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Churches Are Being Targeted by Email Scammers
From Reverend Macklin: Churches and other religious communities are being targeted for fake donation requests. Our staff and ministers
WILL NOT send out any personal requests for help or donations via email. These fake requests are intensifying with the Coronavirus. Please see more below.
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Sunday, March 22, 2020
10:15 am (one online service only)
The Earth Continues:
A Multigenerational Equinox Service
Reverend Emily Manvel Leite and
Reverend Mary Ann Macklin
Join us via livestream as we rest in this time of balanced darkness and light as our whole planet changes seasons--from winter to spring here in the northern hemisphere. This morning, we will enjoy special music and engage with experiential worship.
To deepen your experience, it would be helpful to gather a few items: a candle or candles for joys and sorrows, paper and something to draw or write with, a dry leaf and a seed (could be from a fruit or vegetable you have eaten, or from a plant outside). Ideally, you would also have a phone buddy--another person or household that you could call to talk with midway through the service. The adventure of online worship is a new one for many of us--may we open to it together.
Our Building is Closed, but Our Hearts are Still Open. To help disrupt the possible spread of the coronavirus and covid-19 in our community, our building is closed for the next two weeks. We urge everyone to stay home and livestream this week's service at our Facebook page or our website livestream page. There will be no Religious Education classes, no coffee hour, and no afternoon meetings at the church on March 22.
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This Week in Religious Education
There will be no religious education classes or childcare this Sunday, March 22. All ages are encouraged to join us online for the service.
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AGAIN: ALERT ABOUT BOGUS EMAILS
On Thursday, March 19, several UU members reported receiving a bogus email, this time from an entity impersonating our former Associate Minister Rev. McNeill, using a made up @
gmail.com address, and asking for some kind of help.
It is a bogus email. If you receive it, delete it immediately. Do not respond, and do not click on anything in the email, because these actions could cause a destructive program to download automatically onto your computer or device, causing havoc.
We regret that this keeps happening, and we wish it would stop. This happened twice last week, with the thieves impersonating Rev. Macklin. Please do not automatically open email from UU staff without confirming that the email address is from our domain, @
uubloomington.org
Carol Marks, Church Administrator
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Livestream Only this Sunday at 10:15 a.m.
This Sunday there will be a livestreamed service at 10:15 a.m. but no meetings at church. Having one service only is an experiment. If the servers that carry our livestream become overwhelmed, we may need to adjust this. Remember that an archived video of the service is available the same day on our
Livestream page.
PayPal Available
We now have a PayPal page where you can make a Sunday Plate contribution and other donations to the church using a major credit card. You do not need to have a PayPal account to use this page.
Click Here for our PayPal page.
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Our caring thoughts are with the family of Glenda McAvoy. Glenda died from cancer this past Saturday night, March 14. We are in touch with the family and a Celebration of Life will be scheduled for a future date.
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Jerry Nees passed away on February 25 after a long battle against Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. On Friday, June 12 there will be a memory gathering for Jerry in our Library at 7:00 p.m. On Saturday, June 13 in the afternoon, his family is hosting a Gathering of Remembrance at Bear's Place. RSVP info will be provided later.
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Adrienne on Facebook Live, Weekdays at 1:00 p.m.
Adrienne Summerlot will be holding space for children and those young at heart each weekday. We start with a chalice lighting and show and tell (via comments) and then she features a story. Adrienne is also providing a google doc link daily to help support parents at home who are trying to balance working from home and tending to children. As a religious educator, she can't help but put a positive spin on things, "What a wonderful time for spiritual practices and faith development for folks." Her professional Facebook profile is
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UU Church Choir of Bloomington Facebook Page - Keep in Touch
Choir members and other interested UUs are encouraged to "Like" and "Follow" the choir Facebook page at
this link to stay in touch with each other while we are apart. Susan Swaney, our Music Director, may check in from time to time there as well.
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Ann LeDuc
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Connecting and Caring
This past week several members of our congregation contacted me to let me know that they are ready to help other members of our church community. If you would like to have a friendly chat on the phone, have an email penpal, or need someone to help you get necessities, please let me know.
As I mentioned in my previous article, our efforts to "flatten the curve" necessitate that we create and find new ways to stay connected. Here are several ways we hope you will help us stay connected and care for each other.
- Please call your friends. We are asking you to call at least three of your UUCB friends once a week to chat. Especially consider calling friends who live alone and may have very little social contact. If you are willing, let me know who you will visit via phone by emailing connect (at) uubloomington.org
- Connect by phone with elderly friends in our congregation or those you believe may be struggling with physical or mental health issues at this time.
- Let us know if you are concerned about the health and well-being of a member of our community by contacting a minister or member of our staff.
- If you would like a "Calling Buddy," someone to check on you periodically to make sure you are okay and talk with you via phone or email, email me and let me know.
- If you are struggling to obtain necessities such as food and medications, contact me at connect (at) uubloomington.org
- Zoom with us! The church has purchased a Zoom meeting account, to enable our groups and committees to meet via video conference. Zoom meetings can be scheduled by emailing me at connect (at) uubloomington.org . I have simple instructions available on how to participate in a zoom meeting. Want to host a zoom party with friends? I can also send you instructions on how to create your own zoom account and host a zoom gathering.
- If you have not already done so, consider following our Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/uubloomington/
- If you are in need of pastoral care, email a minister to set up a time to talk
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| Reverend Carlson |
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- For pastoral care emergencies, call:
- Reverend Carlson at 812-822-0243
- Reverend Breeden at 812-360-1779
- Reverend Macklin at 812-322-0205
- Reverend Leite at 812-333-9822
Caring and Connections Contacts:
These efforts will not be perfect, but perfection is not the goal. We are definitely learning along the way.
-- Ann LeDuc, Connections Coordinator
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No Meetings at Church -- Our Building is Closed
In an effort to disrupt the community spread of coronavirus Covid-19, our building is closed and all meetings are canceled. This decision will be updated as we go forward.
Zoom Meetings Are Possible
If you would like to meet with your committee, small group, or task force via online Zoom Meetings, contact Ann LeDuc, connect (at) uubloomington.org. She can schedule your online meeting in the church's Zoom space and provide simple instructions for how to do it. Ann can also show you how to create your own Zoom account to have video gatherings with family and friends.
Church Office Closed, Staff Working from Home
Our offices are closed, but staff members are working from home and checking email frequently during their regularly scheduled work hours.
Carol Marks, Church Administrator, admin (at) uubloomington.org
Monica Overman and Mandy Skinner, office (at) uubloomington.org
Ann LeDuc, Connections Coordinator, connect (at) uubloomington.org
Adrienne Summerlot, Dir. of Religious Education, dre (at) uubloomington.org
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Friday Update is for Events Happening in the Next 10 Days
The Friday UU Update is designed to remind the members of the congregation about events and services that are coming up within the next 10 days. For events that are further in the future, please consult our
twice-monthly Prologue newsletter.
For More Information
See the March 17
edition
of our newsletter, The Prologue, published on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays. Past issues for quite awhile back can be found
here
.
(Next Prologue deadline is Tuesday, April 7, at 10 am.)
Carol Marks
has editorial responsibility for our congregation's publications.
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Masthead photo from the internet.
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| Unitarian Universalist Church
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