Christmas Eve Services

Tuesday, December 24, 3:00 pm. “All Ages No-Rehearsal Christmas Pageant.” In the past, VUU has held a Christmas pageant led by the kids that involved several Sundays of rehearsing. This year we change it up a bit! We’ll have a no-rehearsal pageant that invites audience members to choose a part in the pageant when they arrive! It's narrated, so no lines to memorize! No rehearsal necessary. We’ll sing the songs and tell the stories of the birth of Jesus together, with costumes and imagination.  

Tuesday, December 24, 7:00 pm. “Christmas Candlelight.” A traditional lessons and carols service that emphasizes the possibilities of peace and love that come with stories of the birth of Jesus. How can we live in to these possibilities in the coming year? 

To help with Sunday morning hospitality, click here.

Abbreviated information about upcoming events that are

further than two weeks out.

• FUUNd Donations - Now through Jan 5 Donate here
• AZCEND Food Bank with Rev. Sarah - Dec 13 Sign Up
• VIP House Meeting - Dec 22
• Senior High Winter Camp at de Benneville - Dec 28-Jan 1 Register here
• Ethics for Unitarian Universalists - begins Jan 8 Sign Up
• New Participant Meal - Feb 1, Apr 5 RSVP here
• VIP Leaders Retreat - Feb 1
• FUUNd Auction - Feb 2-16
• New Participant Classes - Mar 22, Jun 7 RSVP here
• VUU Camping Retreat - Apr 11-13 at Friendly Pines Camp in Prescott

This month as we have been practicing presence, I have been thinking about the IHELP program and how much I have enjoyed being here as we serve meals and set up for our guests each week.  I’ve joined our guests a couple of times at the dinner table, and have enjoyed learning a little about them and seeing what a difference it makes for folks to have a safe place, a good meal, and to be treated with dignity and respect.  I take these aspects of my life for granted often, which is why advocating for affordable housing is so important to me.  This week I spent more time than usual doing this, attending a press conference outside Chandler City Hall and a County Board of Supervisors meeting as well.  Valley Interfaith Project has been working to support a wide range of strategies to increase affordable housing options in the the Phoenix metro and this work has been an important part of our shared ministry at Valley UU as well.  Today I will also join VIP as we talk to local law enforcement about the impacts of Proposition 314 on immigrant communities and how we can make local decisions to cushion that impact.  Presence is about being present, about being prepared and and responding; it’s about seeing how others are impacted by a situation. Sometimes folks may feel like this work is “too political.”  My gentle response is that it is personal for someone, and when we care for that person’s situation we are doing justice work also pastoral care work.  Everything that seems “political” is personal to someone.  Asking ourselves who it is personal to and why, and whether we can play a part in addressing a need or an injustice is a cornerstone of being a faith community.  Blessings this season!  May you be fully present to those who need you most.  

-Rev. Sarah Oglesby-Dunegan

This is the prayer I gave to the City of Chandler Monday Night:

Today I want to offer a prayer of Presence.

Not presents.

Presence.

I ask that instead of bowing your head to retreat to an inner spiritual world you allow yourself to be present to spirit as spirit moves in this room.  Let yourself, your eyes and ears, see and hear each other with respect and care. 

We may pray using different language to name the holy.  But we are given the capacity to see, hear and experience the holy in each other and in the world we have inherited to steward and to protect. So, as we pray to a God of many names and no name at all, to the spirit of love and life, I pray that we may find the strength to resist the messages that allow us to dehumanize each other and the courage to name our fears and face them; for the capacity to collaborate and to be honest; for the wisdom to see beyond our own needs and to work for the common good.  May our values of fairness, compassion, and accessibility be undiminished by our desire to be effective and efficient.  May we begin and end as neighbors who care about each other.  May our smiles convey the prayer we carry for each other's wellbeing.  

For this, In your many names we pray, oh holy one; amen, blessed be.



Holiday Pageant

Mark your holiday calendar for Christmas Eve, December 24 at 3:00 pm for our spontaneous holiday pageant. Kids and adults, young and old, speakers and non-speakers will all have an opportunity to participate in our annual re-telling of the story of Jesus of Nazareth’s birth in Bethlehem, this year in a fun and spontaneous way with no rehearsal needed.

Costumes galore! Things that twinkle! Lots and lots of carols! See you there.

Val Pal Program Signup

Bridging that gap that is as big as the parking lot between the sanctuary and the education buildings will be the goal of a new Valentine program being launched next month. Val Pal is a program that helps the adults in our congregation make new friends among our children. 

Adults sign up to sponsor a child. Parents sign their children up to participate in Val Pal. Participating children should be between the ages of four and twelve. Between January 12 and February 9, adults will send weekly cards, stickers, riddles and clues about who they are through the mail to their sponsored children. On Sunday, February 9 we will host an after church snack party where the new friends meet each other and share some snacks, games, a few stories and make new friends!

Parents and VUU members and friends will receive an email to sign up to participate in the program. The deadline is January 5 for sign ups for both adults and children is January 5.

At my congregation in Kansas City, this beloved program was one of the highlights of the year. When it came time for Coming of Age, many kids knew at least five or six adults from their years participating in Val Pal to choose from among as their mentor.  

So watch those inboxes, sign up to sponsor a child and sign your child up to take part in the program. Join us in the fun!

FUUNd Together Auction

We need your donation NOW for the 2025 Let’s Have FUUNd Together Auction. It is less than a month until the donation deadline (January 5). Wondering what to donate? Click here for an inspiring list of last year’s auction items. Donations can be made via the auction website www.auctria.events/VUUFUUND2025 or by picking up instructions and the QR code at the FUUNd table on Sunday mornings. 

VUU Congregational Survey

LAST CALL: Please complete the VUU Board Survey before the December 15 deadline! As of the 9th, we have 129 responses, and we know there are more of you with important things to share with us.

A brief snapshot of the congregational input will occur at the January Congregational meeting. A full survey report will be presented first to the Board, Minister and CSM at the end of January. We also look forward to reporting and discussing the survey results at the February 2 Congregational Conversation.

Please email the assessment team if needed.

Thanks, Your VUU Assessment Committee, Katie Hurstwicker and Nancy Egly Co-chairs

Tom Briggs, Mary Erickson, Paul Schneider, and David Sheh

Environmental Action Team

Join us on December 16 (the third Monday of the month) at 6:30pm online.

From the Exec Director of UU Ministry for Earth, Rebecca Solnit:

"They want you to feel powerless and to surrender and to let them trample everything

and you are not going to let them. You are not giving up, and neither am I. The fact

that we cannot save everything does not mean we cannot save anything and everything we can save is worth saving. Remember what you love. Remember what loves you. Remember in this tide of hate what love is. The pain you feel is because of what you love. … in this moment of furious mourning… Gather up your resources, the metaphysical ones that are heart and soul and care, as well as the practical ones." (Emphasis added.)

Contact Linda Stenholm via email or at 480-849-2643 (text) with any questions.

EastVUU Holiday Party

Thursday, December 12, 6:00 pm

All are welcome to join potluck and holiday fun at Barbara Peter’s home in Leisure World, 2114 Capri Dr., Mesa, AZ 85206. Bring your favorite potluck dish to share. Also bring a cheap “white elephant” gift—something used or useless, just for fun! Bring a sweater if you’d like to enjoy the fire pit and s'mores. All are welcome!

MUSIC STEERING COMMITTEE UPDATE



We acknowledge both the complexity of the situation and the time that has passed during which we have been in an unsettled, contingent period. We are working thoughtfully on a more detailed communication and appreciate your patience as we strive to provide clarity and understanding.

Mary Erickson, for the Committee

Adah Beehler - Graduation Announcement

Join her family in congratulating Adah Beehler - our very own Faith Formation Assistant - on her Dec. 16 graduation from the ASU Barrett Honors College.

On the dean's list, and graduating magna cum laude with a BA in Philosophy, Religion, and Society, Adah completed her degree in just 3-1/2 years!

Well done, Adah!

Celebrating House Meetings

VUU’s VIP Core team is celebrating the success of our partnership with Caring Neighbors. Since July, on the Fourth Sunday of each month, we’ve collaborated to host small group conversations—also known as “house meetings”—to discuss the challenges facing VUU members and friends and their families. Fifty people have come together to share concerns around loneliness, building safety, mental health, housing, election anxiety, communicating across generational and political divides, and others.

Our goal is to help foster relationships among people in the congregation who may not have known each other before meeting face-to-face for a small conversation—and finding that we’re not alone in our concerns. All are welcome to join the conversation. The next one will be on Sunday, December 22 in the sanctuary flex room after the service.

Singles Holiday Party

Saturday, December 14, 6:30 pm at the home of Claudette (1213 N Palm St., Gilbert, 973-768-6047.) 

This is a Potluck so bring a dish to share as well as a holiday gift for the gift exchange. Item should be $15 or less in value. Goodwill White Elephants are a welcome part of this tradition.

Much of the seating will be outdoors, so dress accordingly. It would be helpful to know beforehand what people plan to bring so I can make suggestions to late responders that will round out the meal. As usual, I will be making enchiladas.

RSVP to Claudette at 973-768-6047 (texts preferred) or reply to this email to declare your dish and intentions. 

Note: Since the holidays are generally very busy, the holiday party will be our only event this month (replacing both the monthly luncheon and dinner out.)

Christmas Gift Tree

Want to help bring Joy to our refugee families this holiday season? Be a part of the Immigration Action Team's Holiday Gift Tree.

Make a contribution and we will distribute it for you and add a bow to the Gift Tree. We'd love to see the tree covered in bows this year. By giving funds (rather than wrapped presents) directly to the families it gives them control of how and where they spend, and allows the parents to be the providers of gifts to the kids (instead of it coming from VUU).

You can give at the Gift Tree Table this Sunday before and after services.

For folks joining us online, see below for ways to give too!

We accept Cash on Sunday mornings, Venmo, Paypal, Zelle (all at 480-861-2916, Mark B's number), and via VUU.org, select "Give" and then select "Give to...Refugee Assistance"

We will add a bow to the tree if you are not there to do it yourself.

Feliz Navidad!

Another Small Step for Affordable Housing

Thanks to VUU members and friends who participated int he VIP Press Conference at Chandler City Hall in support of the Sonoran Landings 55+ affordable housing project in Chandler. Thanks to Rev. Sarah for co-chairing, and to Roz Hawkins for speaking.

Unfortunately, the Supervisors tabled the issue at their Dec.11 meeting, and we'll have to wait to see whether or when they will vote on the zoning change needed for the project to proceed.

-Submitted by Barb Quijada

Partners in Education (PIE)

You can make a big difference for the kids at Adams Elementary School in Mesa by making a financial contribution to Mesa Public Schools, while receiving a tax credit for a Public School, equal to your gift (up to $200 for single filers/$400 jointly). Pick up a contribution form that designates Adams School from the PIE table at VUU on Sunday or follow these instructions to donate online: Sign in to the Mesa Public School's Online Payment System here. Search for “8002” or “GENERAL-ECA”. Look for Adams Elementary and add amount to cart, then check out. When you file your tax return, deduct an equal amount from taxes due (up to Arizona tax liability). Thanks so much on behalf of the kids and teachers!