Announcements

Community Lighthouse Project — Caddo Parish Commission Meeting (8 June 2023)

Next Thursday (8 June 2023) at 3:30 PM, the Caddo Parish Commission will hold their regular meeting at Government Plaza in Shreveport, Louisiana.

North Louisiana Interfaith has asked the Caddo Parish Commission for $500,000 of seed funding to open two pilot locations of the Community Lighthouse Project.

Community Lighthouses are solar-powered resilience hubs where people can get warm (in winter), get cool (in summer), get water, and charge their phones and other devices when storms or ice have caused widespread power outages.

The Lighthouses will also be supported by a volunteer base of people who have learned the neighborhood and know where the needs are so portable batteries can be distributed where needed for medical devices.

There are two locations up and running already in New Orleans and here is a short video about their project:

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Online and In-Person Adult Religious Education — 4 June 2023

Please join us on Sunday (4 June 2023) 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.

This week, we will continue our discussion of Patrice Cullor’s An Abolitionist’s Handbook.  We will be taking up the next two chapters:

  • Step 6:  Allow Yourself to Feel
  • Step 7:  Commit to Not Harming or Abusing Others
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Zoom (and In-Person) Lunch on Tuesday (6 June 2023)

Please join us next Tuesday (6 June 2023) at 12 noon for our weekly Zoom lunch.

Our weekly Zoom lunch is going 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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Philadelphia Center — June 2023 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 June 2023 (Pride Month), we choose the Philadelphia Center — the HIV/AIDS resource center for Northwest Louisiana, including Caddo, Bossier, Webster, Claiborne, Red River, Bienville, DeSoto, Sabine, and Natchitoches Parishes.

Along with a full range of services for people living with HIV/AIDS, the Philadelphia Center offers no-cost confidential testing for HIV, hepatitis C, syphilis, and other STIs to anyone in the community.

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 the Home is Here Shreveport and then put “GATP JUNE 2023” or “PHILADELPHIA CENTER” in the comment section.  All online collection plate contributions for the month of June 2023 will go to the Philadelphia Center.

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

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Rev. Barbara Jarrell — 2023 Kerrville New Folk Competition Winner

We are proud to announce that our own Rev. Barbara Jarrell is one of the six winners for the 2023 Kerrville New Folk Emerging Songwriters Contest.

Rev. Barbara will be performing in the winner’s concert today (Saturday, 3 June 2023) at 1:30 PM.  The concert will be broadcast on the YouTube link provided above.

If you would like to have this experience in the company of some of your All Souls friends, please join us today in the All Souls Social Hall at 1:30 PM.

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Meditation with Larry Androes (3 June 2023)

Please join us on Saturday (3 June 2023) at 10:30 AM for our weekly meditation group with Larry Androes.

This is a sitting Buddhist meditation including a brief introduction to mindfulness meditation, 20 minutes of sitting, and followed by a weekly teaching.

Please note that this group is still meeting via Zoom.  You will need to contact Larry for the Zoom link information using the contact information at the end of this post.

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 (28 May 2023)

Join us on Sunday (28 May 2023) at 11:00 AM for “The Alternatives to Violence Project:  An Experiential Worship Service” by Kathy Osuch, Bob Jordan, and Susan Yellott.

Join Kathy Osuch, Bob Jordan, and Susan Yellott for an opportunity to learn more about the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) and experience a sample of an AVP workshop.

AVP is an internationally recognized training program that empowers people to deal with conflict and violence in new and creative ways.  This work happens in prisons and out in the community — Kathy, Susan, and Bob are trained AVP facilitators.

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 current COVID risk for the Shreveport metro area (Caddo Parish, Bossier Parish, DeSoto Parish) is now “low” and 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 May 2023 give-away-the-plate recipient is the Shreveport Mutual Aid.

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

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Children and Youth Religious Education Classes — 28 May 2023

Children and youth will attend the worship service for the first 15-20 minutes and then are dismissed to their classes.

We are now discussing personal spiritual growth and how these ideas connect to our Unitarian Universalist faith.

Elementary Class — They will continue work on the banner they are designing as a group and will donate to the wider congregation.

Middle and High School:  Virtue Ethics — Lessons adapted from the Tapestry of Faith curriculum Virtue Ethics that focus each week on the principles that can guide us toward ethical decision making in our daily lives.  This week the class will explore compassion.

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Online and In-Person Adult Religious Education — 28 May 2023

Please join us on Sunday (28 May 2023) 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.

This week, we will continue our discussion of Patrice Cullor’s An Abolitionist’s Handbook.  We will be taking up the next two chapters:

  • Step 4: Say Yes to Imagination
  • Step 5: Forgive Actively, Not Passively
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