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November 21, 2024
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This Sunday at First Unitarian Church

Worship Service on November 24, 2024, Livestreamed at 10:30 am  

Thanksgiving Multigenerational Service 
Dr. Rev. Kate Walker, Erica Shdowsong, and Mac Perkins-High

We are bringing a version of the bread communion back! This Sunday, we invite everyone to bring some bread. Bake it or buy it...whatever you like; just make sure it is wrapped! We will bring our bread into the Sanctuary before the service starts, and during the ceremony, everyone will be invited to come up and choose a different bread to take home! And be sure to stay after for the Thanksgiving luncheon!

***Please make sure ingredients, especially common allergens, are noted on the bread.***

Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank is November’s Share the Plate charity!

 To learn more about the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, visit its website at Home Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank (pittsburghfoodbank.org)
Donate Now
A Message From Your Board of Trustees 
Actions of the Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees met on November 20, 2024, and passed the following motions:

The board approved the following appointments:
- Laurie Lavine to the Social Justice Endowment Committee
- Elena Elko to the Endowment for Children and Youth Committee
- Chas Murray to the Committee on Shared Ministry

The Board approved the following appointments contingent on these people becoming church members by January 1, 2024
- Ioulia Kornber to the Music Endowment Committee
- Andy Norman to the Campus Ministry Endowment Committee
- Kurt Summersgill to the Nominating Committee

The Board authorized a budget of up to $74,999 for a grant submitted to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency for safety upgrades to the church.
News and Updates
1st U Kids Raise Funds for Local Charity at Pumpkinfest
Dear 1st U family, If you see a child or youth at the church this Sunday, be sure to give them accolades! During our annual pumpkin-decorating Pumpkinfest, our children and youth raised $108 for Literacy Pittsburgh. They were enthusiastic and each year manage to amaze with their unique pumpkin decorations. Thank you for supporting them with your donations!
Wish Lists for Mathilda Theiss!
As has been our tradition for many years, we will be collecting toys and gifts for the children served by the Mathilda Theiss Health Center in the Hill District. Please look for the tree in the Garden Lobby.
Due to Thanksgiving being late this year, the timeline is very short. Please consider using Mathilda Theiss's wish list to send the gifts directly to the Center. 


Please use the 
Amazon and Target links below to send gifts directly to Mathilda Theiss's children. If you prefer to shop in person, please leave your gifts under the tree in the Garden Lobby by December 8.
Make sure you choose "Mathilda Theiss" when asked to select an address. Thank you!
Amazon
Target

Art News
Have you seen the quilt hanging in the Garden Lobby?  You can be the recipient of this quilt if you go online to Faithify - a UU project-based fundraising website.  Our Quilter Covenant Group will select the new owner of this quilt from the contributors' campaign on the website on January 7.  Donations are going to the UUA Disaster Relief Fund.  Consider a contribution to the fund on Faithify and an opportunity to be the winner of this quilt.  

If you are hanging a quilt (or more than one) in the December quilt show - bring it to the Undercroft Gallery on Saturday morning, November 30, between 10 and 10:30 am.

The Art Committee wants your contribution to the January Member and Friends Photo Exhibit. We need about 50 photos to put up a good show. They should be in one of the boxes in the Garden Lobby or the Undercroft by Sunday, December 15. Members of the Art Committee will back, matte, and prepare them to hang during the following week. Whether or not we have a Photo Exhibit depends on whether or not we get enough photos.

You have two more Sundays to see Julius Schwartz's work, currently hanging in the Undercroft Gallery, and to buy a piece (or more than one piece) of this beautiful work to hang in your home or to give as a gift. Be sure to check out the exhibit!

Upcoming Meetings and Events
We hope you will attend the Racial Justice Task Force’s next dinner and film on Friday evening, November 22, at 6:15 in the Schweitzer Room.
We will watch The Barber of Little Rock, a 2024 Oscar-nominated short documentary, and then, as usual, we will discuss it. The film will add to your sense of redlining if you happened to hear Randy Weinberg at his recent talk co-sponsored by the Humanist Group and us.
The Barber of Little Rock explores America's widening racial wealth gap through the story of Arlo Washington, a local barber whose visionary approach to a just economy is reflected in the mission of People Trust, the nonprofit community bank he founded.
Dinner is potluck, so please bring something to share. We gather at 6:15, and the film will begin at 6:30.
Come and feel free to bring a friend.
Click here for Nick's Bio
Click here for the Alternative Holiday Gift Market Catalog
 Men's Group
 The Dec. 11th meeting will be from 7:30 to 9:00 pm.  It will be an  - IN-PERSON meeting  -  in our usual spot  - The Priestly Room.   Our leader will be  -  Mac Perkins-High - our relatively new Intern Minister, who received an MDiv from Harvard Divinity School in 2023 and an EdM from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2024.   His topic will be - the Massachusetts' Quabbin Reservoir.   I expect you've never heard of it.  I'll let Mac explain.  In brief, he will describe how a displaced community reconstructed their homeland.  (also a chance to get to know Mac)   
For more information, contact Jim Reitz,   
j5650r@comcast.net
 
OMBUDSMAN
Need an answer to a question and don’t know who to ask?  Want to pass along some feedback and not sure who to contact?  Reach out to your Board Ombudsman Ebe Emmons.  Ebe will coordinate with staff, committees, and the board to get an answer or pass along feedback.  Ebe can be reached at firstuupghombudsman@gmail.com
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