Green Sanctuary Ministry Working Priorities

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Dear Planet Champions:
 
Here are issues Green Sanctuary Ministry is working on for 2023:
 
1. Replacing our toxic coal fired Fayette Power plant with cheaper renewable power generation.
 
2. Tactics for our community to reduce energy bills by improving home energy efficiency.
 
3. Finding and sharing financial opportunities for community members home energy improvements
 
4. Encouraging divestment in fossil fuels.
 
5. Learning about forever chemicals and plastics and reducing them from our use.
 
6. Healthy foods for healthy minds, bodies, hearts and souls. What is vegan?  
 
7. How do we reduce our church energy bills & increase our energy use consciousness?
 
8. Educate ourselves about our climate challenge and what to do about it.
 
Support and collaborate with partner Sierra Club Climate Crises Team. Meets every first Tuesday in Howson Hall. Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 5th, 7 – 8:30 p.m., both in person & on zoom. There will be fun and food.
 
Topics:
1. Austin Energy-reduce bills clean energy,
2. Inflation Reduction Act ($$$$ for church, homeowners & Businesses),
3. Plastics
 
Let us know your thoughts. All are welcome to work on any of these issues. Please give us a call or text. See contact details below.
 
Beki & Richard Halpin
First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin 
Green Sanctuary Ministry
green@austinuu.org    512-917-6018  &  512-658-2599
 

TXUUJM AUGUST NEWS

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Check out the August 22nd e-news from the Texas UU Justice Ministry. Meet new BIPOC Organizing Intern, Taylor Huntley, take action against Operation Lone Star, and more! Join the new FREE virtual round of Transgender Inclusion in Congregations (Monday evenings starting September 11 through October 16 on Zoom). Click to learn more and register here!

Register for TXUUJM e-news straight to your own inbox, and if you missed it, get the August 14th TXUUJM e-news here.

Tips to stay healthy in summer heat

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1.Stay ahead of it by sipping water regularly. Stay away from sugary and alcoholic drinks.
 
2. Wear lightweight, light-colored, loose-fitting clothing.
 
3. Stay in an air-conditioned place as much as possible. 
 
4. Electric fans may not prevent illness
In the high 90s or low hundreds, taking a cool shower or bath or moving to an air-conditioned place is a much better way to cool off.
 
5. Schedule outdoor activities carefully
Limit your outdoor activity to when it’s coolest, like morning and evening hours. 3p.m. is the hottest part of the day. Children, limit playtime to cool hours. Familiarize yourself with the signs of heat illnesses.below
 
6. Pace yourself
Reduce exercise during the heat. If exertion makes your heart pound, leaves you gasping for breath, stop all activity. If lightheaded, confused or weak get into a cool area or shade, rest. Here are 10 tips for a heart-healthy summer from the American Heart Association.
 
7. Wear sunscreen
If you must go outdoors, protect yourself from the sun by wearing a wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen of SPF 15 or higher 30 minutes prior to going out.
 
8. Avoid hot and heavy meals
Opt for light meals like salads. Eat small meals and eat more often. Click HERE for some cool dishes.
 
9. Do not leave children and pets in cars
Cars quickly heat to dangerous temperatures, even with a window cracked open. Never leave infants, children or pets in a parked car. Remind yourself when the child is buckled in, or with pets place a stuffed animal in the front with the driver. Here are 7 tips.
 
10. Keep your pets hydrated and check for hot pavement
Provide plenty of fresh water in a shady area. Careful, the pavement can get very hot and burn their paws. Humane Society and ASPCA   Here are some tips to help keep your pets cool
 
11. Monitor those at high risk
Some people are at greater risk than others, infants and young children, people 65 years of age or older, people who are overweight, people who overexert during work or exercise, people who are physically ill, especially with heart disease or high blood pressure, or who take certain medications, such as for depression, insomnia, or poor circulation.
 
12. Know the signs of heat-related illnesses
Symptoms of heat exhaustion:
If you experience these symptoms, move to a cooler place, stop exercising and cool down immediately by dousing yourself with cold water and rehydrating. You may need to seek medical attention.
  • Headaches
  • Heavy sweating
  • Cold, moist skin, chills
  • Dizziness or fainting
  • A weak and rapid pulse
  • Muscle cramps
  • Fast, shallow breathing
  • Nausea, vomiting or both
Symptoms of heat stroke
If you experience these symptoms, seek medical attention right away.
  • Warm, dry skin with no sweating
  • Strong and rapid pulse
  • Confusion and/or unconsciousness
  • High fever
  • Throbbing headaches
  • Nausea, vomiting or both
 
 
To stop the accelerated heating of our planet we must stop burning heat dome creating fossil fuels. Join with the Sierra Club & Green Sanctuary- Climate Crisis Committee (Zoom) or in person.The first Tuesday of every month 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. in Howson Hall

MSC – Search Parties, Focus Groups, and Shared Opinions

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Plan to attend Search Parties and Focus Groups, share ideas on what First UU needs in a Minister

The Ministerial Search Committee thanks you for completing the Congregational Survey! Very soon we’ll be announcing dates and times for Search Parties – gatherings where you’ll have another opportunity to share your opinion and help us discern the qualities needed in our ministry. Likewise, we will also be hosting a number of Focus Groups to hear from specific, targeted populations.

Stay tuned for more information about these opportunities. Your honest feedback about what you want and what you think First UU needs in a Senior Minister is a critical part of our search. 

Seedling Mentors

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Seedling’s mission is to mitigate the impact of parental incarceration on children in Central Texas through school-based mentoring. When a child loses a parent to incarceration, they lose possibly the most significant person in their life. As a result they can face significant risk factors that can make it difficult to succeed in school.
 
As a volunteer mentor, I (Chanelle Shackelford) visited the school and had lunch on a regular basis with the student I was matched with. Through my rewarding experience, I can say this organization supports our values of community, compassion, and transformation. Seedling believes in the promise of every child: the promise of an education, the promise of a future, and the promise of all they can contribute to society.
 
Seedling recruits volunteers from the community, matches them with eligible children and offers ongoing support to both children and mentors. The mentors provide stable, long-term relationships for the students that can help them develop and maintain positive attitudes towards school.
 
Since 2006, Seedling’s Mentor Program has served over 2500 students, with a presence at one time or another on 150+ campuses in 11 districts and 16 charter schools in Austin and Central Texas.
 
Learn more about Seedling and how to help here: https://www.seedlingmentors.org

This Heat: Why and What we can do About it

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This heat is caused by man made out of date fossil fuel burning energy generating utilities. The tens of millions of tons of toxic waste pumped into our atmosphere acts as an atmospheric cap, like a green house, trapping the oppressive heat causing historic 3 figure temperatures for us and all the people on our planet.
 
One example of what we can do about this is recommended by Texas Scientist Katharine Hayhoe. Watch the attached short video for a positive respectful way to talk about this.
 
One example of the out of date utilities is the Fayette Coal Fired Power Plant Austin (we) own 40% just 90 mins from here in Fayetteville, Tx. What Dr Hayhoe says is an example that grows the local economy and helps us lead as a Nation in the coming century.
 
Here is a report on the tens of tons put out by our out of date coal fired power plant and deaths the report attributes to this deadly site:
 
 
Look at the hopefulness and action steps Dr Hayhoe shares with us. What if we started doing more of what she recommends? 
 
For a full list on Emissions Inventory for all of 2010 – 2021, please reach out to Beki and Richard at green@austinuu.org.

Three steps to share your thoughts about a new Settled Senior Minister

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We want to remind all First UU Austin members and folks attending our worship services about the online Congregational Survey and to encourage everyone who hasn’t filled it out to do so today or at least by the deadline next Sunday, August 13. If you haven’t received an online copy of it, please visit Ministerial Search Committee members in Howson Hall this Sunday, and we’ll give you a paper copy of the Survey.

The Congregational Survey is one of three ways you can inform us of the qualities our First UU Church needs in a Settled Senior Minister as we use your information to discern what our congregation wants and needs.

A second way we want to hear from you will be for you to attend a Search Party and/or Focus Group meeting. We’ll share more about these meetings soon, and the Search Committee will rely heavily on the information we gather from these activities.

The third way you will give us feedback will be by VOTING if you are a member! We want to stress this because you may not know that in our UU faith, the only way a candidate becomes settled minister is through an affirmative vote of the voting members of our congregation present and voting at a congregational meeting, which will be called by our Board.

The Search Committee will complete its discernment and have conversations with Rev. Chris, our Inside Candidate, the first week in October. If both the Search Committee and Rev. Chris mutually agree that he is a good match for the congregation’s needs in its ministry, the Search Committee will ask the Board to announce a congregational meeting to vote to call Rev. Chris as our Settled Senior Minister. The meeting is tentatively scheduled for Sunday, October 29.

If Rev. Chris receives 90% of the vote, he will be our settled senior minister. If he does not receive 90% of the vote, it will be considered a failed search. The church will extend its interim ministry. The search must start all over, a new search committee must be formed and the earliest we can expect a settled senior minister will be 2025. As is the case with all Inside Candidates, Rev. Chris will resign.

Your elected Ministerial Search Committee will share a FAQ with you online and in Howson Hall this Sunday and future Sundays to help you understand more details in our effort to be as transparent and informative as possible. Thank you for your full participation as we all work together to find what our congregation wants and needs in a new Settled Senior Minister.

MSC Congregational Survey

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We appreciate everyone who has filled out the Congregational Survey sent by email Sunday, July 23 from First UU Church of Austin and look forward to more individuals taking it. Here’s the link for the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin Congregational Survey for Ministerial Search if you missed it.

The survey is how you’ll tell the MSC what you want in a new Senior Minister at First UU. The sooner you take the survey the better. It will be open for three weeks and closes at the end of day Thursday, Aug. 13.  It is only available online at this time and is easiest to take on a computer rather than a phone. If you need help completing it online or if you need a paper copy, please talk to any member of the MSC, who will table in Howson Hall on Sundays. After we tally the results, the MSC will use your responses to plan and conduct a variety of Search Meetings and Focus Groups that we’ll announce to hear more feedback directly from the congregation.

If you’ve missed our ongoing MSC announcements, please read more at austinuu.org. Go to the About Us file and scroll down to click on the Ministerial Search Committee tab. Thank you!

Heat Waves and Drought? Deaths?

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Green Sanctuary is part of a team of organizations and individuals who, for the past ten years or so, have been advocating to decommission the Fayette coal fired power plant. We just received a report* documenting the millions of tons toxic emissions this out dated fossil fuel burning catastrophe pumps into our atmosphere. We are writing this piece to share this info with you. We believe, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead

Our faith, values and pragmatism inspire us to seek life affirming alternatives to this obsolescent costly power plant operation. So many of our fellow Texans are struggling to breathe, to live a healthy life in this historic heat wave and drought. Our local and statewide economy our Texas businesses are at critical risk.  As Texans, we are the owners who’s tax money continues to be misused while this plant dumps millions of tons of deadly chemicals into our atmosphere poisoning all Texans and the global community. As people of faith and values we know we must be smarter stewards of our beautiful planet. 
 
 What you can do now? Pay attention to your electric and water use. Save energy and water whenever you safely can. Ask your friends and family to do the same. Big picture? watch this space for a strategy that could have bigger leverage. In prep for that start thinking and jotting down the names of church, business and individual influencers who you know. green@austinuu.org, Beki and Richard

Ministerial Search Committee Church-wide Survey

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Ministerial Search Committee will share its Churchwide Survey Sunday, July 23
 
In an effort to discern the qualities that our First UU congregation wants in a new senior minister, the Ministerial Search Committee needs everyone to check your email Sunday, July 23 from First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin to see the Congregational Survey and, most importantly, to fill it out.
 
You should receive the email on Sunday, July 23. The survey is how you’ll tell the MSC what you want in a new Senior Minister and what you think First UU needs in a Senior Minister.  The survey will be open for three weeks and closes at the end of day on August 13.  It is only available online at this time. If you need help completing it online or if you need a paper copy, please talk to any member of the MSC. In addition, MSC members will be available to help in Howson Hall after the service on Sunday, July 23. The MSC will use your responses to plan and conduct a variety of Search Meetings and Focus Groups that we’ll announce to hear more feedback directly from the congregation. 

Heatwave, Causes and Remedies

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Hello Fellow Planet Champion Congregants,

Last week we spoke about the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), this is our tax money returned to folks who want to spend it on energy improvements in their home, church, non-profit organization, business or community. Our outstanding environmental leaders, Bob and Victoria Hendricks and their team, who have put together a slide show on how this IRA money is going to work for you, me and all. This is very cool and informative. If you want to know more about this environmental climate justice financial resource (hundreds to thousands of dollars savings). Click the link here!

Initial presentation designed for consumers, owners and renters

The next Sierra Club Climate Crises Committee (zoom) and in person meeting is 7:00 – 8:30 PM, first Tuesday of every month (August 1st) in Howson Hall.

Do you wonder about the cause of this heat-full time we are struggling through? You know our climate is warmed by what we pump into our atmosphere. We Austinites and Texans are co-owners of the Fayette Coal Fired Power Plant in Fayetteville, Tx. That is about 90 mins. east on 290 from Austin. Our power plant annually pumps into our sky tens of millions of tons of heat, the trapping gasses carbon dioxide, and nitrogen oxide as well as carbon monoxide and NOx that cause air pollution and respiratory illnesses.  A recent report attributes 8 deaths annually to this coal fired monster. These deadly toxins are a contributing cause to our weather turning fatal. These extreme fires, drought, floods, heat, sea warming/rising, and more are caused by heat trapping gasses in our atmosphere that distort our climate. Our Fayette Coal Plant is spewing these poison gases out every day. 

Solution: one remedy is to decommission this old monster. Replace it with cheaper, cleaner renewable energy sources. If you want to help clean up our breathable air, share this with every one you know, family, friends, classmates, clubmates, sororities, fraturnaties and ask them to join you in communicating to the Austin City Council (40% ownership for us) and the Tx. Governor (60% ownership thru the LCRA, whose board the Governor appoints, for us). Say, in your words, ‘please decommission this dangerous coal fired Fayette power plant ASAP and replace it with renewable energy and energy storage’. They know this is true and just need a flood of determined communications to motivate them to action. 

Green Sanctuary Ministry green@austinuu.org Beki & Richard Halpin
“Together, we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.” 

 Climate Crises and Money / Planet Saving Resources

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Hello Church Members and visitors. Your Green Sanctuary Ministry is tracking money saving and Earth saving opportunities. The Feds have passed the bipartisan Inflation Reduction Act  (IRA). This act is passed and signed. 
 
Tax Credits are available right now for some things including windows, skylights, exterior doors, Solar, HVAC systems, Electric Vehicles, insulation and more.
 
In the future, in a addition to tax credits, the IRA will be providing rebates for Electric Appliances and systems like Heat Pumps.  Watch these pages for links to find out more. For example, Induction Stoves: Consumer Reports:
 
 
 Green Sanctuary Ministry green@austinuu.org Beki & Richard Halpin
“Together, we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.”  Green Sanctuary logo-here

Announcement from the Ministerial Search Committee

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Your Ministerial Search Committee has hit the ground running. Members of the committee are Susan Thomson, Chair and Carolyn Gremminger, Tomas Medina, Peggy Morton, Celeste Padilla, Tom Shindell and Bis Thornton.

This is an enthusiastic, hard-working committee. We are very aware of the trust you have placed in us by electing us to do this search. Our fundamental purpose is to discern the qualities this congregation needs in its next settled minister and to present you with a candidate who is a good match for these qualities. Because we have an inside candidate, Rev. Chris, our conversations will begin with him.

And even though we have an inside candidate who we have known a long time, we are required to go through the same processes or steps as are done for external candidate searches.

First, we discern. It’s kind of like looking for clues and for this we need your help. You will be receiving a congregational survey the last week of July and we urge you to complete it. We will then share the results with you and you will be invited to attend a search party or a focus group where we will hold structured conversations with you to further discern what this congregation needs in its settled minister. We urge you to attend one of those meetings as well.

The success of our discernment—and our search—depends on you—on our hearing from you
through the survey and the small group meetings. You will be receiving more information and details as this process moves along—through pulpit announcements, our Friday email newsletter, email blasts and information on our church website. Please be on the lookout for our logo—a young woman searching for clues!

If you have questions, please look for our table in Howson Hall.

7/9/23

July Monthly Service Offering – Casa Marianella

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Casa Marianella is the only homeless shelter in Austin dedicated solely to immigrants.  Just as we welcome folks to our church, Casa welcomes people from 40 countries! The majority of their residents, including children, are asylum seekers. Many of them are sent directly from immigration detention.
 
“Casa Marianella opened its doors on January 6, 1986. The Austin Interfaith Task Force for Central America initiated the project in response to the arrival of refugees fleeing from Central America to Austin. The house is named for Marianella García Villas, a Salvadoran attorney and human rights organization founder who battled against human rights violations in El Salvador until her assassination by government troops in 1983. Casa Marianella was donated by Ed Wendler to the Diocese of Austin for use as a shelter.”
 
Our dollars help support the Adult House for individuals, Posada Esperaza for women and children, and Abre Lumiere for single dads as well as 2-parent families. Residents have access to basic necessities, legal and medical services, English classes, a benefits clinic, and assistance toward finding more permanent housing.
 
Check out their website, https://www.casamarianella.org/ to find out more and to see specific wish lists for each of the houses.
 
Your generosity on July 9 at church or directly to Casa will be so appreciated. With a UU faith that is centered in love, let’s welcome our newest neighbors!
 
Thanks so much!