Dear friend,

I am currently winding through Washington’s beautiful, forested mountains with the rest of UUMFE’s June Speaking Tour crew, Leonard Higgins, Levi Daheim and Leigh-Ann Draheim, on our way to Spokane for the UUA General Assembly (GA). We have had a truly amazing trip --- you can read more about it here and here. Now we head into the final chapter of this epic journey: GA.
 

I hope that you might join UUMFE’s General Assembly programs &/or share this invitation with the members of your UU community and personal network who you know will be going to the GA. Here are some highlights and updates:
 

Bring an altar item for the Community Arts & Embodied Prayer for Ecological Justice workshop, Thursday 6/20 - 1:30-2:30 in Davenport Grand Ballroom 10

This workshop will be a lively, music and dance filled celebration of our sacred, living planet, replete with art and puppetry. There will be five altars at this workshop --- one in the center honoring the whole Earth and the Divine Feminine, and one honoring each Earth, Air, Fire, & Water. If you have an item to offer to any of these altars, please bring it, and arrive 5-10 minutes early to place your item(s) on the altar(s).
 

The Procession of Species & UUMFE 30th Anniversary Celebration, Thursday 6/20 - 5:30-6:45

The Procession of the Species is shaping up amazingly. We will have Bill Moyer with the Backbone Campaign with us, bringing large inflatable salmon and orca puppets, monarch butterflies, and a public witness where we will be taking an aerial photograph creating the shape of an orca with umbrellas and our bodies --- with the messages “The Power of We” - “Create Climate Justice” - “Save the Orcas” - and “Remove the Dams”.
 

We will also have trees, flowers, birds, and orcas created by UUs across the country. If you are bringing artwork to the Procession of Species, remember to fill out this form.
 

After the procession, a prayer at the river, and the aerial art witness with Backbone Campaign, UUMFE will be providing a totally vegan and gluten-free-friendly dinner of pizza from Allie’s Vegan Pizzeria & Cafe & gourmet gluten-free cupcakes from Boots Bakery. Please RSVP as soon as possible for the dinner so that I can order enough!
 

Dinner outing for UUs of Color, Saturday 6/22 around 5:45 pm
UUMFE has covenanted to endorse the DRUUMM Call for Renewal and proposed 8th Principle of the UUA, and in the spirit of this commitment, is sponsoring a community dinner outing for UUs of Color passionate about the struggle for climate & ecological justice. If you identify as a person of color/person of the global majority and would like to join this dinner outing, meet Rev. Sara Green at the UUMFE exhibit hall booth (#324) between 5:30-5:45 pm.
 

Sneak Preview Film Screening of Necessity: Oil, Water, & Climate Resistance, Saturday 6/22 - 9 pm

Directly following the GA closing ceremony, head over to the Magic Lantern Theatre for a special sneak preview of a new film of this new, fantastic documentary tracing the fight in Minnesota against the expansion of pipelines carrying toxic tar sands oil through North America. The story unfolds in a setting where indigenous activists and non-indigenous allies make use of the necessity defense in making a moral case for acts of civil disobedience. The film calls into question whether legal strategies are sufficient in responding to the scale of the global climate crisis. Tickets can be reserved at a sliding scale of $5-50 and will be available for walk-up attendance as well until/unless the theatre fills up. Proceeds will support UUMFE and the production costs of the film.
 

Table Talks in the Exhibit Hall

Table talks are 30-minute facilitated small group conversations in the GA Exhibit Hall, focused on particular topics. Gather at the UUMFE Booth #324. Table talk schedule:
 

Thursday, 12:00-12:30 p.m.

Artful Activism & Solutionary Rail, a “Yes!” Campaign for a Just Transition, with Bill Moyer, BackboneCampaign.org
 

Friday, 12:45-1:15 p.m.

Together we find the political will for a livable planet: Citizens Climate Lobby, Diane Hansen & Karen Stucke, Valley UU, Chandler, AZ, citizensclimatelobby.org
 

Breaking Our Obedience to Injustice: The Building Community Rights Movement for People and Planet, with Kai Hushke, Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, CELDF.org
 

Book discussion: Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out? by Bill McKibben, with Leonard Higgins, Valve Turner, Extinction Rebellion organizer – https://rebellion.earth/, and UUMFE Board member, UUMFE.org
 

Friday, 1:30 – 2 p.m.

How to connect groups and issues using CreateClimateJustice.net, with Aly Tharp, UUMFE Program Director, UUMFE.org
 

Saturday, 12:45-1:15 p.m.

Strengthen Local Climate Commitments, with Doris Marlin, Green Sanctuary Advisory Board & UUMFE lay leader
 

Even more events are listed on UUMFE's website --- again, many of these opportunities are not listed in the GA Program Book so please help us spread the word!
 

UUMFE also has numerous big programs on the horizon after GA. Find out more about these opportunities and support UUMFE to bring them to life by checking out and supporting the Faithify campaign to Catalyze the UU Climate Justice Movement.
 

Thank you for your support!

In faith,

Aly Tharp

Program Director, UU Ministry for Earth

Visit UU Ministry for Earth online at uumfe.org
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