Letter from DRE, Kristen Warrington

Dear CYRE Families, UUCH Members, Friends & Staff:

I wanted to take this time to express the profound gratitude I am holding inside for every one of you. From the very first day, I received an outpouring of welcoming and kind encouragement which was so deeply touching and appreciated. Serving as DRE has been a deep honor and privilege and I have very much enjoyed caring for and provide direction for our children, YoUUth, and families. As with any job there were moments of stress; but more frequently I was left awestruck at the reality of the opportunities this job abounded me with. I will forever be grateful for having spent this brief time as DRE and I look forward to continuing my time with you all as a member of UUCH.

Kindly,

Kristen Warrington

Monthly Fellowship Dinner--Thursday October 17th at Viet Huong

We hope you will join us (and bring a can for the LFP) at the next UUCH Fellowship Dinner.

When: Thursday, October 17 at 5:30 pm

Where: Viet Huong Restaurant, 930 Old Monrovia Rd NW, Huntsville, AL 35806

Please sign up here so we know how many people will attend.

Money will never be a barrier to participating in Fellowship at UUCH. If you need financial assistance to participate, please contact Rev. Jaimie at minister@uuch.org.

Contact Sarah Storm (sarahmstorm28@gmail.com) or Steve Rittenberg (srittenberg@gmail.com) if you have questions. Thanks!

Thank You to UUCH Greeters!

We appreciate the warm smiles and welcoming presence provided by the following people who served as UUCH Greeters at one or more worship services during July, August and September 2024:

Betsy Applegate, LaDawn Edwards, Nancy Finley, Vickie Goodman, Kathryn Heath, Pam Korb, Dan McKitrick, Theresa Miller, Sandy Moore, Darlene Patten, David Patten, Vally Perry, Nancy Pettus, Steve Rittenberg, Cam Scales, Nancy Stetson, Sarah Storm, Teri Thomas, Zena Tucker, Bob Weed, Gail Williams

Thank you for providing this simple yet important service to our church family!

Click HERE to sign up to greet on an upcoming Sunday.

Submitted by the Membership Committee

This Month in CYRE

This year’s Soul Matters overarching theme is The Practices of Our Faith, with each month highlighting a practice that helps keep us centered in our new core UU Value of Liberating Love. Each week, participants will be invited to lift up their curiosity as we engage in deepening our connections to each other and the world around us.

Our overarching question as we journey together this year is: What practices guide us as we explore what it means to be Unitarian Universalist and part of the wider world we live within?

October's theme is The Practice of Deep Listening.

Work Day

Join us for our Property Work Day on Saturday, October 19th, as we prepare the church building and grounds for our upcoming Trunk-or-Treat event! We’ll be tackling various cleaning and beautification projects, and we need your help to make everything shine. Whether you have a green thumb or just a willingness to lend a hand, we would love to see you there. Please bring your work gloves, and plenty of energy! Volunteers of all skill levels are welcome.

Habitat for Humanity Home Build

UUCH members and volunteers from other churches are making good progress at the Fazzingo/Turner house at 216 Lake Drive in Huntsville! Last week, contractors installed the roof trusses, roofing, and wall sheathing. It’s starting to look like a whole house! This week, volunteers are installing the windows and doors. In the coming weeks, the plumbing and electrical contractors will be busy.

All volunteers must take a volunteer orientation class that is given virtually every week. The dates of the training vary, so please contact Brad at social.justice@uuch.org for the latest schedule.

If you have any questions or are interested in helping out, please email social.justice@uuch.org

Ghosts Over the Boiler book discussion

Ghosts Over the Boiler is a unique book about a decades-old organization, Project Hope to

Abolish the Death Penalty, that was founded and operated by people facing capital punishment in Alabama. We were given a talk by the author, Katie Owens-Murphy, last February if this sounds familiar. Ghosts Over the Boiler is a curated collection of poetry, visual art, photographs, essays, creative writings, and other archival materials that have emerged from Alabama's death row. This group was founded at Holman Correctional Facility and has been operating autonomously since 1989 toward its mission to abolish the death penalty in Alabama and in the nation.

We will be discussing this book after the Sunday services OCTOBER 13 and 27 (NOTE: this will be after choir practice). If you are interested in abolishing capital punishment, start reading this book now and plan on joining us for discussion this fall! Please rsvp to adult.re@uuch.org if you are planning to attend.

UUCH Trunk-or-Treat

The UUCH Trunk-or-Treat will be October 26th from 5-8pm. We will have bounce houses, games, music, and of course treats! Please come join us and set up your trunk or just come have a good time!

BE IN THE UUCH PHOTO DIRECTORY!

SIGN UP NOW

for your Photo appointment!

Photo dates:

Fri, Nov 1, 2:00-8:30 pm

Sat, Nov 2, 10:00 am-4:30 pm

A Photo Directory is a powerful tool to help UUCH members and friends know each other better. The last Photo Directory was completed just before the pandemic began. Since that time, our church has grown and changed significantly.

All members and friends are encouraged to be in the new Photo Directory. Each participating family will receive a complimentary 8x10 photo and a free directory! There is no obligation to buy additional photos, but they will be available for purchase if you want extras for friends and family.

To reserve the best appointment date and time for you, please sign-up before or after church on Sunday in the Fellowship Hall or make your own appointment online by clicking HERE.

Do You Know Your Voting Status?

Are you registered to vote? Is your voting registration address correct? If you are not sure (or maybe even if you are), you can check your voting status at this easy to use website:



1) go to https://myinfo.alabamavotes.gov/voterview

2) enter your name and date of birth

3) click the box for "I'm not a robot"

4) click "Look Up"

Your voting registration address and status, along with your polling location, will be shown. If you have any questions, you can call 1-800-274-8683.

Broadway Bash Fundraiser Auction November 9

Our UUCH annual fundraiser auction is coming on November 9th! Our theme is BROADWAY BASH! We’ll have music, food, and friendly bidding for great items, events and more. Our goal is to raise $10,000 and have lots of fun all the while. Come for the fellowship and stay for the door prizes and games.  

Childcare for children 11 and under is available with RSVP. Please let us know by Tuesday November 5th. Email dre@uuch.org to reserve. 

Let's get this party started. Here's' how you can help:

• Now is the time to donate. Please consider donations of new or gently used items for our catalog. We particularly love donations of services, arts classes, or dinner parties. Please donate now through November 1st using our online page   If you have difficulty with the site, feel free to email the donation information to service.auction@uuch.org. Please include contact information, description, value, starting bid and a photo. UUCH link for Auctria:

https://auctria.events/UUCH_2024

• Next: Seek donations from your favorite local business. We’ll publish advertisements for the business in our catalog and their donations are tax deductible! Just show them our letter available here. Hard copy will also be available at the church.

Bring your donation items to the church during office hours starting Sunday, November 3rd and ending Saturday, November 9th at 10am. Items will be stored in the Music Room.

Party prep!  Our theme is Broadway Bash. Please inform us if you have any theater related music, activities, or decorations to share. 

• Next, show up for a great party!! (Bring a snack to share) Help with setting up or tearing down is much appreciated. Many hands make light work. If you are willing to assist, please let us know.

• Final step–bidding! 

This will be a live auction event. Bidding must be bid in-person, by proxy during the event. Pre-event bidding is available for "Silent" auction items up until the day before the event. Raffle tickets may also be purchased online before the event. Final bids for all items will be taken by the auction team at the event. Those who wish to bid but cannot attend in person are encouraged to use a proxy bidder. Also, most items will have a “Buy It Now” price. 

In summary, join us on November 9th at 5:30pm at UUCH for a lively evening of music, food, fellowship and friendly bidding to raise money for our beloved community. 

Upcoming Opportunities for Death Penalty Discussion

November 10th at 1:30pm, please join us in welcoming a guest speaker from the Alabama Post Convictions Death Penalty Project.

Grief Ceremony

Dear UUCH,

When people at the UU church ask “how are you doing,” I assume it is a real question looking for real information because they care. It is not the same as “how are you today” from the waitress or the cashier. In the last 20 months since my husband died, I have answered that question hundreds of times. Thank you to everyone who asked that caring question and who listened to my grief stories. As I have talked about my grief, so many people have shared with me about their grief and stores of loss.  I keep each of those stores and individuals confidential, but I can tell you there are such frequent reoccurring themes. I have been amazed at how much unresolved lingering grief so many of us have. Coming out of the worldwide pandemic, many of us lost loved ones. All of us lost the world as we thought we knew it.  So many times, I heard stories like. “We could not even see grandma in the nursing home before she died.” “We could not even go to the hospital.” “I did not get to say goodbye.” “We did not get to even have a proper funeral.” In addition to the Pandemic losses, people have so many other losses. Watching Alzheimers take your love one bit by bit is horrifying. It is estimated that about 25% of the Millennial generation have no contact with their family of origin.  So many of us have a family member that does not speak to us. Long, slow loss creates a different kind of grief than sudden catastrophic loss. Grief is a weird, long, slow, non-linear process. So what every your experience of loss and grief is, you are welcome to join us on November 20^th for a UU grief ceremony. At the end of that event, we will finalize the dates for an ongoing monthly grief support group at UUCH. 

-Melodie Brier, Co-Chair of the Care Committee

Upcoming Social Justice Events

Your participation is needed! Below is a list of local social justice events sponsored by groups that UUCH and/or our members support.

• October 12^th: Huntsville Green Team cleanup at 2415 9th Avenue at 9 am (https://www.huntsvilleal.gov/city-calendar-event/coffee-community-cleanup-2/)
• October 13^th: Love Huntsville dinner for unhoused at 6 pm at the Slab (see Gail Williams)
• October 15th: UU the Vote 2024 Weekly Phonebank with UU Justice of Pennsylvania at 6 pm via Zoom (https://secure.everyaction.com/p/nTBqtsgyWEiRF6PNRSaZLw2?pn=3)
• October 16^th: UU Theological Grounding for Climate Justice with UUA Pres. Sofía and UUSC Pres. Mary Katherine Morn via Zoom at 6 pm (https://secure.everyaction.com/p/nTBqtsgyWEiRF6PNRSaZLw2?pn=2)
• October 21st: Voter Registration Deadline for General Election (https://www.sos.alabama.gov/alabama-votes)
• October 22^nd: UU the Vote 2024 Weekly Phonebank for Texas via Zoom at 6 pm (https://secure.everyaction.com/p/nTBqtsgyWEiRF6PNRSaZLw2?pn=2)
• October 29^th: UU the Vote 2024 Weekly Phonebank for Michigan via Zoom at 6 pm (https://secure.everyaction.com/p/nTBqtsgyWEiRF6PNRSaZLw2?pn=2)
• October 29^th: Faith in Action Alabama Huntsville Hub meeting at UUCH at 5:30 pm
• November 3^rd: AshaKiran Ray of Hope Celebration at the Orion Amphitheatre from 1 to 4 pm (https://www.ashakiranonline.org/ray-of-hope)
• November 5^th: General Election! Please make a plan to vote!

Here are some standing opportunities to get engaged with local organizations:

• First Stop:

1. Provide a meal for unhoused people (https://firststoporg.galaxydigital.com/)
2. Donate urgently needed items (https://firststop.org/category/needs-list/)
3. Other volunteer opportunities (https://firststop.org/ways-to-volunteer/)

• ShowerUp (showers for unhoused people): https://app.initlive.com/web-admin/app/#/join-party?k=aagp6mlprpk46k
• Land Trust of North Alabama: https://landtrustnal.org/support/volunteer/

For more information about a particular event or to list an event, please email social.justice@uuch.org.

Circle of Candles

Jaylee lit a candle of Sorrow: "My friend's daughter died in her sleep last Friday at 28 years old with zero health concerns. Hold her family and friends in love while they grieve and help keep them safe while they navigate this major loss to the community."

Paul & Bridgit DeMoor lit a candle of Joy: "We are glad to have seen our friend, Foy, back in church. Also we acknowledge the beauty and diversity of world cultures we encountered this Saturday at the International Festival!"