Join us back on our beloved campus this Sunday, as we celebrate Earth Day! The service will feature the music of the Jazz Bandits, the reaffirmation of our Creation Justice Covenant, and two wonderful speakers from the community. Dr. Aaron Broadwell is a member of the UF faculty and an expert on the Timucua people who originally inhabited what is now Gainesville. Ellen Siegel is a climate speaker specialist with The CLEO Institute and has frequently partnered with our Creation Justice ministry. It will be a wonderful morning to be together: to learn more about the home we share and to find hope in collective experience and action. Join us in person or online!
Earth Week, April 15 – 22, 2024
Love the expanded use of solar power in Gainesville? Help protect it tomorrow, April 17, as the GRU authority considers a request to eliminate net metering for solar. This would be a huge setback for this form of renewable energy. Eliminating net metering would also put GRU in violation of Florida Statutes, would likely result in millions of dollars of lost revenue in solar projects, many lost jobs, and solar customers (including UCG) being overbilled by GRU.
1. Email the members of the GRU Authority to let them know how you feel about them eliminating net metering.
Craig Carter – CarterCE8@gru.com
James Coats IV – CoatsJG8@gru.com
Robert Karow – KarowRJ8@gru.com
Eric Lawson – LawsonCE8@gru.com
2. Attend the GRU Authority meeting this Wednesday, April 17th, at 5:30PM in the downtown GRU Administration Building Multipurpose Room at 301 SE 4th Ave and speak up for solar.
9:45 a.m. Childcare
10:00 a.m. Worship
Friendship Group
10:15 a.m. United Tribes
11:00 a.m. Fellowship and Beverages
11:15 a.m. Youth Groups
11:30 a.m. Sunday Seminar Small Group- Building Church and Community Through Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion at 9 a.m. in Reimer Hall or via Zoom.Dr. Rik Stevenson has already offered a sermon and two popular seminars at United Church of Gainesville. We will continue the series with these two shorter pre-service talks on black history as background to current events. Zoom Meeting ID: 844 6650 8587 Passcode: 1624
Sunday seminar – “Environmental Conservation: The Adventures of the Golden Lion Tamarin” at 11:30 a.m. in Reimer Hall or via Zoom. A story of hope, survival and resurgence by Christine Engels. Zoom meeting ID: 829 6457 0385 Passcode: 1624
Racial Justice Committee will be selling the new Black History Matters t-shirts after services on Sundays, April 21 and 28. There are many upcoming events in May and June for a strong showing from UCG members to wear these beautiful shirts. We are cooperating with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Alachua County Community Remembrance Project (ACCRP) to get the message out to Gainesville.
UCG 101 – Rescheduled to Tuesday, April 23, 5:30 p.m. in the West Wing – For those considering church membership, a time to learn about the church and connect with other members over light refreshments. Please contact the office to RSVP and let us know if you need childcare.
Save the Date and Call for Artwork! We are still in need of donations! Our Annual Noodles and Doodles Fundraiser is coming on April 28th at 5:30 p.m.! This Art Sale and Pasta Dinner Fundraiser supports our Youth United as they prepare for their summer Work Tour. This year, they are headed to Ft. Myers to work with Echo Global Farm to learn about sustainable farming practices and their impact on global hunger. If you have artwork that you have made or that you would simply like to re-home, we are accepting donations! Please leave it in the office for Talia by Wednesday, April 24th. We appreciate your support of this fun event and of our youth!
Art in the Library – Check out the art display for April titled “Through Line: Work” by Diane Farris and Charlie Williams. Join the artists for a reception on Sunday, April 28 at 11:15 a.m.
UCG Supper Club – The last supper club of the year will take place on Saturday, May 18 at Jim and Lisa McElwee-White’s home on Kanapaha Prairie. Rather than being assigned a recipe, you will be assigned a category (appetizer, salad, side or dessert) and can bring whatever you wish. We also request that you bring your place settings and your own beverage so we only need to collect money to reimburse Jim for the meat he will barbecue (no charge for vegetarians). Please contact Anne Casella (annecasella@gmail.com, 256-5960) or Kimberly McCollough (kmccollough224@gmail.com, 378-8371) if you would like to participate. The deadline to sign up is Sunday, May 5.
UCG member and Creation Care Climate Justice committee chair, Jim Harper, was recently featured in an article published in the Florida Alligator about religious communities using faith to inspire climate action. Read the article here.
Women’s and Men’s Lunch Groups
Friday, April 19 at noon – All are welcome.
New Member Sunday
9:45 a.m. Childcare
10:00 a.m. Worship/Welcome New Members
10:15 a.m. United Tribes
11:00 a.m. Fellowship and Beverages
11:15 a.m. Youth Groups
11:30 a.m. Sunday Seminar
5:30 p.m. Noodles & Doodles Work Tour Fundraiser
Tuesday, April 30 at 7:30 p.m. – Flute Ensemble Concert
Sunday, May 12 – Confirmation Sunday and Rev. Bromleigh’s last sermon before her sabbatical
Sunday, May 19 – Graduate Sunday and Spring Congregational Meeting
April 12 Covid Update
The numbers of new COVID-19 cases in Alachua County and the United States continue to decline. The wastewater levels in the County were low when last reported two weeks ago.
The weekly COVID Updates will be discontinued in two weeks and will not resume unless there is another public health threat from COVID-19 or another pathogen. If you are immune compromised and wish to remain vigilant, you may access the Alachua County wastewater data at:
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#wastewater-surveillance
and access the new case data for all Florida counties at:
https://www.flhealthcharts.gov/ChartsDashboards/rdPage.aspx?rdReport=Covid19.Dataviewer.
Meanwhile, eat healthy, exercise regularly, and sleep soundly.
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