OUUC Weekly Update 8-16-22
News from the Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation
Worship Service August 21 at 10:00 am - online and in-person
“Who Weeps for the Opossum? What Animals Teach us about Human Nature” – Jennifer Springsteen
OUUC Sunday Morning Service
https://zoom.us/j/873210124?pwd=U21qdmwxcTNyaE1LQ0xlU0MwM3VMQT09
Meeting ID: 873 210 124
Password: 995142
Dial +1 253 215 8782
See recordings of online services here.
Sunday Talk Show Guest is Steve LeVesconte
The “After Church with Melanie Ransom” talk show continues this Sunday with a special guest, Steve LeVesconte. Steve recently moved here from Dayton, OH, and started attending OUUC in June of 2021. Steve has an amazing story about overcoming a learning disability. The show starts at 11:30 am on the Zoom link we use for online church services. If you missed some of the previous shows, you can find them on the website. Many of us come to OUUC for the theology or the minister, but we stay because of our life-long connections to the people. –Melanie Ransom
Come to the OUUC Summer Picnic!
We will be at Millersylvania State Park, Shelter #3 on August 27, 2:00 -7:30 pm. There will be fun activities like crafts, nature walks, games, a campfire-style sing-along, and more! Potluck dinner will be shared around 5:00 pm.
Things to bring: a Discover Pass for parking or a state park day pass, a potluck dish to share, your own reusable dishes and cutlery if you have some, and camp chairs if you have them. Questions, contact Rev Sara.
Open Study/Action Circles
You can now register for four new Study/Action Circles that will be facilitated this year by Rev Sara:
A drop-in group on the 1st Tuesdays, 6:30-8:00 pm.
A Parent group on 2nd Tuesdays, 6:30-8:00 pm.
A Leadership group on 3rd Tuesdays, 6:30-8:00 pm.
A “Spirituality and Racial Justice” group on the 4th Tuesdays, 6:30-8:00 pm.
Registration links are here: Study and Action Circles: A Small Group Program (ouuc.org)
For more information, contact Rev Sara.
“Back to School, Back to Church” by Rev. Mary Gear & Rev. Sara Lewis
As we move through these sweet days of Summer, we are looking ahead to Fall for back to school and back to church—or at least more church events. For the coming Fall, there are some things that will be the same and some things will be different, kind of like the rest of life these days.
We will still gather for worship on Sunday mornings at 10:00 am in person and online. We will still gather to be together, practice together, and learn together. We’ll still work together for a world that is loving, just, and healthy.
Read about the monthly themes, new Sunday morning and Thursday evening events, and more.
Download a flyer about upcoming events below.
School Supply Drive
OUUC is collecting throughout August for children and teens in Tacoma who need help getting ready for a new school year. There will be a box in the Commons and you can drop things off on Sundays or during office hours Tuesday and Thursday 10:00 am-2:00 pm, or by arrangement with Rev Sara.
Items Needed: backpacks, markers, crayons, multi-colored highlighters, scissors (left and right-handed), colored pencils, earbuds, pens, mechanical pencils, glue sticks, graph paper, and lined paper.
Adopt-a-Plot Team Saturday, August 27 at 9:00 am
Work up an Appetite for the OUUC Picnic - Come help the Adopt-a-Plot team at their next work party. The grounds need an extra bit of TLC before the opening of Church year on September 11. Bring your favorite tools, wheelbarrows, and strong arms and backs! Take your pick of weeding, raking, mulching, or general clean-up of the beds. Also, Save the Date! Building and Grounds & EAT will be having an "After Work" work party Friday, September 9 at 6:00 pm to clean up the building area. The Thursday Men's Group will be offering burgers, etc. Stay tuned for details! Thanks!
OUUC to be Recognized by Quixote Communities
The Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation was one of the founding faith communities for Camp Quixote. Many of you who were at OUUC in the early 2010s helped shelter, feed, and care for vulnerable community members in the church parking lot. Since then, Quixote Villages has provided tiny homes to more than 100 people.
OUUC will be recognized by Quixote Communities at a fundraising event on Saturday, September 17 from 6:30-9:30 pm at Olympia’s Hands on Children’s Museum. Read more....Update to OUUC Covid Guidance
While we all want to be done with Covid, it’s not quite done with us. In some places, cases are on the rise with a new variant. In Thurston County, our cases and risk level have been up and down the past few months.
At OUUC, each week we update the website to reflect the current risk level in Thurston County. To determine risk level, we use Covid ActNow and the CDC Community Tracker. You can find the risk level and links to all OUUC’s guidance on the front page of the OUUC website. Covid updates page: https://www.ouuc.org/covid-19-updates/.
What we know about the virus and how we respond changes regularly. The Health & Safety Task Force continues working hard to create guidance for OUUC that is in alignment with our values, protects those who are vulnerable, and helps keep us connected.
The Task Force met recently to revisit our phased guidance, which outlines how we respond at each risk level, low, medium, and high. The task Force adopted these changes and additions: Read more....
Water Communion and Ingathering: We Begin Again September 11 at 10:00 am
We’ll gather in all the ways that we can on September 11 to begin another congregational program year together! School begins, the rain begins, and the church year begins, again. Our spiritual theme for September is “welcome.’ As we welcome a new year, we welcome each other.
As has been the tradition at OUUC and many UU congregations, we mark our ingathering with a water communion; we mingle water from our summer activities, and we build community once more.
If you plan to attend in person, remember to bring water from someplace meaningful for you. We’ll also have water available to symbolize your water.
If you plan to attend online, please remember to have some water available that you can pour as you share its significance in the chat.
We hope to see you online or in person on September 11!
Rev. Mary
Join a Team!
Joining a Team at OUUC is a great way to get connected and give back to the community. Teams are how we get stuff done around here! Teams that are looking for members right now:
Adult Education Team (meets 4th Thurs 2:30 pm on Zoom)
(New!) Anti-Racism Team (meets 2nd Mondays 6:30 pm on Zoom)
(New!) Economic Justice Team (meets 4th Mondays 6:30 pm on Zoom)
Member Engagement Team (meets 3rd Mondays 6:30 pm on Zoom)
If you are interested in any of these teams, contact Rev Sara.
Thursday Night Community Dinners!
Starting September 15, we will be holding weekly community dinners at OUUC every Thursday. All are welcome to join us at 5:30 pm for dinner and then stay for spiritual practices, other programming, or board games in the Commons. Volunteer now to support these dinners. We’ll be cooking and preparing the food together in the kitchen and then putting it out for the dinner line. Or you can bring Cookies. Or help clean up!
Volunteer here.
Questions, contact Rev Sara.
Common Read
Join us in reading the UU Common Read: Defund Fear by Zach Norris. This fascinating book explores our current punitive system of safety and what the possibilities are for a more just, loving, and also safe way of being together. There will be a one-session workshop on the book on Thursday, October 6, 6:30 pm, and a Study/Action Circle will form around the book following that workshop. We have ordered 10 copies of the book that can be obtained by talking to Rev Sara, or you can find it at your favorite bookseller or library.
Calling All Welcoming and Helpful People!
Being an Usher on Sunday morning is an important way to support our welcoming and inclusive community. Please join us for Usher Training, whether you’re an existing usher volunteer or you’re newly interested, on Tuesday, August 30, 6:00-8:00 pm. We’ll go over the basics, Covid Safety, and more. All are welcome!
Cookie Brigade!
Do you like to make cookies? Can you make cookies that are gluten-free or vegan? Do people tell you that your cookies are beautiful? Has anyone ever cried with joy after tasting your cookies? If any of that rings true for you, you are a perfect candidate for the Cookie Brigade! We have a vision that OUUC will be known and revered for our cookie ministry. Contact Melanie Ransom to get on the list. We'll be baking cookies for the upcoming Thursday Community Dinners.
Quick Notes
Church Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm.
Thank you to all who participated in the OUUC Auction! Thank you for your donation to the UU Service Committee to support their work worldwide! Download a copy of the letter from the UUSC below.
Coming Up:
Multiplatform Worship – every Sunday at 10:00 am
Water Communion – Sunday, September 11, 10:00 am
Blessing of the Backpacks – Sunday, September 11, 11:30 am
Thursday Community Dinner – Thursday, September 15, 5:30 pm, and all Thursdays after that
Youth Program and Family Kick-Off Picnic at Lions park – September 18, 1:00 pm
Party for Peace – September 24, 4:00-7:00 pm
Blessing of the Backpacks, Sunday, September 11 at 11:30 am - Students of all ages are invited to attend a Blessing the Backpacks ritual to mark the return to school on September 11 (after the water communion service). Bring your backpack, book bag, briefcase, etc. to be blessed and to receive a bag charm.
Did you lose a piece of your key fob? If so, please stop by the church office.
COVID Phase: Medium. Please see our Phased Reopening Plan for information.
Safety Reminder: Please lock and remove valuables from your vehicles.
In the Larger Community
Learn more about the following events and others here.
Braiding Sweetgrass Study/Action Group - A community friend of OUUC is offering a study/action group around the book Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. This group will meet for 12 weeks starting September 7 at 7:00 pm, with zoom and some outdoor gatherings.
Jubilee Three Anti-Racism Training - Friday, August 19, 6:00 pm - Sunday, August 21, 2022, 6:30 pm EDT. Do you wish to deepen your understanding of how race and ethnicity play out in our institutions and our daily lives? Are you ready to take a leading role to nurture a multicultural future in the face of opposing cultural currents?
The AARP Tax-Aide Program desperately needs volunteers to provide free income tax preparation and e-filing services to taxpayers of all ages and incomes, with a special emphasis on the elderly and those most in need in our community. Our district provides services at 6 sites throughout Thurston County libraries, community centers, and senior centers.
If you have been meaning to divest your personal finances away from funding fossil fuel extraction, production, and distribution - workshops on August 26, 4:00-5:30 pm, and September 9, 5:00-6:30 pm.
Some may be aware that at one time many subdivisions and homes had racially restrictive covenants. These live on in needs as property ownership changes, and thousands still exist, though they are illegal. A law was passed last year to allow property owners to remove the covenants free of charge. The Thurston County auditor's office has been working with the University of Washington to identify thousands of deeds that might have these covenants and notify owners of the opportunity to remove them. They are looking for volunteers to read the deeds to confirm whether the covenants do exist. A link if you are interested or would like to pass it along to friends and neighbors.
Read more....
About Us
Sara Lewis, Director of Community and Faith Development
Darlene Sarkela, Congregational Administrator
Marie Arensmeyer, Facilities Manager
Anissa Bentlemsani, Religious Education Assistant
Office Hours
Tuesday and Thursday, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Email: liberalfaith@ouuc.org
Website: http://ouuc.org
Location: 2315 Division Street Northwest, Olympia, WA, United States
Phone: 360-634-2005
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OlympiaUUC/
Twitter: @OlyUUC