Until Love Wins: General Assembly Worship Service
Sunday, June 27 – 11:00 am
Today’s challenging times require a nimble and resilient spirituality. We need a demanding, inspiring faith and a love strong enough that it will not let us go. Join us as we draw the circle wide, gather our strength, and promise to stay in the struggle and joy until love wins.
Join thousands of UUs across the country for this special General Assembly worship service. This year, UUA President Susan Frederick-Gray has selected First Universalist Church of Minneapolis to lead Sunday worship. Presenters include: musicians Franco Holder, Aimee K. Bryant, and Dr. Randal Buikema; and religious professionals Lauren Wyeth, Julica Hermann de la Fuente, and Revs. Arif Mamdani, Karen Hutt, and Jen Crow.
This service will be livestreamed from GA at 11:00 am on Sunday, June 27. You’ll find it then on our website at eliotchapel.org (the stream begins around 10:50) or you can watch it directly on YouTube. A recording will be available shortly after the stream ends and will remain on our website all week.
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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 June's recipient is the Migrant and Immigrant Community Action Project (MICA Project). MICA is a community organization committed to working with low-income immigrants to overcome barriers to justice.
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Meet MICA, our June Shared Plate partner. |
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Our goal for June is to raise a total of $1,000, with half going to MICA 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 “MICA” 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 SharedPlate $(enter the amount)" 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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Nominations for Shared Plate recipients for the coming church year are now being accepted. The deadline is June 30. See full details in Church News below.
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Religious Education
Online Religious Education (RE) and youth group gatherings have concluded for 2020-21. Information about the 2021-22 program will be shared over the upcoming months as plans are made and details fall into place.
UU Resources for at-home exploration: Families are encouraged to explore the online Religious Education Resources on the church website, found here, for at-home UU exploration. Resources include a Social Justice Summer Reading List for children, UU coloring pages, YouTube videos, parent resources, and more.
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Zoom Coffee Hour
Due to the change in service time, our coffee hour will also change. This week, at 12:30 pm on Sunday, you are invited to 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
Online Church Service – 11:00 am on Eliot Chapel website
Coffee Hour – 12:30 pm via Zoom
Young Adult Group – 12:30 pm on Discord
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Tuesday, June 29
Vigil for Hope & Healing – 6:00 pm in front of Eliot
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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Please Remember
It is with great sadness that we share the news that longtime member
Mary Lu Durbin has died. Please keep her family in your thoughts.
Please remember Teri Nicely and her husband, Gary, who is continuing his recovery at home following bypass surgery last Friday.
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BOARD BIT
Update: Project Renew
The long work of Project Renew has come to a successful end. As many of you know, Eliot Chapel launched Project Renew in January. The goal of Project Renew was to develop a refreshed set of ultimate goals and priorities (called "Ends") for Eliot Chapel. Eliot undergoes this refreshing of the Ends once every few years. These Ends are meant to – among other things – serve as a steady beacon to help guide the whole of Eliot Chapel in the direction of its ideal future.
The work of Project Renew included a large number of inspirational listening sessions this Spring, to gather input and ideas from as many members and friends of the congregation as possible. Many thanks to those who participated. The Board and other participants spent hours going over the raw information gathered from those sessions, in order to tally the input and to distill common themes. From there, the Board engaged in an all-day session to develop the first draft of the new set of Ends. After some subsequent improvements, the final version of the new Ends was approved by the Board on June 15th.
These new Ends are important, because they will be helping to guide the work of Eliot Chapel for years to come. Pretty soon, they'll be posted on the Board of Trustees section of the Eliot website. We'll be talking more about these Ends over the coming months, so stay tuned. The new statement of Eliot's Ends is as follows:
We the people of Eliot Unitarian Chapel:
- Explore our Unitarian Universalist faith with each other and our children.
- Ground ourselves in individual and communal practice to deepen our spiritual lives.
- Engage in anti-racism and all justice work as a spiritual practice.
- Grow a community of joyous and radical belonging, engaged in courageous dialogue.
- Generously give and receive care in times of joy, transition, and sorrow.
- Sustain and steward our church financially and spiritually toward a joyous and dynamic future.
Steve Harvey
Eliot Board Chair 2021-2022
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Did You Know?
Eliot Chapel has a Facebook page and a Facebook group?
You’ll find the page at www.facebook.com/EliotUnitarianChapel. This page is our public profile. It allows us to share news and information directly from Eliot Chapel. It’s like a billboard! You must be an admin to add a post but anyone may respond.
Our group is called Eliot Chapel – UUers. A group is a community-based feature from Facebook that allows people with shared interests to gather and discuss topics and share their opinions. Our group is especially for folks who go or have gone to Eliot Chapel. It’s like a coffee hour that happens all week! You do have to join the group but any member can share posts.
Remember, our Eliot Chapel covenant extends to “all forms of communication…in person and electronically.” So when you post or comment, please keep in mind that as a community, we covenant:
- To listen fully to each other, with open mind and heart.
- To be sure we understand the other person’s point of view before responding with our own.
- To talk over differences in opinion with each other directly, openly and respectfully.
- To speak clearly of our own experiences, and to propose our own solutions. To seek out, personally and actively, complete information about issues of importance to us.
- To share our opinions responsibly and respectfully, choosing an appropriate time, place and person(s).
- To recognize and honor in each other the good intentions and motivations that lead us to speak up in our church.
- To follow existing processes for conflict resolution at Eliot Chapel.
- To focus our communications on finding ways to improve our church for all members and friends.
If you’re on Facebook, be sure to like and follow Eliot Chapel and join UUers to be part of the conversation!
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Make Your Shared Plate Nomination This Week
The Eliot Social Justice in Action Steering Committee welcomes nominations before June 30 for Shared Plate for the 2021-2022 church year. Shared Plate is Eliot’s program to divide the Sunday offering and designated online gifts with community organizations that align with our mission. Additional criteria for nominees and the nomination form can be found here.
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Pledges and the Post Office
As many of you know, the USPS has experienced a lot of delivery and other issues since last fall. Eliot has received an unusually high number of misdelivered mail (other people's mail) since last fall. We have to assume if Eliot Chapel is receiving other people's mail, other people may be receiving Eliot's mail.
Several members have reached out to the Front Office to say they mailed or had their bank mail monthly pledge statements to Eliot Chapel. However those pledges are not appearing in their Realm Account.
If a pledge payment is not appearing in your Realm account, please contact your bank to see if the check was indeed cashed. If it was, please contact the Front Office asap with 1) the date of the check, 2) the check number, and 3) the amount of the check. We will research that time frame to see if your pledge statement was misapplied to another account.
If the missing pledge (check) has not been cashed, then please assume that the check was "lost in the mail."
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If you know someone with AV/Graphic Arts/Web Design skills seeking part-time employment, please share this job opportunity:
Local church seeking part-time (15 hours a week max) AV Tech Assistant, responsible for assisting communications specialist with video editing during the week and producing hands-on livestream video on Sundays. Weekly hours are flexible and will work primarily from home, except Sundays. Please contact avtechresume@gmail.com for more information.
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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. No changes 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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Vigil for Hope & Healing
Tuesday, June 29
6:00 - 7:00 pm in front of Eliot Chapel
All are welcome; wearing a mask is required as is maintaining the 6-foot social distancing guideline. Please remember that the building is not open so there are no available restrooms.
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Summer Sunday Walking Series with Rev. Krista Taves
July 11, 18, & 25
8:00 – 9:30am
Enjoy cool mornings, good exercise, and great company! We will visit a different park each Sunday morning, meeting at 8:00 am for coffee and conversation and then heading off for our walk at 8:30 am, finishing by 9:30 am just in time for our online Sunday Service and Coffee Hour!
- Bring your own beverages and lawn chair.
- Families are welcome!
- Each park has a playground and bathrooms near the meeting area.
- The walks range from 1–3.5 miles, with turnaround points built into the longer walks to allow for different abilities and ages. The shorter routes are paved.
- You will need to register for each walk separately. Attendance is capped at 25 for each walk.
- When you register you will receive a trail map showing the routes and the arrival location. Please print the map and bring it with you.
COVID PROTOCOLS
- All participants must sign a waiver and our COVID covenant for each walk.
- There are no shared items between households. Bring your own beverages, drinking containers, and lawn chairs.
- Please refrain from hugging or shaking hands.
- If you are showing COVID symptoms please do not attend. If you have registered, please cancel your registration to allow room for someone else.
- Individuals and pods must maintain six feet of distance from each other and wear a mask when that is not possible.
- Bring your own hand sanitizer.
July 11 - Castlewood State Park, 1401 Kiefer Creek Rd, Ballwin. Register here.
July 25 - Tower Grove Park, 4257 Northeast Drive, St. Louis. Register here.
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To Be Free or Free From
Rev. Jennifer Innis and Amy Popp, CRE, UU Church of Peoria, IL
President Franklin Roosevelt spoke of the Four Freedoms in 1941, including freedom of speech, freedom to worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Author Margot Lee Shetterly names these freedoms in her account of the Black women who advanced the effort to send people to space. We explore freedom from want as found in the movie, Hidden Figures, and how moving beyond such oppression brings us closer to the stars.
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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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