Newsletter 2/12/26
Feb 15: Rev. Gary Phillips and three other writers: ‘Welcome to Death Faire’
 Sunday Service, 3 P.M.: FRIENDS MEETING HOUSE 625 SOUTH ST., DAVIDSON Please visit our ]events calendar for more information. Mail: P.O. Box 991 Davidson, NC 28036PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER Feb. 15 – Rev. Gary Phillips and three other writers: ‘Welcome to Death Faire‘Phillips and friends will share with us from Welcome to Death Faire, the work of 31 writers and probably that many photographers. It is a lavish, creative effort to do what the book’s curator, Tami Schwerin, calls “bringing death out of the closet.” Like the Mexican Day of the Dead, Death Faire has graced Pittsboro, N.C., for the past ten years with three-day gatherings of funeral directors, casket makers, hospice workers, health care workers and other caring community folks to face death and maybe even dance with it a little. Schwerin will be with Rev. Phillips along with a couple of the other writers including our own Pat Jobe. Rev. Gary Phillips is a spiritual leader and land-based poet living in the community of Silk Hope, and the former poet laureate of Carrboro, N.C. He lives in a rammed-earth house with his wife Ilana Dubester, who is a community activist. A child of the Cherokee foothills, Gary avidly reads poetry and Afro-Futurism, studies amphibian activities on full moon nights and tends his kitchen.  Services can be viewed live at 3:10 p.m., and later for replays, by visiting our website. Information on upcoming services can also be found on our Facebook page. Feb. 22 – Rev. Pat Jobe: ‘Tides of Change. Pillars of Truth.’ What lasts? What is impermanent? In fact, the Buddhists recommend a meditation on impermanence that many of us found utterly mystifying the last time it was talked about. Get ready to be mystified again as the entire universe is about to disappear and then reappear and then disappear again.The Rev. Pat Jobe joined our Fellowship on Aug. 1, 2020. He is married to his lovely spouse Gabe and is an enthusiastic supporter of UU Lake Norman, FeedNC, Heart of the Carolinas UU Animal Ministry, the Barefoot Ministry, and all work done by UUs in our area.  Thanks to George Bame, Eddie Gunn, Theresa Woody and Mike Alicke and everybody who sang along during our semiannual all-music service last Sunday. Sadly, Jane Pope was still dealing with ice (not ICE) in her driveway and the road leading to her home. Maybe she’ll do another harp service soon.  Our Share the Plate collection was, as you will read elsewhere, a big success for our ministry to families impacted by deportation. Karen Abrams has asked for a report on how the families are doing. Julio is still in Venezuela and prospects are slim for him to reunite with his wife, Luz, and their two daughters, the second of whom was born after he was deported and so he has not yet seen or held her. Luz is working two jobs, seven days a week, some days as many as 14 hours, and her sister-in-law is providing child care in her home, sometimes for as many as nine children. All extended family members are working long hours to pay their bills, and our rent assistance is doing much to help. A special shout out to the folks at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Davidson who fed the family every meal in the early days of the crisis. More information on the families we help is forthcoming. Some of you saw in the order of service last Sunday that we paid $760 rent for a Davidson woman who recently lost her job. An anonymous donor gave $200 to recharge our discretionary fund, but that leaves us with a fund of only $440. It is still such a great joy to serve this congregation that is so compassionate and nourishing to each other and the larger community. Few congregations of any size work as hard as ours to serve beyond the walls of the Quaker meeting house.  We collected our first Share the Plate of the new year last Sunday. Celebrating our commitment to social justice and helping our neighbors, we contributed $801 to help local immigrant families who have been displaced and threatened by ICE, by paying their rent and helping to put food on their tables. Our goal each month is to support a local charity that makes a real difference in our communities. If you have a charity that you are interested in having our Fellowship learn more about and possibly support, please contact Tracy Grimm, Sandy McFeely or Rev. Pat. We had a tremendously successful January luncheon with members of the Temple Kol Tikvah and friends of the Quaker congregation. Our Better Together gathering was a wonderful way to get to know each other better and to realize how much our faith communities have in common. We are looking for members and friends who would be interested in helping us to facilitate another gathering in the spring or summer that we would host. We would also like to work together on a shared social action project. If you would enjoy being part of planning that effort, please let a member of the Board know. Thanks to everyone who has already begun paying their pledges for 2026. Nine members and friends have paid their commitments in full! If you have any questions or concerns about your pledge, please contact Karen Abrams. Help Document our Story The Board has started a project to document the history of our Fellowship. Tim Brown has volunteered to lead the project and be the congregation’s historian. Please send documents, notes, and especially photographs to Tim to help document our history.  Finally, after three weeks of weather delays, a sunny Saturday is expected and an opportunity for Heart of the Carolinas UU Animal Ministry volunteers to show your love on Feb. 14. This is a very special double fence build for a family and group of dogs that really need our help. Please join us, bring a friend and experience the joy of helping both the family and the dogs. We provide all of the tools that are needed and will show what needs to be done. We frequently go out to lunch after a build and welcome you to join us. Donations are always joyfully accepted.  _____________________________________ Here’s an invitation to join a bunch of Iredell County activists, including those from LKN Indivisible, in a protest demonstration this Friday, Feb. 13, from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Our official permit says it will be along Brawley School Road, west along the north sidewalk (the Statesville side) from the corner of Williamson Road to the driveway leading to the library and Harris Teeter. If there are enough of us to warrant expansion, we may also use the sidewalk west of the driveway. Our purpose is to express our deeply felt views of ICE’s and Customs and Border Protection’s violence and outrageous treatment of everyone they encounter. If your favorite sign merely calls for more democracy or less of one or another current policy, that’s fine too. The weather should be pretty nice, so consider bringing a friend or two. We’d love to know who is coming, but just showing up is fine. Questions or RSVP: email Sandy McFeeley. Auction News Mark your calendars: UU FUNdraising Auction, May 9, 6 p.m., Bailey’s Glen Clubhouse, 12100 Meetinghouse Dr., Cornelius. Only 86 days until the auction! That sounds like a long time, but it will be here before you know it. Have you been thinking of items or events you may like to donate? Have you started a project that you might like to donate? This is the biggest fundraiser for the Fellowship. The evening will include amazing items, friendly bidding, delicious foods and drinks and lots of laughs. We will have previous catalogs for you to check out if you need ideas. Forms for donations will be available soon. Questions? Contact Pat or Doug Wall.  Everyone is welcome to join the weekly Friday Action Hour, a virtual gathering of justice-seeking friends where we take action together and nurture our spirits for the work ahead. It’s an opportunity to live our values. Information, phone numbers, suggested scripts for all actions are spelled out in the Action Hour document. Join us this Friday morning at 11 via this Zoom link. If Friday doesn’t work for you, please take a moment to look over the Action Hour document here. It is updated every week to describe small actions you can take to support Unitarian values through action.  UU Lake Norman’s Building Fund accepts donations to help ensure our future. For more information, please contact Alan Perkinson. FROM OUR TREASURER Thanks to all who have pledged to keep our Fellowship strong. You can mail your pledge to: UU Lake Norman, P.O. Box 991, Davidson 28036. To set up easy online giving from our website, just click the “Pledge or Donate” tab at the top of the page. Join us? If you are not a member but would like more information on becoming a member, please contact Marjorie Flowers at admin@UULakeNorman.org. Rev. Pat Jobe UU Lake Norman Minister 2026 Board of Trustees Greg Davis, President Jim Price, Vice President Jim Arnold, Past President Véronique Singerman, Secretary Karen Abrams & Linda Heydenburg, Co-Treasurers Gail Arnold, Trustee at Large We walk diverse paths to find meaning and purpose, but we are united by our belief in the inherent worth and dignity of all, and the obligation to express our faith through acts of justice and compassion. Join us as we create a diverse, spirit-curious, and justice-seeking community. Please send your newsletter items, suggestions or comments to Bruce Henderson at news@uulakenorman.org. The deadline for each week’s newsletter is midnight Wednesday. Lake Norman UU Fellowship P O Box 991, Davidson 28036 www.uulakenorman.orgCopyright © 2026 UU Fellowship of Lake Norman, All rights reserved. |