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UU Christian Spiritual Exploration group – Interest Session & Dinner
Monday, Dec. 16, 6:30-8:00 PM, RSVP to christina@fvuuf.org
If you identify as a UU Christian or simply want to spend some time exploring UU spirituality around ideas of God, Jesus, or the Bible, come to the interest session and dinner at the Fellowship on Monday, December 16 from 6:30-8:00 pm. We will enjoy a meal and discuss what a group might look like—it will all depend on who shows up and what you want to create together!
RSVP by December 15 to Rev. Christina at christina@fvuuf.org indicating how many people are coming and any dietary restrictions so we can plan accordingly for the evening and dinner.
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Sunday, December 8
9:00 am Central Time in-person
informal coffeehouse-style service with conversation
11:00 am Central Time in-person & livestream
traditional service with sermon
Waiting Around - Is There Anything More Human Than Anticipation?
by Rev. Christina Leone-Tracy
Click HERE for Worship Service Zoom Information & the Order of Service
• Visit fvuuf.org/middlehour/ to learn more about middle hour.
• Watch past sermons on our YouTube channel.
• Upcoming Services HERE
• See our website HERE for information about our Sunday religious exploration classes for children and youth.
• Share the Plate: In December we share the plate between the Fellowship and Habitat for Humanity.
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10:10 AM Middle Hour
Middle Hour offering this Sunday:
“Don’t Throw Baby Jesus Out with the Bathwater” (Part 1)
A two-class offering with Rev. Christina to unpack and humanize the Christmas story. This will be a great chance to explore the themes of this season and learn without dogma or pressure.
Click HERE for future Middle Hour offerings.
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| | Adult Connection & Learning Opportunities
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Soup-er Saturday
Reminder: No Souper Saturday this weekend! We will return to Souper Saturday on January 4, 2025.
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Speed Friending
Speed Friending!! You’ve heard of Speed Dating?!?! Well, Speed Friending is a fun twist on that concept…only instead of hoping to find a romantic partner, you make friends. And who doesn’t need more friends??!!
There is an epidemic of loneliness in our country. There is also much fear and anxiety in our community. Many folks have begun to withdraw and are becoming more and more isolated. Speed Friending offers an opportunity to make mutual matches (friendships built on consent). We hope having opportunities to connect in fun ways like this will help us all make more meaningful connections that will help sustain us for what comes next.
Speed Friending will be held on Friday, December 13 at the Fellowship. Registration opens at 6:00 pm. The event runs 6:30 - 9:00 pm.
Brianne Getchius, Cindy Darling, and Alex Frantz are working to each of their strengths to bring this fun night to the Fellowship. Contact Cindy Darling at cindyd@maurealty.com or (920) 205-9635 with questions and to let us know you are joining in the fun!
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Tell Me More
December 15, 12:30 pm
Join Rev. Hannah and a member of our Generosity & Engagement Ministries for an informal 90-minute session to learn more about Unitarian Universalism and this Fellowship. This is a great opportunity for newcomers to learn more, and longtimers to refresh their connection to the Fellowship and the larger UU tradition.
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| | Religious Exploration - Children & Youth
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2nd-5th grade RE kids; bring a stuffie to Religious Exploration this Sunday, December 8
In our Religious Exploration class on December 8, our JETPIG lesson will be all about Transformation. Our young friends will explore what it means to grow and change with the world around us, and what will FUEL us through those changes. Importantly, we will be creating a stuffed animal-sized jetpack. We invite your 2nd-5th grader to bring a medium-sized stuffed animal from home for this project. Don't worry, there will be no messy glues, markers, or paints that will harm them, and they will be able to take their stuffies home.
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December Services Religious Exploration & Childcare Click the button for details.
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Religious Exploration Program Year
We warmly invite all young curious minds to join us in fun and friendship in our Religious Exploration classes on Sundays during the 11:00 service. Kids in grades 4K-8 will discover our values through enriching lessons and activities that help them grow spiritually, ethically, and intellectually.
Every month, our students in grades 4K- 5 will explore a variety of major world religions and learn more about our new Unitarian Universalist values: Justice, Equity, Transformation, Pluralism, Interdependence, and Generosity (JETPIG). Finally, they will continue their journey of understanding and practicing their own UU faith.
Click HERE for information about each of our programs including nursery, children’s Sunday Religious Exploration, and HERE for our teen programs; Crossing Paths, Being a Teen, and Our Whole Lives.
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| | Connect & Commit Spotlight
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Share the Plate
The votes are in! Legal Action Wisconsin will be the recipient of the Fellowship’s share-the-plate offering funds in January 2025.
Thank you to Elizabeth Bray who nominated Legal Action Wisconsin and says this about their work: “I work for Legal Action of Wisconsin, and it is a fantastic organization. They provide free, civil legal assistance to lower-income folks in Wisconsin. They defend against evictions, help appeal public benefit denials, and help people obtain restraining orders against their abusers, just to name a few areas of focus. In my role, I provide free civil legal aid to victims of sex and labor trafficking. Services are defined by survivors' needs and include advocating and enforcing their rights as victims of crime, submitting applications for immigration relief, helping obtain restraining orders, applying for restitution, etc. We help survivors stabilize and move forward with their lives.”
We asked for your nominees for worthy community organizations. We received 12 nominees but 9 of those were eligible to be partners in our share-the-plate (they must be a legally registered nonprofit, with federal 501(c)(3) status). Thank you to everyone who voted! In the two rounds of voting, 37 votes were cast! We narrowed the 9 nominees to 3 after the first round of voting. The second round of voting was close, but Legal Action Wisconsin was chosen to be our Fellowship’s partner in January. We look forward to supporting the Fellowship’s choice through our generosity in the new year.
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Start thinking now to help make our spring auctions a success!
Our Fellowship online auction will take place March 2-9, followed by a special Platinum Glitz and Glamour Gala and in-person auction event on March 29, 2025. More information about both events will be coming in the new year, but please mark your calendars and start thinking now about what YOU can offer to the auctions:
• Do you cook, bake, or have a skill you can share (handyman, woodworking, cleaning, painting?)
• Do you create crafts, jewelry, or other items to sell?
• Do you have a property, a boat, camper, vacation home, or something else you can rent out?
• Would you be willing to offer a house concert or dinner event?
• Do you have connections at local venues, restaurants, or other places that you could ask to donate something?
• Do you have tickets for the PAC, Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra, Packers, Brewers, or something else you could offer?
• The opportunities are endless!
The online auction will be for smaller items and the gala in-person auction will be for our bigger-ticket items. Questions? Contact Angie Miller, chair of our fundraising committee, at starlight54302@yahoo.com.
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Connect and Commit: Engage, Serve, Give
Communication is vital to the life of The Fellowship. This year, our Generosity & Engagement Ministries (GEM) is focusing on the ways we Connect and Commit: Engage, Serve, Give.
Our goal is that each person will consider their connection and commitment to the Fellowship – How do you want to engage, serve, and give this year?
We need each of you to complete the Connect and Commit form, to let us know your hopes, goals, and intentions for the year. Our goal is to help each person find their place at the Fellowship so that we are all connected in meaningful ways. The information from the form will help us support your purposeful commitment to the Fellowship.
Please click HERE for details and to fill out the form. Paper forms are available in the Fellowship lobby.
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Essentials Mitten Wreath Holiday Giving
Essentials: Food and Shelter for All Justice Action Ministry Team will be supporting local families in need again this year. The Mitten Wreath will be set up at the Fellowship. Stop by anytime between Sunday, December 1st, and Sunday, December 15th, and choose a mitten from the wreath. The mitten will include a needed item. Then purchase the item and return it to the Fellowship by Sunday, December 15th. All items must be new and returned unwrapped with the mitten attached. Thank you so much for your support of local families. It is very much appreciated!
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 | Click the image to view the Justice Hub
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Justice Hub
Check out the Justice Hub, featuring an easy-to-use calendar! Each event on the calendar includes time, location, and program details to help you learn more about how to get engaged with our wider community.
When you click on an event, at the bottom of the description you can click “Copy to my calendar” to add the event to your calendar and never miss a chance to act courageously for justice in our world.
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Winter Fellowship Art Display
The theme for our next art show will be “A CELEBRATION OF COLOR.” If you have colorful art, either original or just something you love, please consider sharing it with the Fellowship for a few months. We would love to brighten up the Fellowship Hall walls during the long winter months. We will be hanging the show on Sunday, December 8 after the 11:00 service. Unfortunately, we cannot take submissions after the show is hung on December 8, but we encourage you to hang onto your pieces for future Fellowship art shows. Any pieces you share should have your name and the title of the work on the back. Also, if you currently have art on display, please remove it by 1:00 that day. And if you’d like to get involved in the work of the art committee, please let me know. Thanks! Mary Gerlach (gerlachmz@gmail.com)
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Care and Support
To submit a Joy or Concern, fill out the form on our website or contact Rev. Christina Leone-Tracy, Co-Minister, at christina@fvuuf.org or 920-731-0849. For pastoral emergencies call 920-383-1565.
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Office Closed
The Fellowship office will be closed from Wednesday, December 25 through Wednesday, January 1.
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