Join us on Tuesday, June 27th from 9 a.m – 12 p.m. to improve our grounds and meet fellow gardeners. It’s hot now, so we’ll take try to work in the shade and take frequent breaks.

There is no obligation to stay until 12 p.m. Please be sure to bring water and wear sunscreen. Small tools are welcome, but not required.

First UU Pagan Alliance in collaboration with the Monday Meditation Group will host our Summer Solstice Ritual Celebration & Drum Circle.

This event will be held at First UU Church on Monday June 26th at 7 p.m.

We will plan to be in the First UU Courtyard, weather permitting. Please bring a camp chair and drum if you have them, and extras to share if you’re so inclined.

We look forward to seeing you there!

We’ve made it through our first year of the interim period. Rev. Jonalu’s last Sunday with us in person was in May and Rev. Erin will be concluding her time as an interim minister when she presides over Sunday service on July 30th . It has been a year of growth and we appreciate all that Jonalu and Erin have done for us.

Our new interim minister, Rev. Michelle LaGrave will begin her work with us in August. Rev. Michelle specializes in interim ministry and will be coming to Austin after she has completed her service with Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston. We can look forward to learning more about her later this summer, but if you can’t wait please go to her website at uurevmichelle.com.

Finally, the ministerial search committee has begun its work. They, in conjunction with Rev. Chris Jimmerson, will decide in the fall whether to present Rev. Chris to the congregation as the candidate to be our next settled minister. If the decision is to present Rev. Chris as the candidate, a congregational vote will take place. The members of the congregation have the ultimate authority to vote to call a settle minister. Please look for the transition timeline in Howson Hall for more information about the timing of events in the transition. There will be multiple opportunities to engage with the search committee in the next few months. Be on the lookout for these opportunities.

If you would like to submit a request for a pulpit announcement, please send them to ministers@austinuu.org no later than noon on the Thursday before you would like the announcement to be made. Please keep such requested announcements to three sentences or less. 

The ministers will exercise their discretion regarding pulpit announcements, prioritizing those that apply to the whole of the church community and that address events and such that will be occurring on the Sunday for which they are requested.

We will show any announcements that we are unable to present verbally or that come in after noon on Friday on the screens in the sanctuary during the postlude.

The Board of Trustees is pleased to announce our Ministerial Search Committee, which includes Carolyn
Gremminger, Tomas Medina, Peggy Morton, Celeste Padilla, Tom Shindell, Bis Thornton and Susan
Thomson. Learn more about the individuals serving on the committee here.

Over the summer the search committee will receive training from the UUA on the search process, begin
conversations with the congregation about what we want for our church and our minister. This work will
prepare them to work with Rev. Chris Jimmerson to decide mutually whether he is a good match for the
position. If Rev. Chris and the committee decide that it is, then the congregation will vote. If not, then
the search committee will engage with the UUA open search process in December.

Our final vespers service of this program year will be this coming Tuesday, May 16th at 6 p.m. in the First UU Sanctuary. The theme will be a reflection on the season past and contemplation on the future of a weekday worship offering at First UU. 

If you’ve attended any of the vespers services, or meant to, we’d love to have you join us and share your thoughts and support. All of our Vespers coordinators will be collaborating on this final episode: Bis Thornton, Nancy Mohn Barnard, AJ Juraska, and Eric Hepburn. We hope to see you there!

Artist, June Gormin, at the Texas State Capitol protest, opposing the passing of Senate Bill 14. A bill banning
access to transition-related medical treatments for transgender youth. Photo by Reverend Erin Walter 

Rev. Jonalu will lead an in-person Caring Workshop on Visiting on Saturday, May 20th, at 1 p.m., in Room 13. The workshop should be about 90 minutes.

Our First UU Cares volunteers will attend, and everyone is invited. Even if you’re not interested in volunteering to visit church members, you may find some useful pointers for visiting your own friends who are sick or in need.

The focus will primarily be hospital, and it’s broadly applicable. If you’re uncomfortable with hospitals and sickness, it may give you some confidence. If you’re more experienced, it’s a chance to brush up on skills, maybe get some new ideas, and to share your experience!

If you would like to participate on-line instead of in person, please contact Rev. Jonalu at jonalu.johnstone@austinuu.org.

If you are heartsick about the rancor tearing our country apart,

If you believe that your opponents should not be your enemies,

If you believe that America’s best days can lie ahead,

Join for our FREE workshop, DEPOLARIZING FROM WITHIN. Saturday, May 13^th from 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. in Howson Hall.

This workshop is for everyone who is interested in learning strategies to disagree without condemning or ridiculing others. Real change is an “inside job.” Trained moderators will walk participants through the steps: to recognize and counteract their inner polarizer; to learn how to talk about the other side in a non-polarizing way; and to learn how to depolarize conversations with like-minded people. 

Please go to Braver Angels of Central Texas to learn more and register.

For more information, contact Laraine Altun at laltun@braverangels.org.

Whether you came from a different religious tradition or grew up purely UU, you have probably encountered religious concepts, phrases, and words that rub you wrong. Here’s a chance to explore them!

Maybe “prayer” carries bad connotations for you, or “sacrifice” or “duty.” I’m looking for the religious – and spiritual – words that you love to hate. They may make an appearance in the Sunday, May 14th sermon, “Religious Words We Love to Hate”. Tell me just the words, or tell my your story. You can contact me at jonalu.johnstone@austinuu.org.