Join us this Sunday
10:30 a.m. Service:  Walk Humbly.  The 4th and final service on living our religious values, reflecting on words of prophet Micah: "What is required of you but to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God?"

9:15 a.m. Drop-in Discussion:  Bless Our Roots (Part II).  Using a questionnaire distributed by David Malone at our Dec. 18th discussion, we’ll explore and share our diverse backgrounds. Phil Ebersole will facilitate. 
Upcoming Events
Congregational Meeting & Vote - January 29

A second congregational meeting will be held in the sanctuary following our service on Sunday, January 29, to take a formal vote on adopting this new Social Justice framework.  The Social Justice Task Force report can be found on our website (click here).  

Childcare will be provided.

Last Call!

Auction 2017 - Just a few more days to donate your item, service, or event!! The deadline for donations is this Wednesday, January 25th.  Use our online donation form by clicking here. The more items, the better… so don’t miss out on helping with our church’s big fundraiser! Look for the booklet of auction offerings at church this coming Sunday, and of course, plan to attend the auction on February 5th after the service.  Want to help?  You can sign up in the Clara Barton Lounge after the service, or contact Paula Marchese at pmarchese@rochester.rr.com

Train for RAIHN

Join our RAIHN* team of caring volunteers to help temporarily homeless families get back on their feet. Attend a two hour orientation session about putting the RAIHN philosophy into action. Attending the orientation is not a commitment, but  we hope you will join us as a volunteer during our next RAIHN Week, March 26 - April 2. 

Two orientations are coming up:  Tuesday, January 24th, 6:30-8:30pm at Artisan Church, 1235 S. Clinton Ave., Rochester, AND Wednesday, February 8th, 6:30-8:30pm at St. Louis Catholic Church, 64 S. Main St., Pittsford. If you plan to attend one of these sessions, RSVP to Jen Canning, coordinator@raihn.org or 506-9050.

*Rochester Area Interfaith Hospitality Network: helping homeless families achieve sustainable independence

Additional Announcements

COZY NIGHT SUPPER:  Friday, January 27th from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. will be our Empty Bowls Project.  Mitch Gruber, chief program officer at Foodlink and researcher in the history of food networks/persistent poverty will present a program at 6:30 highlighting local hunger needs and answering questions. For a donation of at least $8, you can take home a lovely handmade bowl of your choice that you used for dinner and donated to us by local potters.  All funds generated from the evening will be given to Foodlink. Please sign-up by contacting Kathy Russell at krussel6@frontiernet.net.

JOIN SMALL GROUP MINISTRY!  A new Small Group will meet at 1:30 PM Thursday afternoons in the Chalice Room.  The first session will be scheduled once six people have signed up.  These sessions will be especially convenient for people who attend the Eastman at Washington Square concerts. The sessions will be conducted weekly or every two weeks, according to the desires of the participants. Contact Bob Remley at humans@rochester.rr.com or (585) 637-6159 to sign up or ask questions about plans for the sessions. If you are unfamiliar with Small Group Ministry, please visit the Small Group Ministry page on our website by clicking here.

ECO-JUUSTICE GROUP:  Due to the Annual Service Auction on Feb 5th, the EcoJuustice Group will meet at noon on February 12th in the Chalice Room. All interested in promoting sustainability of our planet are invited to attend. In particular, anyone who could help with activities related to Earth Day/Week/Month in April would be most welcome! For further information, see  Sarah Singal (ssingal@rochester.rr.com) or anyone in the group.

BOOK GROUP will not meet on January 29th due to the congregational vote taking place after the service. Book Group will resume on February 26th to discuss "Americanah" by Chimamanda Adichie. Any questions happily answered by Sarah Singal (ssingal@Rochester.ff.com) or Shirley Bond (bondshirl1@gmail.com).

"Greener U"

submitted by the EcoJuustice Group

Who knew! Some toothpastes and body washes contain "microbeads", tiny plastic exfoliates that do not dissolve or biodegrade. They are very damaging to wildlife, rivers, and oceans as they are small enough to pass through water treatment filters, preventing most solids from reaching natural water systems.

Avoid:  Procter&Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Colgate/PalmoliveInstead, look for products containing natural exfoliates: JASON, 7th Generation, Desert Essence, Nature's Gate.  In 2015, Pres.Obama signed into law a Ban on Microbeads:
Click here to read the article.

*Respect for the Interdependent Web of All Existence of Which We Are a Part*

To submit an item for "This Week at First Universalist", e-mail   office@uuroc.org  no later than Thursday at noon.   
Staff:

Rev. Celie Katovitch, Minister

Rev. Michelle Yates, Director of Life Span Faith Development

Stacey Yang, Director of Music

Melissa Davies, Office Administrator
150 S. Clinton Ave., Rochester, NY 14604 | (585) 546-2826 | office@uuroc.org