The links for this week’s online connections for disabled UUs published on Monday had issues and have been replaced. The links on the Online Connections page have been updated. Please, use these corrected links to access the Oasis or Craft & Chat this week.
The corrected links are as follows:
Oasis (Thursday 8pm Eastern/ 7pm Central/ 6pm Mountain/ 5pm Pacific)
Craft & Chat (Friday 1pm Eastern/ Noon Central/ 11am Mountain/ 10am Pacific)
Elizabeth Foster’s sermon, When God Closes a Window, He Opens a Skylight, has been selected as the winner of the 2020 EqUUal Access Sermon Contest!
The sermon will be honored as part of the EqUUal Access Celebration on June 18. All are welcome. You can read the sermon and find out more about Elizabeth on our Sermons page under the Resources tab.
Information for submitting a sermon for consideration for the 2021 Sermon Contest is available now!
Online Connections by and for Disabled UUs
Thursday 6/11 @ 8:00 PM Eastern: OASIS- a spiritual gathering for disabled UUs
A spiritual gathering space for disabled Unitarian Universalists. EqUUal Access worship team: Revs. Suzanne Fast, Barbara Meyers
Join using Zoom: https://tinyurl.com/y7xanjar
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Friday 6/12 @ 1:00 PM Eastern: Craft & Chat
Bring a project you’re working on and we’ll chat about this week’s theme. With facilitator, Suzanne Fast
Join using Zoom: https://tinyurl.com/yanfgj67
Tuesdays at 1 pm Eastern, 10 am Pacific.
These are challenging, often difficult times. Stress, anxiety, worry, fear, difficulty sleeping or eating, and emotions that can overwhelm, these are what many people, including UUs with disabilities, are experiencing in response to immensely hard new realities.
EqUUal Access is piloting a trial online outreach effort for our community folx to access supportive, pastoral conversation with a UU minister. We are going to attempt to make two options available for pastoral conversation; one is going to be a small group (up to 5 individuals) with a UU minister, and the other, one-to-one conversation with a UU minister.
These two different ways of having supportive conversation will hopefully create safe space for individuals who seek an empathetic listener to what’s happening around and to them. Using Zoom’s ‘break out room’ feature, we’ll use two private “pastoral pods” (the small group and meeting one-to-one). This will contain the conversation to those pods, though anonymity will not be possible.
Note: Only those participants who arrive in the Zoom ‘waiting room’ by the start time will be ‘admitted’ to the larger zoom room to enter one of the pastoral conversation options.
Rev. Helen and Rev. Barbara (week one pastors) will welcome all in the zoom room and ask which “pastoral pod” (break out room) each person prefers (one-to-one or group). Up to five individuals may join one of the ministers for a 45 minute talking circle which will begin with forming a simple group covenant for the duration of the sharing time. And, up to three other individuals may opt to have one-to-one conversation (each of 20 minutes duration) with the other minister (some waiting involved for the second and third individuals — so make tea, read, sing….).
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Friday 3/27 @ 1:00 PM Eastern: Craft & Chat: Hot Chalice Buns! Join in this creative, lighthearted conversation to explore ideas about the intersecting notions of food, faith, and hospitality. With facilitator, Rev. Helen McFadyen (former naval chef)
Join using Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/
| Members and friends of EqUUal Access,
They say it’s an ill wind that blows no good. The COVID-19 pandemic touches everyone, though in different ways; I’m choosing to frame it as an opportunity to enhance our connections as a community. We have advocated together for many years to shift attitudes about disability across the larger UU universe. Now is a time to pay attention to our own community. We know that lots of us have a lot of experience with creative problem solving, unpredictability, and isolation. In many ways, we are equipped for the current chaotic situation. And, many of us are more susceptible to the virus, have lives that depend on physical contacts, or find our essential supplies are suddenly unavailable. Added to that, society’s ableism is running rampant in the way the virus is talked about, in the media or even among those we know. If you are experiencing extra stress, you are not alone. However well connected we are to our congregations, families, and friends, sometimes it can be good to have a faith-full space where disability is the norm and there’s a whole lot less to explain. We invite all Disabled Unitarian Universalists to join EqUUal Access for online Worship and Connection. Here are our initial gatherings: Craft and chat: Wednesday, March 18, at 3:30pm Eastern, 12:30pm Pacific with Rev. Suzanne Fast. Let’s make a chalice from found objects around the house, or decorate some, while we tell stories about how we think about the chalice. (Then bring your chalice to Thursday night’s online worship!) If you would like, you can download and print a chalice to color thanks to Rev. Cynthia Landrum from her Facebook page RevCyn. Connect at: https://zoom.us/j/370342537 Worship: Thursday, March 19, at 8pm Eastern, 5pm Pacific. We invite all Disabled Unitarian Universalists to “Oasis”, a time of worship, intentional connection and reflection. Take a break, come to the well of nurture and spiritual sustenance. Join Rev. Helen McFadyen and Rev. Suzanne Fast via Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/706823723
Drop in Connection: Friday, March 20, at 1pm Eastern, 10am Pacific, with Rev. Suzanne Fast. Bring a snack, your lunch, a beverage – your choice – as we chat around the zoom table. Question of the day: where do you find strength? Connect at: https://zoom.us/j/343509917
Upcoming gatherings: In the works for next week and beyond: * Hot Chalice Buns: Bring your lunch or a beverage and gather round the Zoom screen to share favorite recipes, cooking & shopping tips, and special UU- themed food ideas! with Rev. Helen McFadyen (formerly a certified marine industry chef) *starting a book discussion of Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist, new from Beacon Press and available on Kindle.
*and more! Announcements coming soon, or check EA News on our website or our Facebook page. If you have technical skills (like zoom, WordPress, social media, etc.), accessibility skills (like captioning, ASL, etc), or ideas for more ways we can connect as a community, please let us know. We can’t do everything at once, or respond to every suggestion at once; we also can’t do everything without more help! Wishing you well in these challenging times, and hoping to connect with you soon. Regards, Rev. Suzanne Fast Accessibility note: Before the virus, we had planned to launch online worship in April, and other online gatherings later in the Spring. The most difficult part has always been how to be accessible in as many ways as possible with no budget. We will do our best this week, and we are committed to improving access as quickly as we can. Please, bear with us. |
Resources
About neurodivergence and_accessibility_tips
Supporting_neurodivergence-positive_organizations
Recording of Theme Discussion Forum on Neurodivergence (Jan. 22, 2020) with facilitator, Heather Petit, and moderator, Rev. Helen McFadyen
Zoom Connection for all Disability Theme Forums :
https://zoom.us/j/273748757
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Amanda Schuber’s sermon, The Call — Mental Health Advocacy, has been selected as the winner of the 2019 EqUUal Access Sermon Contest!
The sermon will be honored as part of the EqUUal Access Celebration at General Assembly in Spokane. You can read the sermon and find out more about Amanda on our Sermons page under the Resources tab.
Information for submitting a sermon for consideration for the 2020 Sermon Contest is available now!
The Spring 2019 UU World article, “After the L, G, and B” harmed trans and non-binary UUs by ignoring the principle, “Nothing About Us Without Us.”
The content of the article marginalized the very people it purported to lift up, and used transphobic and homophobic language and images to do so. And, the publication of the article ignored the concerns and wisdom of the community leader consulted. In choosing to treat trans UUs as “other” rather than as part of “us,” the article hurt people and damaged relationships. This situation provided a prominent example of an all-too-familiar reality for trans UUs in our congregations and throughout our faith’s institutions, as the recent report from TRUUsT reminds us.
We are encouraged by the policy changes announced by the UU World in the wake of this. We will be steadfast in our solidarity with TRUUsT that these changes be implemented and effective.
We call upon the UU World, and all UU communities and institutions, including our own, to heed the lessons of this experience, and of the TRUUsT report, so that things may change for the better; we will work for this.
EqUUal Access collectively extends our love and embrace to disabled trans UUs among us, and to all our trans siblings in faith. May our faith be a house where we may each be who we are.
~EqUUal Access Leadership Circle
The Rev. Joanna Lubkin’s sermon, The Spoon Blessing, has been selected as the winner of the 2018 EqUUal Access Sermon Contest!
The sermon will be honored as part of the EqUUal Access Celebration at General Assembly in Kansas City. You can read the sermon and find out more about Rev. Lubkin on our Sermons page under the Resources tab.
Information for submitting a sermon for consideration for the 2019 Sermon Contest will be posted here when available!
