UNIverse Weekly December 11-17, 2020

December 11-17, 2020

WORSHIP

December Worship Theme: Silence

Join Rev. Misha for The Story of Silent Night.

The login for Zoom is https://nwuuc.org/zoom/ or follow the service on our Facebook page. Stay tuned in afterwards for Coffee Hour.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

CALL FOR CHALICE LIGHTERS!

WE ARE SEEKING CHALICE LIGHTERS FOR DECEMBER. PLEASE SIGN UP! NWUUC welcomes children’s participation in the weekly Sunday service. Options to participate include lighting a chalice via Zoom during the service or submitting a video to re@nwuuc.org that can be played during the service. LED lighting options can be used instead of a flame. Please use this link to sign up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050F4AAEAC2F4-chalice

2020 NWUUC Holiday Pageant Registration
Please mark your calendar for the annual pageant which will be held on December 20^th. A registration link has been sent to families enrolled in the RE program. You do not have to be a member of Northwest to register. Please complete registration this week if you have not registered already. Contact Adia Fields-Udofia, Director of Religious Education if you have not received the registration link.

Marching Feet Service Project: Operation Gratitude Letter Writing Campaign
Our Marching Feet Project includes participating in a letter writing campaign that is sponsored by Operation Gratitude. Every year, Operation Gratitude sends over 300,000 individually addressed Care Packages to Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen deployed overseas, to their children left behind, and to First Responders, New Recruits, Veterans, Wounded Heroes, and their caregivers. Each package contains snacks, hygiene products, entertainment, and handmade items, as well as personal letters of support. Through Collection Drives, Letter Writing Campaigns, Craft Projects, and Care Package Assembly Events, Operation Gratitude provides civilians anywhere in America a way to say “Thank You” through active, hands-on volunteerism.

The children and youth at Northwest are so very creative and coloring and drawing are activities that we enjoyed during activity time. I thought this would be a great way to support current and former members of our military. For detailed instructions for the letter writing campaign visit this link: https://www.operationgratitude.com/express-your-thanks-virtual/write-letters-virtual/
To learn more about Operation Gratitude and other ways to support the organization visit www.operationgratitude.com.

MUSIC MINISTRY

Advent: Love’s Intention and Action While Waiting
by Philip J. Rogers

It is evident by the sundry political attack ads, threats made to persons of conscience who stand for truth and transparency, and deliberate silence by those in power on matters which could relieve the pain of the masses, that this treasured season of love, giving and peace is seemingly being ignored, especially by those who claim to espouse its very foundational tenets.

Without going into a long diatribe to discuss the matter, I have chosen to share the lyrics of Steveland Morris, a.k.a., “Stevie Wonder” from his 1976 composition, “Love’s in Need of Love Today.” His statements are delivered from the perspective of a news broadcaster which seem to imply that the very nature of Love has waned in efficacy and stands in need of deliberate reactivation. It is extraordinary how this forty-four-year-old artistic communication aptly identifies today’s sociological and spiritual dilemma, especially as we ponder the essence of the text in verse two.

The lyrics read as follows:

Verse 1

Good morn or evening friends
Here’s your friendly announcer
I have serious news to pass on
To everybody

What I’m about to say
Could mean the world’s disaster
Could change your joy and laughter
to tears and pain…

Chorus

It’s that love’s in need of love today
Don’t delay, send yours in right away
Hate’s goin’ ’round, breakin’ many hearts
Stop it please, before it’s gone too far

Verse 2
The force of evil plans
to make you its possession
And it will if we let it
destroy everybody

We all must take
precautionary measures
If love and peace you treasure
then you’ll hear me when I say… [Chorus]

Listen and ponder from a 20/20 mindset.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGZYWSfiYbM

OUR NWUUC FAMILY (CARE CORPS)

Would you like to schedule a private meeting with Rev. Misha? Please call the main number, 770-955-1408, to set up a time.

The Care Corps continues to make phone calls in an attempt to touch base with all members as we are still practicing social distancing. If you haven’t heard from us yet, rest assured your time is coming. However, we are placing calls based on birthdays and joining anniversary dates. If you have never put your birthday into the Realm system, we’ll never know when to wish you a happy birthday! Now is the time to learn how to use Realm and to be able make your own calls to friends you have been missing on Sundays. If you need help with accessing Realm, please send an email to the Tech Team at techhelp@nwuuc.org and one of our friendly tech gurus will call to help you. Remember, if you have something you want to share with us or with the congregation at large, feel free to email or call one of us—we are happy to hear from you. If you don’t want your joy or sorrow made public that is ok, too. You can trust our confidentiality.

Your Care Corps Team

Joys and Sorrows

Veta Tucker had reconstructive surgery this past Tuesday, following her earlier breast cancer surgery she had the second part of her breast cancer surgery this past Tuesday. She is resting at home under the care of her daughter. All good wishes to you, Veta!

Our thanks to Judy McKinley and Kaye McCall for offering to deliver meals for Veta and her daughter on the two days that were requested.

Congratulations to Ashley Fornier Goodnight, a Care Corps member and
neuropsychologist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. She passed her board certification in Clinical neuropsychology this past week. She said: “It’s over! Now I can come from work and look forward to an evening without studying for the board exam.”

John Weinert was moved from North Fulton to a nursing and rehab facility in Roswell on Tuesday of this week. Penny had been able to visit John while he was in the hospital, but the ability to visit has now ended with this transfer. Penny is anxious about the next few months. Please keep Penny and John in your thoughts and prayers.

If you have a joy or sorrow you would like to have shared in the UNIverse please call or email Rev. Joan Davis at 404-275-0236 or joanarmstrongdavis@gmail.com.

If you are going through difficult times and would like emotional support or are in any situation where support and caring are needed contact:
Rev. Misha Sanders, Minister, 770-955-1408
Rev. Joan A. Davis, Community Minister, 404-275-0236
Maria Drinkard, 678-644-6480
Karen Edmonds, 770-851-1354
Ashley Fornier Goodnight 903-278-1923
Linton Hopkins, 678-938-8858
Valerie Johnson, 470-209-9864
Lil Woolf, 404-276-6189

(770) 955-1408 Office Hours M-F 9 am to 5 pm office@nwuuc.org

ANNOUNCEMENTS

TOWN HALL MEETING, DECEMBER 20

Please join members of the Board and Ministry Teams for a Town Hall meeting after the service on Sunday, December 20. Simply stay online following the postlude for a short presentation of our current status as well as to ask any questions you may have.

Virtual Auction

https://nwuuc.org/zoom/

Bidding open now at https://www.32auctions.co/nwuuc2020

Dear Friends,

Please join us Saturday evening, December 12, at 6:30 pm, for our annual NW Auction. Of course, we mean join us virtually. Many members have offered very enticing and creative gifts this year despite our being unable to gather in person.

Among the items is an original painting by our own Helene Johnson, a painting that was donated by former members Keith and Marcia Kreycik from their own collection. Dave and Pam Zenner have offered their lake house with dock, overlooking tranquil Lake Talquin, near Tallahassee, FL. Other items are homemade dinners, breads, cakes and cookies; homegrown fruits and vegetables, artwork, jewelry, kayaking lessons, Driving Miss Daisy tours of Atlanta by Linton Hopkins and gift certificates to restaurants and much more!

You can view all the offerings at https://www.32auctions.com/nwuuc2020.

Bidding continues the rest of this week but will end at our zoom gathering–so check it out now!

How do you join? By using the same zoom login we use every Sunday for services: https://nwuuc.org/zoom/

Don’t have an account yet for bidding? Want to see all your options in one place? You can do all this at https://nwuuc.org/fall-auction/

The final bidding event starts at 7 pm with our auctioneer, Tony Barbagallo, but plan to join us at 6:30 pm for cocktail time (or whatever your beverage of choice is) and fellowship with each other. Remember, the auction is a fund raiser that is FUN and also an important component of our annual budget.

Please see the attached flyer and please join me on Saturday!!

Thank you,
Lil Woolf

Committee on Ministry

The Committee on Ministry is curious – we want to know how you are and how you are connecting to Northwest in this highly unusual time.

To create an opportunity for everyone to comment, share ideas, and let us know how you are, we opened a brief survey on December 1st. We promise, it is short, typically completed in our test run in under 15 minutes. While it’s short, there are opportunities for you to say whatever is on your mind or in your heart. As of today we have had 31 responses; thank you! But we hope to hear from many more.

By now you should have received an email, sent to the address in the Realm database. If you have changed your email address, please be sure it is correct in Realm. If your record in the database does not include your email, please add an address unless you prefer not to receive the survey.

Every participant will receive a unique link to the survey. Please do not share your unique link or post in public places. Unique links enable us to send reminders only to those who have not replied.

If you do not receive the email, please check your spam folder as this is a common reason the messages aren’t received.

The survey will remain open until December 22nd. Results will be shared with the congregation in January. Only aggregate data will be shared. The comments will be consolidated into themes and only themes will be shared. No individual remarks or verbatim comments will be viewed or shared by anyone other than the Committee on Ministry team members who are Rev. Misha Sanders, Constance Dierickx, Elizabeth Hickman, David Morgen, and Veta Tucker.

Zoom Documentary Discussion
Better Brain Health
7pm on Friday, December 11th

Watch the documentary Better Brain Health on your own and then join a virtual discussion on Zoom!

This documentary focuses on food science as researchers are studying the impacts that food can have on the function and vitality of the human brain. Here is a link to where you can watch it on YouTube. https://youtu.be/TLpbfOJ4bJU

This event is open to all who are open to all and is not restricted to Atlanta or the United States. Feel free to invite anyone you think may be interested in joining our discussion. Please allow others to get their full thought out and that any disagreement is voiced in a civil way. At the end we will decide together the topic for the next month’s film.

Please email Adam Hicks bryantadamhicks@gmail.com to be added to the email list. That way you will be able to receive updates on future events as well as the zoom link and password, which will be sent out the morning of the discussion.

Holiday Hours

Christmas-December 24-January 3. Deadline for UNIverse Weekly will be December 22 at noon.

NWUUC Book Groupies

The NWUUC Book Groupies will not be meeting in December. We will resume our book discussions on Zoom, Tuesday, January 12 at 7 pm with The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. This acclaimed novel follows the divergent fates of twin sisters from the Jim Crow South after one twin decides to pass for white. An examination of race, identity, lies and familial love follows. If you are looking for a book to transport you out of your current circumstances, this is it!

If you would like to order this book from our bookstore which contributes all profits to NWUUC, please leave a message for Penny Raney at 770 551 8817 and we will make arrangements to get it to you. Also, please let me know if you want to be in the Zoom meeting if you are not currently on our book groupies list.

…We Still Need People to Host

Do you enjoy Coffee Hour each Sunday? Are you willing to host from time to time. It is super easy (and we will train you), but without more people willing to do it we might have to discontinue.

It’s pretty easy if you have any tech skills at all, so don’t be shy! Send your name to our IT Helpdesk at techhelp@nwuuc.org and one of us will get back to you with how-to instructions.

IT Help Desk

If you need help using Zoom to log into the service or a church online meeting, logging into Realm, our webpage Nwuuc.org or into our Facebook Group page, we have a team of experts who can help. This desk is managed by Cameron Moore, Katy Lockhart, Kuru George, David Morgen and Russ Martin. To reach one of them email your questions to techhelp@nwuuc.org. One of them will respond with answers.

Shop NWUUC Merch

Check out Northwest’s new merchandise shop at Zazzle for T-shirts, polos, and now, masks!

If you’re interested in submitting merchandise designs, please email Cameron Moore at stewardship@nwuuc.org.

DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS AND
JOINING ANNIVERSARIES 2020

December Birthdays December Anniversaries

Emma Davis 12/02
Anthony Kahn 12/04
Melanie North 12/04
Ellie Lockhart 12/05
Evelyn Alford 12/08
Maria Drinkard 12/08
Karen Lawrence 12/10
Judy Seaman 12/12
Caroline Romines 12/20
Chloe Morgen 12/22
Ethan Freeman 12/26
Allen Rider 12/29
Cameron Moore 12/30
Letitia Sweitzer 12/30
Joy Hickman 12/31
Alida LeBron 12/31

Helene Johnson 12/24/1977
Edward Lawrence 12/16/1984
Marian Lynch 12/06/1987
Mani Subramanian 12/04/1988
Ruth Subramanian 12/04/1988
Anne Bennett 12/16/1990
Gregory Byrd 12/07/2014
Stephanie Bullard 12/08/2019

CALENDAR

Sunday, December 13, 10 am Worship

Virtual Coffee 11 am

NORTHWEST LEADERSHIP

Board of Trustees 2020-2021

President Lil Woolf president@nwuuc.org
President-Elect Lynne Dale
Finance Trustee Pam Freeman finance@nwuuc.org
Secretary Sandy Davis board@nwuuc.org
Imm. Past President David Stewart
Trustee at Large Larry Wallis
Trustee at Large Grier Page
Trustee at Large (youth) Chloe Morgen

Ministries Team Leaders
Communications: Jenn Meunier Miller
Community: Brian Freeman
Gardens & Spaces: Beryl Grall-Petty
Justice: Dave Zenner
Adult Learning Lead: Marilyn Matlock, Co-Lead: Sally Mitchell
Stewardship Lead: Cameron Moore, Co-Leads: Gwen Kahn & Melissa Niedermeyer

Staff
Rev. Misha Sanders, Senior Minister
Rev. Joan Davis, Community Minister
Adia Fields-Udofia, Religious Education Director
Dr. Philip Rogers, Music Director