November 27

Thanksgiving Pitch-in

Dinner

5:00 p.m.

December 5 & 6

Holiday Bazaar

December 14

Fall Congregational Meeting

4:00 p.m.

Guest at Your Table Supports the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee

We hope you will consider joining the Guest at Your Table program this season and support the work of the UU Service Committee with projects around the world.  Envelopes are available in the office and we will be collecting them on December 7.  More information on Guest at Your Table can be found here:  http://www.uusc.org/welcome-to-guest-at-your-table

 

Help Us Help Others with the Giving Tree

Our Giving Tree is up!  We are supporting the work of Stepping Stones, Positive Link, Blooming Families, and the Circles Initiative this year.  Come and select a tag with a gift request on Sunday, November 23 or November 30 and make the holidays a little happier for a local person in need.  Questions?  Contact Reverend Emily Manvel Leite at mre@uubloomington.org

 

Religious Education News Blast

Want to know what is going on in Religious Education for Children and Youth?  Follow this link to an easy access guide to upcoming events! 

RE News Blast

 

 

Monday Shambhala Meditation is Every Monday at Noon 

Join us at 12 noon every Monday in the Meeting Room for an hour of Shambhala Meditation with Sarah Flint. Please bring your own cushion; sitting in one of the Meeting Room chairs is also fine.

Our Congregational Themes for 2014-15

How does the idea of Possibility help you Seek the Spirit, Build Community, and Change the World?  

Our Folks...

Congratulations to Jill and Brian Courtney and big brother Henry as they welcome new baby Clara Marie Courtney, born at 1:30 pm on Nov 7th. Everyone is doing great!

Thanksgiving Pitch-In Dinner, November 27

Everyone is warmly invited to attend our Thanksgiving pitch-in dinner in Fellowship Hall on Thursday, November 27, at 5:00 p.m. Students and others whose families live far away are especially invited. Please call 812-332-3695 or email office@uubloomington.org by Sunday, November 23, to let us know if you are coming and what food you will bring to share. Turkey and dressing will be provided. Contact Amy Crozier for details.

Hospitality for Those with Allergies

As a courtesy to our friends and members who have allergies to fragrances, we are designating the west section of the Meeting Room (next to the sliding glass doors and tall narrow windows) as Fragrance Free. Please do not sit there if you have used any fragrances.  Anyone else is welcome to sit in this area.  Thank you for your consideration. 

Holiday Harmonies at Women's Alliance December 4

Join Women's Alliance in Fellowship Hall on Thursday, December 4 for our annual music program.  This year we're thrilled to have Hoosier Darlings, a four part vocal group led by our own Sarah Flint, to fill us with the holiday spirit. As usual, we'll meet at11:30 for a brown bag lunch with desserts and beverages provided by hosts Nancy Lair and Barb Backler. Hoosier Darlings will entertain us beginning at noon.

The Women's Alliance has voted to collect new hats/scarves/gloves for women or children at Middle Way House.  We will have a collection box in the Commons so the entire congregation can join us.   After the December Alliance meeting (Thursday, Dec 4) we will deliver our offerings.  We will also be collecting gently used hats/scarves/gloves for Shalom Center. Your support is greatly appreciated. Collection baskets are in the Commons at church.

Fundraiser Coffeehouse Success!  

A big thank you to all our performers and cookie bakers who helped with the fundraiser coffeehouse on Friday, November 14. Thanks also to Bob Port on sound, Marlin Howard in the kitchen, and Dave Sharp who was MC. Also to those who attended and gave so generously in support of the Interfaith Winter Shelter.  We made $531.        Judy Bennett, Membership Coordinator 

Official Notice of Congregational Meeting

Sunday, December 14, 4:00 p.m.

Meeting Room

2120 N. Fee Lane, Bloomington, Indiana 

Childcare will be provided. All members are encouraged to attend.

Bylaw changes for vote at Congregational Meeting December 14 

Ready to become a member of 

UU Bloomington?

Contact Judy Bennett, Membership Coordinator, 

332-3695, memcoord@uubloomington.org by Wednesday, December 17th.  

White Elephant Items (and Volunteers) for the Holiday Bazaar

The White Elephant knows that all UUs have valuable items they no longer need or want but that will be desired by others shopping at the Bazaar.   If you have items such as fine art, fine china, pottery, holiday decorations, children's toys, exotic collectibles, or truly (but not actual) White Elephants, please donate them to the White Elephant's Trunk for this year's Bazaar. We would really appreciate it if you could pre-price items for which you know the value, particularly valuable ones.  We can receive donations starting Nov. 30.  We need help in the following areas:  table set up; unpackers; sorters; pricing; display; sales; cashiers; well-informed collectors who know antiques, fine art, collectibles, fine china, fiber arts, pottery, toys.  We will be working starting Tuesday, 12/3, and daily thereafter, to set up for the White Elephant, 10am to 4pm--and longer on Thursday night.  If you can help, please contact Doris Wittenburg, (336-4993 or dwittenb@indiana.edu).  

Read and Recycle

Support the Holiday Bazaar Book Sale!  Cull through your library and find those books you are ready to pass along to another reader.  DVD's and CD's also welcome but please no VHS tapes, magazines or sheet music. For ease of shelving, please sort books by fiction/nonfiction.  Drop your items off at the church beginning Sunday, November 30 at 1:00 p.m. You may continue to bring books until Thursday, December 4. No book donations after December 4, please! Questions? Contact Abby at abdowney45@gmail.com or 812-824-7755.  

"C" Is For Cookies!

We hope you enjoyed the Preview Cookie Tasting and thanks to all who signed up!  We will keep the sign up sheets in Fellowship Hall until the week of the event (Dec. 5th and 6th) Looking through old family recipes or thinking of new ideas is all part of the fun of Bazaar Baking. Our cookie buyers like all shapes and sizes: classics, drop cookies, rolled cut-outs, bars, chips and lots of icing and decorations.  Questions,  Mary Jo Conley at 988-6130 or email brwnbeyond@msn.com.   Thank you!  The Cookie Walk Committee

Get ready for the  Gourmet Galaxy!  If you can bake it, can it, cook it, or create it, we would love to have it to sell at this year's Holiday Bazaar.  We're looking for breads - both sweet and savory - candy, fudge, biscotti, chocolate covered goodies, canned pickles, and most anything you can think of for the Gourmet Galaxy.  We would also love sugar free, gluten free, or vegan goodies.  Sign up between services in Fellowship Hall!  You can also sign up there to help staff the booth during the Bazaar!

 -- Ann LeDuc, Molly Gleeson, Co-chairs of the Gourmet Galaxy

HOLIDAY MIRACLE FOOD BASKETS due November 30 

C'mon! Admit it! You know you feel warm and fuzzy as you wander up and down the grocery store aisles trying to decide - hummmmm . . . blueberry pancake mix or butter­milk, tuna in water or oil, cranberry sauce smooth or lumpy. Yep! That's because you're buying food to fill a Monroe County United Ministries (MCUM) Food Basket. And once again you have the opportunity to join in the UU annual holiday food drive that shares our many blessings with families who are less fortunate than we are.

Food shortage is an ongoing struggle for MCUM - the demand is up and the supply is down. In fact, to ensure they don't turn any hungry families away, MCUM has been forced to REDUCE the amount of food given to each family from a 5-day supply of food per week to a 3-day supply of food per week.

Please sign up on the Holiday Food Baskets contributors' sheet found in the Commons by the Social Justice table. Grocery lists with careful instructions are placed with the sign up sheet. Be sure to take all the information you will need.  Thank you!  Read more...

https://www.facebook.com/notes/unitarian-universalist-church-of-bloomington/holiday-baskets-for-monroe-county-united-ministries/794137417312820

Unitarian Universalism in the Wider World--

Naperville and Portland in 2015

Join UU's from around the country at either the regional UU Assembly, the national UUA General Assembly, or both!  If you are a member of our congregation, you can be a delegate to the Mid-America Regional Conference in Naperville, April 17-19 (http://www.midamericauua.org/) or the national UUA General Assembly June 24-28 in Portland Oregon (http://www.uua.org/ga/). Please contact Iris Kiesling at ifkiesling@aol.com if you are interested.  

UU History for You

Giordano Bruno and the Infinity of Worlds

Giordano Bruno (1549-1600)  was born near Naples.  His father was a soldier but Bruno chose to be a priest.  He entered the Dominican order at 17 and was ordained at 24.  He taught mathematics and philosophy throughout Europe. He wrote many books but his views frequently cost him his jobs.  He denied the divinity of Jesus and rejected the Trinity, adopting an Arian view of God. He denied Mary had a virgin birth and claimed transubstantiation does not occur.  He claimed the sun was a star and there were an infinite number of stars in the heavens each with its own solar system. The Catholic Church finally arrested him in 1592.  He spent the next 7 years in jail defending himself against eight major charges (only one was on his scientific views). He did not recant, and was found guilty and burned at the stake in Rome on February 17, 1600; his ashes were tossed in the Tiber River. His books were also destroyed.  Scientists still debate the merits of Bruno as a scientist, as his views were largely insights and not based on astronomical observations or mathematical calculations. --Elof Carlson, Congregational Historian

Contact a Minister

    Reverend Mary Ann Macklin, our Senior Minister, can be reached at 812-332-3695, ext. 201 on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, or macklin@uubloomington.org. For pastoral emergencies, please call her mobile, 812-322-0205. 

    Reverend Doug Wadkins, our Interim Minister, can be reached at 812-332-3695, ext. 207 on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, or email wadkins@uubloomington.org. For pastoral emergencies, please call his home study number, 812-369-4179.

    Both ministers have voicemail on their numbers so that you can leave a private message.  

Attendance and Membership

Current Membership: 514     Certified Membership as of 2/1/2014: 492

Attendance

Sunday, November 9             9:15:    155;       11:15:   186;     RE:162                        Total:   501

Sunday, November 16           9:15:      98;       11:15:   151;     RE: 56                         Total:   305

Non-Pledge Offering

11/9 - $583; 11/16- $565        Total to be donated to Susie's Place - $295.86

Grocery Card Sales

November 9    $1,775, income to UUCB $88.75

November 16 $2,525, income to UUCB $124.25   

Calendar of all our congregational events can be found at www.uubloomington.org  Click on "Full Calendar" and then on the date you are interested in. You can also search for a specific event! Our facebook page also has scads of useful information: www.facebook.com/uubloomington

Next issue, Monday, December 1. Deadline for articles about congregational events and projects is 10 a.m. on 12/1/14, to Carol Marks at admin@uubloomington.org.  Next few publication dates (1st and 3rd Mondays): 12/1, 12/15, 1/5, 1/19.

Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington, 2120 N. Fee Lane, Bloomington IN 47408, 812-332-3695