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MAY 10 - 17

Our Newsletter is packed with information! If you don't see all the content listed in the Table of Contents, try viewing this email in your browser:  View as Webpage

We need nursery volunteers!

You may have noticed that our nursery has been on the move lately — from the Chapel, to the Sanctuary, to its current home in Forrest Church Gallery.

This change hinges on one thing: volunteers.

Isabella is our wonderful paid provider, but two adults must be present in the room at all times for the safety of our children. Without volunteer support, we can't offer this care. Children and youth remain always welcome in the sanctuary during worship, but dedicated care for our youngest members is vital for creating an inclusive space for children and families.

If you're able to help or have questions about what is expected in this volunteer role, please reach out to Rev. Jessica: jessica@allsoulsnyc.org

This Sunday is Share the Plate Sunday. A portion of our offertory collection will go to to Queens Community House.

Queens Community House (QCH) is a multi-site, multi-service settlement house founded in 1975 that serves the diverse residents of Queens, New York across 40 sites in 15 neighborhoods. Guided by a holistic philosophy, QCH addresses the interconnected factors that affect individual and community wellbeing — including housing, health, employment, education, and financial security — ensuring that participants across all programs have access to the resources they need to thrive. Learn more at their website: https://www.qchnyc.org/

THIS SUNDAY: MAY 10

Sunday at All Souls | 11:15 AM

"Mother's Love Mothers All" with Rev. Elaine Peresluha

LGBTQ+ Welcoming Congregation Plaque Rededication | 10 AM | Forrest Church Gallery

Join fellow community members for the rededication of the All Souls Welcoming Congregation plaque. All are welcome to support All Souls' commitment to being a Welcoming Congregation and to support the commissioning of the plaque. The rededication service will be led by Rev. Elaine and Gretchen.

Community Meditation | 10:30 AM | Minot Simons Room

Join us for a 30-minute meditation session before Sunday service. Whether you're new to meditation or have an established practice, this session offers a welcoming space to pause and breathe.

Programs for Children & Youth

No Nursery & Preschool Care

Begin in the Sanctuary for Time for All Ages

Religious Education for Children & Youth | 11:15 AM 

Pathfinders (Ages 5-12) | Mary Ella Holst Room

Youth Group (Ages 13-18) | Forrest Church Gallery

All Souls in 2o Minutes | Following the Service | The Sanctuary

Join us for our newcomer welcome!

Coffee Hour | Following the Service | Reidy Friendship Hall | This week: Hosted by Monday Night Hospitality



Join us every week after the service for coffee and community!

Have questions about our Annual Giving campaign? Visit the Annual Giving Committee table to meet a member and find out more.

This Sunday, stop by the Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East table to speak with members and learn about the 78th anniversary of Palestinian Nakba Day, with a special emphasis on mothers and children.

Need a nametag? Please email gretchen@allsoulsnyc.org or fill out the sign-up sheet on Sunday to request one to be printed.

The All Souls Choir & Musica Viva NY's Tour to Spain | During Coffee Hour | Reidy Friendship Hall

Join us for a special Coffee Hour our music team share highlights from their recent tour in Spain. You'll also hear about the connections between the All Souls choir and Musica Viva. Read more about the tour program below!

Young Adult Friendship Circle | 12:45 PM | Minot Simons Room

This group brings together young adults (generally 20s-30s) to explore life’s big questions through the Unitarian Universalist Soul Matters curriculum. Each month, we gather to delve into a new theme that invites personal reflection, meaningful conversation, and spiritual growth. Join us!

With sadness we share that member John Reidy died on September 11, 2025 at the age of 87. John loved his family and friends and took great pride in being a member of All Souls. John generously donated funds for Reidy Friendship Hall in honor of his parents. The legacy of John and the Reidy family lives on through Reidy Friendship Hall, where many gather in community. For John, we give great thanks.

As part of our Wheel of Life, we are expanding the milestones we celebrate to include a very special one — becoming a Member of All Souls! We joyfully welcome new member this week, David Mikhail.

MONDAY: May 11

Community Meditation | 8:30 AM | Zoom

Meditation & Discussion | 10 AM | Zoom

TUESDAY: May 12

Community Meditation | 8:30 AM | Zoom

Community Choir | 6:30 PM | The Sanctuary

WEDNESDAY: May 13

Community Meditation | 8:30 AM | Zoom

Enlightened Aging Book Club | 3 PM | Zoom

Grief Support Group | 6 PM | Rev. Pamela's Office | This is now a closed group

Stories with Soul | 6:45 PM | Zoom

“A Love Affair” by Lucia Berlin

Read by Susan Malins

Host: Tim Kelley

THURSDAY: May 14

Community Meditation | 8:30 AM | Zoom

Transforming Our Suffering | 10 AM | Zoom

Realm Drop-In Session | 1 PM | Zoom

FRIDAY: May 15

Community Meditation | 8:30 AM | Zoom

Discovering Calm in the Chaos with Mickie Brown | 10 AM | Zoom



SATURDAY: May 16

Community Meditation | 8:30 AM | Zoom

Mindfulness | Meditation | Buddhism Sangha Social Hour | 11 AM | Zoom

SUNDAY: May 17

Adult Religious Education: How Real is Historical Jesus? with Frank Ciulla | 10 AM | Forrest Church Gallery

Morning Meditation | 10:30 AM | Minot Simons Room

No Nursery & Preschool Care

Religious Education for Children & Youth | 11:15 AM

All ages begin in the Garden

• Pathfinders (Ages 5-12) | Mary Ella Holst Room
• Youth Group (Ages 13-18) | Forrest Church Gallery

Sunday Worship with Kaira Jewel Lingo | 11:15 AM | The Sanctuary & Livestream

The Charge to the Ministerial Search Committee will happen during this service

Sanctuary Tour with Laura Pedersen | Following the Service | The Sanctuary

Coffee Hour | 12:15 PM | Reidy Friendship Hall |

Hosted by the Garden Committee 

Newcomer Bagel Brunch | 12:30 PM | Reidy Friendship Hall

Friendship Circle for Widowed People | 12:45 PM | The Ware Room

All Queer Souls Sunday Brunch | 1 PM | Offsite

All Souls Board Meeting | 1 PM | Forrest Church Gallery

Mindfulness | Meditation | Buddhism Guest Teacher: Kaira Jewel Lingo | 1:30 PM | The Sanctuary

Sanctuary Sounds: A series of meditative sound baths with Janet Weir | 5 PM | The Sanctuary

Adult Religious Education: How Real is Historical Jesus? with Frank Ciulla | Sunday, May 17 | 10 AM | Forrest Church Gallery

A small number of biblical scholars believe that the real Jesus is either impossible to discover given the limited non-biblical information, or the real Jesus does not actually exist and the Jesus in the Bible is a literary construct. Returning Adult Ed speaker, Frank Ciulla, will explore their arguments and the counter arguments in favor of the historical Jesus.

All Souls Sanctuary Tour with Laura Pedersen | Sunday, May 17 | Directly following the service | The Sanctuary

See how the oldest Unitarian congregation in NYC has been a prominent liberal religious voice for over two centuries and home to notable activists led by All Souls Member, Laura Pedersen.

Mindfulness | Meditation | Buddhism Guest Teacher: Kaira Jewel Lingo | Sunday, May 17 | 1:30 PM | The Sanctuary

Kaira Jewel Lingo is a Dharma teacher with a lifelong interest in spirituality and social justice. Her work continues the Engaged Buddhism developed by Thich Nhat Hanh, and she draws inspiration from her parents’ lives of service and her dad’s work with Martin Luther King, Jr. After living as an ordained nun for 15 years, Kaira Jewel now teaches internationally in the Zen lineage and the Vipassana tradition, as well as in secular mindfulness, at the intersection of racial, climate and social justice with a focus on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, and activists, as well as artists, educators, families, and youth. All are welcome!

AI and the Future of Spirituality

Sunday, May 17 | 3 PM | Fourth Universalist (160 Central Park West)

Join futurist Jamie Metzl, author of The AI Ten Commandments: A New Moral Code for Humanity, and bestselling author and immersive self-experimenter A.J. Jacobs (The Year of Living Biblically), for a lively, provocative, and mind-expanding conversation on how emerging technologies are reshaping our deepest beliefs.

Moderated by Rev. Sam Trumbore of Fourth Universalist, this wide-ranging discussion will explore how we define purpose, ethics, and the sacred in a time of accelerating technological change. 

Sanctuary Sounds with Janet Weir

Sunday, May 17 | 5 PM | The Sanctuary

Janet Weir of HudsonSoundHealing.com is a sound artist who offers immersive sound baths designed to cultivate inner peace and heightened awareness. Guided by a love of sound and a devotion to service, her work unfolds through moments of synchronicity that reveal sound as a powerful force for healing and connection.

She is joined by sound healer/educator Dasha Alexander and composer Steve Horelick and in a collaboration grounded in presence and shared purpose. Using singing bowls, resonator tubes, gongs, and chimes, they create a sound journey that invites participants to soften into stillness and experience the enduring truth of how sound heals and opens the heart. 

Women's Alliance May Meeting

"What’s Special About a Family? – How I wrote a Memoir" with Kristin Elliott

Wednesday, May 20 | 11:30 AM | Reidy Friendship Hall

You All Look Alike, Kristin Elliott’s memoir, tells the story of growing up on Boston’s North Shore in the 50s and 60s capturing the optimism following World War II, when a family of six dared to start a greeting card company with little funds and experience. 

Come join us to dwell in the process of weaving memories into a memoir. Bring your bag lunch. Coffee, tea and dessert are provided. All are welcome!

Minns Lectures Spring 2026: The Bible and Sexuality with Rev. Dr. Debra Haffner

Part 2: Wednesday, May 27 | 6 PM | Zoom

(Or in-person at First Church Boston)

Rev. Dr. Debra Haffner leads a two-part lecture series exploring what the Hebrew Bible and Christian Scriptures reveal about sexuality, relationships, and intimacy. Drawing on thirty years of evolving scholarship and personal reflection, she examines sacred stories — from Genesis and the Song of Songs to Jesus's encounters with social outsiders and Paul's teachings on love — to uncover the rich, complex, and often affirming ways sexuality appears throughout the Bible. 

These lectures are part of the Minns Lectures, an annual series on religious topics conducted in partnership with ministers and members of First Church Boston and King's Chapel.

Youth Service: "We Belong to the Universe" | Sunday, May 31 | 11:15 AM | The Sanctuary

Hear from our Coming of Age youth as they give their credo statements!

Big Read Kick-Off | Sunday, May 31 | During Coffee Hour | Reidy Friendship Hall


Join us as we kick off this fall’s Big Read: North Woods by Daniel Mason! This novel weaves together history, nature, and the many lives shaped by a single place over many centuries. Hear our own Drama Desk-winning actor Dana Ivey read a short excerpt, treat yourself to a special snack, and pick up a discounted copy of the book to read over the summer. We’ll explore it together come fall. 

Mindfulness | Meditation | Buddhism Program 10th Anniversary Celebration | Saturday, June 6 | 10 AM - 2 PM | The Sanctuary

The Mindfulness | Meditation | Buddhism program at All Souls NYC has blossomed over the last ten years into a vibrant community of spiritual learning and practice. We have hosted dozens of dharma teachers, online and in-person retreats, sound baths, and more.

We are honored to host renowned dharma teacher Tara Brach for an opening talk, followed by reflections on the arc of the program, gratitude to our many teachers and volunteers, and a reception in the vestibule. The celebration will conclude with a sound bath in the Sanctuary, offered by flutist Jacob Rudin. Please join us, all are welcome!

Register here for the in-person event.

Register here for the online version.

UUA General Assembly 2026 | Online | June 14-21

GA is the annual meeting of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), where participants gather to worship, witness, learn, connect, and make policy decisions for the Association through democratic process.

GA is fully virtual this year and we encourage you to participate! Find out more by visiting uua.org/ga Please reach out to Rev. Elaine at elaine@allsoulsnyc.org with any additional questions.

Realm Q&A Drop-in Session | Thursdays, 1 PM | Zoom

Get connected with All Souls' essential connection tool where you can:

• Access our member directory
• View important reports and documents
• Make donations
• & more!

Drop in to our staff-led Zoom sessions. Whether you need help setting up your login or want to learn more about Realm's features, we're here to help!

To better help each person, we allow attendees in one by one. If you're in the waiting room, someone else in on the line. Thank you for your patience!

Questions? Contact Gretchen Gabrielson, Spiritual Care and Membership Manager, at gretchen@allsoulsnyc.org

We're kicking off our next round of food donations for the NY Common Pantry! High-demand items include grains, beans, boxed mac and cheese, canned vegetables and fruits, canned tuna or chicken, cereal, and shelf-stable milk. Drop off donations in the box on the right side of the vestibule (ramp side) — no glass containers or expired food, please. Thank you for your generosity! - Souls In Service Committee

Volunteer Opportunity: After-School Tutoring in West Harlem

Join our partnership with Graham-Windham After School Tutoring at Manhattanville Cornerstone Community Center. As a tutor, you'll help students with homework, study habits, and motivation while building their academic skills and confidence. We currently have openings in the All Souls tutoring program. To learn more, contact Joan Flesch at JoansBeads@aol.com

Coffee Hour, Ushering, Garden Committee, Religious Education & so much more!

Find out what volunteer opportunities are currently available at the link below!

Group Leaders: Seeking volunteers? Let All Souls staff know and we will feature your announcement!

Want to work with our partner food programs? Check out their websites for more detail.

Monday Night Hospitality Mondays | Volunteer hours: Multiple shifts between 1:30 PM - 8:30 PM.

Gotham Food Pantry

Mondays at All Souls with MNH - additional volunteer opportunities available.

Friday Soup Kitchen

Fridays | Volunteer hours: Multiple shifts between

9:30 AM - 11:30 AM

All Souls publishes two general email newsletters: The All Souls Weekly, the Friday email which announces upcoming events for the next week; and Today at All Souls, which arrives at 8 am every morning and includes the Zoom information for events that day. We also produce a weekly Mindfulness | Meditation | Buddhism newsletter and a weekly Lifespan Faith Formation newsletter.

To subscribe, email Communications Manager, Taylor at Taylor@allsoulsnyc.org and specify which newsletter(s) you would like to receive.

If your group would like something added to our public congregation calendar and shared in our Friday email, please submit to our Communications Manager, Taylor: Taylor@allsoulsnyc.org



Submissions for the Friday email must be received by the previous Sunday at 4 pm (at least 5 days before the email it is intended for).

Printable Calendar: Submissions or changes in regularly scheduled programming must be submitted by the 15th of the month prior (i.e. March 15th for the April calendar).

If you need to reserve a room or a table at Coffee Hour for an in-person event or meeting at All Souls, please contact Rudy Girón, Rentals and Events Coordinator, to reserve a room or book an event: Rudy@allsoulsnyc.org

A community for spiritual growth, justice and service

Our mission: All Souls is an open and welcoming religious community that nurtures possibilities and builds connections to forge redemptive change in ourselves, our city, and our world.