Message from Rev. Misha:
Hello, NWUUC members and friends and family and staff!
I hope you had a wonderful Yule and Christmas, a blessed Kwanzaa, and a meaningful celebration of the new year!
I am here with some news that will probably not come as much of a surprise to any of us, but as a very big disappointment to many of us.
Yes, friends, we are canceling in-person gatherings for at least the month of January. Most likely beyond.
Our excellent staff and board of trustees did not make the decision lightly to plan a re-gathering, and they, and I, are not taking lightly the changing of that decision. It was not a wrong choice. But we feel it would be wrong to stick with it for the sake of consistency, when circumstances are changing every moment, and the safety and well-being of our beloved community is at stake. The stakes are so very high, aren’t they?
On January 18th our board meeting will include next steps and projections a little bit further out. We may not make decisions further than a month out for the rest of this church year, or beyond. Maybe we will decide that month-by-month is even too much. Whatever is decided, we will absolutely keep the lines of communication with you as open, as clear, as timely, and thorough as we can manage.
This move back to virtual meetings applies to all congregation-sponsored activities, including fund-raisers and Circle suppers. Of course, those of you who sold auction items that require gatherings are welcome to make your own call, but we do urge caution. And we urge you to consider postponing the events that can be postponed.
Here’s a poem that our amazing national youth poet laureate, Amanda Gorman, wrote for all of us on the brink of this new year. May it bring you HOPE, as it did for me.
New Day’s Lyric
May this be the day
We come together.
Mourning, we come to mend,
Withered, we come to weather,
Torn, we come to tend,
Battered, we come to better.
Tethered by this year of yearning,
We are learning
That though we weren’t ready for this,
We have been readied by it.
We steadily vow that no matter
How we are weighed down,
We must always pave a way forward.
This hope is our door, our portal.
Even if we never get back to normal,
Someday we can venture beyond it,
To leave the known and take the first steps.
So let us not return to what was normal,
But reach toward what is next.
What was cursed, we will cure.
What was plagued, we will prove pure.
Where we tend to argue, we will try to agree,
Those fortunes we forswore, now the future we foresee,
Where we weren’t aware, we’re now awake;
Those moments we missed
Are now these moments we make,
The moments we meet,
And our hearts, once all together beaten,
Now all together beat.
Come, look up with kindness yet,
For even solace can be sourced from sorrow.
We remember, not just for the sake of yesterday,
But to take on tomorrow.
We heed this old spirit,
In a new day’s lyric,
In our hearts, we hear it:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
Be bold, sang Time this year,
Be bold, sang Time,
For when you honor yesterday,
Tomorrow ye will find.
Know what we’ve fought
Need not be forgotten nor for none.
It defines us, binds us as one,
Come over, join this day just begun.
For wherever we come together,
We will forever overcome.
URGENT NEED!
We are in urgent need of tech support and Worship Associates for the remainder of the church year! We would love to expand our pool of trained volunteers, so that more of our current volunteers can take breaks! Besides Worship Associates, we are in the most imminent need of Zoom producers and Zoom ushers. Interested in learning, or re-joining any of these amazing teams?
PLEASE reach out to Rev. Misha at your earliest possible convenience at Minister@nwuuc.org.
Virtual Documentary Night
The next Virtual Documentary Night will be on Sunday, January 9th at 7 pm. We will be discussing the documentary, Manufacturing Consent. In this documentary, linguist and liberal political activist Noam Chomsky presents his thoughts on how the mass media works against democracy’s best interests. Here is a link to where you can watch it for free. https://youtu.be/EuwmWnphqII Please invite anyone you think may be interested in joining our discussion.
Adam Hicks, communitydocumentarynight@gmail.com.
Circle Dinners Canceled for January
As with all of our other high hopes for being physically together as a congregation in January, the pandemic has caused us to cancel our January 20 Circle Dinner plans. Stay tuned for your invitation to participate in February. Just so you don’t forget, here is a picture from one of our successful and fun evenings.
STEWARDSHIP FUN AND FUNDS!!
 Hold the Soup!
“ The best laid plans…” are once again being changed due to the pandemic!
Because we have had to revert to virtual worship, the planned launch of the Soupapalooza fund raiser has been put on hold. However, in order to be ready for it whenever it can occur, the Stewardship team would like to hear from the cooks in the congregation who will be making soup. Chicken noodle? Potato? Lentil? Vegetable? Minestrone? Chili? Bean? Other? Whatever soups you like to make will be fine with us. Please, please contact Gwen Kahn at gwenkahn@gmail.com and let her know what you will donate and then begin making and freezing your soups in pint containers. Do you need containers? Let Gwen know and she will get some to you.
On the flip side of this, you can also place your orders ahead of time, so we’ll be sure to have what you want as soon as we go back to live worship again. You can send your orders to Melissa Niedermeyer at melissaniedermeyer@gmail.com.
Right now we still plan to do our VALENTINES DAY, TACOS, AND BINGO evening on Saturday, February 12. (See flyer below)
 NWUUC Book Groupies
The NWUUC Book Groupies will be reading The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd for our Tuesday, January 11, 7 pm meeting. Author Kidd is best known for her novels The Secret Life of Bees and The Invention of Winds, both novels set in her own locale, our South. For this latest historical novel, she did extensive research on the lives of women in the first century during New Testament times in those lands and imagines the possibility that her very human Jesus had a wife, as would have been expected by his Jewish faith. This novel is quite an achievement and will make for a good discussion.
If you would like a copy of this book from our NWUUC Bellwether Books store please leave Penny Raney a message at 770 551 8817 and we will get a copy to you. Also let Penny know if you want to join the January zoom meeting.
MLK Day of Service “Reunion” Event
for NWUUC Justice Makers
Please join our NWUUC family as we celebrate our new year’s congregation “re-union” with a rekindling of our Community Justice work.
As in the past, WAWA offers us an opportunity to combine environmental and racial justice work with their annual MLK Day of Service event.
Please text Justice Ministry Team Leader Dave Zenner at 404-441-2821 if you are thinking of participating. We can arrange carpooling, offer directions, and plan for group attendance.
It will be heartwarming and inspiring for all of us when our congregation turns out in significant numbers to do this important, meaningful work together!
MLK Jr. Day of Service 2022
Mon Jan 17, 2022, at 09:00 am
Outdoor Activity Center, 1442 Richland Rd SW, Atlanta, United States
About this Event
Join us in celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.! Help the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance to restore and maintain habitat at the Outdoor Activity Center, a 26-acre urban forest, in southwest Atlanta and the Hartnett Community Garden. Please wear warm clothing that you do not mind getting dirty. Children are welcome but must be supervised at all times. Because we are still in a pandemic, social distancing and face mask wearing are mandatory, and will be in effect. Following your registration, participants will be emailed the site location, time, parking, and attire details for your tasks of the day.
This year’s service event will be CONTACTLESS. Orientations will take place at your task sites. Shifts are AM (9am-11:30am), and PM (1pm-3pm).
When registering, please register individually (from 1 to5 ppl.) in the INDIVIDUAL time slot section. To register groups (6 ppl to 10 ppl) in the GROUP time slot section of your section, and each group member must have their own name and active email for registration. If you wish to register a group with 10+ confirmed persons, please contact Quanda, our volunteer coordinator at quanda@wawa-online.org.
Work gloves and tools will be provided. Don’t forget to bring your re-fillable water bottle and reusable hot cup with your preferred hydration beverage (AT WAWA, we are practicing ZERO WASTE initiative as we embark in the first 100 days of 2022).
This event will happen in all types of weather! Rain, sleet, snow or sunshine won’t stop us- Well maybe, LOL.
REGISTER at WAWA-ONLINE.ORG
Thank you in advance!
For the comfort of all, please do not bring pets.
 February Second Hour Offering
February 13
Get Ready for Another HOPS Second Hour Session
As a tribute to Black History Month, Veta Tucker will make a presentation based on one of her obsessions, “Resistance to Slavery via the Underground Railroad.” Veta will begin her presentation immediately after worship service ends on February 13th. You can prepare for the session by reading Veta’s book, “A Twenty-First Century History of the 1847 Kentucky Raid.” The book is available on Amazon, and it takes little more than one hour to read. Whether or not you read the book, you’re welcome to attend the presentation and participate in the discussion.
 VALENTINES DAY, TACOS, AND BINGO- IT’S A WINNING COMBINATION!!
CELEBRATE Valentine’s Day with your NW family!
Feb 12, 5 pm dinner, 6 pm bingo and 8 pm raffle drawing
COME for the delicious Taco Bar (BYOB) and STAY for an awesome night of BINGO!
WIN delicious baked-good prizes!
PLAY Corn Hole!
RAFFLE for Date/Friend Night basket! – 1 ticket for $5
or 3 for $12
Tickets on sale Jan 9 and include dinner and one Bingo card.
$15 Adult
$6 child
$40 maximum per family for a night of fun!
Additional playing cards available during the event for $2 each.
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If you can, please come to your Zoom screen prepared to BAKE with Reverend Misha! 
