Antietam Valley Community Project is hosting a trunk or treat on 10/30 from 5:30-8pm and we’re invited!
Let’s come together to decorate a UU Boo-tacular car for a local trunk-or-treat. A poll with options on what to decorate the car as will be open through Monday the 25th. You’ll get to vote and meet up at 5:30 to decorate before the  trunk-or-treat gets going at 6 pm.

We’ll be taking pictures to share in a virtual ghosts and ghouls processional with our church community the next day at our Halloween service.

To attend or help with supplies- signup here https://uuberks.org/Trunk-OR-Treat

Trunk or Treat will take place at the Antietam Pool parking lot located at 905 Byram St, Reading, PA 19606

Join us on Monday November 1st, @ 7:00pm. This month’s session (saints in our lives) was inspired by Tracie Greth, who will share a personal reading. Contact Nadine Smet-Weiss (njw1258@hotmail.com or 484-333-4015) for further information or to receive the zoom link for these gatherings.

• If you are in need of a current directory please email Melissa at office@uuberks.org. Melissa will be available after service on 10/31/21 for parking vouchers and grocery cards.
• Please do not email the church office to register for in person service. Please use the sign up link to register. Registration opens each Monday for the following Sunday service. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScoov4pdA7b7JZT-fW45hRm7CaRmt6JSKEylJ3xVjnpP_U_WQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Family Promise (FP) has a new ‘apartment shelter’ model for helping families who are experiencing homelessness. Instead of traveling from church to church, families now live temporarily in a house while participating in the program.

SIGN UP HERE TO VOLUNTEER

From Nov. 8-17, 2021 FUUBC has committed to provide meals and groceries to the three families staying at two sites:

Site 1: 2253 Raymond Avenue, Reading, PA 19605 

Morales Family and Williams Family (total: 3 adults, 4 children ages 1-5)

Site 2: 1209 Meade Street, Reading, PA 19611

Sanchez Family (2 adults, 2 teens ages 13 & 16)

Volunteers should drop off the meal or groceries on Mondays & Wednesdays directly at the site at 6:00pm. Volunteers are expected to hand sanitize, wear a mask and maintain 6 feet of distance as often as possible. Volunteers can also donate/mail gift cards for food and clothing and items for the shelter homes directly to the FP Office (325 N. Fifth Street, Mon-Thur before 4:30PM. Phone:(610) 373-3323). 

If you have any questions, please call Carla at 610-301-4522.  SIGN UP HERE TO VOLUNTEER

With many donations from inside and outside the congregation, our four-person team for the Reading-Berks CROP Walk raised $3085 as part of the anti-hunger fund-raiser event that drew more than $25,000 in donations. A quarter of the funds raised stay local with the Berks Schuylkill Helping Harvest Fresh Food Bank, which benefits the monthly food pantry sponsored by First UU. If you still want to make a donation, feel free—the CROP Walk website stays open here: https://events.crophungerwalk.org/2021/team/first-uu-berks-county

And while we’re talking about CROP Walk: Here’s a date for your 2022 calendar: The Reading-Berks CROP Walk will be on Oct. 9, 2022!

We have changed our meeting time to 7 PM on Sundays to accommodate parents and others. We will continue in a virtual format for the foreseeable future. 

• November 14th, we will be examining racism in the workplace.
• December 12th, as the winter holy days approach we will look at the racial factors involved in creating the dilemma of the unhoused in our community.

Please plan to attend and bring your friends!  
 https://uuberks.org/adore

Please review our updated policy at the link below
Updated Onsite and Offsite Church Gatherings Policy

Your worship team is looking for a few Sunday morning volunteers to manage the sound board and cameras, set up mics, and handle other related tasks. There will be opportunities to shadow a worship tech and get training. We encourage anyone who may be interested to try it out and see if it’s something you might enjoy. Volunteers manage the set up in-person in the sanctuary on Sunday mornings. Contact us at g.worship.tech@uuberks.org with questions or to volunteer. Or speak with Frank Wilder or Rev. Dr. Sandra Fees.

Our church has 2 websites: one is public and one is private. Anyone on the Internet can access our public website at uuberks.org, but you have to be a member of our congregation to access the private UUBerks Member Info site at member-info.uuberks.org. Access is restricted, so you need to login with your email address & password.

Our public website has a lot of information that is also useful for members. Did you know that we record a video of every worship service and post them on our website? 

To find the recordings, navigate to uuberks.org. At the top of the page, there is a green box on the right side of the screen, with the title “Next Service”. (A) If you click on the next line of text (the title of the next service), you will be taken to a page with all the information about that service, like the Zoom meeting details. 

At the bottom of the green box, there is a “Service Archive” button. (B) Click on it to navigate to a page listing all of our previous services.  Click on a service title to see more details about the service and to view the video recording.

 

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.

• You can now give online on our website UUberks.org by clicking on the online giving tab or clicking
  here

From Sandra’s Study, October 2021

What is it that gives you the power

to make that change, to ask that question?

What is it that says you have done well,

that brings you to stillness, that holds you up in hard times?

It is relationship, the beating heart of our faith.

The Heart of Our Faith by Monica Jacobson-Tennessen

Unitarian Universalism places relationship at the center of faith. We believe it is connection that holds us in hard times and brings us to stillness. Connection helps us grow, learn, change. This month we’ll be exploring how our relationships have been shaped as a result of the pandemic and what insights we have garnered as a result. What has physical distance and reunion after that time of distance revealed about our friendships, work relationships, church connections, and other aspects of life?

I know my assumptions and habits have been challenged and my understanding of relationship expanded. Some of my relationships have deepened. I have a fresh perspective on their importance in my life. I’ve also formed new friendships, relationships I wouldn’t have likely developed if it hadn’t been for virtual opportunities. And I certainly have a renewed appreciation for the power of in-person connection and the effect of being in the same physical space with others.

One of the primary lessons for me has been the power of being intentional. Sustaining relationships during the pandemic has meant that I’ve needed to be more intentional in scheduling time with and for the people I care about and the communities I am part of. It has meant recommitting to my relationship to the divine through spiritual practice and to myself through self-care.

How have your relationships been impacted? Please join me this month in an exploration of cultivating relationship.

Yours in faith,

Rev. Dr. Sandra Fees

nadine j. smet-weiss

spiritual director

go slow

look around

take notice

pause

pay attention

unhurry

be 

here

now

this season

this day

this moment

this breath

this life

connected