Congregation established 1836

Newsletter of the

First Unitarian Church, Alton, Illinois

www.firstuualton.org

Rev. Khleber Van Zandt, Minister

December 2^nd

“Waiting”

Rev. Khleber Van Zandt

Decades ago, rock theologian Tom Petty said, “The waitin’ is the hardest part.”  As we wait for the holidays, we’ll discuss the traditional understanding of Advent and explore what waiting means in our own lives.

December 9^th

“Light One Candle”

Rev. Khleber Van Zandt

The celebration of Hanukkah reminds us to recognize everyday miracles:   we are instructed by the ancient story to maintain an awareness of the gifts we receive and to dedicate ourselves to becoming the best we can be and to making the world the best place it can be.  

December 16^th

“Experiencing Christmas”

Rev. Khleber Van Zandt

With shopping season in full swing, it can be hard to gain access to the real reason for the season.  Take a Sunday morning off from the frantic hustle and bustle, adjust those exorbitant expectations, and allow the joy of Christmas into your heart.

December 23^rd

“Holiday Intergenerational Service:

Stories of Wisdom”

Jamie Gross, Director of Religious Education

Come and share stories of the season with us.

December 24^th

Christmas Eve, 7:30 in the evening

An intergenerational worship service

“The Shepherd and the Wise Man”

Rev. Khleber Van Zandt

Shepherds watching their flocks by night, wise men traveling great distances on the strength of a strange prophecy:   the ancient myths challenge reason and are difficult to fathom by daylight.   This traditional candlelight worship service celebrates mystery and the birth of new hope into the world.

December 30^th

“ Out with the Old”

Rev. Khleber Van Zandt

As we look back over the year that’s passing, we may have things we want to let go of before the new year arrives - unhelpful or unproductive behaviors, habits, memories, feelings.  Perhaps we can find ways to ritually expunge those things that hold us back from becoming the people we need to become.

Adult Religious Enrichment

Sunday mornings @ 9:30 a.m. in

Emerson Place

Childcare is available.

December 2^nd – Environmental Discussion: 
"47 individual steps to build a community." 
Discussion Leader :  John Crawford

December 9^th – DVD showing of
“Heroes of the Spirit – Genocide Then, Genocide Now”: The heroic saga of UUSC founders the Rev. Waitstill and Martha Sharp, who went to Europe in 1939 to rescue Jews and political dissidents from the Nazis, is now being told in a new documentary, “Heroes of the Spirit: Genocide Then, Genocide Now.” Heroes of the Spirit” takes viewers along on the Sharps’ often clandestine World War II rescue missions and how their work led to the formation of the Unitarian Service Committee, which later became UUSC.   Facilitator:  Beth Nalick.

December 16^th – Forum:
"How is belief in life-after-death related to morality?"   In November we discussed various beliefs about life-after-death, but we didn't have time to discuss WHY people believe what they do. One view is that if people do not believe that there is life-after-death, they will lack an important motive for behaving morally.  What happens to morality if there is no life-after-death?   In that case, why would killing humans be any worse than killing monkeys or cows?   Discussion Leader:   Ron Glossop.

December 23^rd – The first of a DVD Series:
“From Jesus to Constantine: A History of Early Christianity.”   Facilitator :   Rev. Khleber Van Zandt.

December 30^th – “Are you tired of talking about God?
Let’s talk about the NotGod: an Atheism-Humanism roundtable.”   –  
Discussion Leader :   John Herndon.

A First Glance

            “Is that your mail?” she asked.   I was in a hurry.   I had done several nice things for people already that morning and now I was late for work.   I had thrown a bunch of stuff in the car and started to walk toward the end of the block to take one lonely piece of mail to the mailbox.   As I walked, I thought through the list of things I hadn’t gotten done yet that week - phone calls, e-mails, this newsletter column.

              It was a bright, sunny day but it had turned colder and the red and yellow leaves had fallen to crunch under my feet as I walked hurriedly.   Before I got to the corner, I looked up from my worries and saw the back of a small figure in a brown, hooded jacket huddled against the cold, almost blocking my way to the mailbox.   I had to step around the brown, hooded jacket to open the mailbox and drop the envelope in.   When I turned, a bit exasperated, the little girl smiled, “Is that your mail?”

             Shocked at the brightness of her eyes, I stammered, “Yes, it is…”   She quickly replied, “A lot of people send their mail from here.   Have you noticed that?”

           “Yes,” I said, “I see a lot of cars stop here so people can mail letters and…”   “I mailed a letter to Georgia yesterday from this very mailbox,” she said proudly, “I sent my grandma a letter and a picture and a drawing she can use for a toy.   It’s gonna be Thanksgiving next week and I didn’t want my grandma to believe I wasn’t thinking about her on such an important day.”

             “Is your grandma in Atlanta, Georgia?” I asked.   She nodded her head.  I said, “I’ve never been there, but I hear it’s nice.”   “I’ve never been there, either,” she said, “but I hope I get to go to my grandma’s for a Thanksgiving someday.”  

             “Well, I know your grandma is gonna have a great day when she gets that letter you sent her.”   I turned to go and then thought to ask, “Are you cold?”   “No, the bus will be here in a minute to take me to school.”   I nodded, took a few steps, and looked over my shoulder to yell, “Have a Happy Thanksgiving!”   She waved and yelled, “Happy Thanksgiving to you!”

               There are so many ways to divide up the people of this world:   by age, race, gender, to mention a few.   With simple words, this little girl had reached across all of them and invited me out of myself, taught me once again to notice the ways love speaks across the miles and across the divides.

               I hope her grandma will appreciate the gift she receives.   I know I am thankful I showed up there on the corner that morning, because that’s when the holiday season began for me, announced simply but emphatically by the expectant questions and the bright smile of a young child.

Merry Christmas, and A Happy Holiday Season,

Mark Your Calendars – A Quick Guide to this Month’s Happenings

For a Good Time …. Join the Choir!

Try us … we think you’ll have fun.

CHOIR   PRACTICE   SCHEDULE

You don’t have to be able to attend each choir practice to join the choir. Practice is held at 7 p.m. on the 1^st and 3^rd Thursdays of each month and at 12 noon on the 2^nd and 4^th Sundays of each month.  

December’s rehearsals:

Thurs., December 6^th

Sun., December 9^th

Thurs., December 20^th

Sun., December 23^rd

Contact Willis McCoy for further information.

wbmccoy@charter.net

Chalice Circles

The GLBT Chalice Group will be meeting the 1^st and 3^rd Sundays after church at Eliot Chapel in Kirkwood, MO.  Lunch is at 12:15 p.m. at Kaldis on Lindbergh, near Eliot Chapel.   The Chalice Group meets at the Chapel from 1:15 to 3:15 p.m.
Contact Layne Simpson layne3030@hotmail.com for more information.

Renegade Women

Saturday, December 15^th – 3 to 5 p.m. at Church

Contact:   Marcia Custer mcuster@siue.edu.

The Saturday afternoon Renegade Women’s Chalice Circle invites all who may seek lively fellowship to join us.  We rotate session leadership and topics have included general organization, two book discussions, an afternoon of poetry, exploring the development of deeper listening skills, and sharing favorite holiday memories; all within the context of getting to know each other more intimately.

Third Sunday Chalice Circle

Sunday, December 16^th – 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Church

Contact:   Sandy Shaner sarapolarbear@hotmail.com

This is a “general” chalice circle welcoming all.

Parents Seeking Peace Chalice Circle

Sunday, December 16^th – 12:00 to 1:30 p.m.
in Emerson Place at Church

Contact: Diane Thompson at dianeelizabeththompson@gmail.com or

Cheryle Tucker-Loewe at chtucke@siue.edu.

UU Pagan Chalice Circle celebrates YULETIDE

Friday, December 21^st – 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
in the Kate Wuerker Room at Church.

The event is potluck. Bring a favorite winter-themed dish or beverage. Childcare will be provided. For further information,
please contact Stacey Wolff kartoffel@piasanet.com.

E

Men's Chalice Circle

Date to be announced:

Contact:   Khleber Van Zandt kvanzandt@uuma.org .

Holiday  Decorating Party

Friday, December 7^th

Gathering time

6:00 to 6:30 p.m.

Potluck Supper – 6:30 p.m.

Decorating begins following supper.

Everyone is invited to this annual event.    Bring something to share for potluck and help dress our church for the holiday season.

The children will have a tree of their own to decorate and will have other activities in which to participate.    Nursery care will be provided for the littlest ones.

Men’s Lunch Group

The men’s lunch group will meet on Thursday, December 6^th at 11:30 a.m. at The St. Louis Buffet, 672 Wesley Dr. , Wood River near the new Wal-Mart.   Contact Nelson Shaner for further details   nshaner@charter.net

  CRISIS FOOD CENTER  

The holiday season is here again and for many in the Alton community it will be a season where help is needed to put food on the table.   Please bring canned goods and non-perishable food early this month so they can be delivered to the food pantry for distribution in time for families to prepare for holidays meals.   Thank you!

ANNA Ds

The December meeting of the Anna D. Sparks Women’s Alliance will be a “brown bag” lunch held at 11:30 a.m. on December 6^th at the home of Corinne Hawkins. Please phone Corinne by Monday, December 3rd to let her know you’re coming.

Community Outreach Offering

The collection on the 2^nd and 4^th Sundays is given away to charitable causes. The money donated does not include pledge checks or monies otherwise earmarked by the giver.   The Outreach Offering only includes “cash offerings” or checks indicating that they are to be included in the donated funds.  

The October 14^th Community Outreach Offering of $320 was given to the UUA for Association Sunday and the offering from October 21^st of $200 was given to the UUA’s Pacific Southwest District for the California Fire Relief Fund.

November’s community outreach offering was sent to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Cape Girardeau, a new congregation.   The recipients of the December offering have yet to be determined.   However, the collection on Christmas Eve will be given to the Minister’s Discretionary Fund.

If you have a suggestion of a cause or organization that would benefit from our community outreach offering, please tell Mary Johnson mejohnson@mindspring.com.

4 ^th Sunday

Sunday Potluck Lunch

December 23rd

Bring a dish to share and plan to stay after church to join
in food and fellowship!

A-Mc will do Clean Up

M-Z will do Table Set Up

Everyone will be responsible for setting food out
on the buffet table.

Happy Birthday

Most people enjoy getting a card or email or phone call on their birthday.   Below is the list of church members and friends celebrating birthdays this month.   If you don’t think the church office has your birthday on file, please contact Becky Green ( church@firstuualton.org) and give her that information. 

   3 December – Isaac Nalick

  4 December – Matthew O’dell

  5 December – Benjamin Hoeft (2002)

  7 December – Mary Weber

  8 December – John Dunphy

16 December – Linda Van Zandt

18 December – Layne Simpson

19 December – Virginia Russo

20 December – Mary McGowan

23 December – Britney Brunner (1986)

30 December – Lisa Alton

Welcome

to Our Newest Member

Beth Bourland signed the church Membership Book on October 21, 2007.   Please add an * (denoting church member) to her name in our church directory

A Unique Travel Opportunity

Take a Unitarian Pilgrimage to Transylvania

September 23 – October 3, 2008

The Unitarian Universalist Partner Church Council http://www.uupcc.org/trips.html plans and coordinates group trips to areas of special interest to Unitarians.   Transylvania (the land beyond the forest) can be considered the “cradle of Unitarianism.”   As an outgrowth of the protestant reformation, the Unitarian movement flourished there from the 1500s.   Transylvania is now an ethnic minority region in western Romania .   Today there are about 170 Unitarian congregations in Transylvania , mainly in small Hungarian speaking villages.

This 10 day tour includes seeing the spectacular Carpathian Alps, visits to castles, historic Unitarian churches, villages,  and walled cities (including the purported birthplace of Vlad Tepes (a.k.a. Dracula), conversations with Transylvanian Unitarian ministers, visits to local craft cooperatives, and three nights of home stays in Unitarian villages.   On September 28 the Unitarian communities celebrate the end of the harvest season with magnificent thanksgiving services.  

The cost is $1600 per person, plus round trip air fare New York to Bucharest (currently about $800).   

For further information go to http://www.uupcc.org/trips.html or talk to Mary Johnson.

  “ It Happened at the River Bend ” is the title of a newly published book written by John Dunphy.   John mentions our church in the book, citing former minister John Gill’s biography of Elijah Lovejoy and noting Abraham Lincoln’s reference to our church during his 1858 debate with Stephen Douglas, which was held in Alton .   For more information about John’s new book email him at thesecondreading@piasanet.com.

KNITTING GROUP

The knitting group will meet on Saturday, December 8^th from noon until 2:00 p.m. at the church.   If you weren’t able to attend the first meeting last month, come this month anyway.   Questions?   Contact Sandy Shaner at   sarapolarbear@hotmail.com.

RE NEWS

Dear Parents and Friends,

As we enter into December, we begin the season of gift giving.   I know that most of the children of this church can tell you exactly what kind of gifts they would like to receive this year.   However, I am also hopeful that they know about the joy of giving this year, and not just the kind of giving that our consumer culture teaches them.

We will try to do our part here at church to teach some of these valuable lessons as to how we can live out our faith at this time of year.   At our Children’s Holiday Gift shop, the children will get to pick out presents for their families from items that have been donated by the congregation.   When they shop, they make a donation in our donation box.   The money that is collected that morning is totaled and then the children get to decide what charity to give the money to.   Traditionally, it has been a local charity that this money is given to so that they can help benefit our community at this time of year.

When the church is decorated for the Holidays, a tree is put up in the foyer.   This tree is then used to collect donations of warm clothing that the children will sort to give to local shelters in the area, The Salvation Army Homeless Shelter and the Oasis Women’s Center.  

The other main giving project that the children will be working on this month is the Oasis Women’s Center Adopt-a-Family program.   We have been given the wish lists of a family that is being served by the Oasis Women’s Center to ensure that they have a nice Christmas.   The children will be helping to sort and if necessary wrap the presents that come in for this project.   They will also be sorting the Holiday Gift Shop to see if there is anything there that is on the Center’s general wish list that we could contribute.

Hopefully, the children will find these projects worthy of their time and effort.   It is my hope that through projects like these, we can teach them ways that they can live out their Unitarian Universalist faith daily.

Thank you, Jamie Gross

Louisiana Work Crew

Plans are underway for a second trip to New Iberia Louisiana to continue working on homes that were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina 2005.  

Kevin McCarthy is coordinating the planning for this trip, which will probably one of the last two weeks in February.   We will again be working in connection with the Southern Mutual Self Help organization and hope to stay in the housing provided by the Methodist Church in New Iberia .   This housing includes a bunk bed dormitory, modern large kitchen, laundry area, and shower facilities.

Last year 17 folks from our church – adults, youth, and children – went on the work trip.    We hope that at least that many of you, or more, will be able to join the work crew in February.  More details about the 2008 trip will be forthcoming.    If you have questions please get in touch with Kevin dissimilator@gmail.com.

Past Events

City-wide Litter Clean Up -- On Oct. 20^th, thirteen people from our church (7 adults, 5 teenagers, and 1 elementary school child) spent two hours picking up litter from Alton ’s streets. We cleaned the area from the church down Alby to 9^th and down 3^rd to Henry, down 9^th to Henry and down Henry back to 3^rd, plus all the cross streets included in that area.   We ended the pickup work with a barbeque lunch provided by the Alton Weed and Seed Program at the old St. Patrick’s School grounds.

Youth Conference at First Church , St. Louis – On the weekend of Nov. 2^nd – 4^th the youth of our church attended their first District “Youth Con.”   Our youth plus their three advisors all reported that it was a great experience and are looking forward to the next “Con” next April at Urbana Champaign.