Perspectives for July 2026

4th of July:

This is an important moment to be visible in Bloomington and its surrounding areas, to be a place of acceptance and affirmation to those in need of community. You are invited to join UUCB as we march downtown in the 4th of July Parade! This event has been a lively time to come together and get to know one another while we celebrate UU’ism, its values, and take part in the broader community.

If you are interested in participating, please register HERE so that we have a rough estimate of our group size and so we can communicate logistics to all participating. We will decorate our UUCB-mobile van which will also have limited seats available during the parade.

Questions? Reach out to Anabel Watson, Connections Coordinator, at connect@uubloomington.org

Welcoming our new members!

I am grateful to introduce recent new members who chose to submit a bio for this month’s Perspectives. I hope you will connect with them at UUCB and participate in welcoming them into the larger congregation!

Anabel Watson

Connections Coordinator

connect@uubloomington.org

Priscilla Borges:

With a background in music, web design, yoga and meditation, I have spent over a decade working with and caring for children, including my own 11-year-old, Artur. I bring curiosity, creativity, and dedication to all I take on. Beyond deep conversations, I also enjoy traveling, playing board games, baking, & laughter with my beloved friends and family. I believe open-hearted honesty is where real growth begins — and I'm excited to bring that spirit, along with my love for our planet and peace, into this community.

Ben Edmonds:

I spent my childhood years in Northern Indiana. After college, I spent the majority of my career in West Central Ohio, where I was a school teacher and school administrator. Upon retirement from public schooling, I came to Bloomington and began working at Indiana University school of education. I retired for the second and final time in September 2018. I spend my time gardening, woodworking, and singing.

Anton Ermakov:

Hi! My name is Anton, and I’m a graduate student in Central Eurasian studies and religious studies at IU. I was born and raised in Moscow, Russia, though I’ve now lived in the U.S. for almost sixteen years. I enjoy long-distance walking, learning poems by heart, and the occasional ambitious cooking project.

Tom Herbert:

Tom resides with his spouse Kirsten Roberts and his dog Nutmeg. He has two grown sons, Zachary and Ethan. Recently relocated to Bloomington, Tom is a semi-retired higher education development consultant and executive coach. He spent 27+ years in higher education advancement serving as Miami University’s Senior Vice President for University Advancement and President of the Miami University Foundation, Vice President for Development at Dartmouth College, Director of Planned Giving at the IU Foundation, and Executive Director of Development and Alumni Programs for IU’s College of Arts and Sciences and Vice President for University Wide Programs. Tom holds a BA in History from Northwestern University and a JD with honors from Chicago-Kent College of Law. In his free time, he enjoys volunteering at the UU Church, trying to keep engaged with music, and staying active – especially playing tennis. He is very grateful to be accepted into the UU community, and at age 59, looks forward to wearing a 40-year member ribbon someday on his nametag.

Jason Lopez:

I've lived in Bloomington for 20 years, and been attending the U.U. for 8. I'm a member of 4 U.U. Task Forces. I studied Psychology at IUPUI, and moved to Bloomington after graduating. I've mostly worked as a caseworker and with children and adolescents in mental health services. I've taught through the MCCSC. I enjoy writing songs, plays, and films. I've performed my music and plays in town. I've also worked with the Monroe County Civic Theater and Constellation Stage and Screen.

David Press:

David is a dad from New York who moved to Bloomington, Indiana in 2017 with his barely one year-old son. His children, now almost ten and seven-years-old, are also a part of UU and have many close friends among the children here. He’s worked in business journalism, filmmaking, and education, and has worked for Stone Belt/Milestones Clinic since 2018 and is a lecturer in the English Department at IU.

Jon Stevens:

Jon Stevens lives in Bloomington with his two cats and his four-year-old daughter, Effie. He’s a children's librarian at the public library and loves helping kids develop literacy skills with stories, music, and puppets. Jon is a lifelong Hoosier and has mixed feelings about that. His hobbies include falling asleep while reading books and falling asleep while watching movies. He aspires to help actualize Kurt Vonnegut’s notion to “create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured.”

From the Communications Coordinator

“Part of the reason people turn to poetry—its writing or read­ing—is that they have some belief, experience, perhaps fool­ish faith that language in itself is a reservoir, needed and almost infinitely useful…At the etymological root of both healing and health is the idea of “wholeness.” To heal, then, is to take what has been broken, separated, frag­mented, injured, exiled and restore it to wholeness.” - Jane Hirshfield

This quote, which is excerpted from a larger essay by Jane Hirshfield, was mentioned during a lecture I attended at the 2026 Unitarian Universalist General Assembly. This idea is one that resonated throughout my time there, and also with my understanding of life. A common theme at this year’s GA was the idea of weaving. The act of weaving takes fragmented parts and makes something whole, something stronger than the individual threads alone. I find the idea of collective care empowering in a similar way, as it rejects the notion of rugged American individualism and strives for something more vulnerable: to be in community together.

The General Assembly this year was, in and of itself, woven together from two distinct parts. The online business meetings were held at the beginning of the week, to be attended by delegates from congregations across the world (read more about the business decisions made at this link). During the second half of the week, delegates and professionals had the option to gather together in person in Louisville, Kentucky, at the Galt House Hotel, at one of several satellite spaces, or online. This model, which was at times a challenge to navigate, is an attempt to meet folks where they are, making it possible for UUs to “Meet the Moment: Together Everywhere.” A few on-demand videos of General Sessions and worship services are available at this link.

During this time of immense change and pressure, where the leaders of this nation are spewing vitriol, kidnapping and killing our neighbors, starting wars, obfuscating the truth, and dismantling hard won rights, a quote rings out: “What happens to you, happens to me.” With this mindset, I understand that we are all interconnected, that an invisible thread creates a larger web that links humanity together. This makes us accountable to each other, responsible for one another. It also holds us to demand respect and dignity for all of our beloveds. To not leave anyone behind.

In meeting this moment, where fascism is on the rise globally, where, as Bishop Mariann Budde stated in the Ware Lecture, there is a “culture of contempt,” I am left reflecting on how Unitarian Universalism presents an antidote. The basket that is woven through UU values is clear - love at the center, supported, clarified, and expressed by justice, equity, transformation, pluralism, generosity, and interdependence. All of these values interplay together to create a unified whole – one where the inherent worth and dignity of every person is affirmed.

To dive deeper on two of these values: we cannot have interdependence without pluralism. The 2025 UUA Common Read was Deepa Iyer’s Social Change Now, A Guide for Reflection and Connection. In this book, Iyer explores the important idea that we need many different kinds of people to achieve equity, liberation, justice, and solidarity. Among the archetypes listed are storytellers, healers, disruptors, caregivers, builders, visionaries, frontline responders, experimenters, weavers, and guides. People come with many different gifts, viewpoints, and beliefs. It is up to us to cast a wide net and find ways to work with people from different walks of life.

The state of our world is broken; it has always been so, and perhaps it will always continue to be so. Yet, I left GA feeling that the dreams we dream together, the poetry we create together, the actions we take to step toward a greater understanding and shared humanity, will see us through this fight and all the fights to come. We may be weathering a storm, but we will find ways to grow out of this - together, stronger than before. “They tried to bury us, but they didn’t know that we were seeds” - Dinos Christianopoulos, adapted.

During General Assembly, I felt the UU values in action in a moment I will always cherish. I visited the Louisville Pride Festival and stopped by the UU booth. They were giving glitter blessings, with a sign that read, “All of who you are is sacred. All bodies are sacred. Non-binary is beautiful. Trans people are divine. Intersex folx belong. Make space for ace. Queerness is sublime.” As someone who has religious trauma directly related to my queer identity, the experience of being blessed by glitter was affirming. I, too, am a person with inherent worth and dignity simply for being who I am. While the current political landscape sows seeds of fear about trans people into the public sphere, I am comforted knowing that UUs are here to challenge this narrative and to provide radical hospitality to those who live in the margins.

From the Board of Directors

Thank you to the 150 members who attended our Annual Congregational Meeting on June 7! We easily surpassed our 75-member quorum, and all motions passed. We appreciate the good spirit among those in attendance as we attempted to deploy our new electronic voting system.

We kicked off with an update from our Lead Minister, Reverend Susan Frederick-Gray, followed by reports from Director of Lifespan Religious Education, Stephanie Kimball, and Board President, Jane McLeod. Together, we approved our FY26-27 budget, voted Farm to Family as our 25% Plate Recipient, and proudly granted Emerita status to Revered Mary Ann Macklin. The congregation also approved our new Congregational Covenant and elected incoming Board officers, Board members, and committee representatives.

We closed by celebrating our Beloved Community. Deep gratitude goes to those who have supported Beacon Light The Way, our outgoing Board members and our Service Award winners:

• Dick Stumpner & Steve Krahnke: Building improvements
• Charlotte Appel: Community hour, Annual Auction Bazaar, and Golden Elephant
• Steve Mascari: All-Ages Rock Band

We are so grateful for everyone who helps make our community such a vibrant place.

More details on our 2025/2026 year together, including reports from 47 areas of activity ranging from RE to task forces to chalice circles, can be found in the annual report posted here.

Regina DiLavore, Board Secretary

In the beginning months of 2026, press media coverage began to uncover the struggles of residential and commercial tenants facing lease termination and potential demolition of buildings in a downtown location on the B-line trail. I had caught wind of this story, and when it was brought up at a meeting of the Homelessness Task Force, I readily volunteered to reach out to my contacts who I knew were involved in the struggle. Soon it was clear how one form of social justice easily intersects with others. And when that concerns the work we do within and outside our congregation, this case offers an opportunity to see how Building Community can help with Changing the World.

Shortly after I began to get involved on behalf of housing issues, the Democracy Task Force took note of a county council meeting in which I spoke about balancing housing with the convention center development, asking, “We can have both affordable living and the amenities, but what comes first?” <source April 15>. The development of the plans were uncertain, but the mutual aid group, Bloomington Homes 4 All (BH4A), quickly organized and devised groups to develop alternative plans.

In just the past two months, BH4A hosted three important community events. The first was a block party at Friendly Beasts cidery on May 15 on the property under scrutiny, gathering community in co-creating a sense of residential joy. The second was a Non-Violent Direct Action training that we hosted in our Fellowship Hall on June 13 and attended by community members as well as several congregants in leadership roles, geared at equipping the community with tactics to make change. And the last was the unveiling of the business plan at Monroe County Public Library downtown on June 20th, also attended by community leaders and a few other leaders from our church. These demonstrate the effectiveness of forming a community partnership that moves the social justice we practice in our congregation back out into the community where change is made.

If you want to get more involved and see more of that relationship, you’ll have a chance this month! An event will take place on Saturday, July 18, from 6 - 10 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington Courtyard with a performance by DJ William’s Soul Kitchen. The afternoon and evening will make space for task forces like Homelessness, Democracy, and Habitat for Humanity to table alongside community organizations such as Beacon Inc., Tandem, and other community partners. The goal of the event will indeed be for fundraising, but perhaps more importantly it will involve community building–as well as food trucks, musical celebration, and dancing. Pay attention to Friday Updates for more information.

In everything we do, it’s good to keep in mind that we’re not forcing our own creed onto the world but rather drawing the circle wide to co-create what world we want to see. If you’d like to learn more, visit the website for the BH4A or contact me at this contact form.

-Jason Michálek

Social Justice permeates all programming at the UU Church of Bloomington (UUCB) – worship, religious education, fellowship, and special groups like Chalice Circles and the choir. Social Justice Task Forces are formed when a number of people wish to work together around a specific social justice area.

When looking at the history of UUCB, it is clear that social justice has been important to us from the beginning.

When the Fellowship started in the late 1940s, members were concerned with segregation. Many joined with students and other congregations in efforts to desegregate local establishments, and also pressured IU to desegregate the Memorial Union and dormitories.

Our first two ministers, Reverends Paul Killinger and David Johnson, carried on the tradition. In Rev. Johnson’s first year he attended 62 community meetings. He and several members were sent by the congregation to the civil rights march in Selma, Alabama.

Over the years members have participated in all kinds of social justice efforts, including taking leadership roles or helping to found organizations including Planned Parenthood, Family Services, Mental Health Association, Bloomington Memorial Society, and more. UUCB also founded and housed BDLC(Bloomington Developmental Learning Center).

In 1997, the congregation voted to designate 3 percent of the capital funds raised to enlarge our building to further social justice. This pattern continued with subsequent capital campaigns

In April, 1999 we celebrated our new Meeting Room along with our fiftieth anniversary, and we consciously turned our attention outward. We brought in UUA social justice speakers and workshops. The Social Justice task force framework was implemented, and the Social Justice Funds committee was formed.

Social Justice task forces have engaged in numerous activities over the years, including protecting Planned Parenthood, organizing intergenerational congregational retreats, participating in interfaith habitat builds and women builds, and supporting programs at nearby federal prisons with a quilt project, clothing donations, and choir performances. We’ve raised awareness as well as money with booths at our annual Bazaar, fair trade coffee and chocolate sales, bake sales and lunches, and numerous concerts. We’ve organized trips to El Salvador to help build housing, established food pantries and little free good pantries, and worked to integrate social justice activities into Chalice Circles and religious education. , Members of our congregation started Kids with Absent Parents, an organization supporting children of incarcerated adults. We’ve hosted Coffee Houses, Peace and Justice singalongs, pitch in meals, and inspirational speakers.

You can read more about the early history of our congregation’s social justice work in an article by Cookie Lynch starting on p. 19 of Stories from the Tree of Life - The First 50 Years (1999) which can be found on our website.

SJ Year End Report of year 2025-26.

UUCB is very active in many areas of social justice, and all of the task forces have worked hard, leadership in some has changed, and a new task force has emerged to tackle democracy along with a Justice Advocacy Corner on our website.

The Social Justice Coordinating Team (SJCT) with Rev Susan, Barb Berggoetz, Jenny Vessels, Christine Banister, and Jackie Hall met regularly and recently held a SJ planning meeting for next year. This year SJCT, at the request of task forces, combined task force annual reports and applications. SJ Circle meetings were helpful with presentations about UUCB communication, technology, and safety procedures. We want to thank Jenny Vessels for her service as she has stepped aside. We are now looking for one or two new members. Last year the Democracy task force was formed. We look for them and their knowledge and leadership during the next legislative sessions and elections. The Just Peace Task Force has become inactive due to the health of long time leader David Keppel. Thanks to David for commitment to this issue. We hope to continue to hear from him.

UUCB SJ task forces financial summary from fiscal year 2025-26

UU social justice task forces operating in 2025-26 contributed in many ways to the church, the community at-large, and internationally, in the case of one task force. Task forces, to different degrees, provide community services, educate the public, organize and promote community actions, advocate and raise funds for causes and people in need, and back or oppose laws, policies and public viewpoints.

During 2025-26, task forces sponsored, organized and participated in a variety of activities at UU and in the community to raise funds, as one way to help accomplish their goals. Some task forces focus more on fundraising to provide services or assistance to the public and non-profit organizations than other task forces that concentrate on education or advocacy.

In total,10 task forces raised or received $46,381 in fiscal year 2025-26. They have already donated or will donate $41,845, as of June 2026. Some task forces fundraise for one or two years before making a large donation, while others donate on a more regular basis.

Nine task forces listed the following financial data in their annual reports for FY 2025-26:

• Democracy: total raised, $1914; total donated, $62; balance $1852
• Green Sanctuary: total raised, $2,928; total donated, $2,245; fund balance, $6,057.
• Habitat: total raised, $6,319; total donated, $10,981; fund balance, $4,911.
• Homelessness: total raised, $9604; total donated, $9098; fund balance, $2677.
• Hunger: total raised, $7609 plus sale of $2000 gift cards; total donated, $9149; fund balance, $4400 plus $2000 in food cards.
• International Outreach: total raised, $6923; fund balance $6,873.
• Racial Justice: total raised, $2,929; total donated, $ 3,423 (of this, $715.00 went to Resilience Productions T Account); fund balance, $1664.
• Rainbow Rights: total raised, $1,914; total donated, $823; fund balance, $6,275.
• Reproductive Justice: total raised, $3930; total donated, $3750; fund balance, $214.
• RISE: total raised, $2311;total donated, total donated, $2314; fund balance, $2211

Other UUCB SJ financial resources SJ donated to the community

fiscal year 2025-26

• SJ Fall Grants from Leonard Lundin Fund - $1000
• First three quarters of 25% Sunday plate donations to Tandem - $7703.11

SJ Grand Total donated to the community so far this fiscal year 2025-26: $50,548.

From the Planned Giving Committee

Planned Giving Reception

Our Legacy Circle is comprised of congregants who have made planned gifts to UUCB upon their passing. Our Planned Giving committee exists to assist congregants who are interested in joining our Legacy Circle, and to thank our Legacy Circle members while they are still with us. The Planned Giving committee is holding a reception on June 28 after service in the library. If you are interested in knowing more about Planned Giving and our Legacy Circle, please feel free to join us. If you are a member of our Legacy Circle, please drop by and pick up your Legacy Circle Celebration invitation - save us some postage and grab a bite! We will have Planned Giving and Special Purposes representatives there to answer questions.

Planned Giving Testimonial

We included UUCB in our estate planning because we want to help ensure that our social-justice oriented, beloved community remains strong and active long after we are gone. UUCB has been a center of hope during this challenging time, but even in the best of times there is a need for greater recognition of our interdependence, thoughts and actions grounded in love, and societal transformation toward the goal of greater justice and equity. We have left the terms of our bequest open, so that UUCB can use these funds wherever they are most needed and effective. From having served on the Board, we are keenly aware of the value of unrestricted funds to advancing our vision and mission.

• Jane McCleod and Steve Krahnke

By Casey Dugan

I wanted to share that I just received one of 3 honorable mentions in the Monroe County Public Library 2026 National Poetry Month Contest.

It was a poem that I wrote during our recent sessions of the UU group, Poetry As Spiritual Practice. The piece was inspired by a discussion we had at one of our weekly meetings.

Here is the link to where it is posted on the Monroe County Public Library website.

https://mcpl.info/poetry-contest

I'm including the poem below here. I love sharing poetry. It is not created in a vacuum and is meant to be shared.

Nothing Is Ever Wasted

Sometimes on sumptuous sunny Sunday afternoons
I lie lazily on a thick cotton quilt
Near the pond on my sister's property
I gaze up through the wind
At the spectacular potpourri of shimmering, swaying trees:
Towering white pines, sugar maples, oak, tulip & beech

Over at the bird feeders
The tiny hummingbirds, red-coated cardinals,
Finches & sparrows
Are having a festive seed party
A bright orange Monarch butterfly
Frequently floats fleetingly by
It is a dreamy wistful time for me
Of creamy clouds, sky, dandelions, grass & God

Sometimes The Uninvited Demons of Thought
Invade the space, as they are wont to do,
And scream at me that I am wasting my life!!!
I listen, laughingly and lovingly,
Because they, too, like everyone else,
Just want to be heard
I wait them out and promise to try harder
Eventually they move on to greener pastures

That's when the still small
Singing, winging, bell-ringing voices
Of angels, fairies, nymphs & sylphs
Joyously assure me that
Nothing is ever wasted
In Love's Universe

July 5, 2026
How Religious Was George Washington?
Rev. Dennis McCarty

Rev. Dennis McCarty will observe the 250th anniversary of our nation's founding with: "How Religious Was George Washington?" In the early 19th century, George Washington had almost godlike stature himself. Religious believers and non-believers of all stripes appropriated him as justification for their own views, and still do. But how did Washington himself negotiate the complex religious tapestry of the new United States? Rev. McCarty will review a bit of the history and try to draw lessons for our 21st century journey.

Rev. Dennis McCarty is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington, and Minister Emeritus at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbus, Indiana.

July 12, 2026
The Possibility of America: 250 Years and Counting
Rev. Dr. Roger Jones

Today we reflect on the lead-up to the Declaration of Independence made by 13 separate colonies. Over 250 years as a republic, its people have continued to shape this country in response to the varied values and longings among us. Our past is complicated and our present is filled with pain, but the future remains open.

Rev. Dr. Roger Jones serves as a co-minister at the UU Society of Sacramento, where he began in 2008. A native of Franklin, he attended IU Bloomington, Meadville Lombard Theological School, and Pacific School of Religion. He served in Sunnyvale (CA), Minnesota and as a student minister in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He serves on the advisory group for the chaplaincy education program at UC Davis Med Center. He has served on boards of the UUA Pacific Central District, Pacific Western Region, the UU Ministers Association, and the YMCA.

July 19, 2026
Singing the Beloved Community Into Being
Angela Gabriel and friends

Singing together is our birthright and a joy-filed, joy-fueled way to cultivate the necessary qualities of the Beloved Community.

Angela still identifies as a performer, teacher, facilitator, and lifelong learner, even though disabilities have forced her to retire. Living with multiple invisible illnesses, some of them breathing-related, she has learned firsthand the life-saving power of song and breath. This has only amplified her mission in life, which is to spread joy through creative experiences and to encourage folks of any age and background to replace judgement with curiosity and open themselves to their unique voice. In fact, it has made it even more precious when she does have opportunities to engage with others.

July 26, 2026
Rev. Forrest Gilmore

Come join Rev. Forrest Gilmore for a sermon at UUCB!

Rev. Forrest Gilmore is UUCB’s Affiliated Community Minister. He served congregations for ten years as a parish minister and now is the Executive Director of Beacon, Inc, a local nonprofit dedicated to people experiencing extreme poverty. Forrest is a native New Yorker, but has called Bloomington home for over thirteen years. He's a graduate of Cornell University and Starr King School for the Ministry.