 |
|
|
Having trouble viewing this message? Scroll to the bottom & click the link to view this email online. The newsletter is long and may get clipped, please scroll down to the bottom and check for a "view entire message" notice to make sure you see all of the content.
| |
Unpacking Religious Baggage – Interest Session & Dinner
Wednesday, December 4, 6:00-7:30 PM. RSVP to christina@fvuuf.org for dinner planning.
Are you carrying around religious baggage from your upbringing? Do you want to have less negative reactions when other people mention religion or God? Do you want to heal from religious wounds, and move forward with a healthier, more inclusive, and loving sense of your spirituality, whatever that might mean for you now? We’re with you!
Join Rev. Christina and others who feel similarly to you, for an interest session to start an Unpacking Religious Baggage group. We’ll share dinner and discuss what a group might look like. Please RSVP to christina@fvuuf.org (indicating how many people are coming and any dietary restrictions) so we can plan accordingly for dinner.
| |
Fellowship called Rev. Hannah to serve as a settled co-minister
On Sunday, November 17, the members of the Fellowship overwhelmingly voted "yes" to call the Rev. Hannah Roberts Villnave as Co-Minister alongside the Rev. Christina Leone-Tracy. The shift to co-ministry will occur over the next several weeks and will be official as of January 1, 2025.
We are so excited for this next chapter of our collective life together at the Fellowship and want to say a special thank-you to the Call Discernment Team for shepherding through a successful call process: Sam Zinth, Dave Gerlach, Tim Watson, Marti Wheeler, and Brian Murton. We appreciate you!
| |
Sunday, December 1
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
SILENCE=DEATH: Acting Up for Justice by Rev. Hannah Roberts Villnave
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.
| |
10:10 AM Middle Hour
Middle Hour offering this Sunday:
• Write encouraging holiday messages to incarcerated UUs
Click HERE for future Middle Hour offerings.
| |
|
| | Adult Connection & Learning Opportunities
| |
Senior Wonders
Senior Wonders will meet on Tuesday, December 3 at noon at the Fellowship. Bring lunch if you wish and join us for a merry afternoon of joy and connection.
| |
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!
| |
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.
| |
| | Religious Exploration - Children & Youth
| |
December Services Religious Exploration & Childcare Click the button for details.
| |
2nd-5th grade RE kids; bring a stuffie to Religious Exploration on 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.
| |
Thank You for Supporting Our Thanksgiving Pie Fundraiser
Our BATs teens can't thank you enough for purchasing our homemade pies! Your incredible support has helped us fund their UU Heritage Trip to Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN in the spring. Our pie-making team included our young participants, along with some of their family members and our BATs leaders. Together we enjoyed a warm atmosphere of genuine care and community, allowing us to deepen our connections and even forge new friendships.
We hope your pies bring you lots of joy and serve as a sweet reminder of the caring community we all share!
| |
Co-Ministry Kid’s Vote Results
Last Sunday our 4K-5th grade students were dizzy with excitement about getting to weigh in on the Co-Ministry vote alongside our adult Fellowship members! After a short lesson about democracy, the kids lined up in the hallway outside of the Dávid room, and once inside cast their ballot using either a green card (for yes) or a red card (for no). The voting results… drum roll please… they overwhelmingly chose to have Revs. Christina and Hannah serve our Fellowship as Co-Ministers!
| |
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.
| |
| | Connect & Commit Spotlight
| |
Round Two: Vote For Our January Share-the-Plate Recipient
Last month we asked you to nominate organizations as recipients and we received NINE worthy nominees for our Fellowship’s support. We have received your votes and have narrowed down those candidates to THREE. Check out details of the nominees HERE, and then vote for your choice USING THIS LINK before December 4. We will share the winner on December 5.
Each Sunday, our Fellowship shares our “plate” (financial offering collected during services and online) with outside organizations. We typically split the offering between the Fellowship’s mission and a worthy organization in the wider community. Our justice teams, board, and XTeam typically select our recipients. But this time it’s Fellowship Choice! Please vote!
| |
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.
| |
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.
| |
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!
| |
Thank you from Essentials JAM!
Many hands make light work! Forty-five generous volunteers filled seventy-two pans with nutritious meals for the residents at Pillars and Apricity. These warm meals will feel so good in the cold months to come. Your kindness will be greatly appreciated.
| |
 | Click the image to view the Justice Hub
|
|
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.
| |
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)
| |
Care and Support
To submit a Joy or Concern, fill out the form on our website or contact Rev. Hannah Roberts Villnave, Assistant Minister, at hannah@fvuuf.org or 920-731-0849. For pastoral emergencies call 920-383-1565.
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
