January 13, 2022
This Week
Worship
January 16, 10:00am - online or outside (weather permitting)
“Curiosity and Rom-Communism”
Rev. Joanna Fontaine Crawford
 
In this second sermon in the “Ted Lasso” series, we examine our attitudes - which ones help us build strong relationships and move forward with our goals, and which are barriers?


Join us online for Worship at 10:00am. The link will be on the Live Oak homepage: www.liveoakuu.org.

Join us for Fellowship Time immediately following the service (approx. 10:15/10:30 or 12:15/12:30): https://link.liveoakuu.org/FellowshipHour
Share the Plate
New year, same needs at HCCM
Please dig as deep as you can and give to Hill Country Community Ministry, our Share the Plate recipient for January. HCCM is a Live Oak partner organization and it supports our important Fresh Food for All project.

The nonprofit is critical for many in Williamson County, where it's important to remember that a third of the population is Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE). In addition to food, HCCM provides clothing, eye exams and glasses, shoes to children and referrals for other needs.

Covid-necessary shifts to our Sunday services mean we can't always pass the plate around in person, so please remember to give online. Go to the Donate link on the Live Oak website’s home page. Use the drop down menu to designate your donation for “Share the Plate”. Half of all undesignated gifts in January also will go to the fund.
A Few Words from the Minister
Wordle and Other Fads
What makes a fad, what grabs the imagination of people to say, “Hey, I might be interested in this…”? Read more



A Few Words from the DLFD
(Director of Lifespan Faith Development)
Faith Development 1.10 to 1.16.22
This week's updates...read more


Special Notices
Board Meeting Sunday
The Board of Trustees will be meeting Sunday, Jan 16 at 1:00 via Zoom for our monthly meeting, and all are welcome to attend. We'll be closing out the 2021 financials, reviewing transition plans, and brainstorming growth strategies. Full agenda here.
Live Oak UU Endowment Grants
Do you know an organization that might benefit from an outreach grant from our Church? The Endowment Committee has voted to accept new grant proposals with a deadline of April 30, 2022. The expectation is to fund any approved grants by August 1, 2022. This is an opportunity for you to help the Endowment Committee by reaching out to your favorite charitable organization and spread the word.

Proposals may be from UU congregations, community organizations, or their affiliated groups. Organizations do not have to be UU to apply but need to support or advance UU values.

The Endowment was created with the mission of providing grants that support UU values through congregational growth, as well as social and environmental action initiatives.

As a reminder, grants are not awarded for the following purposes: debt reduction, bridge financing, or matching funds for other grants.
More details and the grant proposal application are on the Live Oak UU Church website at - http://www.liveoakuu.org/endowment/

UUs Side with Love
Texas Power Hour for Democracy
Southlake, TX … After gaining a majority of school board seats, members scrap a diversity and inclusion program that was created to address racist behavior in schools. 
Katy, TX … Black author’s award-winning book pulled from library shelves, his visit canceled. 
Houston, TX … In two school districts, incumbents were defeated by a coalition of candidates supported by Pastor Rick Scarborough and his organization Recover America. The plan is to flip seats in 10+ districts during 2022. 

School boards continue to be a flashpoint for the culture wars. We will be having a Texas Power Hour for Democracy to build our organizing and electoral power. This month's Power Hour will focus on actions related to activism at the school board level. Then we will break out by regions/cities to build out plans for planning / participating in organizing activities in your own communities in 2022. Please join in! January 18th at 7:00pm. Register here.
You Are Invited to Join a Discussion On Environmental Justice
Over the next 6 months, the Environmental Awareness Team will be zeroing in on justice issues including toxic dumping, clean water access, food security, and impacts of climate change, specifically on marginalized communities.
The Zoom Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 20th at 6:30pm.
All are invited to join using this LINK - Chris Milhealsick
Worship Change Effective Immediately
In light of the omicron surge and in keeping with our Austin Public Health-based gathering policy, Live Oak will be moving to one 10:00 am service. When the forecast is 55 degrees or above, and dry, we’ll have an outdoor worship service that is live-streamed. Otherwise, the service will be live-streamed from the sanctuary; only service participants will be allowed in. 
 
Outdoor worship will be followed by faith development classes for all ages in our outdoor spaces. When there is livestream worship only, there will be no classes for children and youth. Some adult classes will have the option to join via zoom. You will find information about that on our What's Happening Page and Facebook. Check LiveOakUU.org every Saturday night to confirm plans for the next day. 
 
Based on what we are seeing in other countries, we are hopeful this change will be temporary. Thank you for all your efforts to stay connected with your fellow Live Oak members.
 
Rev. Joanna and C.T. Goss, President 

Bookworms
The next Bookworms meeting will be on January 19, 2022, at 7:15pm. We will be discussing “Educated,” by Tara Westover. The Zoom link will be on the What's Happening page.

Senior Coffee
Join Rev. Joanna on Zoom for the Senior Coffee. The link is on the What's Happening page. Here are the discussion topics coming up:
January 20 Control and Power
February 3 Best Trip You Ever Took
February 17 Marriage and Other Partnerships
HELP DISTRIBUTE FOOD TO OUR NEIGHBORS
Live Oak Church will be distributing food to our neighbors at Fresh Food Friday and need volunteers to help.

* Thursday, January 20th @ 1:00 p.m. to approximately 2:30 p.m. food needs to be separated into smaller quantities for distribution. Meet at Hill Country Community Ministries, 1005 Lacy Dr., Leander, TX 78641

* Friday, January 21st @ 8:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. in the Live Oak parking lot. This is when we distribute the food to our neighbors. Volunteers are needed to set up, direct people to the drive through area, collect client information, and place food in the client’s trunk. You do not need to remain the entire 2 & 1/2 hours.

HCCM has asked for 7 people for each activity. We are asking you to please let us know if you will be able to participate in either activity, so we know if we have enough or too many people.

To RSVP or for any questions please contact Donna Durbin at: HCCM@liveoakuu.org
2022 Spring Campout April 8-10
Let's gather at Cedar Breaks Park on Lake Georgetown for our first church campout since fall of 2019!
All Live Oak members and friends are invited! Camp for the weekend or join us just for the day and the evening potluck on Saturday April 9. Our campouts are casual and unstructured, except for our traditional potluck supper on Saturday evening, hopefully followed by a campfire if there’s no burn ban. If you’re not a camper but want to be, or if it’s been a while since you’ve camped, join our camping facebook group and ask all your questions!

Make reservations here. Be aware that sites are filling up quickly, especially for the spring. Some of us already have lakefront sites reserved from #12 – 26 and maybe past that. If you have a national parks pass, you can use it at this Corps of Engineers park!

Feel free to contact me, Jen Swan, with any questions.
Registration for SWUUWCon 2022 is now OPEN!

Early Bird Registration ends January 28, 2022

Conference information here.
LiveOakUU.org Pages to Visit:
Worship Service & Fellowship Hour: http://www.liveoakuu.org/
Community Outreach & Social Justice: http://www.liveoakuu.org/justice/
The deadline for the weekly e-newsletter and the Sunday announcements is midnight on Tuesday. The submission form can be found here
If you have any questions or comments about this Newsletter please email: editor@liveoakuu.org