Sunday, October 20, 11:00 am, Sanctuary

"Jewish Perspectives on Repairing the World"

Join us in person or watch on YouTube.

The Jewish commandment to repair the world is often played out in acts of lovingkindness. It began as a striving for personal betterment and starts and ends with repairing the world within.

Participating in today’s service:

Service Leader: Rabbi Abby Jacobson, Guest Speaker; Worship Associate: Steve Goldman; Chalice Lighter: Susan Biles; Choir Director:  Chukwuebuka ('Ebuka) G. Ezeakacha; Music: 1UC  Choir;  Accompanist: Steven Elkins  Kennedy; Technical Support: Tammy Epperson and Ellisya Ravencroft: Ushers: Sponsors for SJC's Change for Change

Rabbi Abby Jacobson was born on a cattle ranch in central Florida, outside the small town of Davenport. At the last census, there were 1,200 people and 8,000 head of cattle in Davenport. She attended the George Washington University, graduating with a Bachelor's degree in International Relations (with a concentration in Middle Eastern Studies) in 2002.

Then, never having left the East Coast of the United States, she got a passport and moved to Jerusalem, Israel, to attend the Conservative Yeshiva for two years. A yeshiva is a traditional, non-degree Jewish learning center, and Rabbi Jacobson learned Jewish texts there for the pure love of Jewish learning.

She received her rabbinic ordaination, along with a Master's degree in Hebrew Letters, from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, New York City, in 2009.

Rabbi Jacobson has been the Rabbi of Emanuel Synagogue since August 1, 2009.

She is also the former president, and a long-time board member, of the Interfaith Alliance of Oklahoma.

Our Ushers for Sunday are:  Sponsors for SJC's Change for Change: C4C gather applications for the program from members of the congregation for nominations of charitable organizations to be chosen to receive one month’s Sunday service plate collections. Any 1UC member, in good standing, can submit a not-for-profit organization that is doing the work we want to be done in the world for a Change for Change Recipient. The Committee will review accept, ask for more information, or deny. The accepted are then recommended to the Board of Directors for a month when donations are accepted for Change 4 Change. Chairs:  Rosalinda Espinosa and Deborah Shinn

Sunday, October 20, 10:00 am

Sunday Morning Meditation (In-Person)

Please join us for meditation practice in the Buddhist tradition (lower level, next to Corley Commons).

All are welcome; no meditation experience necessary!

For more information contact Lori Jervis.

Sunday, October 20 (immediately after the service) Daniel Hall

Coffee, Lemonade and Conversation

Join us after the service in Daniel Hall for coffee, lemonade and conversation.

Transition Tracker

As the weather turns, finally, to cooler temperatures, it is a pleasure to update you on the Transition Team's progress.

First of all, please note the team working with Reverend Dave on this process: Suzanne Broadbent, Sundra Flansburg, Todd Hildebrandt,, Ann Meeks, Marilee Peryam, and Marcia Woddward. They are all available, as is Dave, to speak with you about the process and to listen to your ideas and concerns.

The Team met on Sunday and is digging into the materials needed to complete our dossier for the UUA. Our goal is to make it available by early December so that ministers who are considering a settled search would also look at our interest in a contract-to-call.

We would be looking at a three-year contract, arranged by your Board of Trustees. This arrangement would give us two year with the Minister and help us determine if we are a good fit for one another. If it seems that way, the congregation would vote to call. If not, we can go in a different direction, with various options open to us.

In faith,

Cathy

Sunday, October 20, 12:30 pm, Eddy Room

Let's Talk Medicare

There are so many changes, and new options for 2025.

 A $2000 a year max cost for drugs.

 More Medicare Advantage (Part C) plans.

 Shop prices every year for your Supplement (Medi-Gap).

Whether it's for you or the elders in your life, let's share our experience and learn what's new. Church member Steve Goldman will host. He works on health insurance options education, but is not an agent/broker -- does not sell any insurance.

Bring your questions and listen in while Steve explains how things work.

Tuesday, October 22, 6:30 pm

Board of Trustees Meeting

Join us for the Board of Trustees Meeting on Tuesday, October 22, at 6:30 pm (via zoom)  Everyone is welcome!

See board documents here.

Join Zoom Meeting: 

https://zoom.us/j/97199144268?...

Meeting ID: 971 9914 4268
Passcode: 541007

For more information or questions, contact Cathy Webster csw202@nyu.edu.

Saturday, October 26, 9:00 am

1UC WORKDAY!

We are having 1UC workday Saturday, October 26 from 9:00am to 12:00 noon to do some cleaning and trimming to help spiff up the church. 

This is in conjunction with the OU Fall Community Service Event, which will furnish several students to help. So put on your favorite window washing clothes (yes, we do windows) or grab your favorite trimming tool and come on down.

It's a fun activity. If you have questions, contact me, Ron Wasson, wassonr@sbcglobal.net or Marlies in the church office.

Church Security from the Health & Safety Committee

The attached link to our Quick Reaction Security/First Aid Checklist incorporates everything Tammy and I learned at the Security training provided by Rabbi Harris and Bob Bennett at Temple B’nai Israel, the voluminous UUA Threats from Without Care from Within Webinar last August that many of us attended and the recent 14 September Fire Dept. CPR/AED/Choking training. It stresses the importance of always maintaining building security to prevent dangerous situations from developing, while also providing practical actions to be taken in the event of a variety of security incidents or injuries. As an update, the Oklahoma City Police Department Crime Prevention Unit said that we are in a low crime area, and that the primary crime threat is from thefts from parked cars, so please remember to keep your car doors locked. As a working document it undoubtedly will evolve over time, as will our Updated First Unitarian Emergency Operations Plan which provides extensive procedures and detailed maps of our Church building on what to do in a wide variety of natural disasters and other threats.

https://d.docs.live.net/03C42911AC92139F/Documents/Current%20Quick%20Reaction%20Security%20Checklist.docx

2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month - 6:00 pm

Wednesday Night Meditation

Interested in meditation but can't quite make it on Sunday mornings? Or maybe you just want more meditation? We are adding a Wednesday night session to our schedule (6:00 pm - 7:00 pm) in the meditation room in the lower level (Corley Commons).

For more information contact Larry Little.

Tuesday, October 22, 11:00 am

Tuesday Adult Ed: Discussion Group

Lu Ann Faulkner-Schneider will facilitate the Tuesday Discussion group on Tuesday Oct 22, 2024.

The topic is grief. The video is from Nora McInerny.

Nora McInerny: We don't "move on" from grief. We move forward with it | TED Talk

Join Zoom Meeting:

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/72644785004?pwd=k7Bcy50kmsLyS7vp65ZSbo7rf4MXvs.1

Meeting ID: 726 4478 5004

Passcode: 7bdG9D

Let Ron know if you have something you would like to present on a future Tuesday, wassonr@sbcglobal.net 

News from Befrienders

BEFRIENDERS WELCOMES REV. JONALU JOHNSTONE TO OUR MERRY BAND.

Befrienders relies upon donations. Those donations are used to provide cards, stamps, and items for memorial receptions. If you wish to make a donation, please send a check and put Befrienders on the purpose line of your check. Thank you.

Befrienders is ready to assist members of our church who are recovering from surgeries or illnesses by offering cards of well-wishes, meal trains, transportation to church or medical appointments as well as arranging for visitations, and we provide the receptions following memorial services.

Befrienders have teams assigned for specific roles.

• Lana Henson leads our Cards of Well Wishes team and can always use extra hands to write cards to our members who are ill or who are recovering from surgeries.
• Ginny Boykin leads our Memorial Receptions team. She calls on folks to bring food for the receptions.
• Patti Kate leads our Transportation team and is looking for folks to be added to her list of people willing to be drivers for anyone needing a ride to a doctor’s appointment, therapy appointment, etc. She is actively recruiting for folks to be on her team.
• Kathy Nyswonger leads our Visitation team. She, along with others, actively go out and visit with members who are unable to get to church or some of the social events. She is actively recruiting for folks to be on her team.
• Meal Trains – we don’t have a team leader yet for this team of people willing to step up and provide a meal to an individual or family. Much of the work of the leader is organizing the Meal Train on line. If you are interested, please contact Susan Bishop for more info,

If you are interested in joining any of these teams, please let Susan Bishop know at sdbishop50@gmail.com.

Change for Change

For the month of October our Change for Change partner is Calm Waters. 

The Calm Waters mission is to help children and families in their grief journey caused by death, divorce, or other significant loss.

The Calm Waters vision is to be the leading provider of grief support services for children and families throughout Central Oklahoma, serving as a safe place for those who have experienced a loss to receive grief resources, peer support, and hope for the future. Calm Waters is the expert on grief and trauma as it relates to loss, using research-based curriculum and programming.

CHANGE FOR CHANGE needs your help. Did you know that anyone can suggest a worthy local non-profit in our community? Do you know how?

• Check out the 1uc.org website and click on the justice tab
• Then click on Community Partnerships and click on the application in green in the middle of the page.
• Submit the application to Deborah Shinn or Anne Murray, or leave it in the office Social Justice mailbox. Or you can email the completed application to them. They be found in Breeze.

WE APPRECIATE IT WHEN CONGREGANTS NOMINATE WORTHY COMMUNITY PARTNERS. THANK YOU!

NEWS FROM THE SOCIAL JUSTICE COUNCIL: The national election is less than 3 weeks away and we know that some in our congregation prefer to vote by mail. The deadline for mail-in ballots is an Oct 21^st postmark. If you need a notary, the Council is providing two. Sundra Flansburg and Marlies Grogg have agreed to staff a table so bring your ballots on Oct 20^th. Stamps will be available for those who need them. We each have a responsibility, not just a role, in our community history.

1UC’S CURBSIDE PANTRY needs donations. When you attend services or activities at church, please bring a can or other non-perishable food item and place it in our pantry along Dewey St. If you can’t bring food, consider making a financial donation to the pantry instead. We have a very helpful elf who does the shopping.

PEACE FESTIVAL CANCELED. The Peace Festival, normally held the 2^nd weekend in November has been canceled.

NEWS FROM UUSC (Unitarian Universalist Service Committee) After Juan Antonio López was killed last month for speaking out publicly on corruption, UUSC’s partners who continue to confront powerful mining interests in Honduras are at immediate risk.

His murder was meant to send a message: those who speak up to defend human rights and the environment will not be safe.

In response, we must send an even louder message: the whole world is watching what happens in Honduras, and we demand government action to ensure the safety of environmental defenders.

Call on the U.S. Ambassador to Honduras to ensure Honduran officials act immediately and guard activists from further harm.

Environmental defenders are putting their lives on the line to protect our shared planet. They deserve to be protected in return.

Raise your voice in solidarity by contacting Ambassador Dogu to pressure U.S. and Honduras leaders to act now.

NEWS FROM REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE:

Oklahoma represents nearly one-third of pregnancy-related prosecutions a year after Roe’s end: Oklahoma had the second-highest number of pregnancy-related prosecutions nationwide in the year after Roe. v. Wade was overturned, according to a new study by the advocacy organization Pregnancy Justice. 

If reading this is upsetting, consider joining the Reproductive Justice Team. Contact Susan Bishop @ sdbishop50@gmail.com

NEWS FROM THE OK POLICY INSTITUTE: Do the benefits of the expanded child tax credit actually fade with time?  A new working paper from two economists at Columbia University examines the effects of long-run cash and quasi-cash transfer programs (like food stamps) in the U.S. in an effort to predict the overall effects of a child allowance over the very long run. Instead of the grim and jobless future forecast by expanded child tax credit critics, they find that a future shaped by a permanent child allowance is well worth the investment. They found that the total long-run benefits to society of making a child allowance permanent outweigh the costs by nearly 10 to 1. While the paper may not sway skeptical economists, the dramatic returns could still help build political momentum to pass the policy. [Vox]

1.6% Adults who are not working or looking for work account for only 1.6 percent of Oklahomans in poverty. The largest groups living in poverty are children, working adults, seniors, and the disabled.

Celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month: Honoring a Legacy of Resilience and Pride

LGBTQ+ History Month, celebrated every October, offers an opportunity to reflect on the rich history and profound contributions of the LGBTQ+ community. Founded in 1994 by Missouri high school teacher Rodney Wilson, the month is dedicated to recognizing the milestones in the fight for equality, the individuals who have shaped LGBTQ+ history, and the culture that has been built from resilience and pride.

The month shines a spotlight on iconic figures like Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Bayard Rustin, and Harvey Milk, whose activism and courage paved the way for progress. It also educates the broader community about landmark events such as the Stonewall Riots, the struggle for marriage equality, and the ongoing fight against discrimination.

LGBTQ+ History Month also provides a platform to celebrate diversity and foster understanding, aiming to bridge gaps between different communities. Schools, organizations, and individuals are encouraged to engage in discussions, host events, and share resources that highlight the triumphs and challenges of the LGBTQ+ movement.

Ultimately, LGBTQ+ History Month serves as a reminder that the fight for equity is ongoing, and the stories of the past inspire the activism and progress of today.

Here are a few helpful resources for learning more about LGBTQ+ historical events and figures:

1. Wikipedia’s Timeline of LGBTQ+ History: This comprehensive timeline covers global LGBTQ+ historical milestones from the 17th century to the present, including key legal changes and cultural moments. It’s a good starting point to explore major historical events across different countries. Learn more here: (Wikipedia)​.

2. University of Northern Colorado’s Historical LGBTQ+ Figures: This resource highlights influential LGBTQ+ activists, authors, and leaders, such as Marsha P. Johnson, Stormé DeLarverie, and Audre Lorde, all of whom contributed to social justice movements, the arts, and advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights. Explore these figures here: (UNC).

3. Wikipedia’s Timeline of LGBTQ+ History in the United States: For a U.S.-focused overview, this timeline provides key historical moments such as the Stonewall Riots, the establishment of important LGBTQ+ organizations, and major legal battles that shaped the rights of LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. Find more information here: ​(Wikipedia).

4. LGBT History Month Website: This official site offers a wealth of information on LGBTQ+ history, featuring biographies of notable figures, educational resources, and information on past and present LGBTQ+ milestones. It’s also a great source for finding out about events and celebrations during LGBTQ+ History Month. Visit the site here: (LGBTHistoryMonth).

Racial Justice Team Book Club

Your Racial Justice Team will be hosting a book club. We have done this occasionally over time. Our upcoming book is "Waking Up White and Finding Myself in the Story of Race" by Debby Irving. Rev. Sue recommended it to us. We have 9 people signed up so far.

We will meet in person in Eddy Room the first Saturday of the month: November 2, December 7, January 4 and February 1 from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm. 

The book is available through Half Priced Books, etc. I will try to explore ordering them in bulk through the book store once we have a number.

Text or call Becky Tallent at 405.882.8095 or email beckyktallent@gmail.com.

Information for our Consulting Minister - Rev. David Messner

Schedule a meeting directly: https://revdave.youcanbook.me/

Professional FB Profile - like/follow: https://www.facebook.com/revmessner

Visit his website:  messnerministry.com

You can email him directly at:  dhmessner@1uc.org