Blog Archives

Renewal Part I

6/23/2024

This morning, we continued our month of reflections on Renewal with a message from our wider UU community.

Outside our own services, the UUA shares this reflection by Martha Durkee-Neuman, who found herself thinking about the apocalypse --- the end of the world, and the beginning of something new --- just when a personal relationship apocalypse and then the covid pandemic struck. She writes:
"Everything about my personal world and the world around me changed in the span of a week. Then the pandemic hit and the world changed again (and again). So many things ended; so many new things began. We're learning to live on shifting grounds. How long will this last? What will life look like on the other side? What will normal become? [...]
"Despite it all, [in author Octavia Butler's words,] God is change. And despite how painful, this change is holy. As I repeat these words to myself, grounding myself in the divinity of this only lasting truth, more of Octavia’s words come to me—'God exists to be shaped'—and I begin to work on shaping this change, reckoning with the knowledge that it is holy because it is mine to make."Renewal can be intentional healing, or it can be change that bursts upon us unwelcome, but we need not be victims of it. We can embrace the holiness of change, and our ability to participate in that sacred process.

UUFJC News and Events this week:

For accessibility and convenience, we have an option to donate to our Fellowship online through PayPal:

Donate to UUFJC
You can also mail donations and pledges to:
UUFJC
Attn: Treasurer
PO Box 1245
Jefferson City, MO 65102

Scars of Our Fathers: Juneteenth and Father’s Day ~Rev. George Grimm-Howell

6/21/2024

Sunday morning, George Grimm-Howell --- now officially Rev. George Grimm-Howell --- joined us to continue exploring our June theme of Renewal.

Outside our own services, the UUA shares this reflection by Rev. Amanda Poppei who relates that as she was pregnant with her second child, her first child asked her:
"Who is it going to be?"
"I don't know!" she replied. "We're going to have to wait and see."

Renewal is like this; not so much a return to what we are used to (although a bit of that can be good for self-care sometimes), but something new becoming part of our world, some miracle never resolved, always in progress. As Rev. Poppei concludes of our personal growth process:
"It’s usually been uncomfortable, and almost always inconvenient. The old me seemed fine, the one I was just yesterday; why bother with all this shifting? And yet when I come out the other side, I invariably think, Ah yes: this is the me I was supposed to become. This is who I am. Until next time. Who is it going to be?
"Who are you going to be, today? And tomorrow? Who are we all becoming, together?"

UUFJC News and Events this week:

For accessibility and convenience, we have an option to donate to our Fellowship online through PayPal:

Donate to UUFJC
You can also mail donations and pledges to:
UUFJC
Attn: Treasurer
PO Box 1245
Jefferson City, MO 65102

Thank you for being with us and supporting us!

And remember all our ways to stay in touch! You can visit our website at uufjc.org. You can also join our open-posting "UUFJC Cafe" Google Group to chat with other members and friends via e-mail and receive additional announcements and reminders (contact the Administrator at [email protected] to join).

An independent Insight Meditation group taught by Joe McCormack meets at our building Thursday nights at 7 pm. For more information, contact Bob Antweiler.

The UUFJC Board meets next Sunday, June 23rd at our building immediately after our Sunday morning services. All are welcome to attend our board meetings. For this month's agenda and more information, contact our president, Logan White.

Our building is reserved by a community group Wednesdays and Saturdays starting at 6 pm. If you have access to our building, please allow privacy at these times.

Community Events this week:

This Thursday, June 20th at 6:30 pm, Missouri River Regional Library presents a program on the Missouri Historic Costume and Textile Collection. Nicole Johnston, curator of the MHCTC at the University of Missouri, will describe this rich and extensive collection, which includes more than 7,000 items of apparel for men, women and children as well as accessories and household textiles. Objects range from the early 19th century to the 21st century as well as military apparel and world dress.The collection supports the teaching mission of the Department of Textile and Apparel Management in the College of Arts and Science. In addition to her curatorial work, Johnston teaches two dress history courses. She will bring some items from the collection for this program. Contact Madeline Matson. For more on library events, visit MRRL.org.

For more events, see our online calendars:

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

On Being a Pluralistic Faith ~Rev. Michelle Scott-Huffman

6/12/2024

Our June newsletter is now ready to view or download:
UUFJC Newsletter: Flame on the Water, June 2024

Sunday morning, we shared a recent message from our neighbors at First UU of Springfield via video. Rev. Michelle Scott-Huffman spoke "On Being a Pluralistic Faith." The message is available to view online at First UU's website: https://springfielduu.org/2024/05/14/on-being-a-pluralistic-faith/

UUFJC News and Events this week:

For accessibility and convenience, we have an option to donate to our Fellowship online through PayPal:

Donate to UUFJC
You can also mail donations and pledges to:
UUFJC
Attn: Treasurer
PO Box 1245
Jefferson City, MO 65102

Thank you for being with us and supporting us!

And remember all our ways to stay in touch! You can visit our website at uufjc.org. You can also join our open-posting "UUFJC Cafe" Google Group to chat with other members and friends via e-mail and receive additional announcements and reminders (contact the Administrator at [email protected] to join).

An independent Insight Meditation group taught by Joe McCormack meets at our building Thursday nights at 7 pm. For more information, contact Bob Antweiler.

Our building is reserved by a community group Wednesdays and Saturdays starting at 6 pm. If you have access to our building, please allow privacy at these times.

Community Events this week:

Even as I write this, Monday, June 10th at 6:30 pm, Missouri River Regional Library presents the latest installment of the LU-MRRL Lecture Series: "My Volunteer Experience in F2F Guatemala Travel."  The Cabras Para La Prosperidad project is a collaboration between F2F (USAID) and Fundacion Mario Lopez Estrad in the remote mountain area of Guatemala. The project sponsors at least 350 households characterized by pregnant women or mothers with children under five years old. Dr. Homero Salinas, assistant professor, and Extension State Specialist in the small ruminant program, will describe his work as a volunteer in this important program that helps families facing chronic malnutrition.  Contact Madeline Matson. For more on library events, visit MRRL.org.

This Wednesday at 6:45 pm, MRRL hosts a presentation on "The Better Business Bureau: From Scams and Frauds to Helpful Home and Personal Info."  Khesha Duncan, the new Columbia regional director for the Better Business Bureau, will explain the many services provided by this respected organization and how the Bureau acquires and promotes this information to business and individuals.  Contact Madeline Matson. For more on library events, visit MRRL.org.

For more events, see our online calendars:

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

Renewal Pt. 1

6/12/2024

Our June newsletter is now ready to view or download:
UUFJC Newsletter: Flame on the Water, June 2024

Sunday morning, Sabrina Trupia joined us again to begin exploring our monthly theme of Renewal.

Outside our own services, the UUA shares these words:

Waiting for Now
by Mandie McGlynn
(abridged; full version at UUA WorshipWeb)

Everything
is about to change.
And
it already has.

It will be. It was. It is.

The dawn you eagerly await
to end the long, cold darkness
is already full sun
far off in the east.

Stones of justice
have been tossed in the lake
but their ripples have not yet arrived,
have not resolved into the kin-dom
already present among us.

While we wait, let us seek
—in the darkness of
the Now and Not Yet--
for the treasures God has hidden there,
the riches of the secret places
only found by night.

This is what is promised us:
the wheel of life turns ever on
and darkness is a path to joy.

UUFJC News and Events this week:

For accessibility and convenience, we have an option to donate to our Fellowship online through PayPal:

Donate to UUFJC
You can also mail donations and pledges to:
UUFJC
Attn: Treasurer
PO Box 1245
Jefferson City, MO 65102

Next Sunday, June 9th, our Intergenerational Book Study group meets at 2 pm at our building. This month's selection: Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes. Contact Emma Regnier and Betty Cooper.

Our building is reserved by a community group Wednesdays and Saturdays starting at 6 pm. If you have access to our building, please allow privacy at these times.

For more events, see our online calendars:

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

Renewal Part I

Scars of Our Fathers: Juneteenth and Father’s Day ~Rev. George Grimm-Howell

On Being a Pluralistic Faith ~Rev. Michelle Scott-Huffman

Renewal Pt. 1

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