See what's happening at Eliot Chapel this week!

The worship theme for April is Liberation.

Sunday, April 5 – 10:00 am

In Need of Beauty – Music & Poetry

Join us on our website for a service filled with music and poetry presented by members of the Eliot Chapel community. The video should be available around 10:00 am and anytime after that. It will also be on the Eliot Chapel Facebook page which allows you to comment and interact. We welcome your participation there.

Sharing the Offering

In April, we will share our offerings with Welcome Neighbor STL. Welcome Neighbor STL supports immigrants and refugees as they begin a new life in St. Louis. Services offered include family partnering to help read mail, schedule doctor appointments, navigate insurance, and create a support system for those newly relocated to America. WNSTL also offers English classes, driving lessons, group outings, holiday celebrations, and donation drives to help families in need.

Most recently, WNSTL has been focused on helping refugees and immigrants start their own businesses to be able to earn a meaningful income and give back to the St. Louis economy. To date, WNSTL has hosted over 100 interfaith supper club events, the proceeds of which go to the refugee cooks who prepared the food. These cooks give back to the community by preparing meals for veterans and homeless members of the St. Louis community. To learn more visit, welcomeneighborstl.com.

Text ELIOT SHAREDPLATE $3 [or higher] to 73256 to give to the shared plate recipient using your text messaging. Please indicate "Welcome Neighbor STL" in the memo to ensure appropriate allocation. Checking the box next to "Contribute an extra $X.XX to help offset processing fees" helps pay for the fees Eliot pays to offer this text service. Standard text message rates do apply.

You can also donate from the Giving page on Eliot's website or send a check.

Religious Education

We are hosting two Zoom meetings for Religious Education. For this week, they are as follows:

Religious Education for Children & Families: April 5 @ 9:15 via Zoom

Eliot children and families (PreK-8th Grade) are invited to gather at 9:15 am via Zoom for connection and community. We’ll be checking in, sharing joys & concerns, talking about last Sunday’s Religious Education theme of “Saying Thank You,” and introducing the Easter outreach activity. Parents & families are encouraged to join their children. Co-hosted by Christie Lee, Tim Bubb, Noel Burke, and Heather Flick. Zoom links will be distributed by email on Friday, April 3.

Junior High Youth Meetup (7th & 8th Grade): April 5 @ 10:00 via Zoom

Youth in 7th & 8th grade are invited to gather at 10:00 am via Zoom for connection, check-in, and community building. Hosted by members of the Junior High leadership team. A Zoom link will be sent to registered 7th and 8th grade families on Friday, April 3.

Senior High Youth Group: April 5 @ 10:45 via Zoom

Eliot youth group members (grades 9-12) are invited to gather for community, connection, support, and conversation. The “room” will open at 10:45 am and activities begin at 11:00. Hosted by Scott Stewart. A Zoom link will be sent to Eliot youth on Friday, April 3.

If you have any questions, please email Scott at eliotchapelre@gmail.com.

Zoom Coffee Hour

At 11:30 am, you are invited to “walk down the hall” so to speak and come to our Zoom Coffee Hour! We’ll take about 10 minutes or so to gather and let people settle in. Rev. Barbara will 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. Remember: this is an experiment! We promise at least some technical glitches and awkward moments, but also laughter and maybe a few tears. Just like church. Please watch your email for a link to join the Zoom coffee hour.

Church News

A Message from Camille Novak

Everyone, I am going to triage the many emails arriving daily in my inbox. I will answer personally the emails that relate directly to chapel business that I am addressing at this moment. All other emails, I will forward to Christie Lee, Eliot Chapel front office administrative assistant for her to answer you. Her email address is frontoffice@eliotchapel.org. Both of us are working from home since Eliot Chapel is closed in obeyance of the St. Louis County stay-at-home order. One of us will respond to you within a reasonable time. We both ask for your patience and thank you for your understanding. Thank you and may you and your family stay healthy during this time.

All Things Zoom

You have probably heard about issue with Zoom security this week. Trolls have been a problem. Eliot Chapel is adjusting our account settings to provide a secure experience for all. This may add a step or two (entering a password or waiting to be approved) to the process but will make the overall experience better. Please bear with us. The ability to connect is worth it.

If you're still getting used to Zoom, check out this page of video tutorials. How to join a meeting is your best basic skill!

To group leaders who are using Zoom, when you schedule a meeting or cancel it, notices are sent to Camille Novak's email address. There is no way of knowing who set up the meeting because all meetings appear to be scheduled by/cancelled by Camille. The scheduled meetings are not a concern to her but the cancellation emails are. With so many people using Zoom, she doesn't know if the cancellation notice is valid or a deletion made in error. If you delete a Zoom meeting(s) would you contact her at admin@eliotchapel.org and let her know that YOU did indeed cancel the Zoom meeting?

A Virtual Coffeehouse: Saturday, April 11

Come one, come all! Well, on second thought, come one hundred households because that's the maximum capacity of a Zoom event. Come in your pajamas or in your finest attire. Show off your talents at Eliot Chapel's first Virtual Coffeehouse! Have you been seeking an outlet of expression in these trying times? Possibly rediscovering old hobbies or interests? Whatever the form of expression, come share with your church family. Meet us online on April 11 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm.

Register by clicking this link and entering your name, the title of your act, and the length of your act. If you would like to attend as an audience member, you can indicate that on the signup genius. After you register, you will receive a link to join the event.

For more information, or if you have questions, please contact Cayla Suter via the Sign-Up Genius link OR send an email to eliotchapelre@gmail.com.

Social Justice in Action: UU the Vote

Call or write your state legislators and share your opinions. Support the numerous public health efforts that address the COVID-19 virus. Support HB 1306, which would lower sales tax on feminine products. Oppose HB 1559, which undermines the minimum wage. Oppose current resolutions that threaten to gut Amendment 1 (" Clean Missouri"). Voters approved the amendment last November to create a new redistricting process and stop partisan gerrymandering.

Census 2020: The Time is Now

Have you completed your census and returned it in one of the three methods: mailed in your paper form, on-line or by phone? Do you have college-aged students who are now home due to COVID-19? They should complete the census with the address where they would be living if away at college. Do you have questions? Look for answers here: United States Census 2020. Complete it NOW and be counted!!

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. The changes this week were updates on RE Zoom meetings (a junior high meetup has been added). Also, as mentioned above, please don’t contact Camille Novak for Zoom setup process as her inbox is overwhelmed at this time. Please contact Christie Lee at frontoffice@eliotchapel.org instead.

As a reminder, Rev. Barbara has requested that all staff work from home. The building is closed. A staff person will check 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.

Reminder: Eliot Chapel is on YouTube!

Eliot Chapel now has a YouTube account! Find it here. We'll host the service recordings there which should allow us more control over them and make Sunday mornings go more smoothly. We will still feature the videos on our website and Facebook. If you have a YouTube account, will you please subscribe to Eliot Chapel? In a month, if we have 100 subscribers, we can get a "real name" web address instead of a string of code, along with some other functional perks for the account. We are also working to get audio from all these services on our Podcast Garden.

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.

314.821.0911 | frontoffice@eliotchapel.org

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