Announcements
All Ages Worship (2 August 2026)
Please join us this Sunday (2 August 2026) at 11:00 AM for “Made in the Shade” by Rev. Barbara Jarrell.
Rev. Barbara Jarrell is back in the pulpit as we continue settling into our new home in The Highland Center.
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 all maintaining low but steady numbers in Louisiana as of 25 July 2026.
COVID has started to increase as of 25 July 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.
Summer Fun for Children and Youth (2 August 2026)
During the summer months, our children and youth religious education activities are a mixture of fun and creativity.
Our children and youth will continue their summer art activities in our new church home.
Now that we are in The Highland Center, our children and youth will be using Maggie’s art studio downstairs for their summer fun art activities and will continue religious education classes in this location in the fall.
Yet another advantage of having class in Maggie’s studio is the opportunity to make art with some of her cool friends.
This week, our children and youth will be making wire sculptures with James Marks.
Just back from a residency at the Summertime Gallery in Brooklyn, James works with children on staff at the Renzi Education and Art Center, and is also a beloved regular at ArtBreak.
He creates wire sculptures of people small enough to hold in your hand, some bigger than life-size adult humans, and every size in between.
As we have done in the past, our 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.
Parents and caregiver adults who wish to see where they will be going are invited to take the trip downstairs with the group where they can either stay in the class or come back upstairs to worship.
Online and In-Person Adult Religious Education (2 August 2026)
Please join us on Sunday (2 August 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.
For this Sunday, we will watch an interview with Jason Stanley (Author of Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future).
As we begin our reading and discussion of Erasing History by Jason Stanley, we will first view and discuss an interview with the author on Amanpour and Company (PBS).
In this interview, he talks openly about a huge decision he has made for himself and his family in response to recent changes in the academic climate of the United States.
Paper copies of the book will also be available to pick up this Sunday and you can always get a jump on the Preface and Chapter 1 here.
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 ebook 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.
Shreveport-Bossier Animal Rescue — August 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 August 2026, we choose Shreveport-Bossier Animal Rescue.
On the recommendation of Eva Peck (Shreveport-Bossier Animal Rescue volunteer and All Souls member), the Board has chosen the Shreveport-Bossier Animal Rescue for the important work that they do in our community.
They are a local cat rescue shelter dedicated to improving the lives of homeless and unwanted cats by providing shelter and medical care while finding them loving and responsible homes.
They are run by volunteers like Eva and funded by donors like us as individuals and All Souls as an organization.
If you’re feeling the need for a new feline companion, be sure to browse their CATalog.
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 Shreveport-Bossier Animal Rescue and then put “GATP Aug 2026” or “Shreveport-Bossier Animal Rescue” in the comment section. All online collection plate contributions for the month of August 2026 will go to Shreveport-Bossier Animal Rescue.
Offline — Please send your give away the plate contribution checks to All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 520 Olive Street, Shreveport LA 71104. Please put “Shreveport-Bossier Animal Rescue” on the memo line of the check if you want to have 100% of your check go to Shreveport-Bossier Animal Rescue. If you want less than 100% of your check to go to Shreveport-Bossier Animal Rescue, please put the amount you want going to Shreveport-Bossier Animal Rescue on the memo line.
Zoom Lunch This Wednesday (5 August 2026)
Please join us next Wednesday (5 August 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 (1 August 2026)
Please join us on Saturday (1 August 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.
Date Change: Two Special Congregational Meetings — 9 August 2026 and 16 August 2026
From: Kathy Osuch (Secretary of the Board)
Subject: Announcement of Two Special Congregational Meetings
Time (First Meeting): Sunday (9 August 2026) at 12:00 noon or immediately following the worship
Time (Second Meeting): Sunday (16 August 2026) at 12:00 noon or immediately following the worship
Location (Both Meetings): Large conference room in The Highland Center (520 Olive Street, Shreveport LA 71104) or online using Zoom
On Sunday (9 August 2026), The Building Committee will present a special informational town hall meeting at 12:00 noon or immediately following the 11:00 AM worship service.
The committee present information about our various options for moving forward. The meeting will also feature a presentation from architect Chris Coe on his ideas for the 641 Olive Street building.
On Sunday (16 August 2026), there will be a special congregational meeting. Pending the results of inspections and other issues, there will be a vote on the purchase of the 641 Olive Street property.
Both meetings in the large conference room at The Highland Center (520 Olive Street, Shreveport LA 71104) or via Zoom.
Note: this announcement is an update to our earlier 2 August 2026 congregational meeting announcement and our earlier 2 and 9 August 2026 congregational meeting announcement.
Please see “A Message from Our Board President Susan Yellott (5 July 2026)” for more information.
26 July 2026 Worship Video
Please note that this is our first worship service in our new location (The Highland Center — 520 Olive Street, Shreveport LA 71104).
The audio for the pulpit voices may be too quiet for portions of this worship service.
You can turn up the volume for those portions to hear the content.
We will be working to improve the quality of our worship videos recorded in our new location.
All Ages Worship (26 July 2026)
Please join us this Sunday (26 July 2026) at 11:00 AM for “What’s in a Home? Thoughts on a Trip to Palestine” by Melissa Gibson.
For our first worship service in our new The Highland Center location, we are delighted to welcome back one of our own — Melissa Gibson.
Melissa comes to us from Omaha NE to discuss her recent trip to Palestine.
She will explore the idea of what home means — appropriate as we conduct this first service in our temporary home at The Highland Center.
Melissa is a seminarian pursuing a Masters in Divinity degree at Starr King School for the Ministry and is on the staff at First Unitarian Church of Omaha, Nebraska. Melissa is also an Aspirant within the Unitarian Universalist Association’s Ministerial Fellowship process.
This service will also feature music from the All Souls Choir.
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.
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.
RSV and Flu are all showing an increase in Louisiana as of 18 July 2026. COVID may have started an increase but it may have stalled out as of 18 July 2026. We will be paying attention to these changes.
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 July 2026 give-away-the-plate recipient is the OUTNorthLA Film Festival.
And you can contribute to All Souls using this online resource.