October 25, 6-9pm
Come along my little ghouls and goblins, bring your creepy crawly kids to enjoy our family friendly spooky movie night. Appear in costume or 3 piece suit – either way it will be a hoot! We will have snacks and pizza, bring a friend, blankets and pillows, or favorite stuffies so we can take over the sanctuary!

Sign Up here

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0C4EADA62DA1FD0-52062483-spooky

Some thoughts on listening to the marginalized through the voice of popular culture.

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 establish a connection before worship is
scheduled begins. Zoom participant mics are muted throughout the service.

SUNDAY

9:30 AM: Adult RE 

• Meets in Person: back of the chalice house meeting room.

• This week’s we continue our discussion on Political Extremism

• email Ginny Chudgar for more info (see directory for address)

9:30 AM: Children’s RE:

Elementary Ages:

This week we are combining the classes to create our Ofrenda’s. Please gather in the Gerber room.

Ms. Jayne will be helping us to make marigolds and ofrendas for our Day of the Dead Ceremony on 11/3. Please help children to gather photos and most loved items of those dearly departed they want to remember on their ofrenda.

10:30 Youth Group – Good and Evil

• Please check our Facebook Page for events and activities to continue your Religious Exploration at home
• Weekly posts on our covenanted RE Facebook page
• 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

Monday Meal Ministry

On NOV 4 and NOV 11,First UU Berks is committed to providing groceries and meals for their Monday Meal Ministry to families experiencing homelessness.   Family Promise of Berks County program hosts families in one of their ‘bridge houses’ for up to 90 days while they save money and rebuild their lives. They helped over 50 families last year. See www.familypromiseofberks.org for details. There are a lot of children this time!

Please sign up to deliver a meal or groceries or support with gift cards. Check back each week for updates.

Volunteer here:

2024 NOV Family Promise Meal Ministry

We did such a good job collecting items for Hope Rescue Mission last year that they have asked us to do it again! Starting in October, we will be collecting coats, hats, scarves, gloves, belts, and purses. They are very much in need of new men’s underwear in all sizes from small to 3x.
Donations can be left in the bin that will appear in the Gerber room in October.
Thanks for your help!

Hello Friends!

With the heartbreaking devastation from Hurricane Helene many of us are wondering how we can help.

You may have seen the CER blog post earlier this week about how our Disaster Relief Fund was low. Since then, donations have been pouring in, but the need is still great.

Our UUA staff has been focusing on communicating with impacted congregations and communities this week and will continue to do so.

Here are some direct links if you would like to give, and instructions on how your congregation can use your special collection to benefit the fund.

How can people give?

Individuals can:

• Contribute online using this link. https://www.uua.org/giving/disaster-relief.
• Mail checks to UUA,  24 Farnsworth Street, Boston, MA 02210. ATTN: Gift Processing. Donors should note the DRF in the memo line of their check.
• Text-to-give by texting DISASTER to 51555
• Initiate a gift of securities by contacting Gift Processing Manager Tom Klein at tklein@uua.org.

How can congregations give?

• Congregational collections are a critical source of support for the DRF. Please direct colleagues and constituents to this page for all the resources they need: https://www.uua.org/giving/areas-support/funds/disaster-response/disaster-relief-fund-collections
• Congregations that elect not to hold a special collection can add an announcement in printed orders of service and electronic newsletters, including giving links or text-to-give instructions.
  • Text DISASTER to 51555.
  • Give online at https://www.uua.org/giving/disaster-relief

How can a congregation (or UU entity) apply for a Disaster Relief Grant?

• Congregations and other UU entities may apply here: https://www.uua.org/finance/grants/disaster-relief-grants

We are indeed a generous people. Thank you for your help!

In faith and service,

Sana

Sana Saeed :: she/her/hers  
CER Congregational Life Staff

UUBerks has decided to push its UU Climate Justice Revival programming to February  1-2 2025.  This time frame provides more lead time for congregants to mark their calendars for the event and it allows leadership ample time to plan.  Please mark your calendars and watch this space for more information!

Special Plate Nominations Being Accepted

The Special Plate Program aims to promote the well-being of our broader community in a collaborative manner that demonstrates the principle of the sacred interdependent web of all existence and our value of Generosity through the sharing of faith, presence, and resources. In 2023, we donated over $4800 to eight local organizations .At our May Congregational  Meeting, we resolved to add TWO more organizations to our Special Plate Program (for a total of ten). This is your opportunity to nominate other community partners. We will compile the list of candidates for a vote at the December Congregational Meeting.

You may email your nominations to g.social.justice@uuberks.org or use this form to submit as many organizations as you’d like. So far, folks have suggested Habitat for Humanity, Connections Works, Spotlight PA, Healing Garden (under Cafe Esperanza), NAACP Reading Branch, and the GRIP Dreamer Scholarship Fund.   
Special Plate NOMINATIONS    Please respond by Oct 1, 2024.

REV. JOHN’S MINISTERIAL START UP WORKSHOP & LUNCH POTLUCK

Join our UUA regional representative Lenore Bajare-Dukes (bio), Rev. John, and UUBerks leadership on Saturday, October 26th from 10 am to 1 pm in the Gerber Room for a start up workshop and lunch potluck! This event is a key stepping stone to our path to successfully transitioning to having a new minister, and our UUA rep will guide us on this journey. This is a time for all members to gather to discuss hopes and expectations for the year ahead with our new minister and engage with each other on who we want to be as a congregation.

Stay tuned for the potluck signup and childcare details.

November 17, 11am – 2pm
Centro Hispano Center- 25 North 2nd Street, Reading
$25 adults, $10 students, <5 free Free parking at GoggleWorks

Funds help undocumented immigrants that graduate from Berks County High Schools attend college. 
Come to the event to learn more about the Greater Reading Immigration Project and what we do.

Dear UU Justice PA Community,  

It is with great sadness that we share the news that Reverend Joan Sabatino, Executive Director of UU
Justice PA, died on October 17th, surrounded by her family.  
When Rev. Joan received her sudden and unexpected stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis a few weeks ago, we were caught off guard. Now, as we work through our grief and shock, we have questions to contend with.  How can we honor her legacy and her memory? How do we keep up the fight without her leading the charge and advocating for our UU values? 

 Rev. Joan’s mantra was “We vote. We win.” and no one fought harder for democracy in Pennsylvania than she did.  To honor Joan and her passion for the good fight, we are encouraging our UU congregations throughout PA to hold events during Election week.

These events will bring our communities together to honor, support, and reckon with the election process that is so important to our democracy. If possible, reach out to other communities of faith to join you in holding events.

Now, more than ever, we must build coalitions because we’re all in this together.  As inspiration, we share the week-long schedule of events designed by the UU Congregation of York, which includes worship, vigils, meetings, and discussions over coffee. Meanwhile, at UUC of Delaware County, Rev. Ed Brock has been preparing for Election Week by facilitating a town hall meeting last Sunday.

If you are a lay leader or church staff member, we encourage you to consider hosting something similar between now and November 5th to prepare your communities.  It is impossible to overstate the importance of this election to the survival of democracy. Every day from now through November 5th is critical, and our values as Unitarian Universalists compel us to take action- to do all the good we can in all the ways we can, just like Rev. Joan did.  
As we mourn, let’s keep fighting. 

Yours in solidarity,
Bill Clinton
President
UUJusticePA

.

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:

1. Look for QR Codes: Scan the QR codes posted around the building using your smartphone’s camera app.
2. 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.

We need you and your gifts to make next year’s RE program all it can be! How will you help our RE Children and Teens Grow this coming year? Share your level of interest with us so we know what we can plant in our learning garden and who will be tending it 
 www.uuberks.org/interest

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

From at least the age of 5, I remember going to the polling place with my parents on Election Day – packed into the car after my dad got home from work and then unloading into the basement of the Rollstone Congregational Church in Fitchburg, MA (also home to my Cub Scout pack). And while my parents took their turns voting and minding me and my brother, we’d take the opportunity to play with the sample ballot machine. The ballots were punch cards (of the infamous “hanging chad” variety), marked with a punch pin chained to the machine. At that young age, the object of my play was to put as many holes in the sample ballot as possible. But it also got me excited for the day when I could do it for real.

I credit the family outing atmosphere and the church basement with instilling in me some sense of the sacredness of voting. Over the years since, I’ve come to personally understand our practice of democracy as the civic, secular religion of the United States – the one act we owe to the ideal bigger than all of us. I’m not alone in this outlook. Two years ago, in his victory speech after winning a Georgia Senate seat, the Rev. Raphael Warnock said, “I often say that a vote is a kind of prayer for the world we desire for ourselves and for our children.” The polling place is the temple of democracy.

If only this attitude was shared by more people. When I finally got my chance to vote for real, I was stunned that my peers didn’t share my excitement. From friends in my circle, I heard variations of, “It doesn’t matter;” “Both sides are equally bad” – spoken with all the unearned cynicism an 18-year-old can muster. Voter turnout numbers suggest that attitude is still somewhat prevalent, and even though 2020 saw the highest percentage of voter turnout since tracking began in 1932, it was still less than two thirds of the voting age population. The temple would like to see more attendance.

I’m probably preaching to the choir here. You are a politically active and dedicated people. But, much like a church, I believe more people will come to the temple if they’re invited by a friend. While you’re making your own voting plan in the coming weeks, consider reaching out to a friend on the fence. Offer to be a part of their voting plan with a ride to the polls or help obtaining a mail-in ballot. Bring your kids with you, or let them see you in action as you mark your ballot and drop it in the mail. Make it a matter of faith in action, a prayer for the world, as we affirm and promote the democratic process as one of our shared values.

Regardless of the outcome on Election Day. I’ll be holding space open in the church on Wednesday, November 6th, beginning at 9 a.m. for celebration and/or mourning and a chance to be together and process all the big feelings of the election season and our dreams for what comes next.
See you there.

John

by nadine j. smet-weiss
spiritual director

shhhhh
listen
for the sound
of your own
breath
settle in
to the experience
of life
flowing
through you
be
with your
being