Dear Climate Justice Champion,

Green Sanctuary Ministry (GSM) is blessed to announce New leadership, new Co-Chairs are (GSM) Members Bob and Victoria Hendricks.

 Beki & Richard Halpin and Rev. Chris say “Welcome, Victoria & Bob, Thank you for the generosity of your Time, Talent and Treasure to this critical planet saving/ life saving work.”

Bob and Victoria are seasoned Planet Champions. They are leaders in  reclaiming our livable climate with the Sierra Club, Citizen’s Climate Lobby (CCL) and other partners. Their expertise, passion and inclusiveness invite all of us to participate in creating a livable, thrivable, future.

Join us in welcoming Bob & Victoria, if your available, let them know you will attend the next Climate Crises/Solutions meeting Tuesday, August 6th at 6:30 p.m. for potluck and 7 p.m. for meeting. in Howson Hall or by Zoom.  green@austinuu.org 

Here is a list of current- 7/1/’24, Green Sanctuary Ministry (GSM) projects, supported activities and resources. The new GSM leadership will have their own priorities, I’m sure climate restoration will be at the top. 

We’ve done a lot of work together, Dear Planet Champion. Work we are doing & Resources are here for you. 

Make a difference actions:  

A hands-on fun meeting to act on Fossil fuels, plastics and other critical Climate issues. The first Tuesday of the month GSM hosts the Sierra Club with Bob & Victoria Hendricks, Climate Crises/Solutions Meeting. in Howson Hall. 6:30 PM potluck, 7 Mtg. begins. Good Company * things get done.

Hi Earth Ship Partners,

If you know Seniors who are vulnerable to these Historic Heat levels there are lots of resources presented in last week’s newsletter.   Go there and check them out. Lots of ways to help Seniors.

and

“Women leading on climate, senior citizens at risk, and more climate voices to follow

Last week, my newsletter focused on the risks of extreme heat around the world, and how to stay safe: but I could write about this every week. The US National Weather Service just introduced a new Heat Risk forecast map showing where people will face dangerous levels of heat. The entire southern US, from California to Florida, is baking in yet another early-season heatwave, with Phoenix, AZ setting a new daily high of 112F (44C) last Thursday.

I also mentioned last week how heat disproportionately affects elderly people—and this new article goes into depth on exactly why that is.” more @ talkingclimatenewsletter@outlook.com

and

Hello! Wouldn’t it be cool if the world’s wealthiest companies — you know, the ones worth trillions of dollars — paid the bill for the shiny new technologies needed to achieve 24/7 clean power? Sigh. What a nice, idealistic dream. hello@canarymedia.com

Important Announcements:

Talks are underway with Austin Energy (AE) to replace AE’s proposed fossil fuel new gas plant with a renewables-based community plan. We will keep you posted. Come to or zoom into the next Climate Crises/solutions meeting @church.

July 2, 6:30-8PM, Next Climate Crises/Solutions mtg at Howson Hall. 6:30 potluck, 7 PM MTG. begins. Ping Bob for zoom link, roberthhendricks@aol.com, or join us in person.

The Unitarian Universalist Church (UUA) is about to take up the Climate Crisis with real actions at a grassroots level, here at our church, churches across the USA, and at the National office. The plan is already put together. Trainings are beginning now. Go to : https://www.uuclimatejustice.org/sponsorship and FAQ’s here.  Let Chris know you want to help out chris.jimmerson@austinuu.org

As previously mentioned, after 15 years as Green Sanctuary Ministry (GSM) Co-Chairs, Beki and I are retiring. If you are interested in Chairing Green Sanctuary Ministry and or managing the upcoming Climate Revival (much of the work is scripted to make it easy) Please let Chris know you’re interested.
It is a blessing to work with all of you on this Environmental Justice initiative to save our Home Planet.

Big THANKS to all Inside Books donors. The Spanish/English dictionaries were lifesavers!

Beki & Richard Halpin, First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin, Green Sanctuary Ministry
green@austinuu.org.

2024 Pledge Drive – Rebuild. Renew. Rise Up.

With hearts full of hope and a spirit of unity, we invite you to join the 2024 First UU Stewardship Campaign. Commitment Sunday is coming on Sunday, October 1. This is the day that we will ask all members and friends to make their annual pledge to First UU.  We will then celebrate our pledges on October 15 with a Celebration Sunday Party (RSVP here!).

Our theme, “Rebuild, Renew, Rise Up,” is an affirmation of our commitment to creating a world of justice, compassion, and boundless possibility. As we begin this year’s campaign, we invite you to reflect on the profound impact we can make when we come together as a community united by shared values.

Join the hundreds of Austin families committed to the spiritual practice of supporting our progressive faith community by pledging on October 1.  If you already pledge, we encourage you to increase your support of First UU in 2024.  Learn more about pledging and the 2024 Pledge Drive on the Stewardship webpage.

Stewardship Helpers Needed!

To make the upcoming Pledge Drive a success, we need some volunteers.  We have lots of opportunities, from participating in a one time text bank on October 8, to helping with Celebration Sunday on October 15, to writing thank you notes to those who have pledged.

If you are able to assist, please sign up here or at the Stewardship Table in the Howson Hall after the service. Thank you for supporting First UU and the Stewardship team!

RSVP for Celebration Sunday on October 15

Celebration Sunday is coming on Sunday, October 15. After the service, we will celebrate our commitment to First UU and our pledges.  We’ll have music, food, and ice cream!   Please RSVP by clicking here so we know how much food to order!

Dear First UU members and friends,

Please save the date for Sunday, October 29th at 12:30 pm for a Congregational Meeting. This is the date on which the vote will be held.  

We are encouraging all members to save the date now so that you will have the opportunity to attend and vote at the congregational meeting as well as to participate in candidating week activities during the week leading up to the meeting.

To vote, members must have joined at least 30 days before the meeting.  Members must also have made a financial contribution between September 29, 2022, and September 29, 2023. 

If you are unsure of your membership status, please contact Shannon Posern at info@austinuu.org.  

If you have not joined but would like to before the vote, please contact Kinsey Shackleford at kinsey.shackelford@austinuu.org.

See you on Sunday!

Shannon Posern
Executive Director

We offer here the poems shared in the November 29th worship service.

Eagle Poem by Joy Harjo

To pray you open your whole self
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
To one whole voice that is you.
And know there is more
That you can’t see, can’t hear;
Can’t know except in moments
Steadily growing, and in languages
That aren’t always sound but other
Circles of motion.
Like eagle that Sunday morning
Over Salt River. Circled in blue sky
In wind, swept our hearts clean
With sacred wings.
We see you, see ourselves and know
That we must take the utmost care
And kindness in all things.
Breathe in, knowing we are made of
All this, and breathe, knowing
We are truly blessed because we
Were born, and die soon within a
True circle of motion,
Like eagle rounding out the morning
Inside us.
We pray that it will be done
In beauty.
In beauty.

Can you do construction in the rain? by Sage Hirschfeld

Can you do construction in the rain?

Will screws sewn into softened wood hold up,
when earth turns to dry?
When pliable hardens,
and stakes take shapes in unexpected ways.

Will you become brittle when we leave this place?

How does a name forged in open-hearted uncertainty sound
In the light of day
At the grocery store
In your mothers voice.

How will it temper in the open air 
When everyone, 
and no one at all,
Is listening.

Will it crack?
Or kindle

When moments wedge decades into fractured foundations
Steel whines under weight unexpected
Wind whipped stained glass windows,
turned windchimes

Will you become brittle when we leave this place?
Or simply changed.

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem
By Dr. Maya Angelou

Thunder rumbles in the mountain passes
And lightning rattles the eaves of our houses.
Flood waters await us in our avenues.

Snow falls upon snow, falls upon snow to avalanche
Over unprotected villages.
The sky slips low and grey and threatening.

We question ourselves.
What have we done to so affront nature?
We worry God.
Are you there? Are you there really?
Does the covenant you made with us still hold?

Into this climate of fear and apprehension, Christmas enters,
Streaming lights of joy, ringing bells of hope
And singing carols of forgiveness high up in the bright air.
The world is encouraged to come away from rancor,
Come the way of friendship.

It is the Glad Season.
Thunder ebbs to silence and lightning sleeps quietly in the corner.
Flood waters recede into memory.
Snow becomes a yielding cushion to aid us
As we make our way to higher ground.

Hope is born again in the faces of children
It rides on the shoulders of our aged as they walk into their sunsets.
Hope spreads around the earth. Brightening all things,
Even hate which crouches breeding in dark corridors.

In our joy, we think we hear a whisper.
At first it is too soft. Then only half heard.
We listen carefully as it gathers strength.
We hear a sweetness.
The word is Peace.
It is loud now. It is louder.
Louder than the explosion of bombs.

We tremble at the sound. We are thrilled by its presence.
It is what we have hungered for.
Not just the absence of war. But, true Peace.
A harmony of spirit, a comfort of courtesies.
Security for our beloveds and their beloveds.

We clap hands and welcome the Peace of Christmas.
We beckon this good season to wait a while with us.
We, Baptist and Buddhist, Methodist and Muslim, say come.
Peace.
Come and fill us and our world with your majesty.
We, the Jew and the Jainist, the Catholic and the Confucian,
Implore you, to stay a while with us.
So we may learn by your shimmering light
How to look beyond complexion and see community.

It is Christmas time, a halting of hate time.

On this platform of peace, we can create a language
To translate ourselves to ourselves and to each other.

At this Holy Instant, we celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ
Into the great religions of the world.
We jubilate the precious advent of trust.
We shout with glorious tongues at the coming of hope.
All the earth’s tribes loosen their voices
To celebrate the promise of Peace.

We, Angels and Mortal’s, Believers and Non-Believers,
Look heavenward and speak the word aloud.
Peace. We look at our world and speak the word aloud.
Peace. We look at each other, then into ourselves
And we say without shyness or apology or hesitation.

Peace, My Brother.
Peace, My Sister.
Peace, My Soul.