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September 2020 Newsletter
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Dear beloveds,
Every year I struggle with the notion of “starting” the church year. I’m always tempted to protest: But we never stopped! This year I am running into an entirely different rhetorical problem. How do we welcome people back when we aren’t actually physically coming back? What does it mean to in-gather when we can’t actually gather?
This question, and variations on it, have been one of my central worries ever since we moved online in early March. I remain convinced that our beloved community is even more important than ever. I have
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watched the ways that the connections that were nurtured in out congregation have been literally life saving during these isolated times. And yet, a worry lingers: will it be enough? Will our virtual connections be enough to see us through?
Of course the answer is yes. It has been yes, it will be yes, it must be yes. Every time we log onto a zoom small group or pick up the phone we draw ourselves a little closer together. Every time we participate in virtual worship we strengthen the bonds that hold us even when we are isolated and alone. It is not what we are used to or what we hoped for. But it is what we have and it is enough.
In the coming weeks and months we will continue to to reimagine how we can come together and keep us all safe. On Sunday, September 13 we will have our first ever drive in church. Ever wanted to see me preach from the back of a pick up truck (why would you want that???) We will be launching “PODS”, small groups who will join together to engage in worship and fellowship. We will continue to explore the different ways that we can use technology to come together online to deepen our spirits and strengthen our bonds.
We come together (virtually, through our phones and over our socially distant fences) because we need each other more than we know. And we will continue to do so until we can be together in person again.
In faith,
Rev. Aija
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The Worship Theme for September is "How Do We Connect"
We look forward to you joining us Sunday's at 10:30 am. Connect with us at uucv.org/virtual or “listen in” (without video) by telephone, by calling 646-876-9923 and entering Meeting ID 942 810 6896
September 6 - "Waving through a Window"' 2020 has sent us all to our rooms, for our own good. Even though we're isolated, it seems, in many ways, that we're more connected than ever. How do we make those connections meaningful ones? Chris Kapp leads the service with worship associate Bev Motich.
September 13 - "Welcome Back" What does it mean to come back together when we remain literally apart? (water ceromony) Rev. Aija Simpson preaching with worsip associate Molly Wilkinson. See our special announcement for this service below.
September 20 - "Reaching Out" How do you make connections? Rev. Aija Simpson preaches with worship associate Bev Motich.
September 27: "Reaching In" How do you settle into yourself? Rev. Aija Simpson preaches with worship associate Michele Burton.
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Special UUCV Worship Ceremony |
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MARK YOUR CALENDARS!!
UUCV's annual in-gathering water ceremony, scheduled for 10:30 AM on Sunday, September 13, will be held outdoors this year—at the Cumberland Drive-In in Newville, PA! Worship leaders will be LIVE and in person at the drive-in. This is not an experience to be missed!
(Note that due to technological constraints, we will NOT be live-streaming this worship service. If all goes well, audio for the sermon and reflection will be posted to the UUCV Soundcloud channel as usual during the week following the service.) |
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business shares an entrance with the Drive-In. After turning off of Ritner Hwy, just continue down the long driveway to the left of the salon.)
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Bring your own lawn chairs and masks to sit outside with your household, or participate from inside your car. We will have volunteers directing you to park with appropriate “vehicular social distancing” between vehicles.
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Every person over the age of 2 must wear a mask covering the nose and mouth at all times when outside their vehicle.
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If possible, plan to use the bathroom at home before attending. Bathrooms will be open but limited to one household at a time, and will need to be cleaned in between each use.
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WATER CEREMONY:
You can participate in the water ceremony in two ways:
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Bring your water to UUCV by 12 PM on Friday, Sept. 11. Outside the side door off of the parking lot, there will be instructions to pour your water into an individual vial and leave the vial at the church. One vial per household, please. Submit your message about your water to be read at the ceremony by email to Pam: pam@uucv.net.
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Or, if you’d rather, you may allow us to use a symbolic water vial to represent your water. Submit your message about your water to be read at the ceremony by email to Pam: pam@uucv.org.
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BACK-TO-SCHOOL BLESSING:
Our in-gathering service will include a special blessing of this year’s UUCV Backpack Tokens. Whether you are headed back to school this year or gearing up for virtual instruction from home, heading into work or working from home, or just want a special reminder of UUCV’s blessings and good will to take with you, everyone who wants one may take home a Backpack Token. As you drive through the exit after service, stop by the small table and let us know how many tokens you would like. We will have volunteers wearing gloves drop them into your hands.
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The UUCV Book Group meets the 4th Sunday of each month at 6:30 on ZOOM. The link is available upon request. New members are always welcome to join us.
The September 27th selection is "No Friend but the Mountains:Writing from Manus Prison" by Behrouz Boochani. This autobiographical account tells the story of Boochani's dangerous journey to Christmas Island, and his time in an Australian prison for immigrants.
If you have any questions, please contact UUCV Book Group Coordinator, Riley Johnson at riles1806@gmail.com, or Pam in the office at pam@uucv.net or
717-249-8944.
Please note: We will be meeting via Zoom for the foreseeable future. The link is available upon request.
Thank you!
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UUCV Grocery Cards for Sale
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We are still available for you to purchase grocery card sales for Weis, Karns and Giant...and remember you can use your Giant card for gas also.
Send an email to Pam with your order and the cards will be mailed to your home. You can pay by sending a check to UUCV, PO Box 207, Boiling Springs, PA 17007 or you can pay by credit card directly to Pam...indicate in your email if you want to pay by credit card and Pam will arrange the payment with you.
Thanks for continuing to support UUCV.
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Sign-Up Now
Are you interested in becoming a member of UUCV? Or just want to learn more about Unitarian Universalism?
New Membership classes will be held in late September, early October via ZOOM.
If you are interested in attending, please contact Pam to sign up.
More details will follow...all are welcome!
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September Social Justice Opportunities
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CARES dinner for 30
The next CARES Dinner we are signed up for is Sunday, September 20. It will be a Mexican food nite.
The items needed to provide dinner are on this list.
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MEXICAN CASSEROLES,
such as Taco Casserole, Chicken enchiladas, Tamale Pie, Mexican beef rice.
Needed -
1 casserole still needed
CHIPS & DIPS -
Needed -,
2 containers of Bean Dip
1 containers of Sour Cream
SALADS -
either Mexican chopped salad or Corn & Bean salad - 3 salads needed
DESSERT -
Brownies, cinnamon cookies, Chocolate Cupcakes - 4 or 5 dozen
FRESH FRUIT-
Any kind, Such as bananas, pears,apples, etc.
DRINKS -
2 Gallons lemonade
1 Gallon Milk
Contact Pam to sign up for an item. Please plan to drop off your items between 3:00 and 3:30 on Sunday, September 20 at the UUCV Parking Lot. If you need someone to pick up your item, or if you have any questions, please email Carol Riesmeyer or call 724/822-6423. Thank you for your continued contributions and support.
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Change for the World
Community CARES - SEPTEMBER
Community CARES will be UUCV's Change for the World again in September.
Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Community Cares is continuing to practice social distancing and has moved its most vulnerable and sick residents into hotel rooms to help curb the spread of the virusThey currently have a Census of approximately 60 people and are operating on a skeleton staff. Their resources are being stretched to the limit right now, as need is up and donations are down.
Keeping the residents safe and healthy during a pandemic, in a communal setting, is a herculean task that they are tackling with grace and proficiency. Please support Community CARES staff by donating to this month’s CFTW. They are the front line of protecting our most vulnerable citizens right now.
Send checks made out to UUCV with "CFTW" or "CARES" in the memo line and send to UUCV, PO Box 207, Boiling Springs, PA 17007 |
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UUCV has been actively supporting homeless individuals and families in our area with our Change for the World contributions, donations of needed items and supplies, and providing a monthly meal for Community CARES. There are also many homeless youth in our area who are on their own and could really benefit from our support. The organization Education for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness (ECYEH) actively provides multiple types of support for these young people and having adequate food is an ongoing issue. So, what can we do?
Many of us purchase grocery cards from UUCV and know that a portion of the value of each card is donated to UUCV by the grocery store. The WIn-Win idea is that any of us who are able to could make a donation toward the purchase of a grocery card from UUCV that would be donated to ECYEH to purchase food and supplies. Both UUCV and ECYEH would benefit, and we would be living our mission of caring for the world.
The plan for how this needs to work, if you are able to make a donation, is as follows:
- Donations need to be mailed to Pam Martin at UUCV, PO Box 207, Boiling Springs, PA 17007.
- Donations need to be checks made out to UUCV, and only in denominations of $25, $50, $75, or $100.
- Checks should have ECYEH marked in the memo line.
- Donations will be combined toward the purchase of $100 Giant cards as these offer the best return to UUCV.
- The grocery cards will then be given to ECYEH.
We recognize these guidelines are somewhat narrow, but they have been designed to minimize the book keeping and clerical effort involved. We all know Pam to be an enthusiastic and efficient administrator, and she is happy to process our donations to ECYEH using these guidelines. If you are someone who would like to support the area homeless but are not able at this time to contribute in the specified amounts, contributions in any amount to Change for the World are always gratefully received by Community CARES.
Thank you for considering this opportunity to support area homeless youth as we all navigate these challenging times. Please contact Wendy Gebb with any questions.
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Rev. Aija on Study Leave, Rev. Aija will be on study leave until Friday, September 11. If you have an urgent pastoral need, call 717/249-8944 and selection Option 9. We have a guest minister who will return your call. If your need is not urgent, feel free to email Pam for assistance.
Church Administrator vacation Pam Martin will be on vacation September 21, 22 and 23. Also October 1 and 2.
Mark your calendars for our ZOOM town hall scheduled for Sunday, September 20 following worship on ZOOM.
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September Town Hall
UUCV’s next Town Hall Meeting will be held on September 20th after the regular Sunday Service – all via Zoom, of course, our new “regular”.
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We will hear from the Endowment Committee regarding our current endowment and past contributions; our Director of Life Span Religious Education, Emily Crutcher, about RE plans for this year; our Treasurer, Cindy Good, with an update on our finances; and the Auction Committee will finally divulge their (until now) top-secret plans for our next auction.
Some surprises are guaranteed – be sure to join us!
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Cindy Terlazzo Ordination |
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Ordination - Take Two
Save the date for the ordination of our former intern -Cindy Terlazzo
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Due to our altered world and a tremendous demand for more Zoom connections Cindy's ordination will take place on-line Saturday, October 24, 2020 @ 2:00 PM
Stay tuned for details.
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“Something is going to happen with this auction that Cathy Dewalt keeps holding meetings. She and her committee are up to something, I just know it!”
Greetings to everyone, and yes, Cathy and her auction committee are up to something. I’m betting that many of you think the auction has been moved to a safer future and you would be half right. Stay tuned, because my little friend here will let everyone know what’s going on very soon.
Cathy Dewalt
Auction Chairperson
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It’s not too late to sing in the choir!
While singing together in person is still a far too risky behavior for us to engage in, our fearless intrepid brave guardedly optimistic music director David has been exploring ways to bring the sound of the choir back to UUCV worship, even during the pandemic. It’s a new way of doing choir!
Singers of all ages and levels of experience (and, frankly, in any location!) are welcome to join the UUCV Choir during this “virtual” period. In order to participate in the choir, you’ll just need a reliable internet connection and the ability to record your vocals (on your phone or computer) in a quiet location while listening to accompaniment tracks through headphones. To get started:
- Email David to let him know you’d like to participate in the choir.
- David will add you to the choir’s Google Group, so you’ll receive announcements pertaining to choir business.
- David will also provide you with login information for the UUCV Choir page of his website, which will be your “hub” for all things choir-related.
You’ll then have access to detailed instructions on how to learn, rehearse, find help with, record, and submit recordings of your voice so that you can be included in our “virtual choir” recordings. (The current plan is for us to share choir recordings in worship six times over the 2020-21 season.)
That’s it! David (and/or another tech-savvy elf) will compile the submitted audio files into a mixed choir recording, and you’ll get to hear it during the scheduled service!
Questions? Contact David.
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ZOOM Worship
Most of our activities will be held in our main Zoom channel, which is accessible in any of the following ways:
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- point your browser to uuma.zoom.us/j/9428106896 , OR
- “listen in” (without video) by telephone, by calling 646-876-9923 and entering Meeting ID 942 810 6896
If you don’t already have Zoom installed on your computer, clicking any Zoom link will prompt you to begin the installation. There is no charge to you for the software or its use.
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UUCV Fundraising Opportunities
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UUCV Yard Sale Cancelled...but you can still donate!
Do you have a large item or higher priced item you would like to donate to UUCV?
Our church administrator will advertise and manage on Facebook's Marketplace with proceeds going to UUCV.
Contact Pam to make arrangements for drop off of your item to UUCV. |
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