Announcements

All Ages Worship (1 November 2026)

Please join us this Sunday (1 November 2026) at 11:00 AM for “What Spooks Us” by Rev. Barbara Jarrell.

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.

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.

Flu is continuing its fall / winter increase in Louisiana as of 24 October 2026.

COVID and RSV are both maintaining low but steady numbers in Louisiana as of 24 October 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 November 2026 give-away-the-plate recipient is the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana.

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

Food Bank of NW Louisiana Needs Help (Week of 1 November 2026)

The Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana is asking for our help.

This week’s ask — boxed cereal, oatmeal, grits.

In these difficult times, many people are struggling and the Northwest Louisiana Food Bank is asking for help to meet their needs.

In addition to our regular give-away-the-plate contributions, All Souls is getting back in the habit of giving weekly to the Food Bank.

While it’s true that donations of money go farthest, it is also true that the Food Bank is requesting donated food items as well.

The list of requested items will change from week to week and can be found in the weekly updates posted to our web site.

Here is a list of other ongoing requests over the next few weeks:

  • dried beans (1 or 2 lb bag)
  • rice (1 or 2 lb bag)
  • pasta noodles / Mac ‘n cheese
  • hearty stye soups plus any canned pasta product / can chili / beef stew
  • canned vegetables or beans or corn
  • canned fruit
  • boxed cereal, oatmeal, grits

If everyone who is able can bring two food items per week, that will be greatly appreciated.

There will also be envelopes provided for monetary gifts.

Thank you for doing your part to fight hunger in the Shreveport-Bossier  area and across Northwest Louisiana.

For more information, see Ann Andrews on Sunday at church.

Religious Education for Children and Youth (1 November 2026)

For this Sunday (1 November 2026), our children and youth will begin our second pillar of the church year — Jewish and Christian Heritage — where we focus on their importance in the Unitarian Universalist tradition.

Special art projects in Maggie’s art studio will continue as an integral part of these sessions.

Online and In-Person Adult Religious Education (1 November 2026)

Please join us on Sunday (1 November 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 talk about “What Makes You Laugh, Part 2.”

The adult religious education class has decided that — every now and then — we have to laugh.

We are inviting participants to bring short videos, essays, memes, you name it — whatever has been keeping you sane or at least reassuring you that the insanity is not just you.

Zoom Lunch This Wednesday (4 November 2026)

(Cat not provided — you must supply your own feline)

Please join us next Wednesday (4 November 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.

Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana — November 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 November 2026, we choose the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana.

We are living in difficult times and many people are struggling.

The Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana is asking for help to meet their needs.

Because November is a month that includes a holiday so focused on food, it moves us to work even harder to work towards the goal of no one going hungry in our community.

Since money is the gift that goes farthest at the Food Bank, we are making them our Give Away the Plate Recipient for November 2026.

We are also continuing to collect food gifts each week as requested.

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 North Louisiana Interfaith and then put “GATP Nov 2026” or “Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana” in the comment section.  All online collection plate contributions for the month of November 2026 will go to the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana.

Offline — Please send your give away the plate contribution checks to All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 520 Olive Street, Shreveport LA  71104.  Please put “Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana” on the memo line of the check if  you want to have 100% of your check go to Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana.  If you want less than 100% of your check to go to Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana, please put the amount you want going to the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana on the memo line.

Samhain Ritual (31 October 2026)

Ár nDraíocht Féin (ADF – A Druid Fellowship) invites us to a Samhain ritual on Saturday (31 October 2026) at 3:00 PM.

The ritual will be happening at the Odd Fellows Lodge (3903 Meriwether Road, Shreveport LA  71109).

The members of Thistle Grove ADF invite one and all to this celebration of Samhain (pronounced SAH-wen) marking the turning of the year on the Druid calendar (a time of remembrance and reverence for the dead).

There will be a Speaking of the Names and you are invited to honor your own departed loved ones.

All ages welcome.

Meditation with Larry Androes (31 October 2026)

Please join us on Saturday (31 October 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.

For more information, you can contact Larry via email or by calling or texting Larry using 318-272-0014.