July 14, 2022
This Week
Worship
July 17th 10:00am - In Person or online
Red Light, Green Light
Rev. Jami Yandle

Red light...green light...its about pausing and letting go...then moving forward to do the "work" more intentionally...after we have let go of things post covid and as we are meeting ourselves again in this new reality.

Share the Plate
Kind Clinic offers free care to all
Live Oak will share the plate in July with Kind Clinic, a nonprofit that provides sexual health services in Austin. It offers gender affirming care and STI/HIV testing and treatment. There are no fees for patients.

Kind Clinic locations in Austin are 101 West Koenig Lane and 2800 S. I-35 Frontage Road. You can learn more at www.kindclinic.org.

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 CORE OF UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISM"
What is at the core of what we do?






Special Notices
Upcoming Board Meeting
Here's a preview of the agenda for the July 17 Board Meeting.
Items to be voted on: Minutes from previous meetings, Boy Scouts.

Items to be discussed/presented: Capital Fund Learning, Budgets, Governance Committee, Endowment Fund, Stewardship Committee.

The board will also be preparing for the Board retreat, collecting trustee photos for the church website, and giving an update on church bank account access.
Take Live Oak’s annual engagement survey!
Please take 3 minutes before July 31st to take Live Oak's annual engagement survey to measure how connected we are with each other over time and update directory information.

Please note that this survey also includes an opportunity to give feedback about programs funded by the church’s Endowment Fund.
SOCIAL JUSTICE MINISTRY NEWS
The UU Railroad

HELLO FRIENDS!
Sadly, Texas abortion provider Whole Woman’s Health in Texas for twenty years is leaving for New Mexico. PLEASE DONATE on gofundme. They need $ to set up care for New Mexicans but also Texans who can get there.
Also sadly, a nonprofit, La Frontera, which helped Texans get reproductive care is closing under the threat of arrest. Fortunately, national services, such as Lilith, which refer and provide $ for abortion will continue. It is now time to consider strategies for helping Texans get to abortion providers. Before emancipation, Unitarians were key in creating the underground railroad to harbor runaway slaves on their way to Canada, although it was against the law. And less well known, some Latinx, white and free Black Texans provided an underground railroad for fleeing slaves to Mexico. It is estimated that 7000 made it to freedom in Mexico, some of those with their help. As Unitarian Universalist Texans perhaps we need to develop our own underground railroad for women and the trans community to safe abortion care. “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws”, Martin Luther King, Jr.


Exploring Membership Workshops Scheduled
Interested in learning more about Live Oak Church? Why do we light a chalice? What does it mean to be a member of Live Oak? Attend an Exploring Membership workshop where we'll get to know each other, talk a little bit about Unitarian Universalism, and a lot about Live Oak.
The July workshop will be held July 17th following the Sunday service in the library. Childcare will not be available. The August workshop will be held August 21st following the Sunday service in the library and childcare will be available.

Local OWL Training Opportunity
No, not training owls, but training to be a facilitator for Our Whole Lives.
Although training owls would also be cool, First UU Austin is holding a weekend-long session for people wanting to certify as a 7-12th grade teacher for the UUA's comprehensive sex ed program Our Whole Lives. The training will be in Austin September 16-18. Register directly here or contact them with any questions. LOUU plans to hold a high school OWL class in the very near future so your training will have a chance to be put to good use right away.

THE LIBRARY NEEDS YOUR HELP!
Admit it, you have secretly always wanted to play librarian.
That's why volunteering to help re-organize the Live Oak UU library might be the right job for you. The books have all been cataloged (including all the new ones that were recently donated), but we need to move them around to make better use of space. Can you help us? To join the team, contact Cindy at dlfd@liveoakuu.org.

HELP DISTRIBUTE FOOD TO OUR NEIGHBORS -
Live Oak Church will be distributing food to our neighbors at Fresh Food for All and need volunteers to help.
This month, on Friday, July 15th, 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. If you can help anytime on July 15th between 8:30 and 11AM, RSVP to Donna Durbin at: HCCM@liveoakuu.org

Live Oak Voting Rights Team Needs You!
Join us in the Fellowship hall after the service and help to increase voter turnout in Texas
On July 17, the Live Oak Voting Rights Team is sponsoring a VoteForward letter writing event in the Fellowship hall after the Sunday service. The goal of VoteForward is to help get people out to vote. Research has shown that adding a personal message to their standard letter is effective in increasing turnout in folks who are registered but not likely to vote. For more information about this nationwide program, check out the VoteForward website. We will be preparing letters to send to a pool of registered Texas voters in underrepresented communities urging them to vote November 8. This is a non-partisan effort to strengthen our democracy.

You can help with our event, July 17, in several ways. You can create your own account at VoteForward.org and print out your own list of voters to bring that day, or you can help fold, stuff, stamp, and address letters from the lists other Live Oak participants will be working on July 17. Stamps, envelopes, pens, and templates will be provided for all to share. You’re also welcome to come for information about the program and see it in action. You don’t have to be voting age to participate; just bring your willingness to help increase voter turnout in Texas. For more information contact Judy Reynolds or Wayne Gregory

Annual Fall Campout in November!
The campout will be the weekend of Nov 11-13 at Cedar Breaks Park on Lake Georgetown. Make your reservations here. We usually camp in sites along the lake, in the teens and 20s. Some of us camp longer, arriving a day or 2 ahead of time and staying a day or 2 longer afterwards. Join the Live Oak UU Camping Group on Facebook for Q&A and camping discussion!


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: July 17, and August 21.

In July, the K-5th grade class will be reading “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 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 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.

In the Community
UBarU Annual Star Party
August 27-30, 2022
The 2022 UBarU Star Party (USP) is being held over three nights in late August since it offers a phase of the Moon that is better-suited for deep-sky viewing than over Labor Day weekend 2022. This is our sixth comprehensive star-party event (which includes, in addition to the star parties: astronomy-related lectures, meals, lodging, and more) offered at our IDA-certified Dark-Sky Park in Mountain Home, Texas. Please register via https://www.ubaru.org/ubaru-star-party

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