Update from our Director of Religious Exploration: 
From Rev. MAM:  Last week, I shared that DRE Loren Crawford’s daughter had suffered a stroke at age 24.  Here is the update as of May 6, 2025:

She is super busy at rehab.  She feels absolutely comfortable with the therapists and nurses. I am being trained in caregiving when I am here, but I’m able to go back to work too.  Just met with the Dr. He is pleased with her progress, she is getting stronger and more independent each day. He believes she will make a good recovery. He says we may at some point see a blood specialist to investigate the results of all the Baptist East blood tests and see if more are needed. He is setting a discharge date of May 15th. He recommends she start outpatient rehab the week of the 19th at their Center for advanced neuro rehab on the 6th floor. The Dr. said that everyone loves having her here because she works hard and has a bubbly, positive attitude.

With Blessings for Loren, her daughter, family, friends, and all the wonderful Health Care Professionals!   You all make the world a better place.

Budget Meeting and Conversation: Join Us 
The Board and Finance team are inviting you to join us for a 45
minute conversation about church finances and the proposed
budget for 2025 -2026 at one of these times:

• Saturday, May 10 at 10:30am on Zoom
  Note: This is NOT the same link used Sunday mornings
  Join here.   Meeting ID: 869 3639 853
  Passcode: AARK0A
• Sunday, May 11 at 10:00am In person in the Social Hall
• Sunday May 11  at 12:15pm In person in the Library

Committee and Group Reports Needed Now
If you have not yet turned in your report, please do so ASAP. Reports by groups, ministries, staff etc. were due in the office by Monday. If you did not receive the template or last year’s report, contact Barbara. If you aren’t sure if you should turn one in, please contact Barbara. These reports will be used to create the Report which is shared in the weeks leading up to the Congregation’s Annual Meeting on June 1.

Housing Leads Needed
A church member is seeking to rent a studio apartment, or equivalent housing, asap. He is on a fixed (SS) income and has a strict monthly including utilities. Contact the office for his phone number or more information.

The National UU Gathering: Online Monday, May 12
We come together across our faith community for spiritual grounding, political analysis, and to build the connections needed to take collective action as we continue to fight for a world where all people can thrive.  Join us every Second Monday of the month at 8pm ET. Click the March 10 link to hear a meeting. Join in:  May 12   June 9

Rev. MAM’s Farewell Plan
Reverend Mary Ann encourages you to schedule a “goodbye meeting”  with her, alone or in a group – even if just 15 minutes! Email to set it up. Some write notes instead. There will be a big Farewell Party on May 18 and a small reception after the June 15 service. See the MAM Memo for more information about the process.

In 1870, Julia Ward Howe created the first Mother’s Day Proclamation. She suggested celebrating it as a day for peace. She began with these words:
“Arise, all women who have hearts, whether your baptism be of water or of tears.” In this worship service, we celebrate, ponder, and learn about the layered meaning of Mother’s Day and the image of the Sacred Feminine.

For the zoom link, Click here. The Meeting ID is 4508929882 if you can’t attend in person.  You will not need a password. Contact the volunteer desk if you have trouble getting online.

Calling All Poets!
We will be honoring verse on May 25 during the service, “Imagination: the Gift of Poetry.” During this service, a handful of poets from our very own congregation will be sharing their poems. So if you, too, have a small poem you have written we encourage you to spread your wings and share it with your welcoming First U community at a Poetry Slam during the coffee hour after the service! If you would rather have someone else do the public speaking, consider asking a friend to read your poem aloud for you. Seriously consider reciting your work, though- poetry comes alive when shared aloud!

If you have a poem already written or can get one ready for the last weekend of May, RSVP for the Poetry Slam! Please time yourself speaking the poem aloud, and send your RSVP and the timed length of the poem to the office. We’re looking for pieces that are 3 to 5 minutes long, but please email to ask any questions.

May 11  Matriarchy v. Gynarchy (Dr. Judi Jennings)
For Mother’s Day, we’re exploring the sacred feminine. When we call God (Goddess) “she” are we merely placing a woman at the apex of a patriarchal system? Putting a woman at the top of the hierarchical power is “gynarchy” or “patriarchy in drag.” Shouldn’t we expect more than a “girl boss?” Dr. Judi Jennings, founder and former Executive Director of the Kentucky Foundation for Women will lead us in an examination of what it truly means – theologically and politically – to refuse the concept of presumptive male leadership at the apex of the universe’s hierarchy.

May 18 Central Louisville Community Ministry and First U (Linette Lowe)
First Unitarian is one of the member congregations that support Central Louisville Community Ministries (CLCM), and our membership is one of the many ways this congregation lives out its values in the world.  Linette Lowe, Executive Director of CLCM, will invite us to examine how First U helps meet the needs of our central Louisville neighborhood, what community ministry is, and how CLCM and the many First U members involved there are resisting the cycle of need in our community.

May 25 The Kids Are (Not) Alright: Mental Health for Gen Alpha
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and we’re going to have a conversation about the mental health challenges that young people – and their parents, their grands, their teachers, and other caregivers – face in a life mediated by tech, a world that’s in permacrisis, and a general sense of overload. We’re going to learn about destigmatizing the act of seeking help, and consider how this is not the same world many of us have navigated – as kids or as caregivers.

June 1 Robert’s Rules of Supremacy Culture
What better time to consider the European colonialism and supremacy culture that’s baked into Robert’s Rules of Order (RRO) than the day before our congregational meeting? We’re going to consider the cultural and ethnic barriers that get thrown in the way of progress and healthy decision making when we create processes that are supposed to bring about order and fairness to our meetings. We’ll also talk about alternatives to RRO and how they connect to our UU values.

Louisville Showing Up for Racial Justice – 2nd Wednesdays 7-8pm (May 14)
If you want to help us grow the base of white people showing up for racial justice in partnership with the multiracial struggle for a more just society come join us! We must work collectively to build the people power we need. We encourage you to consider getting involved in one action this month! LSURJ monthly meetings are the second Wednesday of each month from 7-8pm. We focus on Political Education, Leadership Development, Action and Base Building. To get our newsletter and email alerts, click here.

NEW: Concert/Fundraiser for Kentucky Refugee Ministries
Thursday, May 15 at 7pm
Join us for a performance including Louisville Orchestra Music Director, Teddy Abrams, and KRM musicians. We aim to raise awareness and funds to support KRM, preserving resource accessibility for refugees and immigrants. Practice with us the hope, resilience and strength born of the refugee and immigrant experience expressed across time and musical genres.” The concert is  Thursday, May 15 from 7:00 – 8:30pm at Trellis Brewing, 827 Logan Street, Louisville, KY 40204, (family-friendly venue, no age minimum for entry).
Cost:  $15-20 Suggested Donation (You can pay at the door or during the concert).

Training to Confront ICE: Thursday, May 15 from 6:30-8:30pm
Free Community Defense Training conducted by LSURJ
(Louisville Showing Up for Racial Justice
at The Barn at the Passionist Earth and Spirit Center 1924 Newburg Rd., Louisville
LSURJ has trained almost 200 people in Community Defense skills such as De-escalation, Know Your Rights, Accompaniment, Solidarity and How Our Liberation is Connected to the Liberation of Others. They have a list of teams and individuals already responding to calls for accompaniment. This includes folks from First U. LSURJ is serving at vulnerable gatherings, meet-ups, centers that accompany directly impacted communities, doing court accompaniment and more.

These are the times when we must decide that no person or community is expendable. As Dr Martin Luther King, Jr taught us, “It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” They cannot come for any of us, without coming through all of us. Let us be community—together. Register in advance

NEW: The Impact of Medicaid Cuts: May 19 at 6:00pm
Proposed cuts to Medicaid will profoundly affect Kentuckians. The League of Women Voters Louisville invites the public to learn about these cuts at the May 19, Democracy in Action Program “Medicaid Cuts Affect us All.  It’s Time to Act!” at the League Headquarters, 115 S. Ewing Avenue.

Medicaid provides cradle-to-grave health care to Kentuckians, as well as community care for individuals with disabilities. It not only provides physical and mental health, but also economic health to providers, facilities and supporting businesses. Currently, 1.5 million Kentuckians–one third of all Kentuckians are covered by Medicaid. The cuts could result in the loss of coverage to 450,000 Kentuckians, at an economic loss of 3.8 billion dollars. What will happen to the services that cover:

• Low- and moderate-income children and parents and other low-income adults
• Aged, blind, and disabled – including those with serious mental illness and developmental disabilities
• Elderly and disabled who require long-term care

Learn about these cuts and their impact from these leaders:
Priscilla Easterling, Director of Outreach & Enrollment, KY Voices for Health Dr. Bart Erwin, CEO, Family Health Centers
Mary Haynes, CEO & President, Advocacy Action Network
 Dr. Sheila Schuster, Executive Director, Advocacy Action Network, will give a
call to action.

Bring your questions, your concerns, and your friends.
The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan; grassroots organization working to protect and expand voting rights and ensure everyone is represented in our democracy. It empowers voters and defends democracy through advocacy and education at the local, state, and national levels.
For more information, contact The League during office hours 10:00 am – 3:00
pm.  (502) 895-5218 or Gail Henson.

KUUJAN.   May All Network Gathering May 22, 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm 
Visioning Part 1: The Board of KUUJAN is beginning a visioning process for KUUJAN. We realized a need for us to spend this summer clarifying our collective vision for what KUUJAN is and what it can be. The May gathering (ANG)  will begin this process, which we expect to last through the Summer, ending with an in person gathering to come to some final ideas of the upcoming vision for KUUJAN.  Please join us in May if you can.  This will be a really important conversation – and your voice matters!  Join the ANG by clicking here.