The UUCW Message
June 7, 2016
In This Issue

Upcoming Events

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

2016 Summer hours (July 1 - Sept 5 - Closed August 2 & August 15): 
Tuesday, 9 am - 1 pm
 
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.
Upcoming Events at UUCW
The Yard Sale is Upon Us - 
Saturday, June 11, 9 am - 3 pm! YardSale 
The Yard Sale will be here before we know it.  As you know, this is one of our largest fundraisers so we really want to go all out to be sure that it's as much of a success as it has been in the past.  Here are some of the specifics:
 
You can start dropping things off at church on the morning of Wednesday, June 8 at 9:00 am.  We would love to get everything by Friday at noon if possible so we can get it all organized and priced.
 
If you have big items that need to be picked up, Aaron will have a truck on Friday and can come to you to get things.  Please CLICK HERE for the sign-up form.
 
Some specifics on donated items:
 
Clothing -  please make sure it is clean and in good shape.  Pairs of shoes should be tied together.  Also, if anyone has an extra clothing racks that we could borrow it would be greatly appreciated.
 
Electrical items - please make sure they are in good working condition.  No large televisions or outdated pieces of equipment please.  If an object needs batteries, please supply them - people won't buy items that they don't know are in working condition.
 
For those new to the sale, we also take the following items:  dishes, silverware, utensils, pots and pans, mugs and cups, glasses, household items, art work, sports equipment, linens, blankets and quilts, books and magazines, holiday things, jewelry, furniture, fun items - in other words, just about anything. 
 
It would be greatly appreciated if all items are in good condition and are clean.  If you bring a large item and it doesn't sell, please be prepared to take it home at the conclusion of the sale as we do not have a way to get rid of it.
 
It takes a village to pull this thing off so if you are interested in helping out in any way - setting up (Wednesday, Thursday or Friday), pricing, being on "the floor" the day of the sale, helping Aaron with the big items on Friday or any other imaginative ways, please let me know. 
 
Thanks for helping to make this year's Yard Sale the best one yet!!!

2016 Annual Church Picnic - June 12, 11:15 am! ChurchPicnic 


STILL LOOKING FOR FOLKS TO SIGN UP FOR PREP, GRILL,  SERVING AND CLEAN UP TEAMS - SEE BELOW TO SIGN UP!

Please mark your calendar and plan to join us for our ANNUAL ALL CHURCH PICNIC, Sunday, June 12 following the Sunday morning Worship Service.  Cost is $5 per adult and a dish (not dessert) to share if you can.  We will provide the entrée (burgers, veggie burgers, hot dogs, etc.) , lemonade, and watermelon. Please join us for this fun annual event! The picnic is on rain or shine-we'll eat in Fellowship Hall if necessary. Please be prepared to help with cleanup before you leave.
 
We need a people to help in four ways:
 
PREP TEAM: to help with set up, light food prep service-slicing tomatoes, making drinks,  We will start about 9:00 am and be finished prior to the service at 10:00 am.
GRILLING TEAM: to set grill and run entrée items to the serving table (to start about 10:30 am)
STAFFING TEAM: set out food and monitor serving line, replenish food items and clear serving area (11:00 AM)
CLEAN UP TEAM:  to clean up tables and area, store left overs, clean a few dishes, etc. (to start about 12:45).
 
If you are willing to serve on any of the teams above, please Sign Up Here or email Aaron Payson (arpayson@charter.net)


Tochluk Please Click Here to download this flyer.
tent-camping-view.jpg
UUCW Summer Camping Events - 
August 26/27 & 27/28 CampWeekend 
 
Separate FATHER/DAUGHTER AND FATHER/SON CAMPING EVENTS are scheduled for August 26/27 (daughters/girls) and August 27/28 (sons/boys).  Activities include cooking on a campfire with games and story-telling.  The event is open to those identifying as men, and any young people that they know well and would like to bring.  All ages are welcome, but children under 13 should be accompanied by an adult.  The event will be held at Trout Brook Reservation in Holden.  Do not let a lack of camping experience or equipment stop you, as many involved have extra experience _and_ equipment!  The cost for the site for each night ($100 total) will be split among the participating men.  Please let us know if you plan to attend so that we can properly plan:
 
For Father/Daughter camping night:  Craig Van Batenburg, 508 400 4657 or Craig@fixhybrid.com
For Father/Son camping night:  Dave Schowalter, 508-688-7008, schowalter_david@hotmail.com 


Ferry Beach Registration Time! - September 16 - 18, 2016FerryBeach

Many of us begin the church year with a weekend of retreat and reflection at Ferry Beach in Saco, Maine (http://www.ferrybeach.org).The weekend is affordable and open to everyone. We join together with friends from First Unitarian for beach walks, dancing, polar dip, jumping rope, time to rest, a talent show, and a campfire!

Mark your calendars now for September 16th - 18th, 2016.  We will be taking registrations during our coffee hour after services in May and June. Prices include dorm style accommodations, food and activities. Camping is also available! We hope you'll join us this year!

On line registration is available by following this link: http://goo.gl/forms/u3UGIJ4Rh3.  We encourage you to register and pay online.  You may also get a registration form from us at Fellowship Hour or email us for one.

Please ask your Ferry Beach Coordinators, Maya Desai or Sean Divoll divolls@verizon.net if you have any questions.  

Maya Desai & Sean Divoll 
 
Current News at UUCW
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!AaronThanks



My profound thanks to all the members and friends of UUCW for a wonderful celebration of 25 years in ministry last Sunday.  I am especially grateful to Mara Pentlarge and her secret society of party planners and gift givers and to our children and youth for their wonderful card, ballons, cake, plaque and soon to come new robe!  I am also mindful and so thankful to the congregations of the UU Church of Lancaster, PA, First Parish in Brookline, and the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Marietta, for their inspiration and who, along with this congregation provided steadfast partnership in ministry.  It is because of all of you that I am who I am as a minister and I am humbled by the many ways you have invited me into your lives and into those causes for which you have given so much of yourselves.
 
Here are the words from Rev. Jack Mendelsohn that I quoted during the service last Sunday.  They continue to be an inspiration these many years.
 
A Unitarian Universalist minister is a person never completely satisfied or satisfiable, never completely adjusted or adjustable - a person who walks in two worlds: one of things as they are, the other of things as they ought to be - and loves them both.
 
Ministers are persons with pincushion souls and elastic hearts, who sit with the happy and the sad in a chaotic pattern of laugh, cry, laugh, cry - and know deep down that the first time their laughter is false or their tears are make-believe, their days as real ministers are over.
 
Ministers are people with dreams they can never wholly share, partly because they have some doubts about them, and partly because they are unable to explain adequately what it is they think they see and understand.
 
A minister is a person who continually runs out of time, out of wisdom, out of courage, and out of money; a person whose tasks involve great responsibility and little power, who must learn to accept people where they are and go from there; a person who must never try to exercise influence that has not been earned.
 
The minister who is worthy knows all this and is still thankful every day of life for the privilege of being - a minister.
 
The future of the liberal church is almost totally dependent on these two factors: great congregations (whether large or small) and effective, dedicated ministers. The strangest feature of their relationship is that they create one another.


Rev. Aaron Payson
Summer Services Ministry Team FormingSummerSvc

Our series of Summer Sunday Services will begin on June 26 and run through September 4.  Services are at 10 am. This series of 11 services is typically lay-led and often followed by a roaming fellowship hour/lunch at a local restaurant.  Our Summer Services Ministry Team seeks Presenters, people to offer a Summer Service presentation on a topic of your own choosing; people to serve as Sunday Assistants who would work with the presenter of the week to set up the lounge space and to help present parts of the service as desired by the presenter, and Service Coordinators who would be responsible for opening and closing the building, taking attendance, submitting pew sheets and securing the offering for the day.  If you are interested in serving in any of these capacities, please CLICK HERE. Still looking for a couple of service presenters for services on July 10 and 31.

Rev. Aaron Payson 
 
Visit Our New Improved Website! NewWebsite
If you haven't seen it already, please visit www.uucworcester.org to view the new and improved UUCW website.  Thanks to a host of volunteer website junkies (Rachel Peckar, Cris Heffernan, Vickie Cox Lanyon, Betty Jenewin, Anna Bediako) working with our Office Administrator, Jennifer Landry and Aaron, we have launched and continue to develop our new website as a core component in our evolving strategic communications plan.  Forthcoming upgrades will include a members-only section, interactive adult faith development opportunities, and weekly communications that are more integrated with web content.  We welcome your feedback, which can be submitted through the "contact us" link on homepage.

Touchstone Monthly Theme
June Theme - Power
June 7 - 13 TchstnQuotes
 

June 7: "...Even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them." ~ Stephen Chbosky
 
June 8: "We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already." ~ J.K. Rowling
 
June 9: "Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power." ~ Lao Tzu
 
June 10: "The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any." ~ Alice Walker
 
June 11: "...[P]erhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it." ~ J.K. Rowling
 
June 12: "You have power over your mind--not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength." ~ Marcus Aurelius
 
June 13: "Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!" ~ William Hutchinson Murray

Religious Education News
RE News For June 12, 2016
RENews 

Dear Families,
 
How did that happen so fast?  The Religious Exploration Program has concluded for the summer!!

I hope you will join us for our very special RE Sunday Service where
  • kids are asked to help thank their teachers!
  • Seniors graduating are recognized
  • We say goodbye to Beau Rivers
  • We view our annual RE Slide show!
  • We gather for an end of year cookout/picnic  (Rain or Shine!! )
Thanks to all the children who made Aaron's 25 years ordained  celebration last week extra special!
        

Congrats to  Callie Root,  Mariah Friesz , Miya Cohen , Morgaine Payson, and Parker Houghton who bridged out of Youth Group last Sunday evening!  Come honor them as high school grads this coming Sunday morning at 10am . Grads that are joining them on Sunday June 12  will be Ben Wolcottt, Owen Wolcott, and Reannen Hogan.



  


Sunday June 12th - Religious Exploration Sunday
        
10am-  This is a multi-generational service -  All are encouraged and welcome.  Children will help honor the teachers, see their older peers graduate , and say goodbye to Beau Rivers...also they get to find themselves in our end of year slideshow!!  There will be nursery available!
 
Following the service is our annual end-of year picnic cookout.  Your help is needed- Please let me know if you are available to cook, set-up , serve, clean up!! Many hand s make light and FUN  work!!
 
Youth Group-  Final Party-  5:00-8pm  Bruce and Cheryl Leshay's house-  Please Bring a munchie, appetizer, main meal type food to share.  Everything else will be provided for dinner and dessert.



  
Robin Mitzcavitch, Director of Religious Education
Sunday News
 

HosT Coffee Hour NewsHosT
     
The Hospitality Team (HosT) thanks all of the members of the congregation who have provided food, labor and cash donations that have made our coffee hours so incredible.

At coffee hour we extend the hospitality we proclaim! Many people judge a congregation by its coffee hour hospitality - especially newcomers .  Please make it a point to speak to someone you don't know!

 
DateGroup on deck for hostingHospitality Team Contact
June 5Hospitality TeamRuth Silver
June 12Annual Church PicnicRev. Aaron Payson
June 19Members & Friends of UUCWJudy Savage
WeeklyPhoto
Photo Of The Week
The Rev. Aaron Payson holds a poster made for him by the children in the Religious Education program during the service on June 5, 2016, commemorating his 25 years in the ministry.
Ongoing Meetings OngoingMtgs
Please join us after Lunch With The Minister on on the first Wednesdays in June, and September. Our next book selections are: Sing Them Homeby Stephanie Kallos with discussion on June 1. The Rise of Rocket Girls by Nathalia Holt, with discussion on Sept 7.

Join the evening book group on June 15th (the 3rd Wednesday of the month for June only) at 7:00 in the Lounge to discuss Margaret Atwood's class dystopian tale of a future U.S. where women are not allowed to read (along with a multitude of other restrictions) and their sole purpose is to be a vessel of procreation. This is one of those life-changing books.  At a minimum, it will ...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.
 
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!

Community News & Classifieds CommNews 

Greater Worcester Humanists - June 14th Meeting - Linda Miller, Co-Chair, GWH Steering Committee
 
Greater Worcester Humanists will meet on Tuesday evening, June 14th, in Fellowship Hall at 7:00. We invite members and friends to come and brainstorm ideas for speakers and programs for the fall, winter, and spring.

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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