LIAC
The Long Island Area Council of Unitarian Universalist Congregations, LIAC, is a way for all UU families on Long Island to connect. SNUUC member Ilene Corina has recently taken on the role of President to attempt to connect the people and projects associated with Unitarian Universalism with other families throughout Long Island and Queens. Her hope is that these UUs will consider how they can partner with others with similar interests as they organize their events, activities and proposals. There is bound to be someone just waiting to work with you on a project but if we don't share this information amongst each other, it just won't happen. If you are interested in becoming a delegate to LIAC and work directly with a program or on a committee please tell Catherine or the Board that you are interested in being nominated. Some of the programs and committees that LIAC needs delegates for are: Coming of Age, Our Whole Life, Sophia Fahs and LIYUUTH. Other areas are Special Events and Public Relations. There is so much to share!

If you would like a ride to Sunday Service or other SNUUC events
please call membership chairs Martha Chamberlain, Lori Strumeyer or anyone on the membership committee and they will be happy to help make arrangements.

Fifth Sunday Giving
The Fifth Sunday Giving committee is accepting applications for the fall collections. There will be 5th Sunday collections in October and December. Anyone interested in applying for a group or organization to be a recipient of the Fifth Sunday Giving collection should pick up an application at the Social Action table. All applicants must provide a full description of the program and services it provides and state reasons for the nomination.

Worship Associates
Rev. Catherine Torpey seeks to gather a group of members who find fulfillment in helping to lead worship, and are determined to give SNUUC deeply moving, meaningful and well-organized Sunday morning experiences. Worship Associates will help lead worship along with Catherine, or with guest ministers. If this sounds like a way in which you would like to serve the congregation, please contact Catherine to express interest in becoming a Worship Associate.

Community Achievers in Residence program (CAiR)
is ready to go at SNUUC. CAiR is a program that offers respite services to local foster families through the Nassau County Department of Social Services. The program will be offered to children ages 6 through 12 on the second Saturday of the month from December through May. Arts and crafts, music, storytelling and interactive recreation will be offered at no charge to the family or the DSS.

We are looking for donations of new or gently used checkers, coloring books, crayons, markers or paint sets or new paper, play dough, paint brushes, drinks, snacks or other small manageable items appropriate for this project. Please ask your children, friends, families and neighbors for donations. This project is not associated with the SNUUC RE program and is completely funded separately so all assistance is greatly appreciated.

If you want to help on a Saturday morning, an application must be on file. Youth over ages 13 and supervised by a parent may also help.

Calling Musicians
We are sure there are some musically talented members and friends in our congregation. If you play a musical instrument, don’t be bashful - let others enjoy it with you! In our early years SNUUC had several people who played the violin, guitar, clarinet, harp, oboe, flute, tuba, cello and piano. They played for us at Sunday services. We also had a 20 voice four part choir which sang almost every Sunday. The choir robes are still in the hallway closet along with file drawers filled with wonderful music. All of these enriched our Sunday services. If you are one of our unknown talented artists and would like to perform, please contact Joe McAuley.

People are Hungry... help the Freeport INN
There is a large wicker basket just inside the Foyer door that serves as a collection place for non-perishable food and toiletries to give to people in need. Next time you shop please pick up something extra to bring to SNUUC to fill this basket. The contents are brought to the Freeport INN to distribute to people on Fridays so they have enough food for the weekend. Thank you very much!

FLOWERS
Many people have signed up to sponsor the flowers on the chancel for our service each Sunday, in memory of a loved one or to honor a special event. Pick the date and your commemoration will be listed in that Sundays Order of Service. Please sign up on the flower calendar in the foyer and donate $25 to SNUUC. Speak to Lisa in the office for more details.

Remember to save your soda can tabs
tPlease remember to save aluminum can pop-tops in support of kids with kidney disease. Our collection is forwarded via a local dialysis center to Stony Brook University Hospital which coordinates the effort. The scrap aluminum is sold and money earned pays for summer camp where kids with renal failure can enjoy themselves while continuing dialysis. You can still return the can and get your deposit back so it's a win-win situation! Bring your collected pop-tops to SNUUC and place them in the giant Coca-Cola can in the office.

Membership Committee request
Red Mugs, the Membership Committee has purchased 6 bright red coffee mugs. These mugs are to be used by our visitors and newcomers. If you are hosting coffee hour please make sure our visitors use a red mug for their coffee or tea. During coffee hour if everyone can please keep an eye out for the red mugs and spend a moment or two welcoming our visitors and newcomers to our warm and friendly community.

The Membership Committee reminds us to wear our name tags on Sundays. If you don’t have one or need a new one, please stop by the Welcome Table and let us know. Also, please let the office know your e-mail address, or if there is any change in your address. They will be included in the next SNUUC Directory.

Chalice Lighter News
Our goal for the Chalice Lighters collection for the Gulf Coast UU Fellowship of Gulfport, Mississippi was $1,500. The funds are to be used to hire a part-time minister, their first, to help them grow and recover from the devastation of hurricane Katrina.

We collected $1,768.02! Here's how we all did it.

Our generous congregation, responding to Catherine's sermon and Susan Nykolak's presentation on Chalice Lighter Sunday, contributed $1,000. The Yuuth with Paula Rosenberg's direction, collected and contributed hundreds of pennies, checks and cash totaling $218.02. Sam Bryson-Brockmann and Will Stevens donated the total of their November 10 Katrinaid 3 Band Concert funds, which was $550.

UNICRAFTERS
They are not a SNUUC secret society. We are actually a group of creative individuals who meet in the foyer every Thursday from 1 to 3 to make distinctive articles to be sold during the December holiday season. Newcomers are welcome and there are projects ranging from the very easy to the more complex. We have something for everyone. Most of all we always need new ideas. Be a part of a friendly fun-loving group. The conversations are great and the refreshments are the best. Want to know more? Ask Alice Spatt, Rita Tancredi, Paula Fullar, Mattie Colice, Robin Norris or Helen Joy.

Fair Trade Coffee
The coffee served at SNUUC coffee hour and other SNUUC functions will be fair trade coffee supplied by Equal Exchange, as part of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee's Coffee Project. The decision to use this more expensive coffee was made at a recent SNUUC Board of Trustees meeting, following a presentation by social action chair Don Obers and with the support of the senior youth who have been selling this coffee in the foyer for several months.The board felt that this additional expense was justified by the opportunity to put into practice UU social values.

Fair trade coffee from this UUSC project is coffee purchased at a fair price, and produced using ecologically sustainable, organic farming practices. Equal Exchange was founded in 1986 "to create a new approach to trade, one that includes informed consumers, honest and fair trade relationships and cooperative principles." As stated by Mateo Rendon from a coffee cooperative federation in El Salvador: "What's different about working with Equal Exchange is that we send our coffee directly to them without intermediaries. The extra money our cooperatives receive makes a difference in medicines and nurseries to care for our children." Can we as a congregation afford the estimated extra $8 per week in an effort to empower people in other countries and do the "right thing?" Besides believing we can, if only eight members each week contributed an extra dollar at coffee hour, it would end up not costing us anything! So please consider this next time you reach in your wallet at coffee hour.

Congratulations to...

Linda Nanos for receiving a stunning review of her book The Minor Respondent in the November issue of 'Nassau Lawyer'. Linda has practiced law since 1981 and maintains a bi-lingual storefront law office which helps to add authenticity to her book. See Linda if youíd like a copy of the book.

Ilene Corina. Ilene will be recognized by the Institute for Safe Medical Practices at their annual awards dinner in Anaheim, CA, for her work with PULSE and her efforts to improve patient safety and reduce the rate of medical errors. The Cheers Awards honor those who have set a superlative standard of excellence for others to follow in the prevention of medical errors and adverse drug reactions.

Phil Kennelty-Cohen who recently won Honorable Mention in the first-ever Peacedriven Songwriting Award Contest. Phil's composition, "Sing the Same Song", was singled out from a field of over 500 entries.

SNUUC Yuuth Sam Bryson-Brockmann and Will Steven’s article about our Katrinaid Coffeehouse in September was featured in a recent issue of Synapse, a publication of Young Religious UUs. Click here to see it.

SNUUC receives Social Action award
We’re proud to announce that SNUUC received a citation from County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi at the Workplace Project’s Annual Dinner Dance. The Citation was for “dedicated and exemplary service to the community”.

The Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office (UU-UNO)
has a new Youth Page where you can find out about the 2005 Con and more information about the UU-UNO. Visit www.uu-uno.org

Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Update
Check out the new & improved UUA website (www.uua.org) for information on a variety of topics including UU current events, a lay leadership resource site, audio & video recordings of the 2003 GA, newsletter columns by UU ministers from all over the continent, links to numerous UU related organizations and much more.

Beacon Press has published it's first Catalog of Beacon Books for Unitarian Universalists. Find it online at www.beacon.org/uures.html or in hard copy from the UUA Bookstore, 800 215-9076.

Kids are always asking questions! There is an online resource from the Church of the Larger Fellowship that will help you extend your child's knowledge of UUism, building upon what they are learning in RE on Sundays. See www.clfuu.org/betweensundays/

'Streaming' Sermons
From The Bellringer, the newsletter of the UU Fellowship of Bellport and UUBooks Mailing List comes a recommendation for those whose pcs are set to stream internet radio: Uuplink, a UU web-based radio service based in Ohio. They broadcast UU news, music, poetry, sermons, and General Assembly coverage. http://www.live365.com/stations/uuplink?play&site=uuplink

On their web page, they summarize content: “Sermons are from UU clergy, guest speakers and lay leaders, many of them recorded in Ohio, New York and Wisconsin. Rev. Chuck Freeman’s Soul Talk from Austin, TX is heard live Thursdays at 5pm ET. Media watchers enjoy CounterSpin Fridays at noon and 11pm ET.

Sophia Fahs UU RE Camp on Shelter Island
taking place from August 12 -17, is for children and youth from grades 3-12 from the Long Island area. Adults from UU Congregations are asked to serve as staff. Applications are available now online at http://liacuu.org/, the deadline for the super early bird rate is March 15. If you would like to learn more about this wonderful camp opportunity or havenít received your application in the mail, speak to Susan Nykolak, Paula Rosenberg or Bernie Kaplan.

The UUA is offering a paid UU internship program. Summer of Service and Spirituality is for young adults, 18-25, and will occur from June 1-July 14 in Boston, MA and Providence, RI. The mission of this program is to deepen young UU adultsí faith through social justice work and theological development. Application deadline is February 1. www.uua.org/ya-cm/summer

Considering Ministry? Meadville Lombard Theological School announces the Spencer and Susan Lavan Scholarship for Excellence, a full, merit-based scholarship for an incoming residential student in their Master of Divinity Program in the Fall of 2007. Application deadline for the scholarship is March 15. Please see the Meadville Lombard Website (www.meadville.edu) for more information on the scholarship and the Master of Divinity Program.

UN Thursday Briefing Programs
On Thursday mornings, at the UN, a panel of speakers brief representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs, such as the UU-UN Office) on various topics of international concern. The briefings begin at 10am with a half-hour film relating to the topic of the day and end at noon after a question and answer period. Visitors are welcome, contact the UU-UN Office (see SNUUC directory) or the website the Tuesday before you plan to attend. Check with the Social Action table at SNUUC for a list of topics and dates or ask Hildegard Schubert. You do not have to be a member of the UU-UN Office, but membership envelopes are available.

Readings

A SNUUC Testimony
When I was a little girl I remember being all dressed up for the annual Anniversary Day parade in Brooklyn, NY...

"The Common Ground of Interfaith Nonviolence"
"...nonviolence is at the core of every religion, regardless of what the world says, or what religious bigotry, fundamentalism and misconceptions have bred. At the heart of each major religion is...(click here for more)

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