November 6, 2011 – 175^th Birthday Kickoff

  9:30 and 11:00 am

“When the Spirit Struck Us Free”

Rev. Dr. Laurel Hallman

Dr. Hallman, minister emerita of First Unitarian Church of Dallas and recent candidate for the presidency of the Unitarian Universalist Association, will open our month-long birthday celebration this Sunday in ‘free-spirited’ fashion!

November 13, 2011 – Visitor Sunday

  9:30 and 11:00 am

“Leaps of Faith”

Rev. Khleber Van Zandt

Remembering the leaps of faith taken by our forebears can mitigate the fears we feel when facing a precipice of our own.  This week, our Leap of Faith Traveling Team members report on their recent experience visiting our partner church, Bull Run UU near Washington DC.

November 20, 2011 – Traditional Bread Communion

9:30 and 11:00 am

“Rising Again”

Rev. Khleber Van Zandt

Bread dough must be punched down and allowed to rise again if it is to support itself as it becomes a full loaf.  In these difficult times, how are our own lives similar to a great loaf of bread?

Please bring a small loaf of bread from your particular tradition, family or personal, to share during Bread Communion at this intergenerational worship service.

November 27, 2011

9:30 and 11:00 am

To Be Announced

Eric Johnson

December 4, 2011 – 175^th Birthday Wrap-Up

9:30 and 11:00 am

“One Seventy-Five and Counting”

Rev. Khleber Van Zandt

Gathering as a 175-years-young congregation, we’ve seen a lot but we still have a long way to go.  Let’s see what we can learn from reviewing our successes and enumerating our challenges.

175^th Birthday Bash - Celebrating 175 Years!

Join us on Saturday, December 3, at 6:00 pm as we celebrate our historic church’s past, present, and future.  A catered dinner will be served at 6:00 pm in the Kate Wuerker Fellowship Hall.  There is no charge for the dinner.

Come one, come all!   This is a family affair:   all children are welcome and will be celebrating in Emerson Place.  Nursery care will be available as well.

Ghost Tour and Dessert-Off

What:  fund- and fun-raisers benefitting the 175^th Birthday Bash

When: Friday, November 11 – 6:30 to 9:00 pm

For the Ghost Tour:  Join us at church at 6:30 and we’ll walk through the spooky streets of Alton hearing all about the hauntings around the neighborhood from Len Adams of Troy Taylor Alton Hauntings Ghost Tours

Cost: $20 per person.  Childcare available.

For the Dessert-Off:   We’ll return to the church for a big Dessert-Off (or you can skip the Ghost Tour and meet us at church about 7:30).   Any one who wants to enter will bring their best dessert and all of us will vote for the best entry with our $1 bills.

Coffee and hot tea provided. 

For more information, email Linda Van Zandt.

Nov. 6  – 9:30 am – Philosophy – Dr. Ronald Glossop

Our focus will be the political philosophy of John Locke (1632-1704) whose ideas inspired the U.S. Declaration of Independence.  Locke presented a reasoned alternative to the view of Thomas Hobbes that any rebellion against political authority would result in horrible social chaos.

Nov. 6 – 11:00 am – Spirit in Practice – Cheryle Tucker-Loewe  This curriculum was created to help Unitarian Universalists develop regular disciplines, or practices, of the spirit — practices that help them connect with the sacred ground of their being, however they understand it. Spirit in Practice offers a forum for learning, sharing, and growth that can enrich their faith journeys.

Nov. 13 – 9:30 am – Bible Study – Tracey Howe-Koch

Take a new look at the Bible and how it relates to us and society.  This will be a time of discovery, discussion, and individual interpretation.  The class will be loosely based on the John Buehrens book Understanding the Bible, an Introduction for Skeptics, Seekers, and Religious Liberals. 

Nov. 13 – 11:00 am – Spirit in Practice – Cheryle Tucker-Loewe. 

Nov. 20 – 9:30 am – Introduction to Paganism – Michelle Bryant-Barbeau

Nov. 20 – 11:00 am – Spirit in Practice – Cheryle Tucker-Loewe

Nov. 27 – 9:30 am – Humanist/Non-Theist Group – John Herndon

Nov. 27 – 11:00 am – Spirit in Practice – Cheryle Tucker-Loewe

A First Glance [reprinted from November, 2008]

  “Hic sunt dracones.”

These were the final words attached to an e-mail I received recently from a colleague of another denomination. 

What could it mean?  I recognized the words as Latin since I took two years of the stuff in junior high and high school, though the fact that I made the worst grades of my entire academic career in those classes still haunts me.  With my meager memory of the language, I thought hic sunt looked like “Here are,” but I wasn’t sure about dracones – could it be the root of the English word “draconian?”

When I had a few minutes, I went to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, and learned that hic sunt dracones is the phrase commonly used by early European mapmakers to denote areas about which they had little or no information.  On the Lenox Globe, a spherical copper representation of the earth that survives from about 1500, the phrase is imprinted across the eastern coast of Asia.  Of course within a few decades of 1500, most European maps would show more accurate depictions of landmasses because of the explosion of information from global explorations of that century, but for much of Europe in 1500, Asia was full of dragons. 

It strikes me that wherever humans have little or no information about an area or a subject, the tendency is to believe the worst, and to say that because we don’t know, there must be dragons lurking just beyond our vision.  With the recent disturbances in the global financial system and the political upheaval of the U.S. election season, our vision of the future may seem more out of focus and even more uncertain than usual, allowing the dragons free rein “out there,” just over the horizon.

Millions of people have lost trillions of dollars in wealth because of the stock market slide, and at this writing the volatility is not abating:  major swings occur each day as world governments announce one program after the other trying to ease tensions. 

Also at this writing, the presidential election is still three weeks away, and negativity continues to be a hallmark of the campaigns – oh, for it to be over so we can get on with our work!  But when it’s over, one side will have won and the other will have lost, and as one side celebrates, I imagine the tension will continue to build as we see and hear great howling from the other.

Hic sunt dracones, indeed.  We’re out here in uncharted waters yet again.  I hope you can take comfort in being part of a loving congregation of caring people, and that you take opportunities to nurture your connections among us.  And if you’d like to talk personally with your minister or with a member of the Care Team, please call me at 618 520-0567 or 314 223-0551, email me at kvanzandt@uuma.org, or call a Care Team member directly.

See you in church,

UU&You! 3.0

Tuesdays, November 1, 8, 15, & 22

The book used will be John Buehrens and Rebecca Parker’s A House for Hope: the Promise of Progressive Religion for the 21^st century.

The chapters will further deepen our understanding of current topics in UU thought.

Volunteers Needed for

Kids' Activity Hour

Sundays at 9:30 am

Crafts and Games for kids in

1^st  through 6^th grades.

The Kids' Activity Hour allows parents to attend worship at 9:30 and Adult Religious Enrichment (ARE) classes at 11:00.  Likewise, parents could choose to attend ARE classes at 9:30 and worship at 11:00.  Your assistance in overseeing activities for these children will be greatly appreciated by all parents as it helps them to participate in the full spectrum of Sunday morning programs.  All activities are planned for you, and you will be serving with at least one partner.  Please volunteer for this important ministry, and let Cheryle know which Sunday works for you! 

Cheryle Tucker-Loewe

Chalice           Circles

Belleville Chalice Circle

Every 3^rd Thursday.

Thursday, November 17 at 7 pm.   Contact Don or Jan Allen for the location.

Renegade Women’s Chalice Circle

Every 3rd Saturday.

Saturday, November 19 from Noon to 2 pm

We decided to change plans for the Renegade Women's Chalice Circle for November and December of this year.  We will meet at our regular time, noon to 2 pm in November and December.  We will not be doing our "Cakes for the Queen of Heaven" workshop for these meetings. We will resume the workshop "Cakes for the Queen of Heaven" with our January 21 meeting, 10 am to 2 pm.   Contact Beth Bourland for further information - (note Beth’s new email address).

Parents Seeking Peace Chalice Circle

Every 3rd Sunday.

Sunday, November 20 from 12:15 to 1:30 in Emerson Place at Church.
Contact: Diane Thompson or Sayer Johnson.

Men's Chalice Circle>

Every 4^th Tuesday.

Tuesday, November 22 at 7 pm at church.

Contact: Khleber Van Zandt.

The GLBT Chalice Circle

The last Sunday of each month.

Sunday, November 27 at 12:15 pm.   
Look for them on facebook under “GBLT UU Chalice Circle - Alton, IL.”
For updates on GBLT Chalice Circle topics, etc., please go to the website and join http://groups.google.com/group/stl-uu-lgbt-plus/topics. 
Contact Layne A. Simpson for more information.

Meet our newest members.

We don’t put personal info. in the online edition of the newsletter.   Check the print version at church for address/phone numbers or contact Ed or Sabrina.

Edward Navarre & Sabrina Trupia

enavarr@siue.edu  (Edward)

strupia@gmail.com (Sabrina)

Youth Group Italian Luncheon

 Our Youth Group will serve an all-church Italian luncheon after the second service on November 13^th.  The menu will be Pasta with Alfredo or Marinara sauce, breadsticks, salad and dessert.  Proceeds from the $5 per person or $10 per family donations will benefit the RE Program budget.

FOOD   MINISTRIES

Coffee Hour:

We are seeking a method of duty sharing that should hopefully help in keeping any one person from becoming burned out.  We will continue to have signup sheets available in the Wuerker Room to let you volunteer to bring refreshments –  to take a turn at setting up for coffee hour (making the coffee and other drinks and putting the cups, glasses, etc. out) – and to help clean up after coffee hour.  EVERYONE needs to take a turn at each of these responsibilities.

You may bring any snack you like (baked good, cheese, crackers, fruit, etc.) and we ask that you bring just enough to serve 24 people (2 dozen cookies or brownies, a loaf of bread that can be cut into 24 slices, one package of crackers, etc.).  We are always looking for ways to better share the weekly tasks so that we can build community and save energy for the bigger tasks we all want to accomplish.

Pot Luck Lunches:

Our monthly lunches are held on the 4^th Sunday following the second worship service. Everyone is asked to bring a dish to share and occasionally we give the meal a theme.  This is an all-church event so we all set up and clean up, but Food Ministries members are the people who help others find serving spoons, use the microwave, and give general kitchen guidance.

Kathryn Chapman

The Next meeting for
“Cakes for the Queen of Heaven” will be
on January 21, 2012 from 10 am to 2 pm.

For further information contact Peg Flach.

Our thoughts and sympathy go out to Bob and Nancy Copley whose son John died on October 2 after a lengthy illness.   Besides his parents, John was survived by his wife, two sons, one granddaughter and one sister and five brothers.   Memorials in John’s name may be made to the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network or to the Jersey Community Unit School District 100 Foundation.

Midge Hallett’s friend Gene McElroy died recently and our thoughts are with Midge.

Flowers Needed for the

9:30 am Worship Service

If you would like to provide flowers or some sort of decorative arrangement for the first worship service please contact Trish Botsko.

Most people enjoy getting a card or email or phone call on their birthday.  Below is the list we have of church members and friends celebrating birthdays this month.  If you don’t think the church office has your birthday on file, please contact Becky Green at church@firstuualton.org) and give her that information.

11/02     Sandy Shaner

11/03     David Weber

11/14     Steven Mead

11/06     Bob Larson

11/11     Pat Murrell

11/15     Liz Rogers

11/15     Eilene Taylor

11/17     Diane Herndon

11/17     Alison Reiheld

11/22     Tim Strawn

11/25     Maia Dothager, (7)

11/25     John Herndon

11/29     Bob Chapman

11/30     Neil Adams

Transgender Day

of Remembrance

Please join the Social Justice committee on Sunday, November 20 from 1 pm until 4 pm for the Transgender Day of Remembrance. This will be an educational workshop as well as a Remembrance of trans who were murdered this year. We will also move forward as a welcoming congregation by declaring our accessible bathroom "Gender Free."  Contact Sayer Johnson or John Herndon for further details.  A free-will offering will be taken to further support Transhaven.

Choir Rehearsals

1^st 2^nd & 3^rd Thursdays

of each month.

7 to 8:30 pm

If you enjoy singing, consider joining the choir this church year.

Rehearsals in November will be Nov. 3, Nov. 10, and Nov. 17.

 We sing a variety of musical selections, and participate in the Sunday worship services at least once a month.

For further information contact Willis McCoy.

The ANNA Ds

Women’s Alliance Group

(Named for the first woman treasurer of the church – Anna Davenport Sparks 1830 – 1896)

The Anna Ds will meet at 11:30 am on Thursday, November 3 at Methodist Village (5201 Asbury, Godfrey, IL).   Lorli Nelson is the hostess.   The cost is $6.75 and a lunch ticket will need to be purchased at the reception desk before going to the dining room.  Email Brynda McCoy by October 31.

The Seekers

Book Group

November 30

The Seekers meet at 7 pm on the last Wednesday of each month to discuss whatever it is the group is reading for that month or ideas that come out of that reading.  The book for October 26 is Strength to Love by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and the book for November will be The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

Fifty-Plus (50+) Forum

The “Fifty Plusers” will meet on Saturday, November 5 from 10:30 am to noon, with the opportunity to continue the camaraderie by going to lunch together afterwards. 

The guest speaker will be Barney Murrell who will talk about the ideas expressed in his article: “America, Driven Into Bankruptcy for Conservative Ideology Purposes.”

The Fifty-Plus Forum is coordinated by Sandy Shaner, Pat Murrell, and Mona Hebert.

Men’s Lunch Group

All Men in our Church Family are invited!

The Men’s Lunch Group will meet at 11:30 am on Thursday, November 10 at the St. Louis Buffet, 672 Wesley Dr., Wood River, IL.  Contact Dick Blanton for further details.

Spiral Scouts

Meeting Dates

Sunday, November 13 from 1-3 pm

Sunday, December 11 from 1-3 pm

Sunday, January 8 from 1-3 pm

The SpiralScouts youth program includes interpersonal skills, traditional woodland lore, camping, and outdoor living skills. Over the past year, our SpiralScouts have learned a variety of life skills and earned badges in camping, cooking, knot tying, orienteering, hiking, sculpture, and more.

New youths or adults may register any time. The meeting day and time for RiverDragon SpiralScouts Circle 254 is the second Sunday of each month from 1-3 pm at the First Unitarian Church of Alton. Although we try to maintain a regular meeting day and time, the meeting date is subject to change due to holidays or SpiralScouts field trips.  To check on meeting times or for additional information you may contact Amy Eichen Primary Contact for RiverDragon Circle 254.

Check Out the Book Sale

THE COLD WINTER DAYS ARE COMING –

Now's the time to stock up on new reading material from the church sale bookcase ($1 for hardbacks, 50 cents for paperbacks). AND it's the perfect time to think long and hard about what you can recycle from your own bookshelves to the church sale shelves. Isn't it time you gave up those business books you SHOULD read and won't?  How likely are you to read that latest translation of Anna Karenina?  Really. Maybe your sacrifice (?) can bring a new or almost new book into someone else's life AND make room for some books you might actually read.  Look long and hard at your bookshelves:  this is the perfect time to dust off those old books so you, the books and the dust won't be trapped inside together all winter.

Sandy Shaner

Community
Outreach Offering

November 13 – This is the third year we are supporting two Unitarian students in the Khasi Hills in India further their secondary school and college education. We are committed to paying $600 per year to cover educational expenses for these young people.

November 27 – The COO will go to the Alton Crisis Food Center.   Due to higher unemploy-ment, people who used to perhaps contribute to the area food pantries now find themselves in need to assistance.   Supplies at area food banks are running low and requests for food are spiraling upward.   Your contribution will help buy needed provisions.

Directory Update

Beth Bourland’s new email address is bethbou1@att.net

Leadership Development Mornings

Join Ian Evison and Dori Davenport Thexton for CMwD Leadership Development workshops.  These workshops will be offered on November 19 at First Unitarian Church of St. Louis. Teams from your congregation can choose one of two simultaneous workshops:

Right Relations and Leadership Development, led by Ian Evison

Right relations (developing behavioral norms for our UU congregations) and leadership development (moving beyond just recruiting people to intentionally preparing people for leadership) are two of the hottest subjects in our UU congregations these days.   Doing either of these things well requires attention to both. I will speak briefly about both and answer questions to help you take the next steps.

Supervision and Team Building for Staff, led by Dori Davenport Thexton

Whether you supervise paid/professional staff in your congregation or volunteer staff, the principles are the same.  We will discuss the concept of “The Ministry of Supervision” and explore ideas for supporting, motivating and supervising staff and/or volunteer teams in the context of a religious community.  Working in a congregation can be an opportunity for personal and spiritual growth -- learn how you can be part of this transformation.

Congregational teams are encouraged to participate. $10/person or $35 for a team of 4 or more.
Questions, please email or call Dori dthexton@uua.org or 708-805-1866.

REGISTER for November 19 at St Louis MO.

Workshops run from 9:30 until noon local time.

November RE Program News & Notes

November Schedule

Youth Group Luncheon Fundraiser Sunday November 13^th after the Second Service

Our Youth Group will serve an all-church luncheon after the second service on November 13^th.  Watch for further announcements in our weekly bulletins and during church services.  All proceeds go to the RE Program budget.

Guest at Your Table 2011

The RE Program will join with the congregation and other UU congregations from around the country in the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee’s Guest at Your Table program.  During Guest at Your Table, participants keep a colorful Guest at Your Table box — with photographs of special guests from around the world — in a prominent place in their home, like the dining room table (or the laundry room or the couch — wherever change collects! — I keep a box all year long).  Teach your children about this program.  Beginning November 13th, make daily contributions to your Guest at Your Table box, as if sharing with your special guests.  We will collect the boxes in December or January; all contributions go to support the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee in their vital work.  UUSC advances human rights and social justice around the world, partnering with those who confront unjust power structures and mobilizing resources to challenge oppressive policies.  Last year, our church collected over $900.

For more information see Tracey or Matt Koch, or you can visit:  http://www.uusc.org/guest.

Steven Mead, DRE

314.239.5694 (cell)

dre@firstuualton.org