Unitarian Universalist Church of the North Hills Nourish your spirit. Celebrate life. Cherish the connectedness of all things.

Newsletter - Thursday, June 23, 2022

INTERCOM

Sunday - June 26, 2022 10:30am (EDT)

Blessed by Animals Sunday Service Team In a twist on a traditional service, rather than blessing animals, we will consider how our lives are blessed and enriched by their presence. Congregants will have the opportunity to share photos and memories of their special animal friends. To avoid shenanigans, please leave the actual animals at home.

THE GREAT UU DESSERT BAKEOFF

Friday Fun Nights begin this Friday, June 24th with the Great UU Dessert BakeOff! Join us for a delicious spectacle for the whole family. All are welcome to come to the West Room at 7pm, bring their taste buds and their sense of humor, and enjoy a fun-filled evening of sweetness and hilarity, hosted by our own Alex Saksen. Enter your name in the hat at the door, and you may be selected as one of our esteemed judges!   Bakers, come bring your most delectable dessert creation and enter to win fabulous prizes. No advance sign-up is required – just arrive at 6:30pm, set up your masterpiece on one of the display tables, and be prepared to dole out tasty samples to your eager audience!   Let’s have some fun! Questions? Contact Edie Swihart. --------------------------------------------- If you’d like to help make “Friday Fun Nights” a regular occurrence on our UUCNH church calendar, we’d love to have you join the gang! Team Fun is not a standing committee with monthly meetings, but an ad hoc group that gets together as needed, in person or virtually, to plan fun events for our whole church family. More ideas and willing hands are always needed and appreciated! To find out more, please contact Edie Swihart.

BOOK SWAP FUNDRAISER

When: Sunday, June 26th at 12:00PM in Friendship Hall Did you acquire a bunch of books during the COVID shut down that are now collecting dust? Are you looking for some great summer reading?? You are in luck, because the book swap is back! The process is simple:  Drop your old books off in the East Room between Friday, June 24th and Sunday, June 26th  Attend the book swap sale in Friendship Hall on Sunday, June 26th Leave a goodwill offering for the Fundraising Team on your way out Go home with some wonderful "new to you" books! Questions? Contact us!

4TH SUNDAY FORUM

Sunday, June 26, noon – 1:15 pm by Zoom and in-person in the East Room.  Movies! For over a century, this art form has been an important part of American culture. The local cinema once provided, along with churches, a primary meeting place for friends and neighbors, and now has increasingly become an at-home experience – something gained, something lost? Does a spectacular immersive movie experience—huge screen, all around sound, cushy seats—indicate anything about the cultural need for ever more, bigger, more expensive extravagant productions? Are there any movies that have especially moved you or changed your life? Over time, have movies reflected American culture or driven it?  Do you think about movies as an art form or just entertainment? What would you call a “great movie”? Do you care what the critics say?   To get onto the email list for more information and login information, contact Dick Myers.  Note: the login information for these monthly Zoom meetings is the same each month.   Zoom LInk   Meeting ID: 895 1948 7832 Password: 200829

FROM THE CAPITAL CAMPAIGN TEAM

NAME that CAMPAIGN   We’ve agreed to have a Capital Campaign. Now what? How about a catchy name for it? Maybe a logo?  Maybe a ditty or hymn? What are your creative ideas? Leave a paper copy in our mailbox on the table in Friendship Hall Or email us $20.00 Bruester’s Gift Certificate for winning entry. Deadline to submit is July 4, 2022

THE 2ND ANNUAL UUCNH CHURCH PICNIC

Please join us on Sunday, July 31st at North Park Starting after church, until 5:00 PM We’ll be at Roosevelt Grove Bring your own food, grills will be available, charcoal will be provided We have a liquor license, so feel free to bring a libation and a designated driver

BUUCS NIGHT IN THE BURG'

Are you Ready for BUUCs night?  Plus Skyblast Fireworks Bonanza  Join us for the BUUCs vs Reds game on Saturday, August 20, 2022 at 7:05pm Reserve your tickets by July 20, 2022 Ticket reservation information and more can be found on this BUUCs Flyer. After reserving your tickets, please help promote BUUCs Night by forwarding or posting our BUUCs Flyer. Thank you.

FROM THE SYSTEMIC CHANGE TEAM

Creating Change  Recent In May, Carol Ballance and Cheryl Rampelt organized post carding at UUNCH for Equitable Education. Mailed over 86 cards to state lawmakers. Diana Hull and Connie Hester gathered petition signatures at the primary to "Fix Harrisburg" by reforming the rules to advance legislation being blocked committee chairs and other majority leaders. Sign Here. 9 congregants and Rev. Jane rallied and marched for National Gun Violence Awareness (Wear Orange Day). Several team members called/wrote their state Senators, urging votes for gun violence prevention legislation and funding. On Sunday, June 12, team members organized church attendees to phone their state lawmakers to express their concerns about the urgent need to enact gun violence prevention legislation. UUJusticePA kicked off a fundraising campaign to support a part-time Get Out The Vote Organizer. The UUA has provided $10K and we are trying to match it. Donate at UUJusticePA  Upcoming Carol Ballance & Liz Perkins are attending the Poor People’s Campaign March In Washington D.C. on June 18. Everyone is welcome at our monthly meetings. The next one is July 11 at 7 p.m. on Zoom. E-mail Liz Perkins to receive the link.   Anyone interested in more information and/or helping with any of our activities, please contact chair, Liz Perkins at lizperkins@uucnh.org

COFFEE HOUR HAS RETURNED - SIGN UP TO HOST!

Yippee! Coffee Hour is back at UUCNH as a regular thing. For now, it will be coffee and tea only, no food at this point in time. Also, while we are requiring masks inside, Coffee Hour will only occur outside weather permitting.   Sign up to host using this link. You can also find the Coffee Hour Form located on the website. There will be one hosting household per week. On your hosting Sunday, you'll need to bring a quart of half and half and a container of apple juice. Come before 10:00 to set up an urn of regular and an urn of hot water. A Keurig and reusable pods will be available for decaf. Empty clean dishes from the dishwasher. Follow the instructions for setting things out with the coffee. Stay to the end, mulch the dogwood outside the office window with the coffee grounds, rinse out the urns, load and run the dishwasher. Bask in the glow of building loving religious community!   No host, no Coffee Hour!   Questions? Contact Tassi Bisers

NHCO BACK-TO-SCHOOL COLLECTION

North Hills Community Outreach (NHCO) Back-to-School Supplies Collection! Even though the kids just got out of school, NHCO is already collecting NEW school supplies for children in need, to be distributed in August. Please see this link for especially needed items. Please leave donations in the blue bin next to the food pantry in Friendship Hall. This collection will continue until July 31.  Thanks from the Compassionate Service Team!

WEEKLY OPPORTUNITIES FOR CONNECTIONS

Zoom with UUCNH Friends - CLICK HERE This drop-in connection will be held every Tuesday at 3:30-4:30 pm each week and will be led by Paul Wommack. Click the link above to join the Zoom meeting. Login will be the same each week: Vespers - with Reverend John Ballance - CLICK HERE Join us for a Vespers service every Wednesday starting at 7:00 pm. The formal part of vespers will end at 7:30, but the Zoom link will remain open until 8:00 so that participants who wish to remain longer can converse informally about what’s going on in their lives. Please join us (and invite others to join us as well!) as we continue to nurture our bonds with one another.

SHARE THE PLATE FOR JUNE

The June share the plate recipient will be Dreams of Hope Queer Youth Arts. Through the power of the arts, Dreams of Hope provides the region’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, asexual, and allied (LGBTQA+) youth a welcoming environment to grow in confidence, express themselves, and develop as leaders. They accomplish this mission through their performance ensemble, and through queer arts programming in schools and other youth education venues. You may donate by June 30th in the following ways: 1) Place cash or check in the BLUE envelope in the offering plate during Sunday services; 2) Mail a check to the church office; or 3) Go to the church website's Donation Page and select Special Offerings. Checks should be made payable to UUCNH, with "Share the Plate" or "Dreams" in the memo line. If using the website Donation Page, please be sure to include the words "Share the Plate" and/or "Dreams" when making your donation.    Share the plate totals are not fully tabulated by the end of the month but will be shared when finalized. Thank you for your patience and your generosity!

JOYS AND SORROWS

A joy from Tony Palermo: I saw the museum's dinosaurs for the first time since before Covid. And I had my grandnephew Cam (10) and my grandniece Celine with me. Heaven! (For dessert I saw Jurassic World!) From Carolyn Hrach, a joy: Charlotte! The three-month lab pup who is our latest "puppy in training." From Dana Poss, a joy: Fifteen long months after a tornado came through my hometown and destroyed the church where I grew up, and where my dad currently serves as pastor, the walls and roof are back up and the windows and doors are installed. The only part of the church that survived the devastation was the steeple and it was heartwarming to see it being hoisted onto the top of the roof once again this week. Thank you to everyone who offered their support and who donated to their rebuilding fund. I'm so grateful knowing that my new church community was so supportive of my childhood one.

Note: There are times when you may not be able to share during a service but want the Congregation to know what is on your heart. In that instance, just contact a member of the Lay Pastoral Care Team (LPCT) in person, or submit your Joys & Sorrows electronically by CLICKING HERE. Once submitted, the form is sent to all LPCT members. (Chris Hill, Ruth Horwitz, Susan Powers, Lynn Richards, Lynne Herchenroether  & Rev. Jane Thickstun) Please be sure to submit your item by NOON on Saturday at the latest, so we get it in time for Service. Also, the LPCT now has an email address (lpct@uucnh.org) which forwards to all members of the team. We welcome your sharing and would be honored to carry forth your message.

UPCOMING MEETINGS AND EVENTS

THURSDAY – June 23 Craft Group cancelled for this week FRIDAY – June 24 West Room/ - The Great UU Dessert Bake Off - 7:00 - 9:30pm SATURDAY – June 25 No Meetings or Events Scheduled SUNDAY – June 26 Inhouse & You-Tube - UUCNH Service - 10:30 - 11:30am Church (Outdoors/weather permitting) - Coffee Hour - 11:30am - 12:00pm Friendship Hall - Book Swap - 12:00 - 1:00pm Justice Rm + Zoom-FD - Jesus Discussion Group- 12:00 - 1:15pm MONDAY – June 27 No Meetings or Events Scheduled TUESDAY – June 28 Zoom-MEM - Zoom with Friends - 3:30 - 430 pm WEDNESDAY – June 29 Zoom-GEN - Communications Meeting - 12:30 - 1:30pm Zoom-GEN - Vespers - 7:00 - 8:00pm THURSDAY – June 30 West Room + Zoom-GEN - Craft Group - 10:00am - 12:00pm

UU Church of the North Hills 2359 West Ingomar Road Pittsburgh, PA 15237 Phone: 412-366-0244 ACCESS TO UUCNH WEBSITE