Announcements
All Ages Worship (6 September 2026)
Please join us this Sunday (6 September 2026) at 11:00 AM for “Who’s in the Room?” by Rev. Barbara Jarrell. Members of the All Souls Choir will offer music for the service as well.
Our service will also be livestreamed on Facebook Live here if you cannot attend in person.
All Souls is now meeting for worship and religious education classes in The Highland Center (520 Olive Street, Shreveport LA 71104) after the sale of our former building located on Ellerbe Road.
Drive around to the back of The Highland Center and enter from the ramp-accessible entrance on Topeka Street, take the second hallway to the right, and our worship will be in the first room on the right.
We are moving our videos from Facebook to YouTube for long-term storage and viewing — you can find our worship videos on YouTube here.
State-level COVID data can be found on the Louisiana Department of Health’s respiratory virus dashboard web page. The most sensitive metric to follow for current COVID trends is the “Laboratory Surveillance Data” link.
RSV and Flu are both maintaining low but steady numbers in Louisiana as of 29 August 2026.
COVID may be slowing its increase as of 29 August 2026. However, the Louisiana Department of Health website does also say “Recent counts likely to change as more data are received.”
We should all be paying attention to these trends so we can keep everyone safer.
Masking and COVID vaccination are optional for attending in-person events at All Souls.
We encourage you to be vaccinated against COVID and to also have the most-current COVID booster shots. This provides greater protection to the individual and the church community.
Anyone who prefers wearing a mask is welcome to do so for in-person events and attending worship through livestream video is also an option where required for medical or schedule conflict reasons.
We will still have KN95 masks available in the foyer for anyone who needs one.
We continue to recommend that you stay home if you have any symptoms and that you keep up with all available vaccinations and boosters.
If you are recovering from COVID and have no symptoms, you should mask in public until you have tested negative twice in a 48 hour period.
We also ask that you go by the previous CDC guidelines of waiting at least 5 days past the onset of symptoms rather than the current 24 hour recommendation.
If you have symptoms for COVID or other respiratory illness, please stay home and take care of yourself.
Our September 2026 give-away-the-plate recipient is Northwest Louisiana Out of the Darkness Walk.
And you can contribute to All Souls using this online resource.
Religious Education for Children and Youth (6 September 2026)
For this Sunday (6 September 2026), our children and youth will begin our first pillar of the church year — Unitarian Universalist Identity — where we focus our shared religious identity, history, and heritage.
This Sunday’s topic is “Love at the Center: Our Unitarian Universalist Identity” focusing on the most important of our shared values — love that is at the center of our faith.
Special art projects in Maggie’s art studio will continue as an integral part of these sessions.
As is customary on most Sundays, the children and youth will still join us for worship in the large conference room for the first 15 minutes or so before they are dismissed to their activities.
Maggie, Kevin, and Dominique will be with our children and youth — parents who would like to see where their children will be going are always welcome to take the trip downstairs with the group and either stay for the class or come back upstairs.
Maggie has graciously opened her studio to our children and youth which allows them to keep their own materials in the same place from week to week, and provides the opportunity for messier fun each week than if we were using the small conference room upstairs — thank you Maggie!!
Online and In-Person Adult Religious Education (6 September 2026)
Please join us on Sunday (6 September 2026) at 9:00 AM for our adult religious education class.
Our adult religious education class is now a dual-platform class — meeting in person at the Highland Center and also on Zoom.
On this Sunday, we will continue our discussion of the book Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future by Jason Stanley.
Our discussion for this Sunday will cover chapter 5 (“Anti-Education”).
The chapter explores the reasons why quality public education that is accessible to all is such a threat to authoritarian regimes.
Bear in mind that although the book was published before the 2024 election, a paperback edition has come out since then.
The Preface in the 2026 paperback edition is different from the Preface to the 2024 e-book edition.
We will be meeting in the small conference room of the Highland Center. Park in the back parking lot on Topeka Street and come in through the ramp-accessible entrance. Take the first hallway to the right and enter first room on the right. And you can join us via Zoom.
Northwest Louisiana Out of the Darkness Walk — September 2026 Give-Away-The-Plate Recipient
Each month we dedicate all of our non-pledge income to a community organization doing the work that best embodies our Unitarian Universalist values.
For the month of September 2026, we choose the Northwest Louisiana Out of the Darkness Walk sponsored by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
This event is a walk to benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and will take place on 7 November 2026 at Betty Virginia Park, Shreveport, Louisiana.
Out of the Darkness Walks take place in cities across the country including Shreveport and Northwest Louisiana.
Half the proceeds are devoted to suicide prevention resources in the local community while the other half goes to the national organization supporting their four core pillars:
- Education – in schools, universities, and workplaces to help communities identify mental health warning signs
- Support for Loss Survivors – financing healing networks and other resources tailored for local suicide loss survivors
- Research – financing grants to study the biological, genetic, and behavioral risk factors to improve intervention
- Policy Advocacy – supporting volunteers and staff who lobby at state and national levels for mental health legislation, including the roll-out of the national 988 hotline
Two ways to donate:
Online — Go to our donation site using this link. If you are paying your pledge, select “2026 Pledges” and enter that amount for your pledge contribution. Then select “Collection Plate” to give the amount you would like to give to [insert recipient here] and then put “GATP Sep 2026” or “Out of the Darkness Walk” in the comment section. All online collection plate contributions for the month of September 2026 will go to Out of the Darkness Walk.
Offline — Please send your give away the plate contribution checks to All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 520 Olive Street, Shreveport LA 71104. Please put “Out of the Darkness Walk” on the memo line of the check if you want to have 100% of your check go to Out of the Darkness Walk. If you want less than 100% of your check to go to Out of the Darkness Walk, please put the amount you want going to Out of the Darkness Walk on the memo line.
Zoom Lunch This Wednesday (9 September 2026)
Please join us next Wednesday (9 September 2026) at 12 noon for our weekly Zoom lunch.
With the busy lives of our regular participants, our in-person Zoom lunches are on hold for the time being but the link is always open to join at noon every Wednesday.
Meditation with Larry Androes (5 September 2026)
Please join us on Saturday (5 September 2026) at 10:30 AM for our weekly meditation group with Larry Androes.
This group will be meeting via Zoom and not in person.
This is a sitting Buddhist meditation including a brief introduction to mindfulness meditation, 20 minutes of sitting, and followed by a weekly teaching.
30 August 2026 Worship Video
All Ages Worship (30 August 2026)
Please join us this Sunday (30 August 2026) at 11:00 AM for “What’s the Matter” by Rev. Barbara Jarrell.
Members of the All Souls Choir will offer music for the service as well.
Our service will also be livestreamed on Facebook Live here if you cannot attend in person.
All Souls is now meeting for worship and religious education classes in The Highland Center (520 Olive Street, Shreveport LA 71104) after the sale of our former building located on Ellerbe Road.
Drive around to the back of The Highland Center and enter from the ramp-accessible entrance on Topeka Street, take the second hallway to the right, and our worship will be in the first room on the right.
We are moving our videos from Facebook to YouTube for long-term storage and viewing — you can find our worship videos on YouTube here.
State-level COVID data can be found on the Louisiana Department of Health’s respiratory virus dashboard web page. The most sensitive metric to follow for current COVID trends is the “Laboratory Surveillance Data” link.
RSV and Flu are both maintaining low but steady numbers in Louisiana as of 22 August 2026.
COVID continues its increase as of 22 August 2026.
We should all be paying attention to this trend so we can keep everyone safer.
Masking and COVID vaccination are optional for attending in-person events at All Souls.
We encourage you to be vaccinated against COVID and to also have the most-current COVID booster shots. This provides greater protection to the individual and the church community.
Anyone who prefers wearing a mask is welcome to do so for in-person events and attending worship through livestream video is also an option where required for medical or schedule conflict reasons.
We will still have KN95 masks available in the foyer for anyone who needs one.
We continue to recommend that you stay home if you have any symptoms and that you keep up with all available vaccinations and boosters.
If you are recovering from COVID and have no symptoms, you should mask in public until you have tested negative twice in a 48 hour period.
We also ask that you go by the previous CDC guidelines of waiting at least 5 days past the onset of symptoms rather than the current 24 hour recommendation.
If you have symptoms for COVID or other respiratory illness, please stay home and take care of yourself.
Our August 2026 give-away-the-plate recipient is Shreveport-Bossier Animal Rescue.
And you can contribute to All Souls using this online resource.
2026 Pledge Drive Continues — 2027 Pledge Drive Coming Soon
Please take the time to fill out your 2026 pledge form here if you haven’t already. You can scan the QR code or ask for paper pledge form.
Our church is sustained by the generosity of our members and friends.
We trust you to be the best judge of the amount your pledge should be — taking into account your own budget and the importance of the church in your life. Thanks in advance for your generosity.
Remember that you can always pay your pledge here — go to this link, select 2026 Pledge from the pull-down menu, and complete the process as instructed.
You can make a one-time payment or set up weekly or monthly recurring gifts.