Our service video will be available at 10:00 am at eliotchapel.org and will remain there all week. You can also find it directly on Eliot Chapel's YouTube channel.

Every Sunday, Eliot Chapel shares half of the offertory with an organization in the community whose work reflects our shared values. This is one way that we care for our community and our neighbors. We are very pleased that May’s recipient is Metropolitan Congregations United.

Our goal for May is to raise a total of $1300, with half going to MCU and half to Eliot Chapel’s many life-sustaining ministries. Let us be good neighbors. Let us be a generous people.

Here’s how you can give:

UU Resources for at-home exploration: Families are encouraged to explore the online Religious Education Resources on the church website, found here, for at-home UU exploration. Resources include a Social Justice Summer Reading List for children, UU coloring pages, YouTube videos, parent resources, and more.

For more information about activities for children and youth, please contact Scott Stewart at scott@eliotchapel.org or Christie Lee at christie@eliotchapel.org.

At 11:30 am, you are invited to “walk down the hall” and come to our Zoom Coffee Hour! We’ll take about 10 minutes or so to gather and let people settle in. We'll say a few words of welcome and then create break-out rooms – random groupings of 5 or 6 people. Everyone will likely make a new friend at Eliot from this exercise! You’ll have the chance to introduce yourself and then share your answers to a few questions, like “How has this week been for you?” and “What feelings has it brought up for you?” Each person has about 5 minutes to speak; you are welcome to pass if you like. In half an hour, everyone will return to the big group and we’ll say our goodbyes for the week. Please watch your email for "Eliot on Zoom" which will include a link to join the Zoom coffee hour. If you're not on our mailing list, sign up here.

Vigil for Hope & Healing – 6:00 pm in front of Eliot

Many groups at Eliot are meeting despite the distance between us all. Check with your group leader or get involved with a new group! Find contact information in our Getting Involved booklet.

Group leaders, have you set up an area for your group in Realm? You have a secure place to chat and share documents and photos. Contact Christie Lee to set up your group.

Please remember Teri Nicely and family. Teri's brother, Bill Diekmann, passed away on Sunday, May 16. Bill is survived by his wife and two children. 

With the new CDC guidelines, there may be some questions about whether or not people have to mask and social distance at Eliot Chapel in-person meetings/events. The default answer is yes, we still expect you to mask and social distance, with a few exceptions. 

Sometimes you know that the person or persons you are meeting with is/are vaccinated, and there is no chance that someone else will join the group who is not. In these cases, it's fine to meet without masking if everyone is comfortable with it. We recommend that you have a conversation about it. However, if your group intends to meet at the home of someone with young children, or if someone is not comfortable meeting unmasked, that means that the group still needs to mask and social distance. We cherish our children and youth, and don't want to banish them from the room. And we do not make anybody feel like a burden. 

Regardless if your gathering is an open or closed event, ALL GROUPS MUST SUBMIT AN EVENT REQUEST FORM (find it here on the Eliot website). If your group's meeting(s) is a recurring event, indicate its frequency (weekly, monthly, etc.) on the Event Request Form and your group will not need to submit a form every time you meet as long as the location of the meeting is the same as the first request. If you change the location (from home to The Meadow at Eliot or Memorial Garden), you will need to submit a new Event Request Form.

The Event Request Form must be submitted THREE weeks in advance of the event.  

Eliot Chapel Offices will be closed from Friday, May 28 at 3:00 pm to Monday, June 7 at 10:00 am. Staff will not be working during that time. We are closing the offices to give our staff a much needed time to rest physically and mentally from a very unusual year.  

The deadline for the June 7 edition of This Week at Eliot is the same as the previous week's, May 27 at noon.

The March Financial Reports and Dashboard presented at the May Board Meeting are now available on the Eliot Chapel website. You may access it on the Board of Trustees webpage or click here.

The Eliot Social Justice in Action Steering Committee welcomes nominations before June 30 for Shared Plate for the 2021-2022 church year. Shared Plate is Eliot’s program to divide the Sunday offering and designated online gifts with community organizations that align with our mission. Additional criteria for nominees and nomination form can be found here. 

Once a year, the Unitarian Universalist Association, our national body, holds its General Assembly. Usually we meet in a convention center in a major city. This year it will be held online. GA is like a big family reunion with so much celebration. There is amazing worship, more workshops than you can imagine, and our annual business meeting. As a democratic denomination, every congregation sends delegates to represent us at the business meeting. If you would like to be a delegate for General Assembly, let us know! Email Rev. Krista at ktaves@eliotchapel.org by May 31. Because General Assembly is virtual, the registration fee is much less and there are generous scholarships if the fee is prohibitive. You just have to ask. 

General Assembly (GA) is the annual meeting of our Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). Participants worship, witness, learn, connect, and make policy for the Association through democratic process. Anyone may attend. The UUA Board of Trustees has passed a resolution making the 2021 UUA General Assembly – held June 23-27– a 100% virtual event. And this year, the Ware Lecture will feature Stacey Abrams & Desmond Meade! Find details here.

Our COVID team is here for you. If you are quarantining and need support having groceries and prescriptions picked up, please email pastoralcare@eliotchapel.org with your contact information. 

In an email letter to members and friends, Rev. Barbara outlined "How We Do Church Now" as Eliot Chapel suspended face-to-face meetings. As a guiding document, it was always open to changes as we found out what worked and what didn't in our response to this extraordinary situation. You can find this document on our website now. We will keep it updated as things change. We'll also try to let you know here of any changes. Changes to meeting procedures and RE information were made this week.

All staff are working from home. The building and grounds are closed for general use. A staff person is checking on the building and grounds periodically throughout the week for any facilities or maintenance issues. If you need assistance or have any questions, please email the appropriate staff person.

There will be no Inquirer Series this week. Watch for future offerings of the series.

All are welcome; wearing a mask is required as is maintaining the 6-foot social distancing guideline. Please remember that the building is not open so there are no available restrooms. 

project plans and develop implementation strategies. Email immigration@eliotchapel.org, or consult Eliot on Zoom for information on accessing the meeting. Y’all come!

Revs. Barbara and Krista invite you to a weekly Lunch with the Minister every Thursday at 12:30 pm. Bring your lunch or just bring yourself! Depending on the size of the group, we will hang out together in the main room or go into breakout groups. The link to join this Zoom meeting will be in the weekly Eliot on Zoom email. Check it out and get together!