Weekly Virtual Sermons
| Date | Sermon Title | Taught By/Description | Zoom Recording Password |
| 9/6/20 | Labor of Faith and Love | Student and future UU minister Roddy Biggs | mu!2KU*S |
| 9/13/20 | “Mindful Moment: An Experience of the Power of Stillness” | With Libby Creagh of Essential You Yoga by Roddy Biggs | s=!R7b9M |
| 9/13/20 | Free Thought Fellowship | Our monthly secular service | N/A |
| 9/20/20 | Honoring the Jewish High Holy Days | Diana Dechichio, Dara Moore, Sue Eckstein | k.j?P3E3 |
| 9/27/20 | Carpe Diem? Living and Dying in a Time of Chaos | Rev. Doreen Shambrook | N/A No Password Needed |
In the continuing service of the health and safety of congregation members and guests, Spirit of Life Unitarian Universalists is extending our hiatus from public, in-person services. All worship services will be conducted via Zoom (a video conferencing platform), until further notice. Click here if you would like to download the Zoom application to your computer.
Here are the instructions to watch and participate remotely in the service Spirit of Life UU, every Sunday at 11am EST:
- Email spiritolifeuu@gmail.com to request a zoom link prior to Sunday (if you’re able to).
- On Sunday morning, grab a cup of coffee, juice or tea (optional), then
- Prepare your laptop or desktop and space for the service,
- Make sure your is camera on and has the background you prefer (the moderator will handle muting of microphones), then
- Go to the Zoom link you received in your email – You may have to download the application if you have not used it before. It’s a safe app. You can find Zoom tutorials here, if interested in exploring the platform further.
- Then sit back and enjoy! We are so glad you are joining this Sunday’s service.
Share the Plate: Hurricane Laura Recovery
The month-long collection for September will be the Community Foundation of Southeast Louisiana to assist with recovery from Hurricane Laura.
Every Sunday we will collect for a charity instead of just once a month. When you send your weekly contribution please consider sending a little bit more. To encourage charitable giving in 2020, the CARES Act includes two tax provisions that rewards people who donate to charity. As always, please consult with your tax specialist for any tax related advice or items. Please don’t forget to send in your weekly contributions either by a check in the mail or via Paypal. If you use Paypal to donate, please list the Payment Type as “Personal Payment” (SLUU will be charged a fee if you use “Goods and Services”). Be sure to specify what portion of your donation is for Share the Plate and what is for your pledge/weekly donation.
Dear friends,
What I wrote last month still holds true. Here are excerpts edited from last month’s letter.
We are constantly bombarded with information-which may or may not be true. There is SO MUCH information out there about COVID-19. And symptoms. And numbers and more numbers. It’s very overwhelming. It’s hard not to drown in information overload.
And then thinking about how to go out. How to do that safely with all the non-mask wearers out there. People who do stupid things about mask wearing and then argue about it. It makes no sense.
Added to all this are the questions about school reopening. We always opened schools in August (September where I come from). It was something we could count on. But now we don’t know what to do. Do we open schools on time or at all? If we do open, do we push opening back 2 weeks? Or more? We know there are schools that have opened elsewhere and then had to close again because of the surge in the virus. This virus is definitely winning. ☹
I won’t even touch the presidential stuff, although the conventions are in full swing as I write this. Then we get to read all the commentary……..
I worry for this country. I worry for friends, family, and our church family. We are so fortunate that we are all healthy still.
I miss going out. I miss dinners in restaurants and going to stores. I miss lunches with friends. I miss planning trips to visit family and friends. I miss hugs. But we are making the best of it.
We continue to have groceries and take-out food delivered. Instacart is making a fortune off us, as is Amazon. At least we use Amazon Smile so that SLUU can benefit.
Zoom is a gift. As are the other similar platforms from Google and others. At least we can see each other and chat. We visit my mom every 2 weeks on zoom. She doesn’t really understand what zoom is or why we can’t visit her but she likes that she can see us.
It’s easy to get overwhelmed, and we need to do what we can to improve our current quality of life. Do what we need to stay healthy. Use thought and care in deciding travel or other events for the near future. We had a cruise booked for December, but we are cancelling it. We meet on zoom twice a week as a church family, and stay in contact with friends. Sitting around in the house has caused me to take on new projects. We are having our kitchen cabinets refinished as I write this. We had some landscaping work done, and the afternoon rains are keeping our new plantings happy. I guess I am spending the money I am not spending at restaurants and stores! LOL
We are keeping up our church home too. We are considering adding a 3rd zoom session to our church week. Maybe add some UUA courses on Unitarian Universalism. We had the cabinets in the kitchen reinforced. THINK built a new playground! We have hired a communications specialist to keep up our social media and website. Unfortunately we were dropping the ball on keeping up the website on a regular basis. Gary will continue to keep the church calendar and Leila will continue to be our Lifelines editor. The board just approved a long term rental to a youth volleyball league which may begin in January.. We have a Taekwondo occasional rental and look forward to THINK’s return in the fall, although in a diminished (and safe) capacity. We are trying to keep (and even improve!) normalcy at church.
Stay safe, friends and be well,
In love and faith, Diana
Spirit of Life Church Officers for July 2020 – June 2021
President: Diana Dechichio
Vice President: Gary Seckinger
Secretary: Melodie Oleson
Treasurer: Dan Dechichio
Trustees: Kathy Schaedel, Maureen Cox-Brown, Dara Moore
Spirit of Life Unitarian Universalists 