Newsletter 8/27/26
Aug. 30 – Dr. Christopher Cameron: ‘African Americans and Unitarianism from the Civil War to World War I’
 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 28036 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER Aug. 30 – Dr. Christopher Cameron: ‘African Americans and Unitarianism from the Civil War to World War I’ This lecture explores the significant but often overlooked role of African Americans in shaping American Unitarianism and religious liberalism from the Civil War through the early Twentieth Century. Focusing on figures including Frederick Douglass, Peter H. Clark, Maria Baldwin, Fannie Barrier Williams, and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, it examines how Black intellectuals and activists found in Unitarianism and the Free Religious movement spaces for intellectual freedom, social reform, and challenges to racial and gender inequality. It also demonstrates that African Americans were not simply recipients of Unitarian ideas but active participants in debates over the meaning and future of liberal religion in the United States. Christopher Cameron is Professor of History at UNC Charlotte. He is the author of To Plead Our Own Cause: African Americans in Massachusetts and the Making of the Antislavery Movement and Black Freethinkers: A History of African American Secularism. He is also the co-editor of New Perspectives on the Black Intellectual Tradition and Race, Religion, and Black Lives Matter: Essays on a Moment and a Movement. His current book project, The Faith of the Future: African Americans and Unitarian Universalism, explores the intersection of race and liberal religion dating back to the mid-18th century and the varied ways that liberal theology has informed African American religion and politics in the 20th and 21st centuries.  Services can be viewed live at 3:10 p.m. Sundays, and later for replays, by clicking here to reach them on our website. Information on upcoming services can also be found on our Facebook page. Sept. 6 – Rev. Pat Jobe: ‘Ambition for the Common Good’ When the Gandhi character in the movie is told, “You are very ambitious,” he replied, “Oh, I hope not.” But he was. We know that. His ambition was to use nonviolence to drive the British out of India. He succeeded after many long decades and years in prison, but his remarkable ambition was realized. Do we have that kind of ambition for the common good? 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.  You folks really stepped up when our scheduled guest speaker failed to show last Sunday. You showed stories! Wahoo! My brother Bill Jobe and I were in Bluffton, S.C., leading that UU congregation into the same promised land. There is nothing like storytelling. Someday soon Bill will show up at the Quaker Meeting House and share his story of a driverless pickup truck flying through a couple of parking lots. It was a magical mystery tour for sure. What a crew we have. In fact, I fear we may lose some people because the quality of our crowd is so high, and they fear they don’t measure up. An actuary at the Bluffton UU got up at a recent service and said, “I deal with numbers and I need to tell you the odds of this many wonderful people being in one room are mighty slim.” Trust me: They have nothing on the Unitarians of Lake Norman. We do good work, have lots of fun and find the best in each other. Glory!  A large and vocal group gathered at the August meeting of Mooresville’s Board of Commissioners to protest the construction of an Islamic center in Mooresville. Speakers suggested that the use of the space for a house of worship — which is allowed under the relevant zoning — somehow excluded a Muslim mosque. Numerous voices cited the dangers of allowing Muslims a gathering place. The scene was at least troubling, if not horrifying. The next Mooresville commissioners meeting will be Sept. 8 at 6 p.m. at the Town Hall, which is at 413 N. Main St. We hope to have a large showing of people who value the First Amendment, which clearly tells us there is freedom of religion in the United States. Please join us in supporting our Muslim neighbors.  Join our volunteers at Heart of the Carolinas UU Animal Ministry this Saturday to help give these three dogs a better life. We provide all tools to help build fences that free dogs from chains and other confinement. This week’s build starts at 9 a.m. Saturday at 1322 Finger Merrick Tr. in Lincolnton._________________________________ Come help chop, cook, serve and clean at FeedNC in Mooresville for our upcoming volunteer shift from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 10. No experience is required, and the need at this food nonprofit is great. Click here to email Jim Arnold if you can be there. Mooresville Interfaith Thanksgiving ServiceUnitarians of Lake Norman will not meet at the Quaker Meeting House in Davidson on Nov. 15. Instead, we will take part in the Mooresville Interfaith Thanksgiving Service that day from 3-5 p.m. at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church, 164 Fairview Rd. in Mooresville. It’s free to the public but donations of new gloves would be appreciated. For more information, click here to email the organizers. It’s Time to Choose a Chalice CircleEach fall we offer our members and friends an opportunity to participate in a Chalice Circle. A Chalice Circle – a form of small-group ministry — is a group of six to nine people who meet monthly for 10 months, usually at someone’s home and, sometimes, virtually online. The purpose is to get to know each other well, as the group considers a variety of topics using a short reading and several questions to launch the discussion. If a Chalice Circle is of interest to you, let us know before Aug. 31. Four are being offered: Thursday afternoons in Mooresville on the lake; a weekday morning Cornelius; and two others that are in the planning stage. Please choose the one that would be most convenient for you, and which you would be most likely to attend on a monthly basis from September through June. A commitment to regular attendance is important to the success of the group and to each participant’s experience. If you’re interested in any of the four meetings, or could attend only by Zoom, click on their names to email Marge Flowers or Natalie Heling with your preference and contact information. Sign-up forms with the leaders’ location and meeting time will also be available in the lobby during Sunday services through the rest of August.  What would it take for you to call your Senator’s office? To contact your local N.C. representative? They need to know their constituents’ feelings about changes to the voting process — can you encourage your representative to uphold Gov. Stein’s veto? Can you write to your U.S. Senators, Tillis and Budd, letting them know your opinion of a pending bill to allow military chaplains to deny help to those whose beliefs conflict with their own? You can find out how easy it is to speak your truth during UU Justice NC’s weekly Friday Action Hour, a Zoom 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 and suggested scripts for all actions are spelled out in the Google doc —click here to view it. Join us this Friday morning at 11 by clicking on this Zoom link. If Friday doesn’t work for you, please take a moment to look over the Google doc, updated every week to describe small actions you can take to support Unitarian values. Sign up for our Friday Action Hour weekly email by clicking here. Thanks! Wine Class has Seats Available There’s still room to join our private wine class at Total Wine in Cornelius on Sept. 23 from 6-8 p.m. This year’s class is “California Uncorked — Napa Valley and Beyond!” with a tasting of both white and red wines. The price is $25. Click here to email Pat Wall if you’re interested.  UU Lake Norman’s Building Fund accepts donations to help ensure our future. For more information, please contact Alan Perkinson. FROM OUR TREASURERThanks 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 news@uulakenorman.org. The deadline for each week’s newsletter is 5 p.m. Wednesday. Lake Norman UU Fellowship P O Box 991, Davidson 28036 www.uulakenorman.org   Copyright © 2026 UU Fellowship of Lake Norman, All rights reserved. |