January 2, 2026 - Wildflower Church Weekly Newsletter

Weekly Newsletter for January 2, 2026

Sunday Service

In Person

Sunday, January 04 at 11:45 am

Fire Communion and Remembrance Ceremony

Service description:

Join us this Sunday for our annual Fire Communion, a Unitarian Universalist tradition. Fire’s light, heat, and energy both hasten destruction and spark creation, often in a single event. This week, we’ll burn down the sorrows and unhealthy attachments of the last year, and light the seeds of our aspirations for the coming year to focus our attention as we prepare to help them flourish. This is also our annual remembrance ceremony where we will celebrate the lives of Wildflowers who have passed during 2025.

Service Leaders: Worship Team

Children and youth in kindergarten through 12th grade will be meeting in person in their classes after being present in the sanctuary for the first part of the service.

Congregational News and Events

Newsletter Content Submission Guidelines

The link to submit newsletter content has been updated.

Please submit content for weekly newsletter using this form.
Content should be submitted no more than (approximately) 2 weeks in advance of event.
Weekly Newsletter content deadline is Wednesday by 12 pm

Submissions received after the deadline will go in the following week’s edition.
NOTE: Please refrain from using ALL CAPS or “quotation marks” when submitting content.

One on One Deep Listening Sessions Available

You can request an appointment for deep listening:

calendly.com/jhigaus.

During the time when Bis Thornton, our Chaplain, is away, Jan Austin will be available for one-on-one deep listening sessions.

Jan has been a member of Wildflower UU Church since 2004 and has been active in several areas of the life of our congregation since then. Currently, she is Chair of the Pastoral Care Team.

Jan was high school counselor for 25 years before retiring and was also trained as a Certified Professional Counselor, maintaining that certification for many years after retiring.

Worship-at-Home

Not able to attend the in-person service but want to stay connected?

If you wish to submit joys & concerns, please do so here (click this link). (Note: submissions received before 9 am on Sundays will be included in the Sunday service.

Want to receive an email with the service announcements and a recording of the worship service? Please sign up for our Worship-at-Home email list.

Climate Education: Planetary Update for 2026 and Beyond

Sunday, January 11 at 9:30-10:45 am

Via Zoom:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2635700913?pwd=bjNxMEczWHU2bUp3dXpEcVRXWjhRUT09

Emergency Briefing on Climate and Nature” in London, the highly respected climate scientist, Professor Kevin Anderson, gave a remarkably clear, understandable presentation of the current state of our planet’s climate, and its policy implications. As we begin 2026, this is a good time to take stock of the health of Earth, our one and only interstellar habitat, via a mere 15-minute video.
The presentation was one of eight, delivered at Westminster Central Hall to an invitation-only audience of 1200 politicians and other influential figures in public life in the U.K. If interested, more information is at https://www.nebriefing.org/ .
As always, we allow plenty of time for discussion.
You may watch the video ahead of time at https://youtu.be/rI8z6A0c5Q4

Invitation to Join the Facilitator Selection Team

Dear Wildflowers,
As many of you know, our community has gone through some hardships this year. These experiences strained the trust we share, resulting in a need for us to find a way to heal the harm that’s been caused and experienced. We know this is going to be a messy process and one thing we all seem to agree on is that we need a skilled outside facilitator to help guide us through it.
During our meetings on December 17th and 18th, those of us who gathered decided to take the next three months to move into a more reflective, redesigned version of our time together on Sundays. To make sure this healing happens in a way that feels safe and honest, we are forming a team to help choose the professional consultant who will lead us. We want this process to be as transparent as possible, so we are inviting anyone who feels called to help with this selection to join the team. If you decide to join us, we just ask that you take the time to watch the recordings from 12/17 and 12/18 and read the minutes from those December meetings so we are all starting from the same page. Beyond that, we ask that you take a moment to sit with your own fears and hopes for our future and enter this work with an open heart and mind.
The reason we are being so careful with this selection is because the work we do with this facilitator will inform how we grow into our identity as a religious community. It has become obvious over these last few months that we need to design a new governance model and embed antiracism directly into our accountability structures. This is a moment for us to reimagine who we want to be as a spiritual community, trusting that this discernment may shape how our services evolve, and exploring the big questions of who we want to be for each other and the world. It is a big undertaking, but it is a necessary step in building a community where everyone can truly thrive.
By January 4th, please let us know if you are interested in joining the facilitator selection team by emailing membership@wildflowerchurch.org

The Discord Covenant Team is creating guidelines to support healthy communication and conflict resolution in our new online space. We’d love your input! If you have experience with group agreements, meeting practices, or conflict-resolution processes from Wildflower’s past or from other communities that you think could guide us, please share them. You can send suggestions or reference materials to Discord@WildflowerChurch.org

Wildflower Discord Covenant Group

Do You Want to Learn CPR or Brush up on Your Skills?
The Austin-Travis County EMS offers a free 30-60 minute "bystander training" class, covering CPR, AED, and adult choking relief. Training manikins are provided, and participants can choose whether to engage in the practices. Participants are shown how to recognize the patient, assess the patient’s condition and needs, and respond accordingly. Conditions such as resuscitating adults with drug overdose or children are not included, as these require mouth-to-mouth contact, which is not covered. The goal is to enable participants to support a patient long enough for the EMS crew to arrive. This training does not provide certification; that requires more extensive training and skills assessment, for a moderate fee.

With 6 or more participants, the free training can be held at our church facilities. Please indicate your contact info, best days and times for attending the class, and submit this form if you are interested in participating. Due to the year-end holidays, this will be scheduled for sometime in January 2026.

CPR Class Interest Form

Ongoing Events

Ideas Worth Contemplating

1st and 3rd Sundays at 9:30 am

https://zoom.us/j/97826544113?pwd=SVVPM2NaNm5vaXJtZmN3ZjgrU3l3UT09

Ideas Worth Contemplating is an ongoing group led by Wildflower Mike Ignatowski that uses inspiring and thought-provoking TED Talks to generate discussion about important topics.

Climate Education Zoom class

2nd Sundays from 9:30am-10:30am

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2635700913?pwd=bjNxMEczWHU2bUp3dXpEcVRXWjhRUT09

Meeting ID: 263 570 0913 Passcode: 002030

Our WildEarth Climate Action Team offers this class on most 2nd Sundays of the month. We usually feature a 20-30 minute video, and ample time left over for lively discussion. Join us!

Tarot Circle: 3rd Wednesdays @ 7:00pm

Come and explore your spiritual life with support from the tarot!

On November 19th, the Wheel of Fortune will teach us to move confidently through seasons of upheaval and change.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81959828225

Contact MelissaOMeeks@gmail.com to register.

Board of Trustees Meeting

2nd and 4th Wednesdays, 6:30-8:30 pm

Zoom Link:

https://zoom.us/j/99578028139

Regional and National Information

TXUUJM NEWS: December 2025

The TXUUJM staff and board send gratitude to UUs around Texas for all your powerful work for justice in 2025! THANK YOU! (Click here for an amazing report on what TXUUJM members did this year!) To make more good trouble in 2026, we ask your year-end pledge to the Texas UU Justice Ministry FAITHIFY CAMPAIGN: Deadline this Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. Your donation will be matched by a grant from the UU Funding Program -- and will fund significant Get Out the Vote and justice work in Texas during a pivotal election year! Faithify link here.

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