Ready to go deeper in your Anti-racism/Anti-Oppression/Multicultural transformation work in your congregation or organization? Are you eager to connect with others doing transformation work in their congregations?   

The next round of Mosaic Skill Up Learning and Practice Communities start in February! Sign up here!

Mosaic Skill-up Learning and Practice Communities are facilitated small group experiences helping leaders develop the skills and accountability they need to engage in effective AR/AO/MC transformation work in their context. These 3-month skill-up groups help you form meaningful connections, receive support and feedback as you implement your learnings, and tend to your own spiritual well being. Participants are expected to commit to the entire group.

What can I expect from a Skill Up group?

Groups meet every other week on Zoom and are led by trained facilitators. Groups include a combination of community building, personal reflection, learning about topics relevant to the participants’ contexts, and identifying an “accountability action” each person commits to doing between sessions to deepen their growth toward liberation.

What groups are available?

Groups will start in February. Our current sessions include:

Religious Professionals L&P Group (Wednesdays 4:00 PM Eastern / 3:00 PM Central / 2:00 PM Mountain / 1:00 PM Pacific / 12 PM AT / 11 AM HT)

General L&P Group (Tuesdays 12:00 PM Eastern/11:00 AM Central/10:00 AM Mountain/9:00 AM Pacific)

Wait—none of those work for me? Now what?

As we continue to expand this program we will offer more groups and different times. Watch for future announcements or fill out the form to be contacted as groups open.

BIPOC group coming fall 2024.

Is there a group you would like to see? Let me know.

Awesome! How do I sign up? Register for spring Mosaic Skill Up Groups

Interested in becoming a facilitator? Contact me or fill out this form.

Um, I still have questions. No worries—contact me! Or visit www.uua.org/mosaic

Looking forward to learning together

Melissa James

2024 Austin CROP Hunger Walk

We will gather with others in our community to fight hunger both here and around the world. We are looking for walkers and donors for the Austin CROP Hunger Walk, which will be held at Camp Mabry on Sunday, February 25. Join us at 2:00 p.m., the step-off will be at 2:30 p.m. and the route is accessible for wheelchairs and strollers.

This is a great event for families and a great way for your kids to learn about different ways to fight hunger from local agencies and just have a good time. There is a DJ, little passport booklets you can pick up and get stamped as you visit the Education Station, and new this year Kona Ice.

Check out our page to join the team or donate, or visit the Social Action table in Howson Hall for more information on walking, donating, or both.

For questions, please contact Ivy Speight at cropwalk@austinuu.org

Thank you for helping to feed the hungry in Austin and around the world!

WHAT ELSE YOU CAN DO:

My inspiration this month comes from the Knitting Nannas, an Australian activist group fighting to preserve our world for the next generations. 

Their tactics are simple: they show up in bright yellow shirts, knitting in hand, and pull up a chair at protest sites that range from politicians’ offices, coal seams, rallies, or “anywhere else we please to show a mild-mannered yet stubborn front,” they write. 

talkingclimatenewsletter@outlook.com <Click here for more Climate News

Climate Action: Bill McKibben speaks to Unitarians. Check out this UU message: Bill Mckibben to Unitarian Universalists: We need you to provide moral leadership

“Climate change will destabilize the global insurance industry,” research firm Forrester Research predicted in a fall report. Increasingly extreme weather will make it harder for insurance companies to model and predict exposures, accurately calculate reserves, offer coverage and pay claims, the report said. As a result, Forrester forecast, “more insurers will leave markets besides the high-stakes states like California, Florida, and Louisiana.”

“This is what you should do: Love the earth and sun and animals” Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

Friends, 2024 is our year to choose acts that will save our earth’s habitat.  Here are two easy ways to add your 2024 voice to these two critical climate issues.

Green Sanctuary Members have been persistently partnering with several groups to:

1. Replace (and clean up) the Fayette Power Plant (FPP) with renewable generation and storage. Saving money for ratepayers and saving the climate from the millions of deadly metric tons of toxic pollutants the FPP currently spews into our sky.

Here is a link to reach Austin City Council Members. Your voice is important. Every message to every CM is read and logged.

2. Champion for the Best Resource Generation and Climate Protection Plan for RATE PAYERS by Austin Energy (AE). This is the proposed plan of how our taxpayer money will purchase energy generation and clean up our climate. As of Monday, AE is floating the idea of “hydrogen capable” gas plant (more needless fossil fuel). This may be more chasing new Fed money than smart policy and practice. AE would be smarter using the Fed money now on the ground to turn the FPP lemon into lemonade. Here is a factsheet that the Excellent Texas Public Citizen has put together:

We’ll (Public Citizen) have a factsheet to help with talking points. In the meantime, here are some resources on hydrogen to get you started:

• Hydrogen climate implications
• On the importance of hydrogen leakage on climate change
• Overview and sources addressing several concerns, including air quality, safety, and water use
• Hydrogen pipeline safety

Beki or I will send you talking points and a link to reach your Council Member (CM) with your thoughts. Don’t need to wait? This is the action page on the gas plant proposal.

Want more trustworthy climate news, GOOD & BAD? Here, free>talkingclimatenewsletter@outlook.com. 

Will 2023’s catastrophes fuel 2024’s action?
Beki & Richard Halpin, Green Sanctuary Ministry at First UU green@austinuu.org

Texas Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry (TXUUJM) is our UU state action network, which brings UU congregations together from around the state, online and in person, to bring UU values and voices to the public square. We know Texas needs that! 

TXUUJM has also been doing the work of organizing and educating UUs around crucial issues, from trans inclusion to racial justice, all year long. TXUUJM co-hosted an OWL facilitator training this year with First UU Austin, as well as supported Executive Director Rev. Erin Walter in traveling to New Mexico as a chaplain for people seeking abortion healthcare. TXUUJM also became part of the Teach the Truth Coalition, which is advocating to our State Board of Education for accurate and inclusive social studies and other curriculum. 

Every Thursday night in Zoom Action Hour, TXUUJM members take action together around climate, immigration, the death penalty, and more. 

TXUUJM is a grassroots justice nonprofit made possible by people power

and the generosity of congregational dues and individual donations. By sharing the plate, we join with fellow UUs around the state in the lifelong work of Bending Texas Toward Justice.

We are the justice ministry. TXUUJM cannot do this work without us – without you. Thank you for First UU’s generous support!

Learn more here about Chalice Lighters: Carrie’s TXUUJM Story.

Hello Climate Solution Advocates/Champions
2024 is a new year for us to make progress cleaning up our climate

One area of growing concern/action is plastics everywhere. The Climate Crises/Solutions First Tuesday pot luck at 6:30 p.m. and meeting at 7 p.m. in Howson Hall (roberthhendricks@aol.com, and or, seastarvsh@aol.com ). Is supporting a group working on Plastics and making progress> sean@plasticreductionproject.org

Katharine Hayhoe’s free positive, fun and hopeful climate Newsletter has a special on Plastics, check it out: talkingclimatenewsletter@outlook.com

Here are some  GOOD NEWS highlights:
We’re finding micro-plastics everywhere, from raindrops to sea salt to human breast milk and every day scientists are learning more about how it affects our health and that of the nature that surrounds us.  So many different people are in fighting back against climate injustice and that there are wins all around us. As someone who works with communities to help them engage with climate advocacy, talking about climate change as part of our everyday conversation is key to finding solutions that fit everyday people.

Check out Katharine’s link in this paragraph on plastics and methane:
Most of the oil and gas we use is burned for energy. This produces the heat-trapping gases that are the main driver of climate change. But some fossil fuels are used to create the petrochemicals. These petrochemicals aren’t a big source of heat-trapping gases, but they are the building block for plastic production.

Dr Hayhoe’s Guest Editor is Heather McTeer Toney,  Beyond Petrochemicals,  her first book, Before the Street Lights Come On: Black America’s Call for Climate Solutions. she calls for immediate climate action in and for marginalized communities. “Black Americans, facing double the likelihood of hospitalization or death due to climate-related causes, are best suited to spearhead the campaign for climate justice. To add insult to injury, their plan is to place or expand petrochemical facilities in communities generationally overburdened by climate pollution.” 

WHAT YOU/WE CAN DO:
Join with others here spreading the word and taking action about plastics. Here> sean@plasticreductionproject.orgBreaking stereotypes about Black people help change the narrative about “who” is an environmentalist . “Cherish and protect the Earth, a precious gift from God.” I couldn’t agree more!”
 
To learn more, you can follow Heather on Instagram, LinkedIn, or TikTok; read her book; or check out her website. And Katharine here: talkingclimatenewsletter@outlook.com

Green Sanctuary Ministry of First UU, green@austinuu.org, Beki & Richard Halpin

A Global Stocktake is happening, more countries are signing the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, and a free award-winning K-12 educational resource.

Here are the highlights – and lowlights – so far.
The latest draft calls on countries to “take further action in this critical decade towards” either: 1) “A phase out of fossil fuels in line with best available science,” 2) ”Phasing out of fossil fuels in line with best available science, the IPCC’s 1.5 pathways and the principles and provisions of the Paris Agreement,” 3) “A phase-out of unabated fossil fuels recognizing the need for a peak in their consumption in this decade and underlining the importance for the energy sector to be predominantly free of fossil fuels well ahead of 2050,” 4) “Phasing out unabated fossil fuels and to rapidly reducing their use so as to achieve net-zero CO2 in energy systems by or around mid-century,” or 5) leaving out language on the future use of fossil fuels.

As I talk about here, “unabated” is what I refer to as a weasel word: it allows fossil fuel producers to weasel out of reductions by promising to capture their carbon at some time in the future (and when they get to that time, they’ll most likely claim it was too expensive/too hard to do what they promised). So as you can imagine, the precise language to be included on future fossil fuel use is the most contentious issue at COP28 right now. And make no mistake, it is a huge fight.
Read Dr Hayhoe’s whole piece here:  talkingclimatenewsletter@outlook.com

Beki & Richard Halpin, Green Sanctuary Ministry, green@austinuu.org (512) 658-2599

Regifting is this Sunday, December 17th. Bring your lovingly used or new treasures you want to share with others to Howson Hall early Sunday for the Regifting Tables. A congregant told me, “I had no money, no gifts for my husband and son. I stumbled into “Regifting” by accident. It was like the answer to a prayer- a miracle. There were free gifts I could share with my family.”  Join us. 

Bring us your Books! Please donate your books, magazines and calendars to Inside Books Project in the 2nd gray tub in the Welcome Center. Inside Books is busy sending free books to individual Texas prisoners again. The prisoners read all kinds of books, so please donate whatever you want. Inside Books also takes boxes of books to county jails in Texas to be distributed to inmates or placed in their libraries. The need is great and we have started sending free  boxes of books to programs nationwide, such as ICE programs (Spanish language mostly), juvenile program libraries, counseling programs at prisons and out of state prison chaplains. So, bring the books on! And thank you!

SouthWest UU Women Con 2024

“Nurturing Creative Spirit”

Registration is open!

Join us for the SouthWest UU Women annual conference in Navasota, TX.

The conference begins with an opening on Friday and continues through Sunday.  Your registration and Camp Allen lodging choice include access to all the workshops and vendors, dinner on Friday, three meals on Saturday including the Gala dinner Saturday night and Sunday breakfast and lunch.  Single day registration without lodging is also available.

Space is limited.  Single rooms are sold out and only double rooms (with a roommate) are available.  

Early Bird Registration is $160 plus the room ($227) per person for a double room.  January 1 – January 22, registration is $185 plus the room ($227) per person for a double room.

January 22 is the last day to register.

Established in 1921 Camp Allen is a year-round facility located one hour northwest of Houston near Navasota, Texas.  Their 1,100 beautiful acres features a hotel and conference center, two lakes, miles of trails, and much more.  We invite you to explore and awaken your spirit in their piney woods!

SWUUW is a non-profit organization that supports social justice issues, leadership development and learning; explores feminist theology, promotes friendships and celebrates the diversities that make us unique women on our individual spiritual paths.

Register for SWUUWCon 2024 now!

SWUUW Workshops

The Keynote Speaker and Conference Musician will be
Reverend Kiya Heartwood from UU Church of the Brazos Valley, TX

We are beginning signup for Circle Dinners, drawing from past First UU programs (Sharing Suppers, 4×4 Dinners) that offered members, friends, and non-church partners an opportunity to enjoy fellowship over dinner. For Circle Dinners, groups of 6 – 9 people will meet for 3 – 4 potluck meals in each other’s homes over the coming year to get to know each other better. Details will be sent to each group after they are formed.

HOW TO JOIN:
By Monday, January 15, 2024 (Groups will be formed the following week.)

1) Click on this link to sign up for Circle Dinners or

2) Complete & return a form available during Sunday coffee hour in Howson Hall.

Blank forms will be located at a table with a CIRCLE DINNERS sign.

NOTE: PLEASE NOTE IN OTHER COMMENTS IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT DRIVING AFTER DARK AND/OR PREFER DAYTIME TO EVENING MEALS.

Questions? Reach out to Margaret Borden at margaretborden@utexas.edu