For MLK Sunday, some reflections on Dr. King’s 1966 Ware Lecture to the UU General Assembly.

9:30 AM Adult RE Meets in Person in the back of Chalice House This week we will be continuing our discussion on Teens and Technology email Ginny Chudgar for more info (see directory for address) 9:30 AM Elementary kids please gather in the Gerber room to head up to Kidspace  9:35 All ages RE Meeting in kidspace  Celebrating and learning about  Martin Luther King Jr We will be drawing and writing about our stories and our dreams  No Youth Group this week This Month’s Theme is “Story” –  This month’s bedtime story is “The Day You Begin” by Jacqueline Woodson.  There will be times when you walk into a room and no one there is quite like you. There are many reasons to feel different. Maybe it’s how you look or talk, or where you’re from; maybe it’s what you eat, or something just as random. It’s not easy to take those first steps into a place where nobody really knows you yet, but somehow you do it. Everyone has their own story Purchase it for your home library Find it at the Library  Please check our Facebook Page for events and activities to continue your Religious Exploration at home  Weekly posts on our covenanted RE Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/UUBerks.RE.page/?ref=share  Please check out our Remind classroom. If you need to signup link here: remind.com/join/refuucbc Register for 2024-2025 learning year: each year we need a new registration – fill yours out today www.uuberks.org/registration Our OWL program begins again starting in January 2025 – OWL will be geared to kids in grades 4-6. Covering a range of topics, including sexual health, gender identity, and relationships. The program is based on the principles of inclusivity, justice, responsibility, sexual health, and self-worth.  If you are interested in learning more please sign up! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0C4EADA62DA1FD0-53158707-owlinterest

Sunday Volunteers:  Greeters: Joanne K. & Liz E. Ushers: Dennis W. and Cookie L. Coffee Crew:  Steph E. and Mark B.

Climate Justice Revival Circles On Saturday, Feb. 1, 10am-3pm, we will engage as a community in rooting and advocating for ongoing climate justice work. We are feeding our spirits to have courageous climate conversations and sustainable actions with Love at the center. Together, we can move from a deadly era of extraction to a flourishing era of connection. UU churches around the country have been hosting their own revivals. We actually began in July 2024 with Joshua Long’s We Are Earth service and PA Power & Light Workshop. In October 2024, we celebrated a measurable action by dedicating our rooftop solar panels.  For 2025, we begin with All We Can Save Circles by Dr. Katharine Wilkinson based on the anthology All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis. Joanna Groebel, Carla Mannix, and a team of facilitators will guide small circle groups with music, poetry, readings, videos, and 3 generous questions.  A Zoom circle group will also be available. ALL ages are invited–the children and youth activities will nurture their hope and empowerment (you must sign up your children soon).  To give you a taste of the depth of discussions, listen to this podcast from the first circle session “Root”: https://www.degreespod.com/episodes/season-3-episode-10. We learn from the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian people, who have lived on and with the Tongass National Forest “for more than 10,000 years, how a new chapter for the Tongass is taking root.” The guests “describe the boom-and-bust extractive economy of the past, and they share new collaborative approaches that are now moving Southeast Alaska towards a regenerative economy — in which the forest and local communities can thrive. It’s a powerful tale that ultimately points to so much possibility.” Join us in this journey of hope by signing up today to receive more details ! UUBerks: Climate Revival – All We Can Save Circle  UUBerks Partners with Penn State Berks Sustainability Council – MLK Day of Service Join our neighbors and friends at Penn State Berks for a day of service – tending to the natural world. To sign up – contact RE Exec team member, Jayné Park Martinez at jip10@psu.edu . Meet up at 9 am at the Alumni Pavilion on Penn State Berks Campus. ← uuberks.org/climate

Meditation Group Meditation and mindfulness practices offer an excellent opportunity to explore presence, deepen self-awareness, and connect as a community. With this month’s theme of “The Practice of Presence,” Martin Smith invites anyone interested in meditation—whether you’re a seasoned practitioner or completely new—to join in creating a supportive group. Martin is a trained Buddhist meditation instructor with nearly 15 years of experience. In the new year, he envisions forming a group that meets regularly and fosters practices that can transform how we engage with ourselves, our family, our community, and the world. If this resonates with you, please reach out! We can co-create a meditation group within the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship and the larger Reading community. Share your interest, and we’ll work together to identify meeting times and collective goals. Please use this Google Form to let us know your interest.

Committee Sunday It takes a village to run FUUBC, and our committees are the heart of that village. Join us during Coffee hour on January 26th, to explore the different committees and find your place! We’ll have a table with information and sign-up sheets.

Church Members Website Did you know that we have a private website for members only at  https://member-info.uuberks.org ?  It is basically an electronic version of a bulletin board. On the website you can also find links to important documents (like the Budget, Bylaws, Church Directory,…), important email addresses ( like Staff, Committees,  … email addresses),  and a host of “how to” docs (like Google Forms Have 2 Links, Email Account vs. Email Alias, Google Workspace Guide for New Users,… If you have any questions, send them to Frank @ frank.wilder@uuberks.org. Here are a few common questions and answers: Why do I have to login to access this site?  This site is private and the information on it is for members only. By having a login, we can restrict access to those individuals that are FUUBC members. I attend services all the time but I am not a member. How do I become a member?  We have a page on our public website with all of the details.  See https://uuberks.org/connect/become-a-member/  I have a Google account, but I don’t remember my password.  (1) Go to the Google login page at accounts.google.com, (2) enter your email address, (3) click on the “next” button and (4) click on the “Forgot password” link. Does UUBerks have an email list for open communications between members on any topic. Yes, it is called the Friends of UUBerks email list. Contact Frank W. to be added to the email list.

Building Maintenance Goes Digital! The Building Keepers are excited to announce a new, streamlined way to submit maintenance requests! Now, you can easily report any issues using a convenient Google Form accessible from your smartphone or laptop. This digital system will help us track and resolve projects more efficiently. Here’s how to submit a request: Look for QR Codes: Scan the QR codes posted around the building using your smartphone’s camera app. Direct Link: Alternatively, you can access the form directly by visiting this link on your laptop or phone’s browser:  https://uuberks.org/bk-ticket We appreciate your cooperation in using this new system. It will allow us to better serve you and maintain our facilities effectively.

Attention Giant Shoppers! Did you know you can shop at Giant and make money for the Church at no cost to you? FUUBC is part of the Giant charitable grocery scrip program that gives 10% of all gift cards sold back to our church. You can purchase cards as needed or sign up for a monthly gift card order that will be sent directly to your home the first week of each month. When you receive your order you will also receive a return envelope to mail your check to the church. Checks can also be dropped in the Gerber room drop box or in the plate collection. Checks should be made out to FUUBC with giant card in the memo line. If you would like to purchase Giant cards please return the form below to Melissa at office@uuberks.org. One time cards can also be purchased from Melissa at coffee hour twice a month. Giant cards are available in $50 and $100 increments. Giant Card Form

A Story About Us Happy New Year! Our Soul Matters theme for January is “Living Love Through the Practice of Story.” Now, I’m a storyteller at heart, so in some regards this a constant running theme for me. I tend to view a lot of life through the lens of story. Story has great power in the ongoing process of creation. The stories we tell shape our progress through the world and can serve to transform us as a people. Our Unitarian Universalist principles are not only a list of values, but also an aspirational story that we tell ourselves about the people we want to become and the world we hope to build. Our new statement of values is much the same. On a congregational level, our statements of mission and vision are generative stories about our purpose and our hopes for the community. Some stories, however, are not written quite so concretely – or at least not as publicly available. Every organization has stories about “the way we do things here” that may or may not match its mission, or stories about people past that might take on the patina of legend over time. I call these the implicit stories. One of those implicit stories we carry here at UU Berks is the story of covenant: a story about how we promise to be with one another. It’s a story implied by the values we share as Unitarian Universalists, by the words and songs we share in worship, and by some of those unspoken “the way we do things” stories. Indeed, “covenant” is referenced in our foundational documents, including our church policies. But that covenant has never been made explicit before. But it’s now time to get that story written down. Part of the Unitarian Universalist story is the idea that since we’re not a people with a creed, it is our covenant that holds us together. Indeed, we can trace our roots back to the early Pilgrim churches, including the church at Plymouth colony that placed the opening words of its covenant on its walls – “We purpose to walk together in the ways of the Lord [or Love], made known and to be made known to us.” The congregation has endeavored in the past to put our covenant into words. Sadly, like so many things, the pandemic hampered the project’s momentum. When I arrived, it was clear that this covenant work was “unfinished business” that would need attention at the start of my ministry with you. As we begin 2025, we will once again take up the work telling the concrete story of our covenant. We’ll begin this month by putting together a steering team for the project. Some of you will be hearing from me directly with an invitation to join the team. However, please don’t wait for my email. If the work of building covenant sounds interesting to you, if you’re reading this and think “I feel called to take this on; I think I can serve this way” please don’t hesitate to come and talk with me. This will be a challenging and rewarding way to make a difference in the life of 1st UU Berks. I’m excited for us to tell this story together. ❖ Some of you have connected with me on Facebook over these past few months, and I’m grateful for those connections. However, with the end of fact-checking and the turn rightwards that the parent company Meta is taking, I’m feeling a need to spend much less time there. I won’t be deactivating my account, as it’s still a great tool for connecting myself and the congregation to the wider Berks County community, but I’ll be refraining from personal posting for the time being. In addition, I’ll still accept friend requests as it’s a great way to stay current with your lives. I’ll be spending more time on Bluesky from here on out. You can follow me there at  @jcullinan.bsky.social Hope I’ll see you there! John

In The Beginning …  Elizabeth Bromley The practice of story.  That’s our theme for the month of January.  Good stories have a beginning, middle and an end.  Great stories don’t get old when you repeat them.  As I return to you from parental leave and we begin this month of practicing stories – I’m thinking of the lullabies that have been echoing in my house as of late and how they fit the form of a story.  They’ve got a beginning, middle, and an end.  Lullabies are often shared on repeat.  One in particular goes like this:  Tender Shepherd Tender Shepherd  Let me help you  count your sheep One in the meadow, Two in the garden, Three in the nursery  fast asleep. Somedays the words get old so we hum it, or make up new words to the melody.  The point of the story though is to tell our child that we’re here, that her dad and I love her, and that she can rest.  It’s a story we repeat until our little one is slumbering once again.   What stories do you repeat in your life?  What stories do you reach for?  Do they work for you?  Do you need new ones?  What do your stories sound like? Are they quiet and steady or are they roaring and halting?   Before we end the month of January – I’d love to hear what stories bring you comfort.   Looking forward to making and sharing music with you once again, Your director of music, Ebee

your story phoropter by nadine j. smet-weiss spiritual director how we tell our life story to ourselves or to others depends upon the lens  we choose to view it through reflect for a moment upon any few of the lenses  you have chosen over time then look at your life through the lens of love for full clarity

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comment *

Name *

Email *

Website

Δ

Section Navigation