Announcements – Page 68 – All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church of Shreveport, Louisiana

Online and In-Person Adult Religious Education — 7 January 2024

Please join us on Sunday (7 January 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 adult religious education classes resumes after the winter holidays with part I of Yalda: A Night for Forgiveness.

Join Taha Hayat as he hosts the showing of this film — a great follow-on to the book we just finished with its theme of repentance, restitution, and forgiveness.

The story takes place on the night of Yalda (the Persian solstice) when a young woman in Tehran who has accidentally killed her husband may receive the death penalty unless she can be forgiven by her husband’s daughter on national television.

The story is based on an actual reality show that aired in Iran from 2007 to 2018 and on the holiday of Yalda (celebrated every year on December 21st in Iran).

Taha recommends you watch this short film before Sunday if you want to learn more about the holiday — “Shab-e Yalda: A Persian Winter Solstice Celebration.”

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Zoom Lunch on Wednesday (10 January 2024)

Please join us next Wednesday (10 January 2024) at 12 noon for our weekly Zoom lunch.

For this week, the Zoom lunch is online through Zoom only (no in-person option)

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

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Volunteers for Youth Justice — January 2024 Give-Away-The-Plate Recipient

Each month we dedicate all of our non-pledge income to an organization doing the work that best embodies our Unitarian Universalist principles and values.

For the month of January 2024, we choose Volunteers for Youth Justice (VYJ) and we will purchase our annual sponsorship of their Gumbo Gladiators competition through our give-away-the-plate contributions.

The mission of VYJ is to create a community of caring around children, youth, and families in crisis. They approach the issue from many angles:

CASA Program (Court Appointed Special Advocates for children and youth in the foster system)
Truancy Assistance Program (assessing problems of school attendance early in children in K-5)
FINS Program (Families in Need of Services which takes a whole-family approach)
Trust Based Relational Intervention Program practiced in youth, adult, and correctional settings
Other programs for youth including Jump Start, Gems and Gents Youth Mentoring, Conflict Resolution, and Teen Court

Two ways to donate:

Online — Go to our donation site using this link. If you are paying your pledge, select “2023 Pledges” and enter that amount for your pledge contribution. Then select “Collection Plate” to give the amount you would like to give to Volunteers for Youth Justice and then put “GATP JAN 2024” or “Volunteers for Youth Justice” in the comment section. All online collection plate contributions for the month of January 2024 will go to Volunteers for Youth Justice.

Offline — Please send your give away the plate contribution checks to All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 9449 Ellerbe Road, Shreveport LA 71106. Please put “Volunteers for Youth Justice” on the memo line of the check if you want to have 100% of your check go to Volunteers for Youth Justice. If you want less than 100% of your check to go to Volunteers for Youth Justice, please put the amount you want going to Volunteers for Youth Justice on the memo line.

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Meditation with Larry Androes (6 January 2024)

Please join us on Saturday (6 January 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.

For more information, contact Larry via email or phone using (318) 272-0014.

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All Ages Worship (31 December 2023)

Please join us on Sunday (31 December 2023) at 11:00 AM for “Each and Every Step” 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.

The risk for Caddo, Bossier and De Soto Parishes (the Shreveport metro area) are all low — the CDC does not recommend mandatory masking for all indoor events in “low” risk areas.

See the CDC website and the COVIDActNow website for more details.

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.

Please use this link to evaluate the current COVID risk for the Shreveport-Bossier City metro area as you make your decisions regarding masking and other COVID preventive measures while attending All Souls.

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.

Please use good judgment and stay home if you have any symptoms. Even those who have tested negative for COVID can later test positive.

Our December 2023 give-away-the-plate recipient is North Louisiana Interfaith.

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

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Zoom (and In-Person) Lunch on Wednesday (3 January 2024)

Please join us next Wednesday (3 January 2024) at 12 noon for our weekly Zoom lunch.

Our weekly Zoom lunch is dual-platform — 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.

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Meditation with Larry Androes (30 December 2023)

Please join us on Saturday (30 December 2023) 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.

For more information, contact Larry via email or phone using (318) 272-0014.

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Christmas Eve Candlelight Service (24 December 2023)

Please join us on Sunday night (24 December 2023) at 6:30 PM for our Christmas Eve candlelight worship service.

If your children want to participate in the “Twelve Days of Christmas” song, please bring them by 6:00 PM for a short rehearsal. If your children want to participate in the boomwacker performance, please bring them by 5:45 PM.

Choir rehearsal will happen at 5:00 PM.

We will sing the carols with the original words, hear the Christmas Story from the Gospel of Luke, have special music from the All Souls Choir, and watch the growing candlelight in the darkness.

All ages welcome.

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 risk for Caddo, Bossier and De Soto Parishes (the Shreveport metro area) are all low — the CDC does not recommend mandatory masking for all indoor events in “low” risk areas.

See the CDC website and the COVIDActNow website for more details.

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.

Please use good judgment and stay home if you have any symptoms. Even those who have tested negative for COVID can later test positive.

Our December 2023 give-away-the-plate recipient is North Louisiana Interfaith.

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

Share/Bookmark