The Overlook

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

April 28th, 2016

Vol. 16 Issue 17

In This Issue

Sharing Sunday

Awareness Through Movement

New Futures Fundraiser

Good Coffee, Good Cause

UUGA

Upcoming Services

This Sunday in RE

Best. Budget. Ever.

Annual Meeting May 22nd

Interweave Benefit for Thrive

Book $ale $uccess!

We Share the Plate

Care List

This Sunday,

May 1st, 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!

Awareness Through Movement!

Everyone is welcome! 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.

*Please Note:
May 7th will be the last ATM class for this Spring. Classes will start again in the fall.

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!

Good Coffee,
Good Cause

If you are a coffee connoisseur, the Social Justice Committee invites you to visit the coffee table in the Fellowship Hall where the chocolate is sold to order your Certified Fair Trade and Organic coffee from the Kaffeeklatsch. Provide your name, contact info, and type of coffee, grind, and amount you want and deliveries will be made the following Sunday (unless you arrange otherwise). Should you not make it that next Sunday the coffee will go into the church kitchen's freezer with your name on it. All profits go in support of our Social Justice efforts.

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, May 1st, 2016

"Changing the White Supremacist Narrative"

The Reverend Fred L Hammond

This week we welcome guest minister Fred L Hammond from the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Tuscaloosa to our pulpit. Born in NY State, Rev. Hammond lived most of his adult life in Danbury, Connecticut, where he co-founded and directed the Interfaith AIDS Ministry of Greater Danbury. Rev. Hammond received a M.S. in Counselor Education from Western Connecticut State University in 1983, and his M. Div. from Meadville Lombard Theological School in 2007. Rev. Hammond has a blog entitled: A UU Minister in the South located at serenityhome.wordpress.com He writes poetry, short stories, and enjoys taking photographs of nature.

This Sunday we Share the Plate with New Futures, Inc. For more on this program, please see the article below.

This Sunday in Children and Youth Religious Education

Children and youth will collaborate with their RE teachers on the short creative presentation each room will give at RE Appreciation Sunday, May 8th. All are invited to participate! 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.

Annual Budget Drive Results

This year's ABD is our best ever with current pledges at $201,514. If you haven't pledged yet but would like to do so, please contact Jason Aycock at jason_aycock@hotmail.com.

Thanks to everyone for sharing our journey by showing your financial support!

Members: Save the Date!
Annual Congregational Meeting
May 22nd, 2016, at 12:30 p.m.

Please make plans to attend, because we need a quorum! Also, per our bylaws (approved last meeting), we will send electronic copies of the mailing to all members, using your newsletter preferences as a guide. If you currently get a paper copy of the newsletter, we'll send paper copy of the agenda and other information. If you receive the newsletter electronically, we'll send you the agenda electronically. Please make sure that the church office has your correct email address! If you would prefer to receive the annual meeting notices in a different format than you get the newsletter, please just let the church office (uuch@uuch.org or 256.534.0508) know as soon as possible. Thank you!

UUCH Interweave Hosts Dining with Friends Event to Benefit ThriveAlabama

UUCH Interweave is Standing on the Side of Love with Thrive Alabama helping raise money to purchase a Mobile Testing Vehicle which will provide free HIV testing at public events, health fairs, homeless camps, and to people with transportation barriers in rural communities.

What: UUCH Interweave Dining With Friends Event

Where: UUCH Fellowship Hall

When: 6:30p.m., May 20th, 2016

Cost is donation based:

$25 or more donation for seat at UUCH Interweave hosted dinner on May 20th.

$50 or more for seat at UUCH Interweave dinner PLUS Thrive Alabama Dessert Disco! on June 11th.

Even if you cannot go to either event, any and all donations are welcome.

There are three ways to sign up and/or Donate:

Online: Sign up and donate at the same time at this link: https://thrivealabama.kindful.com/dwf2016/uuch-dining-with-friends-for-thrive-al
(NOTE: indicate in the comments when you donate if you would like a ticket to the Interweave Dinner; donation must be $25 or more to attend the dinner.)
FaceBook: Sign up for Interweave dinner (and donating at the door) by going to this FaceBook event page and select "Going."
Poster: Sign up for Interweave dinner (and donating at the door) on the signup sheet in the UUCH Fellowship Hall.

Formerly the AIDS Action Coalition, Thrive Alabama has the mission to stop the spread of HIV & AIDS in the 12 counties of North Alabama, and care for people and


Thrive's "Dessert Disco" will be held June 11th!

families living with the disease. With clinics in Huntsville, Florence, and Albertville, Thrive Alabama provides comprehensive medical healthcare for people living with HIV, free HIV testing, prevention and education programs, housing assistance, substance abuse treatment, behavioral healthcare and sexually transmitted infection treatment. For more information about Thrive Alabama, visit www.thrivealabama.org. For more information about our UUCH event, please contact Denise Runnels (drrunnel@gmail.com).

UUCH's Interweave is an Outreach Group for self-identified lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) persons. Together with our friends and allies we are dedicated to the spiritual, political, and social well-being of UUs who are confronting oppression associated with their LGBTQ status. We follow the UUA's Interweave lead and facilitate the celebration of the culture and lives of our members.

Bountiful Books Bring in the Bucks!

UUCH held its bi-annual Book Sale April 20th-23rd, and raised $1,600! Many members and friends replenished their home libraries with new reading materials at bargain prices. An estimated 6,000 books were donated to UUCH for the sale.

Many thanks go out to those who participated in the sale in the following ways:

Book Sale Team: Pam Korb, Sally Locklear, Natalie Lambert, Shiela Burrows and Gail Williams organized all aspects of the sale.

Sorting Party held Sunday afternoon, April 17th: Many people stayed after church for a light lunch and made quick work of organizing a huge quantity of books.

Worked Shifts at the Sale: In addition to the 5 members of the Book Sale Team who served as shift leaders, 30 other volunteers worked shifts at the sale: Jerome Belcher, Paulette Bernstein, Susan Coddington, Rita Crouse, LaDawn Edwards, Becky Ellingwood, Nancy Finley, Gloria Guay, Kathy Heath, Gary Hitt, Denise Hunter-Gilbert, Jessica Jackson, John Jeter, Sarah Kinley, Brad Korb, Sarah Korb, Theresa Miller, Tim Miller, Dan Nielsen, June Norton, Diane Scanland, Eleanor Schweinsberg, Pam Siegler, Monica Speed, Bryan Walls, Patsy Warvi, Virginia Warvi, Paul Wieland, Nick Wilbourn, and Mitzy Woody.

Members and Friends who bought books: We really appreciate those who came to shop and replenish their home libraries. Thanks so much for shopping with us!

Donors: This sale could not have happened without the generous donations of books from members and friends. We appreciate your generosity! Tax donation forms are available in a folder on the bulletin board by the door to the church office, or you may email or call the church (534-0508 or uuch@uuch.org) to request that a form be mailed to you.

Unsold books were donated to local non-profit organizations--the children's books went to Chapman School, and the remaining books to the Downtown Rescue Mission!

We Share the Plate with New Futures, Inc.

New Futures, Inc. is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, founded in 1990, addressing the need in Huntsville and Madison County for an organization that serves homeless, intact families. New Futures Inc. operates the Marilyn Mabry Family Lodge, a homeless shelter that allows families to remain together in a safe, family-friendly environment. They are the only homeless transitional housing program in Madison County that accepts families with children up to 18 of both genders, single fathers with minor children, and single mothers with sons over age 10. By keeping families together, the Lodge will enhance the positive outcomes for all family members, and ultimately for the community of Madison County.

New Futures' shelter is dormitory style, with private rooms and shared bathrooms and common areas. Through its transitional housing program, New Futures acts as a catalyst for homeless families to obtain skills, education, and successes to empower themselves and overcome extreme poverty to achieve independence. Services include a Shelter Program--90 day program, job prep, job search assistance, case management; and a Transitional Housing Program--including Education Services (including GED, Certificate & assistance), Job Placement, Job Coach/Resume Building Classes, Transportation, Counseling, and Daycare assistance. For more information on New Futures, Inc., see their website: http://www.keepingfamiliestogethernf.org/

When we "Share the Plate," all cash collected on the first Sunday of each month in the quarter (April, May, and June), along with any checks noted as "Share the Plate," will be halved with New Futures, Inc.

Care List

At our Circle of Candles on Sunday, April 24th, candles were lit for:

Michelle Clark, a candle of joy: "I'm back! The second knee replacement went very well. Thank you for all the food, love, and support. I am still wrapping my head around the fact that my knees will never dislocate again!"

Kathy Fisher, a candle of sorrow: "My aunt Betty, the last of the grownups of my childhood family, fell Monday on her 81st birthday, and she died early Tuesday morning. My cousins, siblings, and I are now the elders!"

Ilene Sparks, a candle of joy "Yeah! I can hear, thanks to a new hearing aid."

Our minister, the Reverend Alice Syltie, is on sabbatical through the month of June. For pastoral emergencies please contact Angel Hundley, the Sabbatical Coordinator, at ahundley@me.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, May 24th, 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.