UUFSMA: “The Spirit of Generosity”

UU Service:
“The Spirit of Generosity”

Rev. Tom Rosiello

Sunday, February 9, 10:30 a.m.

Hotel La Aldea

by Paula Peace

Sunday February 9 kicks off the Annual Membership Campaign for the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of San Miguel de Allende (UUFSMA). This week’s service will feature a special Children’s Story – Stone Soup – to symbolize how we each can make a difference with our individual contributions of time, talent and resources. According to the Fellowship’s Affiliate Minister Rev. Tom Rosiello, who will present the morning’s message, “the decisions we make about how we use our gifts, what we do with our time, our talent and our financial resources are significant moral and religious decisions. Those decisions have significant consequences in our own lives as well as the lives of others who may benefit from our decisions.”

Every major religious tradition offers significant teachings that emphasize a “spiritual practice” of generosity and a very powerful argument can be made that, across the breadth of religions, the primary religious quality is generosity. The service will focus on nurturing a spirit of generosity and the blessing it brings to our lives and to the world.

“This will be a fun Sunday service,” says Membership Drive Co-Chair Trish Snyder. “Join us for the story ‘Stone Soup’ and actual homemade soup after the service! Everyone is welcome, including families with children, who start with the adults in the service and then leave for their own special activity. There will be lots of wonderful instrumental music and opportunities to join in singing great hymns and songs, including a special rendition of ‘Light My Fire.’

“We have seen such growth in the Fellowship this past year,” says Co-Chair Carolyn Simsarian. “We feel confident that the growth in numbers will enable us to do even more in the community,” she continued. The UUFSMA operates through voluntary donations made by members and friends. In addition to providing meaningful services each Sunday, programs during the week, and ministry to those in need, more than one half of all income is donated to well vetted organizations in the San Miguel area – including Patronato Pro Niños, CEDESA, Mujeres en Cambio, Jovenes Adelante, Caminos de Agua, Libros Para Todos, Apoyo a Gente Emprendedora, Escuela de Educación Especial, Fundación de Apoyo Infantil, Casita Linda, and Caminamos Juntos, among others. UUFSMA members were instrumental in the founding of several of these successful organizations.

For more information about the UUFSMA, including our Sunday morning Children’s Religious Education program, Social Action outreach, weekly discussion groups, social activities, and Care Team, join us any Sunday at 10:30 at the Hotel La Aldea or check out our website at uusfma.org. Wheelchair accessible. UUFSMA 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.