The Overlook

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

June 16th, 2016

Vol. 16 Issue 24

In This Issue

Fill the Basket!

UUGA

Upcoming Services

This Sunday in RE

Pride Week!

Social Justice--this Sunday!

Interweave in Action

Care List

Remember the Food Basket!

Your Social Justice Committee asks that we bring non-perishable food and personal hygiene items for the food basket this Sunday, to be donated to the Huntsville Assistance Program. (Baskets are located in the Foyer and in the Fellowship Hall.)
Our Goal: 100 Food Items per month!
So please check your pantry, and/or pick up an extra item on your next shopping trip. Suggested donations: macaroni and cheese, pasta and sauce, dry beans and rice, boxes of cereal, bars of soap, canned meat, and peanut butter!
Also toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, sanitary napkins and tampons, shampoo and conditioner...you get the idea!

Thanks in advance!

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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UUCH Calendar
UUCH Website

UUA Website

Mid-South District

Upcoming Services

Sunday, June 19th, 2016

"Violence and Peacemaking in the Bible"

Dr. John S. (Jerry) Mebane

This talk is based primarily on John Dominic Crossan's recent book How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian: Struggling with Divine Violence from Genesis through Revelation. Crossan, a prominent Biblical scholar known for his work on the nature of the historical Jesus, argues that the most genuinely inspired portions of the Bible affirm a radical vision of distributive justice (justice based not on threats of retribution but on relative equality among all people) and peace. The Bible also records the subversion of this vision in threats of divine violence and in acceptance of unjust, hierarchical social relations. Crossan persuasively argues that we are called to embrace the vision of peace and justice that was central to the ministry of the historical Jesus. Dr. Mebane's talk will discuss the scholarly methodology that informs Crossan's argument that the Bible includes a pattern "in which God's radical divine vision of justice and liberation is regularly muted or turned back into the normalcy of civilization's injustice and oppression."

Dr. Jerry Mebane is Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Originally a specialist in Renaissance literature and culture, for the past twenty years he has also pursued interdisciplinary studies in religion and warfare, especially the conflicts among pagan heroic ideals and Christian ideas concerning pacifism and principles of justice in warfare. He is currently expanding his research on progressive Christianity, especially in relation to movements that promote social justice. Dr. Mebane holds a bachelor's degree from Presbyterian College and a Ph.D. from Emory University.

This Sunday in Children and Youth Religious Education

This week in our Summer Series children and youth will help assemble meal packs for our homeless outreach with the Social Justice Committee. The activity will be led by Tonia Betts, Kevin Betts, and Gail Williams, with helper leaders Sage Betts and Sarah Korb.

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, contact our Religious Education Director, Erin Reid.

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.

Happy Pride Week!

Join with LGBTQ friends and allies to celebrate diversity in all it's colorful beauty! This Saturday, our UUCH

Interweave will have a booth at the Roundhouse--and a float in the parade! Come down, watch the parade, and visit with us!

For more on Pride Week events, go to http://www.rocketcitypride.com/#!events/vg38h

Or contact Denise Runnels (drrunnel@gmail.com) to find out more on our Interweave participation.
--Rainbow caught by Nancy Finley!

Social Justice Meets This Sunday!

Our next Social Justice Committee Meeting will be held this Sunday, June 19th at 9:30 a.m. in the RE wing. We will set up for the RE homeless meal-pack assembly day. Everyone is welcome, and we will have bagels! Childcare is available if needed. Contact Tonia with questions: 256.882.9891.

Join Interweave in Supporting Thrive!

As part of the Thrive Alabama "Dining with Friends" Fund Raising campaign, UUCH Inteweave 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. Ask Denise Runnels (drrunnel@gmail.com) for further details.

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

Care List

At our Circle of Candles on Sunday, June 12th, candles were lit for:

Diane and Brian Scanland, a candle of sorrow: "Sorrow for the tragic shooting in Orlando. Again, we are thinking, 'Why must people die just because they have a different lifestyle?' So sad. Stand on the side of love."

Pam Korb, a candle of sorrow: "Betsy Applegate's father, Dick Applegate, died this week on Wednesday. The funeral will be today in LaGrange, Kentucky. Please keep Betsy and Alice, and the Applegate family, in your thoughts and prayers."

Nancy Finley and Becky Ellingwood, a candle of joy: "After 24 years of being together, Becky and Nancy were legally married Friday. We had a small ceremony in this sanctuary with just immediate family, but the entire congregation was present in our hearts. (We even brought the picture of UUCH members from the foyer up to the front pew, so you all could be present!) Rev. Alice said that this was the first wedding ceremony in our new church. We think it is appropriate that the first one reflects the social justice for which this church stands. We thank you all for working over the years for marriage equality."

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, July 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.