by Bob Rockwell

Dear UUCGF Community,

Although it is still February, having to sit down and write something for the March newsletter portends that better weather is on its way.

Conjoint Service

Our annual combined UU service at Doane Stuart School in Rensselaer, NY will be held April 7.  You should have gotten an e-mail about this service. This is an opportunity for us to join together in worship and get to know other UU’s from Albany, Schenectady, Saratoga and Kingston.  The focus of the service is on climate change. Tentatively a pot luck is being planned following the service. Volunteers are needed for parking, ushering and clean up. If you are able to volunteer, please contact me.

Support for Immigrants

Steve Baratta forwarded an e-mail from Jean Poppei who is trying to develop a coalition of congregations to support immigrants having problems with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.   The coalition is an informal agreement with First Unitarian Society of Albany, Albany Friends (Quakers), Unity Church of Albany, the Presbyterian New England Congregational Church in Saratoga and Saratoga UU.   Our UUCGF Board agreed to join this coalition. At our monthly Board/Minister/Congregation conversation after the service on Sunday, February 17, the congregation unanimously concurred with this decision. Terence Diggory from PNECC sent me the following e-mail to clarify what the coalition currently entails. (More information can be found in this month’s newsletter.)

We are not able to house any immigrants but we can offer support.  I am not able to attend the meeting of SIC in Saratoga on Thursday March 14, but perhaps some other members of the congregation might be interested in attending.  I will consult with the Board about publicizing our joining or not.

I signed the following pledge at sanctuarynotdeportation on our behalf:

As people of faith and people of conscience, we pledge to resist the newly elected administration’s policy proposals to target and deport millions of undocumented immigrants and discriminate against marginalized communities. We will open up our congregations and communities as sanctuary spaces for those targeted by hate, and work alongside our friends, families, and neighbors to ensure the dignity and human rights of all people.