12/20/2021 Some highlights (details and more news below): Sunday, December 19 This morning, Rev. Nancy TannerThies continued exploring our monthly theme of “Opening to Joy.” The way Christmas decorations and sales seem to creep earlier and earlier each year reveals our eagerness for joy, but often our pains and discomforts loom larger in our consciousness,…

Highlights: Sunday, December 12This morning, we were welcomed to join in online services with our neighbors at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbia as they celebrated their successful accessibility capital campaign. Through readings, recordings, and reflections by UUCC members, they brought forth the voices of people with disabilities about inclusion as spiritual practice. The abled…

Sunday, December 5 This morning, Rev. Mike Adamek joined us to begin our month of reflections on “Opening to Joy.” Joy, Rev. Mike said, cannot be manufactured; it always comes as a surprise, but we can open ourselves to welcome those surprises when they come. If we harden ourselves because of our hurts so that…

10/26/2020 Our November newsletter is now ready to view or download:UUFJC November 2020 Newsletter This Sunday, we were invited to join our neighbors at the UU Church of Columbia for their annual Remembrance Service. In this time of year when Earth-based and other faith traditions call us to a special closeness with those who have…

10/19/2020 Sunday morning, Rev. Nancy TannerThies continued exploring our monthly theme of “Deep Listening.” Many of the evils of our world arise from “agreed-upon delusions” that we go along with quietly and thoughtlessly. The answer is not to try to be islands unto ourselves — “reality” is always a collective endeavor. Instead, Rev. Nancy suggested…

10/12/2020 This Sunday, we were invited to join our neighbors at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbia for a service focused on anger. Many of us have been hurt by anger or taught to suppress it, and it is important to check in with yourself and take care of yourself in approaching it. Still, it…

10/5/2020 This Sunday, Rev Mike Adamek joined us to begin exploring our theme for October: “Deep Listening.” Mike talked about active listening – i.e. asking questions and replying so that the speaker knows they are being heard. Then he went on to say that is not the same as deep listening, where you listen to…

9/28/2020 Our October Newsletter is now ready to view:UUFJC Newsletter, October 2020 This Sunday, we were invited to join our neighbors at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbia for a service focusing on our Universalist roots and the renewal their message offers. Two hundred fifty years ago this week, according to UU legend, John Murray…

9/21/2020 This Sunday, our own Rev. Nancy TannerThies joined us to continue exploring our monthly theme of “Renewal.”  In these times, many of us seek a renewal of the energy sapped by strange situations and unsettling news, but Rev. Nancy also led us to think about the renewal of the promises in our lives —…

9/14/2020 This Sunday, our President, Katherine Connor, shared a reading from the Unitarian Universalist Association’s Braver/Wiser resources: “Where The Action Is” by James Gertmenian.  Gertmenian writes: “Love without justice is not love. Compassion without deeds is not compassion. Faith without action is not faith. And religion without politics is not religion.”  Katherine reflected on her own…

9/7/2020 This morning, Rev. Mike joined us to begin exploring our September theme of “Renewal.”  Rev. Mike explained his message title “Always Keep a Diamond in Your Mind”, a song by Solomon Burke, meaning to be able to renew ourselves from the inside out.  He also shared many jewels from the book “The Miracle of Mindfulness”…

8/31/2020 Our September Newsletter is now ready to view or download:UUFJC September 2020 Newsletter These times of continuing pandemic and harm call on us both to accept what we cannot change, to adapt to the realities in order to keep each other safe, but also, in the words of Angela Davis, to change what we…

8/24/2020 This Sunday, we were invited to join our neighbors at the UU Church of Columbia for a message by Rev. Molly Housh Gordon about whether we believe in monsters.  UUs often pride ourselves on nuance, complexity, and going beyond black and white.  We are the kinds of people who tell our comic-book-loving children “we…

8/24/2020 UUFJC is holding a fundraiser selling masks.  These were made by a Jefferson City business.  We are selling them for $10 each.  You can order via call or email to a board member, or contact Katherine Connor at connok510@gmail.com.  We will arrange pick-up or delivery.  Please specify which mask(s) you would like when ordering.

8/17/2020 Please take our survey to help us plan how to meet during this pandemic:UUFJC In-Person & Online Meeting Survey This Sunday, our own Rev. Nancy TannerThies joined us for a Zoom service exploring Bewilderment.  Bewilderment is a common experience in these uncommon times, indeed a universal experience in any time, though we may try…

8/10/2020 This Sunday, we were happy to welcome back Rev. Mike Adamek for his first online service with us.  Rev. Mike focused on the history of Unitarian Universalist Fellowships like ours — congregations formed by lay people coming together, not led by a professional minister.  UUs in general value individual freedom, and in Fellowships this…

4/26/2020 Our May newsletter and print calendar are now ready to view or download:NewsletterAppendix – Annual Meeting Agenda (No print calendar this month) Note – some Zoom meeting IDs listed in the newsletter do not become active until after May 1st.See our other posts for links current this week.

4/26/2020 Our May newsletter and print calendar are now ready to view or download:NewsletterAppendix – Annual Meeting Agenda(No print calendar this month)Note – some Zoom meeting IDs listed in the newsletter do not become active until May.  See below for links current this week. This week, we did not have our own online services, but…

4/19/2020 This morning, we met in a virtual service via Zoom and heard from our own Rev. Nancy TannerThies.  Rev. Nancy shared the concept of “Acedia” — a mental or spiritual lassitude known to early Christian monks in their isolated devotions, a state that makes days stretch forever and every action feel pointless.  In our…

4/17/2020 We have new information since our weekly update: This Sunday we will have online services via Zoom with a message from Rev. Nancy TannerThies: Join Zoom Meetinghttps://zoom.us/j/92256965406?pwd=bEN0T0xpOVdzVVk1dm5QMzZ3Mythdz09 Meeting ID: 922 5696 5406Password: 000413One tap mobile+13126266799,,92256965406#,,#,000413# US (Chicago)+16465588656,,92256965406#,,#,000413# US (New York) Dial by your location+1 253 215 8782 US        +1 301 715…

4/12/2020 This morning, thanks to the work of our worship team, we at UUFJC were able to come together once again and observe our annual Flower Communion online via Zoom.  While we missed our usual ritual of bringing flowers together with their stems and petals in our hands, we shared images of flowers, reflections on…

4/10/2020 In a new development since our weekly update, we will be holding a virtual observance of our annual Flower Communion this Sunday, April 12th at 10:30 am.  We hope you can join us! Join Zoom Meetinghttps://zoom.us/j/854606889?pwd=RHlOYVN2aUQ4RCt1dTFjYzM2SnF1QT09 Meeting ID: 854 606 889Password: 080973​One tap mobile+13126266799,,854606889#,,#,080973# US (Chicago) Dial by your location        +1…

4/5/2020 This morning, we continued our revived Adult Forum with the occasional and always-beautiful poetry forum led by Bob Boldt.  Among the poems shared was this: In the Time of Pandemicby Kitty O’Meara  And the people stayed home. And they read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and…

12/29/2019 Our January Calendar is now available to view or download:UUFJC January 2020 Calendar.Our January newsletter has been delayed due to the holidays and will be available next Sunday.

12/29/2019 Our January Calendar is now available to view or download: UUFJC January 2020 Calendar.Our January newsletter has been delayed due to the holidays and will be available next Sunday. Today, for our last Sunday service of 2019, we observed our annual ritual of letting go. Our usual fire ceremony was unavailable, and this time…

12/22/2019 his morning, Alexis continued our month of reflections on Awe. Awe, she pointed out, is a word for a feeling that often goes beyond what words can express. As such, rather than a typical sermon, Alexis led us in making small strings of beads as a sensory aid to focusing on presence and intention.…

12/15/2019 From our Vice President: Due to the weather forecast, which is calling for significant snowfall amounts, I’m going to go ahead and cancel service this morning, December 15. Although the snow hasn’t started yet [at time of writing], all the forecasts I’ve checked are saying it will begin sometime this morning and I don’t…

12/15/2019 Our services were canceled today due to the weather — Nature took its turn at putting us in Awe of its power. While we missed out on a sermon from Rev. Nancy TannerThies, she shares these words: Kathleen Vohs writes:“Awe is quite threatening in certain ways, and something that is challenging and unwelcome [it]can…

12/8/2019 This morning, Alexis continued our month of reflections on Awe with a story from the Hebrew Bible: the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the Fiery Furnace (Daniel, chapter 3). Faced with the glorious spectacle of an occupying empire and even with the full threat of its violence, these characters still remained true…

12/1/2019 This morning, Rev. Mike Adamek joined us to open our month of reflections on Awe. Often we feel a wonderment that we label “awe” from the sense experience of overwhelming reality or from the dawning of knowledge, but Rev. Mike argued that true awe requires the wisdom to appreciate the power of what we’re…

11/24/2019 Our December Newsletter and Print Calendar are ready. Paper copies are available at the Fellowship, and electronic copies are available to view or download: NewsletterCalendar

11/24/2019 Our December Newsletter and Print Calendar are ready. Paper copies are available at the Fellowship, and electronic copies are available to view or download:NewsletterCalendar This morning, Alexis helped us conclude our month of reflection on Attention and celebrate our annual Bread Communion. We often find our attention drawn to fleeting things, whether it’s the…

11/17/2019 This morning, Rev. Nancy TannerThies continued our month of reflections on Attention, and she shared a story she was told about her childhood, that she would stand in the backyard of her family’s home in a wind-swept part of the country, shaking her small fists and crying “Stop it, Wind! Stop it!” In these…

11/10/2019 This morning, we continued our month of focus on “Attention.” We UUs count among the Sources of our Living Tradition “Wisdom from the world’s religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life.” As such, we are called to pay attention to the beliefs of others. To that end, this morning we enjoyed…

11/3/2019 This morning, Rev. Mike Adamek began our month of reflections on “Attention” with a message he described thus: “Ralph Waldo Emerson was a master at focusing our attention on what was worthy in a life well lived. We must celebrate the miracles in the mundane if we have ears to hear and eyes to…

11/3/2019 Apologies for lateness in giving this its own post… Our November Newsletter and Print Calendar are now ready. Paper copies are available at the Fellowship, and electronic copies are available to view or download:NewsletterCalendar

8/25/2019 Our September newsletter and print calendar are now ready to view or download:NewsletterCalendar

8/25/2019 This morning, we were joined by Doug Hill from First Unitarian Universalist Church of Springfield, Missouri.  Doug shared with us his philosophy of uncertainty.  Having emerged from decades in a fundamentalist cult to now identify as Agnostic, he pointed out that Agnosticism is not lazy shrugging or moral fence-sitting, but a principled commitment to truth…

8/18/2019 !This Sunday, Rev. Nancy TannerThies continued our month of reflections on “Invitation.”  What does it mean to make a deep invitation — to invite yourself, your whole self, and others into the moment?  Building on a reading about seeing a grizzly bear in the wild, Rev. Nancy pointed out that often we reduce our…

8/11/2019 This morning, Rev. Mike Adamek continued our month of exploring “Invitation.”  In his own words: I am speaking of invitation as an informal request not a command hidden as a request.  I am convinced that invitations happen all the time, yet they pass us by when we do not hear them as requests.  What…

8/4/2019 This Sunday, Alexis returned to begin our new month of reflections on “Invitation.”  Invitation, she said, is both a joy and a risk: every person, event, or idea that we invite in brings change to our lives.  Change means letting go of control, risking embarrassment and pain, but if we try to cling to…

6/30/2019 Our July newsletter and print calendar are ready!  Paper copies are available at the Fellowship in the wall box hear the coat rack.  Electronic copies are available to view or download:​NewsletterCalendar

6/30/2019 Our July newsletter and print calendar are ready!  Paper copies are available at the Fellowship in the wall box hear the coat rack.  Electronic copies are available to view or download:NewsletterCalendar This morning, our own Alexis wrapped up our month of reflection on Beauty and began introducing our theme for July: Resistance.  Citing Plato’s…

6/23/2019 This morning, despite the gray skies, we had a lovely service at Riverside Park Pavilion, where our own Alexis continued our month of reflections on Beauty.  Beauty, she said, has two meanings that are sometimes at odds with each other: that which gives pleasure to the senses, and that which pleasurably exalts the mind…

6/16/2019 It’s Rummage Sale time!  We are now accepting donations and setting up for our big sale, coming this Saturday, June 22nd, from 7 am to noon.  See below for more information. This Sunday, Rev. Nancy TannerThies continued our month exploring Beauty.  In grappling with what it means to be people of beauty, she was led…

6/9/2019 This week, we were joined by Rev. Michelle Scott-Huffman, formerly minister of Table of Grace here in Jefferson City, now a campus minister at Missouri State University in Springfield.  As Michelle pointed out, it’s often easier for us to talk about what’s ugly in life than to talk about its beauty.  Not only can…

6/2/2019 This morning, Rev. Mike Adamek returned to begin our month of reflections on Beauty.  Beauty, he said, goes deeper than what appeals to our senses and to our particular tastes; it is also tied to the conceptual world when ideas come together, and to ethical standards of truth and goodness.  Mere prettiness without understanding,…

9/24/2018 This Sunday, we continued our month of exploring Vision with a sermon via video from our wider UU Community.  Rev. Wendy Williams, senior minister of Jefferson Unitarian Church in Golden, Colorado, explored the idea of “Long Hauls.”  It’s famously said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and that…

9/17/2018 This Sunday, Rev. Nancy TannerThies continued our monthly theme of Vision with reflections on our blind spots.  When we envision the world we believe in and want, how can we see our way into the little corner of it that’s ours to create — and out of the little corner of the current world…

9/10/2018 ​This Sunday, we celebrated our annual Water Communion with reflections from recently-joined member Rita Dockery.  Rita highlighted how water binds all of life together, whether in the view from the sky that reveals our blue, watery planet and renders borders invisible, or in the knowledge that water is elemental to all life, residing in…