It is my sad duty to report that our church member, Lisa Regan Durr, passed away peacefully on February 2, 2025, surrounded by her large and loving family. Lisa joined our church in 2020 and I was so glad to have her spirit here. I’ve known Lisa for almost 25 years, and we had a long friendship outside the church.
Lisa was a force of nature, as anyone who knew her understood quickly. She was one of the
most organized, active, practical, and deeply spiritual people I’ve ever encountered. I got to see her raise her three kids and then become the coolest grandmother ever. We told each other secrets at our lowest and shared the best of times. We sang together, me and her and her sister Anita, and their mom, and all the aunties and cousins, when her sister Christina died in their care at Westview Hospice, which they ran together, in Fairhaven. I will never forget it. I will never forget her energy, and I will always seek her spirit in times of need. Lisa was a soul sister to me, and I will miss her deeply.
We are planning a Celebration of Life for Lisa here on May 3 at 10:30 AM, when the flowers are beginning to bloom, and when she would be happiest in the tending of her garden, getting ready for the explosion of life to come. Let us remember her as Spring comes upon us with all its vitality and beauty, as she was indeed so vital and beautiful.
With Peace-Karen
Lisa was an active volunteer for Tri-Town Against Racism. A scholarship has been started in her name, which will be awarded to a BIPOC student attending schools in the Tri-Town who is an active volunteer in their community.
The UUA’s “Side with Love” 30 Days of Love Event is an “annual month of spiritual nourishment, political grounding, and shared practices of faith and justice, 30 Days of Love goes from January 20 through Valentine’s Day, February 14.
Week Four "There are Black People in the Future"
We are on new terrain, but the work remains the same. Side With Love proclaims the power of love to end oppression and build a just and loving world where we all thrive. In this final week of 30 Days of Love, we honor Black History Month at a moment when this administration seeks to resegregate America and establish and enforce a global racial hierarchy. This week's theme is a bold proclamation of sacred and revolutionary truth: there are Black people in the future. What becomes possible when we inhabit this prophecy of Black resilience and liberation in our lives today?
These words from Interdisciplinary Artist and Cultural Producer Alisha B Wormsley are a declaration of resilience, commitment to solidarity, and insistence that victory is ours! It is a refusal to accept the erasure of Black existence, imagination, and liberation. It is a call to action for Unitarian Universalists and all people of faith and conscience to engage in the sacred work of co-creating a future where Black lives thrive.
At its core, "there are Black people in the future" disrupts all narratives of disposability, which sanction discrimination, inequity, injustice, and genocide. It offers instead a vision of boundless possibility. As a faith committed to justice and love, this theme challenges us to ask: What are we doing today to ensure a just and liberated future for Black people? Are we confronting the systems that perpetuate harm? Are we uplifting Black leadership, creativity, and wisdom? Are we actively dismantling white supremacy within and beyond our communities? Who must we be? What must we do? What transformation unfolds today if Black life and thriving are the promises of our future? What will you put into practice today to fulfill this promise?
May we move forward with courage, faith, and unwavering love. The future is now, and Black liberation is the path to collective liberation. Let us build it together.
In faith and solidarity,
Nicole Pressley, UUA Organizing Strategy Director
Showing up to meet this moment!
Side With Love is working across partnerships, coalitions, and staff teams at the UUA to bring you current and accurate information on the many pressing issues related to this Administration's unjust and unconstitutional actions. This requires legal support, following the lead of the most impacted, and refining systems for consistent learning and action. We thank you for your patience as we navigate this chaotic political moment together. Below are three offerings that are coming soon to support your communities in showing up in our collective struggle for justice.
Grounded, Resilient, & Responsible Toolkit
We will provide helpful guidance to navigate political action in our current climate. As we all discern our risk in answering the call to side with love, this tool will support you in aligning our intentions with our impact for more strategic and deliberate social justice organizing. The focus will be safety, effective partnership, solidarity, and messaging. Use this guide to discern how you engage on social media, better understand the strategy and safety of protests and direct action, and how to use tactics effectively—coming end of February.
Side With Love Action Center
Help harness our power by joining in learning and action opportunities with Side With Love and coalition partners. The Action Center will provide weekly updates, issue analysis, and actions to take on issues related to immigration, LGBTQ justice, climate, and democracy. You will find these opportunities on the Side With Love homepage and via email. Subscribe here to get the Action Center alerts in your inbox. Coming end of February
Side With Love Monthly Meeting
As 30 Days of Love comes to a close, we are launching a monthly national call for faithful, grounded, and powerful organizing. This moment demands our attention, our action, and collective care. Join us monthly to root in our values, get updates and analysis on the political and organizing terrain, and move into prophetic action. Together, we will harness the power of love to end oppression and build a loving and just world where we all thrive. Launching early March.
Take Action
in the interfaith call Faith Mobilization to Save Democracy on Feb 11
Join Rooted in Our Power: Defending Immigrants Movement Call with the Detention Watch Network on March 4 or April 1
Join ACLU’s Know Your Rights Training: Mass Deportation and More on March 3 or March 20
New Member Service and Committee Chair Fair Rescheduled to March 9!
We want to celebrate YOU! Become an official member of our church today.
The Trump policy allowing raids in houses of worship violates the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), the lawsuit argues.
The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) joined more than two dozen Christian and Jewish religious denominations and associations on February 11 in filing a lawsuit against the Trump Administration’s new policy that allows immigration raids, arrests, and other enforcement actions at houses of worship.
Filed in federal district court in Washington, D.C., the case, Mennonite Church USA et al. v. United States Department of Homeland Security et al., was filed on behalf of the religious organizations by the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP) at Georgetown University Law Center.
“As Unitarian Universalists, fighting for justice and liberation for all people is at the heart of our faith tradition, which recognizes the spark of the divine inherent in every person,” said UUA Executive Vice President Carey McDonald. “Our sacred spaces must continue to offer sanctuary to those who face oppression, violence, or alienation, including immigrant communities.”
In modern history, houses of worship have been regarded as protected spaces for persons who entered them for sanctuary. For years, including during the first administration of President Donald J. Trump, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) restricted any immigration enforcement in or near places of worship. But on January 20, 2025, the day Trump was inaugurated for his second term, a DHS memo rescinded that “sensitive locations” protection for houses of worship as well as for schools and hospitals.
During the first week of the current Trump Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested over 4,500 people, with at least one enforcement action occurring on Sunday at a church in Georgia during a worship service, according to the lawsuit.
The suit asserts that subjecting places of worship to ICE enforcement actions without a judicial warrant substantially burdens their right to exercise their religious beliefs in violation of the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). Such action interferes with the religious activities of the plaintiffs and their ability to fulfill their religious mandate to welcome and serve immigrants, the plaintiffs assert.
“Plaintiffs and their members are Baptist, Brethren, Conservative Jewish, Episcopalian, Evangelical, Mennonite, Quaker, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Reconstructionist Jewish, Reform Jewish, Unitarian Universalist, United Methodist, Zion Methodist, and more,” the complaint states. “They bring this suit unified on a fundamental belief: Every human being, regardless of birthplace, is a child of God worthy of dignity, care, and love. Welcoming the stranger, or immigrant, is thus a central precept of their faith practices.”
“Plaintiffs represent millions of Americans across dozens of denominations rooted in the Jewish and Christian faiths,” said Kelsi Corkran, lead counsel for the plaintiffs and ICAP Supreme Court director. “They have come together to file this suit because their scripture, teaching, and traditions offer irrefutable unanimity on their religious obligation to embrace and serve the refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants in their midst without regard to documentation or legal status. The Department of Homeland Security’s abrupt decision to rescind the sensitive locations policy and subject places of worship to immigration enforcement action is a clear violation of Plaintiffs' rights under the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. We look forward to presenting our case in court.”
Other plaintiffs include the Mennonite Church USA, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, the Episcopal Church, the Union for Reform Judaism, the Latino Christian National Network, and the Central Atlantic Conference United Church of Christ.
In a statement, the UUA said it is proud to be a plaintiff, adding, “We join this multifaith coalition to challenge the ending of ICE’s sensitive locations policy, and oppose any interpretation of law which would allow immigration raids in houses of worship and religious ceremonies.”
Social Justice Committee Meeting Tonight
Weekly SJC meetings happen on Wednesdays at 6:30 PM. Please visit the calendar on our website to get the Zoom link. Everyone is welcome to attend!
Did you miss Sunday service? Watch it here
***Please be aware that from now on, if you arrive on Sundays after 11 AM you will have to use the Union Street entrance. This is because we do not have a Sunday Sexton.
The Day You Begin, Written by Jacqueline Woodson; Illustrated by Rafael Lope
February 16: The Practice of Not Leaving Love for Ourselves Out, Tu B’Shevat: Birthday of the Trees, Yasmin Off
February 26: The Practice of Not Leaving Religion Out, Ghandi Peace Greeting
UU & Sunday School Volunteers: 10:15-11:00am
Contact Yasmin with any questions at flefleh@gmail.com
Please share these events with your family and friends and attend yourself. We would love to see you!
FREE Events Happening at UUNB
Open Mic is FREE and open to the public. Doors open at 3:30 PM for a 4:00 PM start. Open Mic will occur on the first Sunday of each month through June. All donations from this event will benefit the church, so please tell your family and friends.
Ticketed Events Happening at UUNB
Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door.
Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door.
Save the Date! Tickets are $25 in advance or $30 at the door.
Order forms are available in the sanctuary and the Parish House for those wishing to buy concert tickets with a check. Please place the order form and your check in an envelope and either mail it to the office or drop it in the mail slot on 8th Street.
The calendar on our website shows everything happening at UUNB. Updates are displayed immediately, so you will always know what is planned
Despite the attacks on democracy we face today, it's essential that we remain grounded in our long-term vision of a nation that works for all. We are clear that to build a truly thriving multiracial democracy, we must redesign the systems and structures of governing from the ground up, even if it feels beyond what we can imagine today. We must be the founders of a nation where all can thrive. As we support our partners on the frontlines of defense today, we at PolicyLink are convening people from all walks of life who envision a different kind of nation in the future, to together forge a path towards the next founding.
This webinar is the first of a three-part series to understand how to design this nation, and the legal, political and structural transformation required to bring it to life. Our first session will focus on the historic promise of equal protection enshrined in the 14th amendment: the idea that a governmental body may not deny people equal protection of its governing laws. We will explore this Constitutional promise, its power and limitations, and the language of fairness, justice, and freedom that would be required in the Constitution of a nation that delivers for all.
Panelists include: Reed Colfax – Co-Managing Partner, Relman Colfax Olatunde Johnson – Ruth Bader Ginsburg '59 Professor of Law, Columbia Law School Lourdes Rosado – President & General Counsel, Latino Justice Moderated by: Judith Dangerfield – Managing Director, Governing for All, PolicyLink Opening by: Ashleigh Gardere – President, PolicyLink
Our Mission is to encourage diversity and mutual acceptance and work for positive change in ourselves and our community.
"We envision a congregation in which we practice the principles of our faith. We seek to enjoy peaceful reflection and inspiration in intellectually and spiritually satisfying church services. We aim to embrace the people and efforts of our church community by supporting our children and their programs, our committees and their goals, our staff and their efforts on our behalf, and each other."
Our Promises
Each person is important.
Be kind in all you do.
We help each other learn.
We search for what is true.
Each person has a say.
Work for a peaceful world.
The web of life’s the way.
Build the beloved community, free from racism and oppression.
First Unitarian Church in New Bedford
71 8th Street, New Bedford, MA 02740
(508) 994-9686
Administrator ext. 10
Minister ext. 13
Karen cell: (508) 441-9344
Thrift Shop ext. 12
Board Members & Officers
Steve Carmel, President
Charles Morgan, Vice President
Deborah Carmel, Treasurer
Cora Peirce, Clerk
Trustees
Committee Chairs
Staff
The Thrift Shop is open Tuesdays and Saturdays from 10 AM to 1 PM
(508)994-9686 ext.12
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