Blog

Minnesota offers “universal” Free School Meals—but those free meals are hardly universal. They exclude kids who follow a plant-based diet as well as those whose religions have very specific considerations for how meat is handled. An opt-in plant-based option (already implemented in Illinois!) would make these lunches truly available to everyone. MUUSJA and Genevieve Vavreck, a UU working with MN Plant-Based Kids, invites us to send letters of advocacy to our MN House and Senate representatives.

It’s a New Year! A time to reflect on and learn from the past year. To be grateful for what’s working in the present and let go of what’s not. To dream for the coming year and commit to actions that will help make those dreams come true.

Hello Lake Fellowship members/friends.  I am wishing for fewer people that are food insecure during 2025!  Lake Fellowship has donated approximately 50 lbs of food/month, $100.00 and 20 personal items.  That is outstanding!

I am challenging you to increase the amount of food donated/month to 75lbs. We start this challenge this Sunday, Jan. 5th.

You’ve got this Lake Fellowship.

At last Sunday’s program we were in three small groups talking about how the spiritual practice of Presence, this month’s theme, can help us live our new UU values. We chose between three of the values: Love, Transformation, and Generosity. When our group discussed what we’re already doing to practice Presence to live Transformation, I said that as a congregation we’re constantly Transforming what and how we do things to fit our members’ Transforming needs and wants. Because we are small and don’t have one leader, we’re able to be more Present to those and Transform relatively quickly.

Our monthly themes this program year all start with “Living Love through the Practice of (Invitation, Deep Listening, Repair, Presence, etc.).” The intent is that by practicing the theme we will live out our core UU value of Love. When I first saw that, I thought, “That’s great! I want to do that!” But so far, I have not been practicing the themes, probably because I don’t like to
practice things, possibly because I didn’t commit to using a specific tool to, and perhaps because I wasn’t accountable to anyone.

We’re trying something new for an upcoming program and need your questions! We are having a speaker on neurodiversity in February for our theme of The Practice of Inclusion. He has autism and is a night owl. He asked if he could prerecord his program. We said sure. Because we like to ask questions, we’re soliciting those ahead of time from you so he can answer them in his talk. So, please submit questions about:

1. Neurodiversity in general and/or
2. Inclusion of those who are neurodivergent

Hello Lake Fellowship (LF) members and friends, Happy Thanksgiving to you all.  Please remember to bring your food donation to LF this Sunday and some cash (or a check) for Soup Sunday.

The Wendt’s are making chili (Vegetarian and Turkey) for Soup Sunday, hopefully it will warm you a little during this cold weekend and the $$ donations you make will help a community agency assist in providing help to families with food insecurity.

Do you find traditions reassuring in an always changing world? Like our Annual Thanksgiving Potluck Feast last Sunday? My family and I joined LFUU 35 years ago and I think I’ve attended every feast since. It’s always wonderful to share good food and conversation with old and new friends!

This Sunday is our annual Fellowship Thanksgiving Feast! It’s a time for us to share what we’re grateful for and our favorite food. The Larsons are bringing a turkey, and we'll also have cranberries, onion tarts, and pumpkin pie. If you didn’t sign up to bring a specific food, just bring what you want, or just your appetite and your willingness to help set-up and clean-up. Everyone is welcome!

WeCAN is hosting its annual Winter Coat Drive on November 5th—Election Day—and they're looking for a few more volunteers to join the effort. If you have some time to spare and want to give back to your community, this is a great opportunity!

What’s Involved?

There are several ways you can help out, depending on your interests and availability: