Friday UU Update 
January 10, 2020
Unitarian Universalist Church  of Bloomington, Indiana
Stream Clean Up Rescheduled
Join us on Saturday, January 18, at 10:00 a.m.
Our monthly Bryan Park Stream Clean-up, originally scheduled for tomorrow, has been rescheduled. Please join us next Saturday! Meet at the bridge near the main Henderson Street playground.
Make Your Pledge for 2020-21 Today!
In lieu of a formal Pledge Drive this spring (2020), we are simply asking everyone to recommit to the same pledge amount as in 2019. Please let us know if you are willing to recommit the same dollar amount for 2020-2021 (our fiscal year is July 1, 2020 - June 30, 2021) as you did in 2019-2020. Below is an easy peasy link to help out. Oh, and some folks asked if it would be OK to increase their pledge. Yes, indeed.
Here's that handy dandy link to our online form:
We hope to have everyone's responses by January 31. Thank you.
Sunday, January 12, 2020
2020 Annual Science Sermon: Reflections on 2019
9:15 am and 11:15 am
Reverend Mary Ann Macklin
In her annual Science Review sermon, Reverend Macklin will explore highlights and discoveries in various areas of science from 2019, including human origins, environment, physics, math, astronomy, brain, and technology. She will also reflect upon the recently produced Off-Broadway play The Half-Life of Marie Curie by Lauren Gunderson. The Half-Life of Marie Curie is a two-woman play full of wit and wisdom, featuring female STEM stars, Marie Curie and Hertha Ayrton. In the play, "half-life" refers to the half-life of uranium (from 25,000 to 4.5 billion years, depending on the type of uranium) and it is also a metaphor for the lost research, money, and reputation of this gifted physicist-chemist, due to her status as a woman scientist in a patriarchal society.  
January 19th, 2020
When Getting Along is Not Enough
Dr. Maureen Walker
Reverend Mary Ann Macklin
Join us for this worship service in which we enthusiastically welcome back to our pulpit, Maureen Walker, PhD, author of the 2019 book, When Getting Along is Not Enough:  Reconstructing Race in Our Lives and Relationships. Dr. Walker is a licensed psychologist, speaker, educator and writer who focuses on helping people bridge cultural differences.  She encourages people to transform fear into courage and create the fullest expressions of who they are and can be in the world.  Dr. Walker will be available for book signing after each service.  Books available at discount.  We hope you will join us for this Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend Sunday service.
 
Saturday Evening, 6:30pm, January 18th
Live Podcast with Maureen Walker
Hosts: Amy Makice and Don Griffin, Jr.
Fellowship Hall
 
Join us in a conversation around antiracism in Bloomington. Saturday night, January 18, we will be in Fellowship Hall for a live recording of "My Racist Friend" with special guest Maureen Walker. We'll discuss her new book, When Getting Along is Not Enough, and apply some of those ideas to local situations. Listener questions welcome! Light dinner provided. Donations accepted for continuing antiracist work here in the Bloomington community. Maureen's book will be available at a discount, as well as opportunities to sign up for experiential book club meetings (about this book) this spring. 
Your Livestream Experience - A Short Survey
Do you view our Sunday services via livestream? We'd like to hear about your experience! Please click here to complete a survey. It will be most helpful if you can complete the survey by January 25. Many thanks!
At Church this Sunday:
Interfaith Friends Supporting Local Youth
Martin Luther King Jr. Day Event seeks donations
The Interfaith community is collecting donations of 
*Sweatpants: highest priority, needs to be elastic waist--sizes youth medium and large and adult small to extra large
*New underwear--children's through adult sizes, especially boys and teens
*Socks: children's through adult sizes
*Feminine products
*Small bars of soap
Items may be left in the collection box in the Commons on January 12 and 19.
This Week in Religious Education
Caring Connections (Childcare) will share stories, dance, and make new friends.
Our January Wintersession for children preschool-7th grade is connecting with our congregational theme of Love. In the Time for All Ages and children's activities, we will learn about individuals who sided with love, bringing generations and communities together and creating change in our world. We'll enjoy cooking, art, and music. Preschool children will explore the story in their familiar Room 103. Kindergarten-7th grade students will meet in Fellowship Hall to join a small group and head to a different activity each week. Parents can find their child's classroom for the week by consulting the roster posted on the Nursery window across from Fellowship Hall.  
**Youth Group for 8th-12th grade begins next Sunday, January 19th at a NEW! Special Time, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm. 
Are you new here?  Take your "First Steps" this Sunday!
Join us for a short and personalized introduction to Unitarian Universalism this Sunday in Room 112 at 10:30 am and 12:30 pm (after each service). Free childcare is available in Room 108. Just stop in, no registration is required. 
--Ann LeDuc, Connections Coordinator
UU Singles Fellowship Group -- Sunday Singles Lunch
We meet in the Commons after the second service every Sunday to gather and decide where to go out to lunch. Please join us!
This Sunday! Young Adult Lunch Out 
Join with other young adults to ask the "big" questions and have fun! This Sunday we will eat at Anatolia after the second service. Meet in the Commons at about 12:30 pm, near the social justice table, to carpool. Anyone age 18-35 is welcome. As a result of a generous donation to our Young Adult and Campus Ministry we are able to buy lunch for everyone.  Questions? Email Ann LeDuc at [email protected].
Humanist Forum Meets January 12 at 12:45 pm
The UU Humanist Forum will meet this Sunday at 12:45 pm in Room 208. John Crosby will lead a discussion on "Good Bye, God! I Quit."
Crafting with Grief and Resiliency: 
Using Hobbies and Crafts in 
the Healing Process After a Loss
Sunday, January 12, 1-3 pm 
Presenters: Kathleen R. Gilbert, PhD, FT and 
Rebecca J. Gilbert, PhD, CTRS
Come join us in the Library this Sunday, January 12 from 1 to 3 pm to learn about the role that hobbies and crafts can play in the healing process that follows loss. Parents will be interested in learning about how creative leisure activities can provide their children with healthy continuing bonds with loved ones no longer present in their lives. Everyone is encouraged to come with examples of how crafts and hobbies have helped them deal with loss. Childcare provided, Room 108, if reserved by January 5.  Click here to reserve childcare.
Explore Unitarian Universalism, January 12 and 19, 2-4 pm
     We invite you  to Explore Unitarian Universalism this Sunday, January 12, 2-4 pm, in Room 112.  This is a two-session class, with the second session on January 19 at 2:00 pm.    Plan to attend both dates, since different material will be covered in each session.
     We will gather to learn and discuss the seven principles of Unitarian Universalism, the role of a UU minister, and hear a very short UU history. Topics for the second session include learning how to get involved at the church, how decisions are made at the church, and what it means to be a church member.  We ask for completion of this class before you become a member of the church. 
     Everyone ages 14 to 100+ is welcome!  Email  [email protected] if you plan to attend.   Free childcare provided.
Our Folks . . . 
    Best wishes for quick healing to Noretta Koertge, who is recovering from heart surgery. Cards sent to Noretta at home are welcome.
Confronting White Supremacy with Jada Bee
Next Sunday, January 19, 12:30 - 2:00 p.m. in Fellowship Hall
     Our Dismantling White Supremacy Working Group invites you to join special guest presenter, Jada Bee, for a grounding in how to become an anti-racist & confront white supremacy from a black perspective. This is designed to help identify what is white supremacy beyond nazis, the KKK, or other white nationalist organizations. 
     In Fellowship Hall next Sunday, January 19th, at 12:30 pm. Soup lunch and childcare provided. RSVP appreciated for soup lunch and childcare. Contact Adrienne Summerlot at [email protected]. Find this event on Facebook and please invite friends to join us! Newcomers and visitors welcome. 
Habitat needs builders now! 
If you are interested in participating in a Habitat for Humanity build in the Trail View neighborhood, you can sign up for Saturdays in January (or later). Tomorrow (January 11), Habitat needs help putting up trusses - an exciting build day! Workers are also needed on January 18 and 25.  Register online here.  After registering, click on the "individuals" tab to see the spots available. If you have questions, contact Barb Berggoetz,  [email protected] .
Drop-in Childcare on Wednesdays, 6-8 pm
        On Wednesday evenings, from 6-8 pm in Room 108, our caring childcare staff are here to offer free drop-in childcare (as space allows).  Parents must remain on site, on the building grounds or in the building. Please use the Courtyard Entrance. We hope to provide a moment for parents to breathe deeply, have a cup of tea with a friend, or sit in silence before running children to their next event. NOTE: This week on January 8, the labyrinth walk will be available in the meeting room for quiet meditation. For more information about childcare, please contact our childcare coordinator, Hannah Worton:     [email protected] .
For More Information  see the January 7  edition  of our newsletter, The Prologue. Past issues for quite awhile back can be found here.
(Next Prologue deadline is Tuesday, January 21 at 10:00 am.) 
Carol Marks has editorial responsibility for our congregation's publications.

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Masthead photo from nasa.gov, Swan Nebula
Unitarian Universalist Church