UUA Connectional

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

Jump to Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday, music


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.** 🌿


Breathing Meditation (from Cole Arthur Riley, Black Liturgies)

INHALE
The world is loud.

EXHALE
I listen for my voice.


Tuesday

Prayer Vigil

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.

You can also view and read Faith Presbyterian’s Election Day Prayer Guide


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.

Register here.

(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 with Simone

Simone is hosting a special laughter yoga session Wednesday on Zoom, at 10am to 11am Central Time.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYtf-mopj0tG9JpYy5djkpwJTBOY6ZrfSLO

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. Sofía 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.

Zoom link available on our home page https://wildflowerchurch.org/

Community Recharge Day Sunday, November 10, 2 pm to 6 pm.

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.


Music: “My Little Light”

My Little Light” by Beautiful Chorus

Lyrics:

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

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Sunday, September 8, 2024, 3pm to 4:30 pm Central Time

Black Lives of Unitarian Universalists (BLUU)‘s online worship services are Black Sacred Space in their entirety – by and for Black people, with the words and voices of Black folks across the diaspora – and we hope that Black UUs and Black UU-adjacent folks (who share our values) from far and wide will join us!

For our non-Black siblings in faith, please DO share this invitation with Black folks in your life and community. Getting the word out about BLUU’s gatherings and other programming is one powerful way of lending your support, and we deeply appreciate it!

For all of our services, feel free to come into our BLUU Zoom Room as early as 15 minutes before the start of the service to get settled, say hello to the folks who are already gathering, and listen to the music softly playing as we all prepare for our time together.

In September, Rev. Mykal Slack will be bringing us a special Homecoming message, “Come As You Are.”

Worship description: There is artistry in holding the complexities of how we connect with one another, including how we uphold the very best of our faith. It takes persistence, audacity, humbleness, a healthy curiosity, and a commitment to community to live into this artistry and this creativity.

Register to attend: https://bit.ly/3wYfnjb

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.)