All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church of Shreveport, Louisiana
A home for Unitarian Universalism and liberal religion in Shreveport, Bossier City, and Northwest Louisiana since 1950
North Louisiana Interfaith cordially invites us to A Taste of Interfaith this Thursday (5 December 2024) from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM at Stonewall Baptist Church (807 Eatman Street, Bossier City LA 71111).
This is an evening of food, entertainment, community building, and celebration.
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 December 2024, we choose North Louisiana Interfaith.
Interfaith is a broad-based organization whose members are institutions (including All Souls).
Over the years, we have realized that All Souls can do our most effective work in the community when we partner with others and interfaith is one of those partnerships we value highly.
Recently, Interfaith has secured funding from the Caddo Parish Commission to build four Community Lighthouses in the city of Shreveport (one already up and running at Morning Star Baptist Church).
Community Lighthouses are solar-powered grid resilience hubs that can save lives during multiday power outages in the aftermath of large disasters (tornadoes, summer storms, or winter storms).
Interfaith is currently beginning the groundwork to seek support for two locations in Bossier City as well.
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 North Louisiana Interfaith and then put “GATP DEC 2024” or “North Louisiana Interfaith” in the comment section. All online collection plate contributions for the month of December 2024 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 North Louisiana Interfaith, please put the amount you want going to North Louisiana Interfaith on the memo line.
Please accept our apologies — there will be no 10:30 AM Meditation Group meeting today.
Due to the holiday weekend, our meditation group leader has a scheduling conflict.
The earlier announcement on the web site was posted in error.
Update — the meditation group will not be meeting this holiday weekend due to a scheduling conflict.
Please join us on Saturday (30 November 2024) 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.
All Souls is now using Bluesky as a replacement for Twitter in our social media toolkit.
You can go to our Bluesky profile and follow us for updates. It works just like Twitter works but it doesn’t have the objectionable content currently found on Twitter.
This article from The Guardian provides background information on the problems associated with Twitter and will help others understand why we have made this decision.
Due to the impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, we have begun to broadcast a livestream video of our Sunday morning worship services.
This worship video will be available live and in recorded formats.
For our livestream video of our worship services, we are using Facebook Live. One does not have to log into Facebook or have a Facebook account to view this video.
Please join us this Sunday (24 November 2024) at 11:00 AM for our annual Thanksgiving Service, Ritual, and Potluck Feast.
We will be meeting in the sanctuary for this worship service before moving to the social hall. 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.
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. The link is currently showing a downward trend in COVID positive tests as of 9 November 2024. However, flu and RSV are both increasing in Louisiana as of 16 November 2024.
The CDC does not recommend mandatory masking for all indoor events in “low” risk areas.
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.
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.
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.
And of course — if you have symptoms (COVID or other respiratory illness) — please stay home and take care of yourself.
Our November 2024 give-away-the-plate recipient is the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana.
And you can contribute to All Souls using this online resource.
This Sunday’s religious education class for children and youth during the 11:00 AM worship service will be taking a break from exploring Unitarian Universalist principles and values in the stories from our Jewish and Christian Heritage.
This class will resume meeting next Sunday (1 December 2024).
Our adult religious education class is not meeting this Sunday (24 November 2024).
This adult religious education class is now a dual-platform class — meeting in person in the church social hall and also on Zoom.
Our dual-platform adult religious education class will begin reading and discussing Love at the Center.
This is an anthology of Unitarian Universalist theological writings by various leaders of our movement seeking to answer the question posed by Rev. Dr. Sofia Betancourt in the book’s introduction:
“We may agree that love is central, but what does that mean to us and what does it require of us?”
This book is currently available only in ebook format pending final edits of the approved revisions to Article II of the UUA Bylaws at the 2024 General Assembly (Kindle, Nook, and Kobo).
The New UU class will not be meeting on the next two Sundays — no class on 24 November 2024 and 1 December 2024.
This class will resume on Sunday (8 December 2024) at 12:30 PM after the Sunday morning worship service.