UUFSMA: “Staying Awake & Engaged Through the Revolution”

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Online Service

“Staying Awake & Engaged Through the Revolution”

Speaker: Rev. Abhi Janamanchi

Sunday, July 5, 2020

10:30 am

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/414604040 

Password: 294513

By Joseph Plummer

UUF Secretary

In the UUFSMA’s online Service this Sunday, guest minister and speaker, Rev. Abhi Janamanchi, returns to a theme of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Ware Lecture to the 1966 UUA General Assembly in Hollywood, FL. At that gathering, Dr. King recounted the story of Rip Van Winkle going to sleep during the reign of King George III and waking up twenty years later to find George Washington was President.

Dr. King said, “…the most striking thing about the story of Rip Van Winkle is not merely that Rip slept twenty years, but that he slept through a revolution. While he was peacefully snoring up the mountain, a revolution was taking place that would change the course of history- and Rip knew nothing about it. He was asleep… All too many people find themselves living amid great social change and yet fail to develop new attitudes, new mental responses which the new situation demands. There is nothing more tragic…”

Rev. Janamanchi notes a similar slumber at risk today during revival in the United States of a sacred revolution begun generations ago. In big cities and small towns, hundreds of thousands of people – black people, people of color, and huge numbers of white people — are in the streets with non-violent protests, demanding an end to systemic racism, police brutality, and the dismantling of structures that jeopardize Black lives. Worldwide, tens of thousands are demonstrating to support Black Lives Matter and denounce racism in their own countries.

Our speaker hopes to investigate whether Unitarian Universalists are awake or sleeping through this revolution. And if we are awake, what are we willing to risk and do?

Rev. Janamanchi serves as Senior Minister of Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church in Bethesda, MD. Born and raised in Southern India, he moved to the US in 1994. He is a member of Brahmo Samaj, a Unitarian Hindu reform movement. He graduated from Meadville Lombard Theological School, Chicago. He has also served congregations in Clearwater, Fl, Madison, WI, and Park Forest, IL. Active in international interfaith and multicultural work, he served as President of the International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF).  His Unitarian Universalist-Hindu faith, Indian heritage, and U.S. citizenship inspire and guide his life and ministry.

To participate in our online Sunday Service, visit the Fellowship’s website at www.uufsma.org and click on the Zoom Service button displayed on the home page. If requested, enter password: 294513. Sign-in between 10:15-10:25 am.

UUFSMA donates more than fifty percent of all income it receives to support nonprofit organizations that provide health, educational, and environmental services for underserved communities in the San Miguel region. Please support this work by clicking on the website home page’s Donate button. Now more than ever, your support is essential.

Due to the coronavirus, UUFSMA has suspended in-person Sunday services and other gatherings. The UU Fellowship 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.

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