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Please Help Provide Hospitality!
We need your help to provide hospitality to our visitors on Sunday morning. It has never been easier to host Coffee hour--everything you need except snacks can be found in our beautiful new kitchen. Very simple instructions for how to make coffee and set up are posted on the kitchen wall. Please sign up to host coffee or greet by clicking here! Thank you!
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Religious Exploration at NUUC
Parent Check In - What do you need from NUUC?
The US Surgeon General recently released an advisory indicating the challenges of parenting were so significant that they may constitute a health concern. We want to know if there are ways that NUUC can better support you and your family. Join Rev. Susan and Morgan January 26 after service. Lunch provided. Please RSVP by January 25 to morgan@nuuc.org. While parents chat, kids and youth can eat pizza and will have fun activities provided by our RE volunteers.
Second Sunday Board Games and RPG on January 12
We will have a mix of fast-paced family games, strategy games, and fun collaborative games. After worship on the Second Sunday of the month, grab some food and/or a beverage and then head to Room 1 if you'd like to participate in a role playing game, and Room 3 if you'd like to play a board game. No experience or sign up necessary!
Thanks to RE Volunteers in 2024
Thanks to everyone who volunteered in 2024, including Laurie Anderson, Mary Dixon, Neil Kirby, David Jon Krohn, Nancy Gamso, Cara Greenberg, Margo Hicks, Sarah Reeder, Melinda Rosenberg, Christine Rothschild, Joan Stoffregen, and Astrid and Noa Weatherwax. Thanks, as well, to our wonderful RE Assistant Holly Bowman.
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NEW SOCIAL JUSTICE BOOK GROUP
Friends,
Thank you for all your interest in meeting together to read and discuss the topic of authoritarianism using the books listed below.
After receiving feedback from many of you this past week and at last night's short meeting, we will start with "Strongmen" by Ruth Ben-Ghiat and then move to Timothy Snyder's book "On Tyranny." We'll have two sessions on each book. And then decide if we want to read Snyder's "Freedom" after that.
We will meet on the 4th Sunday of each month after service for an hour. (about noon to 1)
Sunday Dec 22 will be our first meeting in person in Classroom 3.
Strongmen by Ruth Ben-Ghiat. (Book is about $9 on amazon)
Dec 22 - Chapts 1-5 for Dec 22.
Chapts 6-end for January 26 session.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat is the expert on the "strongman" playbook employed by authoritarian demagogues from Mussolini to Putin—enabling her to predict with uncanny accuracy the recent experience in America and Europe. In Strongmen, she lays bare the blueprint these leaders have followed over the past 100 years, and empowers us to recognize, resist, and prevent their disastrous rule in the future.
Then we will read in Feb and March:
On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A “bracing” (Vox) guide for surviving and resisting America’s turn towards authoritarianism, from “a rising public intellectual unafraid to make bold connections between past and present” (The New York Times)
And perhaps in April and May:
On Freedom by Timothy Snyder
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A brilliant exploration of freedom—what it is, how it’s been misunderstood, and why it’s our only chance for survival
Thank you for your interest in exploring these topics together. The knowledge in these books may be very helpful during the next 4 years in understanding our national situation.
With Perseverance and Hope For a Better Future
Rev Joan Van Becelaere (retired)
(Pronouns: she/her)
Phone (303) 641-5896 | Email: uujoanvanb@gmail.com
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Flower Sale to Benefit NUUC
Watson’s Acres (owned by Brent and Molly Watson) is adding to their cut flower offerings! Beginning in 2025, they will also be growing nursery plants - hanging baskets, planters, veggie/herb starts, and bedding plants. As an introduction to this new endeavor, they are having a preseason online sale of hanging baskets and patio planters featuring beautiful flower combos (and one Italian herb combo), with delivery to NUUC after the service on May 4, 2025. They are donating $5 of every item ordered to NUUC. There is even an early-bird discount until January 1, 2025! For more information and to order, check out their catalog at www.WatsonsAcres.com/NUUC
Deadline for ordering is February 1, 2025
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Laughter Yoga--Jan. 12 at 1:30 PM
On Sunday afternoon, Jan. 12, at 1:30 pm, Pam Spence’s covenant group, Beyond Words, will be hosting a Laughter Yoga program at NUUC. Not to worry: this is not about whoopee cushions and questionable jokes. Indeed, Laughter Yoga is a unique exercise and meditation program that combines unconditional laughter and yogic breathing (Pranayama). At this session, you will learn how to laugh, even if you “don’t feel like laughing,” i.e. when there is “nothing to laugh about” (a skill we all might find beneficial in the upcoming days/years).
Laughter Yoga was co-created in India by Madan Kataria, M.D. and his wife, Madhuri, a yoga practitioner. They drew inspiration from Norman Cousins (Anatomy of an Illness) and other researchers who have documented the healing power of laughter. How Laughter Yoga works, as Dr. Kataria explains:
Laughter is initially simulated as a physical exercise….Science has proved that the body cannot differentiate between simulated and real laughter. Laughter Yoga is … a technique that allows adults to achieve sustained hearty laughter without involving cognitive thought…With regular practice, one can develop a positive mental attitude and renewed energy which will help when people go through challenging times. The inner spirit of laughter is your ability to stay alive and access a positive mental state despite all challenges.
We are honored to have Lynette Ford, award-winning storyteller par excellence and a highly respected and beloved Laughter Yoga leader. The event is open to the covenant group, members and friends of the congregation as well as the greater community. For teens and adults - goodwill offering (suggested $10).
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Ongoing Ways to Connect
Play games with persons of all ages the second Sunday of the month. There will be both board games and role playing games. We will have a mix of fast-paced family games, strategy games, and fun collaborative games.After worship of the Second Sunday of the month, grab some food and/or a beverage and then head to Room 1 if you'd like to participate in a role playing game, and Room 3 if you'd like to try play a board game. No experience or sign up necessary!
What Moves Us: Unitarian Universalist Theology --First Sundays at 11:45 AM led by Rev. Susan the first Sunday of the month each month starting in October 2024 and concluding in February 2025.. Both adults and teens are welcome. Join No need to sign up, just show up to Room 1 at 11:45 AM. . You are welcome to attend just a few or all of these sessions. Through shared direct experiences and reflection exercises, readings and lessons, and ethical deliberations, What Moves Us creates an adult faith journey for those people who want to be able to better articulate their beliefs and understand how they connect with Unitarian Universalism.
Mindful Writing meets monthly, with members sharing a variety of written pieces and thoughts. All are welcome! Please contact Marty Keith if you're interested in joining the group so she can send you time and the Zoom link. martykeith@zoho.com
Brown Bag Books Discussion Group meets monthly at noon on the Third Tuesday of each month, in Room 3 at church. Upcoming books are as follows:
January The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
February The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
March The Voyage Home by Pat Barker
Beyond Words Covenant Group
Pam Spence is coordinating a new covenant group, "Beyond Words." The group will explore a variety of paths that help deepen spiritual connection focused on "whole body" experience by participating in local initiatives. Experiences we will pursue might include, singing bowls/sound baths, drum circles, chanting, labyrinth walking, heart-centered meditation, Dances of Universal Peace, animal assisted prayer and meditation - depending on the interest of the group. We will each be responsible for any fee involved and, of course, you are not obligated to participate in any of the events. Contact: pammy.spence@gmail.com or text at 740-816-1905 for further information. Pam holds a MA in Transformational Theater/ Sacred Drama from Antioch University and is a commissioned community minister through the Federation of Christian Ministries, licensed through the state of Ohio.
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Life has a way of rushing by. Sometimes we feel the need to pause or to reflect more deeply. Join me for a virtual half hour of mindful contemplation that is inclusive, non-judgmental and expectation free. I’ll bring a mix of poetry, music, breathwork, silence, or meditation to create a space for you to relax. Participants are muted. Feel free to turn your video off. Please engage in whatever way feels most meaningful to you. A Space for Reflection is freely offered the third Wednesday of the month at 7:00pm on Zoom. Registration is required (link here).
As for me, Karen McGuire, the facilitator, I’m a lifelong Unitarian Universalist, a retired educator, and a trained Interspiritual Companion who finds it necessary to stop every once in a while, and pay attention.
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Notes from your Treasurer, Aaron Saling
Income:
- Pledge income is $30,900 over budget. The church has received 55% of it's budgeted pledge income by the close of November.
- Fundraising income is $4,500 below budget. Most of this income is aligned with the Service Auction which does not take place until Spring 2025.
Expenses:
- Most of the expense categories are running under budget for the year.
- Building Expenses are higher than budget due to several large, unexpected expenses (tree trimming and fire system in the kitchen for example).
The operating budget is in a good place for 5 months into the year. Pledge income will wax and wane throughout the year, so we'll have to keep an eye on it in the months to come.
To see the actual numbers, budget versus actual, click here.
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