Here are new events and activities you might like to put on your calendar. See our previous Outside 1st Universalist announcements for other upcoming events.

• October 4, 2008 from 9:30am-4pm — Politics and Liberal Religion in the Wake of Knoxville. This is a SLD event hosted by First Unitarian Society of Schenectady. Per the SLD website, “”Politics & Liberal Religious Values in the Wake of Knoxville” will be the focus of the third annual Social Justice Conference with an address by Blair Horner, Legislative Director of the New York Public Interest Research Group.  He has held this position for 21 years, interrupted only by a stint in Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office to create Project Sunlight, an interactive website that allows New Yorkers to learn more about state politics.  He has been a driving force behind NYPIRG’s successful campaigns to protect consumers, preserve the environment, reduce tobacco use, reform and make government more accountable, improve healthcare quality and provide the public with information on how state government works.  This will be an opportunity for social justice people to consider the implications of their faith in a critical election year.  Brochure & registration form.”

• October 10 & 11, 2008 – NYSCU (New York State Convention of Universalists) Annual Meeting, hosted by the UU Fellowship of Poughkeepsie. Please see bulletin board for agenda and registration forms.

We hope you’ll join us in these activities. Some are educational, some are purely social and some are both. Inter-generational activities include children of all ages, while other activities are of interest to adults only. Check the details to see if childcare is provided.

• Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008 — Social Justice Plate Offering during service. Money collected will benefit children in the Rochester City School District with their back-to-school needs.  Sarah Singal and Santosha Kuykendall will also be collecting in-kind donations (backpacks and school supplies) after church.
• Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008 — deadline today — First U T-shirt order will be placed today. The navy blue t-shirts are $15 each. If you’d like to put your t-shirt check in the plate during the offertory, please write “T-shirt Fund” and size on the memo line of the check.  Contact: Santosha.
• Friday, Sept 26, 2008 at 6:30p.m. — in the adult lounge — Movies to Inspire and Uplift will show “Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story” followed by discussion.  There is no charge, but donations of snacks to share are gratefully appreciated.

  Dorothy Day is no saint. She lives hard, makes mistakes, endures the consequences. But the unquenchable fire burning within her cannot be contained. Dorothy wants to make a difference. During the Depression, she vows to house the homeless, feed the hungry, tend the sick. Easily said. Not easily done when her total finances amount to 97 cents in a battered canister. Yet Dorothy persists, walking on frequently stormy waters of faith.

  Popular stars and important themes combine in this compelling true story of the “American Mother Teresa,” filmed by Paulist Pictures (Romero) from a script by ER writer and executive producer John Wells. Moira Kelly plays Day, the impassioned New York journalist who launched the activist newspaper “Catholic Worker” and put the words she wrote into controversial action. Martin Sheen, Melinda Dillon and Brian Keith join Kelly in this moving saga of a faith not just believed, but lived. RATED PG-13 for a range of thematic elements, some sexuality and brief language.

  RSVP to Linda Lorenzo

• Sunday, Sept. 28 to Oct. 5, 2008 — RAIHN host week at 1st Universalist. See our Social Justice page under Congregational Life for details. There are many volunteer opportunities available. If you are able to help, please contact Matt Comeau.
• Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008 — Small Group Ministry based on the Seven Principles of Unitarian Universalism begins today. Please see the sign up sheet on the bulletin board in the Clara Barton Lounge.
• Friday, October 10 & 11, 2008 — NYS Convention of  Universalists (NYSCU) Annual meeting of the NYSCU hosted by the UU Fellowship of Poughkeepsie. Please see bulletin board for agenda and registration forms.
• Thursday, October 16, 2008 — deadline today — UUA Principles and Practices: The UUA Commission on Appraisal has recommended changes and invites feedback. Please go to http://www25.uua.org/coa/ and click on the word “draft” in the first paragraph.
• Friday, October 17, 2008 — in the adult lounge, Movies to Inspire and Uplift will show “Iron Jawed Angels”, starring Hilary Swank  We will be viewing this movie in the sanctuary at 6:30 PM and will move to the Clara Barton Lounge for discussion directly following the movie.  There is no charge for movie viewing and discussion time. Anyone wishing to bring a snack to share will be gratefully appreciated.

  Said reviewer Bret Fetzer, “The fight for women’s voting rights has rarely been given as dramatic a treatment as in Iron Jawed Angels. Hilary Swank (Boys Don’t Cry) and Frances O’Connor (Mansfield Park) star as second-wave suffragettes Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, who led the final fight for the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.  The mounting energy of the fight–and the increasingly nasty opposition–gains real momentum when a wartime picket line leads to Paul, Burns, and their sisters-in-arms being arrested on trumped-up charges and imprisoned. The actors–including Julia Ormond (Smilla’s Sense of Snow), Angelica Huston (Prizzi’s Honor, The Grifters), and Brooke Smith (Vanya on 42nd Street)–give fervent, determined performances.”

  RSVP to Linda Lorenzo

Peggy Meeker, Acting DRE

We proudly announce that the Rev. Peggy Meeker has accepted the position of Acting Director of Religious Education (aka DRE) at 1st Universalist.

Peggy is busy getting to know the people, plans, projects, and policies that make up our Religious Education program for children and youth. She begins this coming Sunday with a project to welcome our new minister and introduce the UU Principles, which will be our focus this term. If you haven’t met Peggy yet, please introduce yourself to her over the next couple of weeks.

We hope you’ll join us in the activities below. Some are educational, some are purely social and some are both. Inter-generational activities include children of all ages, while other activities are for adults only. Check the details to see if childcare is provided.

• Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008 — SEM food ingathering during service. Donations of non-perishable food items, toiletries, and paper goods will be collected to benefit the Southeast Ecumenical Food Cupboard. See our Social Justice sub-page under Congregational Life for  more details.
• Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008 — Registration for Religious Education (RE) classes will be held in the Clara Barton Lounge immediately following the service today.
• Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008 — 7:00 p.m. — The Causes in Common event originally to be held at 1st Universalist today has been re-framed as “Let’s Get Political!” and will now take place at Brighton Town Hall, 2300 Elmwood Ave, Rochester NY. It is open to the public. Interfaith Impact and the Empire State Pride Agenda will be hosting an educational forum on the position of local candidates on several pieces of legislation. More info can be found in the Outside 1st Universalist Announcements.
• Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008 — Social Justice Plate Offering during service. Money collected will benefit children in the Rochester City School District with their back-to-school needs.  Sarah Singal and Santosha Kuykendall will also be collecting in-kind donations (backpacks and school supplies) after church.
• Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008 — deadline today — First U T-shirt order will be placed today. The navy blue t-shirts are $15 each. If you’d like to put your t-shirt check in the plate during the offertory, please write “T-shirt Fund” and size on the memo line of the check.  Contact: Santosha.
• Friday, Sept 26, 2008 at 6:30p.m. — in the adult lounge, Movies to Inspire and Uplift will show “Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story” followed by discussion.  Please bring a snack to share. RSVP to Linda
• Sunday, Sept. 28 to Oct. 5, 2008 — RAIHN host week at 1st Universalist. See our Social Justice sub-page under Congregational Life for details. There are many volunteer opportunities available. If you are able to help, please contact Matt Comeau.
• Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008 — beginning of a Small Group Ministry based on the Seven Principles of Unitarian Universalism. Please see the sign up sheet on the bulletin board in the Clara Barton Lounge.
• Friday, October 17, 2008 — in the adult lounge, Movies to Inspire and Uplift will show “Iron Jawed Angels”, starring Hilary Swank  We will be viewing this movie in the sanctuary at 6:30 PM and will move to the Clara Barton Lounge for discussion directly following the movie.  There is no charge for movie viewing and discussion time. Anyone wishing to bring a snack to share will be gratefully appreciated.

  Said reviewer Bret Fetzer, “The fight for women’s voting rights has rarely been given as dramatic a treatment as in Iron Jawed Angels. Hilary Swank (Boys Don’t Cry) and Frances O’Connor (Mansfield Park) star as second-wave suffragettes Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, who led the final fight for the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.  The mounting energy of the fight–and the increasingly nasty opposition–gains real momentum when a wartime picket line leads to Paul, Burns, and their sisters-in-arms being arrested on trumped-up charges and imprisoned. The actors–including Julia Ormond (Smilla’s Sense of Snow), Angelica Huston (Prizzi’s Honor, The Grifters), and Brooke Smith (Vanya on 42nd Street)–give fervent, determined performances.”

Some of our ministries would like your involvement too …

Outreach at First Universalist
The Outreach Ministry, aka Social Justice, is organizing and needs your input. Our current endeavors focus around Rochester Area Interfaith Hospitality Network, Southeast Ecumenical Ministries, and the social justice plate on third Sundays, and we are proud to continue all these activities.

In addition, we need some people to meet from time to time and brainstorm about what  we need to do, and to make sure it happens. We need some folks to be go-to people for members, visitors and friends looking to get involved in particular areas, such as Peace, Gay Rights, Environmental issues, and International Social Justice.  Please contact Sarah Singal at church, by phone, or by email and find out how you can join others in serving the community.

MOCHA (Ministry of Coffee Hour Activities)
It was wonderful to be together again at coffee hour on Water Communion Sunday!  Our thanks go out to our “kitchen fairies,” who magically appeared and helped with serving and clean-up.

MOCHA is attempting to “go green” this year.  We’ll be using real dishes and glasses.  We’ll be working on posting directions for the dishwasher to make clean up easier.  Please bring in a mug from home if you have not already done so. (Of course, we’ll have a few extras on the table, just in case.)

The sign-up sheet has been posted on the standing bulletin board in the Clara Barton Lounge.  Please consider signing up for a Sunday.  There are written directions available tacked to the bulletin board.  As always, Karl and Nancy would be glad to work along with new volunteers to make things go more easily.  Everything is provided for coffee hour.  It takes 30 – 45 minutes to set up before church and about the same amount of time for clean up.

Social Justice Plate Offering Nominations
Do you know of a local social justice organization that could use a one-time infusion of cash?  Please consider nominating them for our Social Justice Plate Offering.  The forms are in the church office.

Religious Education
Volunteers are welcome for our Religious Education Program. Please contact Peggy Meeker for more info.

Lay Sunday Speakers
Lay Sunday Speakers are needed for the upcoming church year.  More information is on our Lay-led Services sub-page of the Worship page. Please contact Linda Lorenzo. (Note: as of Sept 30, 2008, the Lay Sunday speakers list for 2008-09 has been finalized.)