The Overlook

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

June 2nd, 2016

Vol. 16 Issue 22

In This Issue

Sharing Sunday

Summer Potluck

Say "Adieu"

UUGA

Upcoming Services

This Sunday in RE

Sacred Circle Dance

Thrive Alive!

Summer RE Needs You

We Share the Plate

Care List

This Sunday,
June 5th, 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!

"Summer's Bounty"
Potluck on June 5th

Bring on a favorite dish celebrating Summer's Bounty at our June Potluck. Fresh vegetables, tangy BBQ, special chicken, scrumptious salad, luscious summer dessert. We can't wait to see what you'd like to share!! We will have two fragrance-free tables at the potluck.

Dear Coffee and Chocolate: We'll Miss You!

Sales are slow in the summer, so your Social Justice committee is suspending the after-church sales of Coffee and Chocolate--but just for the summer! We look forward to welcoming these Fair Trade staples back in the fall!

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, June 5th, 2016

"Dance As a Spiritual Practice--and the Forbidden Dance"

Tarleton Brooks

German dancer Bernhard Wosien developed modern-day Sacred Circle Dance, and said that "dance is meditation in movement, a walking into silence where every movement becomes a prayer." Our guest, Tarleton Brooks, is a painter, drummer, and dancer who currently leads Sacred Circle Dance in the mountains of Western North Carolina. She will lead us in considering the deeply spiritual and community-building nature of simple movement. All are welcome to stay after Sunday's potluck and experience Sacred Circle Dance!

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

This Sunday in Children and Youth Religious Education

It's the first day of Children and Youth Summer RE! On deck this week is making art with Lynsie Lamitie and Mac McSherry. Older youth (ages 12 and up) will have a special project!

Childcare for children age 3 and under will be provided as usual.

For the summer months, we are recruiting volunteers to share their interests, skills, and hobbies with our RE program! For more about this opportunity, see the article below!

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). Register online for the UUCH Children and Youth RE Program at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WS8LDNP.

Adult RE and Worship Bring Sacred Circle Dance to UUCH This Sunday

The Adult Religious Education and Worship Committees have teamed up to bring a special guest, Tarleton Brooks, from Asheville, NC, to share with us her passion for Sacred Circle Dance.

Sacred Circle Dance, also called meditation dance, is a combination of sacred and traditional dance, mainly from European or Near-Eastern sources. A growing collection of traditional as well as modern choreography works on many levels to create community through celebration and devotion. This dance can be a powerful spiritual practice.

Each dance is taught and then danced; the steps are simple and easy to learn. We gather together in a circle. No experience is necessary and one does not need a partner. The music varies from classic to contemporary and some dances are slow and deep, others are vigorous and even ecstatic. The moves are symbolic and intentional. Moving rhythmically together in a circle is relaxing and at the same time energizing.

Circle dance is moving meditation. Join us after potluck Sunday, June 5th and find out what Sacred Circle Dance offers you. Ask Nancy Finley (finleyn@uah.edu) or Denise Runnels (drrunnel@gmail.com) for more information. If you need childcare, please let Nancy know at least a week in advance.

Thrive Alabama Dessert Reception Disco!

What: Dining with Friends 2016 Disco!

Where: The Roundhouse

When: 7-10:00 p.m., Saturday, June 11th, 2016

Donation: $50

UUCH Interweave hosted a dinner May 20th as part of the Thrive Alabama "Dining with Friends" Fund Raising campaign and has raised $1,745 so far to help purchase a Mobile Testing Vehicle that will provide free HIV testing at public events, health fairs, homeless camps, and to people with transportation barriers in rural communities.

It is not too late! If you would like to support this effort you can still write a check (or give cash) and boost the amount Interweave has raised even further. If you donate $50, you will receive a ticket to the June 11th dessert and disco event. Ask Denise Runnels (drrunnel@gmail.com) for details.

Alternatively, you can go online and donate directly to Thrive Alabama: http://thrivealabama.org/events/dining-with-friends.

Children and Youth Summer RE:
We Need YOU!

In the summer months, the Children and Youth Religious Education Program takes a special turn from the regular fall and spring curricula. We invite UUCH members and friends to plan a class session for the children and youth. You'll be part of a teaching team as either the lead teacher or a helper; and we'll be sure to have a regular RE teacher there as support. Even children and youth can partner with an adult to lead a session!

We invite you to sign up to lead a session that shares a special talent, hobby, skill, or learning area of yours. Do you paint? Do you do origami? Do you like gardening? Do you craft? Can you cook? Are you really geeked out about something obscure but oh so interesting? Here's your chance to share your passion! What's a joy to you can be a joy to others.You never know who you can inspire!

Leaders will prepare a topic/activity that is adaptable to children ages 4 to 12. Senior high youth are invited to participate as leaders and helpers, or to attend the regular worship service in the sanctuary. Because of our exciting program growth, we'll need even more leaders and helpers this summer than before! So, don't be shy! We have room for the sharing of your gifts. There's nothing like spending time with the children and youth at our church. Their energy, creativity, and intelligence are contagious. And they benefit from interacting with caring adults who make an investment in them. This is what multi-generational community is all about!

For the next month, we'll have posters standing in the church foyer and fellowship hall where you can sign up for a summer Sunday session. Or, you can contact Erin Reid, Director of Religious Education, at eereid@hotmail.com.

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, 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, May 29th, candles were lit for:

Autumn Betts, a candle of joy: "Our horse, Dancer, is turning 18 this Friday!"

Amanda Schuber, a candle of concern: "After a year of back and forth, I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. There are still more questions to be answered, but I'm grateful for the ability to start to address the problems head-on."

Pam Siegler, a candle of joy: "Kathy Fisher's shoulder surgery went well. The whole choir wishes her rest and good healing!"

Erin Reid, a candle of joy: "Kristy From-Brown and daughter Willow will be making their first international excursion next week. They wish for good travel energies for their journey to Italy!"

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, June 28th, 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.