Hello, friends!

I would like to invite you to a concert that’s very special to me as it’s my Austin conducting debut. I’d love to see many familiar faces in the audience!

Building Beloved Community: Beyond the Binary is our first collaborative, multi-site, justice-making event happening throughout the Southern Region. Join us (in Cedar Park TX, Nashville TN, Orlando FL, Charlotte NC, or online!) for a day of creating community with transgender, nonbinary folx, and our allies. This conference is an opportunity for LGBTQIA+ folks in our local communities to gather, laugh, create joy, and find partnerships in our local communities which will be a sustaining force throughout the upcoming year AND for folks not in the LGBTQIA+ community to learn effective, appropriate allyship through a Unitarian Universalist lens. We will gather online and in-person at various host-sites around the Southern Region to learn, grow, and become – together.

Learn more about Building Beloved Community: Beyond the Binary on our website. Register for Building Beloved Community: Beyond the Binary today!

Register for an in-person Beyond the Binary event.

Register for the online/virtual Beyond the Binary event. 

Registration for this event will close on Saturday, April 20th (and this is a firm registration deadline).

Hello Life Protectors, Our Planet Champions,

Below are life changing messages from hopefull Climate Scientists Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe. Links to their good work.   

“This week the World Meteorological Organization officially certified, 2023 as the hottest year in human history. Just to put on the record here what should have been the lead story in every journal and website on our home planet:

Andrea Celeste Saulo, secretary general of the WMO, said the organization was now “sounding the red alert to the world.

The report found temperatures near the surface of the earth were 1.45°C higher last year than they were in the late 1800s, when people began to destroy nature at an industrial scale and burn large amounts of coal, oil, and gas.

Last year’s spike was so scary that NASA’s Gavin Schmidt—Jim Hansen’s heir as keeper of NASA’s climate record—wrote in Nature this week that it raised the most profound possible implications. Please read his words slowly and carefully“. 

Bill McKibben speaks to UU’s highlight, Bill Mckibben to UU’s: We need you to provide moral leadership.

Climate Scientist and Texas Tech Professor Katharine Hayhoe is a secure connection on hopefulness and climate actions you can choose. The latest on eco-innovations and climate risks from the Aspen Ideas Festival in Miami.

Search for Katharine Hayhoe climate solutions at The Aspen Institute’s climate summit in Miami for the my first time. It was a joy to meet so many incredible people passionate about climate solutions and reminded me once again how much stronger we can be when we work together".

For Katharine’s free very cool climate solutions oriented newsletter: talkingclimatenewsletter@outlook.com”

For climate solutions here at home put on your calendar the first Tuesday of each month Green Sanctuary hosts Bob and Victoria Hendricks presenting Sierra Club Climate Crises and Solutions; Howson Hall 6:30 p.m. potluck and 7 p.m. meeting. Free, all welcome.

** Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/katharine.hayhoe/) ( Facebook has reduced Katharine ’s visibility saying her talk about clean and renewable energy is political!?) check it out. From her Facebook page: “On Easter, we celebrate God’s gift of life. That’s why I’m convinced that tackling climate change isn’t just a responsibility—it’s a way to demonstrate our love for people, for God, and for His creation”.

New Benches for First UU’s Memorial Park

Huntington Surrey student, Sunil Desha has chosen First UU as his Eagle Scout project recipient. Sunil is working to build 9 new benches for First UU’s Memorial Park and is asking for your assistance in funding the project for our church. This project is currently in the works and he is hoping to complete it before the end of May. 

Since 1937, Planned Parenthood has provided quality, compassionate healthcare from expert clinicians, medically accurate, inclusive sex education from professional educators, and a fierce commitment to a world in which everyone can access quality healthcare and information to live their lives fully, without judgment.

Planned Parenthood’s 4 Austin health centers offer annual exams, the full range of birth control methods (including IUDs and implants), testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), screenings for breast and cervical cancer, HPV (human papillomavirus) and flu vaccines, PrEP and PEP HIV prevention medication, UTI and infection treatment, gender-affirming hormone therapy, and more. Planned Parenthood is committed to providing quality sexual and reproductive healthcare to the 20% of Travis County residents ages 18-65 who do not have health insurance, including our Black and Hispanic neighbors who experience even higher uninsured rates.

To expand access to healthcare appointments for patients juggling work, school, and childcare, at least one of Planned Parenthood’s four Austin health centers are open 7 days a week, helping us to see close to 10,000 patients across the Austin-area in 2023. Over the last year Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas has seen a 21% increase in clinic visits, and as of spring 2024, PPGT now offers gender-affirming hormone therapy across our service area – from Austin to El Paso, and even online!  

More than 100 Texas UUs and partners gathered in Dallas and online on Saturday, March 23, for the 2024 TXUUJM Annual Gathering. It was an inspiring day of learning, connecting, and renewing our spirits for justice work! If you missed it, can watch the morning program and see more photos on Facebook and Instagram. TXUUJM is your source for Texas UU the Vote efforts this election year! Sign up for TXUUJM emails to get the latest news and actions.

Hi Earth Champions,

We had a remarkable showing of two films for the International Uranium Film Festival 3/18. We met several church members there. Few folks know the real forever mining/land waste cost, Native people’s abuse, costly equipment, dangerous plant construction and dangerous performance and failures of nuclear energy. Here is the website if you want to know more: www.uraniumfilmfestival.org.

Disarming Toxic Empire is a free conference at U.T. Austin, March 21-22, focusing on the unjust aspects of nuclear testing, production, storage, and weaponry . (Although the Conference may be past when you read this the link is informative.)

Green Sanctuary Ministry has been part of a team to stop high-level forever Nuclear Waste being trained into Texas and dumped in the Permian Basin close to the Oglala Aquifer. Fed. Court says “NO” but they are appealing/lobbying. 

Mark your calendar for Sierra Club/Green Sanctuary Hosting First Tuesday 4/2 Climate Crises/Solutions 6:30 p.m. Potluck; 7:00 p.m. Meeting in Howson Hall. See you there.  

Check out this free newsletter: talkingclimatenewsletter@outlook.com

What You Can Do

Picture description: Three people sitting on a patio playing a card game. There’s an innovative new way to talk about climate change: the “Climate Conversations” card deck developed by Dr. Lauren Cagle at the University of Kentucky and some fellow Kentuckians worried about our shared future.

 
The card deck helps walk people through a 4-stage conversation about feelings and attitudes related to climate, and it doesn’t require a grasp of the more technical aspects of the science itself. “This game aims to create conversations, having participants work through their own relationships with climate change while envisioning a climate resilient future,” PDFs of the cards are free to download and print from the group’s website and Climate Conversations brings the game to events around Lexington, Kentucky. Check their calendar for future events, or email them to invite them to join an event you might be hosting or to ask for tips on how to host your own. The cards are available in English, Spanish, Dutch, and there’s even a K-12 English version for the classroom! 

WATCH: The trailer “A Brief History of the Future” airing on PBS

“The Texas Observer”

Interim Editor In Chief, Gus Bova, and Executive Director, Loren Lynch

GOOD NEWS:
Your voices to the Austin City Council have made a difference. Council Members are looking seriously at the Generation and Climate Protection Plan our community has produced as an alternative to the methane/gas-potential hydrogen generation plant AE wants.

THANK YOU!  We are told Austin Energy (AE) has backed off until community voices quiet down then AE will try again. Want to keep up the pressure ?
Send Mayor Watson and the members of the Austin City Council an email to support the advisory group’s clean energy plan.

Green Sanctuary Readers, here is a snippet from Climate Scientist and Texan, Katharine Hayhoe. You can read more at her hands on free climate newsletter: talkingclimatenewsletter@outlook.com

Hardly anyone cares about climate change… right? Wrong! New research shows that 86 percent agree that people in their country should try to fight global warming and 89 percent say they want more action from their governments. These results are based on a survey of more than 130,000 people in 125 countries around the world.

Here’s the even more interesting part, though: the same study found that people around the globe also underestimate how much their fellow humans support climate action. For example, 69 percent say they are willing to pay 1 percent of their monthly income to aid in the fight, but they think only 43 percent would agree with them. And I would bet a big part of that gap is because, in most countries around the world, it’s rare for people to hear about climate change. We just don’t talk about it.

Continuing Capital Campaign
Giving Tree

Thank you to everyone who walked and donated for the Austin 2024 CROP Hunger Walk at Camp Mabry.

The First UU CROP Walk team joined teams from congregations all over the Austin area in this interfaith walk that raises money to end hunger in Central Texas and around the world.

It is not too late to help the First UU team. Donate online at events.crophungerwalk.org or contact Ivy Speight at cropwalk@austinuu.org for other options. From combating climate change in Honduras to providing agricultural training in Cambodia to stocking shelves in local food pantries, your donation will make a difference in the fight to end hunger. A portion of the funds raised in Austin will go to the Central Texas Food Bank, as well as Casa Marianella, Manos de Cristo, Urban Roots, Austin City Lutherans – Bread for All, Micah 6, Faith Food Pantry and Mt. Olive Baptist Church.

Thank you for your support of the Austin CROP Hunger Walk! We look forward to seeing you on the trail in 2025!

Come join us at the Sierra Club Climate Crisis Committee Meeting on Tuesday, March 5 at First United Universalist Church at 4700 Grover Lane hosted by First UU’s Green Sanctuary Committee.

It’s casual: come when you can, leave when you must. If you want, you can join us for our program at 7:15 p.m. on Zoom.

Our plan (come when you can):

6:30 p.m. – Start our potluck (come whether you have a dish or not)

7:00 p.m.  – Get to know each other social activity by Victoria

7:15 p.m.  – Announcements

7:20 p.m. – Presentation on Climates and Elections 2024 – What’s the Most Effective Use of Your Time.
Bob Hendricks will provide a summary of research and ways to get involved with and lead a discussion.

7:50 p.m. – Q&A on Climate Science with Bruce Melton. Ask him anything you want!

8:20 p.m. – Conversation and clean-up

The most important thing we can do for the climate in 2024 is to elect climate advocates to public office. If we elect the wrong candidates, policy on our climate crisis could be dead, along with too many more people from extreme weather events. But you already know that. So let’s consider how we can most effectively use our time and effort on the 2024 elections, and which ones are the best match for each of us.

Co-Lead Ministry Announcement

On Tuesday, February 20, at our regular monthly meeting, the Board of Trustees of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin agreed that we will initiate a search for a co-lead minister this summer. We appreciate the many congregants who expressed their opinions, support for, concern with, and opposition to this model of leadership. We took all comments into consideration and spent considerable time weighing all options.  In the end, we feel co-ministry is the best model for a church as large as ours (nearly 500 members).  We come to this decision based primarily on the following:
 

• It is clear the congregation wants a called minister rather than a contract/hired minister. So the main decision point was whether to call an associate minister or a co-lead minister.
   
• Rev. Chris prefers working collaboratively with a partner. Having a co-equal to bounce ideas off of results in richer, more well-thought-out plans. He is very much in favor of this model.
   
• It aligns best with the values stated in our mission, chalice lighting, and the 8th principle, as the hierarchical model is very much aligned with the dominant white culture. Having co-lead ministers is one way we can start to dismantle systems of oppression.
   
• We believe it will bring us a richer pool of candidates than a search for an associate minister. We can also look for someone with skills that complement Chris’ strengths rather than duplicating them.
    
•  While this model is not as common as the hierarchical model, it is working well for several congregations and organizations both within and outside of the UU world. Adopting it will put us on the leading edge of governance models in the UUA, especially for large churches. 
   
• No governance model is immune to the risk of conflict. We recognize that conflicts may occur regardless of the ministry model we choose. This makes the covenant between the two ministers critical and calls us all to stay in covenant with each other. 

For more details, please see this list of FAQs regarding our decision and the co-lead model, as well as a general timeline for the search. In addition, we will begin the process of creating a search committee on March 1 with a deadline to express interest or nominate someone on March 15.  We are excited to embark on this process and feel it has great potential to move the church forward in our work to build the Beloved Community.

 
In faith,
 
Gretchen Riehl,
President

Here is a brief recap of news from our denomination:

1. General Assembly – this is where UUs 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.  More information and registration is at https://www.uua.org/ga.   

2. UUSC petition for Climate Justice – the UU Service Committee is spearheading a campaign to encourage the US Climate Envoy to confirm US support for climate justice.  You can read more and sign onto the letter here.