The Continuing Capital Campaign kicked off Saturday, February 3rd, as part of an early “Valentine” celebration of the love we share. The CCC aims to pay off the current mortgage that was taken out to cover the renovations to the facility that exceeded the original campaign.  For more information about the CCC, please visit our table in Howson Hall and consider a commitment to this program! Our goal is $1.2 million to completely repay the debt and cover contingencies.

Mobile Loaves & Fishes is a social outreach ministry that has been empowering communities into a lifestyle of service with the homeless since 1998. Often referred to as the most talked about neighborhood in Austin, Community First! Village is a master planned development that provides affordable, permanent housing and a supportive community for men and women coming out of chronic homelessness. Check out this Goodness is Love in Action video and learn more mlf.org.

This is a busy time in our denomination. Here are a couple of things you may want to know:

1) Israel/Palestine
– The UUA has issued a statement on “the Humanitarian Catastrophe in Gaza and Israel”
– Church leaders, including our UUA President Rev. Dr. Sofia Betancourt, have sent a letter to President Biden urging him to support demilitarization and humanitarian aid to Palestinians.

2) General Assembly – this is where UU’s come together to worship, celebrate, learn, and make decisions. For 2024 GA will be June 20 – 23, and will be completely virtual! This will make it much easier to attend and fully participate. Visit www.uua.org/ga for more information and registration. 

For questions about GA or other denominational activities, contact David Overton at denom@austinuu.org

Join First Unitarian Universalist church on Sunday, March 17 for a Pi Day Pie Contest.  Bake your favorite sweet, savory, or vegan pie for a chance to win a prize.

To Enter: 

1. Bring a pie on Sunday, March 17 to Howson Hall before service. (3.17 is close enough to 3.14159265)
2. Place pie on the correct category table. Savory, Sweet, or Vegan
3. Fill out a contestant card.  

After service, we will announce the winners for each category in Howson Hall.

Extra pies to share and not compete are welcome too. 

Want to be a judge?  Contact Shannon at info@austinuu.org.

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

At the Congregational Meeting on December 17, the Board of Trustees will ask the congregation to approve a change to the bylaws updating the way we define our ministry and executive teams. We would like to be clear about the intention and impact of these changes before we cast our votes.

The board and ministers have been vocal about our preference for co-lead ministry and we have successfully adopted this model during our interim period, which started in August 2022. However, the vote on Sunday is not a referendum on co-lead ministry.

The bylaws changes we have proposed would allow for co-lead ministry, but they also allow for a number of other ministry and executive team arrangements. We would not be locked into co-lead or any other specific ministry model. Instead, the board, the congregation, and the ministers in collaboration would have the ability to define our ministerial and administrative approaches to meet the needs of the congregation as they evolve. 

Specifically, today we only have the option to call one minister, identified as the senior minister. Having the option to call a second minister is required in order for us to pursue co-lead ministry long term, but we could optionally call a minister who does not fill the lead role if that arrangement better suits our needs. 

Additionally, the changes explicitly entrust the definition of the executive team to the board. (The executive team is responsible for all activities of the church, like a CEO.) Currently this authority is granted as an exception when a senior minister is not serving as executive. Updating this language brings our bylaws in line with the practical responsibilities of the board and makes clear that the congregation ultimately decides how our church is managed, through their representatives on the board. 

Finally, the board is committed to engaging with the congregation to determine our needs and preferences before taking further steps to define our future ministerial team. An affirmative vote on the bylaws change signals willingness to engage in a conversation about co-lead ministry and other ministerial arrangements, not necessarily a firm commitment to the co-lead model. We expect to begin conversations on this topic in January 2024 so that we are clear about the composition of our Executive Team prior to initiating a search for a second minister.

Thank you for being active participants in our evolution as a congregation and helping us to discover our best reality together.