OUUC Weekly Update
December 3, 2024
Events this Sunday!
HOLIDAY COOKIES FOR SALE
What are the Holidays without a beautiful box of cookies to share with friends and family?
The Cookie Brigade will be selling cookies at church on December 8th and we will also deliver to homes in Olympia, Lacey, or Tumwater. The suggested donation for a box of approximately two dozen assorted cookies is $20. If you would like to pre-order a box (or two) of cookies, email Melanie Ransom. In the email state 1)How many boxes, 2)Regular or Gluten-Free, 3) Pick up at church or delivery. You can pay with cash or check at the time of pick-up or delivery, or by credit card at this site. We’ll have cookie boxes available for purchase on December 8th after the service. All funds raised will go to the General Fund. Questions? Contact Melanie Ransom.
After Service Forum (11:30 am): Being an Ally Skillbuilder
Join us at the Sunday forum this week to learn some skills for being an ally to those facing increased discrimination and harm, to make a commitment to allyship, and to receive a "Safe with Me" pin you can wear.
On November 21, Side With Love, BLUU, and DRUUMM hosted Tools for Tending: Post-Election Spiritual Care Space. This 2-hour special event was designed to help tend our spirits through somatic practices, spiritual grounding, and small group connection.
Combining structured elements, reflection time, music, facilitated caucus spaces, and visioning exercises, we hope participants felt grounded, strengthened, and held.
Watch the recording here.
SURG/GEAR UP 10-Week Training Series for White People to Fight Back Under Trump
Weekly Wednesdays, December 4 to February 12, 5 pm-6:30 pm
From dangerous, under-qualified cabinet appointees to previewing an authoritarian agenda, MAGA is getting in formation to hit the ground running in January 2025. That means we also have just under two months to get ready, rest up, and rise to meet the moment.
Gear Up is a learning, training, and action program with experts from social justice movements across the country and the world. Can you join us? Read full description and register here.
All Ages Holiday Films and Snowflake Making
Thursday, December 5, 6:30 pm
Get into the seasonal spirit!
Children and people of all ages are invited to join Anissa this Thursday to make snowflakes and enjoy holiday short films together.
Community Dinner: Comfort Foods and December Birthdays!
Thursday, December 5, 5:30 pm
Parent Group
Thursday, December 5, 6:30 pm
All who are parenting or caregiving for children of any age are welcome to join us for mutual sharing and support at the monthly Parent group. This month we will be talking about how to navigate extended families, co-parenting, dating, and other relationships as parents.
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!
New UU Class
Thursday, December 5, 6:30 pm
This class is for everyone interested in becoming a member of OUUC or simply interested in learning more about OUUC.
We encourage you to attend as many of the Thursday sessions in person as possible, but if you cannot make a session we have online resources to review content similar to what we will explore in that class. Find those resources here.
12/5 Worship and the OUUC Liturgical Year with Rev Mary
Youth Group and All Ages Game Night
Thursday, December 12 6:30 pm
All youth in middle and high school are welcome at our youth group meetings which meet on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month. This month we only meet on the 12th, for our youth holiday party with white elephant gift exchange. Contact Rev. Sara or Anissa with any questions or for more details.
All Ages are invited to enjoy board and card games together in the commons. Bring a game you'd like to share.
Dances of Universal Peace
Thursday, December 12, 6:30 pm
Dances of Universal Peace is an embodied, transformative spiritual practice touching the essence of all traditions around the world. They include simple movements to live music. All are welcome, no experience necessary, dances are taught to the whole group each time. We hope you will come and lift your voice, your hands, and your spirit as we allow a variety of dances to work in our hearts as yeast works a loaf of bread. A cash donation will be collected for musicians
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
Tuesday, December 10, 7 pm
Are you interested in joining OUUC members to help prepare for mass deportation if/when it comes to Thurston County? Steve Tilley is starting a Faith in Action team with a focus on ensuring that our County and city governments have strong policies about not cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). If you would like to work together on this or other issues related to mass deportation, please join us. If you would like to attend the meeting or get on our mailing list to follow our activities, please contact Steve Tilley.
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.
Childrens Class: World Blessings
Registration is open now for our next 8 week children's class series offered on Thursdays 6:30-7:30.
An important tenet of Unitarian Universalism is an appreciation of our world and its many blessings.
This curriculum seeks to introduce our world’s diverse countries, religions, and holidays through the shared activity of cooking.
Register here.
Support the Joy and Justice Book and Gift Giveaway
December 16-18 is the 5th Annual Joy and Justice Giveaway organized by local activist Talauna Reed. You can support by donating or volunteering. Donate here.
If you want to volunteer with Anne and have capacity to carpool to volunteer with set up on Saturday Dec 14, 8:15am-12:30pm, please coordinate with Anne Hundley by Thursday Dec. 12. Thank you!
THIRD ACT WASHINGTON (TAWA) Advocacy Training Get Ready to Defend the Planet
Thursday, December 12, 2024, 5pm
Prepare to defend the planet with this 1-hour training. We live in the Capital; it's easy to meet with our legislators on up-coming climate issues (like the bill to move our pension funds out of coal).
Former state legislator, Mary Lou Dickerson, and longtime climate activist, Selden Prentice, will lead this TAWA training on how to meet with your legislators and make a strong case for climate. Register here.
From Your OUUC Stewardship Team
You are cordially invited to attend a Gather, Grow & Guide Session in support of the OUUC. We will gather in the homes of fellow congregation members for light refreshments and meaningful conversations about what OUUC means to each of us. During these small group sessions, we’ll share stories, build connections, and deepen our sense of community. There will be several gatherings to choose from, with different dates, times and locations. Each will last approximately 1.5 hours and will be framed by three focal points:
Gather: Gather stories on ways we nurture and are nurtured by OUUC. Grow: Explore our path towards growth and the five ways to grow. Rev. Mary will offer a short, supporting video on this topic. Guide: Collect guidance and advice on how OUUC can achieve the goals it set for 2025.
Please join us for meaningful conversation, fellowship, and the joy of being in community. Sign-up here for a time and date that works best for you, or contact Wendy Tanner and she will help you get signed up. Thank you so much for contributing to this important exercise to nurture our community and move toward the future with hope and success.
New Prayer Group with Jasper Llee
Saturday, December 21, 10:30 am
“The urge to pray is universal. We know of no cultures, past or present, in which prayer does not occur. People pray when they are happy and sad, during celebrations and tragedies, at births and deaths, during peace and war, in cathedrals and cars, in poverty and plenty. Prayer, it seems, is in our blood.”
-Larry Dossey
“Prayer does not change things; prayer changes people, and people change things…. Prayer is not hearing voices, prayer is acquiring a voice.”
-Reinhold Neibuhr
Prayer can be a powerful tool in your own, individual spiritual life and the power of that practice is multiplied when shared with others. Join us on the third Saturday of every month for a group prayer time. In the UU fashion, prayer may be spoken or silent and belief in god or any creed is not a requirement!
New Weekly Office Hours Begin This Week!
Office Assistant Rosie will be available in the front office:
Tuesday and Thursday from 12-4
and Sunday during services.