The Community News

[Pages:12]The

Community News

December 2017

OUR VISION We will become a dynamic and nurturing religious community that celebrates our human diversity, supports lifelong spiritual growth, and acts for compassion and justice in the larger

community.

December Services - Theme - God

Sunday, December 3 - "Dancing With Goddess/God" Speaker - Rev. Patrick Price.

Sunday, December 10 - A Holiday Pageant for All Ages Speaker - The Reverend Jennifer Innis and a Cast of Thousands.

Sunday, December 17 - "Annual Yuletide Celebration". Our worship for all ages uses ritual, stories, and song to weave together Yule, Hanukah and Christmas ? holidays from three of our six UU sources. Led by the Revs. Patrick Price & Jennifer Innis and the Community Church Choir.

Sunday, December 24 - "A Christmas Spirit Worship For All Ages". Everyone is invited to attend in their new Christmas pajamas or favorite holiday morning lounging attire. Children are invited to bring a quiet toy. Speakers Rev. Patrick Price, Rev. Jennifer Innis.

December 24 ? 6:00pm - "Christmas Eve Lessons & Carols Candle Light Service" led by the Revs. Patrick Price & Jennifer Innis, Worship Associates and the Community Church Choir.

Sunday, December 31 - "Turnings" Speaker - Sarah Reiling.

January 2018 Sunday Services Theme - Creation January 7 - Guest Speaker Dotty Storer January 14 - Rev. Patrick Price January 21 - Rev. Patrick Price January 28 - Rev. Patrick Price

Typical Sunday 10:30 - 11:45 a.m.: Worship, Religious Education for Children and Youth, and Nursery Childcare 11:45 a.m.: Coffee and Conversation

In This Issue

November Board

3

Mtg. Highlights

OWL Classes

6

Women's Alliance

7

Holiday Party

Financial Report

9

Community Unitarian Universalist Church of Plano 2875 East Parker Road, Plano, Texas 7T5h07e4C?o(m97m2)u4n2i4ty-8N98e9ws - December 2017 1

e-mail: cuuc-office@

Patrick's Ponderings "Holy Happy Days"

Like many of you, I feel like I just finished with Halloween and then Thanksgiving. Now Hanukah, Christmas, Kwanza, the New Year are all just ahead. I sometimes get an image in my mind with these holidays as series of hurdles which we leap in rapid succession as we sprint down the last two months of the year. We then find ourselves in January, trying to "normalize" our schedules, and reconcile our accounts, with a feeling like a marathon runner who is gasping for air, trying to walk it off, and simply glad to have survived the gauntlet once again.

Yet I am caught on the word "holiday" itself. "Holiday" was originally "holy day." Holy days are those we set aside to devote ourselves to engaging with and celebrating particular aspects of God/dess, or the Holy. By doing this we step outside the normal space and time of our daily rounds to gain a unique perspective on our lives and our existence together. It is an opportunity to reorient ourselves to ourselves, to each other and to God/dess, the Holy.

Traditionally, holy days and holidays were intentional and structured so that we have a sense of being carried in a particular direction and delivered on the opposite shore. But in our current age holidays are more commonly defined by what they are not. They are not work, they are not school, or whatever the usual might be. When defined by what they are dedicated to, they are about shopping and buying, such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. These shopping days are treated as more important than almost any events of the year. Whereas, holidays are set aside as "important" and even as "essential" to our personal and communal life. They are the pinnacle of the "holy happy days" of shopping and consumption that are supposed to ease our troubled brows and make the world a better place.

An Eastern proverb warns, "Be careful what gods you worship, lest you become like them." And Unitarian Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our lives, and character. Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping we are becoming." So what we think of as "important' or `holy" can become to us a god, and that has an impact on us whether we like it or not, and even if we are atheists.

"Why should we live in such a hurry and waste of life?"* The purpose of religious communities, traditions, celebrations, and gatherings is to give us the rudders, compasses and companions for the journey. In this way we may be better able to experience the holiday season not as a terrifying free fall from routine, or as pilgrimages to the temples of retail consumption. The ways we experience and describe the underlying reality of our lives in turn affects our lives and the lives of those around us. If we experience God/dess as selfish, materialistic, demanding and jealous, then that holds implications about our world and how we should live in it. If our experience and image of the Holy is all loving, embracing and forgiving, that understanding will have a different set of implications for us and our lives, and the world.

Real "holy days" prepare us for the journeys of discovery and renewal. So, let's pause in our "hurry and waste of life," shopping and consuming, and our flurry of doing and take some time to be present to what is Holy; to what is important and what is ultimately meaningful. Let us engage this season, and all others, not with a need to consume time, "to get through the holidays," but with an appreciation for the insights and renewals such times offer us. In this way we honor ourselves, each other, and the time we are given, truly making the "happy days" into "Holy days."

See you in church! Blessings, Patrick

*Henry David Thoreau

2 The Community News - December 2017

Presidents Column

Dear Community Church Member, My wife, Kimberly, and I welcomed our daughter, Adelaide Grace, into the world in the wee hours of November 2. Kimberly and Adelaide are both well! Thanks so much for your love and support during this time. I'm also pleased to report that, while challenging and time- and energy-consuming, my full-time graduate work in the SMU Perkins School of Theology is going swimmingly. I have some wonderful colleagues and professors, and the work is fascinating. In light of these two big, recent changes and responsibilities in my life, I regret to inform you that I must resign as President of the Community Church Board of Trustees, effective after the congregational meeting on November 19. This was a difficult decision for me to make, but I feel like it is in both Community Church's best interest and in my family's best interest. Community Church's greatest asset is its people. I appreciate the trust and the opportunities for growth they have granted me. I have faith in the 2017-2018 Board of Trustees and in those who will assume the president's responsibilities. Sincerely, Zack Hughes

November Board Meeting Highlights

Personnel Trustee The Board approved the appointment of Jodie Zoeller as Personnel Chair. Jodie will finish Lolisa Laenger' term that ends in May 2018.

Safe Congregation Sarah Reiling discussed with the Board the need to have a Safe Congregation meeting after the first of the year.

CUUC Christmas Decorating Church decorating committee will decorate on December 9 from 10am to noon. Christmas decorations removal January 6t Everyone who is available, please come and help.

The Community News - December 2017 3

December, 2017

Simple Living Chalice Circle Friday Night Flicks - 7pm.

Literary Ladies Book Club

The next meeting will be Saturday December 8 - Beauty and the Upcoming Meeting

morning December 9 at 11am. Beast - 2017 - 2 HRS. - PG

Women members and friends of

Theme/topic ? Learning together Disney's animated classic tale takes Community UU Church are welcome to

to live deliberately. Facilitator on a new form, with an all star cast, join us on the third Tuesday of the

Ona Tannehill at Email

with the voices of Emma Watson month from 7 ? 9pm.

simpleliving@

as Belle, and Dan Stevens of

Date: December 12

.

Downton Abbey as

The Beast. Who are the the Candle Location: Nancy Barlow's home,

Stick, Clock, Tea Pot and

Plano. If you plan to attend, please

Thank you! Many thanks to those Chip? Try and guess.

contact Nancy by December 8.

who bought pies from the youth during the Thanksgiving Pie Sale! Thank you for supporting our youth programs.

Luke Evans, Kevin Kline, Josh Gad, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Ian McKellen, Emma Thompson, Audra

Selection: Come prepared to share poems, or thoughts on short stories or essays you've enjoyed.

McDonald and Nathan Mack. This

film is a great way to start your Holidays. Women's Fellowship Breakfast.

Have you "fed" your Guest At Your Table (GAYT) box in

To all the women of the church:

November? Please continue to "feed"

We're having a fellowship

it with cash (recommended 50 cents a

breakfast gathering of all the

meal) through December. If you

women of the church on

The December

haven't picked up a box yet at church,

Saturday, December 16 at Poor Men's Fellowship

please do so. Some are located in the

Richard's Caf?, 2442 K Ave. in Breakfast is Saturday, December back of the sanctuary, Founders Hall,

Plano, starting at 8:30-9am and 16, 8:30 am at Poor Richards

the foyer, and alcove between Founders

ending around 9:30/10am. Come Cafe, 2442 K Avenue, Plano, TX and the sanctuary. You may return your

join us for a morning of good food 75074. If you plan to attend

donations in a check form made out to

and fellowship to meet other

please let Bryan Bristol know UUSC (UU Service Committee) in

women in the church. For more by 6 pm Friday, December 15. January and we will submit these checks

information and to RSVP,

from everyone then. If you want to

contact Vicki Verinder at

send your donation to UUSC on your

women@

own, please acknowledge on the check

.

that it comes from a congregant at our

church. Thanks! Anne Smith

smithannenmh@.

Yule Log Party on December 21, 6:30pm. The CUUC Youth invite all to light the Yule Log and enjoy s'mores and fellowship on December 21. Friends and family are welcome.

Deadline for the January newsletter is Friday, December

15. Email articles to

newsletter@

communityuu

.

4 The Community News - December 2017

Upcoming Events at UBarU Fiber Arts Retreat - Fri Feb 16-Mon Feb19, 2018 Join us for a weekend to share your projects, work on your fiber art projects, learn and/or mentors other attendees while nurturing your mind, spirit and body. ? This will be a weekend with no responsibilities, just an opportunity to engage with friends, make new ones, and renew yourself. ? This is a weekend where you can immerse yourself in fiber arts. ? This is a weekend to sing, meditate, dance, take a walk in the Hill Country, visit the labyrinth or do whatever else your spirit needs. View the Stars from our new observatory Weekend includes all activities, meals, and accommodations. Early bird 3-night registration is $175.00 before January 26, ($200.00 thereafter). You can also come out for 2 nights (leaving on Sunday) if that works better for you ($140). For full information and to register visit

May 2018 UBarU Family Camp May 25-28

JUNE 2018 Sojourner Camp June 17-23 Grades Rising 3rd thru 5th Olympia Camp June 24 - 30 Rising 6 & 7

JULY 2018 Seeger Camp July 1-7 Rising 8 & 9 Reeb Camp July 8-14 rising 10 thru graduating seniors. Contact Bill Daffinee for more information.

December Share the Plate. The month of December the Share the Plate, which happens Sunday, December 31 will go to the Minister's Discretionary Fund. This fund helps many members of our congregation and the community at large. Half of the collection on Sunday, December 31 will go to Minister's Discretionary Fund. You can also donate to this cause all month long via the CUUC web page by selecting the Share the Plate option.

The Community News - December 2017 5

Social Action News

What's New in the Community Garden? By spending time in Community Harvest Garden you will see so much more than the lush and lovely plants we tend. Generosity lives in our garden. Stories, experience, seeds, tools and plants pass between us. Fragrances, flavors, vibrant colors, wildlife, laughter, the warmth of the sun ? there are so many reasons to come to the garden . You'll find gardeners full of hope who flow with the weather, who are flexible, always learning, and proactive. You'll see evidence of planning ahead so seeds and plants are planted at the proper time to flourish. You are invited to join us! January 2018 is our plot adoption window. For more information, contact Deb Bliss at harvest@.

Hunger Initiative God's Pantry God's Pantry is busy working on their Holiday Baskets to be distributed to local families before Thanksgiving and before Christmas. Each basket contains a turkey, all the standard accompaniments, plus meals for the rest of the holiday. Many clients are not able to work on holiday weekends and the children are not in school to take advantage of the free meals there.

Our church will kick off the Fourth Annual Toy Drive to support the young children of the families receiving the holiday baskets. The drive will begin on 11/19 and all gifts are due back to the church by 12/13. They will then be delivered to the Pantry to be matched with the family baskets for Christmas. This year we have 103 children on our holiday tree.

Our Whole Lives for Grades 4-6 Begins in January

Save the date! The parent meeting is planned for 12-1:20pm on January 7. Classes will run on most Sundays, 12:00-1:30pm from January 21 through April 22. Childcare provided.

For more information about Our Whole Lives (OWL) and its lifespan approach to comprehensive sex education, see or ask Rev. Jennifer and the Religious Education Board.

Adult OWL begins in January

Save the date for the information session on January 7! Information session: Sunday, January 7, 2018 from 12:15 - 1:15 in the Library. Workshop series: Sunday evenings, January 21 - March 21, 2018 in the annex. Childcare provided. Teaching team: Alyssa Church, Stephanie Dorman, & Danni Williams OWL oversight for Religious Education: Angela Hathaway OWL (Our Whole Lives) is a human sexuality education program developed by the UUA and the United Church of Christ. Adult OWL is for people ages 18+. Topics include Values, Communication, Spirituality, Discovering the Sexual Self, Relationships, Sexual Diversity, Health, Family & Aging. The teaching team trained together in July 2017 to offer this course at Community UU.

6 The Community News - December 2017

Rev. Jennifer Innis, Interim DRE

One expression of this month's theme of Gold is in the celebration of Chalica. Chalica is a uniquely UU holiday dreamed up by religious educator Daylene Marshall in 2005. Never heard of it? Not surprising as Chalica is still not widely known or celebrated. But, the number of congregations who observe the holiday is growing.

So, what is Chalica and when it is celebrated? Chalica is a week long holiday, during which we honor and celebrate our seven Unitarian Universalist principles. Those who celebrate Chalica spend each day reflecting on one principle--putting it into practice through their words and deeds. The celebration kicks-off at home on the first Monday in December, and usually ends with a special service the following Sunday. Each night of Chalica, a chalice is lit and homemade gifts may be given. There are even several Chalica songs which could be sung--find them on YouTube!

At the UU Church of Ventura California, where the congregation has been celebrating Chalica for several years, congregants have reported that they've given charitable donations, volunteered, and reconciled with family members on different days of Chalica. However, Chalica does not need to be such a huge undertaking. Marshall has a word of advice for families who might stress about adding Chalica to other December holidays. She says, "Don't make Chalica into another holiday obligation. People don't have to do hard things for it. They can send a card to someone, or stand up for someone on the playground." She adds, "I've let [Chalica] take on a life of its own. It can either be a serious spiritual exercise or a fun thing to do. All holidays evolve through the people who celebrate them. I don't want too much ownership; I just put the idea out and I'm happy to let it become what it will."

This year Community UU will have a Chalica experience in the worship for all ages on November 26. There also will be materials for individuals and families to take home that day.

See the UU World article: .

Also, for worship this month, on December 10 there will be an all ages Christmas pageant. If you would like to be an angel, a ruler, or even baby Jesus, see me. Costumes and props will be available that morning. Come at 9:15 a.m. for a quick rehearsal and to claim a role. On December 24, the all ages worship will be pajamafriendly as we share the Christmas spirit.

Bowing to the Light Within, Jennifer

Women's Alliance Holiday Party

Come join the Women's Alliance for a Wintry Holiday Party on Sunday, December 3, starting at 2pm at the lovely home of Victoria Rachel. The address is 807 19th Street in Plano, 75074. Please bring food to share whether a healthy snack or something more filling. There will be a white elephant gift exchange and stay for games if you can. We will need a little help afterwards to straighten up. Please RSVP to women@.

The Community News - December 2017 7

Adult Religious Education Classes

The Mission of the Adult Religious Education Program is to nurture and stimulate the religious and personal growth of the adult church community. We offer a varied and cohesive program within the context of the living Unitarian Universalist tradition and principles. The church website has been updated with the latest classes and class descriptions - check it out at . under Adult Religious Education. CHILDCARE is available for all classes, upon request. To reserve childcare call the church office (972-424-8989) at least 48 hours in advance.

Tuesday Tibetan Buddhism ? 7pm ? in the sanctuary. Meditation and Mind Training. Please join us for guided meditation and a skillful approach to developing mental peace and clarity. Facilitated by the Ven. Tashi Nyima.

Thursday Humanist Group meets at 6pm in Room G. This group is beginning a new program. Attendees are encouraged to read the book: "Voices of Humanism in Unitarian Universalism". Each week an attendee will lead a discussion on a chapter or two. This group's quest is to understand and discuss Essays on Humanism.

Exploring the Roots of Religion in Room G at 7pm. Facilitator Don Fielding. Biological Anthropology: December 7 - Language; December 14- Do Human Races Exist?; December 21? Modern Human Variation; December 28 ? Body Fat, Diet, and Obesity; January 4 - *** BREAK *** .

The church office will be closed Monday, December 25 thru Tuesday, January 2.

Upcoming Family-Friendly Activities at Community December 1 ? Chalica Begins December 3 ? Worship and Religious Education, 10:30am December 7 ? Chalica Ends December 10 ? God's Pantry Holiday Box collection ends December 10 ? Pageant Preparation before worship, 9:15am December 10 ? Holiday Pageant for All Ages, 10:30am December 21 ? Yule Log Party hosted by CUUC Youth, 6:30pm December 24 ? All Ages Christmas Service, 10:30am December 24 - Christmas Eve Lessons and Carol Candle Light Service, 6:30pm

8 The Community News - December 2017

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