin board in the Program Room.

What we have learned from our conversations with chairs and members serving on UUSE committees is that congregants rarely reach out on their own to volunteer. However, when someone takes the initiative to reach out to an individual and discusses committee opportunities, then congregants are more likely to be open to serve.

It is our hope that these recruiting sessions will provide an opportunity to reach out to more congregants and extend a personal invitation to serve the UUSE community. Please join us and consider volunteering for a committee.

This congregation cannot continue to sustain itself without volunteers. We desperately need more volunteers, and we need them now. Please consider making time in your busy schedules usually just a few hours a month to give back to a community that enriches our lives and community in so many ways.

We hope to see you there, but if you can't make it, please reach out to one of the NLDC members. Our contact information will be on the bulletin board in the program room soon.

Sincerely, the Nominating and Leadership Development Committee

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Legislative Update

from the Social Justice/Anti-Oppression Committee

The Connecticut legislative session is in full gear. The Social Justice/Anti-Oppression Committee is working with GHIAA on several issues:

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Expanding just cause eviction protection to ensure that landlords must have a reason (like a lease violation or failure to pay rent) to evict tenants.

Reforming the fiscal guardrails or roadblocks in order to make more of the state's resources available for essential social services.

We also continue to support the HUSKY for Immigrants Campaign which is seeking to expand access to HUSKY health insurance for youth up to age 26 and for those aged 65 and older, regardless of immigration status.

There will be opportunities to contact legislators and submit written and oral testimonies at public hearings in late February and March; SJ/AO will be tabling after Sunday services as soon as we have specific details. For more information on each of these issues, go to the Social Justice page on the UUSE website.

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Calling All Photographers, Painters, and Poets

A Spring exhibit at UUSE will be installed on Thursday, March 27th. The new triptych and exhibit will remain in place until mid-June. Please register your entries at uuseoffice@uuse.org. Include your name, title and photo of the work, the price, if for sale. Drop off will be on March 27 from 12 noon - 1:30 P.M.

Questions? Call Carolyn Emerson at 860-646-5151

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Your Rights in Your Pocket

A message from the Social Justice/Anti-Oppression Committee

All people in the United States have certain rights and protections under the Constitution. Quick-reference pocket cards from the Immigration Legal Resource Center (ILRC) help people assert their rights and defend themselves in many situations. The ILRC cards are available in the meetinghouse lobby in English, Spanish, and Portuguese versions. See https://www.ilrc.org/red-cards-tarjetas-rojas for more information and templates in additional languages.

- UUSE Social Justice / Anti-Oppression Committee

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Join Us in Activities at UUSE!

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Keep up to date on all UUSE happenings here.

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Come Sing with Us

Do you love to sing? Do you love to have fun? You don't have to audition. If you can sing in your car, you can sing with the UUSE Choir! Weekly rehearsals start on Wednesday, March 5th at 7:15 P.M. in preparation for the Holiday Music Services on April 20th. All ages welcome. For more information, contact Mary Bopp at music@uuse.org

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UUSE Coffeehouse

Saturday, March 1

Sign up starts at 6 PM-- performances will start at 6:30 PM

UUSE's monthly coffeehouse opens its 24th season. Sign up starts at 6 PM -- performances will start at 6:30 PM. Poets, singers, songwriters, storytellers, bagpipers, and performers of all kinds may sign up for a 10-minute or two-song slot. Non-performing audience members are warmly welcomed. We provide the coffee -- BYO food or libations.

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Ladies at Lunch

Join us Friday ,March 23, for lunch at Georgina's, 275 Boston Turnpike, in Bolton. We meet at noon. Everyone is welcome! If you can attend, please RSVP to Sharon Huber by Wednesday afternoon, January 8th: uuseoffice@uuse.org or 860-646-5151.

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Pastoral Friends Rotating Chair

PastoralFriends@uuse.org.

Jan – Feb: Sid Soderholm

Mar – Apr: Laurie Semprebon

May – Jun: Anne Stowe

Back-up Gene Sestero

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UUSE Directory

Dear Members and Long-Time Friends, if you haven't received a copy of the picture directory, please email Annie at uuseoffice@uuse.org, and she'll send you a digital copy. Please note: The directory contains pictures only -- no addresses, phone or email info. Copies of the regular annual directory are available on the Welcome Table.

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Women's Circle

3rd Tuesdays at 7:00 P.M. - Zoom only from December through March

Nora Alpers-Leon leads a women's circle with a chance for women to share and listen without judgement and to support one another. Bring a pen, journal and your beautiful self! Contact Nora at uuseoffice@uuse.org for the Zoom link.

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Books, Classes, and Discussions 

Adult Religious Education

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Book Lovers

The Book Lovers meet in person and simultaneously on Zoom every second Tuesday from 3:30 to 5:00 PM. You are welcome even if you haven’t finished the book. The link is sent out the weekend before by Carolyn Gimbrone.

• March 11, 2025: North Woods by Daniel Mason. DIscussion leader: Lesley Schurmann
• April 15, 2025: Hamnet - A Novel of the Plague by Maggie O'Farrell. Discussion leader: Margo Van Kuren
• May 13, 2025: The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See. Discussion leader: Chris Sanders
• June 9, 2025: Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese. Discussion leader: Jan Knotts

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Yoga at the Meetinghouse Wednesdays at 10:00 AM

All are welcome to these gentle-to-moderate yoga classes for all abilities. $5 drop-in fee. Bring a yoga mat (we have some extras). Bring a friend! Questions to: Susan at uuseoffice@uuse.org. Yoga is a UUSE adult education offering.

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Buddhist Group

The Buddhist Group meets at 7 PM on Zoom the first Tuesday of the month for meditation and discussion of a Buddhist perspective on the monthly ministry theme. Email Nancy Thompson at uuseoffice@uuse.org for details or the Zoom link.

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Humanist Group 

3rd Tuesdays at 4:30 PM

This ongoing group explores Religious Humanism and its applications to life, both historically and today. All welcome. Contact Rev. Josh at minister@uuse.org for the Zoom link.

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God Talk

A discussion group for UU theists

4th Tuesdays at 4:30 PM

This ongoing group explores how UUs can name and experience God in meaningful, useful ways. All are welcome. Contact Rev. Josh at minister@uuse.org for the Zoom link.

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Science and Religion Discussion Group 

Where do science and religion meet? Where are they in opposition?

Meet at 4:30 in the Chapel, and on Zoom.

• Mar. 27 - "Lucid Dreaming" - Chris Larson
• April 24 - " Overpopulation" - Heli Roy

Contact Linda Duncan for the Zoom link.

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Women's Sacred Singing Circle

Every Thursday at 7 PM

We sing songs and chants from a variety of traditions, including some written by women from circles around the country, including our own. All are about the earth, healing, spirit, and, of course, women.

Come late, leave early, or stay the whole time. Come every week or off and on, when you choose. But come! We have so much fun each week, we want you to join us in the laughter, song and community!

For more information visit Meetup.

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Newsletter Submissions

Submit articles using newsletter@uuse.org or use this publicity form. Deadline for the Newsletter is the 20th of each month.

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UUSE General Information

UUSE Office Schedule: Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Meetinghouse Office: 860-646-5151

Office Administrator: Annie Gentile email: uuseoffice@uuse.org

Minister: Rev. Joshua Pawelek, 860-646-5151, minister@uuse.org

Minister Office Hours: Tuesday 10 AM to 7 PM and Thursday 10 AM to 4 PM

Director of Children & Youth Ministry: Emmy Galbraith, 860-646-5151, dcym@uuse.org

President: Peggy Webbe, 860-646-5151, uuseoffice@uuse.org

Newsletter Editor: Carol Marion, 860-646-5151, newsletter@uuse.org

Website Coordinator: uuse.web@uuse.org UUSE Website:https://www.uuse.org

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