This past Wednesday was the first meeting with new Board members Su Ann Farnlacher, Sarah Mayabb, and Chris Sullivan. In response to requests from staff and Finance Committee, the Board voted to move our monthly meetings to the fourth Wednesday of each month at 7:00pm.
Also, in recognition of Amanda Hayes receiving Preliminary Fellowship by the MFC and the congregation’s vote to ordain Amanda this past June, the Board voted to change Amanda’s job title to Justice Minister.

Rev. Dr. Marco Belletini, our Minister Emeritus, will be in our pulpit this Sunday July 9th. We hope you will join us and give him a warm hello.

Rev. Cooley offered a summer reading suggestion to the staff, Board members, and the congregation; to read Transforming Conflict. Books will be available for sale ($22 each) in Beach Hall for those interested.

Thank you to our staff for sharing such vulnerability and honesty this past Sunday at the Staff Sharing Circle facilitated by Hope for Us. The Staff sharing circle recording is now available.

Your First UU Board of Trustees,
Billy Davidson, Su Ann Farnlacher, Sarah Mayabb, Julie Pinsonneault, Chris Sullivan, and Cindy Whicker

You can watch the recording of the 7/2 service, “Towards Healing-Accountability: Embrace,” here – featuring Rev. Dr. Samantha Wilson from Hope for Us, and Rev. Dr. Isabel Call, our former Minister of Pastoral Care.

This service explores how we embrace what feels painful or hard in ourselves and our histories.  We consider how the posture of embrace is the posture of healing and accountability – we embrace all of who we are, including our own capacity to harm and to heal, as well as the ways we are impacted by other people.  Embrace is how we integrate what feels painful and shameful in our personal or collective story. Embrace, when we feel safe enough to do so, allows us to integrate what has happened to us – not leaving any part of us, even the painful parts, behind.

Additionally, you can watch the 5/28 service, “The Long Road to Connection” here, and watch the recording of the Board Sharing Circle here.

With care, The Hope for Us Team:
Rev. Dr. Samantha Wilson, Rev. Jami Yandle, Rev. Liz Weber, and David Lauth

Come Sunday, we often participate in what’s called “Going to church.” A structured time of songs, stories and questions about our deeper life, our religious or spiritual or humanistic life. But when Monday dawns, what does a life of depth look like?

• 7/16 – Rev. Patricia Shelden
• 7/23 – Rev. Sylvia Howe
• 7/30 – 1st UU ASH (Atheists, Skeptics, Humanists)
• 8/6 – Poetry Service, Su Farnlacher

Monthly Themes

• Summer: Delight
• September: Welcome

Ohio has a new Voter ID law, and many voters may not be aware of that. Our Democracy Team is partnering with VoterRiders to get the word out. We’re writing to Ohioans who have voted in the past with forms of ID that are no longer accepted (like utility bills), and sending them information on the new ID requirements and how to contact VoterRiders for help in getting the needed ID.

August 8 Special Election

Ohio has a special election on August 8. There is one question on the ballot, Issue 1, a constitutional amendment that would:

• Make it harder to pass future amendments: amendments would need 60% of the vote to pass instead of a simple majority
• Make it harder to get future amendments on the ballot: campaigns would need to gather signatures from all 88 counties instead of just 44, and the cure period would be eliminated

Issue 1 is specifically aimed at making it harder to pass the abortion rights amendment that’s expected to be on the November ballot. However, it would affect all future amendments, such as the anti-gerrymandering ballot campaign planned for next year. Many voter rights organizations from the League of Women Voters to the ACLU have come out against Issue 1. As UUs, our fifth principle describes our commitment to the use of the democratic process in our society. We hope you’ll consider how Issue 1 will affect democracy in Ohio, and turn out the polls to make your voice heard.

To prepare for the August 8 Special Election:

1. Make sure you are registered to vote and your address is up-to-date by the registration deadline: July 10. You can do so at VoteOhio.gov
2. Make a plan to vote. In-person voting has stricter voter ID requirements this year. Early voting begins July 11. Request absentee ballots before August 1.

Questions? Ask at the JAM table or email contact-democracyandhumanrights@firstuucolumbus.org.

Sign up at this link! There are detailed instructions in the kitchen cabinet, or you can shadow on a morning if you prefer an in-person how-to. Want to know more about what the job entails? Email Christine!

Upcoming summer picnic dates:  7/28, 8/25 and 9/1. Rain Location: Beach Hall. In the event of rain, a notice will be put on the Facebook group, and we’ll fall back to Beach Hall.

Session A: for 6-8years (9am-12noon, Monday 7/31 – Friday 8/4)
Session B: for 9-11years (9am-12noon, Monday 8/7 – Friday 8/11)

• Ongoing: Youth Group Banned Book Library
• 7/28, 8/25, 9/1 Fourth Friday Picnics, Whetstone Playground
• 7/9-7/15 – CER Summer Institute
• 9/2-9/4 – 1st UU Labor Day Retreat

Mondays

• Caregivers Group, 2nd Mondays, 1pm on Zoom
• Chronic Pain, 3rd Mondays, 7pm on Zoom

Tuesdays

• Seniors’ Tai Chi for Balance, 10am
• ASH (Atheists, Skeptics, and Humanists), 4th Tuesdays, 7pm
• Spirit of Life Choir, 6:30pm

Wednesdays

• Sacred Song Circle, 6pm, worship center
• Evening Book Group, 2nd Wednesdays, 7pm
• Daytime Book Group, 4th Wednesdays, 1pm

Thursdays

• Chalice Choir, 7:30 pm
• Continuing Bonds Widowed Group, 1st & 3rd Thursdays, 3:30pm

Fridays

• UU Walkers, Highbanks Metro Park, 9:30am
• Fourth Fridays Picnics in the Park (Whetstone) for summer

Sundays

• Millennial Covenant Group, usually 1st & 3rd Sun
• Reproductive Rights Petition Drive
• Feed and Read Ohio Donation Drop Off

• YWCA Family Shelter: Dinner Volunteers Needed, fourth Fridays
• Young Adult Worship Online, twice monthly: 2nd & 4th Wednesdays