Unitarian Universalist Church West

**Welcome Visitors! We are happy to have you with us. Please join us today for a short informal gathering to meet church members and learn more about UUCW and Unitarian Universalist. “Getting to Know UU” will be held upstairs in room UL3 after each service. Please meet at the visitor’s table and bring your coffee or tea!

• Next Sunday February 12, 2012 "A Great Pilgrimage" with the Pulpit Guest the Rev. Leah Hart-Landsberg. A pilgrimage is more than just a trip or vacation. It’s a search of great moral significance, often a journey to a sacred place. Why go on a pilgrimage? What is there to be learned by stepping away from normal daily life? Come explore the lessons of the annual UU Living Legacy Civil Rights Pilgrimage, a tour of the American South that seeks to re-imagine social possibility in the world today by experiencing the depth of human spirit in the Civil Rights Movement.

• Split the Plate for February 2012. Our Split the Plate Recipient for the month of February is Richard’s Place Inc., located in Waukesha. Richard’s Place advocates for and provides counseling, supportive transitional and/or permanent living places for HIV/AIDS patients in Waukesha County.

• **Help build the Inspired Giving Matching Grant – Making a donation to the Matching Grant will help provide incentive to encourage someone to pledge for the first time, or to increase their pledge by 10% during the upcoming Canvass Pledge Drive. Grant donations will be accepted up until the evening of the Canvass Event & Cabaret on Saturday, February 25th. The total amount of the grant will be announced at that event, and the pledge drive will officially begin! Did you bring your gold envelope today? If not, stop by our table in the Community Room to ask questions or fill out a form. You may also call or email the church office.

• **Canvass Event & Cabaret – Saturday, February 25, 6:30 – 9 p.m. You won't want to miss this fun-filled, major UUCW community event! Join your church friends at 6:30 pm for an hour of socializing and hors d'oeuvres, followed by entertainment and laughter. After a break to complete pledge cards, we'll top off the evening with dessert and coffee.

• RSVP for the Canvass Event & Cabaret - You won't want to miss this evening of song & dance, food & drink, fun & fellowship by Monday, February 20 – stop by the Canvass Event table in the Community Room or fill out the online RSVP form at www.ucw.org or call or email the church office. Also let us know if you need childcare.
• Volunteers Are Needed for Canvass Event -- Please sign up in the Community Room TODAY after either service to help with the food, drink, or cleanup. We also need volunteers to be Table Hosts for the evening so if decorating is your thing, stop by to learn ore. See Lynn Kapitan at the sign-up table for details – its lots of fun!

• UUCW Leadership Opportunities: The Nominating Committee is assembling a slate of nominees for election to the congregation’s Board of Trustees (3 positions), Endowment Fund Committee (3 positions), and Nominating Committee (3 positions) for the coming year. Serving in one of these elected positions carries a great deal of responsibility, but is also one of the deepest ways possible to serve the church. We encourage you to think about these three roles and who in our congregation (yourself included) would be willing to fill them. The six members of this year’s Nominating Committee are Leslie Frick, Richard Greer, Lynn Kapitan, Susan Mitten, Aneesh Suneja, and Rob Zimmerman (Chair). Please contact any of us if you have questions.

• **The UUCW 2012 Engagement Survey is open! At UUCW the Committee on Ministry works with Rev. Lynch to monitor the relationships among all aspects of the Church ministry. The Church ministry includes not only worship services, but also all of the other activities Church members can choose to participate in. Every three years the Committee on Ministry conducts a survey to evaluate the overall ministry of the Church, and this year our survey will focus on Church member engagement in the activities of the Church. The survey begins today, Sunday, Feb. 5th and runs through Sunday, Feb. 19th. To complete the survey, visit the link https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/UUCW-2012-Engagement-Survey. If you are unable to take the survey online, paper copies will be available in the office and in the Community Room after each service.

• West of 50 Luncheon February 8th – Health Foods: Mark your calendars for February 8, 2012 for a potluck lunch, 12 noon, to be followed by an informative talk by Nancy Stohs, the food editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, on the topic of HEALTH FOODS. The talk will begin at 12:45. Questions to Dorothy Ann Phinney or Becky Steffes. Bring a food by your last name’s initial: A-F Vegetable or Salad, G-M Dessert, N-Z Entrée. Consider recipes from the MJSentinel in honor of Ms. Stohs visit.

• **Get your tickets today! The UUCW Playhouse will be on hand after each service today, 2/5. Meet cast members and purchase your tickets for the limited run choral theatre production of "The Size of the Dream: Celebrating the Promise Marriage Equality." Presented in partnership with Equality Wisconsin. Shows: Fri, Feb 10 at 7:30pm, Sat, Feb 11 at 4:30 & 7:30pm, and Sun, Feb 12 at 3:00 & 6:00pm. Tickets: $10 online at brownpapertickets.com Info: Kristen Weber.

• 50th Anniversary Fun Continues!

• Get your elegant oval UUCW bumper sticker today from the person in the gold top hat after the service.
• Keep up the good work with the Gold Star Challenge – more information is on the Golden bulletin board in the East Foyer.
• Enjoy the new “Meet 50 in the 50th” challenge – a fun way to meet new people at church and perhaps win a cool prize in the process! Look for more information on the Golden bulletin board in the East Foyer throughout the month of February.

• Book Nook: The supply of books for exchange in the Book Nook is getting low. Please help replenish it by bringing in newer books that you think other members of the congregation would enjoy reading. The money from the Book Nook goes to help buy materials for the library. Questions Carolyn Lawrence.

• THIRD TUESDAY TEA - Change, Change, Change: A Jewish Perspective on Transformation. Tuesday, February 21, 2012. 6:30 – 8:00 pm. Rabbi Steve Adams returns to UUCW to discuss change: in our personal lives, society, and in our congregations. Discover how different types of transformation can impact the future. $5 fee payable at the door. Pre-registration required! Deadline February 14. Send your name, email, and phone number to Adult Enrichment Committee at the church address, contact Maria O'Connor or register online at the church website.

• DUUversity Theater is going out again--Feb 24, Friday evening for "We Are The Drum - A Movement in Wisconsin," aka Milwaukee, the Selma of the North. And March 11, "The Chosen," at 2:00pm. Discussions following. See our awesome wikispaces website set up by Roger Frick. We are never sure when an appropriate play will be coming up so join us when you can and support peace and diversity within our city of Milwaukee. Questions contact Sue Morgan, or Roger Frick.

• New Member Sunday, Feb. 19, 2012. Those who recently joined UUCW but have not yet participated in a New Member Sunday are invited to join us for a brief Welcoming Ceremony during the service. To participate email or call the church office. Any questions please contact Anne Deahl or Rev. Lori Hlaban.

• Standing on the Side of Love: The Social Action Council encourages all church members to participate in the UUA's THIRTY DAYS OF LOVE THIRTY from Martin Luther King Day (tomorrow) through Valentine's Day. THIRTY DAYS OF LOVE offers daily, direct actions that help UU's reflect individually and collectively on how to counter the hate and fear in our society and to promote respect and inclusion for all people regardless of identity. To find out more stop at the Standing on the Side of Love table in the Community Room or go to: http://www.standingonthesideoflove.org/ and click on the link to the Thirty Days of Love. Questions contact Ann Heidkamp.

• Transformation Drop-In UUnity Circle Join the UUnity Circle Coordinating team for a “Drop-In” Circle and pot luck on Sunday Feb. 19th. Our topic for discussion will be the monthly theme Transformation. Come journey with fellow UU’s as we share ideas and strengthen our faith together. Please bring a dish to share – food and community what could be better. Sign up for the “Drop-In” Circle begins Sunday Feb 4th in the community room or you can contact Sue Cadkin. If you need childcare, please let us know by Feb 8th.