THE UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH OF SAVANNAH
Weekly Newsletter 
August 13, 2017
In This Issue
Minister and Staff

Minister
917-664-4027

Director of Music
912-713-7975

Nancy Arteberry
Director of Religious Education
912-234-0980

Alan Kindler
Office Administrator
912-234-0980 

Office Hours: Sun 8 - 11 AM
Mon/Wed/Fri 5-6 PM

Marc Coulombe
Sexton
912-234-0980 
Maria Martinez
Bookkeeper
912-234-0980


Gordon Matthews
President

Jessica Leavitt
Vice President/President-Elect

Robin Lonscak
Treasurer

Margaret Hall
Secretary of the Board

John Cook
Trustee At Large

Erin Roma
Trustee At Large

Bill Rolfes
Trustee At Large
Contacts and Deadlines
 
Reverend Dave will be on Sabbatical from July 1 through September 30.

Pastoral care requests can be sent at any time to: pastoralcare@uusavannah.org
Our Pastoral Care Leader will coordinate response including emergency ministerial coverage if necessary.

Administrative questions can be sent to:
Where our Office Administrator will assist or direct your inquiry to the appropriate ministry leader.

Governance-related questions may be directed to the congregation's president at:

 The deadline for the Order of Service, Weekly Newsletter, and Sunday Announcements: 
Tuesday at Noon
submitted to admin@uusavannah.org
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Worship This Sunday
August 13, 2017, 11:00 am

Hoping in the Dark

Ben Luoma

Darkness is often seen as a metaphor for despair, but when our lives and the world around fill up with activity, moments of rest and darkness can be fertile times for creating a new vision of the future. Come explore the relationship between darkness, creativity, and creation.

Ben Luoma first discovered Unitarian Universalism in High School. He has a Master's of Divinity from Louisville Seminary, and he has worked as a chaplain in hospitals and in hospice care. He joined the UU Church of Savannah with his wife Michelle and their children in 2015, after relocating to Savannah.

Kelsey Buckner will serve as our Worship Associate. Our Storyteller will be John Iaderosa.

Our regular Religious Education Program will resume and the nursery will be avaialable.

Also this Sunday
  • 7:30-8:30 pm: True Colors AA Meeting. Phillippa's Place
  • Second Sunday Covenant Groups, 12:30 - 2 pm
  • RE Parents' Meeting, 12 - 12:30 pm, Sanctuary

Music Notes
Kelly will the back on Sunday, August 20th.

In the meantime enjoy this link to Peter Mayer's beautiful  Blue Boat Home.  Four minutes of inspiration by a singer/songwriter popular with UUs.  (links to YouTube)

Worship Next Sunday
August 20, 2017, 
11:00 am

Come Out and Play - Religion as Make-Believe

Reverend Fred Howard

The title of this sermon might sound a bit irreverent, but there is a sound theological basis to the idea of religion as play. Cultural theorists and anthropologists have noted with fascination the elements of human behavior that make us playful are also those that make religion possible. Religion only fulfills its purpose when it functions as a sort of sacred play.

Rev. Dr. Fred Howard has roots deep in Georgia soil.  He was born and raised in Macon, attended Valdosta State College and then the Medical College of Georgia, and practiced medicine as a family physician in Cairo and Douglas for twenty years.  In 2002 he heard the call to ministry and closed his medical practice, moved to Atlanta, and began studies at Candler School of Theology.  For the past ten years Fred has served as minister of the Valdosta UU Church.  He also continues to work part time in the medical field as an emergency room physician.
He is author of Transforming Faith : Stories of Change from a Lifelong Spiritual Seeker , recipient of numerous awards including the coveted Nautilus Book Award.  More recently he published Children of Covenant , an intriguing and informative suspense novel that will be of special interest to UUs.

Trent Kissinger  will serve as our Worship Associate.  Our Storyteller will be  
Luke Higgins.

Our regular Religious Education Program and the nursery will be avaialable.

Also this Sunday:
  • Inner City Night Shelter volunteer opportunity.
  • 7:30 - 8:30 pm: True Colors AA Meeting (in Phillippa's Place)
Religious Education
Nancy Arteberry

Friends Fia and Fiona make origami droids during the last session of our RE Sumer Star Wars curriculum. As we say goodbye to a super summer, we look ahead to a fantastic fall!

Mark Your Calendar:  RE Parent/Guardian Meeting This Sunday

Families, make sure to come to church this Sunday! Not only will children have their first official lesson with their new Sunday school class, but Nancy will lead a brief but very important parent/guardian orientation. This meeting will take place in the sanctuary immediately following the service and will last about 15 minutes. Nancy will distribute and review important information on curricula, classes, and volunteer opportunities. See you then!

RE Classroom Orientations Successful

On Sunday, we kicked off our year in children's religious education by welcoming 30 enthusiastic students and 10 eager teachers. Classroom orientations were held, where students and teachers got to know each other, covenants were created, and class names were chosen.  Our theme this year is Peace and Social Justice. With that in mind, we are proud to announce that our youngest UUs (ages 3-K) have chosen to be called the "Lovey Doveys", our lively elementary class will be known as the "Fried Peace Chickens", and our 6 th -12 th graders have selected "It Takes a Village". Each class has a unique personality reflected in its name!  

Our Whole Lives
We are excited to announce that we will be offering Our Whole Lives to children in grades 4-6 this fall. Our Whole Lives is a comprehensive sexuality education program that has been widely used in UU congregations as well as many other religious and nonreligious groups. The program delves into important topics such as sexual health, self-worth, responsibility, and inclusivity. The class will be taught by experienced OWL facilitators and will take place on the third Sunday of each month, beginning in August. For more information or to sign your child up, please contact Nancy at re@uusavannah.org.

Social Justice and Action 

Inner City Night Shelter
We are in need of people to make sandwiches and serve the meal at the shelter on Sunday August, 20th  - sign up in Rahn Hall at the engagement table or contact Jim Rosch,   jimrosch@gmail.com  or  518-232-1005


Back Pack Buddies and  Danny's Brown Box
School supplies and food donations will be taken all during the school year.  Please consider a weekly contribution.    Receptacles can be found at the story corner, in the Narthex and in Rahn Hall.  Thanks for your help!

WRUU - Spotlight
The Universal Tone
Tuesday nights at 9pm 
Hosted by Charlie Ferrell

The Universal Tone presents thought-provoking and consciousness-expanding music to the people of Savannah that is introspective, vibrant, and celebratory, music that has the "universal tone" that Carlos Santana talks about. Rooted in rhythm and groove, transcending race, religion, and origin, the music Charlie brings delights listeners but also challenges them to have open minds and hearts. Offerings encompass a wide range of Jazz, Funk, Fusion, and Rock including discussion on the artists backgrounds, lyrical meaning, and occassionally interviews with incoming artists to the Savannah area.   

As Charlie notes at the beginning of his show " the Universal Tone is the idea that there is one note that connects alpha and omega; that connects heaven and flesh; that you can play anytime, anyplace; that communicates to all hearts at the same time.  Join Charlie Ferrell on his quest every Tuesday at 9 pm.

UU Book Club
Now Every Tuesday!
6 - 7:30 pm Rahn Hall

The UU Book Club meets every  Tuesday , from  6 - 7:30 pm  in Rahn Hall . In the upcoming year, the book club will read both fiction and non-fiction, confronting topics like race, religious pluralism, social justice, violence, native peoples, American exceptionalism, health, gender, and the environment. 

We are currently reading Octavia Butler's chilling time travel slave narrative, Kindred.  Beginning with the August 22nd meeting we will be reading Between the World and Me by Te-Nahesi Coates.

If you would like to join us in our readings, but can not attend book club meetings, please sign up for a weekly email. Emails can include short videos, music, articles and links that expand upon the text. You can sign up and drop out of emails anytime.  Many of our future books  will be available for sale at the UU Bookstore in Rahn Hall. For all things Book Club related, please email Kelsey Buckner at  kelseykate@gmail.com

Film Screening - 
I Am Not Your Negro

Please join members of the UU Book Club on August 25th, at 7PM for a screening of the Oscar nominated documentary I Am Not Your Negro  - a conclusion to our summer readings of the novelist & essayist James Baldwin. At the time of his death, Baldwin left behind only 30 pages of his final novel. This film envisions that unfinished narrative about the lives & deaths of Medger Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Throughout, Baldwin's penetrating observations on race relations illuminate sobering realities of the struggle for civil rights in America.

Readers Recommend 

In the Search for truth and meaning you read a lot of books.

This week Joel Matulys recommends I Heard the Owl Call My Name.  He says -  
This realistic book incorporates humor & tragedy as it tells the story of a young Anglican vicar without long to live, who learns the meaning of life among the Kwakiutl tribe of British Columbia, whose rugged existence has remained unchanged for centuries and is governed by the cycle of the seasons.

Check this column every week for a recommendation from a fellow UUCS reader.  Please send your own recommendations to  admin@uusavannah.org or share with Caroline in the book store.  Keep it to one enticing sentence (or two) if you can.  Also, please share books that further the UU search for truth and meaning.  Remember that we have a lending library in the church office with many fascinating titles and that buying your books through the bookstore in Rahn Hall benefits the church. 

Volunteer Opportunities

Currently we have need for:

Picnic Czar
We will be having a Fall Picnic this year on October 21st and we need someone to lead the charge! Could it be you? 

Archivist
History is important.  A church generates a lot of ephemera that seems inconsequential now, but reveals volumes when explored by the curious in future years.  Would you like to help tell our story to later generations?

If you want to step up to one of these positions, please send a note to Alan at admin@uusavannah.org

UUWomenspirit Fall Retreat
October 11-15, 2017
The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center

UUWomenspirit is a non-profit, volunteer-run organization that has hosted all-women retreats since 1987. Our retreats emphasize and celebrate the Divine Feminine in her many forms.  Our next retreat will be held on October 11-15, 2017 at The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center in Highlands, NC.  

The theme for our fall event is Rise Up Sisters:  Embody HER Power!   During this event, we will explore our power as women through the stories and metaphors of the Divine Feminine from many cultures.  Daily worship services will accompany offerings of different workshops that will explore themes of feminine power.  Additional opportunities for self-exploration will include time in nature in the beauty of the fall colors of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the opportunity to walk an outdoor labyrinth.  

The brochure with detailed information about the workshops and other offerings will be available in late July or early August on our website, www.uuwomenspirit.org , and registration for the retreat will begin around August 16th.  For more information about UUWomenspirit and our upcoming and past events, please visit our website. Information about The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center can be found at   www.themountainrlc.org.

Mark Your Calendars for the Coming Weeks

Sunday, August 13
  • Worship Service, 11:00 am - 12:00 pm, Sanctuary
  • RE Parents Meeting, 12 - 12:30 pm, Sanctuary
  • Second Sunday Covenant Groups, 12:30 - 2 pm.
  • True Colors AA Meeting, 7:30 - 8:30 pm, Phillippa's Place
Monday, August 14
  • WRUU Station Orientation Meeting,   5:30  7:30 pm, Rahn Hall
Tuesday, August 15
  • UU Book Club, 6 - 7:30 pm, Rahn Hall
  • Third Tuesday Covenant Groups, 7 - 8:30 pm
Wednesday, August 16
  • Qigong Practice, 11:00 am - 12:00 pm, Rahn Hall
Thursday,August 17
  • True Colors AA Meeting, 7:30 - 8:30 pm, Phillippa's Place
Friday, August 18
  • Music Alliance Meeting, 11 am - 12:30 pm, Library