The UUCW Message
September 15, 2015
In This Issue

Current News at UUCW 

Office Notes and Flyers



Office Hours
(Sept 1, 2015 - 
June 30, 2016):
Mon, Tues, Wed: 
9 am - 3 pm
Thursday 9 am - 2 pm
(Closed 2nd Wednesday
Oct - May)

Gmail Users - Please note that if you stop receiving the Message, Nugget, and Weekend Reminder, check your Promotions tab in Gmail. Often, you will find that church emails are in there! Please click  HERE for more information. Please share this information with your fellow congregants if they mention they aren't getting the Message!

PLEASE NOTE: Our trash and recycling is generally picked up once a month. Please be sure to break down all cardboard boxes before putting them in the recycling dumpster so it doesn't fill up too fast!

 

Congregational Mission Statement

"The members and friends of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester covenant to be a congregation of love, hope and justice inspiring people to take on the challenges of a changing world."

  

 

Welcoming Church 

Mission Statement 

The LGBTQI and Allies of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester strives to further the affirmation and celebration of LGBTQI individuals in all aspects of the church community. We also seek to increase the visibility of UUCW as a Welcoming Congregation within the greater community.

 

 

UUCW Covenant

In consonance with the principles and purposes of the Unitarian Universalist Association, we the members and friends of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester covenant to sustain and support a courageous and caring community by:

 

* Bringing our best selves to form a welcoming, loving, and inclusive community of faith;

 

* Creating an atmosphere of celebration and worship in a safe environment;

 

* Providing opportunities where diverse people and points of view are respected and where open-hearted and open-minded discussion of our differences is encouraged;

 

* Treating each other with kindness and respect;

 

* Approaching conflicts with a spirit of humility and with the respectful intent for peaceful resolution;

 

* Engaging in and encouraging spiritual and intellectual growth across the lifespan;

 

* Fostering social justice and positive transformation in our community and in the world at large;

 

* Growing and maintaining the resources necessary to support the missions and ministries of this congregation;

 

* Fostering fellowship and enjoying each other and the unique gifts that each person brings to our community.
Current News at UUCW

The New Jim Crow:
Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
 by Michelle Alexander
 
Book Discussion Series
"More African Americans are under the control of the criminal justice system today - in prison or jail, on probation or parole - than were enslaved in 1850. Discrimination in housing, education, employment, and voting rights, which many Americans thought was wiped out by the civil rights laws of the 1960s, is now perfectly legal against anyone labeled a "felon." And since many more people of color than whites are made felons by the entire system of mass incarceration, racial discrimination remains as powerful as it was under slavery or under the post-slavery era of Jim Crow segregation." 
 
Alexander explains how the criminal justice system functions as a new system of racial control by targeting black men through the "War on Drugs" and the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. The author argues that nothing short of a major social movement can end the new caste system. And her call is being answered through the rise of a grassroots organization called "Jobs Not Jails."
 
Join us in reading the New Jim Crow*
  • Learn how the new racial caste system developed in the United States
  • Develop strategies to expose the injustice of mass incarceration
  • Advocate for legislative reform to end racial discrimination
*SPECAL GUESTS will include social activist, Benito Vega
 
7:00 - 9:00 PM
 
SESSION I   - TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13   - Read Introduction and Chapter 1
SESSION II  - TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20   - Chapters 2 and 3
SESSION III - TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27   - Chapters 4 and 5
SESSION IV - TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3  - Chapter 6
  
Sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester
90 Holden Street  Worcester, MA
508-853-1942

Please CLICK HERE to download a flyer.

 
Beau Rivers, Ministerial Intern
News From The Loaves & Fishes Food PantryLFFP 

We work very diligently at the Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry to help alleviate hunger in our area.  The statistic on hunger in Worcester County are staggering.  These statistics are from the Worcester County Food Bank, Feeding America and Project Bread.
  • 82,951 people in Worcester County live at or below the poverty level ($23,050) for a family of four
  • $57,000 is the Annual Income needed to support a family of three in Worcester without assistance
  • In 2012, 12% of the population received assistance from the Worcester County Food Bank of which we are a member
  • 17.7% of children 18 and under in Worcester County live in households facing hunger issues
  • 33.5% of households with a disabled member face hunger issues
Over the next several months we will be asking for your help in several ways:  the food collection at the beginning of Services, a special "Turkey" to collect gift cards for Thanksgiving as well as a special food collection for Thanksgiving goodies.  And, of course, there are other holidays.  Please be as generous as possible.

If you have any questions about the Pantry, or if you are interested in volunteering, just shoot me an e-mail at  djmann@charter.net or call (508) 963-0183.  Thanks.
 
Save The Date! Crop Walk 2015!CropWalk 

Save the date for this year's CROP Walk!  Sunday, October 18, 2015
 
Join the UU Church of Worcester team and  put on our walking shoes with other congregations in the fight against hunger in our communities and the world.  Our own Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry along with the Wachusett Food Pantry will be the benefactors of 25% of the funds raised from the Walk.  Last year, Loaves & Fishes received $1,900!  The best year yet!
 
Sign up in Fellowship Hall this Sunday.  We need walkers, bakers, and a kitchen attendant.  You can also CLICK HERE to make a donation on the UU Church of Worcester team page. 
 
Please contact sueneaz@townisp.com for more information.
 
Touchstone Monthly Theme - Reverence
Daily Quotes for Sept 22 -28 TchstnQuotes
Day 22: "Science enhances the moral value of life, because it furthers a love of truth and reverence-love of truth displaying itself in the constant endeavor to arrive at a more exact knowledge of the world of mind and matter around us, and reverence, because every advance in knowledge brings us face to face with the mystery of our own being." ~ Max Planck

Day 23: "A religion, old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the Universe as revealed by modern science might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths." ~ Carl Sagan

Day 24: "True spirituality makes you loving and grateful, and forgiving, and patient, and gentle, and long-suffering. True spirituality breathes reverence into every act and deed." Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Day 25: "It is as impossible to live without reverence as it is without joy." ~ Henry Beston

Day 26: "By having a reverence for life, we enter into a spiritual relation with the world. By practicing reverence for life we become good, deep, and alive." ~ Albert Schweitzer

Day 27: "Authentic faith leads us to treat others with unconditional seriousness and to a loving reverence for the mystery of the human personality." ~ Brennan Manning

Day 28: "If you desire peace in the world, do not pray that everyone share your beliefs. Pray instead that all may be reverent." ~ Paul Woodruff
 

One of the exciting parts of the new Touchstones Ministry Themes program is the launching of Touchstones Small Group Ministry Groups.  These groups will meet regularly throughout the year to discuss the monthly themes published in the Touchstones Journal.  If you are interested in being part of a Touchstones Group, and/or becoming a leader/co-leader of one of our groups, please take a moment to fill out our short survey HERE.  We'll collect responses for the next month and hope to launch these groups in October 2015.
 
Introducing SimpleGive!SimpleGive 

UUCW's New Online / Digital Giving Platform
 
For those of you who do your bill paying and giving online, now you can add UUCW to your list of online donations!
 
SimpleGive is an online giving platform that gives donors a variety of options to financially support the church.  Give one time or schedule giving throughout the year.  Become a registered user or give a quick donation without registering.
 
Now you can give right from your smartphone (iPhone click HERE, Android click HERE) or computer.
 
To reach the UUCW SimpleGive page click HERE.
 
Religious Education News
RE News For Early September 2015RENews 

Dear Families

Our Rally Day and Start of Religious Education Classes is on September 27th. 
 
  • Nursery care for children 0-3 will be available beginning Sept 13th.  Your children can be dropped off anytime after 9:45am to Kris Johnson and her assistant. Please pick up children directly following the service.
  • All families begin in the sanctuary most Sunday mornings at 10am.  The children will be dismissed to their classes following the "Change for Change" children's coin collection.  All children can have a turn participating in the collection.  Please see an usher if your child would like to be a collector.  It's fun and easy!
  • If you have not yet registered for the RE Program, please see Robin , get a form at the RE Office or CLICK HERE to register online.


Who , What, Where for  Children's RE Classes:  Starting September 27, 2015

Grade/AgeName of ClassLocation/Time
Age 0 - 3NurseryBack of Fellowship Hall
9:45 - 11:15 am
Pre-K, KSpirit PlayClassroom 1 (Closest to Sanctuary, 10:15 - 11:15 am
Grade 1 and 2Wonderful WelcomeClassroom 2 (middle classroom- enter through classroom 3)  10:15-11:15 am
Grades 3,4,5ConnectionsClassroom 3-( room closest to fellowship hall) 10:15-11:15 am
Grades 6 and 7Popcorn TheologyFellowship Hall 10:15-11:15 am
Grades 8 and 9In Service*, and OWLService 10 am, OWL in Fellowship Hall 3-6 pm through Jan 31st**
Grades 9-12In Service* and Youth GroupService 10 am, Youth Group in Fellowship Hall 6-8 pm

* If there is interest, we may have a "Breakfast Club" gathering during service for grades 8 and up** You must pre-register to participate in OWL.  Please contact Robin if you want more information.

Special Meetings/ Happenings:
  • Sunday Sept 27th:  Teen OWL Kick-Off  3-6pm
  • Sunday Sept 27th  5-6pm-  Dinner Meeting for Youth Group Seniors with Robin Aaron, Cheryl and Beau.  Let's Talk  "Bridging Year!"
  • Sunday Sept 27th- Youth Group Kick-Off World Café and Game Night. 6-8pm
  
Robin Mitzcavitch, Director of Religious Education
Sunday News
   

Rally Sunday! September 27RallySunday
     
The postcard you see here is postmarked Sept. 27, 1917.  Back in that day the First Universalist Church of Worcester held an annual "Rally Day" which was described a few years earlier in The Message as ". . . when an effort is made to have every member present and when promotions take place. . . Quite a few faces of our folks have not been seen at the Sunday morning service as yet, and it is time we all realized that the vacation is over and that the regular services and work of the Church need us.  Will not then all of our people rally with zest Sunday morning and take up another year's work with a spirit a which means success?"
 
It was a good idea then and a GREAT IDEA now!  Over the years this congregation has employed a variety of measures to invite the participation of the congregation into the variety of ministries and projects that we facilitate.  This year the Staff will sponsor "Rally Day" and invites all those responsible for programming, groups, events, etc., to bring sign-up sheets, posters, table displays etc., to highlight the work that is planned for this year and to encourage the broadest possible involvement by members and friends of the congregation.  Please join us during coffee hour for this fun and important event!
 
And. . .thanks to Rachel Peckar and Chester Clarke for finding and preserving the 1917 postcard!
 
 Blessing of the Animals - 
Soulful Sundown, Sunday October 4 at 6 pmAnimalBlessing
     
 
On Sunday, October 4, at 6:00 pm, our monthly Soulful Sundown Service will feature a Blessing of the Animals.  We invite all members and friends to bring their beloved pets to be part of this service.  In order to create a safe and welcoming environment the following guidelines are offered.
 
Pet participants should be:
  • disease and parasite free 
  • neutered or not in season
  • human and animal friendly 
  • housetrained (in the event we need to move inside because of inclement weather)
Those with pets should
  • Have their pets on a leash or safely crated at all times
  • Arrive with healthy, clean, well behaved animals 
  • Bring baggies or other items to clean up any stool incidents
  • Take energetic dogs for a nice walk ahead of the event to help lower their energy level
Please leave any pets who show signs of illness at home, both for their sake, and for the health of the other pets participating. Also, pets of a nervous, fearful, aggressive or overly dominant disposition may not enjoy this event, and they should not be made to participate. Please feel free to bring an item belonging to these pets to represent them and be blessed - a favorite toy or blanket, or their collar or harness may be good options.
Sign Up To Be Part of a Sunday Morning Worship TeamSMWT
     
Worship at UUCW is the product of many voices, hands and hearts.  Each Sunday we look forward to hearing from each other about the important happenings in our lives and the world, and our worship experience is made rich and meaningful because of the variety of voices included in it.
 
We are looking for people to become part of one of our Sunday Morning Worship Teams as a Worship Associate (WA), Worship Reader (WR) or Chalice Lighter (CL) .  WAs work with the Worship Leader to help setting up the sanctuary prior to the service. WR work with the worship leader to  read the welcome, presenting the opening words, and sometimes introduce the offertory or assist with a ritual.  CL's work with the worship leader to provide the chalice lighting for the service. You do not have to have any previous training, we'll work with anyone willing to lend their presence to this program.
 
Congregation Leaders!  Do you have a special church program, project or group that you are promoting?  Becoming part of a Worship Team on the Sunday(s) before your activity gives you a moment to introduce the congregation to your activity.  
 
New to the congregation?  This is a wonderful way to become known and to have an opportunity to introduce yourself.
 
Willing to give it a try?!  Then please visit HERE to sign up on any upcoming Sunday morning.
 
Want more information or have questions? Please do not hesitate to contact our Minister. 

HosT Coffee Hour NewsHOST
     
The HosT coffee hour team thank all the many church teams, groups, and committees who have signed up to HosT coffee hour this year!  
 
We are using Volunteer Spot to make it easier for people in your group to select a healthy food option to bring to coffee hour, and to sign up for the simple duties that are involved in running coffee hour.  
 
HosT (Hospitality Task Force) will provide the fair trade coffee, tea, water and juice.  (HosT depends on coffee hour donations to keep supplies in stock....your donations during any coffee hour are gladly accepted!)
 
Would you like to be involved with the HosT Team?  Let us know!!
 
 Groups on deck for HosT-ing:

September 27Board of Management
October 4SOUP Sunday with
Kristen Payson
October 11Loaves & Fishes
Food Pantry
October 18Youth Group including
 Youth Group Bake Sale
October 25Religious Education Committee


Ongoing Event News 
Lunch With The Minister - 
Wednesday, October 7 at noon!  LunchwMinister

Join us Wednesday, October 7 at Noon for Lunch with the Minister.  Bring a bag lunch and something to share if you desire. We'll have coffee and a place set for you in the lounge.  Come join the conversation and camaraderie!  No reservation necessary.


Readers Unite Afternoon Book Club - October 7!  AftBookClub

Our selections and meeting dates for the Readers Unite Book Group
on the first Wednesday of the month at 1pm, following Lunch with the Minister.
 
Oct 7: Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee (Aaron)
Nov 4: All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (Audrey)
Dec 2: First Impressions by Charlie Lovett  (Nancy)
Jan 6: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (Kim)
 
Read a book and join our discussion group!

Community News and Classifieds CommNews

Apartment For Rent - Rachel Keyo
A two bedroom unit, with 1 bathroom on the 2nd floor of a well maintained 1914 Colonial Revival triple decker. The unit comes with a refrigerator, five burner stove/oven, washer and dryer hookup, an eat-in-kitchen, a butler's pantry, a parlor and living room, separated by french doors. There is yellow birch hardwood floors throughout the unit, with matchboard panelling and walnut woodwork. This unit also comes with a lockable storage room on the same floor. The dramatic hillside location provides excellent city views. Easy access to 290, 146 and MA-90. On the WRTA bus route, close to Central Hub and Union Station. Please see HERE for apartment listing.
Contact Information

Phone:

508-853-1942

Email:

office@uucworcester.org

 

 

Website:

www.uucworcester.org

 

Emergency Phone:

800-859-6404

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