Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church - Unitarian Universalist

Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church - Unitarian Universalist

Friday E-Mail News           October 22, 2010

Ministerial Search Committee is about to shift focus from writing, editing and publishing information about Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church to reading and sharing information about possible candidates. Monday, November 1, is the date when our information is cast into the great Cyber pond of candidates who will then cast back their information to us! This is an exciting change of focus and we feel very ready. Our weekly meetings are punctuated by multiple electronic communications throughout the week. We would be more than happy to consider individuals who are recommended from members of the congregation. If you have always dreamed of having a certain someone as our minister, let us know and we can invite them to cast themselves into our net! Simply drop us a note in the mailroom or approach one of us by email, phone or in person.

Services at 9:15 AM & 11:15 AM

October 24, Sunday: Sermon - What Do You UUs Believe, Anyway? Rev. Dr. Janet E. Newman. How good it feels to have a clear, positive, succinct answer for those who ask the question above! This sermon will offer some resources and helpful suggestions. Choir will sing.

Religious Education

Religious Education for children nursery through fifth grade is offered at both services.

Classes for sixth through twelfth grades are offered at the 11:15 AM service.

Church This Week

October 24, Sunday: Challenge/Coming of Age Class Marketplace Open For Business! Help our ninth graders raise the necessary funds for their class pilgrimage in the spring. Bulbs are here for those who ordered them. Come purchase an “Attractions” coupon book, 2010-2011 Academic Planning Calendar or a flash drive with chalice logo. All available in the Social Hall today. Come see!

October 24, Sunday: UU Stars Display, 10:30 AM+ 12:30 PM, Social Hall. Come see what we have been doing! Projects, materials and lesson plans from our first four weeks of RE for first thru fifth grades are on display in the Social Hall. We have been learning about the First UU Principle: Respecting the Inherent Worth and Dignity of Every Person.

October 24, Sunday: Auction Pre-bidding Starts! Fall Auction catalogs will be available for pickup in the Social Hall after services. Register to get a bidding paddle number and start bidding right away on selected artwork, services and dinner events.

October 24, Sunday: AFD: Weatherizing the Home, 3:30 PM, Parlor. TJMC member John Semmelhack, a certified Home Energy Rating System (HERS) rater and the owner of Think Little, an energy-efficiency consulting firm, will discuss how weatherizing the home can save energy, save money, and lessen your home’s carbon footprint. He will also describe the workings on two rebate programs, from the IRS (up to $1,500) and from LEAP, a local non-profit (up to $3,000).

October 27, Wednesday: UUGuys, 7 PM, Summit Room 1.

October 28, Thursdays: Active Minds, 1 PM, Parlor.

October 28, Thursday: Adult Choir, 6:45 PM, Parlor.

October 29, Friday: Labyrinth Walk, 5:30 PM-8:30 PM, Social Hall. From 5:30 PM-7 PM an open, unstructured walk will be offered. From 7 PM-8:30 PM, live acoustic music with ritual will take place (including some American Indian singing and drumming), to observe a theme of All Souls’ remembrance. Chaplain Alex McGee, Transition Ministry Associate, will be participating. Join us!

October 31, Sunday: Sermon: How Does UU Theology Relate to All Souls’ Day? Chaplain Alexandra McGee, Transitional Ministry Associate. The early Universalists had doctrines that gave them hope when they considered an afterlife. Some Latin American cultures relate to Hallowe’en as Dia de los Muertos, day of the dead, to give them hope as they honor their deceased loved ones. What do we modern UUs do with the inescapable fact of death?

October 31, Sunday: Child Dedication Ceremony, 9:15 AM+11:15 AM, Sanctuary. If you would like to have your infant or young child welcomed through the formal act of Child Dedication into the larger community of caring that is our congregation, please contact our Director of Religious Education, Leia Durland-Jones at 293-8179 extension 3# or leiadj@embarqmail.com. There will be another Child Dedication Ceremony on Sunday, December 19, at the 11:15 AM service.

Church Notes & Requests for Help

The Cottage Conversation meetings discussing whether or not the congregation would like to change the Membership section of the TJMC-UU Bylaws continue through Thursday, November 11. Members and supporters can sign-up in the Social Hall on Sundays or you can email sallytaylor411@gmail.com to register for a cottage meeting. If you are unable to attend a Cottage meeting, the Membership Committee invites you to fill out a survey about the responsibilities of membership. Surveys will be distributed and collected at both worship services on Sundays, November 7+14. The survey will also be available online at the TJMC website uucharlottesville.org from Monday, November 1, until Monday, November 15.

TJMC-UU Directory Distribution. The 2010 TJMC-UU Directory distribution will begin after both services. Please come to the Membership table near the UUsed Bookstore. As we announced before, the directory is going “Green.” We will be taking names of those who wish to receive an email with the directory as an attachment. We will also have disks to circulate. We hope to receive these back, so that we may share them with other members in the coming weeks. We are aware that there are some members who do not have access to a computer and will ask that those persons let us know who you are and we will prepare “Free” black-and-white paper copies for you. We wish to thank Kip Newland, Carole Black, Ron Wormser, and the Tech Committee for developing this directory. These directories are now prepared in-house. We anticipate redistribution every summer.

Adult Choir is beginning to rehearse Holiday Music! Come join us on Thursday nights at 6:45 PM in the Parlor. There are two changes in rehearsals in November: Our Thursday, November 6, rehearsal will be from 7:30–9 PM, and we will rehearse Tuesday, November 23, instead of Thanksgiving evening. If you would like more information, please contact KaeRenae Mitchell at 293-8179 extension 4# or krmitchell@embarqmail.com.

Scrip Factoid: Did you know that every month we get a check from Kroger for somewhere between $400 and $700 dollars? Do you shop at Kroger? You can help raise money to support TJMC by stopping by the Scrip table on Sunday and purchasing a Kroger card pre-loaded with $50. You add money as needed to the card at the store’s customer service counter using cash, a check or your credit card. It is practically painless and TJMC receives 5% of your purchases.

Refugee Partners: Is looking for a female volunteer to work one-on-one with a young woman refugee from Afghanistan on Mondays. She was a hairdresser before and is now trying to study to get her license in the US. The class is independent study because of her work schedule and she is having trouble. She needs to pass this class to complete her apprenticeship here. (Her English is quite good.) Please email Cherry Stewart at stewartcherry@yahoo.com for more details.

Greeting Cards - Collection for FWCC: The Labyrinth Ministry is still collecting stationery items (greetings cards of all kinds, writing paper, and especially stamps) for our annual holiday donation to the Fluvanna Women’s Correctional Center. Please help by placing your donations in the FWCC Collection Box located in the Jefferson Foyer.  Deadline is the end of October.

UUSC-TJMC Holiday Card: Send a winter holiday greeting card to TJMC friends and members during the end-of-the-year holidays by contributing to the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) – no postage needed. Contributions small and large are welcome and contributors’ names will be listed it he card, to be issued with the December 2010 Monthly Bulletin. Membership for adults is $40 ($75/couple); seniors 65 and over $20; students and youth $10, checks payable to UUSC. You may mail your contributions to TJMC, Attn: UUSC, or give it to Edith Good on Sundays at coffee hour. The deadline is Tuesday, November 16. See Kip Newland, TJMC’s new UUSC representative, for information about UUSC’s activities and partnerships in human rights and social justice around the world.

Grocery Store Coupons Needed for local charity: Please save newspaper coupons for ready to eat meals and single serving soups that can be heated in a microwave oven. We could use coupons for granola bars, instant cereals, individual serving fruits and other non-perishable foods as well. We are collecting them for the Interfaith Humanitarian Sanctum (IHS), a local charity that assists social workers at the UVA hospital in providing foods for families of patients who come from far away for care but who cannot afford food or housing while they are here. Sadly, need at the hospital is great, and this small action will help the IHS make their limited funds go further. You can leave the coupons at the RE table in the Social Hall on Sundays or in Leia Durland-Jones’ mailbox in the church mailroom. Thank you!

The Poinsettias are Coming! Support our Coming of Age as they raise funds ($5,000!) for their pilgrimage trip. Orders for poinsettias will be taken starting in November. We rely on and appreciate your support! Thank you!

Adult Faith Development: PEACE Walks (Pretty, Easy, And Close Elder Walks) Are you interested in sharing a walk after the second service? How about after the first service? It would provide exercise and friendship on good weather days. Pretty: we would walk in place where the trail or view is pretty. For example it could be the trail near Monticello or the Downtown Mall. Easy: We would only walk on easy grades. No hills! And close: We would only walk in places readily accessible from the church. Elder: Although designed for older folks who may have arthritis or other health considerations, everyone is welcome. We will go at the speed of the slowest walker. For more information contact Johanna Woodchild at 293-8808 or Woodchild@va.net.

Food Drive for Interfaith Humanitarian Sanctum (IHS). Our children will be creating, in their RE classes, one-day meal packets families of patients at UVA who come from far away for care and cannot afford food or housing while they are here. We need particular food items to make the packets: one one-gallon zip lock plastic bags, napkins, plastic spoons and forks, instant oats, instant grits, breakfast bars, granola bars – the healthy kind, Minute Maid vitamin fortified 100% orange juice boxes or other 100% fruit juice boxes, single serving boxed milk, 5 oz. cans mixed fruit in light syrup with a flip top lid, single serving packets of peanuts, other nuts or crackers, Minute Rice single serving Microwavable rice, especially Spanish Rice (healthier), Chef Boyardee single serving (8.75 oz.) Microwaveable meals, Hormel single serving microwavable meals, Healthy Choice single serving microwavable meals and soups, Campbell’s soup to go, single serving and microwavable, other food items, not cookies or candies, that you think would be a good addition to a meal pack for one person for one day. Please place donations in the wooden box in the Edgewood Lane hallway.