OUUC Weekly Update 3-9-21
News from the Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation
Worship Service March 14, one online service at 10:00 am
“Who Would Have Guessed?” – Rev. Mary Gear
Sunday will be the one-year anniversary of OUUC’s first online service. It’s been quite a year. What have we learned so far? How might this change our commitments?
Join us for Online Worship.
Listen to sermons here. See recordings of online services here.
Thursday Evening Spiritual Practice 7:00 pm
March 11 - Pat Sonnenstuhl, a retired Nurse Midwife, will offer a mindfulness body scan, imagery, and quiet meditation time.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81051325520?pwd=NjdXM25OMThVRytydWtQQ0lJZmtMQT09
Meeting ID: 810 5132 5520
Passcode: 690200
Sunday Talk Show Guest is Wendy Tanner
The “After Church with Melanie Ransom” talk show continues this Sunday with a special guest, Wendy Tanner. You may know Wendy from Caring Friends, or her time on the Board, or her amazing pies and pickles. This is your chance to discover how your life might overlap with Wendy’s. The show starts at 11:30 am after the coffee chats. Upcoming guests include Darlene Sarkela, and Troy Fisher. Many of us come to OUUC for the theology, but we stay because of our life-long connections to the people. –Melanie Ransom
Books, Brownies and Beans Online Sale
Our online sale opens in 6 days. Numerous volunteers, like Ann and Roger Nielsen, have been living among a sea of books while sorting, tagging, and uploading thousands of titles to the sale site. Let’s help them get those books out the door! All items are a flat $3/each with volume discounts available. Proceeds benefit non-profits working with the Olympia area homeless. Please join us to "shop for good" from March 15-20. Socially distanced pick up on March 27 at OUUC. Learn more here.
A Few Words from OUUC’s Parish Nurse
Our Parish Nurse, Ann Yeo, is keeping watch on the growing database of knowledge about the COVID-19 pandemic, treatments, and especially preventive measures - including the vaccines that are rolling out. By this time, probably most of us over 65 (and some others) have started, maybe completed, our vaccinations. Commonly, we talk together about life returning to a semblance of normal. Yet, until just this week, we had no official guidance about what that means. On 8 March, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued that eagerly-awaited new guidance, entitled “When You’ve Been Fully Vaccinated”: Read more....
A Message from our VME Consultant
It takes a lot of trust to enter into a community process. So many of us can be attached to getting our own way—or at least trying to! To engage in conversation, in listening, in collaborative discovery is a mark of spiritual maturity.
In that light, I’m grateful to the dozens of OUUC members who showed up this past Friday evening and Sunday afternoon for the first two sessions of the visioning process.
On Friday evening, participants took some time to get better acquainted with each other; then I delivered a summary report of our process to this point, including the valuable input offered so far, through surveys, cottage meetings, conversations, and texts. Read more....
Memorial Service for Brad Gupta
Please join us for a service honoring how Brad inspired us.
Friday, March 19, at 7:00 pm on Zoom. Family members and friends will speak during the service and the chat feature will be opened to allow everyone to share their memories of how this special man inspired them. At the close of the service break-out rooms will be available for smaller intimate conversations. The service and chat comments will be recorded and posted on the OUUC webpage to be shared with those who cannot attend.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82126352878?pwd=d2crWUQ4NEJOcjhLcVBGN2o5S08wZz09
Meeting ID: 821 2635 2878
Passcode: 200606
Follow-Up from Sunday Talk Show Guest, Zoe Myers
Hello friends, after my interview Sunday on "After Church with Melanie Ransom" I have had a number of requests for more information about the open-mic storytelling show Fresh Ground Stories, as well as the Seattle Labor Chorus. Link to a meet-up invitation for Fresh Ground Stories. Once you sign in to, or sign up for Meet Up just type Fresh Ground Stories into the search field. Once on that page you can register to receive alerts and other emails from Paul Currington, the host of the show. The show occurs on Zoom the third Thursday of the month from 7:00 p.m. to about 8:30 ish. Paul sends out a Zoom registration a few days before the show. It is important that you respond to that Zoom registration in order to get a link for the show. I hope to see some of you there next Thursday. Also, here are three YouTube links about the Seattle Labor Chorus. short film produced by Northwest Folklife on the occasion of our 15th anniversary, The second two are of a flash mob we did in a local Walmart store around Christmas 2010. Flash Mob #1, Flash Mob #2. Enjoy. And thanks for your interest in two organizations that mean a lot to me. - Zoë Myers
OUUC Dinner Room Open!
Lots of folks visited the OUUC Dinner Room over the past year. Then it trickled down to just a few. A new room has been opened with a new link. And you are invited to dinner! The room is open every night from 6:00 - 7:00 pm. for people to meet just for dinner and conversation. If you are isolated and tired of eating alone, log on and join others. If you are a couple or family, join in and share your time with others who are welcoming outside conversations. It's another great way to stay connected and socialize!
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86853112980?pwd=R2JaSUlkRzRCcmluZHdDUWFCUVphZz09
Meeting ID: 868 5311 2980
Passcode: DINNER
Request from Rev. Mary
Our monthly theme for March is Commitment. This month we also mark the one-year anniversary of our first online Sunday service in response to COVID-19. The confluence of these things prompts me to invite us to reflect on these questions:
Have my/your/our commitments (or what you are committed to) changed this past year? If so, how? I plan to bring these musings into the Sunday service and I'd love to hear from you! Please send your thoughts to me at minister@ouuc.org by Wednesday, March 10. Thank you!
New Delivery Time for Food Donations
This month Wednesday, March 17, and Wednesday, March 24 are the nights our volunteers bring main and dishes for dinner at the Interfaith Works Adult Shelter, and shelf-stable foods for children and families at the Lacey Family Resource Center. Please note new delivery times are now an hour later and between 5:15 and 5:45 p.m. Please email Jo Ann Young if you will be donating or would like more information.
Quick Notes
All-Congregation Vision - Mission - Ends Session - Sunday, March 14, at 1:30 pm
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89225595919?pwd=SGJXM1ptL0ZsSDk2QWdyNUNFZDVKQT09
Meeting ID: 892 2559 5919
Passcode: 886350
Join Rev. Mary and others involved in advocacy for an Advocacy Reflection Circle to share your advocacy efforts and reflect on how your advocacy is fueled by your values and beliefs. March 9 at 4:00 pm.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85980566732?pwd=VGZnRHhNcDZYeTRVMG5XNUpOWEVRUT09
Meeting ID: 859 8056 6732 Passcode: 225968
Team Captain sought for an OUUC team for the Virtual Hunger Walk (May 2nd) this year. If you are interested in supporting hunger relief services and organizing a team, please contact Sara Lewis.
Our Sunday worship service will be live on our OUUC YouTube channel as well as on Zoom. You can still participate in Sunday worship through Zoom. Those who would like to try the YouTube option can do so here.
See a list of online meetings that you might attend here.
Ways to Give - Did you know you can donate to OUUC by text message? Just text "OUUC" and "amount" to 73256. You can also donate online by visiting our secure online giving page.
In the Larger Community
Join Olympia UUs and other faith groups around the globe in launching a Green Faith Initiative, “Sacred People, Sacred Earth” on March 11 at noon. During this virtual gathering, faith groups will make demands and take action for our collective social and environmental well-being. March 11 will begin eight months of advocacy in the name of love and equity to prepare for the global November 2021 Climate Conference. The Olympia launch will include mindful prayer, song, and a listing of demands by different faith groups, as well as a call for concrete action. You can join us by Zoom with meeting ID: 899 8077 5923, and passcode: 258381. For more information about the event, contact Wendy Steffensen.
This is your Spring Chalice Lighter Call for the 2020-2021 church year. The Inland Northwest Unitarian Universalist Community of Spokane (INUUC) is an emerging UU congregation that will serve the population of Spokane and Eastern Washington. Your support will assist INUUC with the nonrecurring costs associated with “hitting the ground running” in their quest to offer more opportunities for religious liberals in their area to become Unitarian Universalists. Make a one-time gift of $20, $50, or $100 online at the PNWD giving page. Mail your check, payable to “PNWD Chalice Lighters” to: PNWD Chalice Lighters, P.O. Box 567, Brighton CO 80601. Please include the PNWD-CL designation and the name of your congregation on your check.
Thurston's Virtual Hunger Walk - It’s fun and simple to participate. Visit thurstonHungerWalk.com to donate and support the team of your choice! This FUNdraiser ends Sunday, May 2. The distance you walk or if you walk at all is your choice. Download the flyer below.
About Us
Sara Lewis, Director of Faith Development
Darlene Sarkela, Congregational Administrator
Anissa Bentlemsani, Religious Education Assistant
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