A Unitarian Universalist Church | 1800 Bell Ave., Des Moines, IA 50315 | P: 515-244-8603
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This Sunday, September 26, 2021
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If It's Mental Illness, There's No Lasagna
Rev. Amy Petrie Shaw
**Please mute your mics before the service begins
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Mental illness has been called the “non-casserole disease”. When your child is seriously physically ill, it is common for neighbors and friends to bring casseroles, and offer to help. But if we learn that someone’s son is diagnosed with bi-polar disorder, or that their daughter has attempted suicide, we stay away. As Unitarians, we understand the inherent worth and dignity of all people, and our interdependence on one another. Erik Erikson, the German-American psychologist, said “Life doesn’t make any sense without interdependence. We need each other, and the sooner we learn that, the better for us all.” This service is about how we can support families in the midst of a mental health crisis.
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Joys & Concerns for Sunday should be submitted by noon on Friday.
- Caring Ministry--for temporary assistance, such as meals or rides, or to volunteer.
- Pastoral Care--for support through a difficult time.
- Senior Minister for an acute need (515-244-8603 ext. 102)
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Pastoral Care: September 26 - October 2
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Susan Jellinge is the Pastoral Care Associate available for the week beginning at 11 am on Sunday morning, September 26. You may reach them at pastoralcareteam@ucdsm.org or by calling their telephone number found in the church directory.
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Submissions to the Intercom Weekly are due on Wednesday at noon. Submissions after the deadline cannot be guaranteed a spot in that week's newsletter.
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Lens of the Future Update
Current Level: Very High
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The LENS committee is continuing to watch the Risk Level as published by CovidActNow.org as well as the CDC Guidelines, UUA recommendations, and the response of the local and state governments, and is working to update the guidelines. Both Des Moines and Polk County continue to be classified in the Very High Risk or Red category.
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Just a friendly reminder that if you and your group would like to meet in the building to please contact Kerrie Lee ( communications@ucdsm.org) to schedule your space. We have size restrictions based on where in the church you’re meeting as well as a cap of 50 people in the building at any one time based on the restrictions of Level 3 as implemented by the Board. Thanks for your cooperation and understanding! Building reservations are made Monday - Friday. If you need to reserve space outside of business hours, please allow adequate time for your request to be processed.
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Special Board Meeting
Thursday, September 30 @ 6:00 pm
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The board has schedule a special meeting for September 30 at 6:00 pm to further discuss and act upon recommendations from the Lens committee and related matters of policy regarding in-person church gatherings.
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Service Time Change
Starting Sunday, October 3
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Rev. Amy, the Lens of the Future Committee and your Board are working hard to make our return to the building happen as safely and as soon as possible. If all goes well, our return will happen by mid-October!
A SERVICE TIME CHANGE IS COMING. After reviewing the survey and the write-ins, starting OCTOBER 3RD, the service will be at 9:30 am and there will be a forum at 11 am. The forums will cover a range of topics, presented by speakers from UCDSM and our larger Iowa and UUA communities
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Effective immediately, Jude Cigrand will serve as First Unitarian’s Caring Ministry Coordinator. Becky Evans is stepping down from the role after serving since 2018. Becky has assured Jude that our excellent volunteers will continue to step up when requests for food, rides and other needs come in. Please continue to submit requests by email to caring@ucdsm.org.
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Our annual in-gathering was celebrated on Sunday, September 12, with our Water Communion Service. Members were invited to bring their water, collected from their homes or places beyond, on Saturday. That water would be blended together with water from those attending the Watch Party at Church on Sunday.
Here are Meg and Patty Notch adding to our communal H2O.
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IMPORTANT Building Office Hours are temporarily changing!
As Rev. Amy and our new HR Committee search for a new Social Media and Executive Services Specialist to handle the office and our social media outreach, Hannah Notch has agreed to man the front desk until November. Her hours will be 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, Tuesday through Friday. The office and building remain closed on Mondays.
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Childcare is coming back! If your meeting or event requires childcare, please email Rev. Amy. Hannah Notch will be taking over as Childcare Coordinator this year, and we are excited to have her taking on this expanded role. Hannah has been providing childcare at UCDSM for several years, and she is looking forward to helping to coordinate care. We also want to wish Julie Morocho best of luck in her full-time job- we're glad for you Julie, but sorry to see you go!
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Humanism Event
Monday, September 27 @ 7 pm
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** Americans United for Separation of Church and State Presentation **
Monday, September 27 at 7:00 pm via Zoom. Please join us for Samantha Sokol from Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Samantha will be speaking to us about Project Blitz which is the organization working behind the scenes at both the state and federal levels to change the United States into a Christian Nationalist country.
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Green Sanctuary Meeting
Wednesday, October 6 @ 7:30 pm
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The next meeting of Green Sanctuary will be Wednesday, October 6 at 7:30 pm. We will finish our Vision Statement (draft: bring forth an environmentally sustainable, socially just, spiritually resilient dream for humanity; dedicating time and space for our congregation to learn and be informed about a reallocation of our resources) and begin our Mission Statement.
To help the Kitchen Committee, we will also work on drafting recycling, composting, and "Reusables vs. Disposables" policies.
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Sustaining Ourselves for the Long Haul: Central Iowa's Justice Voices
Save the Date: Sunday, November 7 @ 11 am
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The Social Justice Ministry Leadership Team will be hosting a Forum on November 7 at 11:00 am. We will have five social justice leaders in Des Moines each record a five-minute video on how they sustain themselves in this stressful Covid-times. We will share these videos. The participants will then have small group discussions on how they sustain themselves. Plan to attend to help nurture yourself as you work on social justice issues. We intend to offer Zoom and in-person options and will share those options in the coming weeks.
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If you'd like to set up a regular (weekly or monthly) contribution to our social justice activities, click here and enter the dollar amount for "Donation."
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New Faith in Action Partners!
Just Voices | Knock and Drop
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Our new 2021-22 partnerships run from September through August. They were selected by the membership at our June 2021 annual . The organizations are:
Thank you for your continuing support of our Faith in Action partnerships. They make a difference in our community.
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Al Exito Founder Goes Into
Iowa Hall of Fame
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Jan Mitchell of Des Moines, who in 2009 founded Al Exito – the Latinx support group our church frequently has partnered with -- will be inducted into the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame at a ceremony on November 6. AL Exito is a program that prepares Latinx youths for success through education, mentoring, and community engagement. Also, Al Exito is a member of the Central Iowa Immigrant Support Coalition that we helped support during the past year of the pandemic crisis.
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More Upcoming Meetings & Events
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If you wish to add your virtual event to our calendar,
We do not list rentals, closed groups and committee meetings in this email.
For a FULL list of upcoming meetings and events, click on:
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Sept 29 | Bell Choir Rehearsal @ Auditorium, 5:45 - 6:45 pm
Sept 30 | UU Singers Rehearsal @ Griffin Hall, 7:00 - 8:30 pm
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Intercom Weekly Submissions
Deadline: Wednesday @ noon
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In the body of an email, please include a title, relevant dates and times, contact information, and a brief description of your event or announcement.
- Please proofread your article before submitting (or ask a trusted friend to proofread if you need help!) We try to check every article, but we still miss things.
- An image can help make your article stand out! Please feel free to attach an image to your email. (JPG or PNG files are preferred.) Note: images that violate copyright laws will be rejected.
- The Intercom Weekly is sent out to our mailing list on Friday at 7:00 am.
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The deadline is Wednesday at noon. Submissions after the deadline cannot be guaranteed a spot in that week's newsletter.
- We run announcements for no more than three consecutive weeks, so please plan accordingly.
- Per church policy, we do not share private email addresses or phone numbers in our communications. We will set up an official looking @ucdsm.org email address for you as the contact person for your group which will automatically forward to your private email, so you won't have to do anything special to view it. (Please allow a few extra days for us to set up the email when you submit your announcement.)
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IMPORTANT Building Office Hours are temporarily changing!
As Rev. Amy and our new HR Committee search for a new Social Media and Executive Services Specialist to handle the office and our social media outreach, Hannah Notch has agreed to man the front desk until November. Her hours will be 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, Tuesday through Friday. The office and building remain closed on Mondays.
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Rev. Amy Petrie Shaw
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm (Scheduled appointments only.)
Saturday: By appointment only.
Charles Lewis, Director of Finance and Administration
Monday - Friday: 11:00 am - 7:00 pm CT (available by phone or email)
Wednesday: 6:00 - 7:00 pm CT via Zoom
Devon McClurken, Director of Faith Formation
Tuesday: 1:00 - 5:00 pm
Wednesday: 9:00 am - 2:00 pm
Thursday: 1:00 - 5:00 pm
Friday: 8:30 am - 1:00 pm
Kerrie Lee, Communications Coordinator
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Text "UCDSM APP" to 77977 or toll free (833) 816-9022
to download our app
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