The UUCW Message
October 6, 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

An umbrella campaign, bringing people together who care about the future of our economy and the damage of mass incarceration
in our communities.
 
If you are reading The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander you won't want to miss this event!

Beau Rivers, Ministerial Intern
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.
 
News from the Loaves & Fishes Food PantryLFFP 

Our first Cooking Class is over and it was a great success!!!  Seven people graduated from class knowing how to cook better, prepare more nutritious food, understand labels in the grocery store and many other things.  They made new friends and had a grand time cooking and eating together in our kitchen and Fellowship Hall each Monday.  They learned how to plan meals so that they could use leftovers in more interesting ways. Denise Darrigrand and I, the coordinators of the class, learned quite a few things as well. We are excited to host another class in November for more clients. 
 
Please start thinking about Thanksgiving.  It's not too far away.  We'll be asking for $10.00 gift cards this year from local markets in addition to "goodies" to assemble bags for our Thanksgiving distribution.  Maybe you'll have a chance to "stock up a little" when we ask for donations.  Thank you.  Contact:  Dianne Mann, djmann@charter.net or (508) 963-0183 for more information.

 
News from the Accessibility and Inclusion Working GroupAccessibilityNews 
Who are we and what are we doing?  Good question.  We are a group of folks in our Church working on a project that would give our Church certification from the UUA as being "Accessible and Inclusive".  This Program would look much like our certification as a Welcoming Church.  We have spent almost a year working through two Checklists that assess our Physical Plant and the degree to which we are inclusive of people with all types of disabilities  (both seen and unseen).  We are now to the point of developing Projects on which to work.  We have some ideas but perhaps you have an idea of how we could be more welcoming.  We invite you to contact any of us with questions or ideas.
 
Members of our Group, some of whom have disabilities and some of whom do not, are:  Beau Rivers, Joan Webster, Judy Savage, Susan Crossley, Jan Cutman, Sharon Templeman, Mary Monica Miner and me.  We are striving to make our Church more accessible and inclusive.  For more information, contact:  Dianne Mann, djmann@charter.net or (508) 963-0183 for more information.
 
Touchstone Monthly Theme - 
Reason
October 7 - 12 TchstnQuotes

Oct 7: "The heart has its reasons which reason knows not." ~ Blaise Pascal

Oct 8: "Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense." ~ Gautama Buddha 

Oct 9: "Those who will not reason, are bigots, those who cannot, are fools, and those who dare not, are slaves." ~ George Gordon Byron

Oct 10: "Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear." ~  Thomas Jefferson

Oct 11: "How quick come the reasons for approving what we like." ~  Jane Austen

Oct 12: "There's nothing more annoying than cold logic and reason when you've got a good fit going."  ~ James Patterson

 

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.
 
Reminder about Fundraising! Fundraising 

Please keep in mind that one of our fundraising programs is the two bins across the street in our parking lot for books and clothing.  We actually make very good money from this endeavor!  So, as you're doing your fall cleaning or whatever, please take a minute to fill the bins as well as you can!

Religious Education News
RE News For October 4, 2015RENews 

Dear Families

We were all very excited to have 6 new families start with us over the past 2 Sundays.  We have 5 new babies in nursery and 3 new kindergarten children , 1 first grader and 2 3rd and 4th graders, and a high school youth group participant.  If you see a new face, take time to say welcome!!  As our children explored  in their "Connections" class this week, it is a way to show our love because , according to the  historical James Vila Blake Covenant:

"Love is the Spirit of This Church" ~~ James Vila Blake




Sunday October 11 - One Room School House (ORSH) - "Be Kind and Fair":
  • 10am -
    All children  attending classes begin in the sanctuary  with their family and will be dismissed following the "Change for Change "collection  to Fellowship Hall this week .
     
    On various Sundays throughout the church year, children will participate in a  "One Room Schoolhouse" "experience where all ages meet together in Fellowship Hall  for a story and age-appropriate activities.  Our youngest children in Spirit Play meet at their Spirit Play classroom first and are assisted through the "One Room" event by helpers.   All children should be picked up following the service in Fellowship Hall.  We find this grouping of all ages a wonderful way to build community and connection.  Older children can help younger children engage .Our older children have the wonderful opportunity to be role models .  Our younger children receive the gift of seeing how the older children move through this church community .  All have the experience of making new friends.
  • There will be no  Grade 8/9 OWL or Youth Group this week.
     
  • MISSION TRIP NEWS ! Please send your well wishes to our 20 Youth Group  teens and advisors who will travel this Friday morning- through Monday evening  to Elkton Maryland to live and work at Deep Roots- a family homeless shelter/community.
    ENDING HOMELESSNESS ONE CHILD AT A TIME


  
Robin Mitzcavitch, Director of Religious Education
Sunday News
   

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:

October 11Loaves & Fishes
Food Pantry
October 18Youth Group including
 Youth Group Bake Sale
October 25Religious Education Committee
November 1Hospitality Team
November 8Afternoon Book Group & Hooks and Needles Group


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!


Men's Group Meeting,
Oct 9, 7 - 9 pm, in the Lounge MensGroup 

The Men's Group meets monthly to share a meal and conversation.The group's members strive to build trust and close friendship with one another. Our next gathering will be in Fellowship Hall on Friday, 10/11/15 at 7 pm. All who consider themselves male are welcome.
 
 Food will be brought from a local restaurant and all those who wish to eat can split the cost of the meal. Please bring your favorite beverage to drink with dinner. Please R.S.V.P to willliamderr@hotmail.com or call the UUCW office at 508 853 1942. Please note whether or not you want food and any dietary restrictions.

Evening Book Club - October 14, 7 - 9 pm, Lounge  EveBookGrp

Join us this October 14th at 7:00 in the lounge for UUCW's Evening Book Club. This month's selection is Gardenias by Faith Sullivan:  

A month after the United States enters World War II, the country is in upheaval - and so is the Erhardt family. Nine-year-old Lark, her mother Arlene, and Aunt Betty are heading for San Diego, far away from Harvester, Minnesota and Arlene's shiftless husband. In the booming wartime economy, Arlene and Betty are soon at work, leaving Lark alone to explore their new neighborhood, a wartime housing project full of others with similarly uprooted lives. Away from prying eyes and small town expectations, the two women begin to forge new lives and new dreams - dreams that Lark isn't always comfortable with. This richly detailed novel, told through Lark's observant eyes, reflects the era's tumultuous events in the everyday dramas of its memorable, finely nuanced characters.  4 1/2 stars on Amazon

Evening Book Club Reading List:
Gardenias, by Faith Sullivan (Debbie Merrill)
The Lady in Gold, by Anne Marie O'Connor (Judith)
Broken For You, by Stephanie Kallos (Cristina Heffernan)
The Innovators, by Walter Isaacson (Cristina Heffernan)
Girl in Transition, by Jean Kwok (Nancy Hancock)
Trapped Under the Sea, by Neil Swidey (Dianne Mann)
In the Heart of the Canyon, by Elisabeth Hyde (Nancy Hancock)
The Secret Daughter by Shilpi Gowda (Nancy Hancock)


All-Church Photo - April 10, 2016 ChurchPhoto 

The photo representing the 2015-16 church community is scheduled for Sunday, April 10, 2016, immediately after service.   This is the photo that we've often taken in the fall; this church year we will be taking it in the spring.  We invite everyone to be present for this important photo.

Community News and Classifieds CommNews

Greater Worcester Humanists - Linda Miller, Co-Chair, Greater Worcester Humanists
The next Greater Worcester Humanists meeting will be Tuesday, October 13th at 7:00 P.M. in Fellowship Hall.  Social Time at 6:30.  Matthew Stewart, author of Nature's God will be our speaker.  See below for description of his subject and his background.

"Slavery and the Church: Or, How Atheism Freed the Slaves
Why has the enslavement of the mind throughout history been so closely associated with the enslavement of the body? According to a story that many Americans like to tell themselves, supernatural religion inspired and drove the movement toward the emancipation of the slaves. Yet many of the keenest observers of the time insisted that religion was one of the central pillars of the "peculiar institution." Leading thinkers and activists such as Frederick Douglass, the former enslaved person and ardent abolitionist, his friend Theodore Parker, the ex-Unitarian who helped fund the raid on Harper's Ferry, and Abraham Lincoln, a great admirer of Parker, were in fact part of an international movement that rejected revealed religion and drew much more heavily than is widely understood on the humanistic and atheistic thought of the radical Enlightenment. Meanwhile, southern clerics-the ancestors of today's religious right-along with many northern clerics adamantly justified the enslavement of African Americans with appeals to the Bible and sought to link the anti-slavery movement with religious infidelity, atheism, freethinking, and modern philosophy. In this talk, Matthew Stewart will discuss the complex role of religion and radical philosophy in the struggle over slavery. He will then draw lessons from this defining moment in American history for the relevance and importance of the humanist movement today.

Matthew Stewart is an independent scholar and writer living in the Boston area. His most recent book, Nature's God: The Heretical Origins of the American Republic, was longlisted for the 2014 National Book Award. He is also the author of The Courtier and the Heretic: Leibniz, Spinoza, and the Fate of God in the Modern World (a New York Times Notable Book), The Management Myth: Debunking the Philosophy of Business, and The Truth About Everything: An Irreverent History of Philosophy, with Illustrations. He is currently at work on book on the role of philosophy and religion in the struggle over slavery in the United States, and he needs all the help he can get."
Contact Information

Phone:

508-853-1942

Email:

office@uucworcester.org

 

 

Website:

www.uucworcester.org

 

Emergency Phone:

800-859-6404

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