Junetopia: An Exercise in Restraint

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The gallery is hosting the Huntington-Surrey School Senior Exhibit this month through the end of May. The title of the exhibit is Junetopia: An Exercise in Restraint. The opening reception will be on Saturday, May 6th from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. in the The Sharon and Brian Moore Alternative Space Gallery. Artist, June Gormin will begin speaking at 7 p.m.
 
Junetopia is an exploration of a young person’s experience on the twining paths of living as a trans woman and a recovering addict. June uses documents from her time in rehab as reference, consulting illustrations that she drew while going through withdrawals. She reconstructs these ideas to create larger-than-life illustrations to reflect the feeling of isolation and addiction.
 
 
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 
 
 
This has resulted in powerful imagery, such as the highly textured and haunting “Childhood Bedroom.” Each piece is an exploration of artistic process and brutal inner honesty. June is not afraid of any medium: she has experimented with sand, salt, gesso, broken glass, burnt objects, pastel, spray paint, fabric, pig’s blood, fake blood, paper mache, bleach, cleaning vinegar, styrofoam, and acrylic paint to transfer her experiences into visceral works of art for the viewer. She was influenced and inspired by the body horror work of artists such as Francis Bacon for her piece, “Self-Mutilation”, which explores themes of femininity and body manipulation in relation to transitioning, while simultaneously addressing the political landscape and attitudes towards transgender people in recent years. June is also including a series of her stark photographic artworks highlighting her experiences as a trans teenager, based in raw portraiture of friends and those in the subculture.

Spring Into Action Lectures

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On Sunday, May 7, from 12:30 – 1:15 p.m. in Room 13, Bruce Naylor will present the second of our “Spring into Action” series. The Inflation Reduction Act includes tax credits and rebates that most consumers can use to reduce greenhouse gases and at the same time save money. He will discuss what’s available and how to get these. Using effectively the money from the Inflation Reduction Act is one of the best ways to fight our climate crisis today.
 
Dr. Bruce Naylor is active in both the Sierra Club and Citizens’ Climate Lobby. He’s been a Computer Science Professor at University of Texas at Austin, Georgia Tech, and DeBry University. He also worked for Bell Labs. We’ll provide some snacks for attendees.

Caring for One Another: Workshop on Visiting

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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.

Depolarizing From Within Workshop

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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 13th 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.

Religious Words We Love to Hate with Rev. Jonalu Johnstone

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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.

Spring into Action Lecture

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On Sunday, April 30, from 12:30 – 1:15 p.m. in Room 13, Bob Hendricks will present our first of our “Spring into Action” series. He will discuss many of the climate solutions we know about plus a few that we hope to innovate into. These include issues in moving towards clean sources of energy, towards lower energy use, and multiple ways of removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. It also includes suggestions as to how to get more involved.
 
Bob Hendricks is the chair of the executive committee of the Texas Sierra Club Chapter and also the Co-Coordinator of Texas Citizens’ Climate Lobby. We’ll provide some snacks for attendees.

UBarU Summer Camp

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There is a lot planned at our UU camp in TX this summer!  www.ubaru.org

  • Summer Family camp May 26-29 for families of all shapes and sizes
  • GenderfUUl retreat June 2-4  for binary or transgender folks
  • Youth Summer camps based on age of campers (from June 11-July 1)
  • Young Adult weekend from July 1-4
  • SWUUSI camp at UBarU   July 16-21 including an option of Human Sexuality based on OWL for K-2 graders and parent/guardian
  • Star Party  Aug 17-20
 
All the details and to register, go to www.ubaru.org
 
 

Sunday, April 23rd Service

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“Purple Theology: The Music & Message of Prince”

– Simone Monique Barnes and Rev Erin Walter

 

Seven years after his death, Prince’s work continues to influence and inspire the world. With religiously themed music and lyrics, combined with an ongoing exploration of identity, self-expression, truth-telling, joy, injustice, grief, and of course, love, Prince’s deeply spiritual music offers a theology of liberation. 

As we look inside, look around, and look beyond ourselves, we begin to ask questions like, “How do we perceive and define our individual selves?” “What role do we play in our collective healing?” “How can we survive and thrive in times of heartache and oppression?”  “How do we imagine the next chapter of our lives, our church, our world?”

Come as you are, whether you are seeking healing for your own spirit or healing for the wider world, invite friends, and prepare to take in moving music from the First UU band, soloists, and instrumentalists. The church’s important pre-congregational meeting will follow the worship service.

 

Simone Monique Barnes: Informed by the arts, prayer, meditation, and yoga, Simone Monique Barnes is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, educator, and lay minister. Simone was born and raised in New York City, and has called Austin, Texas, home for over ten years. Simone enjoys joy practices such as Laughter Yoga Teacher and Afro Flow Yoga. She holds a master’s degree in Arts in Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Spring 2023 Pre-Congregational Meeting

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On April 23 at 1:30 p.m. in the sanctuary, we will hold our spring-pre-congregational
meeting.

At the pre-congregational meeting, we will walk through the attached agenda and materials for
the actual congregational meeting but will not take any votes. You may attend either in person in the sanctuary at 4700 Grover Avenue or by Zoom.
 
Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/my/firstuuaustin
Passcode: 512452

Click here to download the meeting materials. Paper copies will be available in the copy room at the church.

Click below to download the Securing our Church’s Future Presentation.

Securing Our Church’s Future v6.0

As a reminder, according to our bylaws, a member can vote in a congregational meeting if they meet two requirements. They must have been a member for 30 days or more. And they must 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 at which they wish to vote. The list of eligible voters will be posted at least two Sundays prior to our April 23 congregational meeting. If you have questions about your voting status or the meeting, feel free to send an email message to info@austinuu.org.

Earth Day Celebrations at First UU

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Chris will give an inspiring climate justice sermon on Sunday, April 16th.
 
Celebrations During coffee hour include:  Earth celebration coloring pages and everyone wins a prize fun bean bag toss for all ages, free delicious earth celebrating Vegan tasting event, tables full of environmental water/earth/air $$$ saving free appliances, a Solar showcase of our roof panel array, climate justice materials and climate justice Leaders will be on hand, Rep. Donna Howard will be the FORUM speaker @ 12:45pm she will provide a Legislative update including environmental issues.    
                                         
Look forward to celebrating an early Earth Day with you!

Upcoming Class: Talking About Money

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“Talking about Money,” co-led by Karen Neeley and Hannah Meehan:

Money: we can’t live without it but our culture tells us that the love of it is the root of all evil.  So, how do we truly understand our attitudes toward this “necessary evil”?

“Talking About Money” is an interactive program that explores the place of money in our personal and community lives. Through stories and exercises, we will explore our own financial histories, assumptions and values. Through these, we will determine how a healthy relationship with money helps us live a fulfilling life.
 
This event will take place on Saturday, May 20th. Class will be meet at 11:30 a.m. with sack lunch, then the program will begin at 12 p.m. in Howson Hall. Cookies will be provided. 

PUBLIC AFFAIRS FORUM

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This Sunday Representative Donna Howard will be speaking at our Public Affairs Forum, this Sunday, April 16 at 12:45 p.m. Ms.Howard is the Texas State Representative for House District 48, an office she has held since 2002.
 
She is a native Austinite and member of First UU. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in nursing and a Master’s in health education from the University of Texas. She served as president of the Texas Nurses Association and a health education instructor at UT. She currently serves on the House Appropriations Committee and is vice-chair of the Select Committee on Health Care Reform
 
As this session of the Legislature approaches its end, Ms. Howard will tell us what they have  done (and not done) this session.

Vespers

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It feels like everyone is at least knee-deep in the Texas legislature, some are up to their chins, others up to their eyeballs, and a few might be in over their heads… So, we’re going to take a respite from the external battle for justice.

We’re going to go mythic and explore a fairy tale called The Handless Maiden from one of my guides Dr. Martin Shaw. Through the magic of story, may we be blessed enough to learn how to be heartbroken in ways that fortify our resolve and nurture our ability to distinguish right from wrong and health from disease, one that restores our faith in showing up and persevering.

This event will be held in the First UU’s Sanctuary on Tuesday, April 18th at 6 p.m.

Senior Lunch

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Senior Lunch will occur on Wednesday, April 12th, meeting in Howson Hall at 12 p.m. noon. Our speakers are Rev. Jonalu Johnstone and David Riehl, Board Treasurer. You may not know David, so here is a bit about him.
 
David (Dave) Riehl is the current Board Treasurer for First Church Austin. He and his wife, Gretchen, joined us six years ago, moving from First Church Dallas, where they were 30 year members. Dave will spend a few minutes filling us in on his background and then continue the discussion with Rev. Jonalu’s presentation. He will share his insights into the status and outlook for the finances for our congregation.
 
Everyone is welcome to attend even if you are not a senior.  If you’ve never attended, we bring our own lunch and drinks, and visit for about half an hour. The program will begin around 12:30 p.m.