We have established a Zoom service tech line if you are having trouble logging into our Sunday service. If you do not get an immediate answer, leave a message and your call will be returned momentarily.Dial 484-925-1684.

Coloring Sheet: “Stones & Chalice“, coloring page by a fellow DRE – what colors do you gravitate to when coloring this week’s sheet as you listen to the worship service? 

Activity: Our story for all ages is called “Juggling the Egg” – have a ball or small piece of fabric to pass or toss back and forth. Notice the speed you pass the object back and forth is it even or varied? Notice the speed again – is it fast or slow? 
Seeds, Sprouts and Saplings: *** NEW TIME THIS WEEK From 9:45 to 10:15 zoom time with Ms Jayné and Erin. 
Children’s theater morning. Big Ideas for this week to make a video and send to Jayné by Saturday – * Corn * Tribal Governance * Land  Stewardship Contact Sunday Assistant, Erin, epcjjc@gmail.com if you need the log-in info resent.
Youth Group: 11:45 – 12:30

Kai and Ginny lead this week’s meeting to hang out and dream how you would like to see the youth group continue.  For zoom link contact Kai Miller.

WEDNESDAY
Check out this fun video to learn
how you can participate in the
newest trend sweeping the world
of UUs – #chaliceChallege 

Ritual is important for faith formation – Wednesday evening let’s light a chalice.  Here’s our chalice lighting that might work well for you:
“To this quiet place of beauty, we come from busy things Pausing for a moment for the thoughts that quiet brings.” 
or 
“We light this chalice for the warmth of love, the light of truth and the energy of action.” – Mary Ann Moore

speak the words, take one large breath in and out and then extinguish the flame.

What moments of ritual do you have in your home already? We’d love to hear email your experience to director.religious.education@uuberks.org

FRIDAY EVENING (5/29)
Story & Song time with Ms Ebee.  A time for your little one to hear a story from our RE Assistant, Erin, via pre-recorded video. 

The worship team is looking for a few more volunteers who can run the Sunday morning slides during worship. Volunteers are on duty once every 4 to 6 weeks. You will get training and rehearse with the worship team the week prior to the service you are supporting. Rehearsals are held Fridays from 5-6 pmYou will need familiarity and ease using Zoom and slides (we use Google Slides which are similar to PowerPoint) as well as a strong internet connection. If you are interested or have questions, please send a email to g.worship.tech@uuberks.org.

Looking for Volunteers to make PPE (masks, gowns and headbands)

Did you know that our local health care professionals are in need of personal protective equipment?  Did you know that members of our congregation who work in health care would appreciate additional masks and gowns, enabling them to change ppe more frequently?  Did you know that there are families in the city, and homeless people

in the city, who need masks?  Did you know that FUUBC has nurse-approved patterns?  Can you sew?  Can you donate money for fabric?  Can you help distribute masks?

Have you answered “Yes”, and are eager to help?

Please contact Ginny Chudgar

Please register & start a team. It’s $25/household. There are prizes and it’s fun for all ages & pets too. People do not have to be from here to support this cause, they can do this from anywhere around the world. Please forward this and encourage all of your contacts to participate. The event is on all of our social media platforms which makes it easy to share and I’ve attached pictures as well.

Sponsorship opportunities are available, see details below, on link or in attachments.

Let’s make the best of a difficult time in history and be better prepared to serve the increased need in the months to come.

Thanks for helping us spread the word and register here

The Social Justice Coordinating Team has decided to limit the Special Plate collections to just one at this time.  All of us are focused now on the financial needs of our families, households, and immediate communities, and yet we want to fulfill our mission and help where help is most needed.  Therefore, we will be holding a Special Plate Collection on Sunday May 24 to support the Olivet Boys and Girls Clubs in their work of helping to feed the youth of Reading.  Olivet was one of our chosen recipients this year, and their food outreach is basic and much-needed in the city.

As of June 1st Zoom will be using an updated platform Zoom 5.0. Please take a moment to update your zoom accounts. You can do so by logging in to your accounts and selecting the update link where you see”Important Notice Please begin updating all your clients to Zoom 5.0“.

Click on the link provided and you will be guided through the update.

You can also find the update by clicking on “check for updates” in the settings menu in the upper right hand corner of your screen. If you are having problems accessing the download please contact our tech support team at g.worship.tech@uuberks.org

A detailed update guide can be located at this link as well: https://zoom.us/docs/en-us/zoom-v5-0.html

The pandemic is affecting us all in a variety of ways and, for some, the effects include feelings of isolation, boredom, and stress. Having a good conversation partner can help ease those stressors. Our church, through the Caring Circle, is coordinating regular conversation partners to build connection and offer companionship. Conversation partners will touch base regularly (by phone, email or regular mail) and provide a space to exchange stories, gratitudes, and sorrows.

If you are interested or want to learn more, please contact Rev. Sandra at minister@uuberks.org or the Caring Circle at g.caring.circle@uuberks.org.

Attend the 8^th Principle Listening Café on Sunday May 3 to learn about the 8^th Principle in preparation for voting to adopt it during the Congregational Meeting on May 17^th.  The Listening Café will be held virtually at 12pm. (see above post for details)

Berks Encore – needs volunteers to grocery shop for folks (age 50+) who can’t do their own shopping.  Nadine Smet-Weiss (484-333-4015; njw1258@hotmail.com) will be happy to share her experience of doing this for two clients;

Berks Encore – also operates the Meals on Wheels program.  Contact them to see if they need drivers;

Donate meal(s) or grocery money for two families living in the Family Promise Day Center.  Contact Carla Mannix (610-301-4522)

Join g.immigration.justice@uuberks.org for updates and actions re: Shut Down Berks.  Contact Tonya Wenger (tlwenger73@gmail.com)

Join a Virtual Sewing Circle to make masks and PPE gowns; or donate money for fabric.  If interested, contact Ginny Chudgar (610-678-8599; 610-223-8240 [text]; ginny.chudgar@gmail.com).

The Berks Family Detention Center is not protecting detained immigrant families from the coronavirus and is not testing families or staff for COVID-19. As documented in a new lawsuit filed against the state, the family prison is not providing adequate personal protective equipment, or sanitizing surfaces in common areas. Most importantly, social distancing under CDC guidelines is impossible for families detained in an enclosed congregate setting with shared bathrooms and communal eating and sleeping areas.

A documented history of medical neglect at the family prison heightens the risk that children and parents who fall ill will not receive life saving medical treatment. Families typically have sponsors they can stay with instead. #ShutDownBerks#FreeThemAll

Please sign this petition to
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/ceab1d144f30b3ada8f63823912d21076e74fd1a?hash=994773cf97aeba41e026e24ab9a5db54

Contact Tonya Wenger tlwenger73@gmail.com if you have questions or if you want to get involved in FUUBC s’ immigration/detention center work.

• You can now give online on our website UUBerks.org by clicking on the online giving tab or clicking
  here
• You can also give by downloading the GivePlus app on google play and the App store below. You can easily locate our church by zip code 19602

In response to Covid-19, UU Berks is establishing a “Covid-19 community response fund” as a sub-category of the existing Minister’s Discretionary Fund (MDF). Donations to the “Covid-19 community response fund” will be used to fill critical gaps in the lives of individuals and families in Reading and Berks County that are the result of Covid-19.

Assistance may include one-time payments of phone, gas, electric, rent, or mortgage expenses resulting from lost wages or other Covid-19 related impacts. Recipients will be church members and friends or individuals and families referred by church members. Contributions may be made by check to First UU Church of Berks County (FUUBC). Write “Covid-19 MDF” on the memo line.

You may also make a contribution to the Minister’s Discretionary Fund for the ongoing hardships affecting church members and friends by sending a check to FUUBC and writing “MDF” on the memo line. Contact Melissa Medina, office administrator, at office@uuberks.org or Rev. Dr. Sandra Fees at minister@uuberks.org if you have questions.

General Assembly, the annual conference that gathers thousands of Unitarian Universalists, is a tradition beloved by many. It is a time of celebratory reunion, participatory governance, and leadership development.

In May, our congregation will be voting on whether to adopt the 8th Principle to ground and guide our work toward building the Beloved Community. You can learn more here

Are you experiencing financial or grocery needs? The church community can provide a box of dry-goods groceries on a Thursday for pick up at the church or grocery cards to shop at Giant or Weis. For assistance with these or other needs, please contact by email Rev.Dr. Sandra Fees or the church office. You may call the church office at 610-372-0928 or email office@uuberks.org

Let’s ensure that we can all vote during the Pennsylvania primary on April 28 by applying now for a mail in or absentee ballot. You can check your voter registration status and apply for a mail in or absentee ballot here

Dear Members and Friends,

Threshold moments are a part of daily life, present in every day and hour, but they are made more pronounced when calamity or disaster strikes. Right now, we seem poised at a threshold. But of what? And how shall we move toward this threshold? How shall we cross it?

Threshold moments invite us into discernment where we ask such questions, where we reflect on what it means to move forward in the right way. Threshold moments ask us to imagine a new way and a new self. The threshold moments we are encountering collectively and individually as a result of the global pandemic are urging us to move and push. There is an urgency to aid those who are ill, to feed those who are hungry, to find a vaccine, to do our part in easing the suffering in the world. Our Social Justice Team has identified a number of pandemic-oriented volunteer opportunities our community can collectively engage to ease suffering, which are included in this month’s news. You can learn about them here.

Even as we are called to take action, threshold moments also require space – space to sit and cultivate. As Rev. Sara LaWall says, they “allow you space and time to reflect on your past, present, and future. To imagine a new beginning.”

Each of us needs to act and also to allow ourselves some space, to give ourselves some time. My wish for each of you is that you will allow yourselves space and time in which to reflect on how you are moving toward this threshold moment, toward these threshold moments, and how you are crossing them in these unscripted days.

Yours in a spirit of spaciousness and compassion,

Rev. Dr. Sandra Fees

In the Threshold

For the past month each Wednesday night at choir we’ve been ending our gatherings with a chalice lighting and check in.  It’s a verbal threshold that we create together. This moment to light a chalice marks our transition from singing and listening and breathing together to being apart for the week.  We use a song to frame our chalice lighting.  It’s a different song each week.  I thought I could share one song with you for this month’s musings on what it means to live in threshold moments.

Hymn #352, “Find a Stillness” has lyrics by Carl Seaburg and is set to a Transylvanian folk tune.

Find a stillness, hold a stillness, let the stillness carry me.

Find the silence, hold the silence, let the silence carry me.

In the spirit, by the spirit, with the spirit giving power,

I will find true harmony.

Seek the essence, hold the essence, let the essence carry me.

Let me flower, help me flower, watch me flower, carry me.

In the spirit, by the spirit, with the spirit giving power,

I will find true harmony.

Seaburg’s lyrics hold an invitation Find a _____, hold the _______, let the ______ carry me.

In this threshold moment

What are you finding?

What are you holding onto?

What are you letting carry you?

In Harmony,

Ebee

In April I highlighted the #chalicechallenge I hope you had fun making your own chalice or you look forward to making one soon. This month of May we’re exploring how we can become “a People of Thresholds.” And a threshold is just a place between two things. When we pass through a threshold, a doorway we have to look around and see the new space we’re in. So we’re going to look around this month. Look around for a #chaliceoftheday

I’ve been following UU, Andrea Lerner and her #chaliceoftheday project for a few years now.  It’s a neat project to connect me to the symbol of our Unitarian Universalist Faith.  It’s the cup that holds the light of love, truth, grace, and justice.  The #chaliceoftheday let’s us be reminded that we choose to carry that light no matter what thresholds we move between.

So Take some time to notice chalices in everyday items and nature all around you. Here are a few from the project to get you started:

Bread from Lisa Bovee-Kemper

all we have

by nadine smet-weiss
Spiritual Director

now

is

all

we

have

blessed

moment

full

presence

breath

birthing

life

through

us

now

RE Kids Hangout

Sun, May 24, 9:45 AM

Youth Group – Virtual

Sun, May 24, 11:45 AM

Soul Matters Conversation

Tue, May 26, 7:00 PM

Choir Rehearsal

Wed, May 27, 7:00 PM