Weekly Update

October 7, 2011 Weekly Update of the

Unitarian Universalist Society of Black Hawk County

319-266-5640  administrator@uusbhc.org  visit our website at  www.uusbhc.org

Rev. Eva Cameron 319-610-6605 (cell)  minister@uusbhc.org

Its been a marvelous fall week, with many reasons to celebrate life. I had a good meeting with colleagues at the beginning of the week, at our Annual Fall meeting. Its such a joy to be around people who share your passions and who you've been in conversations with for years. Part of what makes any community rich and strong is our willingness to love. And use our love to ask for forgiveness, to forgive others, and to move on together. Join us this Sunday as we reconnect through acts of love.

In my heart all week has been the mounting interest in the Occupy Wall St. movement, which has moved out to include almost 900 locations across the globe. I would be interesting in talking with you after the service about your reactions to this movement, and your thoughts on the place of the Occupy movement within our faith community.

See you in church! (and don't forget your Welcome Basket item!)
~Eva

This Sunday Oct 9th

8:30 am Music Rehearsal
   9:30 am Service: Reconnection part 3: Acts of Love - Yom Kippur
One of the most important ways to reconnect with each other is to love.  The Jewish faith teaches us that each year, in order to go forward in love, we must pause and forgive ourselves and each other.  Join us in this moving service of reconnection.
10:45 am Fellowship Time
11:00 am Children's Chapel
11:15 am Sunday School for children & youth
11:15 am Adult Religious Education
   2:00 – 4:00 pm UU Polka Dance

UU Polka Dance is open to all dancers this Sunday, 10/9, from 2-4 pm at the UUSBHC.
Free admission, although donations to the church will be accepted.
Dance lessons provided by Jo Foster and Heather Flory.

Calendar Updates for this Coming Week

Tuesday

   7:00 pm Religious Services Council meeting

Wednesday

      5:00 pm Festival Sunday planning meeting
      5:15 pm Children's Choir
      5:45 pm Dinner:  India in Iowa
         Chicken curry, potatoes & peas, daal, rice, salad & fruit.
      6:30 pm Adult Choir
      7:30 pm Theoretical String Band

Thursday

   7:30 pm Buddhist Path

Reminder: There will be a Congregational Meeting

after the service on October 23rd at 11:15 am.

Pastoral Update
Jim Paprocki would like you to know that his family is going through a very difficult time. His wife Martha is continuing to wrestle with the emotional difficulties that come with having recently battled breast cancer. Jim continues to have health issues, and their younger son is perhaps needing to move to another institutional setting (again). Please reach out to Jim and his wife at this time. They could use a lot of love from us . . . and hold them in your thoughts and prayers. They can be reached at
319-296-3737 or jpaprocki@mchsi.com

And, if you didn't see this earlier in the week:
As some of you may have heard on Sunday, our member Frank Olson's father died last weekend. I just spoke with his wife Mary and she said that he is having a tough time right now, particular with the family dynamics.

I encourage you to reach out to Frank and Mary, even if you don't know them well. They live in West Union, and so can't always make it to church. But we are very meaningful to them, and so let's send them some love and encouragement over the next few days and weeks.

Frank's email is folson@fbfs.com
His cell phone is: 563-380-0704.
Mary's email is olsonmary52@yahoo.com
She points out this is new, and that the one in the directory was wrong to begin with. So please update your address book . . .
AND reach out to Frank and Mary.

Nate Callahan reports on Facebook that he's got the flu . . . so send him some healthy, healing thoughts. And perhaps check in to see if he needs a pot of chicken soup, or some such.


Church Announcements:
Please send any information for the Weekly Updates to administrator@uusbhc.org
or call 266-5640.

October newsletter is available:

• for downloading from the UUSBHC website http://www.uusbhc.org/newsletters/1110newsletter.pdf

• Paper copies are available in the fellowship hall at church on Sunday.
• Also let the office know if you would prefer to receive the newsletter by email administrator@uusbhc.org

Community Announcements:

Welcome Baskets for the Neighborhood Hub
In 2003, an important initiative was created in Black Hawk County - the Community Partnership for Protecting Children.  This group brings together citizens and professionals who are concerned about the well-being of children and families on a monthly basis to discuss issues of common concern and to undertake common efforts involving the coordination of multiple community actors.  Originally funded by a grant from the Clark Foundation, the Partnership now receives funding for a part time coordinator from the Iowa Department of Human Services.

In 2005, the Partnership joined with UNI's Community Outreach Partnership Center to create the Neighborhood Hub in east Waterloo.  The Hub, currently housed at Mt. Carmel Baptist Church on Mobile Street, is designed to be a place where families and children in need can come to learn about services in a non-threatening environment.   As an incentive to get families to the Hub, the CPPC sponsors a community meal once a month, with the assistance of the United Methodist Church and the UNI Episcopal Campus Ministry.

As an additional incentive, the Hub prepares "Welcome Baskets" for people in need.  As you may know, Food Stamps do not pay for personal hygiene and household cleaning items, yet these expensive items are vital to household well-being.  The Northeast Iowa Food Bank carries these items but the demand often exceeds their available supplies.  Therefore, the Welcome Baskets are designed to fulfill an important family need for these items.  However, these baskets also serve the dual purpose of encouraging families to become informed about vital services and programs that may help them with a range of needs- everything from job training, to mental health counseling, to legal assistance. A copy of "What's Where in Parenting", the invaluable guide produced by Family and Children's Council, is typically included in each basket.

The Social Action Committee would like for UUSBHC to be a part of this ecumenical effort to help our community.  Therefore, we will be holding a special collection of items for the Welcome Baskets during the month of October.

In addition to collecting items for the Hub, Eva has requested that we retain some of the items to assist her in responding to requests that she sometimes gets from needy community members or church members for assistance.

The contents for the Welcome Baskets are selected from the following items:
Laundry detergent
Household cleaners
Deodorant
Shampoo
Tooth brushes and tooth paste
Paper towels
Window cleaner
Dish washing detergent.
Bath soap
Toilet paper

The baskets also include diapers and baby wipes when available, but other items are more strongly encouraged. Members should consider purchasing an item or items when they are doing their regular grocery shopping.   You are encouraged to buy cheaper generic brands rather than name brands, in order to make your expenditures go farther. This initiative involves "in kind" donations that are in addition to our monthly social action collection plate contributions. We hope everyone will join in to support this broad based community effort!

Al Hays, on behalf of the Social Action Committee

SOCIAL ACTION ALERT
We are advised by the Cedar Valley Hospitality House and Waterloo Catholic Worker that there is an immediate need for winter clothing and blankets.

The Hospitality House is in need of gently used men's winter coats, stocking caps, gloves, sweatshirts, hoodies and blankets.  These items will be distributed to the homeless who are living outdoors.  Items can be dropped off at the Hospitality House at 1003 Mulberry St. in Waterloo daily between 9:00a and 4:00p (Phone 319-234-1311). To learn more about Hospitality House, click here: http://waterloocatholics.org/cvhospitalityhouse.htm

St. Francis Catholic Worker is in need of winter hats, gloves and toilet paper for guests who are staying overnight at the Worker House.  Items can be dropped off at the Worker House, 321 East 8th Street in Waterloo weekdays after 4:00p. (Phone 319-232-2116.) To learn a little bit about the this place, click here: http://wcfcourier.com/news/metro/article

Rev Eva Cameron
minister
Unitarian Universalist Society of Black Hawk Co.
Cedar Falls, IA 50613
319-610-6605
www.uusbhc.org
Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.