Our spring -pre-congregational meeting is scheduled for Sunday, April 21 at 1:00 p.m. Please see details in the materials linked below.
Click Here for 04-21-24 Pre-Congregational Meeting Materials
Earth Day Events
Hi Earth Home Friends,
Here are some great Earth Day climate resources: 1. A treasure House of inspiration resources and more at talkingclimatenewsletter@
1. “Clean energy in Texas, wildfire and flood in Canada and Russia and how to engage your elected officials’ A powerful list of “What You Can Do”, printable coloring books and videos on “how climate change hits home” all this and more in the latest free issue of talkingclimatenewsletter@
3. Austin Office of Sustainability Celebrate Earth Month Calendar
4. The Austin Common – Great local website and newsletter for all things green and positive.
TXUUJM April News!
Climate & Reproductive Justice, Author Talk, and more!
The Texas UU Justice Ministry’s April Newsletter is here! TXUUJM is excited to welcome several prominent guest speakers this spring — author Steve Phillips (How We Win the Civil War: Securing a Multiracial Democracy and Ending White Supremacy for Good), Elle Cross from Mano Amiga (5/2/24), and the leaders of UU Ministry for Earth and Side with Love on Moving from Environmentalism to Climate Justice (5/9/24). All events are FREE, online, and open to everyone. Register and get more info! . TXUUJM is also your source for Texas UU the Vote efforts this election year!
Sign up for TXUUJM emails to get the latest news and actions.
May 4th Local Election
On the Saturday, May 4th ballot for voters in the Travis Central Appraisal District (TCAD) [coincident with Travis County] is, for the first time, the election of three members to the TCAD Board of Directors.
What does the appraisal district’s board do?
Up to now, core tasks were hiring the chief appraiser and approving the district’s budget. Now they will also appoint members to the Appraisal Review Board – the group who settle property value disputes between property owners and district appraisers.
If we elect the wrong folks to the board of directors, they can cause chaos in our property values and underfund public services (e.g. schools, EMS, fire departments, etc.), so we encourage everyone to to research the candidates and to vote!
Early voting will be April 22nd through April 30th.
Celebrate Earth Month
This month is Earth Month below is a wonderful calendar of Austin events celebrating our Earth Home. Before we get there have you seen the award on the church wall by the double gallery doors? It says Our five-acre lot, has been certified as an official National Wildlife Federation (NWF) Backyard Wildlife Habitat site for its ongoing efforts to cultivate the church grounds with native plants and wildlife-friendly features. The certification is awarded to sites that use native plants to attract and sustain wildlife. The project was the brainchild of church members Pat and Dale Bulla, who have a deep interest in environmental issues. “We took the NWF Habitat training and our church members were excited to make this happen”
We are currently blessed with our church five-acre home being cared for by our own Earth Keepers! You can pitch in with this fun verdant crew, contact wonderful Wrangler Donna Carpenter: drdonnacarpent
Hope you, your family and friends can can share our Earth Keepers and these Austin events:
Unwound Sound Concert: Duo Amie
First UU’s resident arts group Unwound Sound is proud to present Boston’s Duo Amie on Friday, April 19th at 8 p.m. in our Sanctuary. Duo Amie will perform “In Her Own Key: a Celebration of Cello & Piano Works by Women, and a freewill offering will benefit the organization Black Mamas.”
Ellyses Kuan and Julie Reimann
Praised for their “brilliant virtuosity and evocative musicality”, Duo Amie (Julie Reimann, cello and Ellyses Kuan, piano) is a Boston-based cello/piano duo with an active performing schedule and online presence, dedicated to inspiring and bringing diverse people together with thematic musical programs that capture the imagination through musical expression and visual elements. They will perform a program of pieces titled ‘In Her Own Key’ on Friday, April 19th as part of our Unwound Sound Series, celebrating pioneering female visionaries Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Clara Schumann, Amy Beach, Rebecca Clarke and Florence Price.
The program, which includes Beach’s beautiful ‘Romance’ and Price’s virtuosic ‘Fantasie in g minor’, will be interspersed by commentary on the pieces as well as visual art. Reimann and Kuan are world-class trained musicians who have performed nationally and internationally. They founded Duo Amie in 2015 to bring people together through the beauty and universality of music. Equally at home in classical, contemporary, and popular music forms, Duo Amie has been praised for its virtuosity, expressivity, and engaging presence. Visit www.duoamie.org to learn more or check out this event on Facebook.
Rina’s Concert Invite!
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!
The concert is called Inversion at the Library, and it’s on Saturday, April 13 at 7:30pm at the Austin Public (Central) Library downtown. The organization I’m part of, Inversion, firmly believes in amplifying through music the voices of those who are marginalized and vulnerable, and this concert represents so much of our core philosophy.
Stories of the common lived experiences of immigrants are at the heart of this concert that heavily features my professional treble chorus Da Capo in their debut performance under my direction. These songs, most of them by BIPOC composers and poets, take us through different sound worlds that weave together a tapestry of shared joys, heartaches, hopes, and dreams. We’re performing in a couple of different languages (Arabic, Spanish, Maguindanaon, Somali, Vietnamese, etc.) aside from English, and text and translations will be projected on screen, so you can follow along and also understand what we’re singing about.
I’ll be sharing the stage with Inversion Artistic Director Trevor Shaw who conducts the rest of Inversion’s family of ensembles—our mixed-voice professional ensemble, Coda (50 and up), and Nova (youth choir)—in performing music from different cultures around the world.
One of our First UU of Austin Monthly Offering recipients, Casa Marianella, will also be present at the concert as they are our Inversion Cares partner. (Inversion matches an organization with a particular concert theme to bring awareness to the work and needs of these organizations. We invite their representatives to the concert to share and interact with our audiences.)
Tickets can be bought at inversionatthelibrary.
I hope to see you there!
Warmly,
Rina
Stories of the common lived experiences of immigrants are at the heart of this concert that heavily features my professional treble chorus Da Capo in their debut performance under my direction. These songs, most of them by BIPOC composers and poets, take us through different sound worlds that weave together a tapestry of shared joys, heartaches, hopes, and dreams. We’re performing in a couple of different languages (Arabic, Spanish, Maguindanaon, Somali, Vietnamese, etc.) aside from English, and text and translations will be projected on screen, so you can follow along and also understand what we’re singing about.
I’ll be sharing the stage with Inversion Artistic Director Trevor Shaw who conducts the rest of Inversion’s family of ensembles—our mixed-voice professional ensemble, Coda (50 and up), and Nova (youth choir)—in performing music from different cultures around the world.
One of our First UU of Austin Monthly Offering recipients, Casa Marianella, will also be present at the concert as they are our Inversion Cares partner. (Inversion matches an organization with a particular concert theme to bring awareness to the work and needs of these organizations. We invite their representatives to the concert to share and interact with our audiences.)
Tickets can be bought at inversionatthelibrary.
I hope to see you there!
Warmly,
Rina
Rising Temperatures
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”.
Eagle Scout Project Fundraiser for Outdoor Benches
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.
Monthly Service Offering for April
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!
Texas UU Justice Ministry NEWS: Join us in the Work of Democracy!
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.
Green Sanctuary Film Festival Recap and Upcoming Events
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
International Uranium Film Festival
Please join members of Green Sanctuary!
Monday, March 18th from 6 – 9:30 p.m. at AFS Cinema, 6259 Middle Fiskville Road, for the Uranium Film Festival’s first Austin event, a tour that will travel to 13 cities in two months.
The two award-winning films are especially relevant in Texas, where small modular nuclear reactors are now proposed and the fight to halt high-level radioactive waste dumping continues in the courts.
The films are Atomic Bamboozle: The False Promise of a Nuclear Renaissance (46 min.) & Downwind (95 min.). Atomic Bamboozle debunks the idea that nuclear energy should play a role in fixing the climate crisis. Downwind, with Michael Douglas & Martin Sheen, focuses on the toxic consequences of 928 nuclear detonations on American soil. Both films highlight impacts on Indigenous communities.
Also coming up soon: 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.
Public Affairs Forum
“The Texas Observer”
Interim Editor In Chief, Gus Bova, and Executive Director, Loren Lynch
In 1954 when we first began our Public Affairs Forum, the first speaker was a young Ronnie Dugger, editor of the newly founded Texas Observer. Although representatives have appeared several times in the last 70 years, they return again Sunday, March 24 from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
Topic: “The Future of Non-Profit and Print Journalism.”
Print journalism is struggling to survive all across the United States. Join us for this discussion of the importance, issues, and future of print journalism.
Sunday, April 14 – Austin Mayor Kirk Watson
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.
