It is said that voting is a civic sacrament. On this last Sunday before Election Day we will review and lift up the importance of voting and democracy in our religion, all while practicing the Real Rules.
To attend on site, FULL VACCINATION STRONGLY RECOMMENDED: FUUBC strongly encourages all those who can be vaccinated to be vaccinated, including boosters as appropriate.
MASKING RECOMMENDED: FUUBC strongly encourages attendees at worship services and other large gatherings to wear masks.
To attend by Zoom, click on this link: uuberks.org/zoom-worship. (If this is 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: 921 4271 5512#
3) When prompted for the “Participant ID”, enter: #
Please plan to arrive or log on by 10:20-10:25 am to enjoy the gathering music, and, for those on zoom, to establish a connection before worship is scheduled begins. Zoom participant mics are muted throughout the service.
This Weekend:
Tonight’s Story is Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem by presidential inaugural poet Amanda Gormand & bestselling illustrator Loren Long
From Soul Matters – An anthem is a song which calls us to act. For instance, the Star-Spangled Banner is called our national anthem. This poet has written a poem which is an anthem for change. This anthem is a musical journey about a call to action for everyone to use their abilities to make a difference.
Faith Formation Fall – In the sixth week of our fall series, we’ll continue our rotation of discussion topics. Ginny Chudgar & Be Young lead the discussion related to this morning’s worship service. Drop in participants welcome.
Onsite Only
9:45 AM: Children’s RE
Elementary Ages: Onsite/Online, email Erin Connolly by Saturday noon if you’ll be attending online
On site: IN THE SANCTUARY * teens may help, let us know you’ll be coming
Children’s RE – exploring our sanctuary Rev Amy & Ms Cyndi
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
Practice your Searching and Creative skills with Spark Maze
Our Contemplative Companions group will be gathering on Monday November 7th at 7:00pm via zoom. The focus theme for this month will be ‘Seeds of Change’ For further information, including the zoom link, contact Nadine.
Family Promise (FP) has a new ‘shelter house’ 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 ‘shelter houses.’
Volunteers will drop off a meal or groceries on Mondays & Wednesdays directly at their chosen house at 6:00pm. Volunteers are encouraged to hand sanitize and wear a mask.
You can also mail gift cards for food and/or clothing directly to the FP Office (325 N. Fifth Street, Mon-Thur before 4:30PM. Phone:(610) 373-3323).
Hello FUUBC! Here’s everything you need to know about Friendsgiving and the Caring Bags Project! Friendsgiving will be held on Sunday, November 27th, following the service. It’s a chance for us to enjoy a feast with friends in community, celebrating potluck-style the Sunday following Thanksgiving. Below you will find a link to a sign up genius for you to reserve your spot and to share what you plan to bring.
The Caring Bags Project is a church-wide initiative that we will be collecting for throughout November. We are joining the RE program in making Caring Bags for our homeless brothers and sisters. Donations can be dropped off at a designated area in the Gerber Room throughout November. On Sunday, December 4th, we will create a church-wide assembly line after service to put the Caring Bags together. They will then be dispersed to the community.
Here is a list of possible donation items that you can be collecting: socks, hats, gloves, bottled water, gallon size plastic bags, drawstring cloth bags or gently used backpacks, soap, travel sized tissues, sample sized lotions, shampoos and conditioners, chapstick, band aids, hand sanitizer, cough drops, tooth brushes, toothpaste, combs and brushes, deodorants, hot hands, tampons/pads, travel wet wipes.
If you have questions, please contact Lauren F. or Ginny C.
We can’t wait to celebrate in the spirit of giving and togetherness with you!!
Our community will once again be participating in the Berks Connection Pretrial Services (BCPS) holiday gift tree event. We have been given 25 names of children whose parent or guardian is currently incarcerated at the Berks County Prison. For some of these children, this may be the only gift they receive. BCPS hosts a big family event and hands out the gifts. My wife, Rachel, and I have been coordinating this event for 18 years and are always amazed at the generosity of our church members. If you want to participate, contact me and I will provide you with the child’s name, age, gift ideas, and clothing size. I suggest a budget of about $30, but smaller monetary gift donations can be made and I will combine them to purchase gifts. additionally, if you want to participate, but cn not get out to shop, I will be happy to shop for you. Please remember to include your child’s name and family number on the gift bags.
***Please only use Gift Bags for all gifts and return to church or Kent G. to arrange drop off
NEW THIS YEAR: Please put gifts in gift bags*. DO NOT wrap the gifts. You can put all of one child’s gifts into one big bag, or several smaller ones. *We found great deals with Dollar Tree for gift bags! Label them with the child’s name and family number. Because these are complete families, you can choose to bag the gifts in a large black garbage bag with the family number on the outside or bring them loose, and we will ensure they are bagged up for the gift distribution.
NOTE: if a size bed is listed, it is in reference to sheet size.
Seasonal changes bring opportunities to cull and share: At this transitional time of year, as we sort through our belongings, we can offer our extras, and castoffs or new items to our partner, Family Promise.
Among the items Family Promise is hoping to give to its families:
Dining Room Table and Chairs
Dressers
Couches
Eating utensils
Kitchen Food Prep Utensils
Towel, and linens (especially twin sized sheets sets)
Comforters and Blankets
Pots, pans, baking sheets, cake pans, muffin pans, load pans.
Bath mats and rugs
Kitchen towels and Potholders
Waste baskets and laundry baskets
Sofa Pillows; Bed pillows
Curtains, rods, mounting fixtures
Fans
Microwaves
Kitchen bowl sets for food prep
Plates, bowls, cups
Measuring cups
Anything for household settings
Additionally, there are four dates when the donations for Family Promise Families will need to be carried into the Family Promise building for storage prior to gifting. We need young, fit people to help move the packages into the building’s storage areas on these dates:
Dec. 12th, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Dec. 13th, 4 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Dec. 15th, 4 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Dec. 19th, TBD
Registration is open now for our program year. We have some exciting things planned and look forward to what will emerge as we seek, nurture and serve together this year! To let us know how you plan to engage with our programs this year please visit. https://uuberks.org/Registration.
Registered families will receive occasional mailings including birthday cards from the church, invitations to events, seasonal updates on what we’re programming together this year.
Our offerings depend on the congregation and on participating families to happen. If you want to be part of shaping programming or can lend a hand to help make them happen, please email Ebee: director.religious.education@uuberks.org.
The food bank will be moving back indoors starting this October 15th (inside the church) at 8:30am and yes it will take place on the 3rd Saturday of the month. So come out and help out with a great cause. We will be having an optional training session this Sunday (October 2nd) at noon if you want to learn more and get a better idea of what we do at the food bank. Here are the dates for the rest of the year.
Saturday November 19th
Saturday December 17th
If you have any questions or would like to volunteer but cannot me here on 10/2, please contact Mark Burton at selliott42@comcast.net
We are currently looking for anyone who is interested in volunteering to be a Greeter and when the time comes- to be an Usher. This is a great way to get to know your fellow members or get to know them better and of course- being of service can provide comfort to you and others!!
Currently we have a group of approx 10 of us that rotate and fill in when we can but if we can get another 10 volunteers- then this will mean you would be a greeter every 6 -8 weeks and provides back up for our busy summer months.
We like to have two greeters at each service & when RE sessions are occurring on Sunday’s- one greeter arrives at 9:40 to greet those arriving for RE at 9:45 & the 2nd greeter arrives at 10 am to be available for those attending the Sunday service.
Please take time to consider this and please contact me, Joanne K if you are interested or have any questions.
Free parking is available on Sundays on the street and in the library parking lot.
The parking garage across the street (4th and Cherry streets) has changed to a pay by app system. The app is called ParkMobile. It can be downloaded in the apple store or on the google play app. At this time we are unable to offer discounted parking vouchers.
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.
In the Interim, by Interim Minister, Rev. Amy DeBeck
Hymn #361 tells us “Don’t be afraid of some change.” Is that how we feel about change—fearful? Are we afraid of change?
Fear seems like a big word to use about a small conflict, a small change. Well, although scary might be more present with a big change, change is incremental and it can creep up on you. Making small changes, working on each fear as you go, is best practice for long-term change..
So, if aversion to change, small or large, is fear-based, how might we get past the fear to accept the change? Think about a fear you have, and how you deal with it. Public speaking, heights, dogs, water….we have many fears and even more ways to deal with them. Nelson Mandela said, “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.” Let’s be clear—if somebody is so fearful of flying that they will never fly, then all they have to do to have “triumphed over it” is to declare flying as a line in the sand that simply will not be discussed. Period.
“Don’t be afraid of some change.” Maybe an improvement could be made.
How about, instead, when you feel afraid of some change, note it, acknowledge its presence, and find the inner courage to behold the new surroundings not with fear, but with wonder. Let’s be afraid, then triumph over it.
A few short months ago many of us were wearing shorts and t-shirts.
We shared water from our lives at water communion. We might have found a new favorite pew to sit, wiggle, laugh, sing and cry in with old friends or with a new face. We met each other anew after this past summer, at youth group bonfire, or in our first class together back in Kidspace after a summer downstairs. We chose new topics to focus on and a new rhythm in Sunday morning adult RE. If you signed up for them in RE registration, you received packages to use at home with our Soulful Home packets this October expanding our sense of where sacred lives.
We did this in our community of communities. We gathered in our homes, our sanctuary, and our classrooms. We choose to come together because we as individuals and as a community value holding space for nourishment and spiritual growth for our children, for our youth and for our adults. We do this together because we know that no one generation has the monopoly on spirit, on knowledge, or on heart. We value a sense of belonging and being of service to one another.
Now, as we approach mid fall, many of us are wearing more sweaters and long pants.
We know that religious education is about building up families in our congregation. We know that families can be a family of one, a family of two, or a family of twenty two.
In this month of change, I think about the awesome change very humble ingredients go through when we put them together. All you need is some flour, a bit of water, some salt. Then you add in some time and heat. Voilà! You’ve got warm bread on your hands!
All month long we will be collecting ingredients to make blessing bags for folks who are housing insecure or unhoused.
Youth group will take their art supply ingredients to explore our 2nd principle.
Our kids will be using table cloths and baskets to learn how to set a table for eating and a table for worshiping.
On Nov 20th we will be celebrating, sharing and learning about different breads in our lives. What recipe will you make and share with us?
On Nov 27th we will be coming together to celebrate friendship and give our time to eachother over a potluck dinner following the service.
On Dec 4th we share our time and our collective strength to put together blessing bags with the supplies gathered all month.
