Please stick around after church this Sunday, for lunch in the Gerber Room followed by table discussions led by First UU’s Stewardship Committee. Bring your ideas for new church events, activities, and fundraisers … and learn about all facets of stewardship to benefit our community while enjoying a fellowship lunch!

Our November theme is “The Practice of Repair.” This week, some post-election thoughts on triage and attention in the face of so many possible emergencies.

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.

 This Month’s Theme is Repair – 

• This month’s bedtime story is Soomie’s Sweater by Susi Oh. Soomi’s new sweater arrives, but it doesn’t quite fit. Mom makes it just right and Soomi can’t wait to show her friends. Soon, Soomi’s brand new sweater isn’t so new anymore. Her friends try to patch it up, but nothing works. Thankfully, Mom knows just what to do. She creates something better than brand new!

• Purchase it for your home library!

9:30 AM: Adult RE 

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

• This week’s we will have Debriefing # 2. Sharing our feelings in a safe space and trying to understand.

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

Elementary Ages: 

9:30 – 10:15 Pre K – 2nd: Learn with Bluey’s lesson this week is Burger Shop – Respect

9:30 – 10:15 Upper Elementary: Green Lantern Corps: Shining A New Light in the Universe – Props

Youth Group meets again 11/24 – 24th We will be finishing our discussion of Good and Evil, planning our next topic, and refining our plans for the cookie sale.

On Sunday 11/24 our RE kids will be preparing Blessing Bags to be donated to members of the homeless community near us. If you can help with donations sign up below

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0C4EADA62DA1FD0-53161582-uureblessing

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!

www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0C4EADA62DA1FD0-53158707-owlinterest

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

Since then it has grown to include over 60 agencies, businesses, and individuals, working toward preventing, reducing, and ending homelessness in Berks County. In 2008, BCEH applied for non-profit corporation status and is a 501(c)3.

Please make checks out to FUUBC with BCEH in the memo line. Checks can be left in the collection plate or in the wooden box in the Gerber room. Cash can be donated in the collection plate on the last Sunday of the month.

Splinters from the November Board Meeting:

1. Some members of the BOD and M&O met with UUA Principal Contact Lenore Bajares-Dukes to engage in a leadership exercise intended to help us unite in purpose and mind with Rev. John as he starts his ministry.

Following the service on November 24th, please join us for a Friendsgiving Pot-Luck Feast with friends in the Gerber Room. Sign up Here

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.

The Youth Group is holding a Holiday Cookie Sale as a Church Fundraiser and are requesting cookie donations. We need 12 dozen undecorated sugar cookies for the youth to decorate.  We are also in need of many, many more dozens of cookies to sell of all types and varieties.

All cookie donations are due at the church from 9-10:00 am on Saturday, December 14 so the youth can decorate, sort, and tag the cookies for sale.  Or they can be dropped off at the church in the week leading up to the sale.  The sale will be held after church on Sunday, December 15.

Please sign up to donate a dozen, 3 dozen, 6 dozen or more Holiday Cookies!  Your baking hobby can help raise money for UU Berks.  Label your cookies (type of cookie) and let us know if there are any special notes such as gluten, nut, egg or dairy free.  Please label all cookies that have nuts, otherwise we will assume the donations have gluten, dairy and eggs unless you tell us otherwise.

For Cookie Lovers, come to church on Sunday, December 15 and bring your checkbook or cash.  We will be selling the congregation’s homemade delights just in time for you to bring to holiday gatherings or to share with family and friends.  For questions or to schedule an alternate cookie drop-off, contact Lynn O’Brien at 484-219-5966.  All proceeds will go to the Church.

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.

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

How does repair work in your life? What does it mean to repair?

When I think of repairs in my UU world many things pop up. As sexton this means finding a way to restore hot water in my church, or putting the wheel back on my vacuum. Repair on a building that is so old is a constant process. Just as one thing is made whole, a light bulb pops, and paint chips somewhere else. Repair of the building is a constant action. Cleaning, and making small repairs, resets the church each week to welcome the people on Sunday. Repair allows the building and the congregation to continue their journey.

Repair is a mind set on doing better. Living in a beta test, where mistakes are acknowledged, breathed over for a minute and action begins to restore what has gone wrong. In RE and for families and children, I think repair begins in the “oops and ouch”. Listening to each other. Opening up communication so that when a hurt happens, and someone feels misunderstood they can have the courage to say so. Repair means not just the child is capable of making mistakes, but the grown ups know when it is the time to say “I’m sorry”. Listening leads to repair.

Fixing past wrongs and ouches, or finding a way to restore hot water in the church, take a moment every day to contemplate what in your life needs repair. Then take a deep breath, get fixin.

Erin

by nadine j. smet-weiss
spiritual director

look around

look closely

look within

see the cracks

in everything

with soft eyes

recognize

the beauty

in the opening

and find

your way

to fill it

with love