This Month
December
- Complete the Racial Justice Survey by Dec 6
- Last Day to Drop off Beacon House gifts, Dec 8
- TAC Holiday Happy Hour, Dec 12, 7 PM
- Write Here, Write Now!, Dec 13, 7:30 PM
- Women’s Book Discussion, Dec 21, 1 PM
Upcoming Events
- Hypothermia Shelter, Jan 9 to 16, 2022
- TAC Coffee Hour Discussion of Pray Away Documentary, January 16 after service
- Our Whole Lives Orientations, January 2022
See what happened at our past events – check out our Event Photos page
Coffee Hour Every Sunday
All members, friends, and visitors are welcome to stay after service each week for greetings and coffee hour at approximately 11 AM. Grab yourself some refreshments and join in discussion about the service or catch up with your church friends.
Tuesday Talks
Join us virtually for some casual adult conversation & connection (Formerly known as Tipsy Tuesday.) Each month we will choose a new conversation starter. Plan to listen and share your current concerns and joys. We will have an hour to chat on the second Tuesday of every month at 8 pm. Bring something to drink, your secret candy, a craft project, or all of the above! Join the Zoom Meeting here (Meeting ID: 919 8758 5256). Questions? Contact the DSD ([email protected]) or see the AUUC Parenting Facebook page.
Pastoral Care Team
The Pastoral Care Team is committed to engaging proactively with our fellow congregants at AUUC to provide care for one another. We do this with trust, empathy, confidentiality, and vulnerability. Please feel free to contact any member of the team if you need to talk to someone. We can help connect you to support resources in the congregation and wider community. The Pastoral Care Team members are: Connie D, Ken H, Mark R, Ann S, and Amy T. Our contact email is [email protected]g.
No In-Person Gatherings This Week
Unfortunately the Covid matrix that we have adopted as our threshold for re-entry has risen to the High Risk or “Orange” category so there will be no in-person, indoor gatherings at AUUC this week. The risk level will be reassessed next Tuesday evening.
Legislative Advocacy
Over the past several years, AUUC has become increasingly involved in advocacy at the federal, state, and local levels. Be a part of the AUUC Advocacy Group in 2022! Learn more.
UUSJ December 2021 Write Here! Write Now!
Using the UUSJ Action Alert, show solidarity for Labor! Tell Congress to Protect the Right to Organize with the ProAct. We will have our virtual Accotink letter-writing party hosted by John P on December 13 at 7:30 PM. Learn more.
True Accotink Colors Holiday Hour
Join us for a night of great company, crafting, music, trivia game, and more on December 12 at 7 PM, on Zoom. Goodie bags will be available for attendees to pick up at the church from December 6 to 11.
AUUC Hypothermia Shelter
AUUC will be hosting our 11th annual hypothermia shelter from January 9 to 16, 2022, and everyone is invited to participate. In addition to providing a warm place to sleep, we will serve dinner each night at ~6:30 and provide our guests with a breakfast bag to take with them.
To make all this happen, we need a set-up crew each evening to ensure the building is ready to receive our guests. We will also need people to prepare meal items to be at AUUC between 5:00 – 5:30PM each day and people to arrange/serve the food and clean the kitchen after the meal.
Since we can’t guarantee all guests will be vaccinated, to ensure everyone’s safety during Covid, everyone in the building (including guests) will be masked and we are requesting that all volunteers serving in the building be vaccinated. Similarly, for the first time, we will not be sitting with our guests for dinner and conversation.
This is a family friendly event and older children (~10) are welcome to participate in the shelter any night under parental supervision. In addition, the Children’s Spiritual Development Committee will sponsor the first night (Sunday, 9th) of the shelter and will provide ways for our younger children to be involved.
As in the past, we will also be collecting new (or gently used) winter clothing and personal hygiene items. Jessica Larsen will be running that program.
Use this link to the Sign-up Genius (https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0e4dafa723a13-auuc7) for the various volunteer opportunities. If you need assistance volunteering or would like more information, please contact Ed K or [email protected]
One of our 7 principles is “the inherent worth and dignity of every person,” and together, AUUC will help a lot of people again this year.
Collecting Winter Coats and Personal Care Items
This year we will once again collect donations that can make our hypothermia shelter guests’ lives a little bit easier. To help with planning, we’ve created a Sign-Up for some of the most popular items, like socks, deodorant, hand wipes, and hand warmers. All quantities are minimum goals; please feel free to bring more than requested.
In addition to items on this list, we welcome sample-sized toiletries (such as those from hotel stays), gently used winter coats, and adult-sized clothing items, like underwear, long-underwear, winter hats, scarves, gloves, and shower shoes. We also like to provide a small library of new or gently used books and recent magazines.
Donations can be placed in the labeled bin outside the church or left on Jessica L’s porch in West Springfield – you’ll receive an email with her address after signing up. Thanks for your support. Our guests always appreciate your generosity!
If you have any questions, please reach out to Jessica Larsen via email or the contact link in the Sign-Up Genius.
Our Whole Lives (OWL) Class Coming in February
Do you have a 9th-12th grader who was unable to finish OWL due to the pandemic, or a youth who still needs to take the OWL class? We are planning to offer the Our Whole Lives (OWL) sexuality education program in February! Please fill out the OWL interest form at https://tinyurl.com/OWLinterest so we can plan our upcoming program.
OWL is a sexuality education program for youth that models and teaches caring, compassion, respect, and justice. Learn more about OWL at Accotink.
December Outreach: Just Neighbors
Accotink’s December outreach collection will support Just Neighbors, a humanitarian-based nonprofit immigration law firm serving the most vulnerable immigrants in our community. The majority of their clients are survivors of violent crimes, trafficking, or persecution.
The legal help from Just Neighbors is felt not only by the client themselves, but also by the families they support. Achieving legal status affords the opportunity for financial stability, safety, and assurance, benefitting the entire community. Please visit www.justneighbors.org for more information.
There has been a huge increase in people asking for help in recent months. There is a huge backlog of pending cases in the federal system and during the pandemic, many other immigration service organizations have shut down, referring people to Just Neighbors. Sadly, because of resource constraints, they must turn down about 75% of the requests for help. Because 30% of its funding comes from individual donors, our support for Just Neighbors is now even more important than ever. Learn more: https://www.justneighbors.org/
Tax deductible donations may be made online through the AUUC website anytime during the month; click Donate, then check “Monthly Outreach Offerings.” Or you may mail a check to AUUC; make checks payable to AUUC with a note ‘outreach’ in the memo line. Outreach collections are sponsored by the Social Justice Committee.
Welcome to AUUC
The Greeters Team would like to reach out to welcome you and to provide more information on AUUC. Please provide your contact information to [email protected]. We look forward to connecting with you!
Stay Connected
Help from AUUC Tech Team
The AUUC Tech Team is here to help you access Zoom and other technologies! Please email us at [email protected] for help, and we will be glad to talk by phone or online to guide you through. Technology may have challenges, but it also brings an exciting opportunity for AUUC to stay well connected; we hope you will be as charged up as we are to learn new things and get connected!
Weekly Email
AUUC sends out a weekly email update, “This Week at Accotink.” If you are not receiving this email message each Thursday evening, please send a message to [email protected] and ask to be put on the distribution list.
DSD Office Hours
Ali is available for meetings and chats by appointment on Tuesday-Friday as well at least 3 Sundays a month. Email [email protected]. For Zoom info email [email protected].
Connecting our Kids and Youth
Please see your “This Week” email with information about kids Coffee Hours, Youth Activities, and Parent Support Group meetings.
Connect with the AUUC Community on Facebook
Join and use the private Facebook group “Accotink UU Church Community.” It is there for AUUC Members and Friends to share announcements and discussions related to our church community. In these difficult times, use it for ISO (In Search Of) and Offering Help (if there is something you or your family needs help with or if you can offer to do a specific errand). Many of us are frequently on Facebook so the odds are that such postings will get prompt attention and responses. Facebook group – Accotink UU Church Community: www.facebook.com/groups/
Please Subscribe to the AUUC YouTube Channel!
During this time of virtual worshiping, all of our sermons will be uploaded to YouTube for later viewing. Please be aware that they are not shown publicly on AUUC YouTube channel. If you would like to watch these videos at anytime, use this direct link tinyurl.com/auucvideos. We also need at least 100 subscribers to have a custom URL for our new YouTube channel so please click on the red Subscribe button. Thank you!