Solo Piano Recital
October 29, 2011
On Saturday, November 5, at 2p.m., Bell Street Chapel will host an extraordinary pianist, Ilya Kazantsev, who will generously share his talent in a solo piano recital. Donations are welcome.
Day of the Dead
October 23, 2011
On Sunday, Oct. 30, help us celebrate Day of the Dead by making sugar skulls before the service. Materials will be in the shell room for you to decorate your own sugar skull to place on our altar that morning. There will also be a Halloween party after coffee hour on Oct. 30. Come celebrate with snacks, games and spooky fun. Costumes welcome!
Helping those in need
April 5, 2011
The Peace and Social Justice Committee wishes to thank all who participated in the PSJ-sponsored Worship Service on Feb. 20. The theme of the service was homelessness, a particularly relevant topic this cold and snowy winter. We were reminded that homelessness can happen to anyone who is faced with an unanticipated loss of employment or serious disabling illness. We were also shocked to learn how little our society offers to the children in state care when they come of age; they just suddenly stop receiving any form of support or assistance and often end up on the street. For Unitarian Universalists who pledge to affirm and support the “inherent worth and dignity of every person”, the service was a good reminder of our obligations to those who, often by no fault of their own, do not have a place to call home.
Consequently, our Share the Plate recipients for the months of February and March were nonprofit organizations that provide services to the homeless. We also collected blankets, hoodies and new underwear and socks for the clients of shelters.
Also, just a “heads up” from the Peace and Social Justice Committee concerning our May Mother’s Day project! We will once again creatively fill 30 baskets for women who might not otherwise be acknowledged on Mother’s Day. This year’s recipients will be clients of Sojourner House, a resource center and safe haven for victims of domestic violence and their children. Sojourner House has served as a leader in Rhode Island in the assistance of such families since 1976. We will collect personal care items like lovely soaps, make up, perfumes and personal hygiene products during the weeks from now until Mother’s Day. And we will be looking for help putting the baskets together and decorating them. So stay tuned… Sojourner House will also be the recipient of Share the Plate for the month of May.
GLBT Movie Night – Feb. 11 6:30 p.m.
January 27, 2011
For the past several years, Bell Street Chapel has sponsored a monthly movie night at which we view and discuss films with gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or gender-identity themes. In this way, we live out our commitment as a Unitarian Universalist Association Welcoming Congregation; we also have a good time together and share a delicious potluck dinner. Over the past few years, we have seen some spectacular films – dramas, comedies, musicals, and documentaries – all mainstream films, many of which have won awards. We show these films on a large screen donated by the Rhode Island International Film Festival, for which Bell Street Chapel is a venue.
This season we are focusing on foreign films. Films we have viewed so far include a French Canadian and an Irish film. The movie for February, which our licensing agreement prohibits our citing by title, is a 2004 Spanish film written and directed by Pedro Almodovar. It is an award-winning movie about the relationship among two boys, Ignacio and Enrique, who are classmates in a Catholic school, and the priest who sexually abuses one of them.
February 11 promises to be another wonderful night at the movies at Bell Street Chapel. So bring some food or beverage to share and join us at Movie Night!
Newsletter update
April 10, 2009
In order to conserve resources, as well as to reduce costs, Bell Street Chapel will no longer send paper copies of Bell Street Columns by mail to non-members unless you specifically request us to do so. An electronic version of the newsletter is sent to members and friends by e-mail monthly as an attachment to the Bell Street weekly announcements. Remember that you can also read the entire newsletter on our Web site at www.bellstreetchapel.org. If you’re a friend of Bell Street and want to continue to receive paper copies of the newsletter by mail, please send an e-mail to Richard Corso at richardcorso@gmail.com or contact the church office at (401) 273-5678.
~Richard Corso
Newsletter deadline
April 10, 2009
The deadline for the May edition of Bell Street Columns is Sunday, April. 19, at 8 p.m. Contrary to popular opinion, the deadline is not arbitrary. We are on a tight schedule the week that the newsletter is edited, assembled and printed, and it really makes our jobs difficult if we are forced to track down articles or service descriptions and clear up questions at or even after the deadline. You know this deadline all month, so please don’t wait until the last minute. Please e-mail your submissions as separate Word attachments to Meredyth Waterman at MeredythW@aol.com. Thanks!
~Meredyth Waterman
Columns Editor
Transgender Day of Remembrance
October 21, 2008
Genevieve Peri
Spirituality and Therapy
June 27, 2008
They are yin and yang. Heads and tails. Donny and Marie. Both spirituality and therapy seek to help people become their best selves. They can be and so often are inexorably linked. We look to explore this link and gleam insight from it.