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Congregational Meeting: January 10
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After the 11 AM Service
Agenda:
- Affirm the Ministerial Search Committee
- Keralee Clay
- Larry Campbell
- John Hintz
- Ann Hicks
- Nina Stein
- Amy Taylor
- Cyndy Walton
- Assign new budget line item for Ministerial Search Committee work
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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. 27: Earth Shapers - The Mound Builders
The nursery group will be focusing on the following topics during December:
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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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 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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| WEATHER? We will be watching the forecast and will make decisions to delay / cancel Sunday worship services on Saturday. We will send an email as soon as a decision is made. We will also contact local media to announce any cancellations. Stay Tuned and Stay Safe! |
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January 3, 2016
Dr. Rolf Habersang speaks on the Myth of New Year's Resolutions.
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January 10, 2016
Keralee Clay delivers the State of the Fellowship Address, assessing the current state of the Fellowship and looking to the future of the church.
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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
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 Whether this day brings family together to celebrate their love for each other or exchange presents or share a dinner with friends and family at the Fellowship, the communications committee wishes to all the members and friends of our beloved community peace and comfort today and throughout 2016. And we are thankful for your support and your sharing so many talents with all of us, making this community a beacon of hope and loving kindness in our city. |
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Interim Search Committee Update
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Application Complete!
Our first big step was to complete an online application on the uua.org website for a part-time interim minister. The Interim Search Committee has pulled together a good overview of our congregation and community. This will not only be used to appeal to an interim minister, but also serve as a building block for the Ministerial Search Committee to create the more elaborate search package. Should you want to review this information, you can follow this link.
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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. 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 |
Christmas Lunch at Fellowship
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Friday, December 25 - 12:00 PM at Fellowship
 Our fellowship will continue the tradition of hosting lunch on Christmas Day. Signup sheets will be posted on the "kitchen" bulletin board--for those bringing food, for those who will help with the setup and the taking down of the tables, and to let us know how many plan to attend. The plan is to begin preparations at 12 noon and begin eating around 12:30 p.m.. Hopefully there will be a good crowd, with much visiting and merriment! If you have questions or suggestions, e-mail Janda Raker or call 352-0589.
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Nothing Much Buddhist Covenant Group
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Monday, December 28, 7:30 PM
 The Nothing Much Buddhist Covenant Group has selected as its 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. Whew hall be discussing Chapter 3: Smiling at the December 28 meeting at the Fellowship.
Contact: Rick Todd
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Saturday, January 9 at Brookplace Apt. Clubhouse
 The Nothing Much Buddhist Covenant Group is hosting a Zazenkai (a day-long Zen retreat focusing on meditation practice led by Zen teacher Tony Tackitt) from 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM. Included in the program are a Meditation 101 talk/discussion, two Teisho (dharma talk), Zazen (seated meditation), and Kinhin (slow, organized walking meditation). Participants bring their own sack lunches. There is no fee; however, seating is limited, so attendees will be on a first-come first serve basis. Familiarity with meditation is recommended but not required. Contact Tony Tackitt to reserve your space. More information is available on our website. Map of location:
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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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 Nathan C. Walker, Exorcising Preaching: Crafting Intellectually Honest Worship (2014).
Nate Walker, minister at the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia (established in 1796), uses his own sermons to illustrate how much more effective sermons can be by making them directly, almost theatrically, relevant to congregants' lives (to dispel the myth that people actually listen to me preach) and that clergy are not their own audience. He argues, "preach or die"; make sermons powerful and diversified in form; democratize the pulpit by incorporating congregants in the selection of topics for sermons; plan the development of a sermon (preempt procrastination) because time management is essential to the process; and eliminate theological clichés. Walker's sermons are amazingly engaging and transformative. Anyone contemplating, clergy or laity, taking the pulpit on Sunday morning should read this book for excellent hints about how to improve worship messages. Even if you do not aspire to the pulpit, this discussion of the process and reasoning and forms of a sermon gives congregants insights that help them appreciate better the Sunday morning worship. He even has videos of various sermons at www.exorcisingpreaching.com so you can experience the delivery and the appendix contains complete sermons on a number of topics.
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FireSongs Songwriter Series
Wednesday, December 30, 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 30 is Ray Wilson.
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