News and Announcements

On Monday, Jan. 5, 2009, the Rev. Samuel Schaal is to begin an 18-month term as our Transition Minister.

Sam, our Lewis Ministerial Intern from January to June 1997, has been Associate Minister with the 800-member First Congregational Church of Wauwatosa, Wis., since 2003. He was recruited to that position after his very successful three-year transitional ministry with the Unitarian Universalist Church West, of Brookfield, Wis. Prior to that, Sam, who received full fellowship as a minister with the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) in 1998, served churches in Texas. Before being called to ministry, Rev. Sam, who is single and has two grown sons, enjoyed a successful career in the business sector.

Tags: Board, Transition, Worship //

The Advent Buffet Dinner, a fundraiser for the Community Action Endowment Fund, takes place on December 7 at 5:30 p.m.

Cost is $25 per person. All proceeds go into the Fund. Sign up in Fellowship Hall during coffee hour.

In 1985, with an initial gift of $1,000, the CAEF of First Unitarian Church was established. The income of the fund is used to support direct service and social action projects in our community. The goals of the fund are:

To increase the involvement of the church in the community.

To encourage the church to take a leadership role in the solution of area
problems.

To increase the participation of church members in the social action
programs of the church.

Tags: Fellowship, Social Responsibility //

UU congregregations across the country are now discussing the Peacemaking Congregational Study/Action Issue (CSAI) adopted at GA 2006. Congregations are to vote by February 1, 2009 on the draft Statement of Conscience on Peacemaking to be posted at the UUA Commission on Social Witness website by November 15, 2008. A final UUA statement on this issue is to be adopted at the GA 2009 in Salt Lake City next June 24-28.

The Study/Action Issue adopted at the 2006 GA started with the question: “… should the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) reject the use of any and all kinds of violence and war … and adopt a principle of seeking just peace through nonviolent means.” Although some interpreted this as a call for debate between just war and pacifist perspectives, the Peacemaking CSAI Core Team believes that the heart of peacemaking is seeking to find solutions that encompass all truths, rather than creating a competitive battle between two positions. To learn more visit the Peacemaking issue page at the UUA website.

Our congregation needs someone to lead discussions on this issue. Ron Glossop is leading discussions at the First Unitarian Church in Alton, Illinois and is ready to work with anyone who takes the lead here.

If you would like to be our congregational leader on this issue, contact Joanne at program.council@firstuustlouis.org.

Tags: Adult Education, Social Responsibility, St. Louis UU Community, Unitarian Universalists //

First Church’s Social Responsibility Committee is adding its support to efforts by Central Reform Congregation and other faith and community groups on sponsorship of an October Forum on Health.

The forum will feature candidates for the Missouri State House in both Mid- and West-County, who will be asked to address a number of health-related issues in an in-depth, moderated, nonpartisan and unbiased forum. While questions are still in development, they are anticipated to include topics such as Medicaid funding, smoking bans, physical education in schools, and access to health services for people with mental illness and disabilities.

To date, many candidates have announced their intent to participate, and the forum is scheduled for October 28, 7–9 p.m., at the Congregation Shaare Emeth, 11645 Ladue Rd.

Tags: Social Responsibility //

If the Sunday sermon inspires thoughts or questions you’d like to share with others after the service, you’ll have the perfect opportunity beginning Sunday, Oct. 26.

After each service, you can join others, including a Trustee, and, when possible, the minister who gave the sermon, in Fellowship Hall at the table marked “Sermon Discussion.”

This initiative was suggested in the small-group discussions held Oct. 12.

Tags: Adult Education, Fellowship, Sermons //

Based on a survey of the congregation, the Board has decided to continue having one service only and to continue having it at 10 a.m. on Sundays for the foreseeable future.

Of the 136 persons responding to the survey on our one-service experiment for Sunday worship, 119, or 88 percent, preferred continuing to have one service only; and 60 percent preferred to continue having the service begin at 10 a.m.

Copies of the report on the survey, including responses from participants, will be available in Fellowship Hall after church on Sunday, Oct. 19, or by calling the Church Office.

When coming to the worship service, please remember that diagonal parking is available on Kingshighway Boulevard, in addition to our spaces on the south side of the alley in back of the church, in our parking lot, and in CRC’s lot.

Tags: Board, Worship //

We are in the process of arranging for the Rev. Dr. James Daugherty, who well served our church during two ministerial sabbaticals — one in 1982 and one in 1988 — to be our minister on a part-time, temporary basis until we have an Interim Minister.

He earned an accounting degree before earning graduate degrees from Union Theological Seminary in New York City and Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif. A United Methodist minister, Rev. Daugherty has, since coming to St. Louis in 1973, been a hospital chaplain and pastor. Now he is semi-retired.

He will deliver a sermon once a month and work one day each week, making himself available for pastoral care and counseling, as well as supporting staff, officiating at rites of passage, and collaborating with the Worship Committee.

It is expected that he will begin service with us the week of Oct. 6 and will preach on October 26, November 16, and December 7.

Tags: Board, Ministry, Transition //

The Interim Minister Search Committee is in the process of reviewing five prospective Interim Minister candidates suggested to them by the Rev. John Weston, Transitions Director, Unitarian Universalist Association, last Sunday, when he was here as our guest minister.

The committee is seeking an Interim who will serve us for 18 months — from January 2009 through June 2010. The committee, should it choose to recommend a candidate to the Board, likely will do so at the Board’s regular meeting on Monday, November 10.

Tags: Board, Transition //

Our Sunday morning “Conversations with the Bible” group will meet at 9:00 a.m. in the Clark Room, prior to the Worship Service. Everybody who is interested can participate. No prior study or Bible knowledge is necessary. No advance sign-up is necessary. For more information, contact Margaret at genesis@firstuustlouis.org.

Tags: Adult Education //

We have a new Religious Education Sunday morning schedule due to there being one service on Sunday mornings. Starting on Sunday, Sept. 14, the schedule is as follows:

9:30 a.m., Family Chapel in Hope Chapel

10:00 a.m., Sunday School Classes and Youth Group

11:00 a.m., Hope Children’s Choir Rehearsals

Tags: Children, Religious Education //