Category: Social Justice

Adult Religious Education Resumes 11 October 2015

TheNewJimCrowOur adult religious education classes resume on Sunday (11 October 2015) at 9:15 AM with a book study / discussion group — The New Jim Crow:  Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color-Blindness by Michelle Alexander.

A brutal tangle of draconian sentencing laws, selective prosecutions, unbalanced jury selection, and a prison-for-profit system fueled by a drug war resulting in far more casualties than victories has resulted in what Michelle Alexander calls ” … a stunningly comprehensive and well-disguised system of racialized social control that functions in a manner strikingly similar to [the pre-Civil Rights-era system of segregation known as] Jim Crow.”

This book was the 2012-2013 UUA Common Read.  The tide may finally be turning on this issue — the Caddo Parish District Attorney and Sheriff elections this fall are particularly focused on many related issues covered in this book. Continue reading “Adult Religious Education Resumes 11 October 2015”

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20 September 2015 Worship Service and Religious Education for Children and Youth

LadyCarlsonPlease join us on 20 September 2015 at 11:00 AM for “It’s OK to Be Angry:  The Philosophy of Cold Anger” by Lady Carlson (lead organizer for Northern and Central Louisiana Interfaith).

Often, the things we see that need changing in our society can make us angry.  The kind of anger needed to make changes through organizing is not a hot, humorless, raging anger, but a cool and focused anger — tempered with humor and powered by the sustained energy of a committed community, working together.

Lady is always a powerful and inspiring speaker and we are blessed and excited to welcome her back.  The All Souls Choir will sing.

Religious education classes for children and youth are offered during the 11:00 AM service — children and youth attend the first 15-20 minutes of the service and then are dismissed to class.

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30 August 2015 Worship Service and Religious Education for Children and Youth

Please join us this Sunday (30 August 2015) at 11:00 AM for “The Federal Flood and the Lesson of Listening” by Susan Caldwell.  The All Souls Choir will sing in this worship service.

As we mark the 10th anniversary of Katrina, a particularly tone-deaf editorial by a writer for the Chicago Tribune has touched off a torrent of anger and pain among survivors in New Orleans, their friends and family and just about anyone with any connection to the storm, all over the country.

050831-N-8154G-198 New Orleans, La. (Aug 31, 2005) Ð A man carries a baby through the flooded streets of New Orleans outside the cities Super Dome football stadium. Tens of thousands of displaced citizens sought shelter at the dome, before, during and after Hurricane Katrina, but have been forced to evacuate as floodwaters continue to rise throughout the area. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate Airman Jeremy L. Grisham (RELEASED)

The oblivious and almost equally insensitive non-apology that followed is indicative of a wider problem … a pattern of not only failing to listen to other people’s experience but often going so far as to speak to those other people and to tell them how they should be thinking or feeling about their own experience.

Continue reading “30 August 2015 Worship Service and Religious Education for Children and Youth”

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26 July 2015 Worship Service and Religious Education for Children and Youth

Please join us on Sunday (26 July 2015) at 11:00 AM for “Shining the Light of History” by Pamela Carter Carlisle.

Ida B. Wells-Barnett once said “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.”

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Join us as we hear Pamela Carter Carlisle (All Souls Member and Local History / Public Outreach Specialist for the Bossier Library Historical Center) shine that light of truth into some of the darkest places of the racial history of our own area once known as “Bloody Caddo.”

Religious education classes for children and youth are offered during the 11:00 AM service — children and youth attend the first 15-20 minutes of the service and then are dismissed to class.

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Half-Price Wedding Rentals for Same-Sex Couples

SameSexWeddingCakeToppersFor non-member same-sex couples, we are offering half-price rates for renting our facilities for your wedding until 26 June 2016.

As always, members who have been active for six months or longer are entitled to use the sanctuary and/or social hall for weddings and other rites of passage at no charge.

More details can be found here.

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28 June 2015 Worship Service and Religious Education for Children and Youth

Rainbow_flag_breezePlease join us on Sunday (28 June 2015) at 11:00 AM for “Celebrating Pride” with Pam Brown.

June is LGBTQ Pride Month — a time to celebrate the hard-won gains that have come about for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer/Questioning individuals and to recommit our congregation in continued solidarity to the ongoing struggle.

Come and welcome Pam Brown to our pulpit for the first time.  Melissa Gibson will be our worship associate and Bob Jordan will provide the music.

Don’t miss this wonderful service, and plan to bring a dish to share and stay afterward for the Rainbow Potluck.

Religious education classes for children and youth are offered during the 11:00 AM service — children and youth attend the first 15-20 minutes of the service and then are dismissed to class.

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3 May 2015 Worship Service and Religious Education for Children and Youth

BrianSalvatorePlease join us on Sunday (3 May 2015) at 11:00 AM for the annual presentation of the Ralph Waldo Emerson Award to Dr. Brian Salvatore during our worship service.

Each year All Souls presents the Emerson Award to an individual or organization who has best exemplified the principles and values of liberal religion.

This year, a number of our congregants nominated Dr. Salvatore for his relentless work to raise public awareness of the proposed open burn of the M6 propellents at Camp Minden and for his commitment to follow through as a member of the Dialogue Committee for the purpose of finding a safer method of disposal.

Dr. Salvatore will also be our guest speaker for the service which will also feature music from the All Souls Choir, Sandra Odom and Lip Service Trio (Barbara Jarrell, Sandra Odom, and Cookie Garner)

Religious Education classes for Children and Youth are offered during the 11:00 AM service.  Children and youth attend the first 15-20 minutes of the service and then are dismissed to class.

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26 April 2015 Worship Service and Religious Education for Children and Youth

RevLeeJeterPlease join us on Sunday (26 April 2015) at 11:00 AM for “My Brother’s Keeper” by Rev. Lee Jeter (Director of the Fuller Center for Housing of Northwest Louisiana).  The All Souls Choir will sing.

Religious Education classes for Children and Youth are offered during the 11:00 AM service.  Children and youth attend the first 15-20 minutes of the service and then are dismissed to class.

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19 April 2015 All-Ages Worship Service

earth_day_2010_by_CrypticDisdainPlease join us on Sunday (19 April 2015) at 11:00 AM for “Living on a Living Planet” — A Celebration of Earth Day with the Children, Youth and Adults of All Souls

Continuing our focus on the “Interdependent Web of All Existence” — we celebrate Earth Day with a focus not only on what we can do to take care of the planet, but also on the realization that taking care of the home we share includes taking care of each other.

Therefore, our focus is on “Peace, Social Justice and the Interdependent Web” — knowing, as Radha Sahar has said, that “everything relates to everything else.”  Please join us in celebration.

The All Souls Choir will sing (featuring Robert Smith on soprano sax) and we will have guest guitarists Mason Upton and Bob Jordan as well.

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