Friday, August 26, 2011

Weekly Update


Hello! Once again the year has rolled around and it is time for Water Communion.  If you've never done this before . . . its a time for us all to gather around the theme of the sacredness of water to human life, and life in general, as well as the many ways in which water nourishes and restores us. We invite you to bring in water from some place special to you (or representative water). We will provide a pitcher of water for those who don't come with water. Bring your friends. And yes, this is a Festival Sunday, which means its for kids and adults alike. The choir and band practiced on Wednesday. The sounds is awesome! Its gearing up to be a great year!

New this year, the Annual Retreat is going to be just one day long and held after Water Communion. We do ask that EVERYONE stick around for the beginning of the Retreat--not just committee members. Not just old members or new members. We want you to hear about the Board's goals for the coming year--and more important, to engage in a conversation about hiring a DRE. There will be Child Care, so please join us! 

See you in church!
~Eva

Sunday 8/28/11
8:30 am Music Rehearsal
9:30 am Sunday Service: Festival Sunday: Water Communion Lara Martinsen-Burrell and the Festival Team; Judy Harrington (Worship Associate)
Bring a small vial of water to share from some place that has brought you joy and comfort in the past year.  Sometimes people bring water from a vacation spot, an old family farm, a new home, or their backyard garden spigot where they spent happy hours watering their garden.  We bring all this water to share, representing the oneness at the center of who we are, even as our life's journeys are different.
10:30 am Fellowship Time
11:00 am - 3:00 pm Annual Church Retreat (includes lunch provided for $3)

11:00 – 11:45 am   Board Vision (sanctuary)
11:45 am   Working Lunch (fellowship hall)
12:00 pm   DRE search update
12:15 – 1:15 pm   Congregational Conversation on DRE (fellowship hall)
1:15 - 2:15 pm   Council Breakout
2:15 – 3:00 pm   Gather and Report Back (sanctuary)


Hello, UUSBHC members and friends—
This Sunday our congregation will vote for 10 agencies to support with our monthly social action plate collection, which takes place the final Sunday of every month except February, when we have a hiatus to allow our annual budget drive to take center stage. The August plate collection is designated to support Cedar Falls Community Meals.
A paper ballot will be enclosed in the order of service on Sunday for you to mark your 10 selections on, and that ballot is reproduced at the bottom of the email to permit you time to read it and deliberate on your choices prior to Sunday.                Sally Browne, Social Action Chair


Calendar Updates for this Coming Week
Monday
6 pm Cedar Prairie Vegetarian Potluck
Tuesday
4:00 – 6:00 pm Community Meals at First Methodist, CF
Wednesday
5:00 pm Children's Choir
6:15 pm Adult Choir
7:30 pm Theoretical String Band
Thursday
7:30 pm Buddhist Path--all invited for Dharma Discussion and Meditation
Saturday
1:00 – 3:00 pm Nature Lover's small group


Pastoral Update

Angie Stafsholt writes "Thanks for all the well wishes! To fill in ones that did not know, last week I was diagnosed with melanoma (skin cancer that grows internally vs. externally). Today I had it removed and a lymph node to see if the cancer has spread. I will know the extent of my results next week. I will forever be susceptible to this cancer now. My advice to you is put sunscreen on your kids (and you)! You don't want to be sporting the scares I will have due to a tan."

Dick Shane is having some medical issues. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers, along with Don Wendt and Dottie Forsberg, who remain weak and at Friendship Village Lakeview Landing.


Announcements

The Friends of Western Home Communities Annual Breakfast is Sept 10th from 7:00 – 10:00 am at Windridge Retirement Community, 5311 Hyacinth Dr of S Main St.  Cost is $5.

Powerful Tools for Caregivers is a class designed to provide the family caregiver with the skills needed to take care of themselves. Six two-and-a-half hour class sessions held once a week are led by certified, experienced class leaders. Meetings are held each Thursday from 9:00 – 11:30 am from Sept 22 – October 27.  The cost is $10 and the meetings are held at Kimball Ridge Center – Room 1. For more information call Vicki Hyke at 319-272-2467 or email vhyke@hvaaa.org.

Office Update
Please send any information for the Weekly Updates to administrator@uusbhc.org or call 266-5640.

You may pick up a copy of the September newsletter in the fellowship hall at church this Sunday. Or it should be available for downloading from the UUSBHC website http://www.uusbhc.org  early next week.  Please let the office know if you would prefer to receive the newsletter by email administrator@uusbhc.org.

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Here is a sample of the ballot. Please fill one out on Sunday, or email/postal mail your choices to us care of Social Action:
The Social Action Plate Choices
(Choose ten please)
____ Seeds of Hope  This group advocates for victims of Domestic Violence in our area. Services include counseling and coping skills for kids. www.seedsofhopeiowa.com
____ Khasi Hills School  Support our Unitarian School in the Khasi Hills of India.
____ Cedar Valley Hospice   Cedar Valley Hospice is a not-for-profit agency that provides home care services to those with a life threatening illness, hospice services to those with a six month or less prognosis, grief support services to anyone struggling with the death of a loved one, and case management services for those living with HIV or AIDS and their families. Services for children promote family communication and provide grief mentors for children referred by schools or physicians.  www.cvhospice.org
____ Habitat for Humanity  Help build a house in the Cedar Valley for those in need. www.habitat.org
____ Feinstein Challenge for Northeast Iowa Food Bank  Feinstein will divide $1 million among anti hunger agencies nationwide in a proportional match, using it as a spur to raise funds during March and April. Our local food bank uses Feinstein funds to help provide food assistance to 16,000 children through programs like Kids Café and the Backpack program, which sends food home with children in need.  www.feinsteinfoundation.org    
____ Harbaugh-Williams Educational Promise Fund  Established in January, 2006, by Dennis Harbaugh and Juanita Williams with an initial gift of $85,000, the Harbaugh-Williams Education Promise Fund will provide post-secondary scholarships and educational opportunities for a classroom of African American students at George Washington Carver Academy, Central and Hoover Middle Schools, all public schools in Waterloo, Iowa. Visit the website www.educationpromisefund.org  for more info.
____ Iowa Breast Cancer Edu-Action  Their goal is to educate and empower all individuals (including the under served) to seek the best possible breast cancer treatment and healing.  Website is www.iowabreastcancer.org
____ One Iowa  One Iowa is the state's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) advocacy organization, committed to full equality for LGBT individuals, including the freedom to marry. The organization has been an effective advocate for the community and helped secure recent safe-schools policies.  www.oneiowa.org
____ UUSC (Unitarian Universalist Service Committee)  The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) is a nonsectarian organization that advances human rights and social justice in the United States and around the world. www.uusc.org
____ Family & Children's Council (FCC)  FCC is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to prevent child abuse and strengthen families. FCC works toward its mission through prevention education programs in the schools, parent education and support for families and training for professionals and community members.  www.fccouncil.net
____ NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness)  is a nonprofit, grassroots mental health organization founded by families affected by mental illness, determined to fight stigma, and to create a system of recovery for individuals living with mental illness. Programs include education for parents, educators, and caregivers about children and adolescents with behaviorial disorders or mental illness.  www.namiiowa.com
____ Healthy Cedar Valley Coalition  a coalition created to  1) Maximize fresh produce availability; expand urban agriculture; promote the health, economic, and social benefits of gardens; 2) Effect change in health and wellness lifestyle practices, especially with children as advocates to the family; and 3) Work with cities to have curbside recycling, and demonstrate how cities that  successfully recycle work. A local pilot project has been the Children's Booth at the Waterloo Farmers' Market.  www.healthycedarvalleycoalition.org
____ Designer Genes   A nonprofit formed to provide resources, advocacy and support to persons with Down Syndrome, their families and communities.  www.firstgiving.com/designergenes21
____ Finally, please check here if you approve the Social Action initiative to award our donation, for those agencies chosen, to programming that affects the well-being of children.

Rev Eva Cameron
minister
Unitarian Universalist Society of Black Hawk Co.
Cedar Falls, IA 50613
319-610-6605
www.uusbhc.org
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