This Sunday, December 6th, is a Sharing Sunday
On the first Sunday of each month, we
Share the Plate during the offering,
Share our Lunch with each other during Potluck, and
Share our Bounty by filling the Food Basket!
Please don't forget to bring non-perishable food and hygiene items for the food basket, to be donated to the Huntsville Assistance Program.
All donations are welcome and appreciated!
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Let's Thank Them!
As you start out to do your holiday shopping, please remember to support and thank our Service Auction business sponsors:
Pizzelle's Confections, Kaffeeklatsch,
and Connie Ulrich Design!
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Special Holiday Offer! 
The Social Justice Committee and the Kaffeeklatsch are excited to offer two special coffee blends for sale this holiday season:
Winter Solstice--a blend of 3 popular flavored coffees for a rich and unique coffee to warm your holidays.
Chalice--a blend of Kaffeeklatsch's Organic, Fair Trade coffees for a collaborative, well-principled flavor.
Great gifts for yourself and your coffee-loving friends and family!
To order, please see Denise Hunter-Gilbert in the Fellowship Hall after Sunday services (11/29-12/20) or email your order to Denise Hunter-Gilbert, or phone your order to her at 256.665.4042.
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Coming in January: Let's Read This Book Together
The UUA's 2015-2016 Common Read is Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. Author Bryan Stevenson advocates for those wrongfully trapped by the U.S. criminal justice system. UUCH Adult RE will host a book study on this in January, but you can order the book now from the UUA Bookstore!
ARE also has a few copies to lend: See Nancy Finley (finleyn@uah.edu) for details. For more about the Common Read program, see the website.
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Upcoming Services
Sunday, December 6th, 2015
"A Christmas Memory"
The Reverend Alice Syltie and Mari Hinckley
In this month of Expectation, I remember the words from the opening of Truman Capote's story "A Christmas Memory," "It's fruitcake weather." I invite you to join the Worship Team and Rev. Alice Syltie as we recall this delightful and timeless story in an adapted presentation, directed by Mari Hinckley.
This Sunday we Share the Plate with First Stop, Inc. For more about this program, please read the article below.
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 This Sunday in RE
Christmas Pageant Preparation! This Sunday we will be making decorations and props, learning songs, and CASTING PARTS for the Christmas Pageant on December 20th. There are parts for everyone! Please come on out and be part of this annual tradition. Parents/guardians should plan to come to the RE area following the service to confirm children's participation. More information is in the article below.
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Adult RE SoulCollage® Workshop
This Coming Monday
It is never too late to get started with your own SoulCollage® cards. If you have not participated in a workshop and are curious what many of us are so excited about, come check it out.  This Adult RE experience exercises the creative aspects of personality many logic-oriented people often neglect. It is a fun and affirming process that offers profound insight to our own inner depths. The only skill needed is the ability to use scissors. That's it, just cut and paste images from the hundreds we've pulled from magazines to your 5" x 8" card. The great part about the process is it encourages you not to think critically about what you are creating while you are creating it, rather let your intuition guide you. That takes the pressure off of us less artistic types. It is a simple process that often surprises with complex truths. Denise Runnels and Nancy Finley will co-facilitate the workshop. We will meet in the UUCH fellowship hall Monday evening, December 7th, at 6:00p.m. and create until 8:30pm. Check out soulcollage.com for more information about the SoulCollage® process we are following developed by Seena B. Frost. Or ask Denise ( drrunnel@gmail.com) for more information about the process and/or the workshop.
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 Christmas Pageant Preview!
Our UUCH Annual Christmas Pageant will be performed during the Worship Service on Sunday, December 20th, 2015. Children who participate in the pageant should:
- be at least 4 years old (we have parts for youth and adults too!)
- be able to attend a short rehearsal during RE on Sunday, December 13th
- be able to arrive at church early (9:45 a.m.) on the day of the pageant (Dec. 20th) for a quick run-through
- be able to supply simple costume items (e.g., bath robes, etc.-no sewing or elaborate costuming required)
If you'd like to be part of this exciting production, please come to RE THIS Sunday, December 6th, when we will be choosing parts. Parents should plan to come to the RE area and confirm children's participation following the service. You may also contact Erin Reid at (256) 694-6786 or eereid@hotmail.com. THERE ARE PARTS FOR EVERYONE!
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Alabama Hispanic Association Christmas Dinner
Be Part of the Christmas Fun!
Saturday, Dec. 12th, 11:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. at UUCH
 The Alabama Hispanic Association (AHA) and UUCH are partnering to serve Christmas dinner and distribute presents to families, children, and youth in need in Huntsville's Hispanic community. We need your help! Here are three great ways to get involved:
(1) Donate money to buy gifts for the older children and teens who will be at the party. You can give cash to Gail Williams or Tonia Betts. Last year, we provided gifts for about 20 AHA children and youth, and our UUCH youth enjoyed shopping for these gifts.
(2) Volunteer to serve at the dinner or provide a dish for it. You can sign up for this on the poster in the Fellowship Hall or online with Sign Up Genius by clicking here: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c044ea9a62aa3fd0-alabama. We need servers, cleaners, crafters, escorts, welcomers, etc. We need you! Youth and children are welcome and encouraged to attend. Also, you can sign up to help set up on Friday, December 11th--decorating, organizing presents, etc.
(3) Bring any extra coats, blankets, or other winter things you would like to donate. These will be distributed to those who would like them. Any extras will be saved for next year's UUCH yard sale.
Thank you for your support! Please be part of this great event! Questions? Call Tonia Betts at (256) 882-9891.
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We Share the Plate* with First Stop, Inc.
 First Stop, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) corporation established in 2001 to reduce the number of homeless persons in Huntsville/Madison County, Alabama communities.
First Stop's overarching goal is to promote the overall rehabilitation of homeless citizens in Huntsville and Madison County communities. That includes facilitating their transition from the "street" into permanent housing, and assisting with their reintroduction to their workforce.
First Stop provides its homeless clients with life-management-skills training and seminars to enhance their personal well-being. Individualized case management is the most critical element to our long-term solution in promoting continued stability and growth--insuring physical and mental health monitoring, referral to proper health care, and access to available social service benefits. Since our incorporation, we have maintained a 90-percent retention rate among clients placed in permanent housing.
First Stop's efforts are funded through federal, state, and local grants, planned outreach/fundraising efforts, generous contributions from organizations, and gifts from interested individuals.
*When we "Share the Plate," all cash collected on the first Sunday of each month in the quarter (October, November, and December), along with any checks noted as "Share the Plate," will be halved with First Stop, Inc.
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 Care List
At our Circle of Candles on Sunday, November 26th, candles were lit for:
Erin Reid, a candle of sorrow: "The church received a call this morning from Emma, a dear friend of Anne Rutledge, wanting to let us know that Anne passed away on Wednesday. Anne had been in intensive care, then rehab, and had gone home, where she passed. Anne Rutledge was a dear member of our family at UUCH for many, many years." The Shepherd Family, a candle of sorrow: "A sorrow for the families and friends of Bill Aycock, who died this week, an extraordinary man who will be missed by all who knew him." Ryan, Anna, Lila, and Charlie Weber, a candle of joy: "We are so excited to welcome baby Charlie to the world. He was born on November 17th, and weighed 6 lbs., 3 oz. Mom and baby are doing great!"
If you have pastoral care needs, please contact the
Reverend Alice Syltie at revaluu@aol.com. Care Committee Chair Barbara Hitt will be out of town for a few weeks. Please contact Care Committee member Tim Miller (tim.miller.hsv@gmail.com, 256.880.6792) should a need arise.
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UUCH 15-16 Board Members
President: Laurel Bollinger
Vice-President: Angel Hundley
Secretary: Ed Bernstein
Treasurer: Jerome Belcher
Trustees: Millicent Simmons, John Fox, & Denise Runnels
Do you have an Agenda Item for the Board?
The Board respectfully requests that all agenda items for the meeting be submitted to Board President Laurel Bollinger, no later than one week prior to the meeting, i.e. the Tuesday before. You may leave a copy of your request in her Mailbox at the church office, or contact her at UUCHBoardPresident@uuch.org.
The next UUCH Board Meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 15th, 2015 at 6:30 p.m. Thanks for your cooperation!
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From the Overlook is a publication of
The Unitarian Universalist Church,
3921 Broadmor Rd. Huntsville, AL 35810
Minister: The Reverend Alice Syltie
Board President: Laurel Bollinger
Editorial Board: Laurel Bollinger, Kathy Heath
Newsletter deadlines are each Monday at midnight!
Please send submissions to news collator Deedee Moore at uuch@uuch.org.
Admin. Office Hours: 10:00a.m. to 4:00p.m. Mon-Tue-Thu-Fri.
For Wednesday access, please call in advance.
Office phone: 256.534-0508, email: uuch@uuch.org.
Minister's email: revaluu@aol.com.
Web: www.uuch.org
Sunday Services are held 10:45 a.m. to 12:00 noon;
Children's Religious Education held concurrently.
Nursery available for age 3 years and under.
For further info on any event, call the church office:
256. 534-0508.
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