AtholUU E-Newsletter – June 8, 2016

AtholUU E-Newsletter – June 8, 2016

June 12th    Annual Meeting at 10:00 AM — no worship service this Sunday

                    Non-members are welcome to attend and see how we work.

                    Reminder: only members can vote.

WORSHIP SCHEDULE
   All worship services begin at 10:00 AM

June 19th   “Religious Beginnings in Massachusetts.”  by Christopher Coyle
                      Held at the Athol Historical Society, 1307 S Main St, Athol, MA 01331
                          the large yellow building above the street.
                      followed by Strawberry Social at the Athol Historical Society

June 26th    “Bloom Where You Are Planted –  with Flower Communion”           
                      Rev Marilyn Richards

The time of the Summer Solstice is the beginning of reliably warm weather, abundant food and  good times ahead.  All will be well again, we know.

The Flower Communion is a Unitarian Universalist communion service.
Everyone is asked to bring a flower.  Please bring whatever flower you like.
We celebrate diversity!  . For example, little children often like to bring dandelions. We will have a vase and small bowel to collect the flowers brought to the service on the marble topped table in the Chapel.  When the service begins, the flower vase and bowl are placed next to the chalice on the table during the service.   At the end of the service, everyone takes a different flower home.  There will be extra flowers for those who forgot.

July 3rd    TED and Response by Steve Wills
                 “July 4th and the Right to Choose Your Own Bathroom”

EVENTS

Our church’s Annual Meeting will be June 12th at 10:00 AM.

Strawberry Social will be held on June 19th, after Chris Coyle’s worship service at the AtholHistorical Society.

Board of Management’s first meeting of the Church Year will be on Sunday, June 26, 2016 after coffee hour.

IN CLOSING

UU Minister, Rev. Chris Antal, minister of the Rock Tavern UU church in New York, publicly .resigned his post as a U.S. Army  Chaplain in Afghanistan, over the Obama administration’s armed drone policy.  Below is a copy of his public letter to President Obama, resigning his commission.  He resigned by reading this letter at a UU worship service.  Below is a copy of his letter and a link

“Dear Mr. President:

“I hereby resign my commission as an Officer in the United States Army.

“I resign because I refuse to support U.S. armed drone policy. The Executive Branch continues to claim the right to kill anyone, anywhere on earth, at any time, for secret reasons, based on secret evidence, in a secret process, undertaken by unidentified officials. I refuse to support this policy of unaccountable killing.

“I resign because I refuse to support U.S. nuclear weapons policy. The Executive Branch continues to invest billions of dollars into nuclear weapons, which threaten the existence of humankind and the earth. I refuse to support this policy of terror and mutually assured destruction.

“I resign because I refuse to support U.S. policy of preventive war, permanent military supremacy and global power projection. The Executive Branch continues to claim extra-constitutional authority and impunity from international law. I refuse to support this policy of imperial overstretch.

“I resign because I refuse to serve as an empire chaplain. I cannot reconcile these policies with either my sworn duty to protect and defend America and our constitutional democracy or my covenantal commitment to the core principles of my religion faith. These principles include: justice, equity and compassion in human relations, a free and responsible search for truth, a commitment to the democratic process, and the inherent worth and dignity of every person.

“Respectfully submitted,

“Christopher John Antal”