Announcements

Summer Fun for Children and Youth (16 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.

This week, we will continue with yarn bowls and begin creating some recycled creatures.

For this Sunday, the 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.

Maggie, Kevin, and Dominique will be with them.

Parents who would like to see where their children will be going are invited to take the trip downstairs with the group and either stay for the class or come back upstairs.

Maggie has graciously opened her studio to our children and youth, which allows them to keep their own materials in the same place from week to week and it provides the opportunity for messier fun each week than the small conference room upstairs.

Online and In-Person Adult Religious Education (16 August 2026)

Please join us on Sunday (16 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.

On this Sunday, we will continue our discussion of the book Erasing History:  How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future by Jason Stanley.

Our discussion will cover Chapter 2 (“Colonizing the Mind”):

“When a group of people is represented as having no history, they are being denied a valid claim to the present.  Colonialism is an ideal case, perhaps the clearest, for understanding how and why the erasure of history is central to the exercise of power and domination.”

Paper copies of the book will also be available to pick up this Sunday and e-book editions are also available.

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 e-book 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.

Reminder: Special Congregational Meeting — 16 August 2026

From:  Kathy Osuch (Secretary of the Board)

Subject:  Announcement of Special Congregational Meeting

Time:  Sunday (16 August 2026) at 12:00 noon or immediately following the worship

Location: Large conference room in The Highland Center (520 Olive Street, Shreveport  LA  71104) or online using Zoom

Agenda:  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.

This meeting is in the large conference room at The Highland Center (520 Olive Street, Shreveport  LA  71104) or via Zoom.

The vote will be by anonymous paper ballot for the in-person participants and the Zoom attendees will vote through an anonymous Zoom poll.

If we do vote to go forward with the purchase, there will be other meetings to determine the design choice and other decisions for the building.

Note:  this announcement is an update to our earlier 9 and 16 August 2026 congregational meeting announcement.

Please see “A Message from Our Board President Susan Yellott (5 July 2026)” for more information.

Zoom Lunch This Wednesday (19 August 2026)

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

Please join us next Wednesday (19 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.

Tour 641 Olive Street Building Before Sunday’s Vote (15 August 2026)

On Saturday (15 August 2026) at 10:30 AM, Tena Hines will be meeting with congregation members who wish to visit the 641 Olive Street property before Sunday’s congregational vote.

If you would like to join them, please call or text Tena (318-990-9400) to let her know that you are interested.

Meditation with Larry Androes (15 August 2026)

Please join us on Saturday (15 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.

All Ages Worship (9 August 2026)

Please join us this Sunday (9 August 2026) at 11:00 AM for “Arc and Art of a Covenant” 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.

We will have a congregational meeting after this worship service where we can learn more about possible building options.

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 both maintaining low but steady numbers in Louisiana as of 1 August 2026.

COVID has continued its increase as of 1 August 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 (9 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.

This week, our children and youth will be making yarn bowls and making a new bowl for the classroom chalice.

Online and In-Person Adult Religious Education (9 August 2026)

Please join us on Sunday (9 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.

On this Sunday, we will begin our discussion of the book Erasing History:  How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future by Jason Stanley.

Our discussion will cover the Preface and Chapter 1.

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.