Author: UUFJC1

1/19/2014 Today, our own Karen Beahan brought us a message about embracing change.  There’s something in human nature that fears change; the status quo feels safe, even if we know we aren’t happy with things as they are, but Karen encouraged us to practice making changes, even small ones, to develop a friendlier relationship with…

1/12/2014 As suddenly as the weather turned bad last week, it turned lovely this week, we were able to have our first meeting of 2014.  It was great to see everyone again! This morning, Kath Connor and Sharon Morgan shared with us their experiences with Faith Voices for Jefferson City (formerly known as Jefferson City…

1/5/2014 Our services are cancelled today due to the heavy snow and dangerously cold temperatures moving into the area.  Stay inside and warm if you can, and if you must go out, take extra precautions and stay safe! Be alert for cancellations of the events we have scheduled for this week: Guest At Your Table…

12/30/2013 By the next post here it’ll be 2014!  At service yesterday, Katherine led us through letting go of some of the old things and embracing a new beginning with the Fire Communion, as well as the reading “How to Begin” by Rev. Forrest Church; (a PDF version is available through the First Unitarian Church of San…

12/23/2013 Unfortunately, I missed Rev. Nancy’s Solstice Service yesterday due to dicey weather and holiday preparations, but I have been getting into the holiday spirit.  While watching some Christmas videos, as an old Mystery Science Theater fan, I ran into some veterans of its cast in the Rifftrax Christmas Short Film Extravaganza (which is great…

12/16/2013 Yesterday our own Don Love brought us a message based on the Ware Lecture by Karen Armstrong at the 2011 UUA General Conference, followed by a very lively discussion.  Armstrong identifies Ancient Greek civic theatre — in particular, the famous plays of Sophocles, Euripides, and others — as a kind of religion, a communal ritual in…

12/9/2013 This past week, the world mourned the loss and celebrated the life of Nelson Mandela, the anti-Apartheid leader and first democratically-elected president of South Africa, who became a hero and an inspiration to many people of every race throughout the world.  In media reports, again and again I heard praise for how, after Apartheid…

12/2/2013 Yesterday was a fun service to start getting us all into the spirit of the holiday season.  Rev. Mike shared a story about family Christmas traditions and foods with the whole congregation, young and old, and we followed it up with a delicious potluck meal.  Some of us later decamped to the Forum Room…

11/25/2013 The weather at last has taken a sharp turn for the wintry, and the Holiday Season is upon us!  This Thursday brings the American ritual of Thanksgiving, and while it’s worth thinking twice about all those Pilgrims-and-Indians images, it is always worth the deceptively challenging and vulnerable work of embracing gratitude, as Rev. Nancy reminded us…

11/18/2013 Yesterday we were visited by Prof. Cliff Cain of Westminster College, who described what he saw as the three greatest challenges facing religion in the 21st century: Religious Diversity, the interaction of Religion and Science, and Environmental Issues.  For the second week in a row we gave a warm welcome to a Christian speaker…