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Unitarian Assemblies are Approaching
- Rev. Dr. Daniel , Lead Minister

The Central Midwest District Assembly will be Apr. 13-15 at the Marriott Hotel in Oak Brook, IL. Info and registration can be found at www.cmwd-uua.org/DA2007/index.html.

Three individuals are running for the post of UUA Trustee for the District. While most congregations cast 2 votes for Trustee, Eliot has 15. On Sun., Apr. 8 (Easter), there will be an insert in the Order of Service containing the candidate statements and a ballot for members of Eliot to cast their votes for Trustee of CMWD. The candidate receiving the majority of Eliot member votes will received all of Eliot's 15 votes.

The UU General Assembly will be Jun. 20-24 in Portland, OR at the Oregon Convention Center. For more information and to register, go to www.uua.org/events/generalassembly. Assemblies are valuable for experiencing the broader reach of UUism. Attendees can hear inspiring speakers, attend choices of work-shops, and exercise their power to vote as congregational repre-sentatives.

If you wish to be an official delegate to either of these events, talk to Rev. Dr. Daniel O'Connell.

Thank You!

As of March 25, the following members and friends made their financial commitment to our congregation for the upcoming fiscal year. We appreciate your generosity and your affirmation.

Dorothy Dahman, Sarah & Greg Daney, George Davis, Elitta DeArmond, Steve & Denise DeGhelder, Ken Denson & Pam Triplett, Peggy & Sean Devoy, Mary & Steve Dingus, Brett Drake & Melissa Jonson-Reid, Daniel & Denise Dreyfus, Paul Dribin, Don & Tracy Drissell, Jim & Mary Lu Durbin, Ward Emigh, William & Joy Engel, Joan English, Bill & Jan Erdman, Corinne Esneault, Marilyn Fallert, R. B. & Betsy Fallstrom, Wm. James Fears, Bill & Kim Fitzgerald, Bill & JoAnn Frazier, Lucy Freeman & Brian McGowan, William & Margie Freivogel, Marc & Camille Fried, Cathy Fueglein, Bud & Jean Ann Funk, Tim Gardner, Cypress Garrett, Stafford & Stephanie Gavin, James & Karen Gender, Judy Glasscock, Ruth & Armand Gomes, Lynn Goode, Margaret Gordon & Stephen Kopp, Jim & Karen Gottschalk, Gary & Pat Gray, Frank Gregg, Laura Griesedieck, Pat Habben, Michael & Kathleen Hanrahan, Barbara Hartmann, Tim & Cary Harvengt, Margaret Hasse, Dick & Suzanne Hearnes, Rudi Heider, Walter & Pat Heinecke, Howard & Ronnie Henderson, Jennifer Henderson & Bob Dyer, Michael Hennon, Jim & Nancy Hershey, Georgie Herz, Rich Heuermann & Kathie Price, Jerry Higginbotham, Judy Highfill, Mary Hill-Seddon, Bob & Carol Hoff, Ann Howard, Gene & Nancy Hutchins, Pam & Cordell Jeffries, Melissa Johnsen, Roger & Sara Johnson, Boyd & Barbara Jones, Darin Jones & Christi Lemery, Julie Jordan, Ronni Kahn, Edward & Lisa Kastner, Tom & Suzanne Keiser, Eleanore Kenney, Bill & Lori Kesler, David & Andrea Kipp, Cori Kline, Jeanne Kloeckner, Matt Koch & Tracey Howe-Koch, Robert Kokenyesi, Brian & Ame Krippner, Curtis Kristofitz, Thomas Krouper & Sarah Stulhsatz-Krouper, Jerry & Pat Krull,

Margaret Lashley, Steve Lawrence & Carol Moreland, Pat Lee, Suzanne LeLaurin, William & Ann Lemon, George & Joan Lepchenske, Gordon & Donna Lewis, Steve Lewis & Elisa Voss, Adrienne Linden, Keith & Leslie Loving, Donald & Ginny Luetje, Suzanne Lunnemann, Jim Lyon & Flo Reaves, Laurie Macdonald, Margorie Maclin, David Maguire & Lisa Dahlgren, Miles & Dolly Markusch, Betty Marlowe, Scott & Annie Marshall, Roz Marx, Jeff Matthews & Susie Bradley, Sharon McCarron, Matthew & Joan McCready, Jeff & Margo McIlroy, Helen & John McIntosh, Tim & Marcia McIntyre, Holly & Jeffrey McKinney, Elmer McNulty, Steven & Kathleen Mead, John & Ellen Meadows, Bob & Mary Meihaus, Steven Mennerick & Tamara Hershey, Eva & Charles Merrell, Jerry Messer, Marlene Mestres & Scott Christeson, Dave & Katy Miller, William Miller, Kevin & Lauren Mitchell, Brian & Judith Mitchell, Lary & Mary Mohl, Matt & Danielle Monken, Kevin Moore & Teresa Shiflett, Marcella Moore, Mark & Wendi Mosely, Laura Mullen-Butzlaff, Lynn Murphy, Jeff Muse, Teri Nicely, Revs. Daniel O'Connell & Bonnie Vegiard, Donald & Sandra Oliver, Jan Pallares & Lea Ann Baker, Joan Park, Jack & Susan Patton, Ann Petlin & Dee Hodge, Sally Pfeifer, Linda Polcyn, Larry & JoAnne Polley, John & Donna Postel, Darlys Preslar, Fred & Trina Priese,

Mary Quinn, Derek & Emily Rapp, Jason & Natalie Rekittke, Sandra Rhodes, Douglas & Sandy Riggs, Barry Rinderknecht & Elizabeth Broyles, Ron & Claire Robertson, Gail Rock, Larry & Debbie Ross, Mark & Beth Rossow, Richard & Kathy Rothman, Mark Rowley & Cindi Gille-Rowley, Alex & Nancy Rubin, Mike & Kathy Sanders, Connie Sanders, Cara Sanning, David & Kristina Schlarman, Marilyn Schulze, Brad Schwartz & Janet Robey-Schwartz, Paul & Eve Sedovic, Charlotte Seigneur, Linda Senn, Don & Virginia Sery, Joan Shaffer & Al Nakanishi, Lin & Nancy Shepard, JoAnn & Edwin Shew, Dick & Vicki Skow, Dale Smith & Jean Pollard, Steven & Ellen Smith, David Snetsinger & Barbara Redmond, Nancy Spargo, Robin Spence and Bradley Spence, Donna Springer, Evelyn Sproat, Nolan & Sue Stivers, Maxine Stone, Tim & Kelly Storck, Dave & Dotty Storer, Lee Streett, Glenn Strong & Elizabeth Brewer, Judith Stucki, Lori Sullivan & G. Todd Rogan, Richard & Mary Ann Swaine, Martin Taveras, Dave & Mary Taylor, Stephen & Linda Techner, E. Michael & Shelley Teepe, Rosemarie Teng, Eleanor Thomas, Bob & Joan Tiemann, Judy Tisdale, Phil Traylor, Lew & Cathy Trescott, George & Julie Triplett, Genevieve Turner, Garrett & Anne VanDyke,

Rich Vaughn, Brent & Rena Vaughn, Richard & Kathryn Joan Vice, Tom & Susan Videen, Ellen Volpe, Irmgard Voss, Rich & Dianne Wagner, Stephen & Laura Waldman, Rick Walters, Brian & Lisa Ward, Reba Waterston, Harold Waxman, Sue Webster, Tom & Mary Widmer, Paul & Lisa Wilhelms, Jeanne Wilke, John & Jan Willcox, Mike & Laura Williams, Faith Williams, Bruce & Trish Williams, Nancy Williger, Bill & Ann Wright, Cleon & Doris Yohe, Roger & Barbara Yusen, Hao & Lori Zhai, and Budimir Zvolanek.

Congratulations

To Robin and Mike Kraujalis, and big brother Henry, on the birth of Sophia Marie, on March 22.

Committee Leadership Needed

Are you convinced of the need for Social Action as a part of your life at Eliot Chapel? Would you like working with others to facilitate the organization and leadership of new activities for the greater good? If the answers are yes, the Social Action Committee needs you. We are looking for a core group of individuals who will enjoy sharing their positive efforts in planning and leading social action.

If you are interested in participating, please contact Helen McIntosh.

Be a Driving Force

Can you help the Room At The Inn program by driving guests from the day site in Bridgeton to Eliot on Thursdays at 5:00 p.m. or from Eliot to Bridgeton on Friday mornings at 6:30 a.m.? With people driving smaller cars, we need more drivers to transport our 10 guests. We would like to expand our list of drivers so that each person needs to drive only once every month or two. You are highly desirable if you have a large car/van/SUV or you are able to drive the RATI 10 person van!

Please contact Bill or Joan Clarke if you can help. We are also looking for a co-coordinator of the drivers. Thank you, Cat Wood, for your past work in this position.

Room at the Inn Hosts Needed
- Sue Blandford

Please check the sheets on the bulletin board and sign up to Host for Room At The Inn. Three or four Thursdays each month, Eliot Chapel hosts up to ten homeless people overnight. Most of our guests are women and children. Two Eliot hosts arrive at 5:30 p.m., enjoy a meal provided by other Eliot volunteers, and help the guests get settled in downstairs classrooms. Hosts spend the night in a separate classroom. Friday morning, they wake the guests, provide a light breakfast, clean up, and are ready to leave by about 7:00 a.m. If you have never hosted and would like more information, please contact Sue Blandford.

Entertainers Needed

Our annual Women's Weekend Retreat coffeehouse will be Sat., Apr. 28.

Come sing, read a poem, do a skit, tell jokes, play guitar, knit, or crochet a tam, right in front of our eyes. It's all in the spirit of fun. If you'd like to be part of our program, please contact Lynn Murphy at . Hope to see you there!

Interested in a Green Future ...
or Ways to Live Lightly on the Earth?

Materials, which may be useful to the Green Sanctuary Committee and others to aid in adopting greener habits in living, are available in our DuBois Library, a gift from the Social Action Committee. The workbooks can be used by individuals or by groups. They provide ideas for intentionally adopting greener lifestyles. The listing order reflects a natural order of greater change. We hope these resources will be used for individual or group work. Additional copies are available locally from Sustainable St. Louis www.sustainstl.org (314) 773-1940. Most of the workbooks come from the Northwest Earth Institute www.nwei.org.

The donated resources are:

• Voluntary Simplicity (NWEI)
• Choices for Sustainable Living (NWEI)
• Deep Ecology (NWEI)
• Discovering a Sense of Place (NWEI)
• Discovering a Sense of Place (Local Supplement, prepared by St. Louis Earth Institute)
• "Your Money or Your Life" by Joe Dominguez and and Vicki Robin (This has been used for a discussion series.)

UnCONventional Thanks
- Barb Bleisch, Mary Hoehne, and Dave Day - Senior High Youth Advisors

Over the weekend of Mar. 2-4, the Eliot Senior High Youth Group hosted the spring youth conference for the Central Midwest District of the UUA. More than 200 youth and advisors from throughout the District spent the weekend at Eliot, participating in workshops, worship, fellowship and fun. The theme of the Con was "UnCONventional."

The Youth did an excellent job of planning and follow-through, and adults from the Eliot community really came through to make the Con a success. The Youth Group thanks all who contributed personal care products or paper plates, etc. (from "Dora the Explorer" to "Over the Hill" and everything in between) or loaned items, and especially to those of you who gave so generously of your time and energy, whether it was by presenting workshops, cooking, cleaning up, chaperoning, hosting out of town advisors, providing shuttle service or any of dozens of different jobs that had to be done. We couldn't have hosted the Con without your help!

The social action workshop resulted in a donation of several large boxes of personal care products to the Room at the Inn organization. We were also able to donate leftover food to a Salvation Army homeless shelter, and they were very appreciative.

Instead of the usual T-shirts, each participant in the Con received a pair of "UnCONventional" flannel pajama pants. We have some left over in various sizes that are available for purchase at $15. If you're interested, please contact Barb Bleisch ( ) or Mary Hoehne ( ).

Thanks again for all of your help. You showed us again that members of the Eliot community are always ready to participate in something unCONventional!

UU Book of the Month

Join us Tues. Apr. 10 at 7:00 p.m. in Adams Hall for a discussion of The Larger Faith, an historical overview of Universalism in America. Copies of the book are available from Rev. Bonnie Vegiard for $16.00, or on-line at www.uua.org/bookstore. This book group meets the 2nd Tuesday of each month to discuss a book written by a Unitarian Universalist on UU history, theology, or practices. All are welcome.

Spring Work Party

April showers bring May flowers and a list of mostly-fun-to-do chores at Eliot Chapel. Save the date: spring work party, Apr. 14, 8:30 or 9:00ish to 12:00 noonish. Be there or be a T-square!

Liberal Religion and Fundamentalism

Although the twenty-first century has arrived, many issues in American politics and religion derive from unresolved issues that arose in the nineteenth century. Come hear about the rise of American fundamentalism and its separation from both the modern secular world and from liberal Protestantism when John Riggs, from Eden Seminary, is our guest at 7:00 p.m. on Apr. 15 in the sanctuary. (This is a date change from the 22nd.)

This program is brought to you by Adult E & E.

Meditation

The meditation group meets on Tues. from 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. in Children's Chapel. The dates of the next three meetings are: Apr. 17, May 8, and Jun. 19.

Eliot Singles

Our new (or recycled) name is Eliot Singletarians. Here are our upcoming events:

Apr.21 - Wine amp; Cheese Night. Call Sue Lunnemann.
Apr. 21 - Jazz Festival at UMSL. Call Ronnie Kahn.

We keep adding events to our schedule, so watch the bulletin board outside Adams Hall or the Singles link on the web site.

What's Going On?

Plan to attend a Town Hall Meeting after second service on Apr 22. Findings of the Asset Management Task Force will be discussed. (See Mar. 10-23 newsletter.)

Time will be allotted for other topics and comments. Come and find out what's going on.

Bergfried Needs You

Bergfried is available to any member of Eliot, any day of the week or even for many days in a row. Committees and social groups can use the Bergfried Cottage for meetings; and families can use it as a poor-weather refuge or as primary shelter instead of toting a tent; more about that later.

Bergfried will host the Men's Advance May 4-6, an exploration of men's spirituality. And there will be a Memorial Day Family Campout May 25, 26, 27, and 28th.

The Bergfried Committee meets on the third Sunday of each month at 12:15 p.m. in the Bergfried room (appropriately enough) and we'd love to have more dedicated souls join us to help shepherd this unique asset through the current century. For more information, contact Gene Hutchins, chair, at or Kate Magrath, chair wannabe at .

FUN Committee

Our next event is canoeing on the Meramec River, Jun. 23 - 24, just after the summer solstice. The FUN Committee will hold a welcome back picnic and ballgame next August 26th after the final summer service.

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., Apr. 17 - Missouri Reads More Book of the Year Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell. Led by Katherine Nigro. Coordinator - Janie Fowler.

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

Think global, act local.

When you educate a child,
you can change the world.

Sign up to teach a Religious Education class for the 2007-2008 church year. We have Teacher Support Committee members to talk to on Sunday mornings in Adams Hall, or use the handy insert in your order of service next Sunday, or speak to Joan Casey. Thanks!

Music Notes
-- Jan Chamberlin, Music Director,

Coming up:
Apr. 8, Easter (Services at 9:15, 10:15 and 11:15 a.m.) Karen Gottschalk will sing "Alleluia" from Mozart's Exsultate, jubilate and "Alleluia" from Handel's Silete Venti. The combined choirs will sing In Time of Silver Rain by Clif Hardin.

Concerts:
Sun., Apr. 15 at 3:00 p.m., the Laclede String Quartet will present their last concert of the season. The program will include Borodin's String Quartet No. 2 and Shostakovich's String Quartet. These performances are free and have been made available through local grants.
Sun., Apr. 22 at 3:00 p.m., the Friends of Music will present their last classical music concert of the season.
Fri., May 4 at 8:00 p.m., Emily Kaitz, humorous singer-songwriter based in Fayetteville, Arkansas, returns to Eliot Chapel with Austin, Texas' Bruce Jones, also a quirky songwriter with whom Emily has been collaborating musically for the last year. Both artists are bass and guitar players, and take turns accompanying each other. Their original material ranges from the perverse to the political, from ridiculous to poignant. Together they put on a highly entertaining show For more info go to ww.brucejonesmusic.com or google Emily Kaitz. Tickets will be $10 and $5. Sponsored by the Music Committee.

Shopping for Office Supplies

Office Depot has a rewards program - they will give back 5% if you spend $200 there in a three-month period. If you're not in a position to take advantage of this personally, but occasionally need the odd package of sticky notes or a typewriter ribbon … at checkout you may ask that your purchases accrue to Eliot's rewards account. You don't need the account number, just Eliot's phone number - or they will look it up for you. Thanks!

Lance Armstrong

If concern for the environment and/or desire for exercise motivates you to ride a bicycle to Eliot, for your convenience there is a bicycle rack near the parking lot, at the south end of the ramp. Please do not bring bicycles up the steps or chain them to handrails, which is against the fire code. Thanks.

What Year Is It?

We are now at the time of year when some people are paying this year's pledge and others are starting to pay next year's pledge. Eliot's current fiscal year (2006-2007) runs from July to June. On July 1, 2007 we begin the 2007-2008 fiscal year.

In order that we may apply pledge payments correctly, please indicate in the memo line of your check whether your payment should be applied to the (current) 06-07 year or the (next) 07-08 year. Or, if the fiscal year is too confusing or you have more important things to remember please simply note in the memo line the month(s) covered by your pledge payment, and we'll figure it out. Thanks.

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