We will gather in the warmth of fellowship to plan for our growth in the new year. The celebration begins at 7:00 pm and includes the lighting of candles, guided meditation and chants. All members, friends, and visitors are welcome and attendees should bring a snack to share.

Parker Cohen and Susann Mullins, co-facilitators

• Frozen mixed vegetables;
• 100% juice 6.75 oz. boxes;
• Brown Rice.

Please place perishables in refrigerator and non-perishables in the food pantry in the back of the kitchen by Feb. 5, and mark your name and donation on the list posted on the food pantry door.  As always, items are tax deductible.  Thank you for your support!

Paid reservations can be made by contacting the church office at (609) 737-0515, or by reserving a place during the Sunday services at the table downstairs in the Crossings Room. Download a flier on our website.

Advance tickets: Reserved seating is available for $30; general seating $25.
Tickets at the door: $30.
Students (13–18 years) $15 with ID, in advance or at the door.

The Saturday 1/28 Stewardship Workshop has been rescheduled to Sunday, January 29 from 1 to 3:30pm. 

This will be a “Brown bag lunch and learn” event. We hope you’ll make every effort to attend. We have unique opportunity to spend quality time with a representative from the UUA. Unfortunately, due to illness, our original UUA representative, Terry Sweetser, will not be able to present our sermon and workshop. 

However we are happy to announce that Laurel Amabile , Director of the UUA Annual Program Fund (APF) in Boston, will be coming down to deliver the sermon on Sunday morning and present a Stewardship Workshop on Sunday afternoon (January 29th) following the 2nd service from 1 to 3:30 PM. 

Due to the lateness of this change, we are unable to plan a formal lunch. Therefore, please bring your favorite brown bag lunch and the Stewardship Team will provide beverages, dessert and snacks. Charles will also announce from the pulpit. Plan to come and learn how we can make UUCWC a better place! 

Please  RSVP to Jim Sanders at jimsong56@yahoo.com if you can attend.

We hope that you are able to attend this session with our very special guest from the UUA.

In faith and service to our community,

Jim Sanders  for the entire UUCWC Stewardship Team

 LAUREL AMABILE- BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION:

Laurel Amabile is a fourth generation Unitarian Universalist and native of Yarmouth , Maine . Laurel has served as the Director of the Annual Program Fund in the UUA’s office of Stewardship and Development since 2005.  Laurel serves as the UUA representative to the Ecumenical Stewardship Center and is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and the Liberal Religious Educators’ Association.  She has received specialized training through the Center on Philanthropy, Lake Institute for Faith and Funding, and Alban Institute.

Laurel began her years of Unitarian Universalist service in 1989, as the Director of Religious Education at the First Universalist Church of Yarmouth, ME, and later as the DRE at the UU Church of Asheville, NC.  From 2000-2004, Laurel was co-employed by the Mountain’s Learning Center for Leadership and the Thomas Jefferson District, UUA, active in lay and professional leadership development and program consultation.  She served as the Southeast Lifespan Program Consultant for the former Thomas Jefferson (now Southeast), Mid-South, and Florida Districts, then as the Interim District Executive for the Thomas Jefferson District, before relocating north in 2006 for her current position.  Laurel lives with her husband Fred Amabile in Yarmouth , Maine . 

A. Saturday, Jan. 14: 9:30 am to noon (we’ll have bagels)
Snow date: Saturday, Jan. 28: 9:30 am to noon

B. Sunday, Jan. 15: 12:45 to 3:15 pm (we’ll have chili)
Snow date: Sunday Jan. 29: 12:45 to 3:15 pm

C. Wednesday, Jan. 18: 9:30 am to noon (more bagels)

D.Wednesday, Jan. 18: 6:30 to 9:00 pm (snacks)

E. Sunday, Jan. 22: 12:45 to 3:15 pm (more chili)
Snow date: Sunday, Jan. 29: 12:45 to 3:15 pm

Task force members will be sending e-mails with invitations and easy instructions on how to sign up.

Please choose a date, then come and share what you see as the church’s strengths and what you dream for our future. Here are the four questions we will ask:

1. What, for you, are the best things about UUCWC?
2. Why are these the best? What makes them the best things for you?
3. Picture the near future. What kind of opportunities would allow or inspire you to expand your engagement with UUCWC?
4. Pretend you have a magic wand you can wave over UUCWC. What are the wishes you would like to grant the church to increase its health and vitality?

This will be done over a period of several years. This year, we’ll be examining certain sections of the bylaws that will affect a settled ministry process and clean up inconsistencies between articles within the bylaws.

You will find these changes listed in the Crossings Room in December, where we will welcome your input. In January, we will hold informational forums.  In February, we will have a congregational meeting to vote on these changes.

We need you to mark the dates, and take a few moments to review the changes. Please be sure to attend the congregational meeting to vote (in
between services), as a quorum will be required.

As you familiarize yourself with this year’s changes, please contact Holly Bussey, Jon Holcombe, or Steve Fishbein with any questions.

Key dates:

• December: review suggested changes in bylaws
• Jan. 8 and Jan. 22, 2012: informational forums (between services)
• Feb. 26, 2012: Congregational meeting, 10:30 am to vote on bylaw changes

Environmental justice identifies ecological issues as they relate to questions of race and class. To address these issues adequately, our district’s racial and social justice consultant, Rev. Peggy Clarke, and right relations consultant, Dr. Frances sink, have partnered to educate, organize, and empower our congregations to address these complex issues.

The first meeting of the Environmental Justice Council will take place on Saturday, Jan. 21, at the First Unitarian Society of Westchester, in Hastingson-Hudson, N.Y., at 10:30 am. The New York Metro District is asking every congregation to send at least one representative to this meeting. The Council will meet three times in 2012; one of those sessions will center on the nationally acclaimed GreenFaith Environmental Justice Tour in the Ironbound section of Newark.

Please RSVP to Jim Bicksler before Jan. 10. If you would like to go and are interested in carpooling, contact Jim Bicksler.