Announcement deadline: Monday Evening

Sunday Worship on December 21^st

“Solstice: Flames of Magic” with Rev. Nancy Reid-McKee

We will celebrate Winter Solstice during this service. As we share the time of the shortest day, we will explore the hope and the stories that light our way forward.

9:00 AM Onsite Only

10:45 AM Onsite & Online

No After-Service Forum—Happy Holidays!

Join Us Online! Worship at 10:45 AM & Forum at 12:15 PM

Join on Zoom

Interact with the community and access live captions.
Meeting ID 873 210 124 | Passcode 2306

Watch on Youtube

View the live stream or watch anytime after.

Join by Phone
Dial +1 (253) 205-0468 to listen to the service audio-only.

Last Week's Worship

“Advent, Again” with Rev. Monica Jacobson Tennessen

Each year we have an opportunity to explore the lessons of the liturgical season of Advent from the Christian calendar, a season that resonates with the experience of being human in these times whether or not we hold this theology. Come explore what practices of hope and expectancy offer us in these times.

Watch Service Here

Order of Service

After-Service Forum:

Skill Builder - Microaggressions & Beloved Community

Come join Rev. Sara and others in learning about microaggressions, intent and impact, and real examples of how we sometimes don’t treat each other as we’d want in a beloved community, as well as how we can do better.

Watch Forum Here

Forum Slides

Remembrance for Rev. Arthur Vaeni

Rev. Arthur Vaeni April 8, 1950 — October 24, 2025

On Friday, January 16, 2025, OUUC will host a remembrance for Rev. Arthur Vaeni at 10:00 am, both onsite in the OUUC Sanctuary and on Zoom (Zoom Link Here). A reception will follow for those onsite.

On Sunday, January 18, 2025, there will be a memorial service for Rev. Arthur Vaeni at 11:00 am Pacific (2:00 pm Eastern), both at the Starr King UU Fellowship in Plymouth, New Hampshire and on Zoom. The Zoom link will be posted on Starrkingfellowship.org.

Read his full obituary at: https://obits.csnh.com/arthur-vaeni

Important Community Updates

Staff Away

Religious Education Assistant Anissa Bentlemsani is out of the office and not checking email from December 15^th - January 2^nd.

Tech Coordinator Teresa Madsen will be out of the office from December 18^th - 29^th. She will be sporadically checking emails from from December 18^th - 24^th.

How We Handle Winter Weather

As winter weather approaches, here's what to expect for building closures. On weekdays, if Olympia School District closes, we close too. We may also close when overnight freezing is forecasted, even if schools stay open. Please let church staff know if you notice severe weather developing in your area or in the forecast. For Sunday services, we check the forecast on Saturday and decide. If we close due to weather, we'll hold one online-only service at 10:45 AM via Zoom. Check your email, our website, and social media for closure announcements, and stay safe!

Nominations Invited for Board and LDC

The OUUC Leadership Development Committee (LDC) is looking for candidates to replace Board and LDC members whose terms will expire in June 2026; the Board of Trustees and the LDC each have 3 positions to fill. Candidates must be over 18 years of age and have been a member of OUUC for at least one year.

We know there are congregation members who would be great candidates, eager for the opportunity to work with others who are committed to guiding OUUC into the future. Maybe it's you, or maybe it's someone you know.

If you are intrigued by this form of service to our church home, or know someone who might be interested, please contact LDC members: Nancy Curtiss, Des McGahern, Martha Nicoloff, Josie Solseng, or Cheryl Tafejian. Nominations should be submitted by January 16^th, 2026.

2026 Share the Plate Recipients Announced

The Share the Plate Committee has selected six fantastic nonprofit organizations as our 2026 recipients: Homes First (Jan-Feb), POWER (Mar-Apr), Enterprise for Equity (May-Jun), Puget Sound Estuarium (Jul-Aug), Pizza Klatch (Sep-Oct), and Legal Immigration Services of Olympia (Nov-Dec).

With 18 applicants this year, choices were not easy! A record-breaking 15 OUUC congregants reviewed applications and selected our recipients. Thank you to all committee members: Anne Hundley, Annie Cubberly, Bob Brennand, Des McGehern, Gail Wrede, Helen Henry, Jan Johnston, Josie Solseng, Judy Schroeter, Linda Selsor, Scott McBride, Sean McCrohan, Selden Hall, Tom Best, and Wendy Tanner.

Learn more at ouuc.org/share-the-plate or the websites linked above!

Bags to Benches: Plastics Challenge

Turn your plastic waste into a NexTrex bench! OUUC is participating in the NexTrex Challenge to divert plastic film from landfills and transform it into NexTrex composite decking, and win a NexTrex park bench. Drop your clean plastic bags (grocery, bread, dry cleaning, ice, cereal, ziplock and produce), bubble wrap, plastic shipping envelopes, overwraps from paper towels, and newspaper sleeves in the large collection box in the back hallway. Our volunteers will transport collected plastic to become durable Trex decking. Every bag you bring helps keep plastic out of our water ways!

The Parking Lot is Getting Full!

We have had rising attendance at our Sunday worship services and so we're facing a new challenge with having enough parking spots. It's a good challenge to have! If you are able, please help us remain welcoming with available parking. Carpool, ride the #41 bus, bike, or walk to church if you can! Click here to see more about transit to OUUC.

Holiday Giving

Food Drive Success!

Our food drive for immigrant neighbors has ended after an overwhelming response! Thank you for filling the organizing church's storage space with your generous donations. Your support made a real impact!

Joy and Justice Book and Toy Drive

We are collecting for the Joy and Justice holiday toy and book drive this year. In particular they need hat, glove, and scarf sets for teens and new toys (unwrapped) for ages 9-13, but all new toys and new or gently used childrens books are appreciated.

Guest At Your Table Collection

This month we are holding Guest At Your Table, our annual fundraiser drive for the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. Collect a donation envelope in the Commons or use this donation link to make a donation: donate.uusc.org/give/75595

Tiny Little News Show

In this week's Tiny Little News learn about all the holiday doings this week and next!

This Week's Gatherings

Community Dinner: Festive and Cozy

Thurs, Dec 18^th, 5:30 PM

OUUC

This week's dinner theme will be "Festive and Cozy", in honor of the winter solstice. All are welcome for food and fellowship at 5:30 PM at our weekly community dinner on Thursdays. If you can volunteer to help cook starting at 3:30 PM or set up tables at 4:30 PM, or clean up after at 6:30 PM, we are getting a bit more formal with a Sign-up Genius so we know who is going to be able to help with dinners. If you can help, please sign up!

Solstice Spiral

Thurs, Dec 18^th, 6:30 PM

OUUC Sanctuary

All are welcome for our annual Solstice Spiral Walk and Meditation in the sanctuary. The spiral will be open from 6:30-7:30 PM.

Drop In Soul Matters Group

Thurs, Dec 18^th, 6:30 PM

OUUC

All are welcome to the monthly drop in Soul Matters group, a space for sharing and reflection on the spiritual theme of the month. The theme for December is Choosing Hope. You can pick up a Soul Matters packet in the Commons.

OUUC Choir Concert: Tuvayhun-Beatitudes For a Wounded World

Sat, Dec 20^th, 2:00 PM & Sun, Dec 21^st, 7:00 PM

OUUC Sanctuary

Join us for a moving choral performance by the OUUC Choir, directed by Troy Arnold Fisher. Tuvayhun - Beatitudes For a Wounded World offers a powerful musical reflection for our times. Two performances give you the chance to experience this beautiful work on either Saturday afternoon, December 20^th at 2:00 PM, or Sunday evening, December 21^st at 7:00 PM. All are welcome.

Holiday Cookie Pre-Orders Are Here!

Sun, Dec 21^st, 10:00 AM

OUUC Commons

Pre-Order Now

The holidays are upon us! The OUUC Cookie Brigade will be at it again this year, bringing love and joy through beribboned boxes of homemade cookies.

Pre-order now or purchase on Sunday, December 21^st in the Commons between services. Suggested donation: $25 for 2 dozen delicious homemade cookies.

Want to join the Cookie Brigade? If you love to bake and would like to be part of this beloved OUUC tradition, email Melanie Ransom at melransom@comcast.net.

Generation XYZ Lunch

Sun, Dec 21^st, 12:30 PM

OUUC

All between the ages of 18-50ish are welcome for the monthly lunch at 12:30 PM in one of the classrooms. Look for Kedo Baye with any questions.

Faith in Action: The Third Week of December 2025

Quick ways to make a difference: petitions to sign, calls to make, comments to submit.

Do one or do them all—every action counts.

See this week's actions

Upcoming Gatherings

Silent Night, Holy Night: A Christmas Eve Service

Wed, Dec 24^th, 5:30 PM & 9:00 PM

OUUC

Join us for a beautiful candlelight service to celebrate Christmas Eve. All are welcome!

5:30 PM Service: Features our OUUC choir. Available in-person and on Zoom.

9:00 PM Service: Features guest musicians. In-person only

Come gather in the warmth of community and the glow of candlelight as we honor this special evening together.

Growing Anti-Racist Kids: for ages 5-10

Thurs, Jan 15^th, 6:30 PM

OUUC and Online

Learn More & Register Here

The important goal of the curriculum is for children to respect and value difference in skin shades while recognizing the need to promote love and justice for all. Winter kids class for ages 5-10. Thursday nights, January 15^th- March 19^th, 6:30-7:30 PM

Cottage Meetings

Ten dates throughout January - February

Various Homes and Online

Please join us in the new year at a Cottage Meeting, along with other members and friends of the Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation, to share stories, build connections, and celebrate our community. We will gather, mostly in the homes of fellow congregation members, for refreshments and meaningful conversations about what OUUC means to each of us and the future we envision for our beloved congregation. There are many sessions to choose from, with different dates, times and locations. We are also offering meetings on Zoom and at OUUC. Each will last approximately 1.5 hours. Please sign-up. We would love to see you!

Use the "Sign Up Here" button above to see the different dates and times, and sign up! Or contact Sharon Love and she will help you get signed up.

Ways To Get Involved

This week’s opportunity is the Storyfinders Team!

The Storyfinders team is a new team that works to find and share the stories of who we are and what we do at OUUC. If you are interested in joining the team, you can talk to Rev Sara.

Help Needed For Solstice Spiral Set Up

Can you help move chairs and assemble the Solstice Spiral in the sanctuary on December 18^th? Set up needs to happen around 4:00 PM, before the community dinner. If you can help, contact Rev. Sara at dcfd@ouuc.org

Coffee Hour Volunteers Needed

Our coffee hours are only possible through the help of volunteers who make the coffee, set everything up, and wash the dishes after.

OUUC Side with Love Shirt

Get ready to represent OUUC and Side with Love at gatherings and justice events by ordering your yellow T-Shirt ahead of time!

Order Your Shirt

December Faith in Action Digest

This month's trainings, resources, and action opportunities--everything you need to show up for our community.

View December digest

December Volunteer Newsletter

All volunteers are encouraged to check out the latest resources and news for volunteers in our November Volunteer Newsletter.

Read December Newsletter

Community Connections

Olympia Peace Vigil

Fri, Dec 19^th, 4:30 PM

4^th & Water Street, Downtown Olympia

Please join Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) in a friendly Peace Vigil for whatever length of time you can. Olympia FOR’s Friday Vigils have been occurring for decades and are now joined by other groups including The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice and peaceful individuals who continue to advocate and stand together for peace, a permanent ceasefire, an arms embargo, and justice for Palestine. Peace signs are provided.

Olympia's 50^th Annual Holiday Peace Vigil

Sat, Dec 20^th, 11:00 AM

South side of Percival Landing & north of Heritage Fountain

The Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) sponsors this annual holiday peace vigil, which has become a beloved Olympia tradition. The Olympia FOR has worked nonviolently since 1976 on a wide variety of peace and social justice issues. It is the local affiliate of a broadly interfaith, international pacifist organization founded in 1914. We welcome children! The Olympia FOR provides signs, and participants may bring their own. After the Holiday Vigil please join us at Soul Cafe at New Traditions for warm drinks and soup from noon till 2:00 PM. Bring bread, crackers, & other finger foods. Donations welcome. For more information contact gantj_750@msn.com or text (206) 501 - 9404.

UU Ministry for the Earth Winter Solstice Ritual

Sun, Dec 21^st, 4:00 PM

Online

Blanketed in Beauty: A Winter Solstice Ritual Honoring the Gifts of the Darkness. Winter solstice offers an opportunity to pause at a pinnacle, honoring Earth’s longest night. For many moons leading up to this darkest moment, trees have been baring themselves of their leaves, offering a blanket to the Earth below. How can we as humans enter into the energy of this sacred time, using it as medicine, and aligning with the season’s offering? Join the UU Ministry for Earth and some very special guests on the evening of Sunday, December 21^st for our 5^th annual winter solstice service that honors the energy and teachings of Earth’s darkest time of year, which encourages us to rest and seek nourishment in the sacred dark. Please click the button above labeled 'Register Here' to learn more and register to attend.

Holly Jolly Jingle

Tues, Dec 23^rd, 7:30 PM

1925 Boulevard Rd SE, Olympia

RSVP Here

The Seattle Men’s Chorus rings in everyone’s favorite holiday tradition with seasonal classics, Christmas comedy, costumes, dancing and the gayest sing-along in Seattle. They will premiere the NOTcracker Suite…their very own four-minute rendition of the holiday staple featuring hilarious lyrics, props, and antics you expect from the Men’s Chorus. It’s the holliest, jolliest time of the year! The showing will be free, No Charge! Performance will start at 7:30 PM at Westminster Presbyterian Church. Please RSVP here to give us an idea of how many people are interested in this performance.

WhaleCoast Alaska: A More Authentic Travel Experience

Summer 2026

More Info

Two unique, exciting fundraising tours organized by four Alaska UU congregations are being offered again next summer by WhaleCoast Alaska. Experience majestic scenery, wildlife, Denali National Park, Alaska Native culture, glaciers, and UU homestays. For 32 years, WhaleCoast Alaska tours have been the BEST way to visit Alaska. Register now for this amazing experience! Questions: info@whalecoastak.org