This morning, on Christmas Eve, we had a special Winter Holiday service, gathering perspectives from various members and friends through reflection, song, and a sharing of hope ceremony.

We UUs tend to be "Happy Holidays" people, and for good reasons.  One of our core values is to welcome those with different perspectives and beliefs, even different celebrations, and to welcome it if we are drawn to those things ourselves.  However, that very freedom allows us not only to shed the old and embrace new things that ring truer to ourselves, but to hold on to heritage that strict orthodoxy would lead us to reject.  For some of us, it's in our UU Fellowship that we can speak of the hope and promise of Christmas and sing the Christian carols of our youth, even as our understanding of the doctrines behind them changes.

So in whatever way you understand it, in whatever way you're ready to receive it: Merry Christmas.  May you be safe, and may you feel warmth, plenty, and love.

Next Sunday, December 31st, 2017:

Adult Forum - 9:15 am
led by Frank Rycyk

Service and Religious Education - 10:30 am
Message: "The Quandary of Hope," Nancy Ellis-Ordway
"Never give up hope! You can't give up hope!" How many times have you heard it? Hope is  thought of as positive and desirable. It gets us through dark times and motivates us to do what needs to be done. Sometimes, though, hope holds us back when we need to move forward. Sometimes giving up hope is exactly what we need most. Where is the line between hopelessness and reality?
Patrick Ordway will perform special music.
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 --- "New Year, New Hope"

UUFJC News and Events this week:

Submissions for the January Newsletter and print calendar are due TODAY.  Please e-mail any last-minute items to Laura Gilkey ASAP.

Our Membership Committee is looking for volunteers willing to offer rides to members and friends who can't drive to services on Sunday.  If you can help, please contact Bob Antweiler.

The annual Guest At Your Table donation drive to support the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee continues.  Visit uusc.org for more information, and contact our Treasurer, Bob Antweiler, for ways to donate.

Due to the Christmas holiday, Faith Voices for Jefferson City is not holding their monthly assembly this week.  For information on their ongoing activities, see Katherine Connor.

This Thursday, December 28th at 7 pm, the local Transgender Support Group meets in our building.  Contact [email protected].

This Friday, December 29th at 6 pm, Citizens for Peace meet at our building to present their monthly peacebuilding documentary film.  This month's selection: "Tomorrow's Children" by Suht Jhally, featuring Riane Eisler.  Contact Betty Cooper.

Community Events this week:

Our own Patt Behler is hosting an alternative Christmas Party tomorrow, Monday, December 25th starting at 2 pm.  Chat and games, costumes welcome.  Very light refreshments will be provided.  Please do not bring food or drink with you.  Please RSVP to Patt by phone.

This Thursday, December 28th at 7 pm in their Art Gallery, Missouri River Regional Library presents: "Forest Park Owls: Hidden in Plain Sight."  Mark H.X. Glenshaw, an award-winning naturalist, has closely observed and documented the lives of Great Horned Owls in Forest Park in St. Louis since December 2005. He will talk about how he found these owls, basic facts about the species, and the different behaviors he has seen and documented with photos and videos.  Contact Madeline Matson.

This week, Capitol City Cinema presents "Wonderstruck" (Friday and Saturday).  For showtimes, more events, and more information, visit capitolcitycinema.org.

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

Service Committee
Religious Education
Building Use (other)
Social Action
Community Events

Have a great week!

Sunday morning, Rev. Nancy TannerThies continued exploring our monthly theme of "Hope" with a title that she couldn't seem to get out of your head: "Mustering the Minions."  The word "minion" conjures up images of servility (and yes, maybe those little yellow guys from the movies), and while may we often feel that we are just going along with a plan we haven't chosen, we also have power and responsibility that affect how the world unfolds around us.  We can reason and choose for ourselves, maintain our integrity in our own minds and persist in whatever small steps we can take to realize it outwardly.  When we come together as minions of hope, our fragile selves can be a force toward a better future.

Next Sunday, December 24th:

January Newsletter Submissions Due.
Please submit your items for the January newsletter and print calendar to Laura Gilkey by e-mail ([email protected]) or in writing.

Adult Forum - 9:15 am
"International Women's Day," Betty Cooper
In honor of International Women's Day, Dr. Riane Eisler was the first speaker in the series on "Mothering Nature in the Age of Trump.".  Ideas from her speech "People & Plans to Expedite World Harmony," will be discussed.

Service and Religious Education - 10:30 am
Message: "Winter Holiday Service"
Perspectives on the holidays through reflections, readings, and song, by the Worship Service Committee, members, and friends.
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 --- "Christmas Hope"

UUFJC News and Events this week:

Our Membership Committee is looking for volunteers willing to offer rides to members and friends who can't drive to services on Sunday.  If you can help, please contact Bob Antweiler.

The annual Guest At Your Table donation drive to support the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee continues.  Visit uusc.org for more information, and contact our Treasurer, Bob Antweiler, for ways to donate.

Monday, December 18th at 6:30 pm, a local Girl Scout troop meets in our building.  Contact Kim Connor.

Our regularly-scheduled Salvation Army workday this Friday is canceled as they have received an influx of holiday donations.  Contact Jim and Joanna Babb to get involved in future months with preparing and serving food for those in need.

Community Events this week:

Monday, December 18th at 6:30 pm in their Art Gallery, Missouri River Regional Library presents: "Big Pharma: Market Failure," a documentary film and panel.  How much do pharmaceutical company really spend on research and development of truly innovative drugs? Do free market principles affect drug prices and help control costs? Do the normal rules of business apply to the pharmaceutical industry? How TV ads impact consumers and doctors? Speakers afterward will include Dr. Ed Weisbart, assistant professor of clinical medicine at Washington University in St. Louis, and Jefferson City pharmacist Daryl Hubble. Contact Madeline Matson.

This week, Capitol City Cinema presents "A Christmas Carol" (Wednesday only) and "The Square" (Friday and Saturday).  For showtimes, more events, and more information, visit capitolcitycinema.org.

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

Service Committee
Religious Education
Building Use (other)
Social Action
Community Events

Have a great week!

Sunday morning, our own Alexis Engelbrecht continued exploring our monthly theme of Hope.  It's easy to think of Hope as just a happy feeling about a bright future that will "somehow, eventually" happen, but this kind of hope is hard to sustain and hard to be satisfied by.  For Alexis, a more inspiring kind of hope requires a renewal of imagination and faith --- imagination to envision a better world, and faith that that world is achievable.  This moral imagination disrupts the status quo and calls us into the risk and effort of "creative altruism," calling us to make the choices that make hope not just a happy feeling but a powerful force for good.

Next Sunday, December 17th:

Adult Forum - 9:15 am
Frank Rycyk

Service and Religious Education - 10:30 am
Message: "Muster your Minions of Hope," 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 Religious Education --- "Seeds of Hope"

UUFJC News and Events this week:

Our Membership Committee is looking for volunteers willing to offer rides to members and friends who can't drive to services on Sunday.  If you can help, please contact Bob Antweiler.

If you lent us tables or chairs for our recent Chili Cook-off, we appreciate your help with the event, but for those who have not yet retrieved their tables or chairs from us, it would be very helpful if you pick them up as soon as you can.  You will find them just inside our front entry door, near the coat rack.  Contact Bob Antweiler with any questions.

Our Yahoo! e-mail group is being retired.  Our e-mail listserv and electronic archives have now been transferred to Google.  If you want to make sure you’re included in the new Google e-mail group so you can to chat with members and friends over e-mail and receive extra announcements and reminders, please contact the Administrator, Laura Gilkey, or any member of the board.

The annual Guest At Your Table donation drive to support the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee continues.  Visit uusc.org for more information, and contact our Treasurer, Bob Antweiler, for ways to donate.

Monday, December 11th at 7 pm is the monthly UUFJC Lecture Series.  This month: "Race in the Schools:  Administrator’s Stories" with Doug Hayter, Ed.D., Executive Director of the Missouri Association of School Administrators (MASA).  See Carol Bontempo or Frank Rycyk for more information.

This Thursday, December 14th at 7 pm, the local Transgender Support Group meets at our building in the Sanctuary.  Contact [email protected].

At the same time, Thursday evening at 7 pm, the American Association of University Women is scheduled to meet at our building in the Forum Room.  Please contact Charlotte Parsons before attending; the Association has taken a break from meeting in December in previous years.

Community Events this week:

This week, Capitol City Cinema presents "The Square" (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday).  For showtimes, more events, and more information, visit capitolcitycinema.org.

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

Service Committee
Religious Education
Building Use (other)
Social Action
Community Events

Have a great week!

Sunday morning, Rev. Mike Adamek began exploring our monthly Soul Matters theme for December: Hope.  The winter holiday season is a time to celebrate hope, Rev. Mike reflected, whether that hope is the Christian coming of the savior, the Passover deliverance, or the Earth-centered watch for the return of the sun.  Like the same note played on different instruments, holiday hopes sound in different voices, and Rev. Mike shared what the special tone of hope means for him.  It means an expectation for the future that is:
- More personal than abstract,
- More nourishing than stimulating, including the beauty that nourishes the heart,
- More optimistic than pessimistic, because pessimism holds us back from engaging
- And that brings more people together than it drives apart.
Hope can be a challenge in challenging times, but as we listen to its tone we can find the strength to make our world better, however long it might take, small and intimate bit by small and intimate bit.

Next Sunday, December 10th:

Adult Forum - 9:15 am
"Hope…Uninterrupted," Betty Cooper
With excerpts from Jane Goodall's book, "Reason for Hope," we find her potent legacy to this planet is one of awakening the absolute interdependence of all things in the natural world.  With the resiliency of Mother Nature, Goodall envisions a world of peace and understanding, of respect and sustainable solutions. (The 2017 Documentary, “Jane” is now in theatres.)

Service and Religious Education - 10:30 am
Message: "Imagine," Alexis Engelbrecht
Join us in exploring the relationship between creativity and hope through word, reflection, and song.
Guest musicians, Alexis' sister Annie and brother-in-law Rodney, will be part of the service as well. Annie and Rodney have played with musical groups in Branson, Missouri, and Annie has toured Ireland and Canada with the Homestead Pickers.
Alexis also asks that those of you in our Google group (see below) check your e-mail inboxes throughout the week to be on the lookout for links and information related to how we we explore the theme that day. They aren't required readings but are designed to add hope to your inbox.

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 --- "Light and Hope"

Potluck Lunch After Service - please bring a favorite dish and a helping of holiday spirit!  If you can bring more than one dish in different categories, it would help make sure we have plenty for everyone to enjoy.

UUFJC News and Events this week:

Our annual Chili Cook-off this past Saturday was a success!  Thank you to Bob Antweiler for organizing and to everyone who helped with food, donations, and effort!  We still have some leftover silent auction items --- take a look and contact Bob if you're interested in any of them.

Our Yahoo! e-mail group is being retired.  Our e-mail listserv and electronic archives have now been transferred to Google.  If you want to make sure you’re included in the new Google e-mail group so you can to chat with members and friends over e-mail and receive extra announcements and reminders, please contact the Administrator, Laura Gilkey ([email protected]), or any member of the board.

The annual Guest At Your Table donation drive to support the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee continues.  Visit uusc.org for more information, and contact our Treasurer, Bob Antweiler, for ways to donate.

You can also help the UU Church of the Larger Fellowship spread holiday cheer to incarcerated individuals.  Instructions and some cards are available under the screen by our cafe bar.  You can create your own cards, too (see the instructions).  Cards are due by this Thursday, December 7th.  Contact Katherine Connor.

This Friday, December 8th at 7 pm, Capital Area NOW presents their monthly film at our building.  For film selection and more information, contact Sue Gibson.

Next Sunday, December 10th, a Soul Matters small group meets here at the Fellowship from 2-4 pm.  This session is now full; contact Alexis if you’d like to participate in future sessions in person or online.

Coming Monday, December 11th at 7 pm is the monthly UUFJC Lecture Series.  This month: "Race in the Schools:  Administrator’s Stories" with  Doug Hayter, Ed.D., Executive Director of the Missouri Association of School Administrators (MASA).  Contact Carol Bontempo or Frank Rycyk for more information.

Community Events this week:

This Tuesday, December 5th at 7 pm in their Art Gallery, Missouri River Regional Library presents a program on Holiday Wine Pairing.  Celebrate the holiday season with Missouri wines. Learn about the growing Missouri wine and grape industry and how to successfully pair wines with your favorite holiday foods. You’ll have the opportunity to sample select Missouri wines. Ages 21+ only. Registration limited to 40. Contact Madeline at 634-6064, ext. 250.

Next Sunday, December 10th at 1:30 pm in their Art Gallery, MRRL hosts an art exhibit reception with Suebet Beck.  This exhibit features oils and pastels on a variety of subjects. Meet the artist and enjoy some light refreshments.  Contact Madeline Matson.

This week, Capitol City Cinema presents "It's a Wonderful Life" (Wednesday only), "National Lampoon Christmas Vacation" (Thursday only), and "Loving Vincent" (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday).  For showtimes, more events, and more information, visit capitolcitycinema.org.

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

Service Committee
Religious Education
Building Use (other)
Social Action
Community Events

Have a great week!