UU-FYI FOR SUNDAY, JANUARY 12, 2025

9:45 AM -SPIRITUAL FORUM

Join us for Spiritual Forum on January 12, when Phil Teitlebaum will explore the bibles of Judaism and the major divisions of Christianity. We will also touch on some of the issues that make understanding scripture difficult. Hope to see you there!

11:00 AM SERVICE

What Does It Take?

Student Minister/Seminarian Melissa Jeter

Early in her studies of pastoral care, Seminarian Melissa Jeter asked, “Do people really change?” On January 12, Melissa will look at popular stories about individuals who had divine interventions that caused each to change their hearts and minds. Outside of divine intervention, however,  what capacity do people have to change? In this New Year of 2025, you may wonder, what does it take?

CLICK TO WATCH ON OUR CHANNEL:

KIDS’ ACTIVITIES: On January 12, the kids will continue our cartUUns series with Mater and the Ghost Light! In this short, Mater has the tables turned on him and learns how his actions make the other cars feel. Hope to see lots of friends there!

THIS WEEK’S CALENDAR

Thursday, January 9 at 5:30 PM – World Dining

Thursday, January 9 at noon – First Thursday luncheon and speaker

Sunday, January 12:

·     9:30 AM – Choir Practice

·     9:45 AM – Spiritual Forum

·     11:00 AM – Service

·     12:00 PM – Coffee and Conversation

·     5:30 PM – Meditation via ZOOM*

Tuesday, January 14 at 6:30 PM – Meditation group meets over ZOOM*

UPCOMING EVENTS (see articles below for more info)

Saturday, January 18 at 1:00 PM – Film Club

Sunday, January 19 at 5:30 PM – Men’s Group

Monday, January 20, at 12:00 NOON – Together Women RISE

Tuesday, January 28, at 7:00 PM – Board of Trustees

Wednesday, February 5 at 7:00 AM – Kitchen volunteers needed

*see groups and monthly meeting document for more details

LEADERSHIP

FROM THE MINISTER

We know that members of the congregation sometimes need assistance, including financially at times, and we try to help as we can—mostly behind the scenes, such as the Caring Circle organizing a meal train, a member gathering gift cards after the board has approved the intention, or my using the Ministers Discretionary Fund to pay a utility bill.

Those are three of many ways that we demonstrate our community coming together, and a few of those activities in process now, most of them confidential, but one we want to call attention to is for Carla Logan-Mercer. If you can do so, will you make a contribution to First Unitarian and designate or note on the memo line that it’s for Carla Logan-Mercer’s car? Carla, who signed our membership book in 2017, is our kitchen coordinator, and I hope most of you have seen how dedicated she is to what she considers food ministry for First Unitarian. Besides seeing that coffee is available for Sundays, organizing monthly potlucks, and making sure the kitchen—with volunteer crew if needed—is available for special events, Carla makes sure we have supplies for the kitchen and Fellowship Hall.

Plus she is the point person for the first-Saturday monthly Knit Wits and Fiberwork Orphans group of people bringing their crafting to the church to do some hand work together.

Carla has been through quite an ordeal for transportation. She lives outside of town, and needs a reliable car to get here and to do church errands. You might have noticed in past months that she had been relying on others to give her rides. Her car was in need of repairs and it was taking more time than expected to get them done. This was after an earlier car was totaled in a collision. Carla finally did get her car usable, but after only a couple of weeks it broke down again, and on January 5 we learned that she needs about $800 for a new starter. After some people suggested that the church could help, First Unitarian leaders, including acting president Julia McGhee and treasurer Geoff Slawson, decided that this was something our church could handle immediately and then we would ask for contributions to replace that spending.

So the church is covering the bill, and we’re asking you to give to reimburse that payment. If the entire $800 for Carla’s car repair isn’t raised this way, I will cover what I can with the Ministers Discretionary Fund (which your contributions during Christmas week added a little more than $600 to—and I thank you for your continuing generosity). The church’s general budget will not be affected negatively by this special giving.

I know someone suggested that if a member has an “extra” car, they might offer it—for temporary use, or at an affordable price.

Let’s help Carla have reliable transportation again. Not only will she be grateful, but I think your helping a member will make coffee hour more special.

CARING AND SHARING

This week we are holding Tom and Carol Titus in our hearts. Tom had to have very serious surgery at UTMC Hospital and will soon be moved to a rehab facility. They could both use messages of encouragement. Cards may be sent to their home address which is available in the church directory.

We continue to send our best wishes to Nicole, Kris and Will Jonsson as they deal with some health issues. Please contact Nicole if you can be of any help to her family.

The Caring Circle would like to wish a Happy and Healthy New Year to this entire congregation and its friends!

***********************

“UUs care! Please continue to communicate your concerns or celebrations with any member of the Caring Circle: Carla Logan-Mercer, Karen Christie, Phil Zepp, Suzanne Hoffman, Joanne Hartough, Becky Hrabovsky, Karen Porter, Terry Acocks, Kathy Crowther, Marsha Gamble, Susan Smith and Rev. Tim Barger.

Please contact Joanne Hartough with any concerns or joys that you wish to share in this FYI column.

WORLD DINING

Join fellow UUs for our monthly World Dining experience on Thursday, January 9th, at 5:30 PM. We will gather at Jing Chuan (Chinese restaurant) at 4424 Secor Rd. Please RSVP by Monday, January 6th. We want to be sure we will have enough reserved seating for all who wish to attend.

In December at Tandoor we had a record number of 22 people! So much fun.

KITCHEN HELP NEEDED FEB. 5

The MULTIFAITH COUNCIL OF NORTHWEST OHIO Clergy Breakfast will be hosted at First Unitarian on Wednesday, February 5. Carla L-M is looking for volunteers. The time will be 7:30 am- 11:30am. Serving is at 9 am. Please contact her to volunteer.

THE FIRST THURSDAY TOLEDO LECTURE AND LUNCH SERIES

is co-sponsored by Unitarian Action. We will have the following topics and speakers for the winter/spring 2025:

January 9 – Israel-Palestinian Issues with Larry Clark

February 6 – Capital Punishment with Joseph Moran

March 6 – The Rights of Animals and All Nature with Dr. Tim Reichard April 3 – The Toledo Municipal Court with Judge Tim Kuhlman

The location is Monroe Street Methodist Church at 3613 Monroe St. Toledo, Ohio 43606. The cost is $5 for the speaker only and $15 for lunch and speaker. Attendees may also bring their own lunch. The program begins at 12 pm.

The Unitarian Action committee is an arm of First Unitarian Church of Toledo devoted to furthering social and environmental justice by sponsoring and partnering with organizations and events that support UU values.

FILM CLUB: join us on January 18 at 1:00 pm for a potluck and special SHORT FILMS FILM CLUB. We will view award-winning films, both animated and live action. This has been a popular program in the past and is a nice antidote to those mid-January doldrums. Hope you can join us!

MULTIFAITH COUNCIL OF NORTHWEST OHIO WOMEN’S GROUP CHAPTER

Together Women RISE Meeting and Potluck Lunch

Monday, January 20, 2025 12:00 NOON

(Note earlier time for Winter meetings)

at First Unitarian Church

January Grantee: Clean Start Africa (Kenya)

Our grant will fund an economic empowerment program designed to provide sustainable economic opportunities and dignity to women transitioning out of prison in Kenya.

Bring a dish to share and your own table service and serving utensils For more information on Together Women Rise, please visit togetherwomenrise.org or contact Susan Spiegel or Marcia Klunk

All are welcome! Bring a friend to share in good food and conversation while learning more about the world around us!

GARDEN PLOTS

There will be garden plots available in our church community garden next season. This is an opportunity to grow fresh organic vegetables for your use plus support SAME Cafe and Toledo Seagate Food Bank with any extras that you grow. Lots of help for beginner gardeners if needed. It’s work, but rewarding as you watch things grow and help support some wonderful agencies in our area. Contact Karen Porter or Dave Murray if interested or for more information.

Ongoing Weekly and Monthly Meetings

and Activities

Click THIS DOCUMENT for a fuller, printable description of the 2025 activities, location, meeting dates and contact person for each group:

Every Tuesday….Meditation @ 6:30 PM

Weekly AA meetings – see document link for times

1^st Friday……….Book Club @ 2:00 PM

1^st Saturday…….Knit Wits @ 11:30 AM

2^nd Sunday……..Meditation @ 5:30 PM until December

3^rd Saturday…….Film Club @ 1:00 PM

3^rd Sunday………Men’s Group @ 5:30 PM

3^rd Monday……..Together Women Rise winter time change to Noon

4^th Tuesday …….LGBTQ Online Support Group @ 8:00 PM

4th Tuesday……..Board of Trustees @ 7:00 PM

4th Wednesday …Blanket Making @ 10:30 AM

4^th Sunday………Meditation @ 5:30 PM

Is your meeting not listed? Submit your meeting details at

https://uutoledo.wufoo.com/forms/first-unitarian-communications-request-form

GREEN SANCTUARY NEWS

from Your Green Life

SPOTTING GREENWASHING WHEN CHOOSING AN INVESTMENT FUND

Some funds label themselves as ESG (an investing principle that prioritizes environmental issues, social issues, and corporate governance), when, if you look more deeply, it’s clearly greenwashing.

There are lots of good funds that follow these principles, but sorting them out may take some research. One tool to use is As You Sow’s Invest Your Values website (asyousow.org/invest-your-values). This site rates hundreds of mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETF’s) on seven issue areas, including fossil fuels, deforestation, gender equity, and more. You can search by the name of a specific fund family, or ticker.

You can also click on Top Rated Funds to see a list of all the funds they rate on fossil fuel holdings. If you have a financial advisor, let him or her know you are interested in such screens.

SNOW POLICY

Church closings are automatically triggered on a weekday by:

·     Toledo Public schools closings or delay

·     Level 2 Lucas County Snow Emergency

and on the weekends:

·     automatically by a Level 2 Lucas County Snow Emergency

·     or by decision of the Minister or President of the Board

READ THE ENTIRE POLICY HERE

OFFICE HOURS:

Office hours are normally Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 10:30-2:30 PM. Otherwise, please reach us by phone or email, which will be frequently checked. Thank you.

Phone: 419-381-6999

Office email: office.manager@uutoledo.org,

The weekly FYI is published on Thursdays. The Order of Service is sent on Saturdays.

To submit information for the next UU-FYI, fill out THIS FORM

by Wednesday at noon. Questions about the form or the FYI? Email fyi@uutoledo.org.

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First Unitarian Church of Toledo | 3205 Glendale Avenue | Toledo, OH 43614 US

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