Today At Our Fellowship

Thursday, November 27, 2025

This Week @ AUUF

Thursday, November 27

Thanksgiving - Office closed

Friday, November 28

Thanksgiving - Office closed

5:00 – 7:00 pm Alaska Citizen's Action Project Sanctuary + Social Room

Saturday, November 29

8:30 – 10:30 am AA-Slap Happy Group at AUUF Social Room

Sunday, November 30

9:00 – 10:15 am The Forum

11:00 am – 12:00 pm Sunday Worship

4:00 – 5:30 pm Anchorage Friends Meeting Sanctuary & Social Room

Monday, December 1

3:30 – 6:00 pm Amanda's Violin Class

Room 5

Tuesday, December 2

2:00 – 4:00 pm Knitting Group Room 7

4:30 – 6:30 pm Forum Planning on Zoom

5:30 – 6:45 pm Anchorage CN Resistors Advocacy - All are welcome

Sanctuary

5:30 pm LGBTQ+ Advocacy Team Meeting Library

6:30 – 9:00 pm AK Bird Club Banquet

Social Room

Wednesday, December 3

3:30 – 5:00 pm Connections Team Meeting on Zoom Library

5:00 – 6:30 pm CYRE Team Meeting - In Person & Zoom Library

7:00 – 8:30 pm Building & Grounds Meeting - Zoom

Thursday, December 4

10:45 am – 12:45 pm Music Together Mountain Song Social Room

5:30 – 7:00 pm Anti-Racism Team Meeting Library & Zoom

6:30 – 8:00 pm Choir Practice

Sanctuary

Friday, December 5

8:15 am – 12:45 pm Music Together Mountain Song Social Room

12:00 – 2:00 pm Freethinkers in Person Only Room 7

The Forum

Sunday November 30, 2025 9:00-10:15 AM

IN- PERSON and on Zoom

Click here to join on Zoom.

Sunday Worship Service

Sunday November 30, 2025 11:00 AM

IN- PERSON and on Zoom

November Worship Services

Click here to join on Zoom.

POSTPONED! HOLIDAY STUFFING!

12:30 to 2 PM, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2025

Dennis Arashiro

Stuffing envelopes, that is! After stuffing yourself on Thanksgiving and before stuffing your stockings for Christmas, how about joining the Anti-Racism Team with the ACLU Prison Project newsletter mailing? After the Worship Service from 12:30 to 2 PM, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2025, in the FELLOWSHIP SOCIAL ROOM, we will be stuffing and addressing envelopes with the holiday season newsletter for those incarcerated in the Alaska prison system.

Keep an eye out for a new date/ time to join.

A Message from Douglas Eby

At the May Business Meeting, the AUUF membership agreed to pass an ambitious budget that kept all of our full-time and part-time staff employed, raised the pay for some positions, and provided benefits for those closer to full time, despite not being able to identify enough revenue to cover all of this. The plan was - and is - to attract enough new people, create more rental payments for use of our facility, and optimize the one time revenue categories (such as the Auction and WhaleCoast) - in large enough numbers to cover the predicted $50-60,000 shortfall on a $475,000 budget. We did - and do - also know that we have enough undesignated reserves to get us through one more year of deficit spending if this did not all materialize. So…where are we with 1/3 of the fiscal year completed? The good news is that WhaleCoast was solid, the Auction slightly exceeded its ambitious $17,000 target, and our membership is giving their pledged amounts on schedule. The bad news is that there has not been any significant increase in new people who create new pledges or any real increase in facility-use rental payments. We do have one person using the building more who will be paying us somewhat more beginning in January. So - we have 7 months left to ‘up our efforts’ at sharing the wonderfulness of AUUF, attracting new members as a result - and to share with others the opportunities for paid use of our facility (weddings, funerals, celebrations, performances, etc.). It is important that we each feel a sense of responsibility to help with this effort, and to remember this need as we also consider our pledges in February for the next year. We are a fabulous community of people, activities, passions, and advocacy with potential appeal to more people living among us!

Carol ‘Til You Drop Holiday Sing-Along 2025

Dec 6th 4-6 pm

Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

2824 E 18th Ave, Anchorage, AK 99508

Come celebrate the season with AUUF at the Carol ‘Til You Drop Holiday Sing-Along! Come capture that magical holiday feeling together. Caroling has a history of being ruckus and reverent, Pagan, Christian and Secular. Like all holidays, our celebrations are what we make them, and ours is about community! Come be a part of a little nostalgia and sing old favorites, learn new songs, and enjoy our own UU rendition of the caroling tradition! We’ll have lyrics and musical accompaniment, all we need is you!

This is an all-ages event! Please reach out if you’d like to volunteer to play an instrument. Bring wassail, wine, nog, holiday goodies or anything you’d like to share!

Call AUUF at (907)248-3737 or James Dryden at 907-344-4995

AUUF Christmas Bazaar

AUUF Christmas Bazaar – December 7

Sponsored by the Green Sanctuary Committee

Get ready to shop with purpose! The AUUF Christmas Bazaar returns on Saturday, December 7, offering a festive selection of gift-worthy treasures—all in support of a brighter, greener future for our fellowship.

Donations Welcome!

We’re seeking new or gently used items that would make great holiday gifts. Please no used clothing. Donations can be dropped off downstairs in Room 2 at the fellowship. Items will be reviewed for suitability; anything not appropriate may be redirected to Value Village or responsibly discarded.

Final Drop-Off Day: Saturday, December 6, 1–4 PM. The committee will also be setting up during this time.

Why It Matters:

Proceeds from the Bazaar will help fund the installation of solar panels—a meaningful step toward sustainability and stewardship.

Let’s celebrate the season with generosity and joy!

A message from your Endowment Fund Committee

(Endow@AnchorageUUF.org)

A question we get asked as Endowment Fund Committee members is how large of a total value does the national UUA office recommend our Endowment Fund be before disbursement? AUUF’s goal for an initial possible disbursement was raised by a vote of the congregation in 2022 from $250K to $500K, as adjusted for inflation. The UUA recommendation is three times our annual budget. For AUUF this would mean a little over $1 million. By setting the disbursement goal to this lower value, AUUF believes that some benefit will occur sooner, while still creating a likely scenario of continued growth until the $1 million mark is achieved.

Consider a tax-free Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) to the Endowment Fund when making your final Required Minimum Distribution from eligible IRA accounts. QCD checks must be processed before December 31st to qualify for the 2025 tax year. Talk to your financial adviser soon!

The current balance of our Endowment Fund is $299,656, which includes a recent $1,000 member contribution. That leaves us just $344 shy of $300,000! Our committee challenges you to make a contribution to the Fund to meet this goal. Are you up to the challenge???

The Alliance is selling 2026 Calendars!

These special calendars feature photos of members of The Alliance and include the dates of important AUUF events. This fundraiser supports programs and projects at AUUF.

Calendars will be sold after the Forum and the Worship Service.

The price is $30 and we can accept cash or checks only. Thank you!

For more information contact Katherine Huffman or Linda McCool.

AUUF Religious Exploration November & December 2025 Updates

Click here to read.

Grades 10-12 OWL Registration is now open

Our Whole Lives:

Sexuality Education for Grades 10‐12, 2nd edition

Our Whole Lives (OWL) values:

•Self-Worth

•Sexual Health

•Responsibility

•Justice and Inclusivity

OWL provides a safe setting for teens to explore their attitudes, values, and

beliefs about their own and others’ sexuality. This developmentally

appropriate, field-tested curriculum addresses important topics through

dialogue and engaging activities. It promotes decision-making informed by

accurate information and a foundation of personal values and life goals.

Registration Deadline is Thursday, December 18

Click here to register.

Connections Team Needs Volunteers for Sunday Hospitality in November!

Please consider signing up ahead of time to help make AUUF a warm and welcoming community. We need greeters, zoom ushers and ESPECIALLY Social Hour volunteers to keep our kitchen tidy and clean. If Connections ends up doing dishes all the time, they will have a hard time staffing the welcome tables as they should be doing. Below is a link to the Signup Genius which includes downloadable directions on what to do. All you need is an email address and you will be sent an automatic reminder 2 days ahead of time.

Thanks to all who continue to help!

NOVEMBER HALF PORTION FOR SOCIAL ACTION: ALASKA LITERACY PROGRAM

Dennis Arashiro

Our mission statement of changing lives through literacy extends into digital literacy, health literacy, financial literacy, family literacy, and beyond. These are all areas of literacy that improve self-sufficiency and empower individuals to achieve substantive improvement in their well-being.

You can contribute in person at our Sunday services or online by visiting anchorageuuf.org click on the Half-Portion note or Donate/ Pay at the bottom of the home page. Enter your donation under “Half-Portion for Social Action."

Go to anchorageuuf.org

Click on the Half-Portion note or Donate/ Pay

at the bottom of the home page.

Enter your donation under

“Half-Portion for Social Action”