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Emerson Youth Groups
Both the Schweitzer Club(middle school ages) and the LRY(high school age Liberal Religious Youth) enjoy very active fellowship. The UUA web site has a YRUU page with additional information.
Chalice Choir
Members of our adult choir have been directing the children’s Chalice Choir. Practices are now scheduled during the second hour Sundays, from around 11:45 until 12:15. We are trying to recruit
older RE members into the choir in order to create a more inclusive children’s choir and
to perform more sophisticated music. If you have a child who is interested, or who may
need a little extra coaxing, please contact us. We would really like to see a
larger children’s choir! The Chalice Choir welcomes new members on a full-time basis or
on a case-by-case.
Music is a chance to shine, share talent, and receive recognition.
Choir can be a place with limitless moments to shine. No matter where a child may be in their development as a musician, they will be praised for showing up, for trying, for improving, and for sharing themselves with the church. Let’s encourage them to be part of Chalice Choir.
Emerson Intergenerational Orchestra (EIO)
The EIO is exactly what it’s name promises:
an orchestra made up of school age children and adults so that it is truly
intergenerational. The Emerson community has been delightfully entertained by this
eclectic group since its inception in 2001. The EIO usually performs for four or five
services during the church year and showcases a variety of music, most of which is
arranged for the orchestra by the director, Bill Atkerson. Rehearsals are on most Sunday
mornings, 9:00 to 9:45am, before other church activities begin, in Westwood Hall.
The orchestra is always looking for new musicians. If you are new to Emerson, and
interested in joining this talented group, be sure to talk to Bill. You can stop by on
Sunday mornings at 9:00 A.M. in Westwood Hall to sit in on their weekly rehearsal and
talk to him afterwards, or you can contact Bill via email. And don’t worry if you are new
or rusty - Maestro Bill encourages musicians of all skill levels to give EIO a try!
For more information about the orchestra, including wonderful MP3 recordings, go to the
following website, maintained by Bill Atkerson: www.atkerson.com/eio.
Junior Finance Committee
This committee, comprised of the Fourth and Fifth Grade
Class, makes a considered, thoughtful decision on how to distribute the Sunday School
offertory monies. Bringing money for the offertory on a weekly basis is a good habit that
we hope will stay with our young people throughout their lives.
The Junior Finance Committee is responsible for making their decision on recipients in
January for monies collected from September through December and again the end of May. We
are raising socially conscious children and they are doing a great job with this
responsibility.
Project SEARCH Donations
Items for SEARCH(Service of the Emergency Aid Resource Center for the Homeless) are collected in the blue bin
under the bulletin board by the R.E. office. Different types of hygiene products, i.e.
soap, shampoo, wash cloth, toothpaste, toothbrush, etc. are always needed so you can
bring them any Sunday--being in the habit of bringing those items the first Sunday is
good for you, however. We also need large Ziploc bags(1-2 gallons) since we will be packaging
sets of these supplies to deliver to SEARCH. Visit the SEARCH website to learn more.
Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF
Our fund raising carnival was held Sunday, October 28, and it was very successful. With the addition of another $500 contribution to UNICEF, the grand total of money raised to help other children around the world came to $2421—an all time record! Part of this must be attributed to the fantastic leadership of Karen Nazir and Rachel Shada; to everybody who pitched in
to help including Hans Coster, who was there to set up and clean up; and, to the lovely
trio of girls from Karen Benson’s class who raised $380 on their own initiative from a
bake sale.
This annual event is always lots of fun and provides an opportunity for people of all ages to get involved and help raise funds for UNICEF.
Emerson LRY Hunger Project
The LRY, Emerson’s high school RE program, was very successful this 2007 Holiday Season in supporting the programs of Heifer International, a non-profit organization whose goal is to help end world hunger and poverty through self-reliance & sustainability. The LRY members were stationed in the Gathering Place after Sunday worship and raised about $1200 by convincing fellow Emersonians to purchase their home made baked goods and learn how to directly support responsible individuals and communities in the developing world by providing them with domesticated animals and tree seedlings. Contributions might provide a water buffalo that would help a Filipino farmer by pulling a plow and providing milk for the farmer’s family; or provide a hive of honeybees to a family in Uganda to pollinate their crops and boost income through the sale of honey, beeswax and pollen.
The final tally from LRY: We collected $1276. Here is our list of what we are donating!
- 5 shares of a Heifer @$50
- 1 water buffalo
- 1 llama
- 1 sheep
- 1 pig
- 2 shares of a goat @$10
- 2 gifts of trees @$60
- 3 shares of rabbits @$10
- 3 gifts of honeybees @$30
- 2 flocks of chicks
- 2 flocks of ducks
- 1 flock of geese
Souper Bowl of Caring
Coinciding with the annual madness known as Super Bowl, there is a hunger relief project cleverly named Souper Bowl of Caring, and the Emerson Coming of Age initaites participated in the 2008 event. In an effort to involve more of our youth in Church-wide service projects the COA class this year is required to participate in one of the hunger campaign activities sponsored by the Emerson Social Action Council(SAC). We have had some COA participation in the CropWalk this past November, and in January the whole class participated in collecting food and raising awareness for the Houston Food Bank through the Souper Bowl of Caring.
Together with the food collected on
the second Sunday by the SAC they constructed a labyrinth on January 27. The
students laid out the labyrinth in Westwood Hall using painters’ tape and then lined the
pathway with cans of food. More than 60 people including the 8th graders walked the
labyrinth, either communally or individually.
After the conclusion of this campaign on Feb 3, Super Bowl Sunday, Emersonians had contributed 613 pounds of food and $718!
For more information on the COA project please contact Zena Taylor. For more information on the Souper Bowl of Caring please go to the website at http://www.souperbowl.org.
Rebuilding Together Houston
Join the convivial UU work crew on one or two Saturdays each spring and fall as we spruce up the exterior of a home owned and occupied by an elderly or disabled Houston neighbor. We usually build a wheelchair ramp and replace rotted siding and doors, too. This is a great, hands-on project for families to do together for a few hours, and provides fodder for fruitful conversations about neighborhoods the children might not otherwise visit. Students whose schools require community service hours can earn them here. Options include painting and scraping, carpentry work, bringing food for the hard-working volunteers, and site clean up in the afternoons. For more information, e-mail Laura Emerson to get on the volunteer list or to elicit more information.
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