Join us for DRUUMM’s (Diverse & Revolutionary UU Multicultural Ministries) Public Worship, entitled “There Will Always Be Dancing,” Thursday, May 15, 7 pm Central (8 pm Eastern). This event is open to all.
Through the destruction and the devastation, something enduring resides within us that cannot be stamped out by bigotry, greed, or exploitation. No matter how much injustice we face and the burdens we carry, there will always be movement. There will always be music. There will always be dancing.
From this inner well, we sing, pray, resist, rejoice, dream, and rebuild—because our liberation is bound up together, and our spirits are uncontainable. Let us gather to remind one another of our sources of courage, joy, and power.
This virtual service is open to everyone and features religious professionals of color from across our Unitarian Universalist Association. DRUUMM is the oldest and largest UU People of Color Collective.
The Rev. Joan Javier-Duval (she/her) has served as Minister of the Unitarian Church of Montpelier, VT since 2015, is a member of DRUUMM, and previously served on the APIC Steering Committee. She finds great fulfillment in the deeply relational nature of both parish ministry and organizing for social change in a small community. Joan will always join a line dance at any party, and she is happy to be skiing on mountains and through forests this winter with her spouse and eleven year-old child.
Dr. Jolie Rocke is the Director of Music & the Arts at First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston. With a deep passion for using the arts to uplift and heal, she shares her vocal talents and inspires creativity in many forms. A renowned professional singer across a variety of genres, Jolie also serves as a Lecturer of Music at Prairie View A&M University. She is the founder of HBCU Arts, an initiative dedicated to preserving culture by promoting entrepreneurial growth and amplifying the creative expressions of students, alumni, and faculty from historically Black colleges and universities.
Rev. Christina Shu is a long-time DRUUMM leader who served on our Chaplain Team. She is a Lead Interfaith Chaplain at Cedars-Sinai who offers compassionate support across diverse faiths, specializing in palliative care, grief, and long-term illness. A board-certified chaplain, she advances spiritual care research and education. She holds a B.A. from Stanford and an M.Div. from Harvard. Her ministerial journey has included work in urban chaplaincy, university spiritual care, and hospital settings across the country.e are grateful for her presence in this year’s service.
Our theme for November is Comforting Light. Here are some resources for community care, to hold your joys, your concerns, your wellbeing, and the fullness of you this week and beyond.
— Simone Simone Monique Barnes, Director of Membership and Spiritual Life
Quiet Practices for Everyday shared by Unitarian Universalist Association
Friends, as we enter into a week – and perhaps longer – filled with deep uncertainty, anxiety, and fear, UUA chaplains the Rev. Dr. JJ Flag and the Rev. Victoria Safford offer some simple, quiet practices to tend to our spirits and souls, and remind us that through weariness and trouble, love will guide us.
Today, we center Interdependence:
**It’s time to go outside. Sometime today or this evening, make time to go out, rain or shine. Touch the living earth: soil, leaf, water, or just let the air touch you. Find a quiet place where you can stop a while, just quietly. In your mind, or whispering, speak to the earth as if it were a loving grandparent, an elder. Say (in your mind or whispering) what you’re most afraid of now. Stay still a little longer, and then offer a small prayer, perhaps like this: “Right now, what I need most is _____.” Breathe deep, and touch the earth again, with gratitude.**
Hosted by our campus partner Faith Presbyterian Church (1314 E Oltorf Street). Rev. Amy Myhand (she/her/hers), aka Pastor Amy, will be on hand in the sanctuary from 10 am to 2 pm on Tuesday, November 4th.
DRUUMM Election Evening Gathering Space (BIPOC-only space)
Tuesday, November 5, 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM Central Time (8:00 PM – 11:00 PM EST) Diverse and Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries (DRUUMM) is hosting a space for support and spiritual care on the evening of Election Day. They’ve designed this as a BIPOC-only brave space to share music, readings, poetry, prayers, meditations, etc., and to provide sustenance to each other. Please register (https://druumm.org/events/) and join for any part of the time.
This event is BIPOC-only, a sacred space reserved for those who identify as Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color and UU or interested in Unitarian Universalism. DRUUMM recognizes every Community of Color is impacted differently, and each community maintains its own unique identity and culture. BIPOC/People of Color/Person of Color/Community of Color is a political identity of survival and being in resistance to racism and colonialism, one that builds solidarity and creates positive change. White allies with questions or concerns are strongly encouraged to reach out to Allies for Racial Equity.
Election Night Care Space – Tuesday, November 5, 6:30 CT
Hosted by the UU Women’s Federation
It’s been a L-O-N-G election season. We know that whichever way it goes, we will continue our work towards justice. UUWF invites you to spend some election decompression space with us on Election night.
We’ll start one hour before the polls close on the East Coast, and make space for you to reconnect. Join us for music and inspiration.
(UUWF builds covenental relationships among Unitarian Universalist Women and Femmes that equip us all to be better co-conspirators and allies in the movement for collective liberation.)
Wednesday
Coffee and Conversations, Wednesdays at 10 am
(For the Zoom link, check your Wildflower newsletter or contact the care team on this form or email careteam@wildflowerchurch.org.)
Come check in about life, the universe and everything with other Wildflowers, Chaplain Bis, and the Pastoral Care Team. Chaplain Bis is also available 1:1 Zoom sessions, which you can sign up for at calendly.com/wildflowerpastoralcare
Laughter Yoga is open to all bodies and all experience levels. You don’t need props or tools, just bring yourself. Laughter Yoga is the union of unconditional laughter and deep yogic breathing. You can practice it anywhere, anytime.
UUA Forward Together: Anchoring in Community Post Election
Wednesday, November 6, at 7pm Central
Find Support & Community in Our Post-Election Series
Join Side with Love, UUA Congregational Life, and senior UUA leadership for a series of online gatherings to help us reflect, respond, and prepare together following the 2024 Election. Each session provides spiritual grounding, practical insights, and community support.
Session One – 11/6: After Election Day Ground yourself, connect with UUA resources, and get insights from Side With Love.
Session Two – TBD (When Election is Called) Join UUA President Rev. Dr. SofĂa Betancourt and others for reflection and immediate action steps.
Session Three – 11/19: The Way Forward Discuss next steps and hear from Side With Love on the movement landscape.
All sessions at 8pm ET / 7pm CT / 6pm MT / 5pm PT. Register to attend and receive updates! https://bit.ly/4e5EzGJ
Thursday
TXUUJM Action Hour with Rev Erin J. Walter, 7pm – 8 pm
All are welcome to join the Texas Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry (TXUUJM) as Rev Erin J. Walter hosts this week’s weekly Thursday night justice gatherings on Zoom from 7pm – 8pm CT. It is a time to check in and connect with folks from around the state and be in community. Invite friends, UU or not, Texan or not. ALL WELCOME. Learn more about these programs at txuujm.org. Register for Thursday’s Action Hour here.
Sunday
Wildflower Church’s Sunday Worship, Sunday, November 10, 11:45 am on Zoom
“The Wonder of Who You Are,” speaker Simone Monique Barnes.
As we continue our month-long theme of Comforting Light, we will take time to meditate, dream, imagine, and breathe, honoring our own inner light and the comforting lights that surround us.
After the virtual service, the Wildflower Community Room will be open from 2pm to 6pm for our Community Recharge Day. It is a self-guided afternoon of restorative activities, community, and quiet time; whatever it is that you need to recharge your own batteries.
This is a Zoom-only service. There will be no children’s and youth religious education classes.
Come as you are, take what you need. Stay for a few minutes, or stay all afternoon. A self-guided afternoon with space to quietly contemplate and space to engage. It’s a relaxing day of both fellowship and solitude, to recharge your batteries.
This little light of mine Used to be too scared to shine When mine met yours it would run and hide But in time I came to find I wanna shine so bright It makes this whole world smile And pay back the beautiful feeling That allows me to be Whatever I wanna be And I am gonna be Free and easy
DRUUMM continues to partner with the Church of the Larger Fellowship, concerned religious professionals, Palestinian, Arabs, Southwest Asian/North African and Jewish members of our community on a weekly Vigil for Gaza. Vigils are open to all.
This vigil, held on June 9, 2024, 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM Central (8:00 PM to 9:00 PM Eastern), open to all, is to honor the spiritual work toward ending the violence. We are calling for a permanent ceasefire and end to the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza, a release of all hostages/prisoners, humanitarian aid, and an accountability process that is not rooted in revenge. We deeply honor the worth and dignity of all Palestinians and all Israelis.
We are centering the voices of those most affected and we ask attendees to hold this with intention. We aim to be present with one another and deepen our attention to the crises in Gaza as Unitarian Universalists. We are mindful of the deep and complex roots in the minds and hearts of Westerners.
Join us as we grieve, rage, learn, and find solace together. The vigil will be held for 45 minutes, and we may host facilitated breakout session afterwards depending on capacity for those who wish to connect more intentionally.
Hosted by concerned Unitarian Universalist ministers, religious professionals, lay leaders, the Church of the Larger Fellowship, UU Service Committee, UU Women’s Federation, UUs for Justice in the Middle East and more.
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.)
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.)
**It’s time to go outside. Sometime today or this evening, make time to go out, rain or shine. Touch the living earth: soil, leaf, water, or just let the air touch you. Find a quiet place where you can stop a while, just quietly. In your mind, or whispering, speak to the earth as if it were a loving grandparent, an elder. Say (in your mind or whispering) what you’re most afraid of now. Stay still a little longer, and then offer a small prayer, perhaps like this: “Right now, what I need most is _____.” Breathe deep, and touch the earth again, with gratitude.** 
Session One – 11/6: After Election Day
All sessions at 8pm ET / 7pm CT / 6pm MT / 5pm PT.
Register to attend and receive updates! 
