Friday UU Update 
April 3, 2020
Unitarian Universalist Church  of Bloomington, Indiana
Virtual Dance Party for All Ages!
Tonight at 7 pm
Find this event on Facebook for the Zoom link. If you aren't on Facebook email Adrienne Summerlot for the link:  dre (at) uubloomington.org
OR, J oin us for an online Game Night tonight at 7 pm
All-Church (ages 12 and up) Game Night tonight, Friday, April 3, starting at 7 pm. You'll want to have pen and paper on hand, as well as dice, if you have them. Please email Marie Deer to get the Zoom link to join in: mariedeer1961 (at)  gmail.com . Hosted by the UU Singles group, but not just for singles.
Sunday, April 5, 2020
10:15 am 
(one online service only)
Pandemic, Politics, Power, and Prayer
Reverend Bill Breeden
Reverend Emily Manvel Leite
Music: Ray Fellman, Scott Hogsed, Eric Dickson
  
     Please join us via livestream for this week's service via  our  Facebook page  or our  website livestream page . In case you miss the livestream,  archived videos are always available on our website.   
     
     Our Building is Closed, but Our Hearts are Still Open. To help disrupt the spread of the coronavirus and COVID-19 in our community, our building is closed for the time being. All in-person events and meetings have been cancelled. We urge everyone to stay home. 
Bookmark this Page for Religious Education Information 
Packets for Religious Education at home, an April Calendar with fun ideas of simple things to do for all ages, Storytimes with Adrienne and information on our Virtual Dance Party on Fridays... Interested in any of these things?
Adrienne on Facebook Live, Weekdays at 1 pm 
Our Director of Religious Education, Adrienne Summerlot, will be holding space for children and those young at heart each weekday. We start with a chalice lighting and show and tell (via comments) and then she features a story. The schedule is as follows: Mindful Mondays, Time Turner Tuesdays, Weird, Wild and Wonderful Wednesdays, Tales from Around the World Thursdays and Fun Fridays.  Can't join us live? The videos are posted to her page, along with some wondering questions and links to activities and other stories for you to go to when it is convenient. Her professional Facebook profile is Dre Bloomington Summerlot.
Join us for Virtual Coffee Hour this Sunday!
      This Sunday we will be hosting our first ever Virtual Coffee Hour via Zoom, immediately following the service (at about 11:15 AM).  Bring your coffee and join the fun! 
      If you haven't participated in a Zoom meeting in the past, please take a moment to read the instructions before using it for the first time.  To join the coffee hour from your computer, click on this link after the church service.
The ID number for this zoom meeting is: 601 601 156 
If you prefer to use your phone for audio, the phone number to call in: +1 646 558 8656, use meeting ID: 601 601 156 
      Upon entering the meeting, you will be given choices of breakout rooms that you can visit to engage in small group conversations.  Breakout rooms for gardeners, choir members, children, families with young children, and more will be available.  Email me before Sunday, if you would like to request a specific breakout room topic.  -- Ann LeDuc, Connections Coordinator    connect(at) uubloomington.org
A Note from the Ministers
     Our worship leaders appreciate hearing from you after the Sunday services. 
     Again, thank you all for joining us.  --The Revs
PayPal Available for Donations  
We now have a PayPal page where you can make a Sunday Plate contribution and other donations to the church using a major credit card. You do not need to have a PayPal account to use this page. 

It's also not required to use the PayPal page. You can still mail in your pledge contributions using paper checks.
UU Church Choir of Bloomington Facebook Page - Keep in Touch!
Choir members and other interested UUs are encouraged to "Like" and "Follow" our UU Church Choir Facebook pageSusan Swaney, our Music Director, may check in there from time to time as well.
Are you new to UU Bloomington? Start here!
Join us on Sunday,  April 5, for an online introduction
     If you are new to our congregation, a very warm welcome to you! This Sunday, April 5, at 11:30 am you are invited to join in a brief online introduction to Unitarian Universalism and this congregation. Just click on this link at 11:30 am on April 5. If you are new to using Zoom, please read these instructions before the meeting. If you are new to Unitarian Universalism, this video from the Unitarian Universalist Association is very informative. Additionally, here is our online connection form if you are ready to get involved. You are always welcome to email me at connect(at) uubloomington.org.  Hope to see you online on April 5!      -- Ann LeDuc, Connections Coordinator
WATCH OUT FOR SCAMMERS!
      The scammers are running at full throttle right now since our communities and nation are under so much stress. Please use extreme caution and just delete any email that seems to be from the church asking for your credit card info. 
      Current scammers are using what looks like PayPal, complete with a PayPal logo, to deceive people into thinking they are dealing with our congregation. Yes, we do h ave a PayPal page, but its use is completely up to you. We created it just for the convenience of the congregation, especially on Sundays when we cannot be together right now. But it's optional. You may continue to make pledge payments and other contributions in exactly the way you always have, just not by bringing them directly to the church! The church's mailing address is UU Church, 2120 N. Fee Ln, Bloomington, IN 47408.  --Carol Marks, Ch.Admin.
Caring for our community
      It is so important at this time that we stay connected with each other to ensure each other's health and wellbeing.
      If you have not yet completed our online Caring for Our Community questionnaire, please do so here.  As we mentioned in our email that accompanied the questionnaire, we sincerely hope all of you are safe and well. We will be following up by email and/or telephone with everyone who has not completed the questionnaire, or been in contact with us.
Our Folks...
      Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Andrew Shea, a friend of our congregation who passed away on March 30. His memorial service, officiated by Reverend Macklin, will be available via our live stream only on Saturday, April 4, at 1:00 p.m. at our live-stream page.
      Our thoughts are with Vickie Fry and her sister Janiece Jaffe, friends of our congregation, and their families. Vickie's husband Bernie Fry died this past week.
A Message for Our Composters -- 
Green Camino Suspends Service at Our Place
Dear UU composters!
     We hope you are all doing well and staying healthy. 
     Because of the current low usage of the UU compost drop-off, we are suspending this location while UU remains closed. 
     All UU subscribers can still use the drop-off cabinets located at Bloomingfoods East and West.  Both of these drop-off cabinets use the same code combination that you had at the UU. 
      Please feel free to email us if you have any questions or concerns about this. 
--Andrea & Ryan,  info@greencaminocompost.com
Notice from the UU Homelessness Task Force and Hunger Task Force
Monthly Food Drives (and other needs)
     Through April 30, we are collecting items for Shalom Community Center and The Nest. Our building is closed, but we have placed collection bins outside the building, under the northside porch near the Portico Entrance. Simply drive up and drop off - we are collecting donations from these bins daily. 
Now Accepting Nominations for the 25% Sunday Plate Fund for '20-'21,  Due April 15
Each year our congregation gives 25% of undesignated/non-pledge Sunday Plate donations to a local project or service agency. In the spring the Social Justice Funds Committee accepts nominees for the upcoming fiscal year. This year's nominations are due by April 15. The members gathered at the June 7, 2020 Congregational Meeting will vote to choose the organization that will received these funds in 2020-21.  Contact Denise Ogren, SJFC Chair, at  uucbsjfunds@uubloomington.org  with any questions.  
     The Social Justice Funds Committee:  Denise Ogren, Anna Beauchamp,  Steve Mascari. Advisor: Jackie Hall
Reminder about Pledging for 2020-2021
Greetings from your At-Large UU Board members, who these days are really not very at large at all, just like the rest of you. This is a gentle reminder to make your pledge for 2020-21 by clicking here to enter it in our online pledge form. We will soon be sending a friendly email to those who have not yet pledged for 20-21. If we don't hear from you, we will follow up with a phone call.   -- Julie Lawson, Jane McLeod and Sharon Wiseman
No Meetings at Church -- Our Building is Closed
In an effort to disrupt the community spread of coronavirus Covid-19, our building is closed and all meetings are canceled. This decision will be updated as we go forward.

Church Office Closed, Staff Working from Home
Our offices are closed, but staff members are working from home and checking email frequently during their regularly scheduled work hours.
  Carol Marks, Church Administrator, admin (at) uubloomington.org
  Monica Overman and Mandy Skinner, office (at) uubloomington.org
  Ann LeDuc, Connections Coordinator, connect (at) uubloomington.org
  Adrienne Summerlot, Dir. of Religious Education, dre (at) uubloomington.org
More Ways We Can Help
Face masks are needed
If you would like to help, Bloomington Quilters Guild members have provided a  website with links related to the face mask effort coordinated by Bloomington Quilters Guild members and the Bloomington Indiana Fabric Mask Drive. Click here for complete information.
Buy a fern and support Middle Way House!
Middle Way House has a socially distant but beautiful annual fundraising tradition with their FERN SALE, through April 10th.  Buy a fern and support Middle Way Ferns will be delivered to your door or porch April 16 and 17, with no contact and you don't even need to be home.  Click here to buy your fern(s)!   For more info contact Erin at  events@middlewayhouse.org   or 812-320-8607.
Want to help and don't know where to start?
Bloomington Volunteer Network has compiled a page of links of immediate needs and how to donate to local non-profits during the Covid-19 outbreak.
Voting by Mail
The primary election day for Indiana has been changed to June 2, and the Indiana Election Commission has decided that all registered voters will be able to vote by mail, for the June 2 election only.  You must be registered to vote in order to receive an absentee ballot. You can check your registration at  www.indianavoters.in.gov  - "Check Voting Status." More info here:  Application to Vote by Mail.
Bulletin Board
SEEKING CAT FOSTER CARE/possibly permanent placement for 8 year old cat.  Preferably in home with no other pets. Owner works at hospital. Contact blaird4313 (at) sbcglobal.net
Deadline for Order of service and Friday UU Update
Thursday, 9 am, to  office@uubloomington.org

Friday Update is for Events Happening in the Next 10 Days
The Friday UU Update is designed to remind the members of the congregation about events and services that are coming up within the next 10 days. For events that are further in the future, please consult our twice-monthly Prologue newsletter.

For More Information
See the March 17  edition  of our newsletter, The Prologue, published on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays. Past issues for quite awhile back can be found here
(Next Prologue deadline is Tuesday, April 7, at 10 am.) 
Carol Marks   has editorial responsibility for our congregation's publications.

How to Subscribe
If you are not already regularly receiving emails like this from us, you can subscribe by sending an email to  office (at) uubloomington.org.
Masthead photo by Mandy Skinner, Peach tree flowers
Unitarian Universalist Church