Worship & Music
Sunday services are offered at 9:45 and 11:30 AM.
Sunday, November 17 – Gadgets and Gods
Led by Rev. Renee Ruchotzke and Worship Associate Sophie Smith
Humanism is a core value and influence in Unitarian Universalism, yet we live in a time where our interfacing with technology is changing how our human brains function. How can we keep the best of human nature while adapting to new ways of sharing information?
November 24 – Grateful Sharing of the Bread
Led by Rev. George Buchanan; Karen Lapidus, Director of Religious Education; Hal Walker, Music Director; and Trish McLoughlin, Worship Associate
Please join us for our annual Thanksgiving Multigenerational Worship Service! This is a bread communion service, with several different types of bread we gratefully share with one another. This expresses the importance of “moving to the middle” in our lives with family and close friends – giving and receiving with deep gratitude as we grow together and increase the common good.
We are looking for just a few households to volunteer to bake bread for the Nov. 24 service. Please contact MaryBeth Hannan in the church office if you are willing to bake. In the Chalice Flame newsletter, we had asked that each household bring bread to share – our plans changed and this is no longer necessary. So just bring your wonderful selves, and of course anyone you know in need of our open and loving community.
Looking for your creativity and expertise with felt!
We are seeking individuals who are both creative and work well with felt! It is our hope to offer a felt board presentation at our earliest worship service offered on Christmas Eve. If you would are interested in assisting with this project, please contact Rev. Renee Ruchotzke, [email protected] or Karen Lapidus, [email protected].
Got Prayer?
On 12/29 we will be sharing some of the ways that members and friends of our congregation engage prayer and/or other spiritual practices with their families. Whether or not you have children at home or even at all, we invite your stories. Do you have any regular prayer practices or other spiritual practices you keep with your family (however you define family for yourself). If not, have you had milestone, transitional or otherwise special moments with your family life in which you have prayed or observed some other spiritual practice together that has been especially meaningful for you? If you are willing, we would love to share your story during the service. This will be a multimedia program, so any photos, recordings, or videos that illustrate your family’s spiritual traditions will be most welcome. Lois Weir and Andrew Rome will be coordinating this intergenerational service. Please contact Lois or Andrew with your contributions.
Lifespan Learning
Idea of the Week – Becoming Our True Selves
The religious and spiritual process is about emerging as our truer, more loving selves. Many define this in terms of improving our relationship with God or a Higher Power in some form. And that is fine. Others, including many Unitarian Universalists, experience emergence of their truer, more loving selves in relationship to a world without a God-image. It’s all good.
Rev. George Buchanan
RadioLab and Pancakes!
Radiolab and Pancakes will meet in Fessenden Hall during second service, on Nov. 24th. This time we will take a break from Radiolab and listen to On Being with Kristina Tippet. Her guest is a young Lutheran Minister who created a church specifically for young transgender people. Seeking to avoid tradition, her church has a chocolate fountain rather than a baptismal font. The story of this inspiring church will start our monthly discussion.
Community Within
SPECIAL CONGREGATIONAL VOTING MEETING – QUORUM REQUIRED!
Please join us on Sunday, November 24 at 12:45 pm in Fessenden Hall for an information and voting meeting on the property acquisition. Here we grow again!
Retiree’s Lunch – Tuesday, November 19 at noon
We’ll meet for an hour to an hour and a half depending on the number of people who attend so everyone has an opportunity to check in with the group. All retirees are welcome to join us. Bring your own lunch, beverages will be provided.
New UU Classes continue this coming Sunday, Nov 17!
Our New UU classes cover everything you wanted to know about the Unitarian Universalist Church of Kent in particular and Unitarian Universalism in general, but were afraid to ask. Well, maybe not everything, but we try to give you an overview, a starting point. Some history of both, some organizational details. Come join the conversation. And, if you’re curious about membership, this is the place to be.
Part 1 was last Sunday, November 10. Part 2 will be on Sunday, November 17, from 9-11 am. You are encouraged to attend this coming Sunday, even if you missed the first session. Different topics are covered in each session. We will gather at the Annex, the yellow house next to the church.
If you have any questions, contact Claudia Miller or Marion Yeagler.
Once again the Unitarian Universalist Church of Kent will host Thanksgiving dinner at the church on Thursday, November 28 beginning at 2 pm in Fessenden Hall. Our host, Bonny Graham Esparza, will be preparing a turkey for the feast.
Turkey will be provided so there will be no charge for anyone; however, we will take a free will offering to help cover the cost of a few supplies and some other treats. All who attend are asked to bring a favorite Thanksgiving dinner side dish or dessert to share. A variety of alcohol-free drinks will be provided.
If you plan to come, consider bringing your favorite game to share if you’d also like to enjoy time relaxing with others after the meal.
In order to prepare, please let us know if you are coming. A sign-up sheet has been posted in Fessenden Hall. Alternatively, you can email your reply to the church office. If you do reply via email, please let us know what you will be bringing and whether you are free to help with set up or clean up.
The Library Committee would like to thank all who participated in Symposium 3 last night in spite of the weather. Moyers conducted a wonderful interview of Salman Rushdie (Satanic Verses), followed by plentiful and delicious refreshments and a very stimulating discussion sparked by Rushdie’s idea that morality is hard-wired into human beings. (Is it?) There were requests for another Symposium after the holidays. Stay tuned.
Here We Have Gathered, Volume 3 will be on sale for $5.00 during coffee hour Sunday, the 17th, and on succeeding Sundays. This is the Library’s sole fundraiser for the year (all symposiums are free), and the committee will be most grateful for your support. The money is used primarily to purchase new books for our collection.
It takes all of us to create a welcoming environment on Sunday mornings. All the members and friends of this church are needed to extend hospitality to our visitors. We need a large team of people who volunteer to help greet and usher on Sunday mornings, to prepare an inviting coffee hour or to donate flowers to add a focal point of beauty to our services. In order to make it easier to participate, we are using a new tool that will allow you to see what Sunday morning hospitality positions are available and to decide when and how frequently you might be able to help.
Sign up at: www.SignUpGenius.com/go/904054FA9A62BA57-sunday
Outreach and Social Justice
Many thanks to everyone who supported our November Special Offering to honor veterans on Veterans’ Day. The collection raised $977.00 which will be donated to Freedom House.
The UUCK Environmental Justice Task Groups Presents: Fracking Film Series
7pm Fridays, Fessenden Hall
November 15th, 7pm
Gasland II is a deeper look into the complexities of fracking. Director Josh Fox explores
the gas industry and its portrayal of natural gas as a safe and clean alternative to oil. This film provides a comprehensive look at fracking and its impact on individual lives, environmental devastation, and political corruption.
Gasland II will be followed by a speaker presentation and discussion with Mary Greer from Concerned Citizens Ohio.
Contact the church office for more information at (330) 673-4247.
UU and Interfaith Connections
Kent Community Dinner – Celebrating the Jewish Community! November 16, 5:30 PM at the Cohn Jewish Student Center, 613 E. Summit Street, Kent, OH There will be educational programming led by Hillel, dinner music by Guy Pernetti, help from the Boy Scouts, and special songs from Hal Walker. For more information, call 330.678.8760.
Income Generation
Just a reminder that we are participating in the Acme Community Cash Back Program. Please save your Acme register receipts and turn them in to the box located on the grocery card table in Fessenden Hall. The Church receives 5% of the Community Cash Back total at the bottom on the register tape. Thanks so much for your participation, we appreciate your support!