June 9, 2022
This Week
Worship
June 12th 10:00am - In Person or online
Our World Is One World
Live Oak Choir

As one world, our responsibility is to all and ourselves. What touches one affects us all. This experience provided by this world must be shared with all life. Preservation, intention, and collaboration are not our only tools for building a brighter future on this planet. Let's also begin with admiration, peace, and love. Hand to hand, heart with heart, minds as one.


Join us in person (or online) for Worship at 10:00am. The link will be on the Live Oak homepage: www.liveoakuu.org. Click the "Watch Now" button.

Join us for Fellowship Time immediately following the service: https://link.liveoakuu.org/FellowshipHour

Share the Plate
A landfill alternative
Our Share the Plate recipient for June is Austin Creative Reuse. This nonprofit puts art and crafting materials back into the hands of the community for very low prices, keeping it out of the landfill.

Creative Reuse's large location is in the Windsor Park area of Austin, well worth a visit and stocks a greater variety of materials than you can imagine. The group also offers educational programming and community events to support reuse.

Donate your dollars to help them pay operational expenses and see information elsewhere in this newsletter on donating your own unused materials conveniently at church.

Go to the Donate link on the Live Oak website’s home page. Use the drop down menu to designate your donation for “Share the Plate”.
A Few Words from the Minister
Rev. Joanna will be on sabbatical through August 31. During this time, we will be sharing some of her writings.

Today's: "THE BORN AGAIN UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST" When did you see the high ideals of this faith and, breathless, feel in your heart that this was something you were called to live up to? When did it all connect, that there was wisdom here, and lofty goals, and that for you, this was your spiritual path, that Unitarian Universalism would be the method in which you would take strides toward becoming the person you wanted to be?
Special Notices
Results of the Congregational Vote
All the votes are in, here are the results!
The results are in. The measure on "Should Live Oak UU plan and design its processes for growth?" passed with 96% of the vote. Here are the results of the vote for Board of Trustees and Nominating Committee. We met quorum with 69 members voting.

Thank you to all people who voted!

Total Votes 69
Hands on Live Oak Returns June 12th
It's been a really long time since we've had a Hands on Live Oak! It's time to spruce up our building and grounds. We'll start after RE. Please sign up here if you can help. There will be jobs ranging from cleaning to painting to trimming bushes and rescuing playground rocks that have migrated to the parking lot.

Women's Labyrinth Group on Zoom
Sunday, June 12, 6:30-9 pm
Due to the heat, we return to Zoom this month. We will also be on Zoom in July and August. We gather for a sharing circle and a finger labyrinth walk. The Summer Solstice (only nine days away) brings Mother Goddess energy to fullness--Her love, nurturing, and creativity, as well as Her fierce compassion and Her grief. We will say the Prayers for the Dead (by Starhawk and the Reclaiming Collective) for gun violence victims. And we will reflect on the Mother Goddess energy we have within ourselves for self-care and self-compassion, as well as all the ways that we nurture others. The group is open to women high school age and older. The Zoom link will be sent via email for those who are on the email list for the Women’s Labyrinth Group. If you need a copy of the labyrinth graphic and/or the Zoom link, contact: Linda Webster.

Questions Big & Small
An easy way to find out what you want to know!
The next opportunity for our "Questions Big & Small" Zoom drop-in will be Wednesday, 6/22/22 at 6:30PM. Everyone is welcome to drop in any time during the open meeting, to pose questions about anything church related. For example: How can I find out what groups or teams are active at LOUU? If I have an idea about something for the church, who should I talk to? Is it OK to bring coffee into the sanctuary during services? And so forth.

I'll be "hosting" from 6:30-7:30 to gather the questions and then passing them along (without attribution) to people who can provide responses. The "Answers" will be posted in the Newsletter as soon as they are available, so everyone in the Congregation can benefit. If you're wondering, you're probably not alone!

Carol Sheffield

Donate Crafting Materials
Clear out your reusable excess
Our Share the Plate recipient for June is Austin Creative Reuse. In addition to the usual sharing of the collection plate, we'll also this month collect reusable items in a designated box in the Narthex to be donated to Creative Reuse.

This is a convenient way to get rid of your excess paints, paper, fabric, pens, brushes, stickers, clay, yarn, hardware, tools – the list is almost endless. You can go to https://austincreativereuse.org/material-donations to find out the many categories they accept.

Help with Fresh Food for All
Volunteers needed on Friday June 17th
This month, on Friday, June17th, Fresh Food For All participants will be able to select their own produce (Farmer's Market style), instead of having the prepackaged produce placed in their car trunks. This means that we will no longer need volunteers on Thursday to sort the food, but we will need more volunteers on Friday to help with directing traffic, weighing the food, and helping people carry food to their cars. Some of the “regulars" won’t be there so please help anytime on June 17th between 8:30 and 11AM if you can.

Fill Up a Green Bag
It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3!
In addition to helping distribute food through the Fresh Food for All Program our members contribute food as well. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3!
1. Pick up a Live Oak Green Bag you can use when shopping for HCCM Donations (or use any bag). You pick one up in the Narthex on Sundays or at the church during office hours.
2. When you go grocery shopping pick up a few extra items for Hill Country Community Ministries and drop them off at the church. The HCCM monthly needs list can be found here.
3. Once the shopping is done empty your bag into the cart in the Narthex. Take your Green Bag home and use it again.

Last month we donated almost 100 pounds.


DON'T READ THESE BOOKS!
This summer we will be spending some faith development time exploring banned books, thanks entirely to the Leander ISD school board!

These banned book discussions will be happening the third Sunday of each month: June 19, July 17, and August 21.

In June, the K-5th grade class will be reading “I Am Jazz,” “Jacob’s New Dress,” and “It Feels Good to Be Yourself.” In July, they will read “A is for Activist,” “Nasreen’s Secret School,” and “Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation.” In August they will read “This Day in June,” “And Tango Makes Three” and “Worm Loves Worm.” No pre-reading is required but parents are encouraged to read these books ahead of time if you wish to know what they are about.

The 6-12th graders are not expected to do any pre-reading but it is certainly encouraged. In June they will be discussing “Melissa” by Alex Gino, and “The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives”. The former book is recommended for the middle schoolers and the latter for high schoolers. In July, the two books are “New Kid” (recommended for middle schoolers) and “The Hate U Give” (high school). In August the selections are “Better Nate Than Ever” (middle school) and “Red at the Bone” (high school). The high school selections all include content warnings for adult language, violence and in some cases sex so you may wish to pre-read these with your child. Both books will be summarized and the reasons they have been banned will be discussed at the lesson but will be age-appropriate for ages 11 and up.

Adults, please pre-read the following books and come ready to discuss the reasons you think they have been banned in Leander ISD and other schools. In June, the book is “The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives;” in July the book is “Ordinary Hazards” by Nikki Grimes; and the August selection is “Red at the Bone.” While each of these books are young adult selections, there are content warning of adult topics.

Live Oak’s Got Talent!
No judges. No audience voting. Just amazing skills to show-off.
All summer long, we will have time in service for any LOUUer to show off their talent. Sign up here to pick your day, and start practicing. One act per week (group or individual) and all ages and talents welcome. Acts should generally run under 10 minutes but if you need more time, just let us know. You can define the word “talent” any way you want, so be creative! Let’s show Reverend Jami what we have!

Summer Camps at Live Oak
Did you know several groups hold camps at Live Oak? Support our renters while giving your kids something fun to do:


FutureSet Tech Camp - For ages 8+ https://futuresetcamp.com

In the Community
Shalom Austin JFS - LGBTQ+ learning series
Join the Greater Austin Area Jewish Community for a series of five talks on gender and sexuality!
Shalom Austin Jewish Family Service is proud to present a series of five talks on gender and sexuality at five area Jewish Congregations! We’ll be covering topics like LGBTQ+ 101, LGBTQ+ and Judaism, and how to support LGBTQ+ kids. Our hope is that by learning together, we’re building a more inclusive and welcoming Jewish community.

Each session will be offered in person and on Zoom. The first one, LGBTQ+ 101: Understanding the Alphabet, is next Thursday, May 19th! The one meeting in the LOUU building on June 9th is Getting Nerdy with JFS: LGBTQ+ across cultures and history. Click here for more information and to register: www.shalomaustin.org/LGBTQSeries

UBarU Events

UBarU Summer Youth camp dates:

Intermediate camp for campers age 12-14 or rising grades - 7-9th June 12-18, 2022

Senior camp camp - for campers age 15-18 or rising grades 10th-2022 high school graduates - June 19-25, 2022

* “rising” means this is the grade the camper will attend in the fall of 2022, not the grade they have just completed.

Detailed information can be found at https://www.ubaru.org/summer-camps where there is all the information about COVID precautions, expectations, and cost for this summer.
Young Adult Weekend
Young Adults (ages 18-30 years) are invited to camp for a weekend of camp activities including swimming, archery, games, crafts, labyrinth walking and more! June 25-27 are the dates which is a Saturday to Monday. You are invited to participate in the youth Bridging ceremony to invite the 2022 High school graduates into young adulthood. Lodging will be in the Brown Center bunks and private rooms. Meals are included along with the activities. Early bird price is $125. Discount offered for adults chosen to be counselors for youth camp. See application and job description for Adult Camp counselors at the youth camps page. 
Genderfuul Retreat
Join us at camp July 8-10, 2022! The Genderfuul retreat is an affirming retreat where trans, non-binary & agender UU adults can build community with each other. From nature walks to spiritual discussions and crafts, we hope that each person is able to relax and connect with the sacredness of being genderful. Our chaplain will foster an environment where everyone is encouraged to acknowledge and value the wide variety of identities, experiences, feelings, vocabulary and traumas that come with existing in an often oppressively gendered world.
In addition to discussions, crafts, meals and lodging, the weekend will include swimming in the UBarU stock tank pool, walking the labyrinth, resting and renewing your body and spirit. Register at https://www.ubaru.org/genderfuul-weekend
LiveOakUU.org Pages to Visit:
Worship Service & Fellowship Hour: http://www.liveoakuu.org/
Community Outreach & Social Justice: http://www.liveoakuu.org/justice/
The deadline for the weekly e-newsletter and the Sunday announcements is midnight on Tuesday. The submission form can be found here
If you have any questions or comments about this Newsletter please email: editor@liveoakuu.org