chalice with rainbow flame
First Unitarian Universalist Church of Essex County
Home Page

Calendar Archive: 2016-17

tiny rainbow chaliceSunday, September 11th, 5 PM -- Second Sunday: Ingathering, Parish Hall.
Please join us for our first meeting of the 2016-17 Church Year as we re-gather after the Summer break, re-connect & discuss New Beginnings - for ourselves, our church and our community. We will share our inner gifts of spiritual reflection, the act of listening, the appreciation of meaningful words from the wise men and women of the past, plus a restful (voluntary) creative activity. Doors will open at 4:30. Light refreshments will be served before the service.

tiny rainbow chaliceMonday, September 12th, 7 PM -- Board of Trustees meeting, Sonen Room

tiny rainbow chaliceSaturday, September 17th, 9 AM to 4 PM -- HUUB Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) Workshop, Parish Hall.

Bob Francis from the ABCD Institute and Executive Director of Regional Youth Adult Social Action Partnership (RYASAP) will be leading the workshop. While it is a training for the Community Listening Team and the work they will continue to do over the next year, we are also excited to invite you all - area UUs, neighbor congregations, and friends - to participate as well. Lunch will be provided. Space will be somewhat limited, so please let HUUB Director Charlie Wirene know if you would like to attend: (315) 525-2773, orangehuub [at] gmail [dot] com

tiny rainbow chalice Thursday, October 6th, 7 PM to 8 PM -- Orientation Meeting for "A Spiritual Journey" (see below) Sonen Room.

The purpose of the meeting is to inform participants about group process and to discuss what you can expect from the group leaders and what they expect from you. If you cannot attend this meeting, please reply to one of the group leaders, Darcy Hall (darcylhall [at] aol [dot] com) or Frank Barszcz (frankbarszcz [at] gmail [dot] com) , indicating your interest to participate.

tiny rainbow chalice Second Sundays: A Spiritual Journey -- (group leaders Darcy Hall and Frank Barzcz)

How do our Unitarian Universalist principals define our spiritual journey? Where does spirituality fit for UU's as our heads and hearts work toward social and economic justice? These are just two of the questions we hope to address over the next several months at First UU as we explore the various pathways of our respective spiritual journeys. Through the process of “Guided Group Interaction” group leaders Darcy Hall and Frank Barszcz will help create a safe space to talk about the challenges of being connected to the world around us in a meaningful way. Beginning on Sunday, October 9th, from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM and continuing on the second Sunday of each month through June 2017, we will gather in a circle of meditation and sharing as we separate ourselves from daily activities and go to a peaceful inner place for spiritual exploration. Our Unitarian Universalist chalice will be the centering point for the journey. Meditation and readings will help direct the exchange of thoughts, feelings and ideas about our individual journey. Come ready to share, to listen and to discover the things that make our existence unique in this world. Please note that we will not be having the traditional UU coffee hour for these gatherings. Juice and water will be available. Sessions will start promptly at 5:00 PM and will run no later than 6:30 PM . We ask that if you decide to participate after the first meeting that you make a commitment to attend each session.

tiny rainbow chalice Sunday, October 9th, 5 PM to 6:30 PM -- A Spiritual Journey (first meeting).

tiny rainbow chalice Sunday October 9th, 7 PM -- HUUB Happening: Piano Recital -- 75 Chords -- with Doug Farrand

Please join us for a concert by Douglas Farrand, composer and director of the Sonic Explorations after school music program at the Oakwood Avenue School. The piece’s materials are passages of chords woven from simple translations of the names of some of the people Douglas has been inspired and supported by in Orange this past year. Free admission.

tiny rainbow chaliceWednesday, October 12th, 7:30 PM -- Board of Trustees meeting , Sonen Room.

tiny rainbow chalice Monday, October 24th, 7 PM -- She's Beautiful When She's Angry, Film Screening, sponsored by the North New Jersey Chapter of Democratic Socialists of America.

tiny rainbow chalice Saturday, November 5th, 9 AM to 4:30 PM -- Our 100-Year-Old House: A Housing Justice Conference, organized by HUUB

How do we integrate new and existing housing to meet the growing economic needs of the community and at the same time allow those who lived and thrived here to remain and prosper? In conjunction with this Conference, First UU will be celebrating its 125th Anniversary. For full information, click here.
[ Report on this event: 100 Year House (Recap) (by Patricia Rogers at Jersey Indie) -- also in our December 2016 Newsletter ]

tiny rainbow chaliceSunday, November 13th, 11:00 AM -- Post-Election Celebration/Emotional Support Coffee Klatch / Potluck

Come celebrate/recover/assess this year's political spectacular, national, state-wide and local. What were your thoughts on the candidates? Were your issues addressed? Was this any way to run an election? Is there a better way? We ask those coming to please bring a warm dish that can be easily re-heated and set out. Please contact info [at] essexuu [dot] org if interested. [ Brief report on this event, with photos, is in our December 2016 Newsletter at page 7. ]

tiny rainbow chalice Monday, November 21st, 7 PM -- Board of Trustees meeting, Sonen Room.

tiny rainbow chalice Thursday, December 15th, 7 PM -- Board of Trustees meeting, Sonen Room.

tiny rainbow chaliceSaturday, December 24th, 6:00 PM -- Christmas Eve Candlelight Service

The service in the Sanctuary will include traditional Christmas hymns and a concluding ritual of candle lighting. Doors will open at 5:30 PM. Light refreshments and coffee will be served in the Parish Hall after the service. For more information, please contact the church office.

tiny rainbow chaliceMonday, January 9th, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM -- Building Solidarity: Lessons from Around the World -- featuring a community potluck

The evening will feature a potluck, live music by Margaux Simmons, a theater performance by the Meta Theater Company, information about volunteering at the Split Rock Prayer Camp in Mahwah, formed in solidarity with Standing Rock and in resistance to the Pilgrim Pipeline, and updates about supporting immigrant communities in Orange and throughout New Jersey. This event, hosted by First UU and the HUUB, is part of the University of Orange Jan Term,

tiny rainbow chaliceSaturday, January 14th, 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM -- Urban Alchemy Seminar: Finding What We're FOR

University of Orange is hosting an Urban Alchemy workshop this Saturday with the theme Finding what we're FOR. This is an essential conversation for our organizing moving forward. We will take time for a Naming the Moment activity and would love to have all of your wisdom in the room. The afternoon will be led by Mindy Fullilove and guided by Robert Sember, our 2014 urbanist-in-residence.

tiny rainbow chaliceSunday, January 15th, 5:00 PM -- The Red Road -- Dr. Margeaux Simmons

First UU has taken to heart the Bible saying "Faith without works is dead." We are learning to live our faith through works via the HUUB, which opens our buildings to our Orange neighbors. But to sustain that effort, we know we need more FAITH. In these challenging times we turn to wise people who can articulate FAITH and describe how their faith supports their WORKS. This service is the first of a six-part series called "FAITH+WORKS" to be held on occasional Sunday evenings.

This musician, composer, music theorist, and teacher will share her take on FAITH+WORKS. She will draw connections to her work with some of her Lakota Sioux family members who are currently on the front lines as Water Protectors, opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) at Standing Rock.

Margaux Simmons is a composer, flutist, performer, teacher and activist. She earned a BA in music performance from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, OH, and an M.A. and PH. D in music composition from the University of California at San Diego. She has performed extensively in Ohio and throughout Europe and recorded three albums with the performance ensemble, The Pyramids. Margaux has also traveled, studied and performed music throughout Africa, Canada and NYC. She taught music theory, music composition and music improvisation at Hampshire College from 1987 to 2007. Margaux also worked as a curator for The Museum at Wounded Knee, Wounded Knee, SD, on the Pine Ridge Sioux Reservation from 2007 to 2010. Currently, she teaches music theory at the University of Orange, and music instruments at the Calderone School of Music in East Hanover and Springfield, NJ, and is currently working with the University of Orange to organize the Music City Festival for June 2017.

tiny rainbow chaliceMonday, January 23rd, 7:00 PM -- Board of Trustees meeting, Sonen Room.

tiny rainbow chaliceSaturday, January 28th, 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM -- Free Your Stories, Raise Your Voice: A Podcast Making Workshop, Part 2: Post-production and launch party

tiny rainbow chaliceMonday, February 13th, 6:00 PM -- Screening of I Shall Not Be Silent–The Story of Rabbi Joachim Prinz

A film about the power of a voice for justice. In 1930's Berlin, Prinz was a young rabbi as the Hitler regime was rising to power. Civil rights of Jews were systematically being stripped away and Prinz restored the self-esteem of the German Jews. Although the Nazis monitored his sermons and despite repeated arrests, Prinz continued to preach, urging Jews to leave Germany. Expelled from Germany in 1937, Prinz arrived in the United States and was horrified to witness racism against African Americans. Prinz became a leader of the civil rights movement and spoke at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963 which has its 50th anniversary this year. Rabbi Prinz serviced in the pulpit of Temple B’nai Abraham in Newark, and went on to serve as president of the American Jewish Congress from 1958 to 1963.

tiny rainbow chaliceSunday, February 26th, 5:00 PM -- FAITH + WORKS: Hollywood Awakening -- Michael Lally

First UU has taken to heart the Bible saying "Faith without works is dead." We are learning to live our faith through works via the HUUB, which opens our buildings to our Orange neighbors. But to sustain that effort, we know we need more FAITH. In these challenging times we turn to wise people who can articulate FAITH and describe how their faith supports their WORKS. This service is the second of a six-part series called "FAITH+WORKS" to be held on occasional Sunday evenings.

Michael will talk some, and read some from his books - now 29 published, mostly poetry, including a few that have won awards and the two latest, SWING THEORY and THE VILLAGE SONNETS -- on how he had a spiritual awakening while living and working in Hollywood (acting on TV, NYPD BLUE, DEADWOOD, etc. and writing for and acting in movies DRUGSTORE COWBOY, WHITE FANG, etc.), and more.

Michael Lally is poet and the author of 29 books of poetry. Part of the New York School of poetry, Michael counts among his major influences the poets Frank O'Hara and William Carlos Williams, as well as writer William Saroyan. Born in Orange in 1942 and raised in South Orange, he joined the United States Air Force in 1962, where he spent more than four years as an enlisted man, and later used the G.I. Bill to attend the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. In 1972 he wrote the autobiographical “South Orange Sonnets” which received a New York Poetry Center Discovery Award. With a move to Los Angeles in 1982, Michael began working as an actor in movies and TV (as Michael David Lally), mostly as a bad guy and the occasional good guy, while his writing found its way into several movies.

tiny rainbow chaliceSunday, March 12th, 4 PM -- Forum on Board Of Education Special Election.

First UU and the HUUB, in conjunction with RADICAL Orange, will host a forum on the Board Of Education Special Election, in the Parish Hall. Come hear from the candidates running in the special election on March 14th for positions on the school board. Orange residents and parents are especially urged to attend.

tiny rainbow chaliceMonday, March 13th, 6 PM -- Solidarity Potluck, Parish Hall.

We will have a musical performance by the talented artist, teacher, and motivator, Queen Mother Imakhu, and thought-provoking monologues from the Meta Theatre Company. At our action tables we will make patches to wear to our next protests, write letters to let our voices be heard, and learn how to stay involved and informed about events and organizations in Orange. Please bring a dish, a friend, and a recipe! We are starting an "Orange Cookbook" and would love recipe contributions with a short description of any personal or cultural significance the dish holds for you.

tiny rainbow chaliceMonday, March 20th, 7 PM -- Board of Trustees Meeting, by teleconference (instructions have been e-mailed to church members).

tiny rainbow chaliceFriday, March 24th, 6 PM -- Your Rights + Your Home: A Forum on the Foreclosure Crisis

Are you having trouble paying your mortgage? You aren't the only one. New Jersey leads the nation in foreclosure rates and Essex County leads the state. We all feel the pain of foreclosures and evictions - they tear at the fabric of our community. Come share your story with others, find out what you can do to get on track, and support an immediate 2017 Foreclosure Moratorium in New Jersey. Let's stop the bleeding in our communities and keep our families in their homes.

This townhall meeting event is hosted by the Congressman Payne and the HUUB. Event Flyer

tiny rainbow chaliceSunday, April 2nd, 5 PM -- FAITH + WORKS: The Spider and the Lion -- Khemani Gibson

Khemani Gibson was born in Kingston, Jamaica before his parents migrated and settled in Orange, NJ in the early 1990s. Growing up, Khemani always loved storytelling and history ranging from the Anansi stories his mother told him and his siblings to learning about notable black figures such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Billie Holiday, Jackie Robinson and others during black history month which he looked forward towards every school year. In high school, Khemani participated in the murmur oral history project where he interviewed orange residents and learned about the rich history that existed in his hometown. Prior to the project, Khemani viewed Orange negatively and couldn't wait to go to college and leave. However, the project taught Khemani the beauty of uncovering lost histories about people and place taken for granted. For this reason Khemani studied history at Drew University where he began to apply the lessons he learned from murmur and his love for good storytelling to uncover the history of his own family's migratory history in Panama during the construction of the Panama Canal. He also served a consultant on the hidden treasures project working with students from the Humanities core at the scholars Academy as they also learned about the richness of Orange's history. Currently khemani is a history PhD Candidate at New York University where he studies the lives and communities of black immigrants in twentieth century Panama as well as a community organizer in Orange that seeks to increase youth civic and social participation in his hometown.

tiny rainbow chaliceMonday, April 17th, 6 PM to 9 PM -- Solidarity Potluck.

What does a healthy future for Orange and New Jersey look like to you? Come join the HUUB, University of Orange and First UU for a night of conversation about our community's public safety, modes of transportation, environment, resiliency, and more!

In light of Earth Day and the Climate March approaching, Orange native and historian Khemani Gibson will speak about Orange's past in relation to industry and pollution and how they affected workers and residents. We will make canvas patches to wear to and in solidarity with the Climate March in D.C. on April 29th.

The Meta Theatre company is joining us again with new monologues and a response to our creation from the potluck in March.

Please bring a dish to share! We are starting an "Orange Cookbook" in collaboration with the William Street Community Garden. We would love recipe contributions with a short description of any personal or cultural significance the dish holds for you.

This event is in collaboration with the Set the Table! initiative, sponsored by the NJTPA and Rutgers' Voorhees Transportation Center.

tiny rainbow chalice Thursday, April 27th, 2017, 6 PM. -- KNOW YOUR RIGHTS Workshop, Hale House (47 Cleveland Street), 2nd Floor Meeting Room.

Are you an immigrant concerned about your status? Come learn about your rights as a resident of New Jersey and Essex County at this workshop led by Laundry Workers Center and Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center, and sponsored by The HUUB. Translation will be offered in Spanish and Haitian Creole. RSVPs are appreciated. For questions and RSVPs, contact The HUUB at 973-674-0010 or OrangeHUUB [at] gmail [dot] com . Event flyers: Know Your Rights | Konnen Dwa Nou | Conozca Sus Derechos

tiny rainbow chaliceWednesday, May 10th, 7:30 PM -- Board of Trustees Meeting, Hall residence, 147 Vose Ave, Apt A3, South Orange, NJ.

tiny rainbow chaliceSunday, May 21st, 1 PM -- FLOWER COMMUNION --Leader, Mindy Thompson Fullilove

In this new iteration of Dr. Čapek's idea, we encourage everyone to join us this day to bring and plant flowers on the beautiful border of our new walkway! Please gather in the Parish Hall for a brief ceremony before proceeding to the front lawn. Please dress comfortably and bring a trowel, if you have one! Donations of plantings welcomed (perennials preferred)! Immediately following will be the Church's Annual Congregational Meeting in the Parish Hall. The agenda for this meeting includes:

tiny rainbow chaliceThursday, June 1st, 6 PM to 9 PM - Know Your Rights Facilitator Training, Parish Hall.

As we work to reinforce our communities as fair and welcoming places, we should all know our basic rights as residents of this country. Join us for a Know Your Rights Facilitator Training at The HUUB led by organizers from Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Education Center. This training is meant for activists, organizers, and leaders who plan to bring this important knowledge back to their networks, members, and wider communities many of whom are dealing with immediate threats to their safety and security in the United States.

Topics covered include:

Please RSVP to Orangehuub gmail com if you plan to attend, and note if you need translation into Spanish or Haitian Creole

Event flyer

tiny rainbow chaliceSunday, June 4th, 5 PM -- FAITH + WORKS -- Doug Farrand followed by Solidarity Potluck at 6 PM

Douglas Farrand is a composer, musician, educator, and learner. Having lived in and around Nottinghamshire (UK), He directs and teaches with Sonic Explorations, a K-4 daily, free music program at the Oakwood Avenue Community School, and works with the music department of the University of Orange, a free people's urbanism school. Douglas' primary interests are in music and teaching that invite us to explore our myriad processes of listening and embody a collective investigation of place, community, and personhood. His work has been realized in the USA, Canada, Belgium and Switzerland, and includes close collaborative work with fellow composers, performers, artists, educators, & students. Douglas studied composition privately with Craig Shepard and at Oberlin Conservatory with Josh Levine and Ashley Fure. He has received additional mentorship in composition, improvisation, musicianship, and education from Christopher Fox, Tim Feeney, and Vic Rawlings.

Solidarity Potluck flyer