ELIOT CHAPEL LIVE!
Sunday, May 2 – 10:00 am
Changing the Story – Rev. Krista Taves
We are always creating and recreating stories to help us understand ourselves and our place in the larger order of things. Sometimes we need to change the story to find hope and claim our power.
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On the first Sunday of each month we have a LIVE service on Zoom. The service will actually be a hybrid to allow us to create special videos and to allow our musicians to play and sing together virtually.
Here’s how it will work:
- Members and friends will receive the “Eliot on Zoom” email so you’ll have the zoom link for the service on Sunday morning. At 10:00 am, just call us up. Like all Zoom calls, you may do so with your computer or phone.
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If you would rather connect to us through our Facebook page, YouTube channel, or website, you can join us there. You won’t be a little square on the screen, but you will see and hear everything in real time! The only thing that will be different is that you can’t start at the beginning if you’re late, and you can’t skip ahead to your favorite parts.
- Shortly after the service has ended, it will be available as a recording.
See you there!
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Sharing the Offering
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.
The mission of MCU is to harness the moral authority of St. Louis congregations to work for justice. MCU puts faith into action by developing leaders who move their congregations, organizations, and communities to change public policy for the common good.
Eliot Chapel has been a member congregation for many years. Many of our leaders see their leaders as good friends and partners with whom to share the important work of social justice. MCU helps us to fulfill our commitment to justice, equity, and compassion for all. Key issues for MCU are breaking the school to prison pipeline, police reform, justice reform, prison reform, access to health care, and voting rights, among many others. These are also issues that we are passionate about.
Unitarian Universalists are deeply respected in MCU circles. David Gerth, their Executive Director, at one of the many marches we’ve attended together, said, “Ah, there’s the Unitarian Universalists, the people of the yellow shirts! You always show up!”
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Rev. Krista Taves introduces Metropolitan Congregations United.
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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:
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Online: Click here. Make sure “Shared Plate” is your chosen fund.
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By Mail: Please write “MCU” in the memo line of your check and mail it to Eliot Unitarian Chapel, 100 South Taylor Ave., Kirkwood, MO 63122.
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By Text: Text "Eliot $(enter the amount) SharedPlate" to 73256. A link in the reply text will take you to our secure database webpage where you can complete your transaction. Please note, "SharedPlate" must be entered as one word to reach that preferred option.
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Religious Education
Religious Education for Children (Kindergarten-6th Grade): Sunday, May 2 @ 9:15 via Zoom
Eliot children and families are invited to gather at 9:15 am via Zoom for connection and community. This week’s session, co-hosted by Christie Lee, Tim Bubb, and adult lay leaders, explores UU Source #5: Science & Reason. Activities include the video Story Time: A Very Special Moth. Zoom links will be distributed to registered families by email on Friday, April 30.
Junior High & Senior High Youth Groups: Sunday, May 2
Online gatherings for Junior High and Senior High youth have concluded for 2020-21. Junior High youth are encouraged to join their families for the live Zoom service at 10 am. Details about the Bridging celebration for Senior High Youth Group members were shared via email earlier this week.
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Zoom Coffee Hour
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.
Sunday at a Glance
RE for Children – 9:15 am via Zoom
LIVE! Church Service – 10:00 am via Zoom and on the Eliot Chapel website
Coffee Hour – 11:30 am via Zoom
Young Adult Group – 12:30 pm on Discord
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Monday, May 3
Inquirers Series – 7:00 pm via Zoom
Tuesday, May 4
Women’s Alliance – 9:30 am via Zoom
Vigil for Hope & Healing – 5:00 pm via Zoom & on Facebook
Thursday, May 6
Lunch with the Minister – 12:30 pm via Zoom
Contact your group leader if you need login information for your meeting.
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Reminder: Getting Involved with Groups
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.
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Last Chance to Share Your Thoughts on Eliot
Project Renew has been conducting listening sessions throughout April, and we'd like your voice, too! Discussion on a powerful question like "What could it mean to be a church of joyous and radical belonging?" informs the Board of Trustees' work on the Chapel's mission and what our Ends (goals) should be for the coming years. This, in turn, guides the work of the congregation in making a difference within, among and beyond ourselves. Check Realm or Eliot Chapel's website for the final session information.
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Flower Communion 2021
Come to the Memorial Garden at Eliot Chapel on Saturday, May 8, from 1-3 pm and be a part of our flower communion! Bring a flower or two to put into our community vases then take your picture in the garden. Send your photos to news@eliotchapel.org by Monday, May 10, to be added to the "bouquet" in our flower communion service on Sunday, May 16.
When we have collected all our flowers, some of our pastoral care associates will take them to different care centers and nursing homes to bring a little spring and Eliot community to residents.
Please come! We need your participation to make the biggest, grandest bouquet ever.
If it rains on Saturday, come anyway – we will set up under the Adams Hall awning. If you can't make the window on Saturday, feel free to come to the chapel when you like, flowers in hand and take a picture of yourself in the garden. Or take a picture at home. You can share the flowers with someone you love – including yourself!
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Chapel Member Featured
Eliot Chapel member Phyllis MacLaren was featured in Bethesda Health Group’s 2020 Report to the Community: Resilience in the Face of Adversity. Phyllis has been performing with her violin in the hallways at Bethesda Gardens where she lives; she has performed nearly 40 times during the pandemic. "I continue to give concerts on a regular basis in the 'living room' near the front entrance," Phyllis said. "I also gave a St. Patrick’s Day concert with all Irish and Scottish tunes." We have enjoyed performances by Phyllis during recorded church services, too. (See services here and here on YouTube.) She has also been honored for her artwork. Read the feature on page 10 of the report.
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Registration Open for GA!
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.
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We’re Here to Save the Planet
The Environmental Justice team at Eliot Chapel is celebrating Earth Day all month in a variety of ways. We’d love to have you join us! This year we are focusing on justice issues related to agricultural practices, food and water availability, ethical eating, and climate-related racial justice issues.
- Want to eat locally grown food? Check out the options at Known and Grown STL.
- Looking for a restaurant that follows sustainable practices and serves locally grown food? Check out the options at Green Dining Alliance.
- Want to build new habits and learn more about how your eating practices affect climate change and racial justice? Join the Eliot Chapel Ecochallenge.
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COVID Support Team
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.
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Reminder: Staying Up to Date
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 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.
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Leap of Faith
The theme for May is Stories. What are the stories that shape your life? What stories help you understand the world? How do you tell your own story? What stories would others tell about you?
Last week, I attended an informal family gathering to celebrate the life of my dear friend and extra mom, Barbara. We gathered outside in a park under a pavilion with a fire pit. A catered lunch was served, featuring one of her signature recipes, chicken marbella. We were all invited to tell stories about her.
There were common themes. She was always worrying about her kids, her family, anyone in her orbit. To be loved by Barbara was to be worried about. All of our hearts had been broken over several years, as her dementia was advancing. We all agreed that she hated movies with sad endings and had little patience for sitting around. We shared memories of her rising early, walking on the treadmill, and sitting with the Washington Post. She took endless photographs of us. Her son said he looked and looked through the boxes for photos of her to display, and there were few. But in a way, he said, they were all of her – her looking out at the world. Such a fascinated and loving gaze it was.
Our individual stories were important, too. I met her 27 years ago when I interned at the UU church in Arlington, Virginia. I was in my early 30s and didn’t know at the time that I needed mothering. She knew. In my story, she was the kindly one who ‘adopted’ me. Her kids told me what a difficult time it was in her life when we met – a cancer diagnosis, the fatal car accident that had taken one of her sons, her husband’s early retirement, feeling adrift. And that she needed me. What a gift that was to hear.
As Alice Walker once said, “Everyone tells a part of the story.” We all need each other to get even close to the whole thing.
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Inquirers Series
Join Rev. Krista Taves for a three-part introduction to Unitarian Universalism in May. If you are new to Unitarian Universalism, new to Eliot Chapel, or want to refresh your connection to the Chapel and your faith, this is the class for you.
Session 1 - May 3 - Unitarian, Universalist and Unitarian Universalist History
Session 2 - May 10 - Unitarian Universalist Theology
Session 3 - May 24 - Everything Eliot! - Religious Education, Social Justice, Small Groups, Social Groups, Membership and more!
Each session runs from 7:00 to 8:30 pm and will stand alone. Join at any time – you may attend one, two, or all three. A link to the class will be included in the Eliot on Zoom email or you may register now on Realm.
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Women’s Alliance
Eliot Chapel Women’s Alliance will meet on Tuesday, May 4 via Zoom from 9:30 to 11:30 am. They will discuss The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson with Yvonne Kirkpatrick leading the discussion. All Eliot women are welcome. Contact womensalliance@eliotchapel.org for information.
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Vigil for Hope & Healing
Tuesday, May 4
5:00 pm via Zoom
The Black Lives Matter vigil has gone digital! Our Black Lives Matter in-person vigil has been suspended for the duration of the stay-at-home order in St. Louis County. This doesn’t mean that we are going to stop witnessing for Black lives!
Join us for our weekly online vigil Tuesdays at 5:00 pm. We will meet on Zoom and livestream our vigil onto Facebook.
How to prepare for our online vigil:
- Write “Black Lives Matter” in dark lettering on a small piece of paper, no bigger than a standard letter envelope.
- Check your background to be sure nothing is visible that you don’t want broadcast in public!
- Connect to the vigil using the Zoom link provided in the weekly Eliot On Zoom email that comes Sunday morning. Make sure you are muted.
- Sit silently with your BLM sign for the duration of the vigil.
- Help expand our witness! During the vigil, go to the Eliot Unitarian Chapel facebook page and share the vigil to your facebook page, twitter feed, or any social media platform you use so that it can be shared further!
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Lunch with the Minister
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!
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Sunday, May 9
Wild Things and Sacred Texts – Rev. Barbara H. Gadon
What do you make of the recent controversy about Dr. Seuss and the removal of six of his books from publication? Children’s stories are a powerful cultural force and have great meaning for us. Rev. Barbara will share her passion for children’s stories and the way they become sacred texts for us.
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ourEliot promotes and enables healthy communications as promised to one another through the Congregational Covenant. If you have a compliment, suggestion, or concern that is important to communicate to a responsible party, please email ourEliot@eliotchapel.org.
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Connect with Eliot Chapel
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