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Inside This Issue

Hither and Thither
- Rev. Dr. Daniel Ó Connell, Lead Minister

A couple months ago, I flew to Chicago to attend a UU workshop. On the way back, we were held up in traffic, and arrived at the check-in with less than 45 minutes to go, so they wouldn't check my baggage. Then, security delayed me because of the shampoo in my unchecked bag; by the time I arrived at the Southwest gate, making the flight seemed dicey.

A gate agent told us that our seats had been given away since we weren't there 10 minutes before departure time. The plane was full, and there was a standby list of 5 who hadn't made it onto the flight and the next (last) flight of the day had a waiting list of 9. Oh, and by the way, no other airline flies to St. Louis from Midway, so it looked as if we might have to spend the night and hope for the best in the morning.

Then an interesting thing happened. A young, pilot-looking person came up and said they were ready for departure, and disappeared back down the hallway. Our gate agent said, "hold on," and left, then came back a minute later and said there would be room for only one of us. The agent standing next to her disagreed, and indicated it might jeopardize her job to let us on.

Then the first gate agent went away, came back again, and announced there was now room for the both of us - a flight attendant dead-heading back to St Louis gave up her seat - so the two of us could fly home that night. Thank you, Southwest!

I don't know if this has happened to you, but about 10% of the time I'm flying, I see someone I know at an out of town airport. A couple of times it has been other ministers. Last week, I thought I saw an Eliot member. I decided not to shout it from the security line, feeling a little silly carrying my shoes, watch, and belt, and not wanting to alarm the TSA guards.

We travel hither & thither for business and for family - let us remember to take our good attitudes and hopeful hearts with us - these won't get lost in baggage claim!

Continuing Thoughts on Membership
- Susan Maginn, Membership Coordinator

From my Oct. 14 newsletter column ...
Here are four recommendations for membership:

• Worship
• Spiritual developmentant group
• Eliot community service
• Larger community service

Here we are at Eliot Unitarian Chapel: at this particular place in the universe, at this particular time in history. Of all the places to be, and all the times to live, how amazing that we are together. Here. Now. I believe that we are called to be here, now, in this place, with these people.

In Unitarian circles we often talk about ministers having a calling in ministry, meaning how and where the minister serves the tradition of Unitarian Universalism. It is exciting to be a part of a community where you can tell that calling is not just reserved for the minister. There are many people in our Eliot community who serve with a sense of calling. In being with these people I can tell that their commitment to what they do and how they do it is about serving something larger than themselves. When I hear them speak of the work they do at Eliot I am reminded of the proverb: "One generation plants the trees, another sits in the shade." Their commitment is larger than this moment in time and this place in the universe.

My guess is that they did not always feel called, that it took some trial and error to find the place where they are now. Having a sense of calling in a community is a real gift. You understand that your service and, indeed, your life matters. This community is vibrant enough for all of us to have such an experience. May it be so.

Welcome! - Kim Fitzgerald, Nov. 5, 2006

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.

When Joan asked me to speak today, I had to think of something remotely interesting to share, so I thought I would tell you about my volunteer experience in the nursery.

I started volunteering at the nursery back in 2001, mostly because I thought it would be an easy gig. You know, show up one or two Sundays a month, hold a few babies, meet some new people, and eventually use that time to connect with my own teenage daughter, who would join me a few years later.

I was unprepared for the fact that I would get completely hooked. I love it and continue to do it for all the reasons I mentioned - if you are six years old or under and used to go to 9:15 nursery - I know you! I have watched you grow up!

But what I have discovered is a sociological phenomenon: Eliot adult Visitors come to Eliot just like the children who come to the nursery. Let me explain.....

Sometimes they must be coaxed. They are thinking, "The last time I was in a place like this, I did not like this! I was very afraid!"
Sometimes they must be distracted. "Look! There's a train, let's play with a ball! We have covenant groups, and Room at the Inn, and GATE!"
Sometimes they toddle in with wonder, "What is this place? I have never been to a place like this before. What is that toy? What is that chalice thing? What is a Bread Service? What is a Flower Communion?"
Sometimes they stand at the window and look out at the older kids, wondering what they will do when they get to play on the playground - the look on their faces is similar to the look you are giving me now that asks, "What will I say when I volunteer to do the welcome?"
Occasionally, they come in with no preconceived notions about what they are about to experience. They look around in awe. There is an innocent wonder about them.

Almost always, they need to be embraced, or comforted, or engaged in some way - to feel comfortable and welcomed with open hearts, open spirits, and open minds.

It's been my job in nursery to welcome the babies (and their families). It's our job as members of Eliot to welcome the adults. So welcome to Eliot Chapel!

Our Sympathy

To Mike and Laura Williams and family on the death of Mike's father.

Your Holiday Giving Can Give to Eliot!

For a limited time, Eliot is expanding the scrip program! During a trial period until early December, you can order scrip from nearly 100 different retailers and restaurants, including Macy's, Dillard's, Gap, Panera, Starbucks, Lowe's, Home Depot, and Circuit City, and a percentage of your purchase goes to Eliot. Order forms are available in Adams Hall after services [and can be printed from Gift Cards]. Scrip orders must be paid in advance, so bring your checkbook. Think about where you will be shopping for holiday gifts or for yourself, as well as the gift cards you need for relatives, teachers, co-workers, and others. Order now, and support Eliot through your holiday purchases!

Thanks ...

To the following people who helped clean-up and fix-up Eliot on the Fall Work Day: Kurt Bauer, Geoffrey Berger, Jordan Berger, Ted Berger, Clint Blandford, Stacey Cutshaw, Chris Bowland, Kevin Brownfield, Brian Casey, Bob Coulter, Dave Dickson, Jerry Higginbotham, Curt Kristofitz, Elmer McNulty, Jeff Muse, Mark Nissen, Mary Quinn, Larry Reutter, Anne Tierney, Brent Vaughn, Rich Vaughn, Bruce Williams, Laura Williams, Doug Wright, Doris Yohe, and anyone else who helped but didn't sign in.

MORCRC Seeks Volunteer

Do you support Women's health issues? Would you like to become more active in the work? A UU representative is needed for the Board of the Missouri Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. Board members are expected to attend quarterly meetings, participate in a standing committee, and support MORCRC events (which are generally fun or at least interesting). If you are interested, please contact Helen McIntosh SLAUUC Representative to MORCRC.

Hosts Needed - Room at the Inn
- Bill and Joan Clarke

Please check the sign-up sheets on the bulletin board and help Room At The Inn by signing up to be a host. We have some empty spots before Christmas. The January sheets are also posted. Hosts arrive at Eliot at 5:30 p.m. on Thu. Enjoy a meal prepared by our volunteer cooks and help our guests, usually moms and kids, get settled for the night. Then the host will spend the night in a nearby classroom.

In the morning, set out the breakfast food and clean up after the drivers arrive. Leave by about 7:00 a.m. on Fri. The coordinator, Sue Blandford, will give you detailed instructions.

Guest at Your Table

Parents: If your child didn't pick up a Guest at Your Table box at the Nov. 19 Bread Service, please stop by Children's Chapel to get one. The boxes are due on Jan. 7. Proceeds will go to the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee.

Guest at Your Table has been an important part of UUSC, and of UU culture, since 1975. Each year, involvement in Guest at Your Table has grown tremendously, strengthening UU connections to our shared principles and helping to challenge injustice throughout the world. You can keep this spirit and tradition alive by putting a Guest at Your Table box on your family's table and discussing together what it means to welcome a guest to your table. If you would like to know more about the UUSC, please take a look at their website at http://www.uusc.org/index.shtml .

2007-2008 Intern Committee
- Rev. Dr. Daniel Ó Connell, Lead Minister

We are reconstituting the Eliot Unitarian Chapel Intern Committee, as we do every two years. We have put the call out for a student minister to come live and learn with us. Our last two interns were (Rev.) Susan Maginn and Jennifer DeBusk.

Eliot member Carol Moreland has agreed to chair the committee. The committee assists the intern in getting settled to Kirkwood, and meets monthly with the intern for constructive engagement and support. Committee members also attend services the intern conducts.

Does this sound like something you would be interested in?

Generally speaking, the UUA recommends that Intern Committee members be:
"representative of the congregation in age, gender, attitudes, theological spectrum, involvement and length of membership. They should be active members knowledgeable about the [congregation's] mission, worship life, religious education programs, and mode of operation, as well as the personal attributes and skills that one should bring to ministry.
"Personal qualities that contribute to an effective committee are: a capacity for objective thinking, the ability to maintain confidentiality, sound judgment, sensitivity to the intern's individuality, and the skills to work constructively with others toward consensus while allowing for differences of opinion. Committee members should include some with supervisory experience, preferably in the helping professions, such as social work, health care, teaching or leadership development."

Eliot Chapel prides itself on being a teaching congregation. If you would like to volunteer or want more information, please contact me.

Fair Trade Coffee: Flavor of the Month
- Beth Rossow

We urge you to stop by the Fair Trade Coffee table in Adams hall after either service. Remember, when you buy your coffee at Eliot, you not only help us raise needed funds, you ensure a livable wage for growers worldwide through Fair Trade - and you get the freshest, finest quality locally-roasted coffee available! See you in Adams Hall.

Scouting and Eliot Chapel
- Rev. Bonnie Vegiard, Program Minister

Scout leaders at Eliot and I are organizing to help Jr. Girl Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Boy Scouts earn their religion awards. Jr. Girl Scouts will meet once a month for 4-5 months, and Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts will meet twice a month. We will follow the program in either "Love and Help" (gr. 4-6) or "Religion in Life" (gr. 7-12). Both programs are available from the UUA bookstore, www.uua.org/bookstore, for about $8.00. Children who are not Scouts but want to know more about the UU religion are welcome to join us. We ask that either the children are registered in the RE program or that the families are pledging members or friends of Eliot. Meetings will be held in Room 001 beginning in Dec. on every 1st Sunday of the month at 9:30 a.m. for grades 4-6, and every 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month at 9:30 a.m. for grades 7-12. I will be a resource person available on the 1st Sunday. Scout leaders and participating parents will be present at the both the 1st and 3rd Sunday meetings. If you attend the 9:30 Religious Education classes and wish to participate, let me know. We will find a different meeting time.

Singles Group

Eliot has, from time to time, promoted activities for singles. We are attempting to measure the interest in resuming such activities. A Singles Group may be attending sports events, concerts, or movies together, or it may have an additional element of providing discussion forums and get-to-know-you activities. It all depends on the interests of the people involved. If you are interested in finding out what the possibilities are for an Eliot group, stop by the Dubois Library off Adams Hall after services on Dec. 3.

Eliot Bible Study

We will meet on Dec. 4, at 7:00 p.m. in Adams Hall to discuss the book of Acts. Participants may also want to look over the Gospel of Luke, as Acts is a continuation of Luke's work. Eliot Bible Study is an open-minded study of Biblical texts that seeks to orient them in their historical context as well as to understand their potential for liberal religious people today. All are welcome.

Annual Holiday Boutique

After each service on Dec. 3 and 10, local artists will be offering their craft items for sale. It is an opportunity to find unique items for yourself and others. Profits go to support Room at the Inn and Social Action activities.

The Partner Church Committee will also be selling items made by members of the congregation of St. Martins, our partner church in Transylvania, Romania. Profits from the sale of these items will support the committee's efforts to assist this impoverished area.

UU Book of the Month

In Dec. we will be discussing Three Prophets of Liberal Religion: Channing, Emerson, and Parker edited by Conrad Wright. The book contains three pivotal sermons given by these foundational Unitarian thinkers. (Remember, in those days sermons were much more than 20 minutes long!) Join us on Tues, Dec. 12 at 7:00 p.m. in Adams Hall for the discussion. Books are available for $16.00, first-come, first-served, from Rev. Bonnie Vegiard, Program Minister or at www.uua.org/bookstore.

Bridge
- Sue Webster

Eliot bridge is coming up on Sat., Dec. 23. We'll meet in Adams Hall at 7:00 p.m. Please call me by Sunday before the game to reserve your spot. Couples and singles welcome.

Save the Date: A Gala

An auction and ??? at Eliot on Sat., Jan. 20. Mark your calendars. More information soon.

Women's Alliance

The Women's Alliance meets on the first, third, and fourth Tuesdays of the month from 9:30 to 11:45 a.m. in Adams Hall.

Tue., Nov. 28 - Missouri History Museum Tour. Meet at Eliot at 9:00 a.m. to carpool. Lunch at a local restaurant. Coordinator - Barb Crowley

Tue., Dec. 5 - The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Leader - Janie Fowler

Religious Education (RE) News
- Joan Casey, RE Director,

Now that Thanksgiving is over, it's time to turn our attention to the winter holidays. The Special Events Committee invites all of our families to the Holiday Party on Sat., Dec. 9, from 10:00 a.m. to noon on the lower level. Children will play the dreidel game, make gifts, and have snacks that morning.

Our annual Christmas Pageant will be performed at both services on Dec. 10. Participation forms are due by Nov. 26, get them in as soon as possible. We're hoping a lot of you will participate this year. Casting for the speaking roles (children 5th grade and older) will be announced Nov. 27. Younger children will be cast in roles depending on age. Although the pageant rehearsal runs concurrently with the party, all pageant participants will be given an opportunity to attend the party.

We plan to continue the tradition of the Giving Tree in Adams Hall. The tree will be up from Nov. 26 through Dec. 17. It will be decorated with ornaments, each containing information about a particular child. To participate, take as many ornaments as you wish. Leave the wrapped gift under the tree and use the ornament as the gift tag. Gifts should not be more than $30. They will be distributed to these local charities: Nurses for Newborns, Friends of Kids with Cancer, Kids in Need, and Make-A-Wish.

And finally, before we get too busy with the holidays, thanks to everyone who had already volunteered to teach for Spring Semester. We still need a few teachers for the Spring Semester, which begins on Feb. 4:

9:30 All slots are filled!!

11:00 One Intermediate teacher
One Pre-Kindergarten teacher
One Kindergarten teacher
Two 1st grade teachers

Please contact me immediately for more information or to reserve one of the slots. Blessings.

Youth News
- Mishael Eastabrook, Youth Programs Director,

I am very proud of our youth. Both the Senior and Junior High Youth have been working hard on developing their understanding of who they are in this community as well as reaching out to others in an attempt to discover what it means to be in a community.

In case you missed it, the Senior High Youth group led both Sunday services on Nov. 12. For many of them, that worship service became an opportunity to show the rest of Eliot the many gifts they bring to the communal table. The Junior High Youth also took initiative that Sunday to reveal their quest for "understanding the other" by including a poll in the Order of Service for Nov. 12 and 19. This is their way of learning more about the other members of Eliot.

To acknowledge our youth's hard work and initiative, please take a moment the next time you see any of them and let them know how much you value their presence at Eliot.

Music Notes
-- Jan Chamberlin, Music Director,

Coming up:
Nov. 26 - Holly Mead will provide music for the services - a Jazz piano and French horn duet. The choirs have the day off.
Dec. 3 - Children's Chalice choir will sing Hinei Ma Tov with handbells for the Prelude. Interludes by Nancy Collis. Both Chamber Choir and Chorale will sing A' Soalin' arr. by Paul Stookey.

'Tis the Season...
for preparing for holidays! Do you feel like they sneak up on your earlier each year? Are you fighting a feeling of dread as your "to-do" list gets longer? There's no stopping the calendar. Like a rushing river, it's safer, easier, and more fun if you hop in the canoe and "go with the flow". But no one enjoys a float trip if they're not in the mood and well prepared. Just by chance, I recently rediscovered the power of music to influence a person's mood. In preparation for choir, I put on a recording of Peter, Paul and Mary's Christmas album and got just enough of a shot of euphoria to put a skip in my step! Yes, music is my drug of choice - but too often I forget to be an intentional user. Don't fight the pre-Thanksgiving flow of Christmas cheer - it's good preparation for a possibly stressful season. If used properly, music can inoculate against December Drudgery. What's your prescription?

Holiday Shopping for All!
Plowsharing Crafts in University City is hosting an evening of holiday shopping to benefit the music program of Eliot Chapel. For the third year, they will share a percentage of purchases with us. In exchange, our musicians will provide entertainment in the store. Plowsharing Crafts sells clothing, coffee, toys, home goods, jewelry, instruments and gifts imported from all over the world, benefiting the craftspeople. You may shop anytime, and put your purchase on lay-away to be completed on the Eliot date. Please join us in the holiday spirit of giving on Thu. evening, Dec. 7, at 6271 Delmar Blvd. across from the Tivoli Theater. A parking garage is located in the same block. Plowsharing Crafts phone: (314) 863-3723.

Newsletter Deadlines

The newsletter will be published two more times before the end of the year, and the last issue of 2006 covers the period from Dec. 23 to Jan. 12. So, if you have holiday or early January events that need to be publicized, be sure to get the information to . Deadlines are as follows:

Noon on:
Nov. 29 for issue dated Dec. 9 - Dec. 22
Dec. 13 for issue dated Dec. 23 - Jan.. 12
Jan. 3 for issue dated Jan. 13 - Jan. 26

Name Tags

Those of you who have requested new name tags will find them in the name tag holders in Visitor's Corner. Members' name tags are white. Guests and visitors, who have requested them, will find their light blue name tags to the right of the members' name tags.

Statements

For those who want to maximize tax-deductible payments before the end of the year, we will be sending pledge statements for the second quarter (Oct. - Dec.) of Eliot's fiscal year early in December, rather than waiting until month-end. If you have questions about this statement, please contact the office promptly with all pertinent information, so that any corrections can be made before tax statements are mailed in January.

To ensure that checks will be recorded in Eliot's books this calendar year, checks must be received in the office by Thu., Dec. 28.

In January, we will send tax statements for the calendar year 2006 to everyone who contributed $250 or more. This statement will include all deductible gifts received by Eliot between Jan. and Dec. 2006 regardless of what pledge year or fiscal year was involved.

Holiday Office Hours

The office will be closed from Mon., Dec. 25 through Jan. 1, 2007, reopening on Tue., Jan. 2.

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