DRUUMM Village at General Assembly (June 19-22, 2024)

05/29/2024

UUA Connectional Event: The Power of Our Stories, Our Unity, and Our Love (Diverse & Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries (DRUUMM) Event Info)

DRUUMM Village at General Assembly 2024 is a virtual event concurrent with the UUA General Assembly. (General Assembly is the Unitarian Universalist Association’s Annual Meeting.)

The Village is where members of DRUUMM (and those curious about us) can have the opportunity to fellowship, be seen, be heard, and be held in beloved community and in faith. We will hold space for you and for each other. Whether you have registered for the main UUA General Assembly or not, DRUUMM Village programming is open to all People of Color in Unitarian Universalism and BIPOC friends of DRUUMM. Our events will be held virtually via zoom or YouTube, and are predominately BIPOC-only spaces.

This year’s DRUUMM Virtual Village will feature:

  • DRUUMM In Gathering- Wednesday- June 19, 5:30 pm EST
  • Virtual Meditation Brunches and Connection- Thursday- June 20 & Friday- June 21, 10:30 am EST
  • Annual Meeting- Saturday, June 22, 10:30 am EST
  • Virtual Party with Music a various offerings from the DRUUMM community. – Saturday, June 22, 8:30 pm EST

Interested in joining DRUUMM? Wildflowers can sign up via our Group Membership Form. Event Registration links are sent directly to DRUUMM members.

Membership is open to those who affirm DRUUMM’s mission and values, self-identify as a Black, Indigenous and/or Person of Color/Person of the Global Majority, and make a modest, meaningful, contribution of presence at one or more of our events or programs each year, volunteer at any of our DRUUMM events or community projects, and/or support financially (as you are able). (Wildflower had paid for a group membership. There is no fee for an individual to join through our Wildflower DRUUMM membership.)

Rooted – Black Sacred Worship – June 1, 2024

From the Wider Community (Invitation to this sacred gathering for Black the Community)

The next ROOTED gathering, on Saturday, June 1, at DAWA HQ, 916 Springdale Rd, Bldg 4, Ste 109, in East Austin.
ROOTED is a bi-monthly Black sacred collective worship experience by and for black folxs of all faiths.

Our spiritual gatherings honor Black wisdom, music, rituals, ceremonies, healing, and text from many experiences and traditions.

Families with children are welcome.
Elders are welcome.
ROOTED is LGBTQIA+ affirming.

DAWA (Diversity Awareness and Wellness in Action) is a platform that invests in BIPOC community and culture.
🖤🤎🖤

Recognizing our Community’s Milestones

05/21/2024

Milestone Sunday, May 19, 2024 recognizing the milestones of both our Wildflower church community, and the milestones of our 2024 Wildflower HS Scholarship recipients (open to graduating seniors of Travis ECHS).

A Note of Closure from Rev Erin Walter

05/07/2024

Dearest Wildflowers,

The time has come for me to wrap up my affiliation as community minister for the church. Please join me at church on Sunday, May 19, so we can honor and celebrate our 9 years of ministry together — two when I was your intern minister and 7 as the affiliated community ministry — as well as milestones in others’ lives, such as graduations and retirements. May 19 is Milestone Sunday! I look forward to honoring and celebrating our time together. Please watch this video for more from me, and know I won’t be far away, since I will stay in relationship with the church via my leadership of the Texas UU Justice Ministry, my band Parker Woodland‘s music ministry, and my daughter’s role in the Wildflower youth group. It’s just time to make room for the next chapter for Wildflower — and for me to streamline my commitments for the sake of sustainability in my own life.

Thank you so much for these beautiful years of spiritual affiliation! I will have more to say and share on May 19th.

In love, justice and joy,

Rev. Erin Walter (she/her)

erin@txuujm.org

Rev Erin Walter: A message about closure for my affiliated community ministry

A note from Wildflower: Sign our group e-card to Rev. Erin Walter

If you would like to share words of gratitude, encouragement, or love with Erin, please do so using this e-card: https://www.groupgreeting.com/sign/fa347ded9783b69

From the Director: May at Wildflower

05/04/2024

This month our worship services explore the topic of CELEBRATION. 

Celebrations are important because they give us opportunities to:

  • Appreciate ourselves
  • Appreciate those in our lives and in our community
  • Take note of how far we’ve come
  • Make memories
  • Reflect
  • Be present
  • Inspire others
  • Find community
  • Mark the passage of time

Join us for our upcoming Sunday worship services held at 11:45 am (Zoom link is available on our website’s home page) and other community gatherings in May.

  • Sunday, May 5th, 11:45 am, (hybrid): “Joy of Joy.” Wildflower’s mission is growing spiritually together, spreading love, justice, and joy! Join us as we celebrate World Laughter Day with Laughter Yoga and other joy practices. We will also celebrate welcoming our newest members of the congregation. Stay afterwards for our popcorn social in the Community Room. (Speaker: Simone Monique Barnes)
  • Wednesday, May 8th, 7 pm (on Zoom and Livestream) DRUUM Public Worship Service, “Choosing Joy! Living with Intentionality and Purpose.” Discover how a joyful heart can be your sanctuary, even when spirits are tested. A celebration of resilience, purpose, and the healing power of joy. (Guest Preacher: Rev Ali K.C. Bell, Director of Music: Saunder Choi, Liturgist: Rev. Carol Thomas Cissel.) Wildflower is one of the sponsoring congregations of this public worship of DRUUM (Diverse & Revolutionary UU Multicultural Ministries). For the Zoom link or Livestream, RSVP on DRUUM’s website https://www.druumm.org/events/
  • Sunday, May 12th, 11:45 am (on Zoom): “Celebrating Transformation on the Path” On this day, we look to Buddhist teachings and practices as a source of inspiration and celebration, as many Buddhists observe Buddha’s Birthday (also known as Vesak or Wesak) this month (Speaker: Sarah Riehl)
  • Sunday, May 19th, 11:45 am (hybrid): Milestone Sunday! On this day we gather together to celebrate the many milestones of our community, such as graduations, recipients of our scholarship program with Travis ECHS, career milestones, and much more. Want to share a milestone with the congregation? Complete this form. (Speaker: Simone Monique Barnes and others). Stay afterwards for our potluck (and bring your favorite dish, entree, or snack to share)
  • Sunday, May 26th, 11:45 am (hybrid): We celebrate joy with our guest preacher of the day, Rev. Krista Weber Huang

During our social hour after services on the 1st and 3rd Sundays in the Community Room, look for our new table talk conversation starters prompts, to help spark meaningful conversations on the theme of the day.

And, speaking of celebrating our community, our 2nd offerings this season will focus on deepening our connection and relationships with the youth, educators, and families of our neighborhood and the Travis ECHS community.

We will also have a special offering for DRUUM (Diverse & Revolutionary UU Multicultural Ministries), which we support as a congregation, which aids in their good work, public worship, and much needed good trouble in our world.

Lots to celebrate!

In closing, the vibrations are still resonating from last month’s service celebrating the music and message of Prince, which was so rich with the diverse gifts of the congregation and the community, with LOVE being our master plan (love, not dogma, policies, politics, nor anything else that divides us; only love), and amplified by the many other iterations of love that we uplifted in April, I leave you with these simple, yet wise words of the Purple One:

“Instead of hate, celebrate.”

Prince

In joyful celebration,

~ Simone

Simone Monique Barnes
Director of Membership and Spiritual Life
Wildflower UU Church, Austin TX