OUUC Weekly Update
November 26, 2024
MONTHLY BATTERY AND BULB COLLECTION
Sunday, December 1
Welcome to December this Sunday!
Your OUUC Environmental Action Team will be happy to take your dead batteries and fluorescent bulbs. Come by our table in the Commons and see what else we're working on!
Thanksgiving Potluck
Thursday, November 28, 2 pm
All are welcome to join us for our Potluck Thanksgiving Gathering this year. Sign up with how many are coming, what food you'll bring, and if you can help with set up or clean up here.
There will be no 5:30 dinner that day.
Death Cafe at OUUC
Monday, December 2, 4:30 pm
Join us for our monthly Death Cafes at OUUC, supported through Pastoral Care & Adult Faith Development and facilitated by Jenee Wolfram, certified End of Life Doula. Death Cafes are not a grief support group but an informal, death positive, group-led space for conversations about all things death and dying. This is a drop-in program. All are welcome! Let’s normalize conversations around death and dying, bringing this long taboo topic out into the light. And, did I mention THERE WILL BE TEA & CAKE!?!
Moving Toward Wholeness Class
Begins Wednesday December 4, 6:30 pm, On Zoom
Moving Toward Wholeness: Addressing Religious Trauma and Toxicity, taught by Rev. Sara Lewis. Our religious experiences and communities can be places of great healing and hope, and they can also be a source of toxicity and trauma. This class will be a place to reflect and process the experiences, beliefs, and teachings that have wounded and may still be toxic for us. We will move toward greater wholeness and understandings that are healing. Register here.
Sit & Stitch
Thursday, December 5, 6:30 pm
The Sewing Ministry will host a monthly Sit & Stitch on the first Thursday of each month. We will meet after the Community Dinner. Bring your hand sewing, crocheting, knittng, cross stitch, embroidery, etc. to work on and enjoy company and conversation!
Beginners welcome! At times, there may be quilts to bind, and we may offer workshops, depending on interest. See you there!
Social Justice Book Group
In December and January the social justice book group will be reading and discussing Bridges to Heal US: Stories and Strategies for Racial Healing by local author and educator Erin Jones.
We’ll be meeting to discuss this book on December 12th and Jan 16th after the Thursday night dinner.
If you are interested in joining the discussion, please register here, or reach out to Whitney Godby or Kirsten Hill for more information.
NEW OUUC Mass Deportation Team
Are you interested in joining other OUUC members to help prepare for mass deportation if/when it comes to Thurston County? Steve Tilley is interested in starting a team with a focus on ensuring that our County and city governments have strong policies about not cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). We want around 5 or more church members in order to be an official Faith in Action Team. It would be great to start with a meeting before the holidays.
If you’re interested, please send Steve your name and email address and enter your availability in this online poll. If you can't make this meeting but would like to be kept informed about our activities and future meetings, let us know.
Holiday Gift Card Collection for LP Brown Elementary
Rev. Sara is collecting gifts cards now for families at our neighborhood elementary school, LP Brown.
The school reports to us that they are seeing rising levels of need this year, and our donations can help their families have a joyful holiday.
They ask for gift cards all in $25 amounts for ease of distribution, to stores where families can meet a variety of needs (such as Walmart, Target, major grocery stores).
Bring your gift cards to Rev. Sara no later than Sunday December 8th.
Urge President Biden on breaching the Snake River dams
Now is the time to flood President Biden with cards, letters and artwork asking him to breach the lower Snake River dams.
Ask President Biden to breach the dams and create a lasting legacy not just for himself, but for our salmon, Tribes and Southern Resident Orcas. We've recently lost another orca and we are now down to 72 the lowest level since 1974. We also have over a dozen SR Orcas who are not expected to survive if things don't change quickly. Please ask your friends, family, colleagues and social partners to join the effort. We need this done now. When the new administration gets in, the struggle will become, very, very difficult.You can reach out online, via email, text (302-404-0880) or mail (1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500, USA).
Seeking Candidates for the OUUC Board and the LDC
Are you interested in furthering the vision and mission of OUUC as a member of the Board of Trustees? Are you interested in further exploring enhanced communication and leadership opportunities as a member of the Leadership Development Committee?
The Board of Trustees is responsible to the will of the OUUC congregational members in setting church policies and overseeing the business, property and other affairs of the congregation. Members with finance, accounting, legal expertise, communication, and community outreach skills will be encouraged, though these skills are not required. A love for the OUUC community and a passion for our mission is most important.
The Leadership Development Committee (LDC) is responsible for identifying OUUC members with desirable skills and experience for the Board and LDC. Each year the LDC seeks members to be nominated for the Board and LDC positions to replace outgoing members. The LDC is responsible for working with the Board of Trustees to determine what skills and abilities are currently needed in leadership positions. In additions, the LDC assists with identifying and strengthening communication, visioning and leadership skills throughout the congregation.
The LDC will be actively involved in its search for new Board and LDC members for 2025 right after the New Year holiday. If you are interested in an open position or know of someone who would be a good candidate for the Board or LDC, please contact one of the members of the current LDC team: Gail Gosney Wrede, Anne Kohlbry, Des, McGahern, Josie Solseng and Nancy Curtiss.
Post-Election Resources from Side with Love:
After this year’s election, we must come together to nourish our spirits and move in our collective power. This is about more than one election; it is about grounding ourselves in the values and communities that drive our fight for justice. No matter your issue — climate justice, democracy, gender justice, or decriminalization — we are in this work together.
This final session included an invitation for congregations to do the preparatory groundwork for meeting this moment as well as analysis from UUs in organizing who shared what they see as immediate needs for UU response.
- View the recording
- Special comments from Rev. Angela Tyler-Williams, Co-Director for Movement Building for SACReD (Spiritual Alliance of Communities for Reproductive Dignity)
Resources only for for Black, Indigenous, People of Color:
- Pastoral Care from Black Lives of UU for Black UUs
- Vespers and other spiritual tending spaces from DRUUMM for BIPOC UUs
Resources Mentioned
- UUSC CAPAS Program
- United We Dream
- Detention Watch Network
- List of local bail and bond funds
- List of resources and calls to action around immigration
- How to map your congregation’s assets to put in service of community
- SACReD
- Woven Together webinar series
- Curriculum Facilitator Training Registration
- Community Resilience Hub
OUUC Holiday Hours
The office will be closed tomorrow, Wednesday 11/27, and Thursday, 11/28. Additionally, OUUC will be closed December 25-January 4 (except for the outdoor Sunday service on 12/29). The office will be checking messages and emails on non-holiday days during this period and will reopen on Sunday, December 5.
New Weekly Office Hours Begin This Week!
Starting on December 1st, Office Assistant Rosie will be available in the front office:
Tuesday and Thursday from 12-4
and Sunday during services.