Announcements
All Ages Worship (2 November 2025)
Please join us this Sunday (2 November 2025) at 11:00 AM for “All Souls Day” by Susan Caldwell and friends including music by Bob Jordan.
This Sunday is All Souls Day on the Christian liturgical calendar.
This is the day after All Saints Day intended to honor all who have died.
At this time of year (just after Samhain or All Hallows Eve) when the veil between the living and the dead is said to be thinnest, we pause to remember those who have died and honor them in the ways that we keep them present in our daily lives.
Members and friends are invited to bring a photo of a departed loved one to share on the altar table.
If you would like to share a brief story of how this person remains present in your life, text Susan Caldwell.
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.
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. COVID-19 continues its decline from its August 2025 summer surge as of 25 October 2025. However, the RSV and flu uptick that we noticed last week is continuing its slow increase.
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 2025 give-away-the-plate recipient is the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana.
And you can contribute to All Souls using this online resource.
Religious Education for Children and Youth (2 November 2025)
For this Sunday (2 November 2025), our children and youth religious education class will continue the theme of “How We Do UU” by exploring interdependence.
Continuing the exploration of our shared Unitarian Universalist values, our children and youth will focus on interdependence.
We are inextricably connected to each other, to all life, to all life that has gone before us. and all that will come afterward.
Online and In-Person Adult Religious Education (2 November 2025)
Please join us on Sunday (2 November 2025) 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 begin our study of Understanding the Bible: A Guide for Skeptics, Seekers, and Religious Liberals by former Unitarian Universalist Association President Rev. John Buerhens.
Copies of this book are available at the church.
Readings for this Sunday’s session are the sections entitled “Creations” and “Generations.” The Bible passages for this Sunday will be Genesis chapters 1 through 3.
Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana — November 2025 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 2025, we choose the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana.
In this month that centers around a holiday based on food and in these times when so many may be in danger of losing access to food, it’s more important than ever to contribute to our community’s food bank.
The Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana serves the seven parishes of Northwest Louisiana and endeavors to be the primary resource for fighting hunger in the region.
Two ways to donate:
Online — Go to our donation site using this link. If you are paying your pledge, select “2025 Pledges” and enter that amount for your pledge contribution. Then select “Collection Plate” to give the amount you would like to give to the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana and then put “GATP NOV 2025” or “Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana” in the comment section. All online collection plate contributions for the month of November 2025 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, 9449 Ellerbe Road, Shreveport LA 71106. 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 the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana. If you want less than 100% of your check to go to the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana, please put the amount you want going to the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana on the memo line.
Meditation with Larry Androes (1 November 2025)
Please join us on Saturday (1 November 2025) 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.
26 October 2025 Worship Video
All Ages Worship (26 October 2025)
Please join us this Sunday (26 October 2025) at 11:00 AM for “The Changer and the Changed” by Rev. Barbara Jarrell.
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.
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. COVID-19 continues its decline from its August 2025 summer surge as of 18 October 2025. And the RSV and flu uptick that we noticed last week appears to be stalling out.
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 October 2025 give-away-the-plate recipient is the Highland Center Ministries.
And you can contribute to All Souls using this online resource.
Chili Cook-Off and Trunk or Treat (26 October 2025)
On Sunday (26 October 2025) after our 11:00 AM worship service, we will have a combined celebration of two All Souls Fall Classic events:
Chili Cook-Off and Trunk-or-Treat
The Chili Cook-Off grants the winner with a year’s worth of bragging rights and possession of the coveted Chili Chalice.
Do YOU have the Chili Chops to beat the reigning Chili Champion, Bennett Upton? Because this is a chili cookoff in Louisiana, we of course shamelessly buy votes. Bring cash — small or large bills — to put in the collection basket by your favorite chili. Don’t worry — we will figure out a way to vote online as well.
Trunk-or-Treat is our annual Halloween celebration for which we invite our members and friends to decorate their cars in the parking lot and pass out candy to the kids who go trick-or-treating from car to car.
We encourage you to bring a game for the kids at your car to play or an easy craft for them to make as well.
Online and In-Person Adult Religious Education (26 October 2025)
Please join us on Sunday (26 October 2025) 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 begin our study of Understanding the Bible: A Guide for Skeptics, Seekers, and Religious Liberals by former Unitarian Universalist Association President Rev. John Buerhens.
Copies of this book are available at the church.
If possible, pick up a copy and read the first section entitled “Before We Begin” before this Sunday’s class.