"Love is the spirit of this church and service its gift.
This is our great covenant;
To dwell together in peace, to seek the truth in love,
And to help one another.”
Because it is summertime and we have the COVID-19 distancing guidelines, the MSJE has not met in committee form, but we have been busy especially with so many SJ issues happening in front of our eyes. As we help one another, please don’t forget to visit the MSJE web page - https://www.brazos-uu.org/msje - this is where you will get all the news.
June has been a busy month as far as blogging for the MSJE. Thank you to everyone who blogged, read a blog and/or commented on a blog. We definitely need more comments, good or bad.
I. Reproductive Freedom. We blogged about Physicians for Reproductive Health. https://www.brazos-uu.org/post/physicians-for-reproductive-health
Maya Lazarus, who lead the discussions about reproductive freedom this year, is spearheading the July 5th worship service, titled “Faith Voices for Reproductive Freedom.” Guest speakers will be the outreach team from Just Texas, a movement of diverse faith leaders who believe in reproductive freedom and individual conscience. So look for updates on this service and please join on July 5th by going to Brazos-uu.org and sign in for the All Ages Service at 10:30 AM. If you have any ideas, please be sure to get in touch with Maya Lazarus - her name is in the directory.
II. Family Promise (FP) of BC/S. Family Promise Director, Dr. Phebe Simmons described the situation at FP due to the Covid-19 social distancing guidelines and asks for your suggestion on how to move forward. https://www.brazos-uu.org/post/family-promise-bc-s-asks-for-your-suggestions-on-moving-forward-in-a-covid-19-world-fp
For now, the UUCBV FP responsibilities are on hold until further notice.
III. Black Lives Matters. The realization of police brutality and the recent killings of black men and women by the police has affected everyone. Protests and the outrage to ploice conduct seems to be generating change. We are seeing significant changes in cities like Minneapolis and other large cities. https://www.brazos-uu.org/post/blm-protests-have-had-an-effect-good-or-bad
To educate ourselves, pleass see the UUWF book list for understanding and dismantling racism with a list of black-owned bookstores and books for you to read. https://www.brazos-uu.org/post/uuwf-says-black-lives-matter
Continuation of our own education and keeping up with current events can be accomplished by exploring the MSJE bogs referring to websites such as A Conversation on Race https://www.brazos-uu.org/post/a-conversation-on-race-and-faith and the Poor Peoples Campaign https://www.brazos-uu.org/post/poor-people-s-campaign-a-national-call-for-moral-revival
IV. Reopening Gibbon Creek Coal-burning Power Plant outside of BC/S. If you are not aware, an Arizona company is close to buying this 420-megawatt coal-fired plant that was closed in October of 2019 for environmental and cost of producing electricity reasons. The Texas Municipal Power Agency (TMPA), a group comprising the cities of Bryan, Garland, Denton and Greenville, is negotiating with Frontier Applied Sciences, a company based in Scottsdale, Arizona to buy the plant. The plan is for Frontier to hall in coal from Wyoming coal mines and burn it right here in our Texas backyard. How can this be? See https://www.brazos-uu.org/post/reopening-of-a-coal-plant-outside-of-b-cs-really and watch for more information about how you can sign petitions and letters to the TMPA to stop this nonsense.
V. Green Tip of the Week
Nancy Deer continues to help me with adding a new Green Tip of the Week to our website. We hope to continue this because it is fun and very meaningful. We would like your feedback! Should we continue? We would also like to encourage others to contribute with their own ideas and experiences. Please comment.
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