Thursday, September 27, 2012

Book Discussion Group: Beyond Religion

Beginning on Wednesday, October 17, at 7:00 p.m., Axel Gehrmann will be leading an eleven¬ session discussion on the book "Beyond Religion - Ethics for a Whole World" by the Dalai Lama. Transcending the "religion wars," the author "outlines a system of ethics for our shared world," and offers "a stirring appeal for what he calls a "third way," a path to an ethical and happy life and to a global community based on understanding and mutual respect." The group will meet on the first and third Wednesdays. Please sign up on the sheet Minister’s Office door, or contact Axel (minister@uucuc.org) with questions or childcare needs.

New Anti-Racism Chalice Circle is forming!

The Unitarian Universalist Church of Urbana-Champaign has begun a new Chalice Circle. The first meeting of the Anti-Racism Chalice Circle was held on Thursday September 13 at 7 pm, in the church library, and was facilitated by Elaine Gehrmann. Meetings will be ongoing on the second Thursday of each month. We look forward to having interested parties join this important group. If you would like to participate, please contact Elaine Gehrmann, (gehrmanns at aol.com).

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Partner Church Dinner October 6th

Mark your calendars now for the Partner Church Fundraiser Saturday, October 6th, 6:30 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. Dinner will feature food from Transylvania, and Hungary. Come for food and fun and to help out our Partner Church families! For more information about Partner Churches,see http://uucuc.org/hungarian-partner-church or contact Brigitte Pieke (brigittepieke at hotmail.com).

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

September Shared Offering: Daily Bread Soup Kitchen

The mission of the Daily Bread Soup Kitchen is to feed the hungry of our community regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity. We welcome all volunteers to this service who share an unconditional positive regard for every human being. We provide a safe, respectful, and inviting environment in an atmosphere of hope and dignity. Daily Bread Soup Kitchen was formed in August, 2009, when St. Jude’s Catholic Worker House Steering Committee made the decision to close the soup kitchen after seventeen years of operation. Many long-time Catholic Worker House volunteers remained strongly committed to the mission of feeding the hungry of the Champaign-Urbana community and banded together to create Daily Bread. Under the leadership of President Ellen McDowell, Daily Bread was incorporated as a 501c3 not for profit agency, a board was elected, and a fund-raising effort was undertaken. Daily Bread was delighted to be taken in by New Covenant Fellowship, 124 West White Street, just down the street from our former home. In three short years we have gone from handing out sack lunches to 30 guests from the doorway of New Covenant to serving a nutritious hot meal of soup, salad, entree, and dessert to an average of 200 guests a day in New Covenant’s Fellowship Hall, almost triple the number of guests we were able to feed at St. Jude's. We have recently paired with the Labre Project at Newman Center at the University of Illinois to staff a mobile van that now serves sack lunches at two different locations on the weekend. In addition, the guests that we serve come to us with many other needs as well. Our Assistance Committee provides what help we can: mainly helping guests get state IDs and birth certificates, necessary paperwork that allows them to qualify for jobs, disability, and public aid. In addition we buy yearly bus passes for guests with demonstrated need, and we try to refer our guests to appropriate programs. Daily Bread is a unique entity in many ways. First and foremost, it is entirely volunteer run. We have NO paid staff or administrative overhead. All donations go directly to client services. Secondly, we are funded entirely by donations and small local grants. Thirdly, we have a very diverse group of volunteers--men, women, black, white, Catholics, Protestants, Hindu, Jews, other, none of the above, Democrats, Republicans, etc, etc. Fourthly, our volunteers span a wide range of ages; although we tend to be either over 60 or under 25 (Middle agers are always welcome!!) And lastly, we have no requirements or preconditions for who we feed. Anyone who walks in the door is given a plate, no questions asked. And we never turn anyone away, even if they arrive late because, as Ellen McDowell reminds us, “the last person in line could be Jesus.” For more information check out our website www.dailybreadsoupkitchen.com