The UUCW Message
February 23, 2016
In This Issue


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
UUCW Fundraiser: 
8 Hour Hybrid / Electric Car Class for Auto Techs - Please share with yours!
Feb. 27, 2016 
HybridClass

What will you learn at this Hybrid / EV CLASS?
 
1.   What is NEW with HEVs and EVs
2.   Drive the Chevy Volt, others
3.   Fast Fixes and Tips
4.   Preventive Maintenance
5.   Battery Reconditioning
6.   Battery Replacement
7.   HV Motor Testing
8.   More Info at www.fixhybrid.com
 
How Much: $225.00   
  
$225 without the book. 
$300 with our B/W book or L3 Prep Guide
 
Where: ACDC Training Center
24 Wells Street
Worcester, Massachusetts 
 
$100 from each sign-up goes to: 
Universal Unitarian Church
 
Date: Feb. 27, 2016    Saturday   20 seats only 
 
When: 8:30 - 5:00     Lunch provided by Universal Unitarian Church of Worcester 
 
This is a fundraiser for our Church. We will do good things with our money, like help others eat, have shelter, stay warm, have hope, learn to be a good parent, smile and laugh again.  
 
How do I sign up? Call ACDC at 508 400 4656 or Email Craig@fixhyhbrid.com

Escalating Inequality and Gender Workshop, Sunday, Feb 28, 7 pm - First Unitarian Church Chapel, 90 Main Street, Worcester. 
EscIneq

In lieu of a Sunday Women's Service, we will celebrate Women's History Month by having a lecture/workshop on "Escalating Inequality at the Intersection of Gender, Class and Race" with Dr. Michelle Corbin, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Worcester State University.

Dr. Michelle Corbin is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and affiliate faculty and advisory board member of Women's Studies at Worcester State University.  Dr. Corbin earned her Ph.D. in Sociology and her Graduate Certificate in Women's Studies from the University of Maryland.   Dr. Corbin's scholarship focuses on the interconnections between spirituality, knowledge, and social justice.  In her scholarship and teaching she investigates the role of knowledge and consciousness in relations of power and inequality.  Dr. Corbin teaches courses on social inequality across race, class, gender and sexuality.      

We hope to see you at the chapel of the First Unitarian Church on Sunday, Feb 28th at 7 pm.  You'll be glad you came!

Please click here to download a flyer for this workshop series

ACE Volunteers Needed - Info Session Sunday, March 6, noon, The Lounge 
ACEVol

On Sunday, March 6, at noon, Kelsey Renner and Frank Murphy from the African Community Education Program will be at UUCW to meet with members and friend here who are interested in volunteering as a mentor, tutor or after-school volunteer for youth served by ACE. 
 
The African Community Education Program is a non-profit community-based organization that grew out of a 4-year old tutoring program run by the medical students of University of Massachusetts. The students had created a program offering one-on-one tutoring/homework help for refugee children from Liberia. Although the student initiative had expanded through the years and offered services to more children, occasional one-hour tutoring sessions, unfortunately, were not sufficient for facing the educational crisis faced by the refugee and immigrant population.
 
Many of the children we serve have had little or no formal education at all prior to coming to the U.S. due to the difficult situations in their home countries. Thus we saw children who were 12 years old who had never been in school but were placed in 6th and 7th grade. These children need a lot more attention than the medical students' program could offer. Additionally, there was an increasing number of children coming for help and a limited number of tutors to work with them.
 
As the need for a larger program became more obvious, several members of the Worcester African community and some medical students joined efforts in hopes to address the problem. It was decided to create an organization whose sole purpose would be to serve children from ALL African countries, who are refugees/recent immigrants/children of immigrants, who are behind in school, and who want help with their studies.  
 
Click HERE for a video introduction to ACE and its programs.
 
Interested in learning more about volunteering with ACE? Sign up HERE.

UU Women's 14th Annual 
Runaway Weekend in Rockport - April 15 - 18 
WomensWeekend

We are happy to bring you visions of beach and warm weather, female fellowship and beautiful Rockport in this chilly month of February.
 
Every year about 22 women from our church travel to the Linden Tree Inn in Rockport, MA to spend the weekend enjoying each others company and enjoying the many benefits of the Rockport /Cape Ann Region. We welcome old timers and new comers alike to join us for relaxed visiting, leisurely walks into and around Rockport, shopping and visiting galleries, dining in house and in town, and walking the beaches and breathing the ocean air. 
 
Dates and price information: 
April 15- 18, 2016  
Friday afternoon to Monday morning, or any part thereof.
 
Send your check to hold your spot:
8 Single Rooms: $204/person
6 Double Rooms: $174/person               
1 Quad (2 rooms share one bath): $158/person
 
Meals Included:
Saturday - breakfast and dinner
Sunday - breakfast and lunch
Monday - breakfast
 
Please consider joining us! 
Send your check and a list of your food preferences/allergies to:
Ruth Silver 
71 Angell Brook Drive
West Boylston, MA 01583 :
Questions, comments, etc. can be emailed to Claire Breyton cbreyton@gmail.com.


2016 Congregational SurveyCongSurvey

The Committee on Ministry is pleased to present the tri-annual All Congregation Survey. Every three years members and friends of the church are surveyed concerning their perspective on how we are doing as a congregation and which programs, projects and perspectives are most important. As in previous years, this year the survey may be taken online or in in paper form and sent back to the church. For the online version CLICK HERE. The paper version is available HERE in pdf format (you will need Adobe Reader to view this format). Please take a few minutes to complete this year's survey. Your feedback valuable and very critical to our planning processes. Thank you for your consideration and care.

The Committee on Ministry
Touchstone Monthly Theme - 
February Theme - Communion
February 23 - 29 TchstnQuotes
 

Feb. 23: "My love affair with nature is so deep that I am not satisfied with being a mere onlooker, or nature tourist. I crave a more real and meaningful relationship... in which I have communion and fellowship with nature...." ~ Euell Gibbons
 
Feb. 24: "Deep in our hearts there is a call to live in communion with others, a call to love, to create, to risk." ~ Jean Vanier
 
Feb. 25: "Commit to finding the true nature of art. ...Go for that communion, that real communion with your soul, and the discipline of expressing that communion with others." ~ Anna Deavere Smith
 
Feb. 26: "December tastes like Hershey's Kisses ...in a way that I can't quite articulate. ...I do know that eating a Hershey's Kiss is like an act of communion." ~
Damien Echols
 
Feb. 27: "Love creates a communion with life. ...In any moment we can step beyond our small self and embrace each other as beloved parts of a whole." ~ Jack Kornfield
 
Feb. 28: "They spoke of a communion so much vaster than any church could contain: one I had sensed all my life could be expressed in the sharing of food, particularly with strangers." ~ Sara Miles
 
Feb. 29: "Communion means accepting people just as they are, with all their limits and inner pain, but also with their gifts and their beauty and their capacity to grow: to see the beauty inside of all the pain." ~ Jean Vanier

Religious Education News
RE News For February 28, 2016
RENews 

Dear Families,
 

This past Sunday, we had a children's chapel where we mirrored a typical church service, with all the elements.  The children did very well listening, participating in readings, and discussions..  We talked about a tough concept:  Spirituality.
 
We made a picture with ME alone at the bottom , then ME surrounded and connected to people, and then ME knowing what I love to do, and then ME trying out  spiritual practices that some religions partake in ( like the actual worship service we were engaged in, like candle-lighting, like offerings, like readings and prayers, joys and sorrows.)  We also practiced chanting, and drumming, singing, and movement.  Finally we talked about being connected to the mystery or something bigger then ourselves, like the universe, god and nature, spirit.
 
At the end we knew that all of those things on our poster, and things that we experienced in the Children's Chapel can ALL be defined as spirituality.  
Spirituality is a broad concept with room for many perspectives. In general, it includes a sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves, and it typically involves a search for meaning in life. As such, it is a universal human experience-something that touches us all.
 
Sunday Feb 28th , 2016
 
10am  All children begin in the sanctuary and will be dismissed to their classrooms following the children's "Change for Change" collection.
  • This will be the first week of Grades 1 and 2 OWL during the service.
  • Mystery Pal Participants-  don't forget to bring a letter for your pal, and pick up your mail during coffee hour.
6-8pm  Youth Group-  YG Service Planning


  
Robin Mitzcavitch, Director of Religious Education
Youth Group Says Thanks For Your Help
!CatFoodDrive 

We brought lots of food and cat supplies to Pat Brody Shelter and had a wonderful tour!
 
Thanks for your help!

 


Robin Mitzcavitch & The UUCW Youth Group

This Sunday-  Feb 28th.  BRING YOUR MYSTERY PAL LETTER!!! And pick up your first mail at the Mystery Pal Post Office!  Stop by during coffee hour!

Please include your secret number on all correspondence!!
  • Put your unsealed letter with your secret number in the large mailbox in fellowship hall.
  • Pick up your mail by telling Kim or Jenny your name at the MP Post Office!
This will continue through the month of March...and the big Mystery Pal reveal Party will happen on Sunday April 1st in the lounge during coffee hour!
 
Have  Fun!!
   
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!   
 
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:
February 28Christine Lynch, Beth Posner-Waldren, Vicky Aberhart, Margaurite Lawler
March 6Board of Management
March 13Popcorn Theology Class
March 20Connections Class
Easter Sunday - March 27Members & Friends of UUCW

Ongoing Meetings OngoingMtgs

Lunch With The Minister - Wednesday, March 2 at Noon, Lounge

Join us Wednesday, March 2 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. 

 

Our next book is Summerland by Elin Hilderbrand. We will discuss the book on March 2 at 1:15pm. 

Join us on March 9 at 7 pm in the lounge for UUCW's Evening Book Club.  We will be reading Under The Sea by Neil Swidey. Evening Book Club Reading List: 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) ... Click to read more

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, 03/11/16 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 ...Click to read more

The Hooks and Needles Group meets on alternating Mondays at noon (February 15, and 29, March 14, 28, etc.)   in a classroom.  Bring your projects - knitting, crochet, cross stitch, quilting, to work on.  Or if you wish to do a prayer shawl or lap robe, we have yarn and patterns available. Want to learn a needlecraft?  We will be happy to teach you.

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.
 


Mt. Olive Pentecostal Church - We ask that you join us in our Annual Black History Celebration
60 Highland Street
Worcester, MA. 01609
February 28, 2016 at 4:00 p.m.
Host Pastor: Elder Esau Vance
 
Key note Speaker
Dr. George Yancey
Belmont AME Zion church
Worcester, MA. 01610
 
Program featuring:  Music, dancing, choirs, Male chorus, Poems, readings,Spoken word & refreshments
Please click here for a flyer for this event.




Contact Information

Phone:

508-853-1942

Email:

office@uucworcester.org

Fax:

508-853-2065 

Website:

www.uucworcester.org

 

Emergency Phone:

508-853-1942 

ext. 108

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