On Sunday, October 29, the congregation of First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin will be voting “to affirm the Ministerial Search Committee’s recommendation to call the Rev. Chris Jimmerson as a Settled Minister.” Voting to call a settled minister is one of the most important votes you will cast as a member of this congregation. This is a unique type of vote – it is not the same as an election. You are not being asked to elect Rev. Chris. Instead, you are voting on the following issues:

• whether the Search Process was comprehensive, inclusive, collaborative and transparent,
• whether the congregation was heard and represented accurately by the Search Committee,
• whether the Search Committee sees the qualities and gifts of the candidate are a good match for the congregation’s needs,
• whether the congregation is willing to move into a shared ministry partnership with the candidate, and whether this candidate is best for the whole congregation.

You are NOT voting on:

• what is best for a particular individual within the congregation,
• whether individuals think they would have chosen the candidate who was identified by the search committee on their own, given what they know about the
  congregation,
• whether individuals think that every sermon the candidate preaches will or will not speak to the hearts and minds of every single member every single time,
• whether there might be a better match out there somewhere, or
• whether the candidate is the perfect minister.

In summary, this vote is not like a political election or popularity contest. Rather, it is the culmination of a process that identifies the church’s needs and asks whether the person we are considering, in this case Rev. Chris, has the qualities and gifts that are a good match for what the congregation needs.

Members of the Board will be available Sundays after each service to answer your questions about this or any other aspect of the Ministerial Transition.

Gretchen Riehl, Board President

Our Inside Books Project wants you to know 2 important things: 

 Who’s Stepping Up to Address the Climate Crisis? 

Effecting the Climate with Your Home Appliances

Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC)

Chaplain’s Corner

The Pet Loss Support Group that I lead is held on a monthly basis, and new participants are always welcome. The meetings occur in the evening, on the first Wednesday of each month, and last for one hour. Topics have included Stages of Grief, Grief Resources, Book Suggestions, Ritual and Mourning, and many others.

The next monthly Pet Loss Support Group will be held on  October 4th at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT / 6 p.m. MT / 5 p.m. PT. 

For a Zoom link and passcode, please contact Rev. Russell Elleven at: relleven@gmail.com (relleven at gmail dot com).

Wishing you peace, 
Rev. Russell Elleven, DMin
UUAM Chaplain & President
www.AnimalChaplain.net

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 Sunday, 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!

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.

Focus group meetings targeting specific groups at First UU Austin, who represent various demographic communities and ministries, have been planned as an important part of the ministerial search process. Feedback received during these meetings will help the Search Committee with its discernment of the ministry needs at First UU as we hear about lived experiences from group members.

The following Focus Group meetings have been scheduled:

• Parents of Children in RE: Tuesday, Sept. 12 at 7 p.m. via zoom
• Seniors: Wednesday, Sept. 13 at Noon in Howson Hall
• New First UU members: Tuesday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. in RE Classroom 15
• BIPOC members: Wednesday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. in RE Classroom 13
• LGBTQIA members: Thursday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. in RE Classroom 13

Invitations are being emailed to these group members. If you identify with one of these groups and do not receive an invitation, please know you’re welcome to attend. Sign up through Church Center is appreciated, or email searchcommittee@austinuu.org

The Seniors Focus group is part of the September Senior Lunch and has already been announced. It’s open to all Seniors at First UU even if you didn’t receive the email.

We look forward to hearing and learning from you during these meetings.

The Board of Trustees has prepared a flowchart for the congregation to better understand the implications of two upcoming decision points, whether the Ministerial Search Committee identifies Rev. Chris as the candidate (October 8) and, if so, whether the congregation votes to affirm their selection (October 29). This make clears how important it is that you participate in the opportunities the MSC is creating to make decisions that are best for the whole congregation. (click on the scenario links below the diagram to see details and implications).

Scenario A         Scenario B        Scenario C

September Social Action

Looking Ahead – Save the Dates in October!

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 1st. This is the day that we will ask all members and friends to make their annual pledge to First UU.  What is a pledge?  Making a pledge simply means declaring how much you expect to contribute to First UU during 2024.  

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 1st.  If you already pledge, we encourage you to increase your support of First UU in 2024.  We will then celebrate our commitment to First UU with the Celebration Sunday Party on Sunday, October 15 from 12 – 2 p.m.

Learn more about pledging and the 2024 Pledge Drive on the Stewardship webpage.

Inside Books Project is a local Austin nonprofit that sends free books to persons incarcerated in Texas prisons. Last year Inside Books sent approximately 55,000 books in response to letters from persons incarcerated in Texas. People requested dictionaries, text books, study guides, fiction, poetry, self-help books, religious and spiritual guides, trade manuals and every other sort of reading you could name or imagine. 99% of these books are donated to Inside Books by people like our own congregants who have contributed both books and financial donations to Inside Books for over a decade. There is a tub in our First UU Greet Center where you can leave books you would like to donate to Inside Books Project. Inside Books is a project supported by First UU Green Sanctuary Ministry as it recycles books and inspires lives.

In return, prisoners have sent notes of appreciation such as, “I appreciate everything ya’ll do, not only for me, but for all the souls who are locked up doing time. Thanks for giving us a little taste of freedom. May God bless all your days.” We also receive art, poetry, and stories of their lives. Many prisoners receive no mail other than the books we send, so we write each prisoner a personal letter as part of the package of books they receive. The books become the personal property of each incarcerated person and can be shared and traded. With 66% of Texas prisons lacking air conditioning in their living quarters, reading is also a welcome diversion from the baking heat.

The biggest expense Inside Books has is postage, including mailing related costs like packaging and tape. The project works out of Vesper Church in east Austin where they pay a moderate rent and the church views the project as part of their service to the larger community.

Volunteers gather on Thursday and Sunday evenings to send books to Texas prisoners. You can
sign up online to attend either of these sessions as a Volunteer for Inside Books Project. There is also a session on Thursdays from 10am-2pm. Email green@austinuu.org if you are interested in volunteering at this session.

Volunteers from Inside Books also drive boxes of books to Texas prisons for their libraries. Not all Texas prisons have libraries, but the ones that do generally rely on book donations to fill their shelves. Additionally, we drive boxes of paperback books to county jails like Harris, Bexar, Tarrant and Dallas counties where there are tens of thousands of persons locked up. These jails usually do not have libraries, but distribute books directly to prisoners who keep them.

This year several volunteers from Inside Books worked to revive the library at the Travis County Jail in Del Valle which had become defunct during Covid. Now they have a library that is set up and functioning again, staffed by outside volunteers.

Inside Books Project gets a lot done on a small budget and we appreciate every dollar we receive in donations and every book that comes in the door. Thank you for your soul saving generosity.

The Search Committee thanks those of you who completed the Congregational Survey. The
committee is studying the results. The next phase of the search for which we need your help
will be the Search Parties and Focus Groups.

The Search Parties are meetings at which structured conversations are facilitated by Search
Committee members. They are open to all congregants. Multiple dates are offered for in person
meetings at the church or via Zoom to give everyone an opportunity to attend a party. The first
Search Party will be Thursday, August 31. The last one will be September 22. Please sign up in
Church Center or at the Search Table in Howson Hall.

Focus group meetings are targeted at specific groups within the church who represent various
demographic communities and ministries within the congregation. They help the Search
Committee in its discernment of the ministry needs at First UU by giving the Search Committee
the benefit of the lived experience of members of these groups. Meeting invitations are sent to
these groups. Sign up in Church Center or at the Search Table in Howson Hall is appreciated.
If you don’t receive an invitation but see a meeting for a focus group with which you identify,
you can sign up. Focus groups will be in September.

One more activity we encourage you to attend is the Breaking Barriers: Building Beliefs
workshop. It is designed to help us examine current biases in our congregation and give those
present an opportunity to discuss what they would do when these biases occur in our
congregation’s ministry. It will be facilitated by a UUA trainer via Zoom. Everyone is
encouraged to participate. The date is Saturday, Sept. 9 from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. More
information including a Zoom link will be sent soon.

Our church has not done this type of in-depth exploration of what we need in our settled
ministry since our last search for a settled minister 13 years ago. We are not the same church.
That is why the Search Committee wants to hear from you in order to discern what our
congregation needs in its next settled ministry. The charge to the Search Committee from the
Board is to present a candidate to the congregation to call as its next settled minister. The
Board also charged the Search Committee with giving first consideration to Rev. Chris as our
Inside Candidate.

The Search Committee will conduct its discernment of the Congregational Survey, Search Party
and Focus Group meeting results and feedback from the Breaking Barriers: Building Beliefs
workshop, identify the qualities needed in the ministry at First UU, and review the Ministerial
Record provided by Rev. Chris in early October.

The committee will meet with Rev. Chris to discuss its discernment as well as the
Congregational Record and his Ministerial Record. If 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 Minister. We will announce our decision to the Congregation on Sunday, Oct. 8.
The potential congregational meeting is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 29.

For more information, please refer to the Search Committee FAQ’s and the list of important
dates related to the search which are available on-line.