The Compass, May 21, 2025
- May 21
- 5 min read
Updated: May 22
Welcome to our two new Trustees voted into office at our Annual Meeting on May 18, 2025, Camilla Brooks and Jack Vitale! We are thrilled to have you.
A big thanks to Pam Sherman for serving on the Board of Trustees over the last three years.
If you couldn't make it to the Annual Meeting and would like a copy of the report, we have extras in the office. Stop by during regular office hours to grab one.
Thrift Shop Update
Spring has finally arrived and our Spring clothing is slowly being hung. There are many women's dresses that would be perfect for special occasions - prom, graduation... We also have men's suits, blazers, and dress shirts.
New donations include women's sneakers- some almost brand new, a large assortment of tools, many new (to the Thrift Shop) CD's and DVD's, professional photography prints and many new frames.
We are in need of donations of children's books, and paper bags with handles.
We are not accepting donations of winter clothing at this time.
Shop hours are Tuesdays and Saturdays from 10AM until 1:00PM. Cash or check only.
Soul Matters Themes Announced for FY26
September: Building Belonging
October: Cultivating Compassion
November: Nurturing Gratitude
December: Choosing Hope
January: Practicing Resistance
February: Embodying Resilience
March: Paying Attention
April: Embracing Possibility
May: Awakening Curiosity
June: Flourishing Together
Did you miss Sunday service? Watch it here!
Upcoming Services
With guest Jerry Rooney from the Whitfield-Manjiro House in Fairhaven.
I've Got a Song! A Living History & Stories from the McCarthy Era, with a Q&A following the Service.
Our Sunday school is a collaborative effort.
Everyone works together to share their skills, time, and energy to enrich our programs. We use the “Spirit Play” curriculum to share goals and objectives for the younger children. Children spend the first fifteen minutes in the sanctuary, and then we head upstairs to the classroom space. You are welcome to accompany your child.
The RE (Religious Education) Team meets monthly to determine the programs, policies, and events for the children, youth, and adults. Parents are encouraged to join the RE Team.
Don't hesitate to get in touch with the Director of Religious Education, Yasmin Flefleh-Vincent, for further information, questions, or comments about our Sunday School.
UUA General Assembly is taking place June 18 - 22, and we are looking for one more delegate!
If you are interested in being a delegate for UUNB with Rev. Karen, please follow this link to learn more and to register. Financial assistance is available.
Imara Jones Announced as 2025 Ware Lecturer
An award-winning journalist and trans rights activist will deliver the keynote address at this year’s General Assembly, the Unitarian Universalist Association’s annual gathering in June.
Imara Jones, an Emmy and Peabody award-winning political journalist who is an advocate for social justice and equality across a variety of media outlets, will give the prestigious 2025 Ware Lecture at this year’s multiplatform conference, set for June 18-22 in Baltimore and online. Jones is also the founder of TransLash Media, described on her official website as “a cross-platform journalism, personal storytelling and narrative project, which produces content to shift the current culture of hostility towards transgender people in the US.” TransLash Media tells the stories of trans and gender-nonconforming people through articles, podcasts, films, and zines.
Jones has been featured on a wide variety of news outlets such as NPR, The Guardian, MSNBC, CNBC, and more. In 2019, she chaired the first-ever UN High Level Meeting on Gender Diversity with over 600 participants. From her website, Jones is described as a leader who “pushes the envelope in our understanding of economics, race, politics, gender, and culture through incisive analysis and unconventional thinking with an unambiguous desire to separate right from wrong.”
Each year, the UUA president and GA Planning Committee invite a distinguished speaker to present the Ware Lecture, a high honor with a long history. Previous Ware lecturers include the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Mary Oliver, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Van Jones, and Winona LaDuke. In its post announcing Jones as the 2025 recipient, the UUA said:
“In 1920, Harriet E. Ware of Milton, MA, bequeathed $5,000 to the American Unitarian Association (AUA) for its unrestricted use. Two years later, on the evening of May 24, 1922, the first Ware Lecture was given by the Rev. Frederick W. Norwood, pastor of the City Temple in London, England. The lecture had been ‘established in honor of the distinguished services of three generations of the Ware family to the cause of Pure Christianity.’”
The 2025 Ware Lecture will be delivered at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 21. Whether attending the lecture at the Baltimore Convention Center, streaming it live, or watching a video on-demand after the event, the lecture will be available to all who register for GA 2025.
Please share these events with your family and friends and attend yourself. We would love to see you!
FREE Events Happening at UUNB
AHA! Night, May 8: The SouthCoast Children's Choir will be performing in the Sanctuary starting at
Being Human takes place every Friday at 11 AM. Please use the parking lot door.
The 41st Annual Jazz Concert is brought to you with grants from the New Bedford, Acushnet, and Mattapoisett Local Cultural Councils, which are supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
Ticketed Events
Save the date! A special performance with Whatever Mike, June 6, 2025. Tickets are $25
Tickets to all of our shows can be purchased in the office with cash or check during regular business hours, Monday through Friday, 10 AM to 1 PM, or online with a credit card.
The calendar on our website shows everything happening at UUNB. Updates are displayed immediately, so you will always know what is planned
Let your spirit soar! The Z, New Bedford Historical Society, and New Bedford Symphony Orchestra are teaming up again to present Lift Us Up: A Juneteenth Celebration.
Join us for an afternoon of poetic prose and symphonic sounds at Abolition Row Park featuring Maia Jaye Livramento, Hendrick Hernandez - Resto, Iva Brito, Sidy Maiga, and Gabriel Johnson!
Saturday, June 14 from 1-2:30PM at Abolition Row Park. This event is FREE and open to all. Save your spot at zeiterion.org/events/lift-us-up-2025
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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