Town Hall Meeting Participants Ask Questions, Get Answers

 In preparation for February, Ministerial Search Committee (MSC) nomination month, the Board of Directors hosted a Town Hall Meeting on January 25th. 67 congregants attended. Von Welch, Vice President, presented an overview of creation and function of the MSC. Many valuable questions were asked, discussed, and answered. For more information about the ministerial search, visit the Ministerial Transition website at    http://search.uubloomington.org/ .    

MAM's  Musings

Our Folks...

Talking About Books that Present Refreshing Views on Aging

On Sunday, February 15th, at 12:30 p.m. in Room 212, we will talk about Ripening Time by Sherry Anderson. A quote from the book: "You have to let the questions find you."  There are several people who are reading this book.  If you'd like to join us, register by calling 812-332-3695, or emailing office@uubloomington.org and I will try to get you a copy ASAP.  The Social Justice Funds Committee awarded us a generous grant to purchase several copies of three important books about aging.  In March we will meet to talk about Second Wind by Bill Thomas and in April we'll gather for lunch and to talk about With a Little Help from Our Friends by Beth Baker.   --Beth Backler, bbackler@gmail.com

Help make this congregation a friendly place.  Learn to be a greeter or newcomer welcomer.  The work is important and fun, but it takes only a little time, and you get to choose the time and date of the one service every month or so that you will serve.  Join us for  orientation on Sunday, March 1, at 12:45 in the Meeting Room.   -- Libby DeVoe

This Is My Church 

You walk in the door and can say, "This is my church" because you feel at home. In the last year, our congregation spent a month talking and thinking about generosity. We are a generous congregation; the examples are many.   Walk through the Commons, see the displays and boxes filled with pasta, toiletries and other gifts and know that you are part of a congregation that is taking responsibility for the community in which we all live.  The generous contributions of time, talent and resources given by the members of this congregation change the world.

Women's Alliance Thursday, February 5 

Don't miss a special presentation by Wendy Bethel explaining her creations of wonderful art dolls for the Women's Alliance program on February 5.  Bring a brown bag lunch as usual at 11:30 with desserts and beverages provided by by Carol Arnold and Karen Cassidy, followed by Wendy's program.  

Building a Culture of Generosity -- February 7

      In addition to members of our congregation, UU congregations from around the MidAmerica UU Region are invited.   Registration is $15 and is required. Click for More info

Our Choir to Sing at African-American History Month Concert February 14

Our UU Choir will perform at the African-American History Month church choir concert on Saturday, February 14 at 3:00 p.m. at Second Baptist Church at 8th and Rogers.

Power to the People! Solar Panels Save Energy and Dollars 

     In 2014 our church used 48,143 kWh of electricity, which was 13,397.7kWh less than what we used 2010. This savings is due to upgrades to our facility and equipment due to our Green Spaces Initiative campaign and the resulting Green Maintenance Fund, our new sanctuary lighting, and to the thermostat setbacks that reduced both our heating and cooling of unoccupied spaces. 

     Our solar panels generated 30,012 kWh of electricity in 2014, two-thirds of which was sent to the grid, and the rest of which was directly used by the church, saving the loss of power along the power lines. So we created 62% of our electricity in 2014! 

Dollar savings 2014 vs 2010:
$2,771.15 = 2014 Annual Electric Bill ($3,879.80 less than our 2010 bill).

$2,972 of the savings was due to the solar panel electricity production. (Net meter credit of $1842.08 + an estimated $1,129.95 saved by PV power we used directly.)

Board meeting on February 19

The Board meeting in February, normally on the third Wednesday, will be on Thursday, February 19th at 7:00pm in the Library. As always, it is open to anyone who would like to attend.

Used Book Donations Welcome

You are invited to donate books to the used book sale that you think would be of interest to other Unitarian Universalists. These may be placed next to the used Book Cart in Fellowship Hall. Please make a donation when you take a book from the cart.

Ready to become a member of UU Bloomington?

New Kroger Grocery Card Rewards Program -- How to Sign Up

Here are the instructions for participating in the Kroger Grocery Card Program, to make your Kroger purchases count for a percentage to come back to our church, since Kroger is no longer issuing Kroger grocery gift cards for this purpose. In a couple of weeks we will have laptop computers and helpful people available during coffee hour to help you with the registration process. Thanks for your participation! 

Our Kroger NPO (Non Profit Organization) number is 10159.

TO USE THE KROGER COMMUNITY REWARDS PROGRAM:

• Register online at krogercommunityrewards.com
• Be sure to have your Kroger Plus card handy and register your card with your organization after you sign up.
• If you do not yet have a Kroger Plus card, these are available at the customer service desk at any Kroger.
• Click on Sign In/Register
• Most participants are new online customers, so click on SIGN UP TODAY in the 'New Customer?' box.
• Sign up for a Kroger Rewards Account by entering zip code, clicking on favorite store, entering your email address and creating a password, agreeing to the terms and conditions
• You will then get a message to check your email inbox and click on the link within the body of the email.
• Click on My Account and use your email address and password to proceed to the next step.
• Click on Edit Kroger Community Rewards information and input your Kroger Plus card number.
• Update or confirm your information.
• Enter UUCB's NPO number, 10159, or name of organization, select organization from list and click on confirm.
• To verify you are enrolled correctly, you will see our church's name on the right side of your information page.
• REMEMBER, purchases will not count for our church until after you register your Kroger Plus card.
• Do you use your phone number at the register?  Call 800-576-4377, select option 4 to get your Kroger Plus card number.
• Always swipe your registered Kroger Plus card or use the phone number that is related to your registered Kroger Plus card when shopping, for each purchase to count towards a percentage  being donated to our church.  

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. 

A Bill in the Indiana State House That Could Kill Private Rooftop Solar Power Development

ACTION ALERT: SB 1320

    This Wednesday, Feb 4, the House utilities committee will most likely have their hearing on SB 1320.  As written, HB1320 would effectively kill private rooftop solar by allowing the utilities to credit solar or wind customers at about 75% less than what they pay for electricity.   

     The hearing is 1:30-4:30 on Wednesday.  People attending who oppose the bill are asked to wear red, so that our numbers are clearly visible.  

     If you sign up here I believe you will receive updates about last-minute schedule changes:    

     I will also try to have updates posted on the UU Facebook page.

     Finally, if you'd like to carpool to Indy, contact me and I will try to put you in touch with others.

--Stephanie Kimball, Green Sanctuary Task Force on Global Climate Change 

What else you can do:   Read more...

25% Sunday Non-Pledge Plate Recipient Nomination Campaign

     The application form for nominating our next local non-profit agency to receive 25% of Sunday non-pledge plate collections (July 2015-June 2016) will be available March 1. The application deadline will be April 1st. The Social Justice Funds Committee will choose three nominee finalists for the congregation to vote on at the spring congregational meeting on June 7th. Our contributions to the current recipient, Susie's Place, total $4,897 in the first two fiscal quarters (with 2 more quarters to go!) The total donated to the Circles Initiative, last year's recipient, was $10,277! Which local non-profit agency should be our next recipient?

      Those who submit applications must be able to meet the following obligations: (1) contact the agency you support to gather the information necessary to complete the application. If among the finalists chosen you will need to (2) provide 200 word written information on the agency to be published in the Prologue; (3) arrange for written materials to be available at the church throughout May, and (4) give a brief 3-minute presentation during both services on Sunday, June 7th, including an overview of the organization and an explanation of how the funds will be spent. The agency will also be tabling between services on June 7th.

     Watch for further information from the Social Justice Funds Committee. Contact Millie Jackson, SJFC Chair, at uucbsjfunds@uubloomington.org with any questions.

     The Social Justice Funds Committee: Jana Anna, Anna Beauchamp, Millie Jackson, Steve Mascari and Ellen Tamura. Co-Advisors: Jackie Hall and the Reverend Douglas Wadkins.