We are completing an amazing year in our Religious Education program that would not have been possible without the presence, energy, and care of dozens of volunteers. We will be celebrating our wonderful RE volunteers in a lunch after service on June 25. If you volunteered in any area of RE, from nursery care to our high school youth group, for any amount of time (even if only once!), you and your family are invited to this event! Children are very welcome and we will have childcare so adults can have time to socialize. RSVP by June 15.
Religious education volunteers during our 2022-23 church year were honored as part of our Graduation Sunday worship service on May 21. Jamila Batchelder, Director of Religious Education, gave heartfelt thanks to the volunteers for their work in the program.
R.E. volunteers recognized were: Stephanie Anderson, Carol Arnold, Andrea Baka, Jennifer Bard, Julia Bonham Hardy, Jenny Bossaller, John Brennan, Crystal Buffaloe, Amie Burling, Melissa Cameron, Barbara Carter, Camden Daily, Holly Daily, Luke Daily, Tim Dickerson, Mallory Donahue, Jack Draper, Jeremy Duke, Rubin Duple, Kaeden Ensign, Kevin Fritsche, Taylor Gill, James Gordon, Margaret Harder, Amy Hildebrand, Iyesatu Kamara-Bush, Adrienne Mann, Elaine Martin, Erin Merrill, Qhyrrae Michaeliue, Jeremy Milarsky, Tracey Milarsky, Shannon Mulvania-Beck, Sarah Oldfather, Chelsea Otten, Stacie Pottinger, Becky Scott, Sarah Smith, Amber Sparks, Martha Stanton, Ginny Winter, Jeremy Winter and Nancy Zamora-Cheaks.
Special guests and substitutes recognized were: Mary Beth Bernadin, Sam Buffaloe, Patty Daus, Melissa Ensign, Megan Gore, Madeleine LeMieux, Dottie Mathews, Jameson Sparks, Jay Sparks and Maryam Webster.
Childcare staff recognized were: Maryam Webster, Meena Cullity, Chante Graham, Eva Loudermilk, Molly McCoy, Clarity Milarsky and Lila Ordway.
Paul Litton, who has been a UUCC member since November 2007, has been appointed permanent Dean of the University of Missouri School of Law after serving as interim dean since July 2022.
Since joining the MU law faculty in 2006, Paul also has served as Director of the Office of Academic Integrity and as Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development. His own research has focused on the intersection of law and philosophy, including moral philosophy and criminal law theory.
Paul said of his appointment, “I am honored and thrilled to serve Mizzou Law, our students, faculty, staff and alumni in this role. When I joined Mizzou 17 years ago, after living my entire life on the East Coast, I did not foresee how this university and school would become so integral to my life and career. I am so proud to lead this outstanding law school and be part of this community.
Early May is the season every year when it feels as though my soul comes out from under its pile of winter blankets for the final time, shakes off the wintry sleep lingering through early spring, and takes flight. Everything is bloom and leaf and fullness, and I can feel it rising in my spirit like freedom.
In May, you could catch me skipping down the street, when most of the time I’m at least pretending to be too dignified for such a thing. In May, I can hardly keep from singing.
I have come to believe that this feeling is the starting place of our collective liberation – this joy, this pleasurable freedom that springs up from deep inside, rising inexorably like bird song. It is the soul-sensation that we are here to live life abundant and to ensure that others can do the same.
When I feel this soul-freedom – this rising song of joy – I want my loved ones to feel it too. When I see my loved ones so free, I want it for the whole world. And from there comes collective liberation, when a song of joy rises from within us and spreads in widening circles until everybody’s got their part in the song.
“Nobody’s free until everybody’s free,” says civil rights pioneer Fannie Lou Hamer, and that includes you – your own spirit is the starting place.
How will you get free this summer? Who will you bring along?
We are a justice seeking people. We are increasingly dedicating our spiritual lives to the hard work of liberation, whether it be liberation for others or for ourselves. Despite this hard work, let us remember to find embodied joy in our liberative work, for it is life-giving and life-affirming. I offer you this prayer of celebration for the month of May.
O great liberator, O life, O love,
Let us not contain our spirits or lock them in silent chambers.
Instead, let us pour ourselves out in oceans of tumultuous joy.
Let us sing praises to the great love that liberates earth-bound souls.
There is a time for quietude, for listening to the still, small voice of contemplation. But that will be for another day.
This day we shout into crashing ocean waves, and feel their raw and sensual power.
This day, when we encounter beloved friends, we allow ourselves to leap for joy.
This day, let us cross the street to embrace our neighbor, even if she thinks we have gone insane.
This day we don’t want to be steady and sturdy oaks. Instead, let us leap and twirl and spin like the great Gaia herself.
This day we praise you, the great creator, who has always been one with us, who quickens our souls, who unbinds our hands to embrace the beloved, who frees our frozen feet to dance for justice.
Let us not be content to whisper that God is dead, but let us instead cry out, with breathless joy, we are alive. Amen.
Although we are moving towards a single Faith-to-Action (FTA) recipient for each month, in May we have two: The Lajee Center and Tent of Nations. Both of these organizations are based in Israel and are working to support Palestinians there in positive ways.
The Lajee Center, based in the Aida Refugee Camp near Jerusalem, offers help and support for refugees as they attempt to get education, work and care for their children.
The Tent of Nations is an organization dedicated to the promotion of peace and understanding among people and nations around the world.
Both of these organizations have programs and goals consistent with Unitarian Universalist values, and both are in great need of recognition and support.
UUCC Social Action Team members Margaret Tyler and Winifred Scott were introduced to these organizations on their trip to Israel/Palestine last year and were impressed with the positive impact they are having. Your May donations in the Sunday service collections, or on-line, will be split between these two organizations, with part ($417, to be exact) going to support the work of our church. Although these are separate organizations, we hope that donors will feel comfortable contributing to both of them.
The following Faith-to-Action recipients are scheduled through August:
June: Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
July: Children’s Grove Kindness Libraries
August: Stop Human Trafficking Coalition of Central Missouri
Faith-to-Action nominations for September 2023 through August 2024 now open
Following a generous contribution toward the cost of driving lessons from Dottie Mathews and Rosie Geiser, Lilly is getting ready to take her driver’s examination. She will be driving her car that was the generous gift of Meredith Donaldson in honor and memory of Joe Donaldson, who had coordinated the transportation for Lilly, Manuel, and Lakshmi.
Until Lilly passes her exam and gets her license, which we are hoping will be soon, Ruth Milledge is coordinating the transportation for the family. If you are willing to help with driving, please email Ruth.
When we agreed to sponsor a single mom with two small children in May 2021, we knew transitioning to independence would be more challenging. Consequently, our sponsorship of the family is continuing in order to provide assistance where needed.
You may support or continue to support the work of the Sanctuary and Immigrant Justice Team, which currently includes our sponsorship of the family, by making a tax-deductible donation to the church with Sanctuary Fund in the memo line. If you would like to make a non-tax-deductible donation to the family directly, you can send a check made out to Allie Gassmann at 1700 Princeton Dr., Columbia, MO 65203. This money will go into a joint account from which the family’s expenses will be paid directly.
Our loyal and faithful drivers share with us how Lilly sincerely expresses her gratitude every time they drive the family to or from their respective destinations, 6-year-old Manuel at first grade at Parkade Elementary School, 2-year-old Lakshmi at Head Start, and Lilly at work at the University of Missouri. It is a reminder for us to say thank you to UUCC and everyone who has contributed to the sponsorship of this Guatemalan family seeking asylum in this country.
Contributions have been by donating financially; by donating furniture and household items; by driving the family; by translating; by taking Lilly to the store and on other errands; by taking the family to the doctor; by taking Lilly to the hospital; by taking Lakshmi to the hospital twice; by helping to enroll the kids in school and Head Start; by helping in other ways we am forgetting; by donating a car (thank you again Meredith); by providing housing for over a year (thank you Christine Heath); and by UUCC two years ago saying “yes” to sponsoring this family.
With continuing gratitude, Allie Gassmann and Dave Gibbons, Co-Chairs of the Sanctuary and Immigrant Justice Team.
If you would like to get involved with the team, please email Dave or Allie:
What do you do to feed your spirit? Do you use prayer or meditation? Does music or art fill your soul? Do you find inspiration in writing or reading poetry?
Continuing our long-standing tradition, we will have a number of lay-led services over the summer. We want to make this the summer of spiritual practice and are looking for volunteers to assist us with presenting services exploring the many ways we keep ourselves grounded, inspired and at peace.
You may have an idea for a whole service, or you may just have a practice you would like to share as part of a larger service. Maybe there is a song that you play, sing or listen to. Perhaps you have a favorite poem or prose piece that you turn to. Or maybe you can describe how working in your garden or walking in the woods connects you to our world. We welcome whatever you are willing to share to help us explore the full range of spiritual experience.
The Worship Associates and ministers will work with all volunteers to assist in structuring a whole service, if that is your choice, or to help you integrate your contribution into a service involving multiple volunteers.
Every contribution is necessary if we are going to fairly reflect the diversity of practice we know lives at UUCC. Please contact any of the Worship Associates (Tim Dickerson, Todd Iveson, Iyesatu Kamara-Bush, Gretchen Maune, Jeff Ordway, or Sam Otten), Rev. Molly, or Intern Minister George Grimm-Howell if you are interested in participating.
What is your spirit seeking? How do you want to be involved at UUCC? And, who is your emergency contact?
Let us know these things and more in our Communication and Connection Survey!
This survey should take 10-15 minutes to complete and will help us shape our 2023-2024 program year around the needs of the congregation! Take the survey at this link:
Intern minister George Grimm-Howell is working on a project that would provide spiritual support and ritual to mark major life passages.
For example, if you are retiring from paid work, or if you’re facing “an empty nest” or other large life transitions, please consider reaching out to George to share your thoughts, feelings, and experiences.
Living Earth Meditation will be offered at 9 a.m. on Saturdays at 1400 Gary St., Columbia, beginning April 1, 2023. It will be a collaborative program of our church, the Columbia Friends Meeting and Show Me Dharma and will be facilitated by Peter Holmes, Ph.D., and Tricia Straub.
The format will be silent meditation outdoors with an opportunity to share insights and reflection –
being at home in Nature while building a connection between spiritual practice and ecological awareness.
In the wake of the last two+ years of pandemic life, we see a pressing need to re-build a palpable sense of community… and what better way than to share potlucks together!
So, we are resuming a tradition that ended several years back due to logistical challenges – First Sunday Potlucks!
Beginning with Sunday, Feb. 5, please bring a dish to share each first Sunday of the month, plan to stay for fellowship and deliciousness after the service, and plan to stay at least once every couple of months to help clean up!
The Grounds Team is reaching out to the congregation to identify members and friends who are likewise interested in the health, beauty and diversity of our church grounds.
If you would like to connect with others to explore and learn, share expertise, and/or help care for our church grounds, please do let us know! Come visit with us at our table in the Greeting Area before or after Sunday services, or contact Carol Arnold.
On Jan. 19 a lawsuit was filed in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis challenging the Missouri abortion ban on the ground that it violates the separation of church and state enshrined in the establishment clause of the Missouri Constitution.
There are 13 clergy plaintiffs in this case representing United Church of Christ, Episcopal, Presbyterian (USA), United Methodist, Jewish, and Unitarian Universalist theological perspectives.
I am writing to inform you that I am one of these plaintiffs.
I am proud to challenge this law because I firmly believe that it violates our Unitarian Universalist principles and theology, as well as our state’s essential promise of religious freedom and pluralism and the mandate to ensure the well-being of our citizens.
This lawsuit is being supported by many entities from across the nation and state. In particular, the national organizations Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and the National Women’s Law Center are providing legal counsel and organizing support. Other pro-choice organizations and communities from across the state have been consulted and are involved in supporting the suit.
This lawsuit may draw some attention to our congregation and our ministry on behalf of the bodily autonomy and moral agency of all people. I have consulted along the way with your Board of Trustees; the board agrees that we welcome the opportunity to publicly support human rights in this way.
There is some chance that this lawsuit may also draw less welcome attention to my family and me personally, and we are grateful, in anticipation of that possibility, to be embedded deeply in a community of shared values and mutual support.
I thank you in advance for your love as this lawsuit proceeds. I am honored to serve with you in our congregation’s ministry of justice and dignity for all people.
Our minister, the Rev. Molly Housh Gordon, was prominently featured along with other Columbia church leaders in an article headlined Roe, Religion and Reproductive Justice in the Jan. 5, 2023 issue of The Columbia MissourianVox Magazine.
According to the article, when Rev. Molly spoke at a rally in May 2022, “Her message was clear: There is a spiritual community in Columbia that is widely supportive of reproductive rights. Housh Gordon is trained by the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice to provide all-options pastoral counseling to people making health care decisions. She extended the offer of spiritual counsel to everyone in the crowd, emphasizing that there are safe spaces for people of faith to talk through their reproductive options.”
The article goes on to point out that while about 63% of U.S. adults identify as Christian, about 61% think abortion should be legal all or most of the time. The idea that religious affiliation is synonymous with opposition to abortion is simplistic and the product of a powerful group of religious conservatives. The article quotes Rev. Molly as saying, “Right wing, extremist Christians have aligned the general understanding of Christianity with a very particular social worldview that is not actually very Christian. … The central narrative of Christianity actually is about how life and love are victorious against the forces of empire and death and oppression. And you can very much read the story of Jesus as the opposition to the powers and principalities of this world, the hierarchical powers that harm people, body and spirit.”
Other church leaders quoted in the article were the Rev. Rick Oberle of the United Church of Christ, the Rev. Sarah Klaassen of Rock Bridge Christian Church, and Executive Director Jeanne Snodgrass of Mizzou Hillel.
Church members present in person and by proxy at a Special Congregational Meeting on Nov. 6, 2022 overwhelmingly approved the following proposition:
Shall the Board of Trustees be authorized to withdraw up to $100,000 from the church’s Endowment Fund to complete the current accessibility project that includes installation of an elevator, and shall the board be mandated to reimburse the Endowment Fund to the extent that pledges and other contributions and grants are later received for the accessibility project?
After the vote, Rev. Molly Housh Gordon reported on the status of the project. She said painting and flooring work is about 80% complete, and work is progressing on preparing for installation of the elevator. The elevator is scheduled to ship on Nov. 28, and it is hoped installation will be finished in December.
Before the meeting, Treasurer Christine Heath and President Melissa Bedford provided the following information:
We are pleased to inform you that we have raised pledges for all but $30,000 of the $545,000 needed to complete our accessibility project.
Here is how we plan to pay for the rest:
Due to rising interest rates and falling market values, our Investment and Endowment Committee and Board of Trustees deem it wisest to use our Endowment Fund to bridge the gap in funds as bills come due, rather than pursuing a bank loan.
The board will be asking you, the congregation, to vote to allow us to withdraw up to $100,000 from our endowment to complete payment for this project. This is because some of the money pledged to the campaign will not be received until next year.
Of the maximum of $100,000 to be withdrawn from the endowment to pay for construction, the board hopes to be able to reimburse $50,000 to $70,000 to the Endowment Fund, depending on how many pledges are fulfilled and whether additional contributions and some small grants are received.
The vote of the congregation is required for any withdrawal of principal from the endowment.
The board is clear that this use is consistent with the expressly stated purpose of the endowment in the Investment and Endowment Policy on both counts, given that the funds will go toward capital needs consistent with our principles and furthering our mission of radical welcome AND given that it is most prudent in this financial climate to avoid a bank loan in service of the long range financial health of the congregation. Here is the language from the policy:
The purpose of the endowment fund is to assure the long range financial future of the church and to fund capital needs and special projects that are consistent with Unitarian Universalist principles and further the mission of the church.
During our Oct. 23, 2022 worship service, our Affiliated Community Minister, Rev. Dottie Mathews, was recognized for her past work as coordinator of the Congregational Accompaniment Project for Asylum Seekers (CAPAS), a program of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC).
As part of the recognition, it was announced that the UUSC has started a fund to support congregations as they welcome asylum-seekers into their communities and named it Dottie’s honor. The Dottie Mathews Congregation Action Fund will provide startup money to congregations who decide to take a leap of faith into immigrant justice work.
Jessica Sapalio, Dottie’s successor as CAPAS coordinator, made the announcement. Here are Jessica’s remarks:
I know that many of you are aware of the incredible dedication and many years of her life that Dottie has given to immigrant justice work and to designing the nationwide CAPAS program. Through her vision and the partnerships that she has built at many congregations and with many organizations, hundreds of asylum-seekers and families who were separated at the border have been met with welcome and solidarity in an otherwise dehumanizing process.
I first met Dottie when my congregation became interested in hosting a CAPAS program. New to immigrant justice work, we were so grateful for Dottie’s knowledge, guidance, and grace in helping us establish a local program to offer solidarity to asylum seekers, which is very similar to the amazing program that you run here under Dave and Allie’s leadership. In January of this year, I had the great honor of getting to try to follow in Dottie’s footsteps by becoming the CAPAS coordinator at UUSC to carry on the incredible program that she created. My daily mantra has become “What would Dottie do?”
In the meantime, I have become a huge fan of your congregation, often watching services remotely, so I was excited to accompany Rosie and Dottie here today, but I’m also here because the UUSC would like to officially honor the incredible contribution that Dottie has had to the immigrant justice field. Dottie, would you please come up?
Dottie is a true justice warrior who has changed the lives of so many involved in this program. In recognition of this, UUSC has started a fund to support congregations as they welcome asylum-seekers into their communities and named it in her honor. The Dottie Mathews Congregation Action Fund will provide start up money to congregations who decide to take a leap of faith into immigrant justice work.
We have also put together a book of messages from many CAPAS congregations, including yours, and partners throughout the country who wanted to express their gratitude.
I wanted to thank you all for having me today, for those of you who helped work on the surprise, and to Rev. Molly, who I am so sad to have missed. I wanted to send special love and thanks to Rosie who through her love has supported Dottie through this journey and therefore all of us, to all of you and your congregation for your commitment to supporting asylum seekers.
By the time you see this article, the backyard meadow at church is likely to have received its maintenance-mowing and may look like a blank space or a poor excuse for lawn. But, I hope you have seen, can imagine, or will see the wonderful plants that are still alive and well beneath the ground.
There are Common Milkweeds that support traveling Monarchs, Baptisia that bloom with blue flowers above silver-leaved mounds, tall slender-stalked Grayhead Coneflowers, and bunches of fragrant Slender Mountain Mint. There are prairie grasses: Big Blue Stem with its turkey-track seed heads, dense clumps of Switch Grass that form airy panicles of seed, Indian Grass with golden plumes, bright orange-flowered Butterfly Weed, colonies of Ashy Sunflowers, Compass plants that point North and South, Obedient Plant, Rattlesnake Master, Goldenrod, Gum Plant, Blue Sage, Willow-leaved Sunflowers, and multiple species of Asters and Eupatoriums.
This meadow is the result of a human-driven transformation, part accidental and part intentional. When our UU forbears arrived and put up the building in 1969, the current meadow space was home to a woodland community. Then, in 1998 as we put on an addition, a big “bulldozer-oops” occurred, clearing a chunk of woods from the flat area and on down the hillside. We responded with attempts to help the land heal by nurturing a native, shrubby, woods-edge/hedgerow-type community on the hillside, with a native prairie plant community on the flat area that we now call our “meadow”.
Scientists use the words “disturbance” and “succession” in describing the transformation of ecosystems over time. In this particular instance, and so many others, we humans were careless disturbers. But disturbance in ecosystems is not always a bad thing. It can also be regenerative. Now, we are trying to work with natural succession and to steward the land toward health and abundance. We are attempting to partner with diverse life forms, all of whom we will never completely know, but whose basic roles and presence we can at least try to appreciate and support. We aspire to minimize our disturbance and to practice respectful nurturance of a healthy ecological community. Sometimes that requires active labor on our part, but it also asks of us an unhurried presence and an open mind toward recognizing and understanding all that this other-than-human community brings to us. There have certainly been many blunders along the way, but it is our hope that as we observe and learn from direct experience, and listen to naturalists and scientists, we are becoming more attuned to this plant community and are growing in solidarity with it.
It is the hope of our Grounds Team that those who spend time here will be touched by the presence of this rich multi-species community, and that they will return over and over to be connected with its rich transformative presence.
Your Pandemic Task Force has recommended and your Board of Trustees has approved a new masking policy at the church. Because of our top-of-the-line sanctuary ventilation, the self-protective nature of KN-95 and similar masks, and a CovidActNow rating of “low risk” in Columbia and Boone County, masks are now welcome, celebrated, and optional at the UU Church of Columbia.
We will continue to provide KN-95 masks of all sizes for those who need or prefer them and to maintain a culture that welcomes masking, but we will no longer be requiring masks for worship or meetings. In order to continue to protect our community, we ask you to ensure that you are up to date on Covid vaccination and boosters and to stay home with our online worship offering if you feel sick at all.
In addition to our online offering, we will be providing the following options for various risk levels:
The seating in the east side of the sanctuary will be set up for social distancing for those with increased vulnerability.
The greeting area will be set up with a livestream of the service as soon as our construction project allows us to move back into the space.
All meetings will have an option to use our new Owl hybrid meeting technology so that online participants can be comfortably included.
We have added an online-only Chalice Circle Small Group – you can register here for that offering.
With Care,
Your Pandemic Task Force, Board of Trustees, and Minister
Would you like to connect with other congregants in a monthly Chalice Circle, but need or prefer to meet virtually? Whether it’s the pandemic, lack of transportation, or some other reason, you are welcome.
This Zoom gathering will be facilitated from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on the third Monday each month by Gretchen Maune. Signups are open here, and we can have up to nine participants in addition to Gretchen.
If you have questions, contact Gretchen at 573-489-0986 or by email.
If you have general questions about Chalice Circles, email Kathie Bergman.
Being an usher is a fun and time-limited way to make a big difference for our church community – offering radical welcome to all who join us on Sunday! Ushers work in pairs. Feel free to sign up with a friend or loved one. Kids are welcome to help before their class. Here are the duties:
Arrive by 10 a.m.
Distribute hymnals among the seats.
Greet folks with an order of service as they enter the sanctuary and if necessary help them find seats.
Close the doors at 10:30 a.m. and let in latecomers.
Pass the collection plates for the offering. Return them to shelf at the back of the sanctuary.
Count attendance shortly before the offering and write the numbers on the checklist.
The Unitarian Universalist Association is supporting UU congregations in developing Reproductive Justice Organizing Teams in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision overturning Roe v. Wade. A series of webinar training sessions will be held in July and August.
Please email Rev. Molly if you are interested in being part of a Reproductive Justice Organizing Team at UUCC.
You can register for the UUA training by clicking the following button:
We are delighted to announce that UUCC will become a teaching congregation once again in the 2022-23 church year when St. Louis seminarian and long-time Unitarian Universalist George Grimm-Howell joins us as Intern Minister! George approached us this winter looking for an internship site nearby his home in St. Louis, and after several in-depth conversations, we realized that he would be an excellent fit for our congregation. We are overjoyed to welcome him beginning in August!
George is a seminary student who will earn a master of divinity degree at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities in May 2022. He is a few months away from becoming a candidate for UU parish ministry, focusing on themes of social justice and liberation, particularly for members of the LGBTQ+ community and people of color, and incorporating socially transformative art forms into the worship experience. He lives in University City, Mo. with his family and is a long-time member of First Unitarian Church of St. Louis.
The UUCC Membership Team, along with the UUCC congregation and Rev Molly Housh Gordon, would like to warmly welcome our new members:
Adrienne Mann
Amanda Smith
Art Smith
Doug Mann
Jordan Alexander
John Brennan
Kevin McKiernan
Taylor Gill
These new members signed the membership book during the Ingathering Service on April 3. We are so pleased that these new members are among us. Together we can do great things.
The UUCC Social Action Team, along with individual UU donors, is sponsoring a marker at the site of the historic Douglass Football Field. This marker will be part of the African American Heritage Trail in central Columbia. The marker is complete and will be installed this spring. The text is as follows:
“The Douglass Football Field served as both the location for the Douglass High School Bulldogs’ games and also as a community gathering site for Black audiences during each Fall and Spring season. The field was a popular destination from the early 1900s until the school was integrated with Hickman High School after the 1959-60 season. Many talented players shared the daily, four-block walk from the school dressing rooms to practice and play here. Notable coaches included Roland Wiggins, MD and George C. Brooks, a native son who played as a student and coached until Douglass closed. Long live the memories of the Douglass High School Bulldogs.
“Signage Courtesy of Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbia”
Greeting for service is fun, informative, community- building and appreciated.
Time commitment: 10 to 11:30 a.m. or noon Sunday
Responsibilities:
Smile and greet.
Encourage name tags. Masks will be required for all participants above age 2. Watch for new faces or people who are glancing around the room. Escort visitors with children to RE.
Afterward, seek out the new visitors and touch base with them. Answer questions as best as you can. Refer the question to the right person, send the question to the membership team, and/or refer the person to the UUCC website.
The Grounds Team would like to introduce you to some of our trees and invite you to share your love of our trees and woods on the UUCC Facebook page.
Shingle Oak – Wood from this oak can be split into thin sheets, which used to be made into shingles.
White Oak – These oaks can live for more than 300 years and are found throughout Missouri.
Shagbark Hickory – Its wood makes excellent, slow-burning charcoal, its nuts are edible, and its wood is used for many implements. Wildlife from moths to squirrels to bats appreciate shagbarks, too!
Sweet Gum – The star-shaped leaves of sweet gum become even more striking in the autumn, when they turn various shades of gold, red, pink, and purple, often on the same tree – sometimes even on the same leaf!
Ginkgo – A non-native tree, the ginkgo’s combination of resistance to disease, insect-resistant wood, and the ability to form aerial roots and sprouts makes it durable, with some specimens claimed to be more than 2,500 years old.
I am so excited to be joining the UU family! I look forward to seeing what kind of music magic we can all make together and can’t wait to get to know you. I thought I’d tell you a little about myself and my musical journey and how it has led me here to you.
My first musical performance was at Earth Day of Columbia in Peace Park at the age of 9. From the very beginning, as a songwriter and performer, music was and still is a way for me to shed light on social issues, to heal and to open hearts and minds. I have played music across the country and Midwest touring with my band, Violet and the Undercurrents, and in 2018 I formed the Jane Doe Revue, an all-female rock orchestra that has helped to raise more than $20,000 for women’s healthcare in Missouri.
I graduated from Central Methodist University in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in Music Education with a vocal emphasis and began teaching private music lessons shortly after. I have taught general and elementary music at Lange Middle School, Stephens College Children’s School, Columbia Montessori School and Windsor Street Montessori. I love to teach and believe it is one of the most meaningful and radical ways to make a direct impact on our future.
On Oct. 1, my wife Phylshawn Johnson, local music teacher Audra Sergel and our non-profit music organization Compass Inc. announced that we will be opening a community music center in the heart of Columbia on University Avenue. The center will be a hub for our mid-Missouri music scene and a place where anyone can come to learn music. Through a community outreach program, we will be offering music lessons on a sliding scale. The center will also be home to a substance-free listening room, recording studio and workshop rooms. We are in the middle of our first fundraising campaign with hopes to open the center in the spring of 2022. If you are interested in learning more, visit https://compasscolumbia.org/.
Some of my music ministry goals at UUCC are to reconvene the choir safely, begin a youth music program with an emphasis on singing and playing based upon interest and skill level, youth and/or adult songwriting groups, involving and inviting members of the Columbia music scene to play for our services and of course involving and making space for all the talented UUCC musical members. I am grateful to have been welcomed into the UUCC family and look forward to growing the music program with you!
We are excited to announce that we have launched a new system giving our members and friends the ability to give to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbia by:
Text message from your smartphone, or
Online
This new system has been arranged through the Breeze Church Management System, our new church database. It replaces our previous Paypal portal, which is now inactive.
As fewer people are using checks or carrying cash, we wanted to offer a safe, secure and convenient way to easily support our church through giving by text message or online.
As some of our members, friends and visitors are continuing to stream our worship services online, we hope this new system will be more convenient than mailing a check or using our previous Paypal portal.
Our new system will allow you to give using a credit/debit card or bank ACH transfer. The system will ask for your card or bank account information the first time you use it, and you can change that information later. You can use the system to give whenever your choose, and you can also set up automatic recurring gifts.
Our church will pay a small transaction fee to process online payments, but we feel the fee is well worth the convenience. If you choose, you will be able to cover that fee for the church when you make an online gift.
We believe these new tools will allow us to continue to serve you well. We want you to know we greatly appreciate you and your spirit of generosity as you continue to support UUCC and our mission of radical welcome and deep connection that moves us together to heal the world.
The UU Life Writers’ Group is pleased to announce the publication of its second anthology, Stories, Just Stories. The stories are mini-memoirs about family, growing up, social activism, romance and pets. A big section of poetry is included. The anthology also contains tributes to those writers no longer with us.
Copies are $8 and can be ordered by email to Fran Reynolds. Pay on the UUCC donation page by selecting the “Other” option and specifying “Life Writers Anthology” as the purpose of the donation.
March is Women’s History Month. UU Life Writers will be writing stories about women who have been important to them, the church and the community. Everyone is welcome to join us on Zoom. We will meet March 6 and 20 at 10:30 a.m. For more information contact Fran.
Our congregation has for many years been in a relationship with a community in the Cangrejal River Valley of Honduras. Groups of UU Churchers have visited every couple of years to work on projects and have maintained relationships between trips with communications and material support for things like the health clinic. This has been mutually rich in learning and connection for both communities.
Two years ago our Social Action Team undertook a project to establish an Education Fund to aid community leaders in furthering their education and building skills to help in their community. The Honduras Education Fund provides scholarship funding for these local leaders, but it is currently running low on funds! The team is seeking individuals or families to pledge $160/year (about $15/month) for two years to keep the Education Fund up and running! One time gifts of any amount are also accepted on our online donation page – select the “Other” option and note “Honduras Education Fund” for the explanation.
Can you help? Email Caya Tanski with any questions.
The Rev. Sally Fritsche, daughter of our members Lisa and Kevin Fritsche, joined the UU Church of Urbana-Champaign (UUCUC) as Associate Minister for Congregational Life on Sept. 1. Her duties will include pastoral care, membership, leadership development, small group support and alternative worship opportunities. She will also lead one Sunday service per month. She delivered her first sermon there on Sept. 13.
Rev. Sally grew up in our church and had a keen interest in world religions from a young age. After earning undergraduate degrees in sociology and religious studies, she first felt the call to ministry while serving in Americorps in rural Indiana. She was both disheartened by the poverty and suffering she witnessed and inspired by the activism and compassion she saw in local congregations. Newly reminded of the power religious community can have to change lives and sustain people, she turned away from her doctoral aspirations and instead applied to and was accepted at Harvard Divinity School.
While a divinity student, Sally served as an assistant chaplain to the Suffolk University Interfaith Center, as a chaplain intern at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital in downtown Boston, and as an assistant director at the Boston Nature Center summer day camp. After graduating with her Master of Divinity in 2018, she served as ministerial intern at First Parish UU in Needham, MA, where she was ordained as a UU minister on June 20 this year.
Rev. Sally and her husband Miles Faaborg, also a Columbia native, moved to Urbana from Massachusetts and had a few weeks to get to know the area before she started her ministry at UUCUC. Miles also attended Harvard, where his field of study was applied physics, and he was a research fellow at Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. The couple married in July 2018.
Rev. Sally can be contacted by email. You can read more about Rev. Sally here.
Below are additional photos of Rev. Sally from this summer.
We in the Reparations Working Group have begun our work! Just what exactly is that work? Our charge, first articulated by Rev. Molly in her February 2019 sermon, “Reparations and Soul Repair,” is to conceive of a small-scale, hyper-local reparations project. How might we leverage and redistribute a portion of our congregation’s resources to African American residents of Columbia and/or Boone County as an admittedly small act of repair to the systemic impacts of slavery and ongoing racial injustice? We will grapple with this question and present a detailed project proposal to the congregation by late fall 2020.
To get from here to there, we have formed sub-teams in these three intersecting areas:
Truth Telling: How have white residents suppressed black residents throughout the founding and growth of Columbia and Boone County? How is that past still present in our community today? We are diving into Columbia’s history (including archival research and oral history gathering) to uncover and to shift the narrative of race in our community.
Project Dreaming: We are researching examples of other reparations projects around the country to inspire and inform us as we envision and plan our own small scale project.
Relationship Building: We will identify and deepen relationships with black community members who are willing to offer insights into the history and the effects of systemic oppression in our community and to advise us on project design.
We are clear in understanding that our work:
Must go beyond apologies, however heartfelt, and enter the realm of physical, material repair.
Will be small in scale and cannot undo generations of past suffering.
Involves, for those of us who identify as white, humility and an ever-deepening understanding of our own individual and familial roles in historical and present-day systems of racial oppression.
We move forward with this hope – that the work of small-scale repair, while modest, can still be profound. Small steps can also be bold. We meet twice monthly.
Working Group members are Amie Burling, Andrew Twaddle, Charles Swaney, Dan Bugnitz, Dave Gibbons, Fred Young, Gretchen Maune, Kim Wade, Rev Molly Housh Gordon, Sam Otten. Let Rev Molly know if you would like to join us.
On Sunday, March 24, the Accessibility and Inclusion Ministry (AIM) Team presented the lay-led service, “Living Up to Radical Welcome,” and made a small change in the sanctuary while we were at it. As we’ve heard a number of questions about this change, we thought it was about time we shed some light on it.
If you’ve been to services during the past couple of months, you have likely noticed a section of chairs in the back of the sanctuary topped with yellow pillowcases. This sunny addition was inspired by feedback we’d received from congregants who have fragrance and chemical sensitivities. These individuals had been unable to enjoy services because of the migraines, allergies, and other reactions caused by these products, which many of us don’t think twice about applying. While we can’t control what products each person uses before joining us for worship, we can create a space in which people who live with sensitivities or allergies to those products can, hopefully, be more comfortable and feel more radically welcome.
The AIM Team requests that the fragrance-free seating area be reserved for individuals who are not wearing perfumes or scented products. We thank you for your help with this step towards being more accessible to and inclusive of all members and guests.
– Gretchen Maune, Chair
Accessibility and Inclusion Ministry Team
After a two-year lapse in the availability of UUCC T-shirts, the UUCC Social Action Team now has three designs of T-shirts available for purchase at $20 apiece. The shirts are perfect for rallies and other activities and events. Look for them in the Greeting Area.
Some of the shirts feature the design that first became available in 2017 before the UUA General Assembly. On the front this design includes the official church logo and the church motto. On the back, it features the logo and the following words from our Mission Statement: “Courageous Love, Radical Welcome, Deep Connection – Healing the World.”
The other two designs are specific to the Social Action Team.
You can see the shirts in the photo slideshow below. Click the arrows to see the next or previous photo.
The Social Action Team (SAT) has a variety of UUCC T-shirts available.
Allie Gassmann is one of the SAT members selling the shirts.
From left, Allie Gassmann, Caya Tanski and Fred Young modeled some of the shirts available.
Showing off their UUCC T-shirts, from left, were Caya Tanski, Sarah Wolcott, Allie Gassman, Desi Long, Joan Mudrick, Steve Mudrick and Andrew Twaddle.
Alan Arnold was a satisfied T-shirt customer.
Steve Mudrick modeled the front of his new T-shirt.
Our YRUU youth carried our church banner in the banner parade at the opening
session of the UUA General Assembly in Kansas City, Mo. on June 20. In the first part
of this short video, they are seen on their first pass through the convention hall.
After the transition, they are seen on their way out of the hall.
The Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly was held this year from June 20 to 24 in Kansas City, Mo. What is GA? It’s part inspiration and spiritual sustenance. It’s an opportunity to mingle with UUs from all over the country and some other countries and engage in issues important to our UU faith. But also, it’s a time to conduct a lot of the business of the association.
This year there were 2,814 registered attendees, including 134 youth. 522 congregations from all 50 states, D.C., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Mexico were represented by 1,570 delegates, including 199 off-site delegates.
Our voting delegates this year were Rev. Molly, Todd Iveson, Peter Holmes, Gretchen Maune, Connie Ordway, and Steve Scott. About 15 other members of our church also attended all or part of GA, and a number of them served as volunteers performing various tasks to keep the show running, in exchange for which they received free registration for GA. For example, Maria Oropallo and Kathie Bergman staffed an information booth to answer questions from attendees, and Larry Lile assisted with the tech staff that provided audio/video services.
The business of the General Assembly takes place in General Sessions. All registered attendees are welcome at these sessions, but only voting delegates can vote.
At the business sessions there was broad consensus for aggressively challenging the criminalization of migrants, people of color, and indigenous people. Delegates overwhelmingly selected “Undoing Intersectional White Supremacy” as a multiyear Congregational Study/Action Issue.
Delegates also endorsed three Actions of Immediate Witness, which all emphasize the urgency of supporting people of color and indigenous people. The first calls for congregational action to draw attention to predatory medical fees charged to incarcerated people, who are disproportionately people of color; the UUA’s Church of the Larger Fellowship developed the resolution in partnership with its 870 incarcerated members.
A second resolution pledged solidarity with indigenous “water protectors,” who have been fighting the placement of liquid natural gas pipelines near Native American lands and who face federal charges for disrupting construction of the pipelines.
The third resolution demanded immediate action to improve U.S. treatment of asylum seekers and migrant families to keep families together. Among other demands, the resolution advocates the abolition of Immigration Customs Enforcement “and the implementation of a system that understands the causes of migration, provides a non-carceral solution while asylum seekers await a decision on their case, and has a fundamental commitment to keeping families together.”
Delegates also approved a group of bylaw changes to bring the UUA’s governing document up to date with current understandings of gender diversity. A proposal introduced last year to change Unitarian Universalism’s “Second Source” from “words and deeds of prophetic women and men” to “words and deeds of prophetic people” passed easily.
A second bylaws amendment changed all gendered pronouns in the bylaws to the gender-inclusive “they/them/their.”
A third bylaws amendment will allow religious educators who are active members of the Liberal Religious Educators Association to serve as voting delegates at future GAs.
The assembly also approved bylaws changes adding two youth trustees to the 11 at-large trustees on the UUA Board of Trustees; allowing the role of moderator at GA to be filled by more than one person; modifying the length of terms of service on committees; and simplifying the social witness resolutions process.
Rev. Molly lit the new chalice on Jan. 28 from a flame passed from the chalice made by Naoma Powell.
Our observance of the 67th anniversary of our church’s founding at worship services on Jan. 28, 2018 included dedication of a beautiful new metal chalice purchased and given to the church by a member couple.
The late Naoma Powell made the chalice we had been using since 2006 after the congregation’s previous chalice broke, and it was always intended to be temporary. Naoma’s chalice served us long and well, but was showing signs of wear. To protect this beloved artifact, it is being officially “retired” from active duty but will always have a place in our sanctuary and will still be used for special occasions.
The new chalice is larger and will be easier to see from all parts of the sanctuary, in keeping with the needs of our growing congregation. It was dedicated with Naoma’s own January 2006 words of dedication of the chalice now being retired:
Though chalice changes, the flame burns bright. Not holder, not cup but flame that offers light. Flame that lights the darkness. Flame, in its burning, illumines night. Flame, its double halo, bringing light to shadow, warmth to shade. Flame, re-igniting Constant.
Meet the Chalice Artist
Ryan Schmidt
Our new chalice that was dedicated at the Jan. 28 worship services was crafted by Ryan Schmidt, a metal artist based in Cumberland Gap, Tenn.
Ryan owned and managed a motorcycle repair shop in Kansas City before moving to Tennessee in 2015. Shortly after moving he met a neighbor, William Brock, a traditional blacksmith who taught Ryan the art of blacksmithing. Ryan’s passion is creating custom-made functional objects, ornamental ironwork, sculptures, and furniture. He is a member of several professional blacksmithing groups.
When Ryan is not creating art at his shop, Mitty’s Metal Art (https://www.mittysmetalart.com/), he likes to get out and explore the surrounding Appalachian region on his Harley or mountain bike. Ryan is not a UU but is familiar with our denomination through friends.
UUCC was given an award recognizing our social action work and Rev. Molly’s exemplary leadership in social action – particularly our sanctuary work – at the annual dinner of Mid-Missouri Peaceworks on Saturday evening, Nov. 11, at the Missouri United Methodist Church.
Allie Gassman of our Social Action Team accepted the award on behalf of our church.
Allie said, “It was a great honor to be able to accept the award on behalf of our church – especially in the presence of all the seasoned activists in the room.”
The framed award certificate, shown in the photo below, is on display on the credenza in our Greeting Area.
Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray was selected by delegates as the first elected woman President of the Unitarian Universalist Association at the June 21-25 General Assembly in New Orleans. She had been the lead minister of the UU Congregation of Phoenix, Ariz., where she became well known for her work on behalf of immigrants, since 2008. Read more.
More than 4,000 UUs attended G.A., including some 1,800 delegates from more than 500 UU congregations. UUCC’s delegates were Rev. Molly Housh Gordon, Patty Daus, Tracey Milarsky, Jeanne and Dennis Murphy, and Gena and Steve Scott.
Also attending from UUCC were DRE Jamila Batchelder along with four YRUU members and one 9-year-old. The young people carried our UUCC banner in the banner parade at the opening celebration on June 21. Five of our young people lined up to carry our UUCC banner in the banner parade at the UUA General Assembly. See them in action in the video below.
Our UUCC banner was carried by five of our young people in the banner parade at the Opening Celebration of the UUA General Assembly (G.A.) in New Orleans on June 21, 2017. In this short clip they are seen entering the Great Hall of the New Orleans Convention Center and later proceeding out of the hall.
Read more about the many important actions taken by delegates and the UUA Board of Trustees at G.A.
Our Social Action Team sponsors a food collection year-round for the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri.
Donations of canned meats and fish, stews, peanut butter and powdered milk are especially appreciated, but other non-perishable food items are welcome.
Help us to help individuals in need! If you wish to have a receipt for a tax deduction, talk to Suzanne Clark, church administrator.
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