Sunday, December 15, 2019 9:15 & 11:15am
Rev. Claudia Jimenez, Minister of Faith Development
Reverence is a Choice
It is by some accounts where religion begins, a moment where we are filled with wonder, where we make connections that carry us beyond ourselves and our heart throbs with joy. How do we help ourselves open to awe?
Mid-week multigenerational gathering for food, fellowship and fun; spiritual growth and community.
Get all the details on The Wednesday Thing Page.
Sunday, December 8, 9:15am & 11:15am
Rev. Mark Ward, Lead Minister
It is by some accounts where religion begins, a moment where we are filled with wonder, where we make connections that carry us beyond ourselves and our heart throbs with joy. How do we help ourselves open to awe?
It’s a question I’ve heard over the years:
“Now, you Unitarian Universalists don’t identify as Christian, is that right?”
“Well, there are certainly people in our congregations who are drawn to the teachings of Jesus and identify as Christian in some way. But, yes, I would say that as a denomination we are outside what I would call the Christian consensus. We respect Jesus, as we respect other prophets and teachers, but we don’t accord him special status or put him or his teachings at the center of our worship life.”
“OK. But then I see that you still make a big deal about Christmas. Why is that?”
It’s a good question, and answering it requires taking stock of a few points in our history and theology. The two historic movements that led to the religion we are today – Unitarianism and Universalism – both arose as Christian churches. But over the years for many historic reasons, both drifted outside of the Christian orbit.
We still honor that past, as you can see in the list of sources that we proclaim inform our living tradition, including among them “Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves.” The ethic of love set out in those scriptures remains a strong grounding for our spiritual life, but we don’t necessarily buy into what the Christian church has made of it over the years.
Christmas itself can be problematic. Scholars have observed that many of the stories surrounding the holiday, from its timing at the end of the year, to the traveling Magi and Herod’s campaign of infanticide, have little foundation in truth beyond serving as political expediency for one group or another.
That said though, there is also something beautifully true about the Christmas story. The Unitarian religious educator Sofia Lyon Fahs touched on it when she wrote, “Each night a child is born is a holy night.”
The Christmas story reminds us that each human life holds within it the potential for beautiful and amazing things. Each person is born fully worthy, fully whole, and new birth is cause for celebration. The rough manger, surrounded by curious visitors humble and great, over which joyous parents certainly hear hosannas of some sort, is a lovely image representing the kind of hope we all seek at the darkest moment of the year.
Christmas Eve is one of my favorite moments in our worship year. Our early service at 4 p.m. is full of story-telling, music, and fun with players of all ages in full costume. Our later service, beginning at 8:30 p.m. with a half-hour of wonderful music from our choir, moves on at 9 p.m. with a quieter, more meditative vibe. Gathered together with the midwinter dark and cold outside, we are given to reflect on the blessings of our lives, not least the community surrounding us that we continually create and sustain.
Of all that I will leave behind when I retire next June, I think that our Christmas Eve services are among those things that I will miss most. They have always served for me as a kind of hinge in the year, a moment when I feel most acutely how precious and precarious our brief lives are. But it is also a moment filled with deep gratitude for those I love and love me, for this congregation, for all the forces of hope and renewal that persist among us whatever the adversity.
Rev.. Mark Ward, Lead Minister
The UUCA Justice Ministry Council is meeting monthly and hearing the many ways in which members of UUCA are engaged in the larger community. As representatives of the different areas: Racial, Economic, Environmental and Gender & Sexuality Justice as well as Faith Development share their updates, I appreciate the importance of providing a space for connection and conversation about the successes, challenges and possibilities of justice work. As staff liaison I am able to provide support to members of the different areas who are organizing and promoting opportunities for service, education, advocacy and witness.
At our last meeting we heard about the ongoing work of UUCA volunteers participating in Room in the Inn, the interfaith shelter for women living with homelessness. This month extra volunteers and resources were needed because the cold weather brought 20 instead of the 12 expected women to the shelter at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church. Paula Massey, the UUCA coordinator thanked all last minute volunteers in a recent e-news. She and her team: Allison Jordan and Martha Shephard have been coordinating this effort for the last 17 years, yes, 17 years!
The next RITI is February 9-15, 2020. What does it entail? Hosting starts on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 9) and overnight folks are needed for the 7 nights, two UUs per night -Grace Covenant provides two as well. Volunteers provide all 7 days of lunches plus 3 dinners. They also pick up women at 5:45 pm at AHOPE and then in the morning they get dropped off at various places. It takes about 50 UU and 50 GCPC volunteers to make it work. And since it is at GCPC they have to break down a Sunday school room to make into a dorm and stock the kitchen plus make sure there are enough blankets and pillows. And then early the next Sunday morning, after the women leave, that same room has to be cleaned and set back up for Sunday School at 9:30 am. Yes, it is a big effort and an important commitment. Were you aware of this life affirming interfaith effort? If you are interested in being a February volunteer, contact Paula at massey.paula@gmail.com
Room in the Inn, is one of many outreach projects in which members of UUCA engage. On January 19 we will be launching the “#UU the Vote Challenge” organized by the Unitarian Universalist Association to encourage congregations to partner with local electoral justice partners to mobilize voters, combat voter suppression and leverage our resources to #VoteLove and #DefeatHate. The official launch is January 12 if you are interested in learning more before we make it a congregational project. The Justice Ministry Council will be sharing ways of getting our congregation involved and further supporting those among us who are involved in electoral justice work. The organizers of #UUtheVote remind us that all the issues we care deeply about – climate, immigration, LGBTQ, racial, economic justice and so on are at stake in the 2020 election. They state this campaign isn’t about “another thing to work on” or abandoning the work we passionately engage in; it is about incorporating an electoral lens into our strategies. You’ll hear more about that at our launch January 19 during Sunday worship which will also be a Yellow Shirt Brigade event. That means you are invited to wear the yellow “Side with Love” t-shirt to show solidarity and witness for love. Of course, you will want to avoid spilling coffee on your t-shirt so you can wear it January 20 when we march in the 2020 Martin Luther King Rally. Don’t have a t-shirt? You can order one at https://www.uuabookstore.org/Side-with-Love-C1401.aspx
Be on the look out for other Yellow Shirt Brigade events in the e-News. In the meanwhile, check out the Justice Ministry bulletin board in Sandburg Hall. To receive the UUCA Faith in Action e-News or share information contact Elizabeth Schell elizabeth@lainschell.com The deadline for the next issue is December 4 by 5pm.