Perspectives for April 2024

Perspectives is taking on a fresh new face this month. Instead of including bulky text in the email, you will be able to click on the titles of each article, which will take you to our website where you may read the entire newsletter!

We recently received some good news from the Center for Congregations in Indianapolis: UUCB has been selected to participate in their Mental Health Initiative! This means that we are eligible for a grant of up to $40,000 for a project that supports mental and spiritual health in our congregation and the broader community. The team that applied for this opportunity included Sarah Gettie McNeill, Jackie Hall, Deb Fish, Martha Nord, Tom Phelps, and myself.

Representatives from our team will be participating in educational programs with the Center for Congregations starting in April and continuing through October. At that point we will determine the specifics of the project we wish to do and submit a budget request (up to $40,000). The project itself will be completed during 2025.

Based on national and local findings and our anecdotal experience in our community as parents, religious professionals, educators, and therapists, we know the young people in our congregation and in our broader community may be struggling to thrive - and some are struggling to survive. We recognize this is a national epidemic, especially following the Covid-19 pandemic. We are looking forward to exploring ways that our congregation can support resiliency among our youth.

If you are interested in participating in this initiative, please contact me kimball@uubloomington.org

Stephanie Kimball, Director of Lifespan Religious Education

There has been a lot of confusion over how to get things done around the church lately: we have several new staff members, new technology, and new projects, all of which has led to new processes. Your staff has been hard at work clarifying how things work at the church. Check out our new How Do I…? page on our website, listed below!

Thanks to all who contributed canned food for the Youth Group’s Easter “canned goods hunt” last Sunday! Due to the wet weather, the event was held in the Meeting Room instead of the Courtyard, but everyone still had a good time. The kids went home with special goodie bags, and The Hunger Task Force will be delivering 142 cans of food to the Little Free Pantry.

Bloomington will be in the path of the total solar eclipse in less than a week. As of this writing, we still need a couple of volunteers to supervise parking on the morning of Monday, April 8. If you live within walking distance of the church, please consider signing up to help! A portion of the parking proceeds will go to the First Nations Educational & Cultural Center at Indiana University, while the rest will go to our Solar Maintenance Fund.

This Sunday, April 7 will be your last chance to purchase eclipse glasses from the Habitat Task Force, at $2 each.

FAQ’s

1. How do I win more than one bid at an event? Click here to watch a video on how to make multiple bids.
   If you are actively bidding on multiple bids for a given event and do not win them all when the auction closes, please contact Ann or Char.
2. Can I tell my friends about the Auction? YES!! Anyone can bid on our Auction, but friends only please. We are not officially advertising, except for word of mouth.
3. What if my friend from Indy wants to bid – how would delivery work? Deliveries offered by the Donors are for Bloomington or Monroe County only. Many Donors request that you pick up the item from their home. As their friend, you may need to pick up the item for the Winner and then it would be up to them to get the item from you.
4. How does delivery work for items that don’t specify details?
   When the Auction closes, Donors will receive contact information from the Winners and will contact them on delivery options. Those options may include bringing the item to Church, delivering to your home, or picking up from their home. Times and dates would be determined between the Donor and Winners.

Online Auction to Review: https://fundraiser.bid/UUBAUCTION2024

Please complete this form for each of your items to donate. You will receive an email for your record for each form completed.

Click here if you have any questions for Charlotte Appel or Ann Kamman.

On July 3-7, 2024, our church will host MUUSA (Midwest Unitarian Universalist Summer Assembly), with campers coming from all over the Midwest. It will feature a wide range of workshops and activities for children, middle schoolers, high schoolers, young adults, and not-so-young adults, running from early morning to late evening. You can find out about registration fees by going to muusa.org. Click on Cost Calculator under Camp Information. An application for scholarship is also on the website.

Meyer (junior high), Burt (high school), and Young Adults (YA) will have dedicated space in McNutt Dormitory at IU for residential programming. Most adult programs and Morning Celebrations will be at the church. Many of us who live near the church will commute from our homes, but overnight options are available. See Housing Options, under Camp Information, on the website.

We will need oodles of helpers to make MUUSA happen: greet campers; help campers find their way around the building and grounds; prepare, serve, and clean up after meals; among many other tasks. Helping out will be a great way to connect with fellow UUCBers and to meet UUs from other churches. If you are interested in helping out, please contact Jane McLeod at using this form.

We are very excited to announce that we have a candidate for our next settled minister! We have a few more things to do before we can announce the details: Please join us at the Sunday service on April 7 when we will share the news!

With gratitude for your trust and patience, your Ministerial Search Committee: Ann, Christine, Denise, Mary Beth, Michael, Olaya, and Von

This coming month is a very exciting one for UUCB! Our intrepid search committee is nearing the end of their thorough and thoughtful process to bring a candidate to the congregation to be our next settled minister. Like you all, I am incredibly excited to meet our candidate and begin this new chapter in our community.

As a reminder, candidating week will be April 21st through April 28th. During that week you will have multiple opportunities to interact with our ministerial candidate including services on both Sundays, an all-congregation meet and greet, as well as smaller focused discussions across various groups and committees.

Please mark your calendars for Sunday, April 28th at 12 p.m. in the Meeting Room for a special congregational meeting where we will vote on whether to call our candidate to be our next settled minister. We need at least 1/3 of members in attendance for this special vote. Members will be able to join and vote online, though you must attend the meeting in real-time to participate (in absentia or proxy voting is not allowed). Our bylaws state we need at least a 90% vote of approval.

Stay tuned to all the usual communication channels for updates from the Ministerial Search Committee including their very helpful page on the website.

Onward!
Drew Schrader

At Large Board Member

A Brief Announcement

On April 21 and 28, there will be no regular children’s Religious Education classes. However our Religious Education Support Staff will supervise children’s activities during the service, as well as childcare for children up to age 3.

Upcoming Classes

Green Sanctuary Task Force

April 22, 2024 will be the 54th Earth Day. We will be holding an Earth Fair in Fellowship Hall after church on April 14, featuring representatives from several local nonprofit organizations in addition to our members. In honor of the solar eclipse and the fact that most of our church’s electricity is powered by the sun, much of this Earth Fair will focus on the past, present and future of solar energy in our community.

The previous twelve months, through February, were the globe’s hottest on record. What can each of us do to slow the temperature rise? Check out the Task of the Month program on our website for suggestions. January’s Task was to stay informed so we can talk about climate change, mention what we are doing in our own lives to have an impact, and advocate for change. For example, members of the nonpartisan Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) are developing personal connections with lawmakers as they promote significant legislation to meet the scale of the challenge. CCL makes it easy to make our concerns known to our representatives, helping build the political will to create a livable World. April’s Task is to learn about the current state of solar power and advocate for it in your community. You can start by attending our Earth Fair on April 14!

By Molly O’Donnell

New leadership, wonderful experiences, and fresh ideas to chair RISE Task Force.

UU-RISE (Refugee and Immigrant Support and Education) has 2 new co-chairs, needing two people to replace Barb Backler’s tremendous work. The 2 new co-chairs are Jenny Vessels and Diane Legomsky.

Jenny has always appreciated the cultural diversity provided by immigrants to the communities where she has lived but is new to working directly with recent immigrants. Transitioning from a Program Director position within the pharmaceutical industry to an independent consultant has afforded her more time for community involvement. She chose to work with refugees and immigrants after learning about the many issues the families still face after arriving in the United States. In addition to RISE activities and support of the family sponsored by the task force, Jenny is a volunteer for the Bloomington Refugee Support Network. Stop her in the hall and ask her how much fun she is having.

Diane has worked with refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants for many years, and comes from a family that has worked for decades on immigration issues. Diane’s brother, Steve, was the chief counselor for USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) under President Obama. Steve also helped to write Obama’s Comprehensive Immigration Plan and was a member of both President Obama’s and President Biden’s Transition teams. He also was the consultant several times, during Obama’s tenure, to immigration committees in both the Senate and the U.S. House, as well as a consultant to Russia (for its immigration policy after the breakup of the USSR) and to the European Union when it elected to revise its immigration policy. His doctoral dissertation from Oxford University has been the leading textbook on immigrant law in over 70% of U.S. law schools. Finally, Steve has testified before the Senate and the U.S. House, as well as before the 5th Circuit, on immigration issues, and has been interviewed on immigration issues by CNN, MSNBC, and NPR.

Diane founded the BRSN (Bloomington Refugee Service Network (now the RSN), where she served as Executive Director for several years. She also was the liaison for BRSN to several national immigration organizations (HIAS – Hebrew Immigration Aid Society), Exodus Immigration, Catholic Charities Immigration, and Lutheran Social Services. She regularly reviews the DHS, USCIS, ICE, and UNHCR sites, as well as receiving updates on proposed and confirmed immigration policy changes. Diane believes in collaboration and communication among all local groups working on immigration as well as among local individuals with specialized knowledge for immigrants. (And when she does not know an answer to an immigration question, she simply calls her brother Steve.)

In planning ahead, we know that climate refugees and climate IDP’s (Internally Displaced Persons –  who, due to climate changes, have had to move to different regions within their country), while not yet a recognized status, will soon become such, and UU-RISE hopes to be ready when they are so recognized. UU-RISE also is planning an educational forum on immigration with Christie Popp as guest speaker and refugees who have come to the United States, have struggled with the journey and the adjustment and are willing to tell their stories. RISE will also sponsor a celebration of International Refugee Day (as declared by UNHCR – U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees) which is June 20th, 2024.

UU-RISE is a progressive and hard-working task force, under the Social Justice aegis of UU-Bloomington. They sponsor immigrant families seeking permanent residency and/or citizenship, in the U.S. The RISE task force welcomes new members and is happy to give new members a brief orientation to their work, to upcoming issues regarding immigrants, and to updates on families whom they currently are sponsoring. In keeping with the task force’s mission to educate community members on immigration issues, they are sponsoring an opportunity to hear about the US asylum system from locally active immigration lawyer, Christie Popp. The educational session will be held at the church at 3:00 pm, Sunday May 19th.

The families that UU-RISE supports have many critical needs. In addition to the grief suffered by the chaos and violence prevalent throughout their home country, and the arduous journey they suffered simply trying to reach and enter the U.S., they also have lost, and sometimes lost touch, with members of their own immediate families. And now here they are, in a new country with a new language, and new customs -- and no friends. They also have to wait for the right to hold a job and have no funds in the meantime. They also come here in debt, owing the State Department repayment for their plane fare to the U.S. The RISE Task Force helps them as much as we can, from helping them establish the very basics of a household (e.g., pots and pans, lightbulbs, beds, bureaus, food, silverware, clothing), helping them find their way around our city and our bus routes, helping them enroll their children in school, helping them find a job when they are eligible, and helping them with transportation to ENL classes, food pantries, medical services, religious services, and so forth). Most of all, though, all the families need a FRIEND. So, if you have energy to share, ideas to contribute, funds or items to donate and, of course, questions, please let us know. Our support for the immigrant families is limited, and their needs often surpass our ability to help. We are always hoping for more members and more donations of funds or items.

By Jenny Vessels

Eviction, the Last Step to Homelessness

Every week dozens of evictions are heard in Monroe County courts. The Eviction Prevention Project (EPP) needs your help. EPP is a collaboration with Community Justice and Mediation Center (CJAM), Indiana Legal Services, Pro Bono Indiana and the Judges that preside over eviction hearings. CJAM is beginning a pilot project to help tenants navigate and understand the process, and locate resources. The commitment is modest. A few hours of training and a few hours per week in eviction court hearings on Zoom. Volunteers are wanted. Will you be one?

For more information contact Guy Loftman and Mary Mahern using this contact form.

Gov. Holcomb signed a near total ban on abortion in Indiana in 2022 and attempts to stop it taking effect failed. The bill bans abortion at zero weeks, with narrow exceptions for rape & incest. Victims of rape and incest have up until 10 weeks in their pregnancies to get an abortion. Abortions are also permitted when the long-term health and life of the mother are at risk, as well as for fatal fetal abnormalities. These restrictions create very difficult situations for a number of reasons.

Because of these new restrictions, travel outside of Indiana is now crucial to obtain reproductive healthcare. Illinois is a common location for Hoosiers to go, especially Chicago. Abortion funds in neighboring states are coordinating care and funding to make the most of what can be done.

We're combining our digital powers and resources to raise money for the All-Options Hoosier Abortion Fund, Indiana's only statewide abortion fund! Together, we can raise more money for abortion access than we ever could alone, thanks to the strength and support of community members like you!

Indiana’s near-total abortion ban went into effect in August 2023, but the Hoosier Abortion Fund is still here, helping folks from across Indiana find and pay for abortion care out of state! We're fundraising to help them continue providing the financial, logistical, and emotional support Hoosier Abortion Fund clients are relying on, now more than ever.

Support our team by donating to HAF! No need to be a member. Here’s the link to our team page. Why not share the link with family and friends via a personal email or by sharing our Facebook post to your own feed. Facebook post here.

People from states with abortion access know of our situation here and donate to help the women of Indiana.

Want more information about Reproductive Health & abortion support? All-Options has a new podcast! Here’s more about it from their newsletter:

“All-Options is excited to present ‘Support Unseen,’ a podcast about giving and receiving abortion support! In collaboration with Ibis Reproductive Health, we dive into person-centered care, intersectionality, and reproductive justice over six episodes. Hear from the people who embody these roles to understand what it’s like to provide abortion support and navigate the highs and lows of the abortion landscape in the United States.

Whether you’re deep in abortion work, have had an abortion yourself, supported someone who did, or don’t know where to start, we welcome people from all walks of life to listen to Support Unseen!

Support Unseen was developed from the Mobile, Social, and Emotional Support (mSEAS) project at Ibis Reproductive Health, which aimed to learn more about the experiences abortion-seekers had with non-medical support and understand the effects of this support upon abortion experiences. The mSEAS study included in-depth interviews with people who called the All-Options Talkline and focus group discussions with abortion support providers.”

For more information about All-Options Pregnancy Resource Center or to subscribe to their newsletter, go to: Hoosier Support (alloptionsprc.org)

On Sunday, March 24th Kristen Jozkowski spoke at church on Complexity in Abortion Attitudes: Stats and Stories. It was an excellent Q & A in which we jumped right in and never got to the slide viewing and lecture. Dr Jozkowski was an excellent source of information and analysis of how people think and feel about abortion. The event and a pdf of the slides can be found here: https://vimeo.com/921208403