The Newsletter  September 2018   
           


a photo from Ingathering, 2017
Our theme this month in worship and religious education is Vision.  


On September 9, we celebrate Ingathering, the start of the new church year with an intergenerational worship service.   We are keeping this year the changes to the water celebration begun last year. You are invited to bring a vial of water to the service that reflects your summer experience, and we will mingle those waters.  But instead of sharing the location from which you collected your water, you will be invited to cast a pebble into the waters that reflects and sets your intentions for the year ahead. The new Religious Education program year starts on September 16.

Social Justice News

INTERFAITH ASSOCIATION OF CENTRAL OHIO (IACO) Helping Central Ohio Homeless: Join representatives from other faith communities to help serve meals at the Van Buren Shelter, 595 Van Buren Drive, Columbus, 43223, from 5:30 PM (introduction and tour) to 7:45 PM on Sunday, September 23rd. If you are interested in joining the other IACO members who are volunteering, please contact Gwyn Stetler at  gwyn.stetler@ymcacolumbus.org .
 
UU'S GET OUT THE VOTE In the coming weeks, UU Justice Ohio will be working with our partners in OHIO VOTES, the Interfaith Organizing Initiative, UUSC, the Ohio Organizing Collaborative and the Ohio Poor People's Campaign to:
  • Enable ALL Ohio UU's to quickly verify their voter registration status ONLINE - on Sunday morning if possible - and update their registration if they have moved or if they have not voted for 2 years.
  • Help our congregations reach out to their neighborhoods and communities - and nearby marginalized rural and urban neighborhoods - to help others register and update their registrations. 
  • Apply for funds to help with registration efforts AND to offer transportation to Early Voting sites for congregants and others.  And assist with requesting mail in ballots as needed.  (People in nursing homes are often forgotten - but they can vote early or by mail if someone helps them!)
UUJO would like to have at least 2 representatives (or more) from each congregation trained and ready to help with this work.   Please contact Rev Joan Van Becelaere ( uujoanvanb@gmail.com ) National Voter Registration Day is Sept. 25!   OUR LOOSE CHANGE OFFERING IN SEPTEMBER WILL BE DEDICATED TO THIS EFFORT.

RISE FOR CLIMATE, JOBS, AND JUSTICE: On September 8, join hundreds of Central Ohio citizens who will rise alongside people in cities around the world to demand that our local leaders commit to building a world that works for all of us. Saturday, September 8 at 11 AM - 1 PM, Ohio Statehouse, 1 Capitol Square, Columbus, Ohio 43215. Join us as we support local efforts to push Columbus to commit to 100% renewable energy, climate, economic, and social justice, and demand that they walk the talk on climate action. We will gather at the William McKinley Memorial on the grounds of the Ohio Statehouse along South High Street at 11 a.m. We will rally there with faith leaders, union members, and climate champions. We will then march down West Broad Street to Sen. Rob Portman's office for a brief demonstration and photographs that will be delivered to the senator. Finally we will march on to the Columbus City Hall Plaza on Broad Street, where we will sing and demand that the city RISE to meet our climate challenge for a future that is based on JUSTICE, LIVING WAGES, and freedom of dependence on fossil fuels