7:00 PM:

• For this week’s exploration we get to hear a story from author Susan Lynn Meyer and illustrator Eric Velasquez New Shoes.

SUNDAY

9:45 AM RE Hangout 

• Seeds, Sprouts and Saplings (elementary ages): in RE Hangout Zoom Room with Ms Cyndi & Ms Erin
• RE Hangout – Live with Intention: It Takes Passion -The theme this month is Living with Intention. Living with intention takes persistence and patience. It takes persistence and patience because living with intention is hard. Fulfilling our intentions often takes a long time. And what happens when we try to do something that is hard? When we try to play a musical instrument, or fold origami, or try to memorize a poem? We have to take baby steps! We have to remind ourselves not to give up. We have to remind ourselves that our goal can’t be reached all at once. It needs to happen in tinier parts – baby steps!! And a long road only taking baby steps certainly requires persistence and patience!
• link sent via Remind 1 hour before class.  If you need access please email Erin (epcjjc@gmail.com)
• *** our next outside session will be in two weeks – see remind for Signup Genius 

10:30

• For All: Join us in exploring how we live our lives amongst the mess. 
• Coloring Sheet: “Chalice Doodling Page“
• 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 – 11:45

• Youth Group (7th grade & up): second workshop of the year held in one week 1/16

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

Please join us after church this Sunday, Jan 9 for a informational talk and Q&A about our monthly food bank with coordinator Brian Kammerer. This is a time to hear about the important work being done by the food bank and explore volunteer possibilities!

The food bank that FUUBC organizes on the first Thursday morning of every month at the parking lot located on 5th and Cherry streets, needs more volunteers, including for the coordinator role. This is a great opportunity to help in our community and engage with people from diverse backgrounds ! 

Coordinator role – Brian Kammerer needs to step down from this job, but there will be opportunities to shadow him and get extensive training if you are interested in helping in this way. The responsibilities require approximately 4-6 volunteer hours per month, with most of that time needed for the food distribution day.

Tasks* include: 

• transporting tables, chairs, and other items to the site at 8am
• managing volunteers that morning, and clean-up. 
• ordering food online and filling out paperwork for Healthy Harvest (who provides the food and oversees operations)
• making other purchases for materials as needed (with provided funds)
• other communication with church staff/leaders. Spanish skills are a plus. 

*Note: It might be possible for other volunteers to help with one or more of these tasks, so please let us know what you are capable of doing for this role

Other volunteers are needed asap on the day of food distribution for food setup, distribution of food, registration and communication with recipients (Spanish fluency would be helpful), and clean-up. Training will be provided.
Contact the Ministry and Operations Team (g.ministry.and.operations@uuberks.org) with questions or to volunteer. Or speak with Tonya Wenger or Rev. Dr. Sandra Fees.

ADORE Listening Cafe This Sunday

January 9th at 7PM

January’s ADORE Listening Cafe will focus on the problem of homelessness and housing insecurity in communities of color.  This is a chronic problem in several communities of color and must be addressed.  Join us for a thoughtful discussion on how these problems began, how they are manifesting themselves now and more importantly, how we can help our friends in these communities.  It is important to remember those who are struggling during this winter season, and for those who lack the basic need of housing, this can be a challenging time. 

We invite all in our community to listen with an open heart, to ask questions and to share your stories at the Adore Listening Café, and, please, encourage friends and family to join in the dialog.

https://uuberks.org/adore
Meeting ID: 936 1106 9747

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
Our church has committed to provide meals or 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, 2 children ages 4 and 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.

You 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
2022 JAN Family Promise Meal/Grocery Drop-Off

Mark your calendars now: Our FUUBC 2022 Service Auction is on Saturday, February 19th @ 6 PM. 

This year’s theme is Midwinter Night Dream. We will be using the Auctria online auction website again this year to host the silent auction and Zoom for the live auction on Saturday night.  We were hoping to host an in-person event this year, but with the way things are going with COVID, it is not a good idea to host a crowded indoor event at this time, but there is an idea to host an outdoor picnic later in the Spring with a basket raffle. 

 
We need your help. Service auctions only work if there are items to bid on and people volunteer to help make it happen. Homemade food items like pies, cakes, & wine were popular last year. You can use the online form on the Midwinter Night Dream website to donate items for the auction.  Contact us at g.service.auction@uuberks.org with your questions, your suggestion & offers to help.   Many thanks from the Service Auction Committee.

Vanco, the eGiving provider behind our church’s GivePlus Mobile app is now using a new online giving app, Vanco Mobile. This easy-to-use app replaces the GivePlus Mobile app you currently use to make your donations.   The switch is simple!  

• Your log-in credentials are the same in Vanco Mobile as in GivePlus Mobile 
• Recurring created through GivePlus mobile will continue as scheduled  
• New gifts, or changes to previously scheduled recurring gifts, can now occur through Vanco Mobile 

Download the free Vanco Mobile app today in the Google Play store or the Apple App store. Find our organization by searching for First Unitarian Universalist Church or by its invite code, 2S4C9G.   

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.

 

Here’s what I discovered. Intention is different from setting goals or resolutions in that it “pulls us into” who we truly are. Goals and resolutions “push us out” into future possibilities. To set intentions, we must listen to our inner voice which tells us who we truly are.                                                                   

Katie Covey, Soul Matters Director of RE Resources

January is that time of year when we begin again, often setting new goals – to get in shape, eat healthier, read more, be more patient. These are worthy resolutions. But setting resolutions sometimes feels like another task list – and one that gets filled with items that I’m already worried I’m going to fail to do.

Like Katie Covey, I’ve discovered that setting intentions, actually learning to live with intention, is different from setting resolutions. It means discovering what I really want, what my spirit is longing for. It means connecting to my deeper self, to my most authentic self. What if we were all to take some time to reflect quietly on what is calling or whispering to us? What wisdom does the still small voice in us have to offer?

Every January I create a vision board as a way to get in touch with that inner voice. I sometimes do this with friends and other times on my own. Spending a few quiet hours reflecting, gathering images, and putting them on paper helps me get to that inner voice that tells me who I truly am.

So this January, I hope you’ll set aside some time to dream on what your heart is most hungering for.

With love,

Rev. Dr. Sandra Fee

nadine j. smet-weiss

spiritual director

my heart hungers

for the sense of fullness

found in being 

truly alive

tempted as i am

some days

to bury that hunger

with the busyness of doing

my heart will not

be satisfied

until i honor breath

requesting its blessing

upon all my doings