The UUCW Message
December 15, 2015
In This Issue

Sunday & Holiday News!


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.
Sunday & Holiday News!
  
Special Collection at Holiday ServicesEmergencyFund
  
During the special holiday services Dec 20 through Dec 27, members and friends of the congregation are invited to participate in our special offering project in support of the Minister's Discretionary, Emergency Fund.  This fund serves families both within our congregation and the community at large by providing needed resources such as heating oil, gas, clothing, medicine, partial rent, school supplies, etc. for those in need.  During 2015 $2888.00 was distributed from this fund. Please consider your contribution to this important ministry.  Envelopes will be handed out with Orders of Service and extras will be available in the foyer.  Thank you in advance for your generosity and compassion.


Holiday Vespers Tea December 20VespersTea1
  
Plan on enjoying the annual Vespers Tea immediately after the beautiful Vespers service.   We will take out our silver coffee and tea service and our china to again celebrate the holiday season the way our congregation has done it for years. Come into Fellowship Hall still singing "Silent Night" and join us in fellowship and wonderful food, drink, and conversation.
 
Please bring either a savory (if your last name starts with A - N) or sweet dish (O - Z) to share. Drop it off in Fellowship Hall before the service. Write a list of the ingredients on a file card and place it with your dish to provide information for people with allergies.
 
Please see the announcement below about Vespers Tea Teams! We will be setting up an hour prior to the start of service. Can you come early and set up tables and/or help with plating?   Are you available to help set out food after the service? Who wants to serve tea water, coffee, or festival punch? Lastly, we need all to help clean up so no one has to stay late. Thank you for your time and consideration in helping us make this "The Best Vespers Ever!"

Holiday Vespers Tea Sign-up!VespersTea
  
Our Annual Holiday Vespers Tea will be held on Sunday, December 20th following the 4:00 PM Vespers Service.  We need folks to sign up to be part of the Set Up Team, Serving Team and Clean Up Team.  We welcome the assistance of all ages!  Please take a moment to sign up HERE.  Instructions and guidelines for these teams will be communicated prior to December 20th.  Please help us make this year's Vespers Tea the best ever!

This year the Accessibility Committee is hoping to provide accessible seating for our Annual Vespers Tea. For those in our congregation who would greatly benefit from help with carrying their food and a place to sit we will convert two classrooms into a festive eating area. There are many individuals who have a difficult time standing,eating and juggling their food and drink and would be able to enjoy this gathering in a quieter space. So in the Spirit of Everyone enjoying this annual event- Merry Christmas from the Accessibility Committee.
 
Upcoming Holiday Services HolidayWorshipServices
 

 

UUCW Annual Giving TreeGivingTree
 
Thanks to our children for decorating the tree!

Thanks to ALL for adorning the tree and your gift card donations-  They will be in thankful hands this Saturday! 
 
Our Loaves and Fishes clients will be the recipients of your generosity this Saturday.   Thanks for reaching out!!
 
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!   
 
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:
December 2011:15 am: Members and Friends of UUCW
5:30 pm: Annual Vespers Tea, details to be announced. 

December 27Members and Friends of UUCW
January 3Soup Sunday with Hospitality Team
January 10Connections Class
January 17Nursery &
Spirit Play Classes

Current News at UUCW
 
 
 
A Special Thank You From RobinTYRobin 

A little elf  (or elves!)  left a very , very thoughtful gift card in my mailbox at church last week.
 
Thank you !    That was so sweet and so very appreciated!  
 
Happy Holidays to YOU!!

~~Robin


Holiday and New Year's Shopping ! 
            Our table will be in Classroom 1 on Dec 20th and Dec 27th!



Come visit our UUA Book Fair table, a great assortment of books and gifts for everyone on your holiday list.  Fair trade products make a great gift too!!
 

Interfaith Hospitality Network Host Week
January 24 - 30, 2016 IHNNews
 
We have begun sign-ups for our host week at the Interfaith Hospitality Network, 91 June Street, Worcester.  The schedule is posted on an easel in Fellowship Hall and you are welcome to volunteer for an evening or overnight slot.  We had the opportunity to hear from a represent of the IHN Advisory Board this past Sunday describing the good work they are doing and the work ahead.  Please consider signing up by filling in your name in an open slot.  I will contact you with details or you may email me directly to sign up.  Also beginning December 27, we will begin collecting funds to be used for groceries for the week.  See me or Robin Mitzcavitch to donate or mail your check to me directly at 6 Browning Road, Shrewsbury 01545.
 
Shintaido Class 
- Saturday, December 19, 1:30 - 2:30 pm, Fellowship Hall Shintaido
 
Saturday Dec 19 from 1:30 to 2:30 give yourself a break, take an hour to relax, breathe and connect with yourself and others through a very accessible Shintaido class with Joe Zawielski Wear loose comfortable clothing.
 
Our congregation is listed among eligible charities to receive 0.5% of the purchase price on eligible items through AmazonSmile.   When ordering items through amazon, go to smile.amazon.com, sign into your account and in the "supporting" area under the search bar, search for Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester.  Items that are eligible through the AmazonSmile program will list ""Eligible for AmazonSmile donation" in their product description.  The church receives a quarterly check from AmazonSmile which becomes part of our fundraising total for the fiscal year.  
 
Touchstone Monthly Theme - 
Generosity
December 15 - 21 TchstnQuotes
 
Dec. 15:  "What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal." 
~ Albert Pike

Dec. 16: "Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give." 
~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Dec. 17: "No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave."~ Calvin Coolidge"

Dec. 18: "You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you." ~ John Bunyon

Dec. 19: "Giving frees us from the familiar territory of our own needs by opening our mind to the unexplained worlds occupied by the needs of others." ~ Barbara Bush
 
Dec. 20: "Remember that there is no happiness in having or in getting, but only in giving. Reach out. Share. Smile. Hug. Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself." 
~ Og Mandino
 
Dec. 21: "Think of giving not as a duty but as a privilege." 
~ John D. Rockefeller Jr.

Religious Education News
RE News For December 20, 2015RENews 

Dear Families

As we round the bend to our final weeks of 2015, I would like to wish you all Happy Holidays.  I can't wait to see you this Sunday, Dec 20th  at Vespers.  Remember- All children are welcome to participate in our pageant entitled "Season's Reason's". Watch for emails for specific details!!  
 
Please arrive at 3:30pm and go to the classrooms 2 and 3 to get your costumes!! Helpers will direct you from there.  We ask all children to sit in the front pews nearest the podium. Families with little ones are welcome to sit with them.
                                                ***************
Thanks to our Youth Group members for putting together 5 awesome shoebox gift donations for ACE Program this past Sunday!  We had a fun evening baking cookies and making the holidays more bright for friends at ACE.


 



        Sunday December  20        

10am - Solstice Service-  There are no formal RE classes in the morning- Nursery is available.  Speaking parts for the Pageant are asked to meet with Robin and Claire from 10-11:15.
 
VESPERS
3:00pm Arrival for participants with speaking parts
3:30pm - Arrival for children who would like to have a costume for the pageant.
4pm Vespers Service begins- nursery care is available.
 
There will be no OWL or YG on December 20th
 
Sunday December 27th-
10am-  Nursery Care is available-  This is a family service- NO RE CLASSES. Including OWL or YG
 
Sunday January 3rd-  RE CLASSES RESUME!!

  
Robin Mitzcavitch, Director of Religious Education
One Church, One Book - 
Our Annual All Church ReadOneChurchOneBook 

THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN was inspired by the life of an actual silverback gorilla. The real Ivan was captured in Africa when he was a baby, transported to America, and kept in a small concrete room with a single glass wall looking out into a suburban shopping mall. He lived there for twenty-seven years. During that time, Ivan was alone, except for the humans who stopped by to look at him while they shopped. In Katherine Applegate's fictionalized account of his life, Ivan's backstory is the same. But by giving Ivan some friends (a wise old elephant, a homeless dog, and a caring girl) and a compelling reason to question his imprisonment (a baby elephant added to the mall menagerie), the author lets Ivan question his fate, and eventually change it.
 
One of the reasons the RE committee  and I chose this novel for our Once Church read is that Katherine Applegate has also written a true  account of Ivan's story.  The picture book IVAN, THE REMARKABLE TRUE STORY OF THE SHOPPING MALL GORILLA, illustrated by G. Brian Karas, is an excellent companion to the novel and will allow our youngest readers to participate in our churchwide celebration of reading together.
 
 Five copies of each book will be given away at coffee hour in the coming weeks, so be sure to get your name in the box each week. The raffle is free for anyone who wants to enter. 

**A note of caution to parents: some aspects of Ivan's life are difficult to read about. Most especially, perhaps, is the story of how he was captured in the jungle. Ivan tells this story in the novel, and it might be hard for some readers to hear. If you're at all concerned, you can check out this short chapter on page 170 before sharing the book with your family. For more information on the books, their reading levels, their backstories, and the author & illustrator, check out this website:http://theoneandonlyivan.com/
 
Happy reading!
   
Ongoing Event News 
Lunch With the Minister - 
Wednesday, January 6 at Noon!LunchwMinister

Join us Wednesday, January 6 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 - January 6!  AftBookClub

Our selections and meeting dates for the Readers Unite Book Group on the first Wednesday of the month at 1 pm, following Lunch with the Minister.
 
Jan 6: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (Kim)
 
Read a book and join our discussion group!


Men's Group Meeting,
January 8, 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, 01/08/16 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 - January 13, 7 - 9 pm, Lounge  EveBookGrp

Evening Book Club Reading List:
January: The Innovators, by Walter Isaacson (Cristina Heffernan)
February: Girl in Transition, by Jean Kwok (Nancy Hancock)
March: Trapped Under the Sea, by Neil Swidey (Dianne Mann)
April: In the Heart of the Canyon, by Elisabeth Hyde (Nancy Hancock)
May: The Secret Daughter by Shilpi Gowda (Nancy Hancock)



What can we do about racism today? It is clear to us that the struggle for racial equality and justice in our country continues. Especially if we identify as White people, we need more opportunities to understand racism and explore what steps we can take to become anti-racist allies.
 
This book and movie discussion will invite us to explore race and racism in America through novels, essays, feature films and documentaries. We will explore historical moments and our present realities. We will follow themes from work to work: What is beautiful? How are dark-skinned bodies treated in America? How can racial equality be pursued and achieved? What has changed since the Civil Rights Movement, and what work remains to be done? As people of faith, what can we do?
 
Please CLICK HERE to view and download more information about this workshop series, including a schedule.

Rev. Sarah C. Stewart, Minister, First Unitarian

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.
 
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!

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.
 

Community News & ClassifiedsCommNews 
Contact Information

Phone:

508-853-1942

Email:

office@uucworcester.org

 

 

Website:

www.uucworcester.org

 

Emergency Phone:

800-859-6404

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