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:
Newsletter
Calendar

This morning, our own Alexis wrapped up our month of reflection on Beauty and began introducing our theme for July: Resistance.  Citing Plato's Allegory of the Cave, she suggested that we spend much of our lives only seeing shadows of what vital ideals like beauty and virtue really are.  To seek truer definitions, we must risk breaking norms and resisting the messages we have received from our culture, but coming closer to liberating truths is well worth the effort.  Alexis then led us in to participate in this process, to think through the messages we have received about a certain ideal, to create our own definition of it as we understand it, to share that definition with others, and to listen as others shared --- because in seeking truth, we need others to challenge us and tell us what rings true.

Myself, I didn't receive "Beauty" as my idea to consider, but what if I had?  After reflection, I offer this: "Beauty is a quality of a person/place/thing/idea that enhances life when it is perceived or experienced by others."  Does that ring true to you?  What would you have said?  What received messages about beauty would you embrace in creating your own definition, and what received messages would you resist?

Next Sunday, July 7th:

Adult Forum - 9:15 am
"Compassion: Today's Need," Betty Cooper
The Compassionate Instinct, a book from the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California - Berkeley provides cutting-edge research on compassion.  To focus on "the shift in thinking," two resources will be used: 1) a brief introduction from the book; and 2) ideas from CCARE Stanford’s  “Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education.”

Service and Religious Education - 10:30 am
Message: "Be Patriotic: Resist the Ghosting of America," Rev. Mike Adamek
When the future looks murky and you do not know how you are going to get from here to there. Resist despair (Giving up), resist complacency (Giving in), resist fatigue and silence. Be a competent witness who sees more than smoke and mirrors. Tell the truth. Trust that you and people you have never met will make the process work.
If you have a joy or concern that you would like to have read during the Service, please submit it by noon on Friday through our website: http://uufjc.org/joys--concerns.html

Plus Children's RE --- "Wholesome: Rebirth"

UUFJC News and Events this week:

We are having our post-rummage sale carpet cleaning this week; many thanks to Alberta and Tim Mobley.  If you are in the building this Thursday, please be careful of the wet carpet.

Tomorrow, Monday, July 1st, the online UU Leadership Institute begins Fall registration.  The Institute offers online classes in faith and leadership development with new classes each semester and on-demand classes available year-round.  Most courses cost $15-$30; contact Katherine Connor about possible scholarships from UUFJC.  For course list, free sample courses, and more information, visit uuinstitute.org.

This Thursday, July 4th, the local chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America meets in our building at 7 pm.  Contact Susan Randolph.  (And be careful of the wet carpet!)

Next Sunday, July 7th, the UUFJC Board meets at 6 pm.  All are welcome to attend our board meetings.  Contact Katherine Connor.

Also next Sunday evening, July 7th, our building is reserved by a community group starting at 6:30 pm.  Please allow privacy; if you are attending the board meeting, please respect the group's needs.

Community Events this week:

This Friday, July 5th at 7 pm, Missouri River Regional Library presents their First Friday Film.  For film selection and more information, contact Madeline Matson.  For more library events, visit MRRL.org.

This week, Capitol City Cinema presents "Amazing Grace" (Thursday through Sunday).  More on the film: "Aretha Franklin was born strongly rooted in both the church and gospel music. Her father was a minister and her mother a gospel singer.  Eleven years after she signed her first record deal and 11 consecutive No. 1 hits later, at the height of her career, she returned to her gospel roots by joining Reverand James Cleveland and the Southern California Community Choir at New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles in January 1972 for a two night recording session of gospel tunes that will warm your heart to hear. This documentary film is 87 minutes in length."  For showtimes, more events, and more information, visit capitolcitycinema.org.

For yoga and even more events, see our online calendars:

UUFJC Events
Affiliated Events 
Religious Education
Building Use (other)
Community Events  

Have a great week!

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 and spirit.  Sensory beauty, or what our culture tells us we should find beautiful, can sometimes distract us from the more substantial beauty that exalts our spirits.  Alexis called on us to consider what we as individuals find beautiful and exalting, and to be deliberate about how we spend our time and energy so that we can nurture that deeper beauty in our lives and in our world.

Next Sunday, June 30th:

Adult Forum - 9:15 am
"Conscious Capitalism," Robert Pinhero
Pinhero has studied with a group called "Conscious Capitalism."  They propose methodology toward creating a more egalitarian version of a system which has led to large economic growth.

Service and Religious Education - 10:30 am
Message: "Challenging Beauty," Alexis
Put on your metaphorical hard hats and prepare to deconstruct what is meant by beauty and consider which definitions limit and which ones expand ways of being with one another.
If you have a joy or concern that you would like to have read during the Service, please submit it by noon on Friday through our website: http://uufjc.org/joys--concerns.html

Plus Children's RE --- "Weaving a Tapestry of Faith: Good Apologies"

UUFJC News and Events this week:

Our Rummage Sale on Saturday was a success!  Early estimates are that we took in about $1,000.  Many thanks to everyone who donated and volunteered, especially to our organizers Bob Antweiler and Lisa Sanning!

Faith Voices for Jefferson City's monthly assembly, scheduled for this Monday, is canceled this month.  For information on events to come, contact Rev. Kim Woodruff:
[email protected]

This Thurday, June 27th in our building at 6:30 pm, Capital Area Interfaith Alliance presents a program on Unitarian Universalism with UU minister-in-training and former UUFJC Vice President Alexis.  Contact Frank Rycyk for more information.

Our Salvation Army meal, scheduled for this Friday, is canceled this month.  Please contact Roberta Dunkel if you can help provide and serve food for those in need in the months to come.

And one week from tomorrow, Monday, July 1st, fall registration begins at the online UU Leadership Institute.  The UU Leadership Institute offers online classes in faith and leadership development, with new classes each semester and on-demand classes available year-round.  Most courses cost $15-$30; talk to Katherine Connor about possible scholarships from UUFJC.  For course list, free sample courses, and more information, visit uuinstitute.org

Community Events this week:

This Wednesday, June 26th at 7 pm in their Art Gallery, Missouri River Regional Library presents Music in the Library with Max Hatt andEdda Glass.  This multiple award-winning duo has perfomed at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, the Sundance Film Fest, and Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival, among many other performing arts center and music festivals across the country. Glass’s unique voice has been compared to a gamut of singers from Astrud Gilberto to Billie Holiday,and Hatt’s equally distinctive guitar work combines the harmonic innovations of jazz and the melodic resonance of folk. Co-sponsored with KJLU-FM radio.  Contact Madeline Matson.  For more library events, visit MRRL.org.

This Thursday, June 27th at 7 pm in their Art Gallery, MRRL hosts a presentation on Missouri Courthouses.  Bill Hart, executive director of the Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation, will discuss the architectural history of Missouri’s courthouses. His new book, Historic Missouri Roadsides, 2nd edition, will be available for purchase after the program.  (This program was rescheduled from an earlier date).  Contact Madeline Matson.  For more library events, visit MRRL.org.

This week, Capitol City Cinema presents "Amazing Grace" (Thursday through Sunday).  More on the film: "Aretha Franklin was born strongly rooted in both the church and gospel music. Her father was a minister and her mother a gospel singer.  Eleven years after she signed her first record deal and 11 consecutive No. 1 hits later, at the height of her career, she returned to her gospel roots by joining Reverand James Cleveland and the Southern California Community Choir at New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles in January 1972 for a two night recording session of gospel tunes that will warm your heart to hear. This documentary film is 87 minutes in length."  For showtimes, more events, and more information, visit capitolcitycinema.org.

For yoga and even more events, see our online calendars:

UUFJC Events
Affiliated Events 
Religious Education
Building Use (other)
Community Events  

Have a great week

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 to poems including this one by Rumi:

Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
and frightened. Don't open the door to the study
and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.

Too often the idea of "beauty" leads us into beauty judgments that discount ourselves and our gifts.  How many of us really feel like we can take down a musical instrument and do something beautiful?  Wouldn't we rather open the door to the study and begin reading (or watching TV, or websurfing)?  We feel ourselves too dull to connect with the world and offer beauty to it.  We must learn to love ourselves and be present to the world around us to appreciate the ever-present gifts of beauty and to "let the beauty we love be what we do."  Each of us has our own unique and vital way to kneel and kiss the ground.

Next Sunday, June 23rd:

Services at Riverside Park.

July News Due.
Please submit your items for our July Newsletter and print calendar to Laura Gilkey by e-mail ([email protected]) or in writing.

No Adult Forum this week.

Service and Religious Education - 10:30 am
Message: "But what do you see?" Alexis
We receive many messages regarding what beauty is and how we are supposed to achieve it. Join us at Riverside/Ellis Porter Park for an exploration of how to move away from the voices that take us away from the authentic beauty both within and beyond us.
If you have a joy or concern that you would like to have read during the Service, please submit it by noon on Friday through our website: http://uufjc.org/joys--concerns.html

Plus Children's RE --- "Weaving a Tapestry of Faith: Generosity: Imagine How It Feels"

Potluck Lunch at the Park after services - Please bring a favorite picnic dish!

UUFJC News and Events this week:

​Our annual Rummage Sale is almost here!  We are now accepting donations, so please bring your gently-used items to support the Fellowship in one of our biggest annual fundraisers!  (No adult clothing, please; children's clothing is appreciated!).  You can bring your items today (Laura Gilkey will be in the building until 6 pm) or drop them off throughout the week.  If you need help hauling donations or need the building unlocked to drop them off, contact Bob Antweiler.

We also need volunteers to help set up the sale and to work on sale day.  We have sign-up sheets for volunteer shifts throughout the week, or contact Lisa Sanning and Bob Antweiler.

In addition to sale items and volunteers, we also need shopping bags and boxes (tray boxes are especially good for corralling books).  It will also be a huge help if you can lend us tables!  Please label your tables clearly.

On that note, if you have anything stored at the Fellowship, please take it home with you or make sure that it is clearly labeled as soon as possible.  We have accidentally sold people's things before, and we don't want it to happen again!

Sale day is next Saturday June 22nd, from 7 am - noon.   Please come shop the sale, bring your friends, and spread the word!

The Worship Service Committee meets this evening at 6 pm.  The committee is looking for volunteers to join in creating our Sunday services.  There are very small tasks and larger, more involved things for which the committee would love to have a pool of volunteers to draw from.  Please fill out the survey available on the table by the window and return it to the Vice President’s mail slot in the office.  For more about the survey, the meeting next Sunday, or getting involved in creating our Sunday services, please contact Lisa Sanning.

Regularly scheduled events in our building (e.g. yoga) may be canceled this week due to Rummage Sale preparations.  Please check with your event organizers.

This week is the Unitarian Universalist Association’s national General Assembly in Spokane, Washington, starting this Wednesday, June 19th, and continuing through next Sunday, June 23rd.  Some General Assembly events will be livestreamed online.  For more information, visit uua.org/ga.

A week from tomorrow, Monday, June 24th, Faith Voices for Jefferson City is scheduled to hold their monthly assembly at Quinn Chapel AME Church.  Contact Rev. Kim Woodruff: [email protected]

Community Events this week:

This Wednesday, June 19th from 11 am to 6:30 pm, SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital Auxiliary holds their 62nd Annual Ice Cream Social at St. Joseph Cathedral Undercroft.  Ice Cream and Cake are $3.  A variety of menu options are available for lunch and dinner, plus activities for the whole family: Kids Korner, Quilt Raffle, Silent Auction, Country Store, Treasures from the Attic, and a Book Nook.

This Thursday, June 20th at 7 pm in their Art Gallery, Missouri River Regional Library hosts a Foster Parent Information Panel. Have you ever thought about being a foster parent? Don’t have time to be a foster parent but would still like to help? Come learn how you can plan an important part in the life of a youth in foster care. Various professionals from the child welfare community will provide information and explain how you can get involved in making a difference in the life of a child in foster care.  Contact Madeline Matson.  For more library events, visit MRRL.org.

This week, Capitol City Cinema presents "Wild Nights with Emily" (Thursday through Sunday).  For showtimes, more events, and more information, visit capitolcitycinema.org.

For yoga and even more events, see our online calendars:

UUFJC Events
Affiliated Events 
Religious Education
Building Use (other)
Community Events  

Have a great week!

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 we be embarrassed and tongue-tied about what moves and awes us, but it's often easier to see the negative in things.  It's when you look deeply, relate deeply, and know the story of a thing or a person that you get in touch with its beauty.  Rev. Michelle called us to this, work we can all do to make our world a better place.  When we come together and share our experience, not glossed into perfection but in its real texture and truth, we can share the beauty of our lives and build more beauty into the shared language of our world.

Next Sunday, June 16th:

Rummage Sale Donations Begin!
Please bring your gently-used items for our annual Rummage Sale.  No adult clothing please; children's clothing is appreciated!

Adult Forum - 9:15 am
"Impeach the President?" Frank Rycyk
Gerald Seib presents historical information which suggests that impeachment may hurt the accusers more than it would hurt the president.

Service and Religious Education - 10:30 am
Message: Rev. Nancy TannerThies
If you have a joy or concern that you would like to have read during the Service, please submit it by noon on Friday through our website: http://uufjc.org/joys--concerns.html

Plus Children's RE --- "Weaving a Tapestry of Faith: When Nations Make it Right"

UUFJC News and Events this week:

Our annual Rummage Sale is coming fast!  We will be accepting donations beginning one week from today, next Sunday, June 16th.  We are asking for donations of gently used items (no adult clothing please; children’s clothing is appreciated).  We also need help that week setting up the sale, working the sale, and cleaning up.  The sale itself will be held Saturday, June 22nd from 7 am to noon.  Contact Bob Antweiler and Lisa Sanning if you can help.

This Saturday, June 15th, Jan Harcourt is offering a Somatic Experiencing Class in our building at 9:30 am.   The class, titled After the Storm, is for anyone feeling after effects of the shock of the tornado.  Offered by donation.

Later next Sunday, June 16th, our Worship Service Committee meets at 6 pm.  Our Worship Service Committee is looking for volunteers to join in creating our Sunday services.  There are very small tasks and larger, more involved things for which the committee would love to have a pool of volunteers to draw from.  Please fill out the survey available on the table by the window and return it to the Vice President’s mail slot in the office.  For more about the survey, the meeting next Sunday, or getting involved in our Sunday services, please contact Lisa Sanning.

Community Events this week:

This Wednesday, June 12th at 7 pm in their Art Gallery, Missouri River Regional Library presents "Reel Life Cinema: The Planets."  Viewers will get an up-close look at faraway worlds, including the dark side of Pluto, an ancient Martian waterfall, and a storm twice the size of Earth seen from high above Saturn, revealing how each of them has affected our own planet. The Library is co-sponsoring with PBS a sneak-preview of a segment from “Chasing the Moon,” a six-part film series that will be aired in July to commemorate the 50 th anniversary of the moon landing.  Contact Madeline Matson.  For more library events, visit MRRL.org.

This week, Capitol City Cinema presents "Wild Night with Emily" (Thursday through Sunday).  For showtimes, more events, and more information, visit capitolcitycinema.org.

For yoga and even more events, see our online calendars:

UUFJC Events
Affiliated Events 
Religious Education
Building Use (other)
Community Events  

Have a great week!

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, truth, and goodness is not beauty worth uplifting.  On the other hand, if we see no beauty in our surroundings, perhaps we need to deepen our understanding and sympathy to appreciate it.  We may say of people's appearances that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," but when we look for the good in them, we can see inherent truth and beauty.

Next Sunday, June 9th:

Adult Forum - 9:15 am
"The Beauty of Teaching Peace," Betty Cooper
Every person is a “Peace Teacher,” or a “Teacher of Violence.”  We, each, choose our path.  The June theme for Soul Matters is, “Beauty.”  Peacebuilding and peacemaking creates “beautiful surroundings” in and around us.  We will use David Jackson Cook’s essay, “Every Teacher a Peace Teacher,” to help skill us, as “teachers of peace.”

Service and Religious Education - 10:30 am
Message: "A Language of Beauty," Rev. Michelle Scott-Huffman
Denis Donoghue (Speaking of Beauty, Yale University Press, 2004) posits beauty as one of six indisputable values, along with life, love, truth, virtue, and justice. Is it possible that we can speak more beauty into our lives and into our world? And if so, what might be the practical results?
If you have a joy or concern that you would like to have read during the Service, please submit it by noon on Friday through our website: http://uufjc.org/joys--concerns.html

Plus Children's RE --- "Weaving a Tapestry of Faith: Building Bridges"

UUFJC News and Events this week:

We are still accepting donations for tornado relief and recovery efforts by our neighbors at Quinn Chapel AME Church.  Contact our Treasurer, Bob Antweiler.  Checks should be made payable to Quinn Chapel.

Our annual Rummage Sale is now less than three weeks away!  We will be accepting donations beginning Sunday, June 16th, and the sale will be held Saturday, June 22nd from 7 am to noon.  We are asking for donations of gently used items (no adult clothing please; children’s clothing is appreciated).  We also need help that week setting up the sale, working the sale, and cleaning up.  Contact Bob Antweiler and Lisa Sanning if you can help.

Our Worship Service Committee is looking for volunteers to join in creating our Sunday services.  There are very small tasks and larger, more involved things for which the committee would love to have a pool of volunteers to draw from.  Please fill out the survey available on the table by the window and return it to the Vice President’s mail slot in the office, or contact Lisa Sanning.

UUFJC welcomes Lauraine Connelly as our new Caring Committe Chair; if a member or friend needs assistance, please contact her.  If Lauraine is unavailable, Gennifer Monteer has volunteered to be a backup contact.  Thank you both for stepping up!

Our building is reserved by a community group this evening starting at 6:30 pm.  Please allow privacy.

This Thursday, June 6th, the local chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America meets in our building at 7 pm.  Contact Susan Randolph.

This Friday, June 7th at 5 pm, UUFJC is supporting a "Wear Orange" Fundraiser to benefit Jefferson City Rape and Crisis Services.  The event is held at The Side Bar on Ash Street.  See fliers on our bulletin board or contact Susan Randolph for more information.

The UUFJC Board will meet next Sunday, June 9th at 6 pm.  All are welcome to attend our board meetings.   Contact Katherine Connor.

Community Events this week:

This Friday, July 7th at 7 pm in their Art Gallery, Missouri River Regional Library presents their First Friday Film: "The Best of Enemies."  Based on a true story, this film centers on the unlikely relationship between Ann Atwater, an outspoken civil rights activist, and C.P. Ellis, a local Ku Klux Klan leader who reluctantly co-chaired a community summit about desegregating schools in Durham, North Carolina, during the racially-charged summer of 1971. The incredible events that unfolded would change Durham, Atwater and Ellis forever. Starring Taraji P. Henson and Sam Rockwell.  Contact Madeline Matson.  For more library events, visit MRRL.org.

This week, Capitol City Cinema presents "High Life" (Thursday through Sunday).  For showtimes, more events, and more information, visit capitolcitycinema.org.

For yoga and even more events, see our online calendars:

UUFJC Events
Affiliated Events 
Religious Education
Building Use (other)
Community Events  

Have a great week!