The Overlook

Unitarian Universalist Church of Huntsville
3921 Broadmor Rd., Huntsville AL 35810

April 7th, 2016

Vol. 16 Issue 14

In This Issue

Filling the Basket

Fun for New Futures

Awareness Through Movement

Wake UP!

UUGA

Upcoming Services

This Sunday in RE

New UU Class

Bad Poems for Good Books

Music Notes

Book Sale in 2 Weeks!

Board Notes

Care List

Filling the Basket

The Social Justice Committee's goal is to collect and donate 100 items per month. Can you pick up an extra canned good, nonperishable food item, or personal care product next time you are out shopping? Please do, and put it in the basket in the church foyer to be donated to the Huntsville Assistance Program (HAP). Suggested donations: macaroni and cheese, pasta and sauce, dry beans and rice, boxes of cereal, bars of soap, canned meat, and peanut butter!

Thanks in advance!

Comedy Benefit for New Futures, Inc.

Our Share the Plate organization for this fiscal quarter is New Futures family homeless shelter. You can support New Futures further by attending their Benefit Show:

Henry Cho
Christian Comedian

April 29th, 2016,
at 7:00p.m.

Asbury United Methodist Church,

980 Hughes Rd, Madison AL 35758.

Tickets are available at Mellow Mushroom locations and at Asbury UMC. Thank you for supporting New Futures!

Awareness Through Movement!

Everyone is welcome! This Feldenkrais group class is designed to improve self-awareness and mobility. The class will be verbally guided through gentle movement sequences. These new movement patterns will enable you to move with greater ease and fluidity.

This Adult RE class is drop-in, no experience necessary, and is led by Sally Locklear. Wear comfortable, loose clothing, and bring a bath towel to use as a head support. Classes are held on Saturday mornings at 10:00 a.m. until further notice.

For further information, contact Nancy Finley at finleyn@uah.edu.
If you need childcare for this event, please contact Nancy at least a week before the event.

Wake UP!
and Smell the Justice!

In addition to Fair Trade chocolate from Equal Exchange, Your Social Justice Committee also sells Certified Fair Trade and Organic coffee from the Kaffeeklatsch!
Order yours in the Fellowship Hall after Sunday morning services!

This Year's UU General Assembly

UUGA will be held June 22nd-26th in Columbus Ohio!

This year's theme is "Heart land: Where Faiths Connect." For further information, visit the GA website at www.uua.org/ga

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Quick Links...

UUCH Calendar
UUCH Website

UUA Website

Mid-South District

Upcoming Services

Sunday, April 10th, 2016

"Homecoming"

The Huntsville Feminist Chorus

The Huntsville Feminist Chorus will sing selections from their upcoming Spring Concert, "Homecoming." The songs are about coming home to whatever "home" represents to you--the home you grew up in, the home you find comfort in, both within yourself and around you, the home that is your country, and the home of your heart. This service invites you to come home to a place where your spirit may be fed and your soul may flourish in deep peace and acceptance.

This Sunday in Children and Youth Religious Education

We continue our shared journey with Heart Talk for Kids with all ages, this week focusing on Session 16: Celebration. Childcare for ages 0-3 will be offered as usual in the Nursery.

Questions about Religious Education at UUCH may be directed to Erin Reid, our Director of Religious Education (DRE) (256.694.6786 or eereid@hotmail.com) or Jessica Zelaya, RE Chair (256.322.2210 or asuriai@yahoo.com). Register online for the UUCH Children and Youth RE Program at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WS8LDNP.

"New UU" Class Continues This Sunday

What does it mean to be a Unitarian Universalist? Guided by the UU Tapestry of Faith Curriculum, this three-part series explores important themes in UU congregational life, such as worship, theology, history, covenant, faith development, social justice, and membership. This program focuses on introducing newcomers to Unitarian Universalism, but those who have been at UUCH for a while will also be able to share and connect with others as we explore our own beliefs and how they intersect with the UU tradition.

Everyone is welcome! Classes began on April 3rd, and are continuing on April 10th and 17th, so it's not too late to join us for this chance to learn and share. Come even if you couldn't attend all three sessions; handouts for any missed sessions will be available. Meet for coffee and snacks at 9:00 a.m. in the Adult RE room located at the end of the Religious Education (South) wing; discussion starts at 9:15. Childcare will be provided for each class. Contact Nancy Finley (finleyn@uah.edu) for further info.

Bad Poetry for the UU Book Sale

Our UU Book Sale depends on you giving up as many of your books, DVD's, CD's, and magazines as you can bear. To inspire you to go through your inventory, we offer a few horrible poems.

Limerick:

There was a smart birdy named Tess

Who saw too many books in her nest

It took her a while

But she cleaned out her pile

To help UU's Book Sale be the best!

Classic:

Whose books these are I think I know

My house is my library, though

My spouse will surely stop me soon

Or watch our home fill up with Poe.

My neighbors there must think me cray

To watch me haul my books away

They need to know my church is full

Of books, to sell on Book Sale Day

Yes, I'll give up this massive tome

Then hit the sale with great aplomb

For lots of books to bring back home

Or, if you prefer, Haiku:

Looking at your laden shelves

Way too many books, bro

Haul some over to the church?

We apologize. For more about the book sale, and your vital part in it, please see the article below.

Music Notes

Hi all! I thought I'd share with you my philosophy of music for 2016. In the Music Leadership Credentialing Program we are required to update our philosophy of music ministry yearly as we gain experience and knowledge from our coursework!

Music, as the universal language of the soul, has the power to touch, nurture, inspire, unite, clarify, and express us. It reaches beyond notes and words to speak not only to individual needs but to the needs of the community in which it is shared. I believe when music is presented with quality and heart it transcends thought and connects both the giver and receiver to something greater than either of them.

Using music grounded in the six sources of Unitarian Universalism ministers to the diversity of every congregant and helps people respect each other's differences. At the same time, our underlying principles, reflected in song, help us find our common heart and energize our diverse, inclusive religious community to be a loving presence in the world. Our "common heart" is the loving relationship we feel when we are sharing something as intimate as being our own instruments. Singing is so personal. And when we sing together, even though you wouldn't say we all have the same heart now, it's another very subtle way of people being in loving community with each other. We have such a need to find our common heart because we want to be in beloved community, community based in love in which each other's inherent worth and dignity is a true reality, not just an aspiration or an idea, but something that people actually do for one another.

The music we share reflects our Unitarian Universalist values by helping each other on our search for truth, exploring many different ideas, and uniting us to social justice, whether feeding the homeless or being a voice against discrimination. Music reminds people of the beauty within and the interconnectedness of all life. Music inspires us to put our Unitarian Universalist principles in practice in our wider community.

My calling to minister with music has been with me since I was in high school and all through my teaching career, in my work with the Huntsville Feminist Chorus and private music lessons, and now with the Unitarian Universalist Church of Huntsville. I experience this call as spirit-led, to open hearts and minds through song. I select music for the appropriate moments in the congregation's life, whether worship services, funerals, or celebrations. I research, prepare, and collaborate with the minister to contextualize music for worship so we can enable the meaning to reach the congregation. I try to find music that really enhances the service's message. This process is a ministry to me, because as I go through it, the process ministers to my own soul, and through that, to the larger congregation. I empower other people to minister through music, to realize that they can do this, to realize what the music is trying to do for them. Instead of standing there singing some words in a hymn, faces buried in the hymnal, they look up and sing to and for each other so that they feel connected.

I have a passion for music ministry. I know its power to connect and to heal is real because I've experienced it, and I believe with my whole heart that if other people experience it, they will know it is real too.

**************

Thank you all for making the above statement a truth.

--Pam Siegler, UUCH Choir Director

Only TWO Weeks Until the

UUCH BOOK SALE!

Four Days of Book Buying!

Wednesday, April 20th through Friday, April 22nd,

from Noon until 7:00 p.m.

AND Continuing

Saturday, April 23rd, from 8:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

Admission is FREE!

There will be no pre-sales!

Come browse through the HUGE SELECTION of used books, audio, video, magazines, rare finds and old favorites at BARGAIN PRICES--get there before the good ones get away!

What Can YOU Do To Help?

Donate your books to this great cause (and get a tax deduction).

Invite your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers to the sale.

Bring your books to church any time before Sunday, April 17th, and leave them in front of the North Hall doors.

Plan to stay after church on Sunday, April 17th, for a book-sorting party!

Volunteer to work a shift at the sale. Sign up HERE or on the poster in the Fellowship Hall.

"When I get a little money I buy books and if any is left I buy food and clothes."--Desiderius Erasmus

Board Notes

Your UUCH Board of Trustees last met on March 29th, 2016. Points of interest:

The Board has approved joining the UUA Promotional Toolkit Beta-Testing program for UU Congregations and groups.

The Board thanks the Property Committee for adding filters to the kitchen sink and the water fountain in the RE wing. The water from the drinking fountain is now much more palatable.

Several members and our minister will be attending the UUA Midsouth Spring Gathering in Marietta, Georgia, on Saturday, April 2nd.

Ed Bernstein, Secretary
UUCH Board of Trustees

Care List

At our Circle of Candles on Sunday, April 3rd, candles were lit for:

The Aycock Family, a candle of joy: "Eight months ago when we received Auggie, he was diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder because he had been in a home with abuse and neglect. The joy is...we achieved attachment! 'Momma' is now the one...So, if you hear him cry for me when he is dropped off in childcare...smile and know that he has accepted us as his parents!"

Brad Korb, a candle of thanks: "to the Property Committee (Tim Miller, Steve Herold, George Fletcher, and Will Garrison) as well as Pam Korb and Gary Hitt who spent their Saturday afternoon cleaning out the storage area that probably hasn't been cleaned out in 30 or more years!"

Kathy Fisher, a candle of concern: "for Stan Brockway who had a stroke last week. He is home now with Jan, his wife, who had just finished chemotherapy the week before. I've known and admired the Brockways since 1969. All their children went through my ex-husband's middle school band, and Jan was my daughter's preschool teacher. Stan was active in our church for many years, served as Board President, and saw us through many growing pains and transitions. Please hold the Brockways in your hearts."

If you have pastoral care needs, please contact the

Reverend Alice Syltie at revaluu@aol.com. Barbara Hitt is Chair of the Care Committee, and may be reached at home, (256) 881.2531; on her cell, (256) 348.5845; or by email at bghitt1@comcast.net.

UUCH 15-16 Board Members

President: Laurel Bollinger

Vice-President: Angel Hundley

Secretary: Ed Bernstein

Treasurer: Jerome Belcher

Trustees: Millicent Simmons, Jon 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, April 26th, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. Thanks for your cooperation!

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.

Website: 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.