Category: Social Justice

North Louisiana Civil Rights Coalition (NLCRC) — February 2024 Give-Away-The-Plate Recipient

Each month we dedicate all of our non-pledge income to an organization doing the work that best embodies our Unitarian Universalist principles and values.

For the month of February 2024, we choose the North Louisiana Civil Rights Coalition (NLCRC).

The NLCRC is currently restoring the Old Galilee Baptist Church to be the home of the North Louisiana Civil Rights Museum.

The organization provides educational research and collection of civil rights data along with collaboration with high schools, higher education, government, churches and other community organizations in the continued effort to preserve and protect the civil rights history of this area.

Two ways to donate:

Online — Go to our donation site using this link.  If you are paying your pledge, select “2024 Pledges” and enter that amount for your pledge contribution.  Then select “Collection Plate” to give the amount you would like to give to the North Louisiana Civil Rights Coalition and then put “GATP FEB 2024” or “North Louisiana Civil Rights Coalition” in the comment section.  All online collection plate contributions for the month of February 2024 will go to the North Louisiana Civil Rights Coalition.

Offline — Please send your give away the plate contribution checks to All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 9449 Ellerbe Road, Shreveport LA  71106.  Please put “North Louisiana Civil Rights Coalition” or “NLCRC” on the memo line of the check if  you want to have 100% of your check go to the North Louisiana Civil Rights Coalition.  If you want less than 100% of your check to go to the North Louisiana Civil Rights Coalition, please put the amount you want going to the North Louisiana Civil Rights Coalition on the memo line.

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Online and In-Person Adult Religious Education — 28 January 2024

Please join us on Sunday (28 January 2024) for our adult religious education class at 9:00 AM.

Our adult religious education class is now a dual-platform class — meeting in person in the church social hall and also on Zoom.

For this Sunday, we will listen to part 1 of a podcast from the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) titled “Nationalism vs. Patriotism: What’s the Difference?”

This is a discussion featuring NAE President and Pastor Walter Kim and Paul Miller (Southern Baptist and Professor of Practice of International Affairs — Georgetown University School of Foreign Service).

Join us as we listen to Part I of this discussion between two Evangelical Christians who express their concern about the rise of Christian Nationalism in the evangelical movement.

They are part of a small but growing segment of that movement who worry that this trend is a turning away from the teachings of Jesus.

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All Ages Worship (14 January 2024)

Please join us on Sunday (14 January 2024) at 11:00 AM for “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday Weekend:  What Do We Do Now?  Can Beauty Be Contagious?” by Rev. Barbara Jarrell.

Join us for this service in celebration of the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

We will be meeting in the sanctuary for this worship service.  Please join us in person at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 9449 Ellerbe Road, Shreveport LA  71106 if you are able to do so.

Our service will also be livestreamed on Facebook Live here if you cannot attend in person.

The risk for Caddo, Bossier and De Soto Parishes (the Shreveport metro area) are all low — the CDC does not recommend mandatory masking for all indoor events in “low” risk areas.

See the CDC website and the COVIDActNow website for more details.

Starting on 13 November 2022, masks will be optional indoors at All Souls.

Anyone who prefers to keep wearing a mask is welcome to do so and attending worship through livestream video is also an option.

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.

Please use this link to evaluate the current COVID risk for the Shreveport-Bossier City metro area as you make your decisions regarding masking and other COVID preventive measures while attending All Souls.

We no longer require proof of vaccination against COVID for all attendees ages 11 and up for indoor events.

However, we do strongly encourage that anyone attending our worship services or other indoor events at All Souls be vaccinated against COVID.

Please use good judgment and stay home if you have any symptoms.  Even those who have tested negative for COVID can later test positive.

Our January 2024 give-away-the-plate recipient is Volunteers for Youth Justice.

And you can contribute to All Souls using this online resource.

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Volunteers for Youth Justice — January 2024 Give-Away-The-Plate Recipient

Each month we dedicate all of our non-pledge income to an organization doing the work that best embodies our Unitarian Universalist principles and values.

For the month of January 2024, we choose Volunteers for Youth Justice (VYJ) and we will purchase our annual sponsorship of their Gumbo Gladiators competition through our give-away-the-plate contributions.

The mission of VYJ is to create a community of caring around children, youth, and families in crisis.  They approach the issue from many angles:

Two ways to donate:

Online — Go to our donation site using this link.  If you are paying your pledge, select “2023 Pledges” and enter that amount for your pledge contribution.  Then select “Collection Plate” to give the amount you would like to give to Volunteers for Youth Justice and then put “GATP JAN 2024” or “Volunteers for Youth Justice” in the comment section.  All online collection plate contributions for the month of January 2024 will go to Volunteers for Youth Justice.

Offline — Please send your give away the plate contribution checks to All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 9449 Ellerbe Road, Shreveport LA  71106.  Please put “Volunteers for Youth Justice” on the memo line of the check if  you want to have 100% of your check go to Volunteers for Youth Justice.  If you want less than 100% of your check to go to Volunteers for Youth Justice, please put the amount you want going to Volunteers for Youth Justice on the memo line.

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Children and Youth Religious Education (31 December 2023)

For this Sunday (31 December 2023), our children and youth will be preparing snack bags for Louisiana Advocates for Immigrants in Detention (LA-AID).  These snack bags will be used by immigrants as they travel from Shreveport to relocate with families and friends.

For next Sunday (7 January 2024), our children and youth classes will resume with a focus on world religions.

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No Adult Religious Education on 31 December 2023 — Class Resumes 7 January 2024

The adult religious education class will not be meeting this Sunday (31 December 2023).

The adult religious education class will resume on 7 January 2024 at 9:00 AM with part 1 of the film Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness.  The class will watch part 2 on 14 January 2024.

The class will be meeting in person in the social hall or using Zoom.

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Online Adult Religious Education — 10 December 2023

Please join us on Sunday (10 December 2023) for our adult religious education class at 9:00 AM.

For this Sunday only, our adult religious education class will be meeting on Zoom and not in person (the social hall is set up for the Sunday afternoon’s rummage sale).

We will continue reading the UUA Common Read for 2023 — On Repentance and Repair by Rabbi Damya Ruttenberg.

This week’s session covers the final chapter of the book — chapter 8 (“Atonement; or, What Is Effected?”).

We will explore the difference between repentance, forgiveness, and atonement.

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Clothing Drive for Gaza (10 and 17 December 2023)

On this Sunday and next Sunday (10 and 17 December 2023), the Muslim Community of Shreveport (MCS) is conducting a clothing drive for the people of Gaza.

You can help — there will be a box in the foyer from 10 to 17 December 2023 for you to bring your gently used clothing –all styles and all sizes.

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North Louisiana Interfaith — December 2023 Give-Away-The-Plate Recipient

Each month we dedicate all of our non-pledge income to an organization doing the work that best embodies our Unitarian Universalist principles and values.

For the month of December 2023, we choose North Louisiana Interfaith as we finish out 2023 with our fulfillment of our membership dues to North Louisiana Interfaith — one of the important partnerships through which we’ve been able to accomplish real change in our city and state.

At a time when it would be so easy to settle into a scarcity mindset, let’s continue to give from our abundance to all that we know will do the most good — thank you!

Two ways to donate:

Online — Go to our donation site using this link.  If you are paying your pledge, select “2023 Pledges” and enter that amount for your pledge contribution.  Then select “Collection Plate” to give the amount you would like to give to the North Louisiana Interfaith and then put “GATP DEC 2023” or “North Louisiana Interfaith” in the comment section.  All online collection plate contributions for the month of December 2023 will go to North Louisiana Interfaith.

Offline — Please send your give away the plate contribution checks to All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 9449 Ellerbe Road, Shreveport LA  71106.  Please put “North Louisiana Interfaith” on the memo line of the check if  you want to have 100% of your check go to North Louisiana Interfaith.  If you want less than 100% of your check to go to the North Louisiana Interfaith, please put the amount you want going to the North Louisiana Interfaith on the memo line.

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