ANNUAL BENEFIT BASH!!! 
Saturday, November 5, 6pm
Athens Community Center
COME DINE AND DANCE WITH UCM! MAKE YOUR RESERVATION TODAY 
Email or call 740-593-7301
$40/person or more if you’re feeling inspired!
$20/low-income rate
Free, on-site childcare available with advanced notice.
Menu includes:
Jamaican Jerk Chicken w/ Spiced Orange Cream Sauce 
 Tofu, Tomato, Harvest Stew 
Traditional Jamaican Rice and Peas 
Garlicky Green Beans.  
Rolls and Herb Butter
Thanks to Jackie O’s Pub and Brewery for donating a keg of their award-winning, local craft beer!
Some wine and non-alcoholic beverages will also be available or you may BYOB.

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Huge thanks to Jeremy Bowman and our friends at Crumbs Bakery for donating their delicious and gorgeous chocolate UCM cake again!
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Live music and dancing with the exciting vocalist Sharell Arocho backed by Jesse Warner (keyboard) and Eric Wright (percussion)

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THANKS ALSO TO OUR GROWING LIST OF SPONSORS! WE COULDN’T DO THIS WITHOUT YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT!!!!!!

JOSH BODNAR
CARPENTER & ASSOCIATES
CETIDE
JOHN CORLETT
DAVID DESCUTNER & LYSA BURNIER
THE FARMACY
DON & MARY ANNE FLOURNOY
MARA GIGLIO
HOCKING VALLEY BANK
MAC’S THRIFTY STORE
VICKI MARSHALL
MS. ACCOUNTING & TAXES, INC.
FRANK & LORRAINE MYERS
RICH GARDENS ORGANIC FARMS
SUSAN ROTH, MODERN WOODMEN OF AMERICA
THE LAW OFFICE OF WENDA SHEARD
PENNY SHELTON & BOB STEWART
SNIDER, FULLER & STROH
SUSAN B. ANTHONY MEMORIAL UNREST HOME
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THANKS ALSO TO THESE INDIVIDUALS AND BUSINESSES FOR DONATING TO OUR RAFFLE AND SILENT AUCTION

BALLET MET COLUMBUS
THE DAIRY BARN ARTS CENTER
BRUCE DALZELL PIANO TUNING & REPAIR
KATIE DAWES & LAVENA STATEN
FUR PEACE RANCE
HYACINTH BEAN FLORIST & GIFTS
JB’S BEST
JENNIFER JONES, FDN-P
JENNIFER KELLY
MICHELLE MILLER
NELSONVILLE EMPORIUM
SUNFLOWER GLASS
TWO BROKE ARTISTS ART STUDIO







SATURDAY LUNCH CELEBRATES 10 YEARS!!

Happy 10th Birthday, Saturday Lunch from Shannon Stewart!

Click on the link above to see a very special message from former UCM intern and Saturday Lunch champion, Shannon Stewart! And here’s a special message from Saturday Lunch founder, Joe Buzzelli!

Join us on October 15 at 1pm to celebrate 10 years of Saturday Lunch, UCM’s 2nd weekly free meal which, along with Thursday Supper, provides more than 5,000 meals annually, hundreds of service hours for students and others, and a unique opportunity to bridge and the build the Athens and Ohio University community!

We are raising $10K for 10 years to renovate our kitchen and dining room. Visit our YouCaring site to donate now through our secure paypal account or send a check to UCM, 18 N. College Street, Athens OH 45701.

Come Walk With Us…

Come Walk With Us…..

Fifteen years ago, a horrific act of violence changed the world for all of us. This year on September 11, the sixth annual 9/11 Interfaith Peace Walk will remind us again that the world is still changing, and we can all take steps to ensure that it changes for the better.
The walk will begin at 7pm on Sunday, September 11, in front of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd on University Terrace, and will end with a candlelight vigil and song at the Islamic Center on Stewart Street. In between, it will thread through the OU campus and uptown Athens, passing many of the faith communities that co-sponsor the walk. As in past years, co-sponsoring faith communities and organizations are bringing some candles to share at the end of the walk, but participants are encouraged to bring candles to the vigil if they have them. People with mobility concerns who wish to participate in the walk should contact UCM.
This year, for the first time, the Peace Walk will be preceded by an interfaith prayer service at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd. The service will begin at 6:15 p.m. in the church, and will end before the start time of the Peace Walk. The Reverend Deborah Woolsey, priest-in-charge at Good Shepherd, hopes the service will offer people of all faiths an opportunity to worship together and reflect on the shared value of peace. “We’re inviting faith communities to share with us a prayer from their tradition, to participate in the service by leading their prayer, and we’re inviting singers to come together in an interfaith choir for the event,” she said. (To participate in the prayer service and/or the choir, contact Rev. Woolsey at the church, 740-593-6877.)
Co-sponsors of this year’s Peace Walk include Better Together at Ohio University, a student movement to engage people of all faith traditions and philosophical and ethical orientations in action for the common good as a means of building community and trust across religious divisions. “Especially during this election year, with all the inflamed rhetoric and fear, we need to create opportunities for people to gather, meet one another, and act on beliefs they share,” said Better Together Campaign co-coordinator Kelsey Gerard, an OU junior.
Gerard says the march also marks the start of this year’s Better Together campaign at Ohio University. This year’s Better Together campaign will also include a watershed cleanup on October 23 and other program and fundraising efforts currently in the planning stages. Students interested in working on the campaign should “like” the Better Together at Ohio University Facebook page, or email ucm@midohio.twcbc.comto get connected.
Other cosponsors include the Muslim Student Association, First United Methodist Church, International Student Union, Hillel at Ohio University, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Athens, Multicultural Leadership Ambassadors, Christ Lutheran Church, Office of the Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion, Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, Ohio University LGBT Center, and Athens First Presbyterian Church.

For more information on the Peace Walk and other upcoming interfaith events, email Rev. Evan Young, Campus Minister at United Campus Ministry, at evan@ucmathens.org.
UCM sent five Ohio University students to the Interfaith Youth Core Leadership Institute in August 2016! Look for Kentisha, Aleksandra, Kelsey, Robin and Kaitlan (not pictured) to do important interfaith work on campus this fall – starting with our Annual 9-11 Interfaith Peace Walk, Sunday, 9/11, 7pm at the Church of the Good Shepherd (54 University Terrace).
BETTER TOGETHER AT OU WINS 2ND 
CAMPUS IMPACT AWARD
FROM INTERFAITH YOUTH CORE!

This award goes to a student group that has left a substantial mark on their campus and community this year and best demonstrates the power of interfaith partnerships. 
Ohio University made a major impact this year by working hard to recognize and meet the needs of both their campus and their community. They brought the diverse experiences of students of various religious backgrounds to the forefront of campus life through holding a “Campus Conversation” that introduced the concept of speedfaithing to their campus. Then they took those conversations one step further by offering a similar speedfaithing program to train campus staff on how to incorporate interfaith into their professional development as advisors and allies. The Campus Conversation is now a regular event series that creates a space for students and staff to continue to engage in interfaith dialogue on campus.
Better Together at OU has also played a major role in organizing events such as an annual 9/11 Interfaith Peace Walk, which brings faculty, staff, students and the greater community together for a time of unity across lines of difference. By focusing on the shared values of service and community found in so many religious and philosophical traditions, Better Together at OU also works to create an environment that emphasizes the importance of engagement with their community.
For the last several years they have focused a number of events surrounding issues of water pollution and food security for lower-income people in their area, and their interfaith volunteers hauled thousands of pounds of garbage from streams in Wayne National Forest this past fall. They also sponsor regular community service and outreach events like stream cleanups and Saturday lunches, engaging over 800 students throughout the county in their interfaith service work.
UCM Campus Minister Evan Young’s closing prayer 
at the June 13 Vigil in Solidarity with Orlando
“We are the change we’re going to see in the world. When we love and when we hate, when we act out of fear and when we embody idealism and courage, we change the world. When we respond to tragedy with sadness or outrage, vitriol or compassion, renewed commitment to a vision we share or a vision that seems too outlandish ever to become reality, all of us are becoming. We choose every second, every minute, every day what future we will move toward. Tonight we stand together, we grieve together, we weep and mourn and proclaim and dream and seek to become, together. And the root, the core of what brings us together, keeps us together, and will ultimately move us forward together is love. Not just for the ones it’s easy to love, the ones we’re told it’s OK to love . . . but also, and especially, for the ones we struggle to love. We need this, we need tonight, we need this gathering and this affirmation and this experience of hands reaching out to our own to remind us of this simple fact, to burn onto our hearts this image of our common humanity and our interdependent community. So that the next time an act of hate, a divisive and hurtful word, a gesture of power-over rather than power-with moves us to repay hurt with hurt, we can remember THIS. This right here is the change I wish to see. May my heart, my soul, my being, my life ever be given to the holy work of being this, everywhere and always. And may I always remember the cloud of witnesses, partners, and fellow travelers that walk this path with me. Amen; blessed be.”

And…it’s a wrap!

UCM INTERN APPRECIATION DINNER
Front and L-R: Jennifer Kelly (Office Manager), Anna-Kaye Rowe, Lacee McKinney, Kathryn Bublitz, Rev. Evan Young (Campus Minister), Melissa Wales (Executive Director), Jackie Duffy, Aleks Tyler, Kelsey Gerard, Josh Baron and Kelli Wanamaker.
It is hard to believe we’re coming up to the end of another academic year. As always, it’s been exhilarating to walk with students through this transitional time in their lives as they grow spiritually, emotionally and professionally.  We are grateful for all that they bring to UCM and for everything they will bring to the wider world when they leave us. Our graduating interns are Josh, Kathryn, Jackie, Carissa, Anna-Kaye and Kelli. We’ll miss you terribly, wish you all the best, and hope you keep in touch!
We kicked off Spring semester with a Candlelight Vigil for the Beloved Community at Galbraith Chapel in the wake of racist vandalism to the Black Lives Matter mural on the graffiti wall, cosponsored by the Multicultural Center. Our continued participation with the OU MLK Celebration Committee included organizing a visit from Rev. Mel Hoover on anti-racism work in faith communities. Evan was asked to lead the opening invocation at the Silent March, and Melissa helped organize a Teach-In, “Black on Campus: Then and Now” with students and alumni including President McDavis (class of ’70).
Winter (and the fact that OU’s spring break is now in early March) continues to thwart our attempts at executing a local spring break service-learning trip. We remain enthusiastic about the curriculum we’ve put together to connect students to local organizations to learn about the challenges and strengths of Appalachia, so we’re exploring the option of moving our Alternative Spring Break to the week between Spring graduation and first Summer Session. Stay tuned!
Our Better Together campaign has been busy with Campus Conversations, tabling and outreach, and planning Stories of Interfaith Bridge-Building with Peggy Gish.  With continued support from Diversity and Inclusion, we sent three students to Interfaith Youth Core Leadership Institute (ILI) in Atlanta and a mini ILI in Dayton. Our final event will be our signature watershed service project with Rural Action’s Monday Creek Restoration Project.
We were pleased to host representatives from one of our long-time partners and supporters the Scioto Valley Presbytery in March, Rev. Peter Galbreath from Nelsonville Presbytery and lay leader Susan Dietz, lay leader from Logan Presbyterian. We shared stories of how their involvement in UCM has impacted them and why UCM remains such an important organization on campus and in the greater Athens community.
We had our Annual Meeting on April 20 with lay leaders from our 5 local supporting congregations: Athens Friends Meeting, Christ Lutheran Church, First Presbyterian Church, Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Athens and elected our 2016-17 Executive Officers: Kellea Tibbs (Chair), David Descutner (Vice Chair), Kaytlin Dawes (Treasurer) and Amanda Hobson (Secretary). We are grateful for how the community supports us and are looking forward to growing together!

  
UNITED CAMPUS MINISTRY’s

ANNUAL MEETING

“COMMUNITIES ON CAMPUS”

April 20, 2016, 5pm – 7pm
18 N. College St.
Join UCM Staff, Board and Interns in wrapping up another great year of campus ministry at Ohio University! 

We will present the 2016-17 Board Officers, bid farewell to outgoing Board members and welcome incoming members. 

We will also hear from lay leaders from our supporting congregations. 

Refreshments will be provided. All are welcome!

2016 Social Justice Awards

2016 SOCIAL JUSTICE AWARDS
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 6PM – 8PM AT UCM

Join us in honoring the following community and student activists and organizations:

TYRONE CARR
KATIE CONLON
LIVE HEALTHY APPALACHIA
OU CLIMATE ACTION NOW
TORCH CAN DO
BOBBY WALKER 
JOLANA WATSON
AND
LOIS WHEALEY will receive the Kuhre Griesinger Lifetime Award.
BETTER TOGETHER AT OU PRESENTS 

STORIES OF INTERFAITH BRIDGE BUILDING
WITH PEGGY FAW GISH
TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 7PM – 9PM
WALTER HALL ROTUNDA



Peggy’s stories from Iraq, West Bank, and Nigeria of courageous interfaith collaborating, difussion tensions, working for peace and reconciliation, advocating for and helping others of differing religious or ethnic groups, can inspire us with ideas of how we might work at interfaith relationships and cooperation right here!

We’ll also be accepting cash donations for Athens Books for Prisoners at the event.

Find out how you can get involved with interfaith education and community building right here with Better Together at Ohio University! bettertogetherou@gmail.com

Sponsored by Better Together, SAC and UCM.