NewsTalk Topics for Oct 22, 2017

NewsTalk Agenda for Oct 22:

— The future of the ACA
—  Who speaks for Democrats?
—  Tweets and other unsettling remarks

Order of Service, Oct 15, 2017

Welcome/ Announcements

Prelude: Wayfaring Stranger

Opening Words

Lighting the Chalice Flame (in unison):

We light our chalice this morning, grateful for the love that we experience in this beloved community. May the flame light the way for all who seek such abundance. (Dawn Skjel Cooley)

*Hymn #128 For All That Is Our Life

Reading: The Road Ahead or The Road Behind, by George Joseph Moriarty          

Quiet Time/Meditation: Fond Words, by Andrew Hill

Offertory: Almost A Whisper, by Yanni

*Hymn: #314 We Are Children of the Earth

Reading: Ysabel Duron

Affirmation (in unison) Love is the spirit of this congregation and service is its law. This is our great covenant: to dwell together in peace, to seek the truth in love and to help one another.

Sermon: Sustainability and Stewardship:  From Surviving                 to Thriving    Dr. Paul Ward

*Hymn #318 We Would Be One

Extinguishing the Chalice Flame (in unison) We extinguish this flame, but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment. These we carry in our hearts until we are together again.

Closing Words

Postlude: Just A Closer Walk with Thee

Life of the Congregation

Gratitude & Applause

* Please stand in body or spirit

Hearing devices, and envelopes for cash pledges are available on the hymnal cart or ask an usher.

This Week

Today: JAM Grant Collection, Social Hour 11:30am in Ministers Hall.

Monday-Friday: Administration Office hours 9:30am-12:30pm

Thursday: Jam Meeting 5:00pm in Ministers Hall. P.E.A.C.E. House meeting 7pm in Minsters Hall.

Saturday: Cluster Event (see below)

Sunday:  News Talk at 9:15am in Ministers Hall  

Announcements

·        Next Sunday: “Who Do You Think You Are?” David Traupman

·        Food Items collected during the offertory are donated to the Lake Park Food Pantry,

·        Shoes and Toiletry Articles collected are donated to the Haitian Community.

Gratitude

Thank you to all who contribute to our service and fellowship hour each week. This week:

·        Guest speaker: Dr. Paul Ward

·        Music coordinator: Peilin Ko

·        Ushers: Cynthia Fitch & Diana Colardi

·        Cover art: Larry Stauber 

          Fellowship hour hospitality:  Coleen Conway

 And to our permanent staff:

·        Barbara Hatzfeld, office administrator

·        Willie Nelson, sexton.

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NewsTalk Topics for Oct 15, 2017

—Upcoming U.S. Supreme Court cases
—Organizing for action
—Potential Florida constitution amendments

Order of Service, Oct 8, 2017

Introduction

*Hymn #361 Enter, Rejoice, and Come In

Welcome/ Announcements

Opening Words

Lighting the Chalice Flame (in unison):

Blessed is the fire that burns deep in the soul. It is the flame of the human spirit touched into being by the mystery of life. It is the fire of reason; the fire of compassion; the fire of community; the fire of justice; the fire of faith. It is the fire of love burning deep in the human heart; the divine glow in every life.

*Hymn #94 What is This Life

Quiet Time/Meditation/ Prayer

Offertory: Danny Boy

Affirmation (in unison) Love is the spirit of this congregation and service is its law. This is our great covenant: to dwell together in peace, to seek the truth in love and to help one another.

Responsive Reading: # 468             

Sermon:  The One Most Important Thing I Have Learned   

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                                         -- The Rev. Bob MacDonald

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*Hymn #21 For the Beauty of the Earth

Extinguishing the Chalice Flame (in unison) We extinguish this flame, but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment. These we carry in our hearts until we are together again.

.

Closing Words

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Postlude: Serenade by R. Drigo

Gratitude & Applause

* Please stand in body or spirit

Hearing devices, and envelopes for cash pledges are available on the hymnal cart or ask an usher.

Announcements

·       Next Sunday: “Sustainability & Stewardship: from surviving to thriving” Dr. Paul Ward

·    Food Items collected during the offertory are donated to the Lake Park Food Pantry,

·    Shoes and Toiletry Articles collected are donated to the Haitian Community.

This Week

Today:  Social Hour 11:30am in Ministers Hall. Church Council meeting at Noon in the Sanctuary.

Monday: Happy Columbus Day! Office closed.

Tuesday-Friday: Administration Office hours 9:30am-12:30pm

Tuesday: Board of Trustees meeting at 6:30pm in the Channing Room.

Friday: Art Studio at 6pm in Ministers Hall.

Sunday:  News Talk at 9:15am in Ministers Hall  

Gratitude

Thank you to all who contribute to our service and fellowship hour each week. This week:

·        Guest speaker: Rev. Bob MacDonald

·        Service Leader: Larry Stauber

·        Music coordinator: Peilin Ko

·        Ushers: June Kleeman & Amy Stauber

·        Cover art: Larry Stauber

·        Fellowship hour hospitality:  Diana Colardi

         And to our permanent staff:

·        Barbara Hatzfeld, office administrator

·        Willie Nelson, sexton.

Black Lives PBC To Meet at 1stUUPB

A quick update from Black Lives Palm Beach County

Our next meeting is at 7-9pm on Tuesday, October 24th at First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Palm Beaches.
Join us for an evening of education and action! We will be having a speaker (more info forthcoming), then continue work on our current campaigns and discuss potential future campaigns.

The church is located at 635 Prosperity Farms Rd, North Palm Beach, FL 33408. We will be meeting there the fourth Tuesday of every month from 7 to 9 pm.

1stUUPB Book Group Schedule 2017-18

First Unitarian Universalist Congregation
of the Palm Beaches

Second Saturday Book Group

Our 1stUUPB  Second Saturday Book Group will begin our first meeting of the season on Saturday, November 11.  We meet in the sanctuary from 10:00am until noon — or sometime thereafter.  All are welcome — members and friends alike.  If you have questions or would like further information, call Dorie Maxwell at 561-301-4204 or email her at doriemaxwell@mac.com.

“Read so as to know the world.”

2017– 2018 Readings & Schedule

Family — the Ties that Bind, and Sometimes Unravel

  Date              Title & Author                                        # pages      First published__

  Nov. 11       Salvage the Bones  by Jesmyn Ward           288        August 30, 2011

  Dec. 9         Moonglow  by Michael Chabon                   430        November 22, 2016

  Jan. 13       Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi                             320        June 7, 2016 

  Feb. 10       The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri                  340        September 24, 2013

  Mar. 10        Pride and Prejudice  by Jane Austen         226        January 28, 1813

  Apr. 14        Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett             368        May 3, 2016 

1.     Salvage the Bones — Jesmyn Ward

This novel explores the plight of a working-class African-American family in Mississippi in 2005 as they prepare for Hurricane Katrina, and follows them through the aftermath of that storm.  2011 recipient of the National Book Award for Fiction

Why?  Well, it is hurricane season.  And once again, extreme rains have caused serious flooding this summer  for New Orleans and its residents. What's happening is consistent with a warming climate. As these changes occur throughout the world, the greatest impact often comes to people with the fewest resources.

2.    Moonglow — Michael Chabon

This book chronicles the narrator's discussions with his family, particularly his mother and dying grandfather. A multi-generational saga of a Jewish family’s secrets, lies, and loves— an autobiography wrapped in a novel disguised as a memoir, with some of these memories set in Florida.  The narrator functions as a proxy for the author, Chabon.     2016 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction finalist, plus lots of other awards.  In 2000 Chabon won the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.

Why?  Chabon is a highly praised contemporary author and Pulitzer winner, and, since this sounds like a great family story, I thought it was time we checked into his work. This story covers much of our lifetime. Also, one of my former students who now is an Indiana high school English teacher herself highly recommended Chabon and Moonglow on Facebook, and this teacher loves learning from her students.

3.    Homegoing — Yaa Gyasi

Each chapter in the novel, which covers around 500 years, follows a different descendant of an  African Asante woman named Maame, starting with her two daughters, separated by circumstance: Effia marries James Collins, the British governor in charge of Cape Coast Castle, while her half-sister Esi is held captive in the dungeons below, awaiting shipment to the American colonies. Subsequent chapters follow their children and following generations.  Nominations: Goodreads Choice Awards Best Historical Fiction, PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction.

Why?  A new voice in the literary world, Gyasi shows consequences of the slave trade both in Ghana and the US by following a single family.   Remember Roots?

4.    The Lowland — Jhumpa Lahiri

Lahiri's sweeping novel traces the lives of two brothers born in Calcutta, India -- close enough to almost be twins - and their family from Indian independence to the present day.  One brother stays in India, the other migrates to the U.S.    Nominations: Booker Prize, National Book Award for Fiction, Goodreads Choice Awards Best Fiction.  In 2000 Jhumpa Lahiri won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Interpreter of Maladies.

Why?  Seventy years ago this year, the Indian Independence Act 1947, an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, partitioned British India into the two new independent dominions of India and Pakistan. Today India, second only to China in world population, is a country that deserves our attention.  Also, like in Homegoing, this story traces two branches of a single family, one in India, the other in the US.  Thanks to Terri Harrow for recommending this one.

5,    Pride and Prejudice -- Jane Austen 

This romantic comedy of English landed gentry in 1800s tells the story of Mr and Mrs Bennet's five unmarried daughters after the rich and eligible Mr Bingley and his status-conscious friend, Mr Darcy, have moved into their neighborhood.

Why?  Celebrating the 200 anniversary of Jane Austen’s death in 1817 is as good an excuse as any to revisit this novel that deals with so many elements of a family and society, and continues to be loved and read to this day— even though it wasn’t nominated for any awards!  You’ve read it before?  I assure you that it gets better every time you read it. Of course it deals with white male privilege.  And besides, we need some levity to balance these other serious works.

6,    Imagine Me Gone — Adam Haslett

This concerns a couple, American Margaret and British John, who marry despite John's crippling depression.  With different chapters narrated by the couple and their three children, it spans half a century from 1960 to present, two continents, and five WASP-y voices.  Nominations: 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction.  In 2003 Adam Haslett’s You Are Not a Stranger Here was a Pulitzer finalist.

Why?  I hope I’m not making a mistake here. This novel deals with the effects of mental illness on individuals and their families.  Many readers and critics highly praised its excellent writing, but cautioned that it could be emotionally hard to read.  However, exploring the impact of mental illness while reading a good book seems like something that would be worthwhile 

Change in PEACE House Meeting Schedule

There will be only one P.E.A.C.E. house meeting, Wednesday, Oct 4 at 7pm in the Channing Room instead of the two that were announced earlier.