Yesterday morning, we continued our month of reflections on Generosity by turning our attention to the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee and its annual holiday season support drive, Guest At Your Table. We shared a message via video from a previous campaign, when then-UUSC president Rev. Mary Katherine Morn spoke on “Power, Partnership, and Change” at…

Our November newsletter is now ready to view or download:UUFJC Newsletter, Flame on the Water, November 2023 Yesterday morning, Rev. Nancy TannerThies joined us to begin our month of reflections on Generosity by exploring the question: “What is the Proper Response?” I did not hear the message myself, but Rev. Nancy’s title reminds me that…

Yesterday morning, we continued our month of focus on Heritage by looking again at the place of the Seven Principles in our UU Faith heritage. We shared a message originally delivered by Rev. David Schwartz at the UU Church of Boulder in February this year on “How (and Why) We Got Our Unitarian Universalist 7…

Our November newsletter is in the works.We hope to send it out within the next several days. Yesterday morning, we wrapped up our month of reflections on Heritage with the second of two sermons by Rev. David Schwartz of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder, considering the Seven UU Principles, the heritage they represent, and…

9/29/2023 The October newsletter has been delayed. Our editor is deeply grateful for everyone’s patience. Yesterday morning, we wrapped up our month of reflections on Welcome as Lisa Sanning read a sermon by Rev. Jone Johnson Lewis. Lewis described the UU aspiration of welcome as: “to grow and develop our capacity, and the world’s capacity,…

9/21/2023 Yesterday morning, we celebrated our annual Water Communion. Those attending brought samples of water to add to a communal bowl and shared how that water represented something significant to them. In past years, we have begun each year’s Water Communion with water saved from previous years. Unfortunately, the water we had saved was lost…

9/13/2023 Note: Next Sunday is our annual Water Communion. Those attending our service are asked to bring small samples of water representing somewhere or something significant to them. Yesterday morning, George Grimm-Howell joined us to continue exploring our theme for September: Welcome. Beyond our own services, creating a broad welcome is a major goal of…

9/7/2023 Our September Newsletter is now ready to view or download:UUFJC Newsletter: Flame on the Water, September 2023 Yesterday morning, we gathered again at our interim location to wrap up our month of focus on Beloved Community with a message via video from Rev. Michelle Scott-Huffman and our friends at First UU of Springfield. The…

9/7/2023 Our September Newsletter is now ready to view or download:UUFJC Newsletter: Flame on the Water, September 2023 Happy Labor Day! Yesterday morning, Rev. Nancy TannerThies joined us to begin our month of reflection on Welcome with thoughts on how to widen our circle of what we are able to Welcome. She encouraged us to…

2/27/2023 Our March newsletter is now ready to view or download:UUFJC Newsletter: Flame on the Water, March 2023 Sunday, February 28th: This morning, Rev. Michelle Scott-Huffman, friend of our Fellowship and minister at First UU of Springfield Missouri, joined us in person to wrap up our month of reflections on Love.  Love has many definitions,…

2/20/2023 Sunday, February 19th: This morning, we shared a message from our wider UU community via video, despite some technical challenges. Continuing our monthly theme of Love, I would like to share more words from our wider UU community: Power PrayerBy Becky Brooks Spirit of Life, I have witnesseda loud love,an out-loud love,that challenges me.…

2/13/2023 Sunday, February 12th: This morning, we continued exploring our February theme of Love with a message from our wider UU Community via video.  Rev. Aaron White of the First Unitarian Church of Dallas talked about love as one of the pillars of our UU faith, especially rooted in the Universalist tradition that included figures like…

2/6/2023 Our February newsletter is now ready to view or download:UUFJC Newsletter: Flame on the Water, February 2023 Sunday, February 5th, 2023: Rev. Mike Adamek joined us to begin exploring our February theme: Love.  Rev. Mike talked about the struggle to define love, spurred by Bette Midler’s song, “The Rose”, and guided largely by the work…

10/31/2022 Our November newsletter is now ready to view or download:UUFJC Newsletter: Flame on the Water, November 2022 Note: Our Trivia Night fundraiser is coming this Saturday, November 5th! Please sign up, bring friends, and help us spread the word! Doors open at 6:30, and the game starts at 7 pm. Registration is $10/person or…

10/27/2022 Note: Next week’s lunch after services is Potluck! Please bring a dish to share! Also, there is only one week left to donate raffle or silent auction items for our upcoming Trivia Night! Contact Bob Antweiler or see below for more information. Sunday, October 23rd, 2022: This morning, we shared a recent message from…

10/16/2022 Note, this Saturday, October 22nd, Nancy TannerThies and her family will hold a memorial service for her husband and beloved UUFJC member Roger TannerThies at 2:30 pm in our building. Nancy has invited UUFJC members and friends to join in this celebration of Roger’s life. October newsletter: UUFJC Newsletter: Flame on the Water, October…

10/10/2022 Our October newsletter is now ready to view or download:UUFJC Newsletter: Flame on the Water, October 2022 Sunday, October 9: This morning, we continued exploring our monthly theme of Courage with a recorded service from our wider UU Community: Courage, led by Rev. Dr. Natalie Fenimore, from the UU Church of Shelter Rock in…

10/6/2022 ​Our October newsletter is now ready to view or download:UUFJC Newsletter: Flame on the Water, October 2022 Sunday, October 2, 2022: This morning, Rev. Mike Adamek joined us to begin our month of reflection on Courage. Rev. Mike explored the courage that is necessary as we face suffering through the ups and downs of…

Highlights: Our January newsletter is now available to view or download: UUFJC Newsletter, “Flame on the Water” January 2022 We are collecting items to support an Afghan refugee. For more information see our January newsletter or contact Social Action chair Katherine Connor Make your year-end donation to UUFJC: online or mail check to Attn: Treasurer,…

2/24/21 update: December 25 Service – 10:30 amHoliday Memories Open-Mic (In-Person Only) (from Carol Bontempo) A few of us have gotten together to create a Service/Gathering for this coming Sunday. We will have an open mic, as we are often casual during this time. The topic will be ‘Holiday Memories’. Mary Kabiri will be playing…

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…