News for the Week - Jan 6 - Unitarian Universalist Society of Mill Creek

Posted on January 24, 2022 Posted By: Office Administrator Categories: News

** Sunday Worship Service
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January 9, 2022

10:00 am

Livestream Only

Join Rev. Andrew Weber for his homily:

Unapologetically You

Connect With Us Virtually
There are several ways to get the Zoom link for livestreaming the service:
* Click the link below (Sunday Morning Live!) and bookmark it; OR
* Access the church calendar (https://www.uusmc.org/news/calendar/) (https://www.uusmc.org/news/calendar/); OR
* Open our Sunday morning email; OR
* Open ANY PREVIOUS Sunday morning email – the link remains the same from week to week

Click here for Sunday LIVESTREAM (https://zoom.us/j/97806427419)

** Congregational Life
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** Upcoming events, meetings and news to know
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** JANUARY WORSHIP SERVICES
WILL BE LIVESTREAM ONLY
————————————————————
(
NO IN-PERSON WORSHIP FOR JANUARY)
We are offering worship services as livestream only now through January 30th.

This means that no in-person worship services or Children’s RE will be offered until February 6.*

LIVESTREAM ONLY SERVICES:
January 9: Rev. Andrew Weber
January 16: Heather Petit
January 23: Heather Petit
January 30: Rev. Kent Matthies

*This is the date we anticipate resuming our hybrid services including limited in-person gathering, with the hopeful expectation that the COVID new case rate begins a downward trend.

** Church Operations During Rev. Greg’s Sabbatical
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Rev. Greg is away on sabbatical now through June 30. He will not be available by phone or email throughout the duration of his absence. However, we offer assurance that all church operations will continue as usual. We have prepared a guide which contains a list of guest speakers, contact information for those in leadership positions, and other information.
Access the Sabbatical Guide Here (https://www.uusmc.org/wp-content/uploads/A-Guide-to-Rev-Gregs-Sabbatical.pdf)

** Adult RE Class Cancellation
————————————————————

The Artist’s Way, an Adult Religious Exploration class series with Karen Rege and Yolanda Chetwynd has been cancelled.

** Share Our Plate:
January & February
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We regularly donate a portion of our undesignated plate collection to a local charity or non-profit organization.

For the months of January and February we have selected:
YoungMoms in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania

The mission of YoungMoms is to inspire and equip young mothers to build thriving futures for themselves and their families. This non-profit organization, serving southern Chester County, Pennsylvania, provides the academic, employment, parenting and relational support pregnant and parenting young mothers need to achieve their life goals and improve their lives and those of their children.

The individuals they serve face huge challenges as they navigate adolescence and parenthood simultaneously, including incomplete education, poverty, language barriers, isolation, and a general lack of options and opportunities. YoungMoms offers a program of individualized, comprehensive, and long-term support to these young women, featuring:
* Highly specialized case management
* One-to-one mentoring
* Educational & employment assistance
* Parenting education & development
* Monthly club meetings, life skills training, and enrichment workshops in Kennett Square and Oxford

Participants remain in the program between two and four years, allowing the YoungMoms program to assist them in overcoming obstacles which might normally derail their progress in achieving goals. This long-term investment makes YoungMoms unique and life changing.
For more information about this organization, click on the link below:
LEARN MORE about YoungMoms (https://youngmomschestercounty.org/)
Support this organization with your online donation today!
DONATE to Share Our Plate (https://onrealm.org/MillCreek/-/give/now)
**Be sure to select ‘Share Our Plate’ as the giving fund**
Donations to Share Our Plate during the months of November and December 2021 were in support of West End Neighborhood House In Wilmington, Delaware. Our donation – $1203 – is dedicated to support their Drop-In Center which offers an array of services for foster care youth as part of WEN’s Life Lines Program.

** Spiritual Retreat (In-person or Online)
at First Unitarian Church of Wilmington
————————————————————
Spiritual Retreat: Unitarian Universalist Spiritual Practices
First Unitarian Church of Wilmington
Saturday, January 29, 2022
10:00 am to 3:00 pm
Begin the New Year by nourishing your Spirit. Join Rev. Larry Peers and Rev. Rob Hardies for a day-long retreat grounded in our own Unitarian Universalist spiritual tradition. In this retreat we will learn and practice the spiritual disciplines of our UU ancestors so that they might equip and sustain us in engaging our beautiful and broken world. Along the way, we will gain a better understanding of the spiritual and theological gifts of our tradition.

Each retreat participant will receive a set of handouts describing each spiritual practice, so that they can continue practicing at home. There will also be an option to form a small group that will continue practicing together.

Please bring or have handy a journal (or something to write with and on) as well as a brown bag lunch. Coffee and tea will be provided for those attending in the building.

The retreat fee is $25 for members of First Unitarian; $35 for all others. Scholarships are available. You must pre-register by January 24.
LEARN MORE here (https://firstuuwilm.org/wordcms/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/finale-Lifestream-Jan-29-Spiritual-Practices-Retreat-v3.pdf)
REGISTER here (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf2DFOwl8aTkmKICVQBGTSLkQw7tKTt2N8HBkmM-7oE0mwNuw/viewform)
https://www.familypromisede.org/

** Continued Support for Family Promise in the New Year
————————————————————

Family Promise is a community based non-profit organization dedicated to preventing and ending homelessness for families of all shapes and sizes. They provide shelter and case management services to hundreds of local families and engage an interfaith hospitality network for additional support. Mill Creek is a support congregation in this network.

Despite the COVID challenges of 2021, through the coordination and support of Mill Creek members Chitra Vaidy and Lauri Rickard, we continued our support of Family Promise by providing 3 meal deliveries to the families in the program (usually 2-3 families).

We are continuing our commitment to support Family Promise for 2022. This includes shopping and meal preparation 4 times throughout the upcoming year. Many of our members are involved in this effort but more help is needed in order to maintain a rotation of service. Use the link below to connect with Chitra if you have any questions or would like to offer your assistance.
Contact Chitra HERE (mailto:cvaidy226@gmail.com?subject=Family%20Promise)
LEARN MORE about Family Promise here (https://www.familypromisede.org/)

**
Chalice
Circle
Openings
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Chalice Circles at Mill Creek are small groups within our church that provide a supportive environment for people to meet and discuss topics relevant to our lives as well as share our stories, our experiences and our ideas. Circles are an opportunity to get to know each other on a deeper level and develop a rich spirituality. During COVID, some Circles meet virtually, some in person; some meet during the day and some in the evenings.

There are several opportunities to join a circle!
Click the link below to contact Helen Springer for more information,
or call 484-732-8641; or call the church office, 302-369-2712.
Click here for more information about Chalice Circles (mailto:helen_springer@msn.com?subject=chalice%20circles)

** Upcoming Book Group Selections
————————————————————

Everyone is welcome to join the Book Group for the following discussions:

March
Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
Tuesday, March 1st at 7 pm

May
Radium Girls by Kate Moore
Tuesday, May 3rd at 7 pm
Zoom links remain the same for each discussion and can be found on the church calendar (https://www.uusmc.org/news/calendar/) . Contact the church office with any questions.

Realm is our church management software program. We use it exclusively for accounting, pledge data, membership, registration events, and more. Use the button below to access your Realm profile to make sure we have your most recent contact information, and make pledge payments and contributions.
Access your Realm profile HERE (https://onrealm.org/MillCreek/SignIn)
Fun fact: you can use Realm to set up recurring online monthly pledge payments using a credit card or your checking or savings account!

We encourage you to continue your financial support of Mill Creek during the closure by using one of the following methods:

1. Mail a check: 579 Polly Drummond Hill Road, Newark DE 19711 (staff is present in the office and the mailbox is checked daily). Please indicate on the subject line if this is a pledge payment, a general contribution, or a contribution to a specific giving fund.
2. Give electronically through REALM using your credit card or bank account (checking, savings, etc.): https://onrealm.org/MillCreek/Give or use the link below (remember to select a giving fund).
3. Text-to-Give: text MillCreek and the amount [e.g. MillCreek 50] to 73256.

We sincerely appreciate your support of Mill Creek, especially now during an uncertain time for all of us. But the work of the church continues! We gratefully acknowledge that there would be no Mill Creek without YOU. Thank you.
**Click here to GIVE NOW** (https://onrealm.org/MillCreek/-/give/now)

@millcreekuu

Mill Creek Staff

Rev. Gregory S. Pelley, Minister
Rev. Greg will be away on sabbatical from January 1 through June 30.
He will not be available by phone or email throughout the duration of his absence. We offer assurance that all church operations will continue as usual, and have prepared a guide which contains a list of guest speakers, contact information for those in leadership positions, and other information. Use the link below to access the guide.
Sabbatical Guide – view it here (https://www.uusmc.org/wp-content/uploads/A-Guide-to-Rev-Gregs-Sabbatical.pdf)
Debra Damiani, Congregational Administrator
Monday 8 am to 1 pm, Monday-Thursday
administrator@uusmc.org (mailto:administrator@uusmc.org)
302-369-2712

Rachel Sabella, Music Director
Hours by Appointment
music@uusmc.org (mailto:music@uusmc.org)
302-369-2712

** News from the UUA, the Central East Region, and the Delmarva Cluster
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** We Are Unitarian Universalists
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Some people use the start of a new year to reaffirm their faith, while others may be questioning it. Regardless of where you are on your own journey, the UUA (Unitarian Universalist Association) offers a short and refreshing video as a resource.

Feel free to share it with others!
View the video here (https://vimeo.com/344862790)

** UUA Disaster Relief Fund
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On December 10, 2021, a series of deadly tornadoes swept across Kentucky and other parts of the Southeast and Midwest United States. While there were no UU congregations directly hit, members of the Bowling Green, KY congregation have damaged homes and the community around the church has been severely affected.

One of the most effective ways you can help is to support the Disaster Relief Fund of the UUA. The Disaster Relief Fund is part of our covenant—a covenant between the UUA and congregations, between congregations who give generously and those in need, and with our community partners. Through aiding our congregations, their members, and their community partners, we can embody our faith and values.

Use the links below to learn more about the Fund, and to offer your support with an online donation today.
LEARN MORE here (https://www.uua.org/giving/areas-support/funds/disaster-response)
DONATE here (https://giving.uua.org/disaster-relief)

https://www.uua.org/central-east

**
Opportunities for Connection: Central East Region Update
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JANUARY 2022
Opportunities for Connection – click here to learn more (https://uua874.activehosted.com/index.php?action=social&chash=b096577e264d1ebd6b41041f392eec23.5614&s=8983449a6b0e04757c2c9729fa49f044)

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News for the Week – Jan 6

News for the Week – Jan 6