The Sounds of Indiana is an award-winning chorus based in Bloomington, Indiana. The chorus sings harmonies predominantly in four-part barbershop style, which emphasizes matching word sounds and balancing chords to reinforce the overtone frequencies of each voice part. Sounds of Indiana also takes pride in our affiliation with the world’s largest singing fraternity, the Barbershop Harmony Society.
We meet weekly to rehearse a variety of singing and performance skills, and you’re welcome to join us! In fact, this week, we’re having a Guest Night at Templeton Elementary School on Wednesday, August 28, 7:00–9:30 PM. For more details, you can also see us on Facebook (facebook.com/soundsofindiana) or contact us at soundsofindiana@gmail.com.
Play
Friday Update
After
three years of Play Fridays, Hopi Stosberg will be retiring as Play Friday
Coordinator and Heather Farmer will be transitioning into this role. Same as
before, please RSVP by way of the Play Friday September Facebook event
or to Heather directly at hemfarmer@gmail.com. A few new
surprises are in store, but there will be games and pizza as always. Mark your
calendars for September 13 and come say hello!
Our Whole Lives at First United
We are in the planning phase of bringing Our Whole Lives to First United. Our Whole Lives is a secular, values-based lifespan sexuality education program that allows people of all ages to learn accurate information about sex in an empowering environment. The curriculum includes discussions of anatomy, relationships, sexual identity, and contraception, among other topics. First United Church would like to host an ongoing Our Whole Lives class for students in grades 7-9 during the 2019-2020 school year. The class would likely meet twice a month starting in October and ending in April. We are conducting an interest and availability survey in order to plan this program, which you can access here: http://bit.ly/FirstUCOWL Parents, if possible, please ask your child to complete this survey themselves, or ask them for their responses as you complete this on their behalf. We would like all responses by August 30. Thanks!
Parenting Book Group
We will be meeting again at 9:30am on September 8, 2019 in Roger Williams Hall to discuss Chapter 1 of Parenting Forward, by Cindy Wang Brandt. We will plan to meet on the second and fourth Sundays of the month. Childcare provided. Please contact Jennifer Duann Fultz at mrsjenniferfultz@gmail.com if you’d like a copy of the book ($13) or have any questions. You can also order a copy from your favorite bookseller.
Put “Just Being” on your To-Do List
Late summer and early fall in Bloomington are fueled by feelings of acceleration — whether positive or negative. In addition to your new schedule, why not take a moment to breathe, be, and seek the presence of the Holy Spirit. Centering Prayer (Sundays from 9:45 – 10:15am in the Chapel) is a time to discover how to develop your own prayer and mindfulness practice. We’ll start each morning with a practice you might try and a poem, and then settle in for some time that is just for you. Running late? Just slip in and join us anyway.
Ushers Needed
For September
We
need volunteers to serve as ushers for Sunday Church service during the month
of September. This is an excellent way to meet others at Church. We especially
invite new persons attending Church to serve. You can sign up for just one
Sunday or for several Sundays.
To sign up use the usher signup sheet next to the kitchen door during coffee
hour, or see Don Shelton who will be serving as usher captain for the month of
September.
Summer Series
Our final event in the Board of Christian Education’s Summer Series has been rescheduled from August 25th to September 8th, from 5-7 at the Islamic Center: 1925 Atwater Ave, Bloomington, IN 47401.
If you haven’t had the opportunity to make it to one of our events (or even if you have!), please consider attending this one.
Our last event will be an interfaith dialogue with members of Beth Shalom, the Islamic Center, and First United. This year, we are inviting members of the Jewish and Muslim communities to attend this event, along with a representative from each organization. To begin the event, we will be eating a potluck dinner together. We are asking participants to bring a dish that represents their faith in some way, as well as abides by the dietary restrictions of the other faiths involved. The easiest way to do this is to make your dish vegetarian, though seafood such as tuna and salmon will also work. Bringing a dish is completely optional. This dinner will give us the opportunity to intermingle a bit ahead of our discussion.
For the discussion portion, we will have some prepared questions but mostly will leave it an open discussion where anyone can ask or answer questions. Our primary goal is to learn more about how each organization is involved in the community and how we can provide support to each other and learn about opportunities to collaborate on mutual goals. We believe this is an especially critical time in our political climate to be having these discussions, so please do join us if you are able.
Since we are asking people to provide food, please RSVP if you intend to bring something, so that we have an idea of the types of food we may need to supplement. Please email the board chair, Don Wooldridge, at dontylw@gmail.com or the board’s email at education@firstuc.org, or contact a member of the board to let us know what you plan to bring, if anything. Please join us!
Spirituality Forum Set For Tuesday, September 10.
The title is “Ecumenical Spirituality and Peace in Islam
Guest Speaker: Yusuf Ahmed, IU Kokomo Professor.
Date: September 10 Time: 7:00-8:30 P.M. Place: Roger Williams Hall
Join us in a monthly conversation to share your unique experiences and perspective
on spirituality in your daily life. We can deepen and widen our spirituality in Jesus through understanding different spiritual traditions around the world. The tone of speech is conversational rather than academic.
If you have any question or if you want to invite any speaker, please contact Youshin
Choi (youschoi@gmail.com)
New Class Forming
The Christian Roots of Antisemitism and the Holocaust: An Historical Review of a Relevant and Timely Topic. A 6-week group discussion facilitated by Scott Callaghan, MSW, LCSW, M.Div.
Tuesdays, October 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, and November 5, 6:30pm at First United Church. Room#:TBD. If interested, contact Scott: 260.413.0966 or scottcall2018@gmail.com
Free Korean Yoga (Kuksundo) Class. KukSunDo is a traditional Korean yoga and meditation for the mind, body, and spirit. Just bring your yoga mat.
Days, Time and Place:
Monday, Friday 9:30 – 11:00a.m., Wednesday 5:30 – 7:00p.m., Saturday 10:00 – 11:30a.m., Roger Williams Hall in First United Church Questions? Contact YouShin Choi, youschoi@gmail.com
Minister Of Care For The Week Of August 25, Is Nora Sullivan. A minister of care is a church volunteer who visits members in their home.
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