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Saturday, February 21st, 6:30 PM
What to Bring:
Whether you’re vegan, vegetarian, or just veg-curious, you’re welcome to join us. This event is free and open to all. Children are welcome.
If possible, sign up at www.meetup.com/vegaustin or just show up! For more information, message us through Church Center.

Did Unitarianism really start in Transylvania?
Who is Reverend Wheelock, and who is Emily Wheelock Howson?
When was this building constructed?
If you are new here and want to learn the answers to these questions and more, this class is for you! We will be hosting our quarterly Path to Membership Class on Saturday, March 28th, 9:00 AM in Room 13.
Here we will learn about the history of this church, as well as the broader history of UUism and its origins. There will also be a time to share our spiritual journeys and make connections with each other. Then, at the end, if you decide you would like to become a member, you will have an opportunity to sign the Membership Book!
Breakfast and coffee are provided, as well as childcare if needed.
*If you require childcare, you must Register on Church Center to let us know.
Questions? Please email membership@austinuu.org

Please join us for the First UU Climate Committee and Sierra Club Climate monthly meeting in Howson Hall on Tuesday, February 3rd, at 6:30 p.m., as we focus on solidarity with people in Minneapolis who are facing fear, disruption, and injustice in their communities.
We believe that social injustice is climate injustice. Immigration is a climate issue, as more and more fathers and mothers are fleeing drought-ravaged homes in search of somewhere they can feed their family. Protecting democracy is a climate issue, because our work—already challenging—becomes vastly more difficult if it is replaced by tyranny. Attacks on vulnerable communities, civil rights, and democracy undermine the trust and collective action we need to solve the climate crisis.
At this meeting, we will hear directly from people who live at ground zero in Minneapolis and from others who have been on the ground protesting and supporting affected communities. We are honored that Rev. Carrie Holley-Hurt will join us, along with several Minneapolis residents, to share what they have witnessed and how we can stand in solidarity.
If you are unable to attend in person, please Join on Zoom!
Gigs Hodges has spent two regular and six special sessions working as a legislative staffer for Representatives Plesa and Davis. During the 89th Legislative Session, she helped get 11 bills signed into law, the third most of any Democrat, and played a meaningful role in the 2025 quorum break to defend democracy. Gigs believes the government should guarantee the basics people need to survive, and she is determined to change how Democrats use their power in the Texas House to deliver for Texans. After too many sleepless nights wishing she could do more, Gigs is now running to represent HD 49 in Austin, encouraged by Representative Davis and equipped with a clear plan and a deep sense of purpose. As she says, Texans deserve more than crumbs. We deserve the whole pie.
The Speaker’s Race: How Democrats Gave Away Their Power on Day One
On the first day of the 89th Legislative Session, Democrats elected a notoriously bad MAGA Republican as Speaker of the House, with little to show for it. This discussion will cover what happened behind the scenes leading up to the race, how the vote played out on the House floor, what Democrats gained, and whether it was worth it, and the lessons learned for how Democrats can better deliver for Texans.
This is your Official Notice for our December Congregational Meeting on Sunday, December 21st at 1:00 p.m., to be held in the Sanctuary and on Zoom (Passcode 512452). Click on the link below for materials for the meeting.
Congregational Meeting Materials
The church bylaws specify the following regarding voting eligibility: “Individuals who have been members of the church for 30 days or more and who have (as an individual or part of a family unit) made a recorded financial contribution during the last 12 months and at least 30 days prior to the meeting, have the right to vote at all official church meetings.”
The list of eligible voters may be found by clicking here
Any questions about voter eligibility, including if you feel that you were mistakenly not listed on the list of eligible voters, please contact Shannon Posern, info@austinuu.org.
We look forward to seeing you at the meeting!
Shop Annual Women and Fair Trade FestivalSaturday and Sunday, Nov. 22-23, from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.We’re thrilled to invite you to the Women and Fair Trade Festival hosted by Austin Tan Cerca de la Frontera, where you may shop with conscience at First UU, Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 22-23, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Therapy Sisters will start the music on Saturday at 10 a.m. For over two decades, ATCF’s Fair Trade Festival has brought together women’s cooperatives from around the world to Austin, creating a marketplace rooted in economic justice, cultural exchange, and community gathering, hosting women-led artisan cooperatives from Mexico, Palestine, Guatemala, Ecuador, India, and the U.S., including Jolom Mayaetik, Palestine Online Store, Fuerza Unida, Colores del Pueblo, Marigold Gateway to India, UPAVIM, Warmipa Huasy, and Las Racheritas/Rug Hook Project. For more info, visit atcf.org. |

Please join us this Sunday afternoon to learn about mutual aid and do asset mapping. Child care will be available.
Dean Spade writes that “mutual aid is the radical act of caring for each other while working to change the world,” and that is exactly what this presentation and the work we will do together are about.
We’ll learn about what mutual aid can do, what it looks like, and how we can use our creativity to participate in it. We’ll also learn about what values can ground us spiritually in this kind of community-based work. Then we will work together to identify the assets we have as a community so we can take an inventory. This will allow us, as a community, to respond quickly to the needs of our members and the community.
When: November 23rd at 2 pm
Where: First UU Church of Austin’s Sanctuary
Itinerary:
Many of us carry wounds from the religion we were raised in or just growing up in a Christocentric society. Owning Your Religious Past is a series of five classes designed to help us heal from our religious wounds and grow in our Unitarian Universalist faith.
From the authors of the program, “We can be most fully and completely present in our religious identity when we see our path as a continuum rather than a series of unrelated episodes. People who feel whole in this identity are more likely to make solid, healthy commitments to religious communities. Because we are usually more certain of what we left in another religion than what we bring forward from it, some tools are needed by which people may establish connections, bridges, and resonances between past and present.”
Please join Rev. Carrie Holley-Hurt and Rev. Dr. Leona Stucky-Abbott for this five-week series of learning, healing, and growth starting on Sunday, January 18th. Maximum participation is 15 people, so Make Sure to Sign Up!
One important way First UU lives its mission to do justice is through our Monthly Special Offerings.
To nominate an organization, please complete the 2026 Monthly Service Offering Nominations form.
The congregation will be asked to rank their top 10 recipients on Sunday, December 21, 2025, after the worship service and at the congregational meeting that afternoon. Two additional special offerings are reserved for Spring into Action (First UU’s church-wide social justice outreach project) and the Texas UU Justice Ministry.
After the vote, the Social Action Chairs and Co-Ministers will determine the schedule of selected recipients. All money collected will be held until the end of the year and distributed equally among the 12 recipients in January 2027. For 2024, the amount donated to each recipient was $1,662.09.
Please fill out the Nomination form here.

Drive a Senior ATX enables older adults to live independently, avoid social isolation and age in place by providing free, volunteer-based transportation and other support services to senior adults in Austin since 1985, including
Our mission is transportation, but our impact is relationships. Our volunteer-based rides come with care, empathy, and inclusion. Our clients are treated like family and build meaningful relationships with our staff and volunteers.
First UU is a founding congregation of Drive a Senior, originally called North Central Caregivers. Our congregation formerly contributed annually to its work and has provided many volunteers since its inception in 1985.