River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation

To grow and deepen in Community, Spirit, and Service



eWeekly

January 19-26, 2023

All Hearts on Deck

Rev. Amanda Weatherspoon, Associate Minister

One service, in-person and virtual:

Sun., Jan. 22, 10am: Hybrid Service, also on YouTube

11am: Coffee Hour, both over Zoom and in-person

Watch for two links in the Saturday email: a YouTube link for the service and a Zoom link for the virtual Coffee Hour after the service. Recording will be posted on our YouTube channel. You can find our Order of Service online; if you are not watching in real time the Order of Service may not be available.

Sanctuary Hybrid, Online and In-Person: Service will be available via YouTube.

Join us online or in person for worship at 10am. By attending an in-person service, you are giving RRUUC permission to use your likeness in videos and photographs. Sunday service is broadcast live, and may include wide shots of the crowd in the sanctuary.

Have you heard? Thanks to the hard work of many we just completed the recertification for our Green Sanctuary status! Like all the commitments that we make, this invites us into an ongoing relationship with what it means to be focused and intentional about how we use our space, resources, and energy. As stewards and keepers of our shared faith what does it mean to share the load and co-create? We’ll also be recognizing the individuals and groups that made this work possible! 

During this Sunday's Coffee Hour, join members of the Earth Ministry in the Fellowship Hall to celebrate RRUUC’s reaccreditation as a Green Sanctuary. Special refreshments will be served in honor of this achievement.

Masks are still required during service, but they may be taken off to eat and drink during coffee hour. We want everyone in the congregation to remain as healthy as possible, so please - remain home if you or your family members are feeling any cold or flu-like symptoms.

Extend the Offering is THIS SUNDAY: La Clinica del Pueblo

RRUUC has partnered with La Clinica del Pueblo for over three decades. This Sun., Jan. 22 is (or would have been) the 50th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision that guaranteed abortion rights. On that day, we will share the plate with La Clinica, specifying that our funds go to support LCDP’s very inclusive reproductive rights education outreach.

All month long, you may donate by making online contributions (select "Extend the Offering") or by making check donations to RRUUC (designate La Clinica).

RRUUC’s support is vital to LCDP’s ongoing work and mission to provide affordable, culturally appropriate health care to the Latino and immigrant communities of the Washington metropolitan area. RRUUC also donated holiday gifts through their online purchase options for La Clinica’s children during December. La Clinica del Pueblo has expressed their deep appreciation for our continued generosity.

UULM Climate Presentation

At 12:00pm this Sun., Jan. 22, Dr. Phil Webster from the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia will give a presentation in the Fireside Room about the UU Legislative Ministry’s goals for climate legislation in the 2023 session of the Maryland General Assembly. Learn how you can support UULM’s climate goals this year. If you can’t come to the Fireside Room, you’ll be able to see the presentation at home on Zoom.

Financial Stewardship Campaign Envelope Stuffing

Please help stuff envelopes for the 2023-24 Financial Stewardship Campaign after the service this Sun., Jan. 22. If you have half an hour to spare, please join fellow congregants in the Fiatfalva Room after the service (feel free to grab coffee first). We need to stuff, seal, and stamp envelopes to all members and friends as the first step of this year's campaign. Direct questions to [email protected]. Thanks!

Save the Date

Join local DC-area UU congregations for an interactive workshop on how the UU Principles are evolving. Sun., March 5, 1-2:30pm. Registration info to come soon.

This Sunday

Regular RE classes resume this week. Except for those in Spirit Play and OWL, children begin in the sanctuary.

Classroom assignments:

Childcare (under 3 y.o.): room 14

Spirit Play (3–5 y.o.): room 20 (start time: 10:00)

Elementary (grades K–2): room 25

Elementary (grades 3–5): room 23

Middle School: Fiatfalva

OWL: room 31 (start time: 9:45)

Youth Group: room 32

Parents/caregivers of PreK–5th grade students: please pick up your kids in their classrooms after service. 

Friday Morning Book Group

The book group meets on the third Friday of the month beginning at 10am (via Zoom) to discuss a book selected by the group. Participants are invited to sign in as early as 9:45am to chat before the discussion begins at 10am. In the coming months we will be discussing the following books:

January 20: Search by Michelle Huneven. We also will discuss possible books for March-May, 2023.

February 17: Desert Queen by Janet Wallach

Contact the River Road office to be put on the email list for the Zoom link.

Maryland UU Legislative Ministry Kickoff, Jan. 21

Please join us on Sat., Jan. 21 from 8:30am to 1pm, as we get ready for the upcoming legislative session. Find out what our Issue Leads and their partners have been working on and what laws they think will be enacted this year.

This year the kick off will be hybrid, with members having the option to participate via Zoom or in person at the UU Church of Annapolis at 333 Dubois Rd in Annapolis. Doors (and screens) will open at 8:30am for networking. The program will begin at 9am and is scheduled to go until 1pm. 

Register for the 2023 Legislative Kickoff.

This year, UULM-MD is pleased to announce that Delegate Eric Luedtke will be our Keynote Speaker at the UULM-MD Kick Off on Jan. 21! A former teacher, Delegate Luedtke has been a fierce ally on Marriage Equality, Climate Change and many of our issues. Delegate Luedtke has represented Montgomery County District 14 for 12 years and is currently serving as the Majority Leader of the Maryland House of Delegates.



Who better to help us understand the legislative landscape, than the man recently recruited by Governor-Elect Wes Moore to serve as his Chief Legislative Officer!

Annual Benefit Concert for the DC Abortion Fund

This year’s Benefit Concert is entitled “Symphony of Psalms” with performances by the Cedar Lane Choir and professional quartet. Please join us Sat., Jan. 28, at 7pm at Cedar Lane or online.

In recognition of the 50th anniversary of Roe v Wade on Jan. 22, Cedar Lane's chosen beneficiary is the DC Abortion Fund (DCAF). DCAF helps people in Maryland, Virginia, and DC to afford reproductive health care, including those who travel out of state because of abortion restrictions which disproportionately affect low income people.

DCAF believes a person's right to health care should not depend on their wallet. After the overturning of Roe, more people than ever are reaching out for financial assistance from DCAF and there is a constant need for fundraising. Donations give people access to make their own decisions about if, when, and how to raise their families.

Cedar Lane is proud to host this benefit concert, and share gifts of music with the broader community, including the Potomac Partnership and other UU congregations. Join us in person at 9601 Cedar Lane, Bethesda, MD 20814 or live online. For further information go to Cedar Lane UU Congregation's website. You can also donate to DCAF using this link.

Lost to Gun Violence

As part of our ongoing commitment to the activists who are interrupting gun violence on the streets of our cities, we are saddened yet honored to memorialize the names of those in our area lost to gun violence recently. These lives continue to matter: Baltimore: Rajon Lateef Jackson, III, and four names withheld. District of Columbia: Anthony Richardson. Temple Hills: Stephen Lee Green. Every life lost to gun violence shatters the world for each of us, and every life saved by those who interrupt the violence helps knit us back together.

RRUUC Land Acknowledgement

Acknowledging and remembering that we are situated on the traditional land of the Nacotchtank and Piscataway people, and on the land on which enslaved African people and their descendants labored and lived, we gather together in worship. May the words of our mouths, the meditations of our hearts and the actions of our hands point the way toward a more just future. May the memory of those whose love and labor went before inspire us to create a path of greater joy and justice for all who will follow.  



If you would like to learn more about our land's history, please watch the service from June 13, 2021.

River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation

6301 River Road, Bethesda, MD 20817 | 301-229-0400 [email protected] | www.rruuc.org