Simone Barnes | Wildflower Church | A Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Austin, TX

In Solidarity

09/04/2025

(Our Worship Service theme for October and September 2025)

One way to live into our UU shared values is by adopting a solidarity mindset. Solidarity emphasizes shared responsibility, a collective sense of belonging, and mutual support within a group, rather than just individual feelings or agreement.

Solidarity is more than just a feeling. Being in solidarity with others requires that we see another person as a neighbor, a fellow human who is equal in dignity. Solidarity means recognizing the responsibilities we have to one another and taking an active role in helping others. Solidarity drives us to action.

Being in solidarity with a person or with a group of people is shifting…

from charity and saviorism…to mutual aid and collective action.
from listening to respond…to listening to understand
from talking at you…to talking with you
from individualism…to community-centered care

In solidarity says:

“Nothing about us without us.”

In solidarity says:

“If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” – Aboriginal activists group Queensland, 1970s

In solidarity says:

“…solidarity is not an act of charity, but mutual aid between forces fighting for the same objective.” – Samora Machel

During September and October 2025 our worship services explore being “in solidarity.”

Our first corn harvest! Three Sisters Garden update

07/24/2025

Wildflower member Brandy Nichols displays our first harvest of corn this year from our Faith Garden (a community garden shared by Faith Presbyterian Church, Wildflower Church, and our community friends and neighbors).

Brandy Nichols holds a string of corn in the husks in the Wildflower Community Room

The corn is the first crop from our Three Sisters garden plot (which consists of corn, beans, and pumpkins or squash), which was planted in partnership with Central Texas Cherokee Township’s Three Sisters Program.

Gratitude to all the gardeners, including youth and children of Wildflower, who have planted, watered, and tended our crops, together. We are also especially grateful to CTCT’s Doug Martin, for his generosity in sharing gardening knowledge and Cherokee heirloom seeds with our community.

The corn is currently being dried and will later be ground into flour during a food sovereignty workshop which will be planned at a later date in the fall.

The Wildflower Library Refresh

Gratitude post for Wildflower youth Tulio for volunteer a few weeks of his summer for a refresh of our library. He spent a few weeks cleaning our community room bookshelves, cataloging books into an online database, moving some of archival materials into storage, and starting to reorganize the collection.

This is such a helpful project, which will help our our staff, worship team, CYRE, ARE, and others find more easily find some of the resources we have. (It’ll also help us to make the collection more accessible to members in the future.)

Our database isn’t complete yet, and we still have some organizing to do, but you can have a sneak peak: https://www.librarycat.org/lib/WildflowerChurch

Thanks, Tulio, for living out our Shared UU Value of generosity. What a great gift of time and talent.

If anyone wants to help continue the good work started, please let us know.

BRAVE Communities Connection Event Sunday, June 29, 2025

06/13/2025

Love in action!

Hosted by BRAVE Communities, please join us at Wildflower Church and our Community Room on Sunday afternoon on June 29, for a compelling discussion with a dynamic panel of local leaders, advocates, and policy experts to break down the 2025 Texas Legislative Session – the good, the bad, and what it means for our future. Together, we’ll explore how recent policy decisions are impacting our communities, and how we can take BRAVE steps toward a more just, compassionate, and inclusive Texas. ✨

🏳‍🌈 In honor of Pride Month, we’re especially proud to uplift several incredible LGBTQ+ voices who continue to lead with courage and heart, even in the face of legislative challenges.

Whether you are a student, parent, activist, educator, tech professional, or simply a neighbor who cares, this event is for YOU! Let’s Build Relationships Awareness Voices and Engagement – together!

Learn more about the event and register today.

Juneteenth 2025

Juneteenth celebrations have begun! There is no shortage in observances, history, and celebrations of Juneteenth this month, so there are plenty of opportunities to celebrate and learn (both online and in-person), throughout Texas, and throughout the United States.