UUFSMA: “Living in a Pandemic”

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Online Service
“Living in a Pandemic”
Speakers: Matthew Carroll and Helen Rivas-Rose

Sunday, May 31, 2020
10:30 am

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/414604040 

Password: 294513

By Joseph Plummer

UUF Secretary

This Sunday’s online UUFSMA Service will present ways that residents of San Miguel and others are responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. Matthew Carroll and Helen Rivas-Rose, this week’s guest speakers, base their presentation upon brief narratives from individuals in self-quarantine, which they solicited from Atencion readers, members of the UU Fellowship, and other sources.

With wit and words from many sources, the two members of the Fellowship will present what others are saying about their pandemic experience. The audience joining Carroll and Rivas-Rose online will hear how others in self-quarantine nurture resilience and vanquish feelings of isolation. These times call for inventive approaches to personal maintenance. Hearing what others say about pandemic life, service participants will learn that the experience of self-quarantine can reinvigorate one’s perspective on self-reliance, inner strength, and a shared human experience.

Himself a master of resilience, Carroll began his career as a partner in the Wall Street firm of Steiner, Rouse, Inc., executing orders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. He then became an educator as a teacher in a one-room school in Vermont. He was later principal of elementary and middle schools in Vermont and Connecticut and represented the Nutmeg State during the nationwide transformation of middle school education, known as Turning Points. A resident of San Miguel since 2006, Carroll is the author of “Who Quinn Became,” a memoir.

Known for her adaptability, Rivas-Rose has taught English, Spanish, and Bridge, prepared income tax returns, directed a working space for alternative artists, and owned and operated a medicinal herb shop. One of the earliest members of UUFSMA, she has lived in San Miguel off and on for nearly three decades. Her memoir “Brave: A Painfully Shy Life” earned sparkling reviews and several literary awards. More recently, she created www.socialisolation.org as an online community for socially isolated and lonely people.

To participate in our online Sunday Service, visit the Fellowship’s website at www.uufsma.org and click on the Zoom Service button displayed on the home page. If requested, enter password: 294513. Sign-in between 10:15-10:25 am.

Through grants and awards, UUFSMA donates fifty percent of all income it receives to support nonprofit organizations that provide health, educational, and environmental services for underserved communities in the San Miguel region. Please support this work by clicking on the website home page’s Donate button. Now more than ever, your support is essential.

Due to the arrival of the coronavirus in San Miguel de Allende, UUFSMA has indefinitely suspended in-person Sunday services and other gatherings. We advise members and friends to follow the advice of reputable public health authorities, such as the Centers for Disease Control, and to contact our Affiliate Minister or Care Team for needed assistance. The UU Fellowship welcomes people of all ages, races, religions, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

Our fellowship was born in 1987 when a small group of expatriate religious liberals came together to meet as Unitarian Universalists in San Miguel de Allende. The fellowship has been active and thriving ever since. Every UU church has it’s own flavor, and we are no exception. We are a combination of expats and visitors, each actively engaged and contributing to this wonderful Mexican community we love. Because there is a coming, going, and returning aspect, our spiritual community is extremely fluid.  There is a magic in San Miguel which draws us in and binds us together—both as members of the church and of the larger community. Our programming is led by visiting ministers, community leaders, and church members, so the variety is lively. We have opportunities to meet as UU’s each week at discussion groups, breakfasts, luncheons, and in various other ways. Depending on the season, attendance fluctuates between 40 and 140. Our primary focus is on funding social action within the surrounding community. We love good music, good discussion, good food, and having visitors. We invite you to join us any Sunday morning.

Members regularly post updates and information on this site. We also post meeting minutes and announcements there.

To join our Yahoo group site click on this link:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/UUFSMA/info

Click on “membership”and follow the directions.

Posting a notice on the Yahoo site is easy. Just go to your regular mail browser, type in the address line: uufsma@yahoogroups.com , type your message and hit send!

We encourage you to use this site to communicate with other local UUs.