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Announcement re. ANNOUNCEMENTS!!!
What's happening? When? Where? Starting on Sunday January 15th, an Announcer will stand up a few minutes before our service begins, and deliver any current news and announcements. After Announcements, we will have a Quiet Sanctuary so that people can meditate or enjoy the Musical Prelude to Worship.
Sarah Witte has volunteered to be the Announcer for 2012. Announcements can be emailed in advance or handed to Sarah on Sunday mornings, or even left on the pulpit. sarahcoffinwitte@gmail.com Please try coming a few minutes earlier so you can get the news and enjoy the music. Many thanks in advance!
PLEASE NOTE: There are 2 new features in Channels to make for easier reading:
1. Click on the Table of Contents section you would like to view. You'll be taken right to that section.
2. At the end of most sections (boxes) you'll be able to quickly return to the top by
clicking on "Return to Top." |
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Channels Newsletter
January 6, 2012
Mission Statement of the First Universalist Church of Yarmouth
Connected by Unitarian-Universalist principles,
We join hands in open-minded and caring community
To support spiritual exploration and growth,
To celebrate and honor life's journey,
And to inspire engagement in an evolving world.
Religious Exploration
Check out our WEBSITE.
"We are a Welcoming Congregation"
CHANNELS Newsletter Table of Contents
1. Worship
2. Programs
a. Religious Exploration
b. Faith-in-Action
c. Denominational Connections
d. Church Library
3. Governance & Stewardship
4. Community Announcements & Events
6. Blog Links
7. Storm Closing Information
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 MLK Sunday Celebration
Sunday, January 15th, 10:30 am
January 15 - Martin Luther King Jr. Sunday This wonderful worship service includes special music from our Choir, and singer and music educator Diana Hansen. Hear and participate in the music and the passion that has informed and liberated African influence in America, the African-American life and struggle for freedom, MLK's hope for us, and how that hope lives on in the world in artists like Ysaye Barnwell.
RE = On this holiday weekend all children are welcome to stay with us in the sanctuary and enjoy the worship service with their own grown-ups. If anyone needs to take a break, the child-care workers are happy to welcome young children in the nursery. There will be no youth group meetings/classes this afternoon.
Worship Calendar
January 15 - February 12 Our Worship theme will be "The Call" - How do we understand amd embrace vocation in our lives and our faith?
January 22 - Guest preacher D'vorah Kelly is back with us to offer her thoughts on vocation and faith. Join us!
January 29 - Stranger and Traveler - the vocation of Dorothea Dix
Join Rev. Jennifer and Worship Weaver Kate Connelly in their exploration of the life of one of our great Unitarian foremothers, Dorothea Dix. Come find out what Dorothea's passion, courage, and sheer stubborn brilliance has to teach us about our own desire to answer "the call".
And remember, our Mid-Year Meeting is today (1/29) after the service. Members and friends, ple ase stay for this important chance to speak together as a community. (Our Sr. youth will be selling a delicious and inexpensive lunch as a way to fundraise for the their 2012 Romanian Mission Trip - it's another great chance to talk to them about what they're up to and why they're so excited!)
February 5 - Further exploration with Rev. Jennifer about the paths we choose, how we know we're on the "right one" and what to do when we know we're not!
February 12 - We're happy to welcome back guest preacher Lyn Betz as she shares with us her views on vocation and life's journeys.
~ (stained glass ~ Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church)
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Religious Exploration
RE = On this holiday weekend all children are welcome to stay with us in the sanctuary and enjoy the worship service with their own grown-ups. If anyone needs to take a break, the child-care workers are happy to welcome young children in the nursery. There will be no youth group meetings/classes this afternoon.
Reclaiming the Story
Adult Religious Education opportunity in UU biblical studies
Are you interested in some of the progressive interpretations of ancient Biblical stories that Rev. Jennifer has been using in worship lately? Do you have questions about the Bible, or how you've heard it used? Want to be culturally literate and sensitive when it comes to the Christian and Hebrew scriptures without having to understand them as a literal or hard-line "truth"? Then this is the class for you! We'll meet on Monday, January 30th from 6:30 - 8:30 pm, and plan for two follow-up sessions together - so bring your questions, concerns, stories, and your calendars!
You must PRE-REGISTER for this course by Sunday, January 22nd, so please contact Suzanne Warfel, Church Administrator, at 846.4148 or office@uuyarmouth.org
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Hungarian Dinner to Support Sr. Youth Mission Trip
 6 PM Saturday, January 21st in the church Gathering Room
Join us for a very special fundraising event to benefit the Summer 2012 Senior Youth Mission Trip to Gyepes, Romania.
Enjoy delicious Transylvanian-style appetizers, dinner and desserts, graciously served by our Senior Youth. Tickets: $20 Adult, $10 Youth, No charge for kids under 10. Childcare available upon prior request. Look for senior youth selling tickets during coffee hour. All proceeds will benefit the 2012 trip to Transylvania. For more information, please contact Marge Titcomb, 846-4765. This fundraiser is co-sponsored by the Partner Church Committee and the First Universalist Senior Youth Group. Back to Top |
Got Teenagers?
We do! One of the things Yarmouth First U is known for in our faith movement is our thriving youth program. This building fills up not only on Sunday mornings, but late Sunday afternoons and into the evenings when over 30 teenagers arrive here at their spiritual home to engage in Our Whole Lives, Coming of Age and Sr. Youth group. We invite you to pay special attention, for the next few months, to the Sr. Youth group because 1) they are not Sunday morning worshippers, but they do want to know you and be known, so they showed up to the Holiday Fair to give back to our organization, and they are updating their web page with new pictures and short bios that let you know a little more about them, what they do, and what they believe, and 2) they're going on an international mission this year, to Romania, and they need our support in enthusiastically supporting their fundraisers over the next few months! These fundraisers allow all youth to participate in this faith-building, direct-service opportunity regardless of their finances, and also allow the youth to raise money for the work project they will engage in in our Partner Village of Gyepes, Romania. Particpating in these fundraisers is a great way to meet some of our teenagers, get to know them, and lend your support to their development as Unitarian Universalists and active participants in their communiy, society and world. Here are some things coming up:
Hungarian Dinner
Saturday, January 21st at 6pm. Great food, service with a smile, lots of laughs, and a few little surprises from Gyepes
Mid-Year Meeting lunch
Sunday, January 29th right after the service. Stay for lunch and/or donate soups and breads, either way all proceeds go directly to the Sr. Youth 2012 Mission!
Valentine's Day treats
Beginning Sunday, January 29th and continuning into February
the Sr. Youth Group will be selling baked treats and beautiful gifts perfect for your loved ones on Valentine's Day - and conveniently located in the Gathering Room right after church!
Valentines Day babysitting
Tuesday, February 14th. Go out and have fun while your kids stay here at the church and play with their friends, eat pizza and healthy snacks, and are lovingly cared for by our enthusiastic, game-loving, CPR certified teens. Sign-up sheet posted in the Gathering Room - don't delay!
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Faith-in-Action
Half Plate ~
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People will be the recipient of half our plate collection on January 15th. The NAACP is more than one hundred years old; a Unitarian minister, John Haynes Holmes, was one of its founders. It is the oldest and largest civil rights organizaton in this country. Its accomplishments are many, but it continues to work for "justice for all Americans," as in its current campaign to see that voters' rights are not restricted by new requirements. This congregation has long supported the NAACP through membership, contributions, and attendance at the annual Martin Luther King Breakfast. Please help us continue this tradition.
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Denominational Connections & the First U Library
What is a FILM FORUM?
FILM FORUM is the monthly showing of a documentary in the Common Room of First Universalist Church. It is meant to provoke thought and discussion. The format is a DVD shown on our television screen. It is not meant to be a "Friday Night at the Movies." We hope attendance will grow so that the controversial ideas and following discussion will involve more members of our congregation and even the larger community. It is sponsored by the church library and the Denominational Connections Committee and is always on the first Friday of the month. Next Film Forum Topic is Immigration--Save the Date!: The Denominational Connections Committee and Library team up to co-sponsor a monthly film and discussion on the first Friday evening of each month at 7pm in the Common Room. We watch and share our reactions to thought-provoking films, often about issues and events our denomination, through the UUA and UU Service Committee, is studying or addressing. It's another great way to get to know--and be known by--others in the congregation. The February 3 film will be about immigration, the topic recently selected by UUA General Assembly vote to be the denomination's current "congregational study action issue". Stay tuned! Back to Top |
Denominational Connections
MLK Day Events:
In case you missed the article this week in the Portland paper, several events take place this long weekend around Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
1. There will be a discussion on "The Economic Crisis in Our Own Backyard" from 2 to 4 on Saturday at the Preble Street Resource Center (5 Portland St.),
2. followed by a March for Justice at 4:15 (Saturday) to City Hall.
3. On Sunday the NAACP hosts a free concert at Merrill Auditorium (suggested donation $5) from 6 to 8.
4. On Monday morning from 8 to 10:30, the annual MLK Breakfast takes place at the Holiday Inn By The Bay on Spring Street. (At least 7 members of our congregation already plan to attend). Tickets are $25 and a separate program for kids ages 5 to 12 is $15.
Bring in Those Guest At Your Table Boxes: About a quarter of our Guest At Your Table boxes have already been returned, with almost $350 collected so far to support the human rights work of the UUSC and its partners around the world. (You can learn more about this life-changing and inspiring work at www.uusc.org.) Please return the box that may be on your table (just leave it in the back of the sanctuary), and remember to fill in your information on the back of the box to have your gift acknowledged or to sign up for UUSC membership.
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Church Library
Our generous members continue to donate books to the library, which makes it much richer than it would be if we depended only upon our budget. Recently, the Truesdale family, Kristina,Will, and their children, donated a number of very nice children's books; two honor new babies: ON THE DAY YOU WERE BORN and THE TWELVE GIFTS OF BIRTH, good choices to read on children's birthdays. My favorite is OUR NEST by Reeve Lindbergh. Mary Louise Haskell donated a Maine-based children's book called A CARIBOU ALPHABET. The Village Nursery School, which operates in our church during the week, gave us a group of books containing folk tales. Ben Tupper gave us a book called ACTS OF FAITH by Eboo Patel, a Muslim who devotes his life to building good relations between young people in the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian communities. Nan Hughes donated THE END OF FAITH by Sam Harris, and Laurel Amabile brought us THE DEATH OF JOSSELINE: IMMIGRATION STORIES FROM THE ARIZONA BORDERLAND; this book is assigned reading for people attending the General Assembly in Phoenix this year. Marge and Pete Titcomb brought back several books from Romania which tell the history of the Unitarian movement in that part of the world, and there is one book, called AN UDVHARELY COUNTY MOSAIC, which is a beautiful photo mosaic of a particular county in Transylvania. They also brought us the DVD about early Unitarianism, especially about Michael Servetus, which we showed as part of the Film Forum recently. All of us were inspired by this story of one of our martyrs. If you didn't attend, I urge you to check out the DVD and watch it at home. Our young people should see it, too. We also have the DVD "Tapped," about water. On certain subjects, we have really impressive collections, for instance on Native Americans. Some time soon I plan to display the collection during coffee hour. I hope you will look it over and borrow something. Isabel Denham, Librarian Back to Top
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3. Governance & Stewardship
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Mid-Year Congregational Meeting, Sunday January 29
Our Mid-Year Congregational Meeting is scheduled for Sunday, January 29th following the service. Please plan to attend.
Soups and bread needed!
We are looking for volunteers to provide soup and bread for the luncheon planned prior to the Meeting. There is a sign-up sheet on the "Our Church Community" bulletin board in the Gathering Room, or you can contact Chris Manderson at cmanders@maine.rr.com
Thank you! Back to Top
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Please Pardon Our Appearance
If you visit our Sanctuary in the next few days, you will see a
scaffolding occupying the Apse. The much needed repair of the Apse began when it received a new coat of plaster. Good news -- now it is being
painted according to the overall color plan for the Sanctuary. Thanks
for your patience.
- The Buildings & Grounds Committee
Snow Shoveling for Church The church and parsonage driveways are professionally plowed, but we  rely on volunteers to clear the 5 church entrances. A sign-up sheet is posted in the Gathering Room. Please pick a day of the week that you could do this winter. I'll bring over my snow blower if it gets really deep. Let me know if you can't sign up for a day, but would be willing to be on a call list. Thanks, Pete Titcomb (846-4765) Interviews with History ~ Digital video camera needed
Church members will be conducting some "interviews with history" in celebration of Unitarian Universalism's 50th Anniversary. We are in need of digital video cameras to borrow for up to a month. Do you have a digital video camera we could borrow? Thanks! Mariana and Ben Tupper ben.bighair@gmail.com or 699-9686 Back to Top
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4. Community Announcements & Events
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Winter Yoga Classes
The Winter Yoga Session continues this Saturday, January 14th from 10:00 am to 11:15 am in the Church sanctuary. There will be NO class the next two Saturdays: Jan 21 and 28. Classes are expected to resume on Feb 4. Watch this space for further information. This is a multi-level yoga class. Suggested donation $10 to drop-in. Funds collected go half to the church and half to a charity selected with the class.
Questions? Call the Instructor, Lois Howlett at 847-3055 or email Loishowlett@yahoo.com. All welcome. Class canceled in poor weather conditions. If in doubt, call Lois.
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Akeelah and the Bee
First Parish Congregational Church in Yarmouth is sponsoring a Community Movie Night on Sunday, Jan. 22nd at 5PM. Doors open at 5 and the movie will start at approx. 5:15. It has a run time of just under two hours. Please spread the word - all are welcome to join us.
In this heart-warming film, precocious eleven-year-old Akeelah from south Los Angeles is found to have an affinity for spelling. Despite her mother's objections, Akeelah enters a contest and eventually finds herself at the National Spelling Bee. A mysterious teacher and a cast of colorful characters from her neighborhood help her along her journey.
Miss Representation
Presented by Freeport Community Service and TARP (Tolerance and Respect Project); co-sponsored by Boys to Men; January 30th, 6:30 - 8:30 pm at the Freeports Performing Arts Center. FMI www.maineboystomen.org katherineb2m@maine.rr.com or 774-9994
Rev. Karen Foley offers two "AGING with SPIRIT" Retreats:
Tuesday, February 7, at Rolling Ridge Retreat Center in North Andover, Massachusetts (9:30-3:30, coffee at 9:00)
$53 early registration, $60 after January 31. Includes lunch.
Friday-Saturday, March 2-3, at Living Water Spiritual Center, Winslow, Maine (7 pm-4pm)
$85 (includes Sat breakfast & lunch)
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Professional Parent Program at the Opportunity Alliance
50 Lydia Lane, South Portland.
Coach - Advocate - Mentor - Cheerleader - Guide
Established in Maine in 2005, there is no other program like this in our state. Take a teenager into your home for just 9 to 12 months. Kids learn the new skills needed to get home to their parents and you help a community, a family, and a child right in your neighborhood. $525 per week tax free plus mileage reimbursement. Professional Parents in The Opportunity Alliance program must live within a 35 minute drive from South Portland. Back to Top |
5. Church and Office Information
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CHANNELS deadline:
The deadline for submissions
to Channels is 9 am on Thursday.
Submit news & photos to:
office@uuyarmouth.org
DID YOU KNOW THAT: 1. You can access the church's calendar of events from our website? Click here.
2. Minutes from Yarmouth First Universalist Board Meetings can be found on
our website? Click here.
3. You can access back copies of CHANNELS on our website? Click here.
4. Upcoming Events are regularly updated on our website? Click here.
Church Office Hours
9:30 am - 1 pm ~ Tuesday-Friday
Rev. Jennifer's office hours are on Mondays and Thursdays starting at 10 a.m.. She is also happy to meet outside of office hours whenever necessary. Please call her at 356-1467 or email at yarmouthminister@yahoo.com to make an appointment.
WEBSITES:
CONTACT INFORMATION:
First Universalist Church
97 Maine Street
Yarmouth, Maine 04096
(207) 846-4148
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Here's how we're going to handle storm closings this year at First U:
If Yarmouth has declared a village-wide ban on all street parking because of the weather, church is closed. You can find out about parking bans by watching the local weather on channels 6, 8 and 13 or by calling the Yarmouth police department - non-emergency number - 846-3333.
- If the Sunday service was going to rely heavily on children and youth involvement and there's been a massive amount of snow and ice overnight, the service is most likely cancelled and church closed. It's our policy not to put that kind of pressure on families to put their children in the car and drive in bad weather.
- We post all closings on Channel 8 by 7 a.m.
- If in doubt do not call the church phone, the outgoing message of which is nearly impossible to change on short notice and which won't be working anyway if the power is out.
- Do call Rev. Jennifer's cell phone and listen to the outgoing message. That number is 207/356.1467. Please do not leave a message if that's all you needed to know :)
- Please DO leave a message for Rev. Jennifer on her cell phone if you've lost power/heat and need assistance, including, perhaps, a warm place to be for the day!
Thank you - We're looking forward to a wonderful, safe winter together.
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