Announcements

Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana — November 2024 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 2024, we choose the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana.

​T​he mission of the Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana is to serve as the primary resource for fighting hunger in Northwest Louisiana.

Their vision is to ultimately end hunger in Northwest Louisiana by ensuring a consolidated network of effective food collection and distribution which will provide universal access to food for the needy in our communities.

Two ways to donate:

OnlineGo 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 Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana and then put “GATP NOV 2024” or “Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana” in the comment section.  All online collection plate contributions for the month of November 2024 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 (2 November 2024)

Please join us on Saturday (2 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.

The group is free and open to all.

27 October 2024 Worship Livestreaming Video

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.

You can find the 27 October 2024 worship video here.

All Ages Worship (27 October 2024)

Please join us this Sunday (27 October 2024) at 11:00 AM for “We Are Opened” by Rev. Barbara Jarrell.  The All Souls choir will also sing.

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 COVID risks for Caddo, Bossier and De Soto Parishes (the Shreveport metro area) are all low as of 14 September 2024 according to the CDC’s COVID County Check website.

Additional 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 19 October 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 October 2024 give-away-the-plate recipient is Students for Justice in Palestine (LSU-S Chapter).

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

Religious Education for Children and Youth (27 October 2024)

This Sunday’s religious education activity for children and youth during the 11:00 AM worship service is Lego Values.

Children and youth will explore our Unitarian Universalist values that will include stories, games, and creative activities involving Legos and other media for self-expression.

This week’s focus is “Generosity.”

Online and In-Person Adult Religious Education (27 October 2024)

Please join us on Sunday (27 October 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.

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).

For this week, we will continue with chapters 2 and 3.

If you order from the UUA inSpirit Bookstore, you will be pre-ordering a printed copy that will be available in January of 2025.

If you have trouble accessing an ebook for financial or technological reasons, text Susan and she can help you.

Zoom (and In-Person) Lunch on Wednesday (30 October 2024)

Please join us next Wednesday (30 October 2024) at 12 noon for our weekly Zoom lunch.

Our weekly Zoom lunch is returning to dual-platform access — join us from home using Zoom or in person in the social hall.

Bring your lunch and meet up with your All Souls friends, have lunch, and just catch up.

Samhain Ritual (26 October 2024)

Ár nDraíocht Féin (ADF — A Druid Fellowship) invites us to a Samhain ritual on Saturday (26 October 2024)  at 3:00 PM.

The members of Thistle Grove ADF group invite one and all to the celebration of Samain (pronouned SAH-wen) marking the turning of the year on the Druid calendar (a time for 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 are welcome — costumes are celebrated — bring your kids and stay for Trunk or Treat celebration starting at 5:00 PM.

Meditation with Larry Androes (26 October 2024)

Please join us on Saturday (26 October 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.

The group is free and open to all.

20 October 2024 Worship Livestreaming Video

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.

You can find the 20 October 2024 worship video here.