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Inside This Issue

Thank You!

Thanks to everyone who donated an item for our eBay auction. And thanks to Bidzooka www.bidzooka.com for doing all the work - researching the items, taking and posting the photos, and writing very clever descriptions. They were very professional and went out of their way to be helpful to Eliot.

Even with fewer than 50 items donated, we raised more than $1,000.

Information Guide Seeks Information

If you chair an Eliot committee or group, please review the group description and contact information contained in the Information Guide and send any updates or changes for 2005/2006 to by August 5. Copies of the Information Guide are available in Visitors' Corner.

Want Your Newsletter Sooner?

If you would be interested in receiving the Eliot Chapel newsletter by email as a PDF attachment, rather than via mail, please email with "PDF" in the subject line. If the number of positive responses is sufficient, we will start this in the fall.

If you're concerned that your paper copy of the newsletter is getting to you late, please know that local post offices are allowed to postpone processing of bulk mail. We take the newsletter to the post office on the Wed. before the Sat. it is dated. What happens to it after that is, unfortunately, beyond our control.

Outreach Grant Recipients

As a part of Unitarian Universalism's dedication to social action and community involvement, each year Eliot Chapel sets aside a portion of its annual budget for community outreach. Each spring, the Outreach Committee asks Eliot members and friends to nominate organizations that are working in the community and would benefit from small grants between $100 and $400.

The 2005 Outreach Committee is proud to announce this year's recipients of Eliot Community Outreach Awards:

Voices for Children (formerly CASA St. Louis City/County)
A Women's Place
Citizens for Missouri's Children
Girls, Inc. of St. Louis
The Jeremy Project
Connections to Success
Interfaith Legal Services for Immigrants
Great Rivers Environmental Law Center
Kirk Care
Missouri Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
PROMO
Room At The Inn
South Side Day Nursery

Welcome!

Each Sunday, a member of the Eliot community delivers the Sunday Morning Welcome. They share a personal story about how they came to be at Eliot Chapel. Here is Michael Pelot-Hobbs's from June 5, 2005:

I've been giving time and money to Eliot Chapel for 8 years. This is a place where I feel the environment has been ideal for my family and me to search for truth and meaning in our spiritual life. I have two daughters who have been a part of the Religious Education program at Eliot since before we joined the congregation. I have spent 6 years as a teacher and youth advisor in the junior and senior high RE program. It has been an honor and my pleasure to teach and learn from your children. My daughters and the other youth at Eliot Chapel are special people: smart, tolerant, curious, and open-minded.

Finding a place where my children could explore their spiritual side with free religious thought was what brought me to Eliot. Now that I am about to become an "empty-nester", as my youngest leaves for college, I find that my personal quest for social justice and religious understanding can best be shared with friends I have made here at Eliot Chapel. This is where I feel most comfortable making my journey. For those of you who are already taking your journey here, I look forward to sharing it with you. For those of you considering Eliot Chapel, we welcome you with open minds and warm hearts.

Our Sympathies ...

To Sally and Perry Schoenecker on the death of Sally's stepfather, Foster Goldman.

To Janis and Dave Cox on the death of Janis's mother.

To Diane Weber and Rev. John Robinson on the death of Diane's grandmother, Linda Bunn.

[To Sue Goldford on the death of her father, Samuel Rosch.]

Casting Call

The Not Ready for Reformation Players are preparing for the 2005 Madrigal, scheduled for Dec. 1, 2 and 3. This year's play will take place in the court of Queen Elizabeth I and will feature 13 speaking roles, and will need crew members to help with stage management, lighting, sound and other non-performance duties. If you are interested in a performance role, you are invited to attend a script reading tryout to be held in September. More details will follow.

Interested in any of the above and have any questions? Please contact Denise Maue Dreyfus.

RATI Ice Cream Social
- Joan Clarke

The Room At The Inn program is very appreciative of all the volunteers who make it successful. To show their appreciation, they are hosting three ice cream socials: Tue. Aug. 2 from 1:00 -2:30 p.m. and also from 6:30-8:00 p.m. at the RATI shelter, 3415 Bridgeland Dr. in Bridgeton; and Sun. Aug. 7 from 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. at the Church of Christ McKnight Road, 2512 S. McKnight Road. I hope all Eliot volunteers will be able to attend.

Welcome to a Different Perspective
- Lynn Murphy, Welcoming Congregation Forum

You are invited to attend a special service on Sun., Aug. 21 at 10:00 a.m. presented by the Welcoming Congregation Forum. One of the Forum's continuing goals is to help the congregation achieve a better understanding of the challenges faced by gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered individuals. The Sunday service will offer a look at a world where roles are reversed and heterosexuality is not the norm. We hope you will join us for this thought-provoking presentation.

Bridge, Anyone?

The August open bridge game is Sat., the 27th at 7:00 p.m. in Adams Hall. Please call Sue Webster by the Sunday before the game to reserve your place. We'll play a few hands and say good bye to the waning days of summer.

Women's Alliance

We meet on the first, third, and fourth Tuesdays of the month from 9:30 to 11:45 a.m. in Adams Hall, unless otherwise noted.
Tue., Aug. 2 - No meeting.
Tue., Aug. 16 - Vivian Eveloff of the Sue Shear Institute for Women in Public Life (at UMSL) will speak on encouraging participation in public life. Coordinator - Janie Fowler

Summer Scrip Sales

The next summer scrip sale date will be Aug. 14. Regular weekly scrip sales will resume Sep. 11. Be sure to stock up - don't be caught short when grocery shopping for summer festivities!

Musical Opportunity

Do you have a folk instrument (dulcimer, autoharp, fiddle, guitar, psaltry, ukulele, banjo, etc.) sitting around that you've always wanted to play? If there is sufficient interest, we will meet once a month at Eliot at a time convenient to most. We'll start playing in the key of D for the benefit of the dulcimers. The idea is to play for fun rather than performances. If you are interested, contact Sue Stivers.

SLAUUC News

Radical Hospitality Workshop, Aug. 27, at Emerson from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. - Based on the book Radical Hospitality by Lonni Collins Pratt and Daniel Homan, this workshop will assist congregations in welcoming and maintaining membership. Reading the book (available through the UUA bookstore for $16.95 www.uus.org/bookstore www.uua.org/bookstore ) ahead of time will make the workshop more meaningful. Registration is $12.00 to cover food costs. Reservations are due by Sun., Aug. 21, and may be mailed to Dan Babcock, Registrar; 1957 San Fernando Ct.; Rolla, MO 65401.

GA Volunteer Kick-Off Event, Sep., 17, at Emerson - If you are interested in volunteering for General Assembly when it comes to St. Louis in 2006, plan to attend. Further information will be available soon.

Know a Worthy Service Agency?

First Unitarian Church's Community Action Endowment Fund is seeking grant proposals. Income from the Fund is used to support agencies doing direct service and social action projects in the community. These will be moderate grants; the total amount available this year is approximately $3,200.

For further information contact Renni Shuter at First Church.

Home from Transylvania
- Sue Blandford

Four of us from Eliot and two UUs from Raleigh, NC, spent 10 days exploring Romania and visiting our partner church villages. Our partner churches share the same minister, Sandor Varga.

We arrived in Bucharest and from there headed to a beautiful resort hotel in the Carpathian Mountains. Traveling through Romania, we arrived five days later in Nyaradszentmarton to be warmly welcomed. During our three-day home stay, we attended church services, met with the women's group (many of whom are crafters), were served lavish meals, and traveled around the countryside. We had a fabulous time and learned so much about our partner church and Romania.

Be sure to stop at the bulletin board to see some of our photos.

RE News
-- Joan Casey, RE Director,

We still need one Kindergarten teacher at 9:15 a.m. for the fall semester. It's important that we fill all our fall slots. Please contact me today by phone or (314) 821-0911 or email for more information or to sign up.

Music Notes
-- Jan Chamberlin, Music Director,

"Singing The Journey" The new hymnal supplement is ready! Those of us who attended General Assembly in Fort Worth in June enjoyed sampling this new congregational song book. It is not meant to replace our current hymnal, but to be used in addition to it. More information about the book, as well as recordings of all 75 tunes, is available on-line at http://www.uua.org/publications/music.

The Music Committee and our ministers are eager to share these songs on Sunday mornings! Here's how YOU can help. For $15 you can donate a book to Eliot; just print and fill out the form below and mail to Eliot. The donor's name and dedication will appear in the book. Please specify STJ (Singing the Journey) on your check. We are hoping to start the new year with the new song books. So please do it now!

There are lots of opportunities to participate at Eliot Chapel! And this fall there will be additional opportunities in music for children. Please don't just sit back and enjoy everyone else's efforts. By stepping up and taking a turn, the worship experience can be so much more rewarding for you - and everyone else. Please sign up in the hall, or call me. Keep cool!

There is no Joy ...

... on Friday's. This is a friendly reminder that Joy Gorden works Sunday through Thursday. If you need to speak with Joy, particularly about arrangements for building use, please don't wait until the Friday before your weekend event. Thanks.

Lost and Found

We have accumulated a number of items of clothing. You'd be surprised at how many people apparently have gone home without their shoes. Please check the lost and found (the coat rack in Adams Hall.) Unclaimed items will be donated to charity at the end of August.

Summer Office Hours

Continuing through Sep. 2, the office will close at noon on Friday. Other days will remain unchanged with the office open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

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