What You Can Do About It -
Reading Intervention
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 Linda Jackson's sermon last week offered some specific ways volunteers can help kids who are having difficulty with reading. If you want to know more about ways to get involved, click here.
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| Children's Religious Education Update |
Our Children's Religious Education (CRE) program is divided into two groups by age. In CRE, which meets each Sunday at 11 AM, we challenge our children with interactive studies about religion and science.
During December, the students will be watching brief videos and discussing their content.
Dec. 13: The Desert People - The Papago
Dec. 20: Do We Want Us to ? - Pacific Northwest - Totem Poles, Clans, History, Potlatch
Dec. 27: Earth Shapers - The Mound Builders
The nursery group will be focusing on the following topics during December:
Dec. 13: Winter Brings Changes to our Earth (snow and cold)
Dec. 20: Yule: Winter Solstice
Dec. 27: Christmas, a Christian Tradition
Lesson plans are subject to change, but this is the plan.
Contact: Wes Phillips and Sarah Brown
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"German poet Heinrich Heine . . . was walking with a friend before the cathedral of Amiens in France. 'Tell me, Heinrich,' said his friend, 'why can't people build piles like this anymore?' Answered Heine, 'My friend, in those days people had convictions. We moderns have opinions. And it take more than opinions to build a Gothic cathedral.'" --Richard S. Gilbert in Growing Up Absorbed (2014).
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2015-2016 Common Read for UUs
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 Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption (2015). A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice-from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time. One reviewer compared its power and eloquence to that of To Kill a Mockingbird. Available at UUA Bookstore or Kindle edition.
From UUA: "Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn't commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship-and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever."
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Newsletter and Website Submissions
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As always, we are eager to publish information regarding committees, boards, Adult RE, CRE, events, and services, but we need your help. The website and Facebook page can be updated daily, but the newsletter cannot. New information needs to be submitted (submissions@uuamarillo.org) by noon Wednesday if you want it to appear in the Friday morning newsletter. If you need an event placed on the website calendar, you may submit that request with description, image (or we can provide one), starting and approximate ending time, specific location, date (or dates for a recurring event), and name of contact person. Help us help you get your message out in a timely manner.
PLEASE, EVERYONE CAN MAKE ALL THESE COMMUNICATIONS MORE EFFECTIVE BY READING THEM EACH WEEK--ESPECIALLY THE WEBSITE AND NEWSLETTER!
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In addition to the events described in this newsletter, you can find a complete listing by clicking on the Calendar icon above.
Want more detail? Check both the News and the Events sections of our website, uuamarillo.orgAlso on our website, you can learn more about our Fellowship and our faith, Unitarian Universalism.
All events are held at the Fellowship, 4901 Cornell St., unless otherwise noted.
If you are unsure how to reach any of the individuals named as contacts, please email the AUUF office or call our Office Administrator, April Myers, at 806.355.9351 and leave a message. She will return your call during her office hours, which are Tuesday - Friday from 9 AM to noon.
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Sunday Worship - 9:30 and 11 AM
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December 13, 2015
Mary Kay Wells speaks on The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, discussing the development and legacy of the landmark document.
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December 20, 2015
Holiday Music Service
with various artists - including a congregational sing-along led by Jason Hudson and performances by other musicians, including Mike Fuller and Those Guys and more, in lieu of a sermon.
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December 27, 2015
Tony Tackitt speaks on Bibliolatry: When the Words Get in the Way, discussing the many ways that words have been misused in "traditional" religion, and how words can get in the way of discovering and experiencing our deeper Self.
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Sunday, December 13, 12:30 PM at the Fellowship
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Adult Religious Education
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Please join us at 10 AM each Sunday.
We are rotating three subjects. Each covers a different aspect of Adult Religious Education. All are welcome. No advance reading is necessary and no test will be given.
Dec. 13: Science and Religion lesson # 8 explores "Natural Theology and Arguments from Design."
Dec. 20: In Natural Law and Human Nature we will continue our discussion of Aristotle by watching/discussing "Aristotle on Justice and Politics."
Dec. 27: The New Testament subject this week will be "John-Jesus the man from Heaven," based on the book of John.
Jan. 3: Lecture # 9 of Science and Religion examines "Geology, Cosmology, and Biblical Chronology."
Contact: John Gay |
 Saturday, December 12, 3-5 PM
The Amarillo Feminists group holds monthly meetings at AUUF.
Do you believe in equal rights and opportunities for women? Congratulations! You're a feminist! Come meet like-minded feminists of both genders at our monthly meeting on Saturday, December 12.
This meeting we agreed to do a cookie exchange, discuss the plans for the Eve Ensler play in February, and continue getting to know each other through games. So, everybody needs to bring a dozen of her or his favorite cookies.
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Nothing Much Buddhist Covenant Group
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Monday, December 14, 7:30-8:30 PM
 The Nothing Much Buddhist Covenant Group has selected as its new reading Dr. Mark Epstein's Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart: A Buddhist Perspective on Wholeness. This national bestseller explores the similarities between Buddhist or Zen meditation techniques and those used in psychotherapy. We shall be discussing Chapter 2: Surrender at the December 14 meeting at the Fellowship. Contact: Rick Todd
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Alternative Medicine Monthly Seminar
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 Tuesday, December 15, 7-8 PM at AUUF
(Every Third Tuesday)
Open to the Public-Free Admission
This month's seminar topic is Your Upcoming New Year's Resolution. Focusing on alternative health and wellness, this monthly seminar is led by Rolf Habersang, MD, Medical Director of the ICAM Institute of Amarillo, and Pia Habersang, EdD, CNS, MSN, APRN of the Pediatric Wellness Center of Amarillo.
ICAM Seminar information: 806-468-4616
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SouthWest Unitarian Universalist Women Conference 2016
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 February 26-28, 2016
Lawton, Oklahoma
Registration opened December 1, 2015
A non-profit organization that supports women through worship, learning, leadership, community and social justice, SWUUW addresses women's issues, explores feminist theology, promotes friendships and celebrates the diversities that make us unique women on our individual spiritual paths.  SWUUW is an organization open to all UU women, particularly those women in the Southwest District of the Southern Region of the UUA.
Keynote speaker, Lauren Zuniga, is an internationally touring poet, activist and teaching artist. She is the author of two poetry collections. Her work has been featured in Upworthy, MoveOn.Org, BoingBoing, Autostraddle & Everyday Feminism.
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Kayla Parker, ed. Becoming: A Spiritual Guide for Navigating Adulthood (2014).
Parker organizes this collection of prose reflections, prayers, hymns, and poems into ten topic groupings: Growth and Change; Passion and Purpose; Community; Roots; Family, Friends, and Loves' Identity; Lost and Found; Spirit of Life; Justice and Creation; and Hope and Praise. Contributors include many Unitarian Universalist voices, some contemporary and others historical. Although this short book has been widely distributed to youth ministries, the act of becoming an adult is a process that applies to people of any generation, not just to adolescents. This is a great resource for daily short readings to bolster one's spiritual growth and give comfort during life's challenges.
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It's back!! Thirty Days of Love will be back in 2016! Mark your calendars for Saturday, January 16 through Sunday, February 14, 2016, when Thirty Days of Love will culminate on the 7th Annual National Standing on the Side of Love Day! The focus for Thirty Days of Love will be Racial Justice. Traditionally, Share the Love Sunday is held on the Sunday closest to Valentine's Day and in 2016 Valentine's Day falls on a Sunday! Perhaps we could celebrate this day as a congregation by holding a special worship service, giving a sermon about what standing on the side of love means to people, sharing readings about the power of compassion, and/or taking up a collection to support this wonderful work. Read more now!
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 Have you ever dreamed of visiting Alaska? If so, WhaleCoast Alaska 2016 is for you! Four Alaska UU fellowships invite you to experience our eco-cultural and spiritual program next summer! See Alaska through the eyes of local UUs in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Seward, and Sitka with friendly homestays and unique tour activities. See wildlife, including moose, bears, caribou, whales, bald eagles, seals, and otters. Visit Denali National Park. Experience Native Alaskan culture. Forget the cruise ships - our program is the best way to visit Alaska! Programs led by Dave Frey, member of the Fairbanks UU congregation and Alaska travel expert. Find out more about this Alaskan trip of a lifetime. Visit www.WhaleCoastAK.org, email dfrey@whalecoastak.org, or call 907-322-4966. We would love to share our Alaska with you!
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FireSongs Songwriter Series
Wednesday, December 16, 6:30-8:30 PM
 FireSongs Songwriter Series is a new, weekly series that is unique in Amarillo, in that each Wednesday night, a different area songwriter or combo will perform entirely original material---no covers. We have a wealth of creative energy here in the Panhandle and this series aims to celebrate those who express this energy through songwriting.
The shows are at Fire Slice Pizzeria (7301 SW 34th Space 10, Summit Shopping Center) on Wednesdays from 6:30 - 8:30 PM. It's a listening environment, so talking is discouraged in the concert room while the show is going on, but this makes it a much nicer environment, and of course Fire Slice has wonderful food which may be enjoyed throughout the show. There is no cover, but reservations are suggested to guarantee seating in the listening room. Call (806) 331-2232. The songwriter performing on December 16 is Mike Fuller and the Repeat Offenders. Mark your calendar for the performance of Tammy Stamps on December 23.
Ragtime, the Musical
Wednesday, December 16 and Thursday, December 17, 7:30 PM
Amarillo Civic Center Complex Auditorium
 AT THE DAWN OF A NEW CENTURY, everything is changing...and anything is possible. RAGTIME returns to North America in a striking, all-new touring production from the producing team that most recently brought you THE COLOR PURPLE and SPAMALOT. The stories of an upper-class wife, a determined Jewish immigrant and a daring young Harlem musician unfold - set in turn-of-the-century New York - all three united by their desire and belief in a brighter tomorrow. Their compelling stories are set to theatre's richest and most glorious Tony AwardŽ-winning score by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens. Winning Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Musical Score, this 13 time Tony Award nominated musical is a timeless celebration of life - what it could and should be! Tickets available online.
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