LAFS Dinner Friday, Feb. 16
Friday, February 16, the Lively After Fifty group will meet for dinner at Ruth’s Parkside Cafe, 1550 Blue Rock St. in Northside on Feb. 16 at 6 p.m.  If you would like to attend, please let Anne Septic know by Tuesday, Feb. 13.

Forum: Living Well with Hearing Loss at St. John’s, and Beyond 
Sunday, Feb. 18, 9:45 to 10:45 a.m. In Krolfifer Hall

Member Charles Spencer will give participants with mild-to-severe hearing loss (and their main communication partner) the information they need to use the hearing assistance equipment in St John’s sanctuary space. St. John’s has recently upgraded its FM broadcast assistive listening system. Success in using the system requires guidance and patience and a good basic understanding of 1) how hearing and hearing loss work, 2) how your hearing aids work, 3) the operation of the “telecoil” in participants’ hearing aids and 4) the natural limitations of and common barriers to speech understanding, even with good hearing aids. Most hearing aid users have to work at learning to use their equipment over time. 

The Feb. 18 forum can simplify learning St. John’s listening system and help improve speech understanding elsewhere. Before the forum, participants should call their hearing care and hearing aid provider to make sure the telecoils in their hearing aids were activated and how to turn them on when needed. Please contact Charles Spencer, 541-514-6347 or chrlsspncr06@gmail.com, to learn more about how your hearing care provider can help you get more out of the forum and be successful with the system. 

Feb. 25 Soup and Bread Lunch

Join us for our next lunch to support our partner church in St. Laszlo, Romania. We need folks to make soup and bread, and to stay after service for this $6 opportunity to nourish the body and feed the soul in community. 

If you would like to help contact Mary Lynne Schuster at marylynne7@gmail.com.

Anti-racism Programs in February

The UU Council of Greater Cincinnati (UUCGC) Anti-Racism Initiative invites you to consider attending this program.

Building The World We Dream About:
A Cincinnati UU Anti-Racism Learning Opportunity     

Are you curious about the concepts of identity and difference? What do people mean when they talk about having privilege based on identity?

• Would you like to educate yourself to better address racism – to become a better anti-racist UU?
• Have you wondered how to help your congregation become more welcoming and inclusive across diverse ethnicities, races and cultures?
• Would you like to meet other Cincinnati-area UUs who are invested in promoting racial justice?

If your answers are “YES!” please consider participating in this year’s UU Council of Greater Cincinnati’s Anti-Racism Circle program on Zoom for 8 Tuesday evenings, 7-8:30 p.m., beginning Feb. 20. This FREE program builds on the success of the Anti-Racism Circle programming during 2021-2023 and is open to Cincinnati area UU adults, 18 or older, of all identities.

 A curriculum from the UUA titled “Building the World We Dream About” is the starting point for this program. Building on 2023’s “BTWWDA I,” 2024’s BTWWDA II retains deep personal reflection and explores actions that individuals and their congregations can take to be upstanders. The interactive curriculum is designed to help Unitarian Universalists from all levels of multicultural experience to personally  reflect on and share how we become better anti-racists.  Topics to be explored include culture and identity, perspectives and privilege, and how we can learn from multiple truths and multiple realities. 
 
Registration is required: http://tinyurl.com/UUbuildtheworld2024. Please register by Feb. 16. There is no course fee. 
For more information, please contact co-facilitators Joetta Prost (joettaprost@gmail.com), Linnea Lose (linnealose@gmail.com) and/or Diana Long (diana.r.long@gmail.com). 

Save these dates – Newcomer Potlucks!

The Spirit Connection Team announces the return of Newcomer Potlucks! This is a time for long-time members and friends to share food and conversation with visitors and new members. These are casual, family-friendly events held in Krolfifer Hall, from 5-7 p.m. The first potluck is Friday,  March 15.
 
Since these are potlucks, you are invited to bring some food to share – snack, side, main dish, soup, salad, dessert, anything you like. Sometimes life is complex and you won’t have time or energy to bring something. Come anyway! We always have plenty of food. Also, if you can’t stay for the whole two hours, come for part of the event. And please remember to bring your children.
 
Yes, there will be fun icebreakers, too!
 
NOW mark your calendars for these potlucks –

• Friday, March 15
• Saturday, May 18
• Sunday, September 15

Two springtime events:

• Save the Date: Join us in a celebration of St. John’s on April 28! More information to follow.
• Save the Date: Deeper Than Skin (https://deeperthantheskin.com/) will offer a city-wide workshop on May 4 at St. John’s. This workshop will be followed by a city-wide worship service on May 5 at First Unitarian Church. An experience of singing and listening, of experiencing a connection so deep that it makes you laugh, smile, cry and reconsider what you know about our history.

——Repeating events——

Meditation on Wednesdays

Meditation is available 4-5 p.m. Wednesdays. For more information, contact Erna at erna.olafson@gmail.com or Alicia at 513-807-9902. If you plan to come for the first time, please contact one of us beforehand so that we can look for you and let you into the building. 

Tai Chi and Chi Gong, next meeting Thursday, Feb. 15

Tai Chi and Chi Gong classes again meet in Krolfifer Hall on Thursdays from 10-11 a.m., every other week. There are 8 classes (having started Jan. 4).
 
Please join us for this beautiful moving meditation done to music (Huang style). We warm up with Chi Gong exercises, share poetry and check-in with each other. All are welcome.
 
Nan Fox has been practicing Tai Chi for many years, teaching at St. John’s and at UU summer camps.
 
There will be a break in the middle of the winter session, so, no class on Feb. 29. The following class will be on March 14.

Brown bag lunch with Rev. Jenn Thursdays

Bring a lunch and let’s chat.

Sanctuary and Immigration Team, virtually 2nd Wednesdays. Next meeting Feb. 14

Learn with our St. John’s UU Sanctuary and Immigration Team (SIT) about the region’s immigrants and refugees and how to support them. SIT meets on the second Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m. by Zoom.

Several members of St. John’s distribute food contributions through the Willows Project, with which we are associated. We are members of the Cincinnati Immigrant Dignity Coalition, and are involved with community organizations in our Cincinnati area, Butler County and Northern Kentucky.

All are welcome at the meetings. Contact: Sarah Loar Seibert, SIT coordinator, at seibertcs@zoomtown.com.