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Weekly News for the week of:
May 9, 2021
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As we honor the blessings and burdens of Mother’s Day, this Sunday we will explore how origin stories shape who we are and who we can be.
For Sunday’s worship, we are using the Zoom conferencing platform. It is easy to Zoom from a computer, tablet, or phone! Here is how you do it: With a computer, smartphone or tablet, click on this link to participate: uuberks.org/zoom-worship (If it’s the first time you’re using zoom you may be prompted to download a launcher app).
To connect by phone (audio only):
1) Dial the phone number: 1-646-558-8656
2) When prompted for the “Meeting ID”, enter: 999-805-145-23#
3) When prompted for the “Participant ID”, enter: #
Please plan to log on by 10:20 or 10:25 am so that you can establish a connection before worship is scheduled to begin. Please note that your mic will be muted and will remain muted for the service. Our service concludes with “virtual coffee hour” when members and friends are unmuted.
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Wed, May 5, 8:02 PM (12 hours ago) |
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to Melissa
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Tonight – FRIDAY
7:00 PM:
- For this week’s story – we’re going to hear In Our Mothers’ House written and illustrated by Patricia Polacco
SUNDAY
9:00 AM
- Growing Anti-Racist Unitarian Universalists (lower elementary) Suze (UUCL) and Ebee (UUBerks) facilitate our sixth class.
- email director.religious.education@uuberks.org for more information.
- pre-registered class;
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In this week’s racial justice session the K-2 class will explore the meaning of justice. At school, most children say the pledge of allegiance, which ends in “justice for all. Justice might mean providing extras sometimes, for example, closer parking for people who use a wheelchair. It may not be equal but it surely is equitable. We will introduce the concept of race (which until now we have said different “shade”) and how justice was and is denied to people based on race.
Finally, we’ll celebrated our wish for “justice for all” with the bookmarks we can use to remember what we’ve learned
9:45 AM
- Seeds, Sprouts and Saplings (elementary ages): in RE Hangout Zoom Room
- Stories Remind Us Who We Are: As A Family (Mother’s/Mama’s Day)
- Too often, one single dominant vision of family crowds out the many other forms that families take. Stories help correct that. They help us celebrate the many diverse forms of family and affirm the beauty of our own unique family form!
- link sent via Remind 1 hour before class. If you need access please email Ebee (elizabeth.bromley@uuberks.org)
10:30 AM
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- For All: As we celebrate the glads and sads of mother’s day, we’ll explore how the beginnings of our stories create who we are right now and who we can be when we grow up.
- Coloring Sheet: “Caterpillar to Butterfly“ coloring page UU resources at large
- Use a printed or hand labyrinth to find renewal as you attend worship this morning. Here’s a labyrinth you can print out and trace. Labyrinth Printable
10:45 – 11:30
- Youth Group (7th grade & up): No meet up this week. Big Congrats to those who created an awesome worship service last week. Make sure to give some love to all the folx in your life who love and mother you this weekend. If you are a visitor – email director.religious.education@uuberks.org for more information.
Monday – Thursday
Daily posts on our new covenanted RE Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/groups/UUBerks.RE.page/?ref=share
check out our Remind classroom.
If you need to signup link here: remind.com/join/refuucbc
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Attention Church Members:
Save the date!
Our spring meeting will take place on Sunday May 16th following service.
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| Delegates Needed for Virtual GA
Are you planning on attending this year’s virtual General Assembly? Consider being a delegate for our congregation. Delegates participate in workshops, and worship services and share what they have learned with our community. If you are interested in being a delegate please contact Board President Lynn O’Brien at lynnmobrien@comcast.net
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| Thank You From Family Promise
A very big thank you goes out to all of the volunteers who assisted on Saturday at our “Nature is Nurture” event! Our families in the program really appreciated meeting you all, and seeing your support in sprucing up the backyard! We loved having the event and plan to do an event soon with the U-turn program teens this summer. We are always open to suggestions and appreciate everyone’s effort in helping our clients feel empowered and love by the work that you all do!
Farewell Elise!
As previously posted on our social media platforms, our Executive Director Elise Chesson is leaving Family Promise to a position at a nonprofit in Montgomery County as a Chief Advancement Officer. We cannot understate Elise’s contributions to Family Promise in the last four years and all that she has done for the families and community in Berks County. Staff members are excited for her future endeavors but saddened to see her go as she will be greatly missed. Family Promise now seeks out a new Executive Director. Please see our press release here: Press Release: Family Promise Seeks Next Executive Director (mailchi.mp)
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| Save the Dates: June 11, 12, 13 for our virtual FUUBC Jubilee training!
Do you wish to deepen your understanding of how race and ethnicity play out in our institutions and our daily lives? Are you ready to take a leading role to nurture a multicultural future in the face of opposing cultural currents? Come Join Us for this Life-Changing Weekend!
Weekend activities: The training includes presentations, discussions, videos, exercises, and small group work. This 2 ½ day workshop is open to anyone who wants to journey toward making a stand against racism. Church members and church leaders of any faith, as well as non-church members are all welcome!
Our goals are:
- To develop a shared analysis of racism and its individual, institutional, and cultural manifestations, and
- To begin to apply this common understanding to the history, culture, and institutional structure of our society, and to envision the next steps in taking action.
Agenda topics include:
- The history of racism and resistance to racism in the Americas
- Defining racism
- The effects of racism on people of color and on white people
- Dismantling racism
- Claiming and shaping an anti-racist identity
Trainers are Paula Cole Jones, Dr Leon Spencer and Lutricia Callair.
Questions:Contact Jean Cocuzza : jeancocuzza@yahoo.com ;
for more info and to register visit link below:
https://www.uua.org/central-east/calendar/jubilee-3-0621
Partial scholarships available contact treasurer@uuberks.org to apply. |
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| Do you need help finding a COVID-19 Vaccination appointments?
First, are you currently eligible to receive the vaccine? If you don’t know, check this page. If you are eligible, supplies are limited so it can be difficult to schedule an appointment.
We want to make it easier for those having problems. If you’re interested you can go here to register or you can call 484-925-1684. You will be contacted by a team member. (To register for the vaccine note that some sites require the patient’s name, D.O.B, address, and phone number.)
Do you want to be part of a team from church to help members find vaccine appointments? We are looking for volunteers to help make appointments and those that need help. If you have access to a computer, you can go here to register or you can call 484-925-1684 (leave a message with your name and phone number). We will hold brief training/best practices sessions beforehand. |
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If you are in need of a church directory, would like to update your pledge, sign up for Egiving or just have general questions? Please contact our office administrator at office@uuberks.org
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| Have you heard about Zoombombing?
We were hit at one of our public meetings a few months ago. It was nasty and we ended up having to close the meeting. Our community needs your help to prevent this from happening again in the future. We are pretty well protected against Zoombombing at our Sunday worship services, but less so at our public meetings like ADORE and Contemplative Companions. We are looking for volunteers that regularly attend these kinds of public meetings to help with security.
Basically, you will be elevated to a co-host role and have the ability to mute and remove disruptive participants if needed. It is very similar to what happens during our Christmas Eve service when we ask for volunteers to be in charge of fire extinguishers: we show them where the nearest extinguisher is and how to use it, in the case of an emergency.
We have a self-guided Google Slides presentation that goes over all the tools and some possible Zoombombing scenarios with solutions. The team is looking for volunteers to go through the presentation on their own and then attend a short 15 minute practice session to try out the tools. If you are interested in helping or have a question, please contact UUBerks IT Services at g.it.services@uuberks.org. |
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| UU Berks Technology Hints
Did you know that we record every church service that we host on Zoom? We use our UUBerks YouTube account to host those recordings.
To find the recordings…
1) Open up a web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari,…) and navigate to our home page at uuberks.org
2) Once the page opens, click on the (2) Service Archive button. It is in the green box on the right side of the screen
3) The Past Worship Services page will open in the browser window. The services are sorted from “newest” to “oldest”. Click on the title of a service to find the video.
4) A dedicated web page for the service will open. At the bottom of the page, there is a video widget that you can use to view the recording. Click on the play button in the middle of the video widget to watch the video.
5) Once the video starts to play, you will see some buttons in the bottom of the video if you move your mouse cursor over the video widget. Click on the (1) CC button to turn on closed captioning, and click on the (2) Expand button to make the video full screen . There is also a pause button (not shown in the image below) , in the lower left-hand corner that you can use to pause the video so that you can refill your coffee cup.
If you have any questions about this hint or other technology issues, contact UUBerks IT Services at g.it.services@uuberks.org
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| Are you having trouble connecting to Zoom services?
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. |
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Giving Options in a time of coronavirus
We know that these are uncertain times and that some of our members and friends are being impacted financially as well as in so many other ways. For those who are able to make a gift or continue to contribute to their pledge, we have added some options. In addition to accepting checks and signing up for electronic giving, you can also now make your gifts from the website and via text. Here are the details:
- 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
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Our chalice lighting for the month is from Robin Shaw. She asks us to remember our stories. As you read or proclaim her words.
What story comes up for you?
What story do you need to remember?
What story do you need to create?
nadine j. smet-weiss
history
lives
through us
even stories
once silenced
eventually emerge
into the present
like forgotten seeds
germinating
may we find
the courage
to be good tenders
of this new arising
to embrace it fully
flaws and all
may we let love
lead the way
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