This Week’s Topics Include—
- Peoples’s Climate March, THIS Saturday, April 29
- This Sunday’s Worship Service THIS Sunday, April 30
- We’re excited about the Fellowship Dinner on Sunday at 5:30!
- The End of the Annual Budget Drive!
- River Road UU Congregation “Fiesta” on Saturday, May 6
- NATURAL HISTORY WEEK ON STAR ISLAND, JUNE 2017—
- Collecting Electronics for Recycling in the UUCSS Parking Lot on May 20, 2017
- UUCSS 101 – Interested in joining UUCSS?
- Uniter Meals provide opportunities for UUCSS members to get together
- Share Your Opinions!
- Women’s Book Group
- Men’s Book Group
- Regisiter for Spring RE Workshops!
- Child Dedication Ceremony – Sunday, May 14th
- RE Registration for 2016-17
- The Daytime Creative Aging Group Welcomes New Members!
- Parking During Church Services & Events
- About Your Financial Contributions to UUCSS
- April Volunteer of the Month
- At The Intersection of World and Jazz – Strathmore Corridor Concert, Sunday, May 7th
- In Search of Table and Chairs for Dolan Lounge
- Deadlines for Announcements
- UUCSS Member Dropbox Link
1) Peoples’s Climate March, THIS Saturday, April 29
The Green Sanctuary Committee is organizing a group to head down to the National Mall for this Saturday’s Peoples Climate March. For the details of what to do in advance of the march, visit https://uucss.org/events/
2) This Sunday ‘s Worship Service (April 30th) will be led by Rev. Mark Hoelter and entitled” Refuge and Hope in a Crazy-Dancing God. It is offered at 9:30am and 11:30am. The 9:30am service will be interpreted in American Sign Language, and Coffee Hour will take place between the Services.
3) We’re excited about the Fellowship Dinner on Sunday at 5:30! We have a full house plus a short wait list. Everyone has been wonderful in helping out; what we could use now is an additional bartender (contact fellowshipdinner@uucss.org). Hosts should arrive no later than 5 to prepare their tables. The cocktail hour begins at 5:30, and we’ll sit down at the tables around 6, with desserts and dancing to follow.
4) The End of the Annual Budget Drive! THIS SUNDAY, April 30th marks the end of the Annual Budget Drive as we celebrate with the Fellowship Dinner. By now you should have heard from one of our 30+ Visiting Stewards requesting a short personal visit and made your pledge.
If you haven’t heard from your Visiting Steward or have and haven’t submitted your pledge, please contact Erik Leaver or Meredith Massey atabd@uucss.org, see us at the ABD table during Coffee Hour or make your pledge online at http://uucsss.org/abd.
Thank you for helping us Stand Strong Together with your support.
5) River Road UU Congregation “Fiesta” on Saturday, May 6 – River Road UU Congregation Fiesta is Saturday, May 6, from 6 to 10:30 PM at River Road UU Congregation, 6301 River Road, Bethesda, MD 20817. This is an annual Latin party to benefit the Santa Marta, El Salvador, University Scholarship Fund. There will be music, a buffet dinner (by Master Chef Mariano Ramos-Castillo), cash bar (sodas, beer, wine, sangria), a piñata for the children, and presentation of the 2017 Humanitarian Award by the Latin America Taskforce Network. Tickets (sold at the door) are $35 Adults, $15 Youth, $100 Families; children under 12 Free. For questions, contact Don Chery at dchery@aol.com.
6) NATURAL HISTORY WEEK ON STAR ISLAND, JUNE 2017–
Dear Loving and Caring Custodians of the Earth;
The clock is ticking on the strong possibility that all living things and all created beauty may disappear. We are now in a national atmosphere of overwhelming divisiveness, injustice, denial and despair.
NATURAL HISTORY WEEK ON STAR ISLAND, JUNE 2017, is a true antidote for all of the above. It will be a haven for unity, hope, solace and inner peace.
The most important issue today is the climate crisis.
Only in the last two centuries has humankind tried to dominate and control Nature. Even worse, it has disregarded the great laws of Nature. We can see the effects of this today in so many ways.
Please download this poster and share it with your friends and acquaintances and any organizations that might have an interest in encouraging attendance at this wonderful conference. If you have not been to Star Island, that alone is a reason to attend. There is nothing quite like it. It’s kept me coming back for 36 consecutive years!
Questions? Contact UUCSS member Sally Oesterling: sallyoes@verizon.net; 301 434-3237
7) The UUCSS Green Sanctuary Committee, in conjunction with Green Wheaton and Eco City Junk, will be collecting electronics for recycling in the UUCSS Parking Lot on May 20, 2017. For all the details visit https://uucss.org/events/
8) UUCSS 101 – Interested in joining UUCSS? – This is an informal informational session to learn more about our church and ask questions. The next UUCSS 101 will be Sunday, May 21, during Coffee Hour (about 10:30 am) in the Triangle Room which is just off of the main room in the Community Hall. All are welcome! You do not need to sign up in advance.
9) Uniter Meals provide opportunities for UUCSS members to get together, share a meal, and get to know each other better – usually as a potluck. Details at goo.gl/RoX7vF
Design your own meal! If you want to host a meal, choose the date, theme and the number of slots to suit your schedule and tastes. Just email the details and Bob Kirk will post the meal in the site – first just to you for you to sign up as host and then to the rest of the community. Hosts can also email Bob if they want me to put in an “ending” time – a gentle way to put a close to the evening. If hosts also want to modify any posted settings of a meal – just email bob@kirkweb.us
10) Share Your Opinions! This week during Coffee Hour will be the last week to add to the plus/delta poster on the wall in the Community Hall. Come by the table, take a sticky note, write what you love about UUCSS, why you attend our beloved community, what you wish for at our church, and changes you’d like to see. Several church members will, together, type up the comments and disseminate them across various means of communication over the coming weeks. Next steps are up to us as a congregation. This is just an effort to collect folks’ thoughts, feelings, ideas, and wishes in a collaborative format. We hope to hear as many voices as possible and if you can’t be at church and would like me to add something, please send it to Allison Leaver via email at:a_leaver@yahoo.com.
11) Women’s Book Group – We meet on the fourth Monday of the month. We are an informal group that has been meeting for more than 15 years but there is no long-term obligation to attend. Please call 301-754-1239 for additional information.
May 22: Commonwealth by Ann Patchett.
June 26: After I’m Gone by Laura Lippman
12) Men’s Book Group – We are reading Jhumpa Lahiri’s latest novel “The Lowland.” The next meeting will be held at the home of Bill Wolf on Sunday, June 2 at 7:00 pm at 519 Dartmouth Avenue in Silver Spring. All are welcome. If you are interested in joining the group, contact Richard Lorr (rlorr4@gmail.com), get the book, and come to the next meeting. Hope to see you there!
13 ) Register for Spring RE Workshops – Registration for our spring RE workshops is now open! All kindergarten through middle school aged children and youth must register for a workshop. You can find paper registration forms out on Sunday morning or you can access the online registration here:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/
14) Child Dedication Ceremony – May 14th
Sunday, May 14th, we will be having a Child Dedication Ceremony at UUCSS as a part of the morning’s worship services. This beautiful ceremony provides an opportunity for your child to be blessed in our Unitarian Universalist faith and for the whole community to commit to support your child’s spiritual life and growth within the congregation. For more information about this ceremony or if you and your infant or young child would like to participate please contact Director of Religious Education, Sarah Gonzalez, at dre@uucss.org by May 7th.
15) RE Registration for 2016-17
Religious Education registration for the 2016-17 is now open! This year we have made it easier than ever to register. There are two online forms for registration. The first is our full registration form for anyone registering for the first time or anyone with changes in their information that they need to update. The second form is an abbreviated version for anyone who registered last year and all of their information remains the same.
Accurate registration numbers are crucially important to our RE program,
so please register today!
New or Updating Registrations:https://www.
Recurring Registrations:https://www.
Thanks, Sarah
16) The Daytime Creative Aging group welcomes new members! We meet in the Dolan lounge on the first and third Wednesdays at 10:15. Contact Noni Barker at 301-520-9624.
17) Parking During Church Services & Events – In an effort to be as welcoming to visitors as possible, we encourage UUCSS members who are able to not park in the UUCSS lot for Sunday services or large events – so that we can keep spots open for visitors. We’ve heard from one visitor that she twice came to UUCSS and found the lot full, and went home without attending.
Good alternative parking spots include the side streets near UUCSS, and the CHI lot just north of the church on New Hampshire Avenue.
Thank you in advance for your help.
18) We appreciate your financial contributions to UUCSS and want to provide accurate records for you. To help us do this, please put “Auction,” “Capital Campaign,” or “2016-17 Pledge” in the memo line of your check. If you want to donate stock, please email collector@uucss.org for easy instructions on how to move the stock into the church’s Etrade account. Thank you!
19) The April 2017 Volunteer of the Month – Brian Beard
Brian Beard originally came to UUCSS in 1970 to attend RE classes after his family moved to this area from Oklahoma City (where they had to drive a long way to the only UU church). In the early 70s, UUCSS did not have a full-time minister but his parents loved the community they found here at the church. Brian’s parents, John and Barbara Beard, especially enjoyed the duplicate bridge league and played regularly with Ken Iobst, and Drew and Beth Riggsin the 70s and 80s. After John passed away in 1992, Barbara rejoined the church and was very active with the Uniter group and the gardening of the church grounds (with her own plot assigned by Daisy Grubbs). Brian occasionally helped with the gardening, and also remembers helping transport pottery and other items to the church for the annual auction. Brian had thought for a long time about joining the church choir but he played softball on Thursday’s when choir practiced. After his mother passed away four years ago, Brian felt an even stronger desire to reconnect with the church community and joined the choir (and reluctantly retired from softball…).
Brian is still a member of the choir and on many a Sunday we can enjoy his beautiful deep voice. He also wanted to continue his mother’s legacy in maintaining the church grounds, so he started working with Jean Alexander, and is now the chair of the Property Committee here at church. Brian says the best way to volunteer at the church is to find something that you enjoy and will give you a feeling of satisfaction. In addition to chairing the Property Committee, Brian is also a member of Dreambuilders and the Operations Council, and on many Friday mornings can be found, along with Rachel and John, helping Melinda with editing, folding and inserting the Order of Service. His fondest memory so far of UUCSS is the camaraderie and friendship he has found with his “choir family”.
20) May 7, 3pm | UU Church of Silver Spring, in partnership with Strathmore
At The Intersection of World and Jazz
Strathmore Corridor Concerts presents a stunning afternoon of jazz and world music featuring the brand-new Strathmore World Jazz Choir, Chai Dynamics, and Strathmore Artists-in-Residence Rochelle Rice, jazz vocalist; Savino Palumbo, piano; Joey Antico, percussion; and Ethan Foote, bass
21) In Search of Table and Chairs for Dolan Lounge –
Could anyone donate a table and chair set for the church to use in the Dolan Lounge? That would really be appreciated! We can pick up! Thank you.
22) Weekly Announcement Deadlines: All OOS Information, Written & Oral Announcements and All-Church Email Announcements for Sunday Services are due in the Admin Office by Wednesdays at 9am.
23) UUCSS Member Dropbox link:
In order to provide ready access to documents that help everyone stay engaged and informed about church matters, the UUCSS Board of Trustees has created folders in Dropbox at the following link:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/
Click on the link, or copy/paste it into your browser, and it will take you to “UUCSS Board Information”, currently containing several folders: (1) Board Minutes, (2) Post Capital Campaign, and (3) Resources Related to Rev Leon’s Resignation. Additional folders will be added over time. SAVE THIS LINK. We will continue to use it to add relevant documents for UUCSS members.
Questions about the Dropbox may be sent to:
Emails to the Board of Trustees may be sent to:
Post Capital Campaign Feedback email address:
Emails with feedback related to the post-capitol campaign may be sent to the board via: capitalfeedback@uucss.org
–Melinda Yalom, UUCSS Church Administrator