OUUC Weekly Update 3-11-20
News from the Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation
Worship Services March 15, services at 9:15 and 11:00 am
“Principles, Practice, Peace” - Joe Rettenmaier
In this season of international corruption, our faithful practice of peaceful principles truly makes a difference.
Join us for Online Worship.
Listen to recent sermons here.
From Rev. Mary: LIVE in 3—2—1
On Sunday you will be able to participate in the OUUC worship services from your own home! We will be using an on-line platform called ZOOM to live-stream our services at the usual times of 9:15 and 11:00 am. We have a virtual “Zoom Room” that allows up to 500 people to join together on-line. There is information about how to do this elsewhere in the newsletter and on the website at www.OUUC.org.
On Sunday, I’ll be in the Zoom Room for both services, participating in the worship from my home. Our guest speaker, Joe Rettenmaier, has a beautiful message to deliver about peace and will do so in the sanctuary at OUUC, supported by Troy and Sara and many others. We will open the sanctuary to anyone who chooses to attend the services in person. We will offer RE programs and nursery at both services, and the Children’s annual meeting at the 11:00 am service will also be available on-line through Zoom. Read more....
Online Worship
Join us this Sunday for online worship.
On Sunday morning you will find Online Worship on OUUC's home page. To see the Online Worship page at any time just put "Online Worship" in the search box. You will be able to view the service via Zoom, download the order of service, and make donations online. Stay for virtual coffee hour!
Notes from Kari, Interim Congregational Life Coordinator
Soul Matters - Online
Stay connected even when you can't make it to OUUC in person! Reflect on the theme of the month from the comfort of your home (and your jammies if you want). I will be offering a Drop-In Soul Matters circle online on the 2nd Thursday of each month and a Soul Matters for Parents online on the 4th Monday of each month. We will use the Zoom platform, which allows us to see and hear and interact with one another. March's Theme is Wisdom, April's Theme is Liberation. To receive a theme packet digitally ahead of the meeting, just email Sara Lewis. To join us, find the links here.
Good Grief Group
“We have to do something braver than just try to save the world we have known, we must accept the fact that the world we have known is going to change in hideous and damaging ways.” ―Bill McKibben
The Good Grief Group begins next Monday, March 16, 6:30-8:30 pm, with Step One: Accept the Severity of the Predicament. Sliding scale - pay what you can.
Please join us in processing our grief over climate change. You can register here.
Celebration of Life
The Celebration of Life for Rob Radford is scheduled for Saturday, March 21, at 1:00 pm at OUUC. Please check the OUUC website and Wednesday newsletter next week to confirm this event; it may be rescheduled due to public health concerns. Thank you in advance for your understanding.
Spring Cleanup Thursday
For Rob Radford - B&G Committee has scheduled a spring cleanup of the grounds and outside building for this Thursday, March 12 from 9:00 am to noon. We'll be
weeding, cleaning gutters, washing windows, mowing, and generally sprucing up the building to get ready for Rob's memorial service. Please come and help! Coffee and refreshments provided.
Sewing Ministry
Please join your Sewing Ministry Team in the fun of stitching our love for each other into a quilt or bag. Bring your machine and all it's necessary cords, pins, neutral thread, scissors and a rotary cutter and mat if you have them. An ironing board is also helpful. Please bring what you can. Many hands make light work! March 14 at 12:30 pm. If you have a question, contact Karen Jackson.
ESale Giving
Can we make it to $100,000 this year? OUUC’s ongoing eSale Giving fundraiser has now raised over $83,000 for our beloved OUUC! We find new homes for that “good stuff” you no longer need and all the proceeds go to OUUC operations. If you have items you’d like to donate that would likely sell for at least $40, please contact Susan Dodson. For more information about eSale Giving, check out the FAQs online.
Schedule Changes
The Travel Class has been postponed.
Powerful Unitarian Gals (PUGs) will not be meeting thorough March.
The Caregivers group will not meet this Thursday.
Journaling Class Postponed - "Exploring the Wide World of Journaling," led by Amy Bertrand, is being postponed and re-scheduled as a class in the fall, due to a likely work assignment conflict.
The discussion on Olympia's Crisis Response and Peer Navigator Programs that was scheduled for March 23 has been postponed to a later date due to concerns about the Coronavirus situation. Please direct questions to Steve Tilley.
The Movie and Dinner auction event scheduled for March 13 has been canceled and will be rescheduled at a later date.
More Than Ever the Blue Team Needs Your Help
Like all of us, our homeless neighbors are facing the uncertainties of the threat of the Coronavirus and will need healthy food to remain well. On Wednesdays, March 18 and 25, our congregation will again have the opportunity to provide the evening meal for the 42 Shelter guests and those waiting in the First Christian Church parking lot at the Interfaith Emergency Shelter. Donations of main and side dishes will be needed to make that meal possible. Until further notice, all dishes should be delivered, between 5:15 and 5:45 pm, to the silver Prius waiting in the parking lot of the Olympia Copy Center on Franklin Street (and across from the Shelter). If you can help please contact Jo Ann Young.
Children's Annual Meeting
Join the meeting virtually this Sunday at 11:15 am! This is the meeting when the children vote to choose their Spring Service Project, their Summer Sunday program, and where they will donate the money they raise in their Children's Offering next year. We will gather in person for the meeting, but also have an online meeting for hybrid participation. If any children preschool-middle school would like to join from home (with parental permission and tech assistance), please contact our Director of Religious Education, Sara Lewis, for a Zoom link.
Learn About Solar
The OUUC Environmental Action Team has invited Olympia Community Solar to its table Sunday, March 15. Olympia Community Solar is a 501(c)3 nonprofit working to steward and equitable and accessible clean energy transition through community solar education, policy, and project development. Their current Hummingbird Project hopes to put a 100kW solar array on the Hands On Children's Museum. Come hear more about it!
Calling all Sasquatchs!
The OUUC Taming Bigfoot Competition could use your help. Join us and use your skills in project planning, environmental/carbon footprint data collection, communications and marketing, and web applications technical expertise. Come see us at the Environmental Action Team table this Sunday!
Quick Notes
Join the Auction Team - The first planning meeting is on March 16 at 7:00 pm at OUUC. Join us and get in on the early decision-making. Contact Melanie Ransom for questions.
A new meditation group will be starting on March 17 from noon -1:00 pm and will be meeting on a monthly basis. We will start with a short reading, then 20-30 minute meditation, depending upon what the group is comfortable with. In the nicer weather, we may do this walking around the neighborhood. Then we will have a talk about our experience. The goals of the group are: mindfulness, calming, self-awareness and mutual support. Hope to see you all there! Contact Susan Lobel for more information.
Read This Week in Religious Education here.
Thank you all for supporting the recent production of The Vagina Monologues! We were able to send $1200 to SafePlace from the proceeds of this all-volunteer show. Special thanks to Lee Doyle for the fantastic poster, to Janet Spencer for initiating and producing the show, to Riley McLaughlin for providing sound support, and to the director who pulled together an amazing ensemble, PJ Hopkins.
Don't be deceived by emerging signs of Spring! Winter is still upon us, and blankets, comforters and lap throws are welcome to warm our unhoused neighbors. The BLUE BIN IS EMPTY. Let's try to fill it up through March. Your continued generosity is appreciated.
Social Groups
PUGs (Powerful Unitarian Universalist Gals) - All women are welcome to join us for fellowship and conversation. Wednesdays 10:00 - 11:30 am. PUGs at OUUC meets in the Youth Room. You may bring a beverage in your own container. (PUGs will not be meeting in March.) - Contact Pat Sonnenstuhl.
Ladies Unitarian Social – All who identify as women and who are affiliated with OUUC, and their guests, are welcome at Lady Unitarian Social Hour. We meet weekly on Tuesday afternoons from 4:30 to 6:00 pm to share conversation and refreshments. Please feel free to drop in at any of our weekly gatherings. March 17 - Hops n Drops, 4739 Avery Ln SE. - Contact Meliz Maatta or Emily Ray.
Guy’s TGIT meets on Thursdays at 4:30 pm. March 12 - Matchless Brewing, 8037 River Dr SE #208. - Contact Bernie Brady.
MUGs (Mighty Unitarian Guys) meets for eclectic discussions every Thursday morning from 10:00 to 11:00 am at Traditions Cafe in downtown Olympia. Men of all ages are welcome. - Contact Otto Buls.
In the Larger Community
Connect with other Unitarian Universalists from throughout the Northwest by joining our virtual Annual Meeting of the Pacific NW District, Saturday, March 28, from 10:00-11:00 am. Log into Zoom on your own phone, tablet or computer, or join fellow parishioners where you worship to participate electronically as we share inspiring stories from congregations, elect new board members and hear a powerful homily from popular pulpit-filler Joseph Bednarik, of Quimper UU Fellowship in Port Townsend, WA. Register, find more information and register delegates here.
Since 2012, SideWalk volunteers have helped over 1,500 people escape the streets of Olympia. We invite you to join SideWalk’s next two-day volunteer training on October 4 and 11. To RSVP or for more information, please visit here.
Margaret Fuller Tea: May 3, 1:00 pm at East Shore Unitarian Church (12700 SE 32nd Street, Bellevue): All those who identify as women are invited to our Annual Margaret Fuller Tea! We are excited to offer a dramatic presentation by Tames Alan of Living History Lectures about the American suffragette movement. (2020 is the 100th anniversary of women’s enfranchisement in America) $10 per person helps cover the cost of the speaker. Register online here to guarantee your seat. Please join us for sweets, savories, and tea, of course. Wear white? Wear a hat? Bring your daughter? Let’s celebrate Margaret Fuller and women’s suffrage!
About Us
Email: liberalfaith@ouuc.org
Website: http://ouuc.org
Location: 2315 Division Street Northwest, Olympia, WA, United States
Phone: 3607866383
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OlympiaUUC/
Twitter: @OlyUUC