Sunday, December 8, 10:30 a.m.

This is our Blue Holidays service, when we acknowledge the sadness that many experience in the holiday season. In this worship service, we will explore the extraordinary ability of the human spirit to survive hardship and heartbreak. What hope sustains us through hard times? 

Worship Leader: Rev. Bethany Russell-Lowe

Worship Associate: Nina Tolley

Music: Chris Tackett

 

Sunday, December 15, 10:30 a.m.

On the cusp of 2020, we’ll examine being people of hope living in the future that our religious ancestors believed was possible.

Worship Leader: Rev. Mathew Funke Crary

Worship Associate: Carrie Cooper

Music: Chris Tackett and Desert Chorale

 

**Sunday December 15 will be a Share the Plate Sunday for Casa Alitas:

 

Dec. 12 | 5:30-8:00 p.m. | Holland Hall

Our year-long experiment in offering a worship service in the evening will continue in December with a dynamic, all-ages space. Our theme this year is “the body” and each month we will reflect on questions about how we relate to a different body part –as a metaphor for our internal, spiritual, emotional lives, of course! 

 

Each service begins at 5:30pm with a Bring Your Own dinner to eat with friends. At 6pm, we will start a 45 minute service with a dessert potluck after. When the weather cooperates, we’ll drag out the fire pit and toast marshmallows! 

You may bring flowers in honor or memory of someone if you like, and either take the flowers home or give them to someone else after the service. Arrangements can be as simple as flowers from your garden or the supermarket in a church vase, or as elaborate as a professional arrangement. Please volunteer for one or more dates by contacting Nancy at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or 301-802-4683.

 

Did you know you can provide extra support to UUCT at no extra cost when you shop at smile.amazon.com. 

You'll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience asAmazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to your favorite charitable organization. Go to smile.amazon.com to learn details of this program and sign up to support UUCT!

 

Exciting news!! We will have a new pianist joining us starting this Sunday. Chris Tackett will be familiar to many of you, as he has subbed for Leeza a number of times in the past few years. Chris has signed a contract to be our Acting Pianist through mid-April, and possibly beyond. Brian Moon is pulling together a hiring committee to identify a new permanent pianist sometime this spring. 

 

Chris Tackett is a Masters Degree graduate of Indiana University. He has been involved with many different instrumental and vocal ensembles all over the country. He has previously served as the Artistic Director of Desert Voices, the Director of Music at Temple Emanu-El in Tucson, and Director of Music at Saguaro Christian Church. While working for these organizations he composed, edited, or arranged much of the music that they performed. Recently he has been working with the Civic Orchestra of Tucson. As a composer and arranger he has worked for many groups around the world including the Gregg Smith Singers, the BBC Big Band and Concert Orchestra, and the Brodsky Quartet. His clients have included Dave Brubeck and George Shearing. For over fifteen years he served as music librarian and archivist for Mr Shearing.

 

 

 

Community Office Hours

Rev. Bethany will be at the Big Heart Coffee shop, across the street from the church, on Wednesdays, from 10-12. All are welcome.

Homeless Task Force Meeting: Sunday December 15, 12:30 p.m. in the Holland Sanctuary.

If you are interested in being on this task force, or just have ideas to share concerning the issue of homelessness around our church, and in our community, please join us.

 

 

It's cold at night in the Desert.

No More Deaths is looking for donations of:

- Warm Weather Clothing

- Blankets

Other items that are always helpful are:

- Tennis Shoes (Men’s 6-11)

- Men’s Underwear

- Men’s jeans, sweat pants, and athletic pants/shorts

Donations may be dropped off at the church office.

 

 

Wednsday, Dec 11: Cafe Justo Trip

There is still room on our Dec. 11 carpool trip to Agua Prieta to stop at these places:

·       The Exodus Migrant Assistance Center (the only migrant assistance center in the city).

·       Café Justo's coffee roasting, packaging and distribution center and coffee bar.

·       Copper Queen Hotel in Bisbee for lunch.

 

We will leave UUCT at 8 am and get back by 4 pm. Here is the detailed itinerary and signup form: https://forms.gle/ibuMPKULQVHyYa6V6

 

TIHAN Dinner/Dance, December 18!

We need four more volunteers, please, to set-up and serve.

 

If you have never participated in a TIHAN monthly lunch (POZ Cafe) it is an experience worth having. The guests are folks living with HIV/Aids and a guest of their choosing. The event will include a DJ, chef-prepared dinner, care-packages, and 'gifts' which we will be collecting in Goddard the next two Sundays. We can also accept monetary gifts payable to TIHAN.

 

Please contact Jerry Cuffe: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to volunteer or see Ray VanHoosear or Eve Hady in Goddard. 

What Is Waxing?

Our Second Sunday class offering this month is Board Games! On December 8th starting at 12:30 and going on as long as we want to go. We're meeting in the Servetus Room. Bring games to play and a snack to share. This is a child friendly event, but childcare is available by emailing Jamili atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.to request it.

 

Join us for Yule Ritual on Saturday, December 21st at 6 pm.Julie will lead us in a ritual celebrating the winter solstice! Bring a snack to share. Bring a snack to share. This is a child friendly event, but childcare is available by emailing Jamili atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.to request it. 

 

The Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans(CUUPS) exists in part to promote the practice and understanding of Pagan and Earth-centered Spirituality within the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) and to enable networking among Pagan-identified Unitarian Universalists. The Southern Arizona Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (SAZCUUPS) connects people in the Tucson region, including the "Baja 4" UU congregations in this area. Chapter meetings and worship services are open to all people. 

Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Pagan tip of the month:There are so many ways to celebrate the longest night of the year and the return of the light to the world. Some ideas:

Winter members + visitors share a 6 pm meal Monday 12/9 in Goddard. RSVP to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or bring a dish unannounced. Please provide your own plates and utensils so that we do not need volunteers to do cleanup of the church's place settings. 

 

TBIRD new member sign up forms are at Goddard welcome center. The Spring 2019 TBIRD Who's Who Directory, posted on the UUCT website, indicates arrival and departure dates, two addresses, and identifies personal interests for joint activities with others at UUCT, such as books, dining, theatre and volunteer service.  

 

For more information go to https://groups.google.com/d/forum/tbirds-uuct and subscribe if interested in regular announcements.

The New Year brings hopes, fears, and so many questions. This New Year join me for a collage class filled with fun, relaxation and maybe some answers to your coming year. You will make two unique and personal cards which will explore your inner self and nourish your soul.

 

Join me, Wendy Annis, on Saturday, January 4th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Goddard Hall. Lunch will be provided. Please RSVP to me atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.if you plan to attend. Also, please let me know if you have any dietary restrictions. There will be a $15 fee, (sliding scale for this event. Let's get together and start 2020 with creativity, reflection, and friendship!

 

Every Sunday | 12:15-1:15 p.m. | Reed Room

For those experiencing a difficult time after the loss of a loved one, a pet, a job, or any other significant loss, UUCT holds a Grief & Loss support group. There you can find recovery in the caring & comfort of other church members (and friends) who are also grieving a loss. Meetings are held every Sunday from 12:15-1:15 pm in the Reed Room. Childcare is available.

 

Every Sunday | 9:00-10:00 a.m. | Servetus Room

All UUCT members, friends and visitors are invited to attend Conversation Among Friends. Our hour-long discussion group meets every Sunday at 9 a.m. on the UUCT campus in the Servetus Room, last classroom on the southwest side, Come a bit early for socializing.Ronna James facilitates.

More information, contact Gilbert Moore, phone 520-790-7568, email at 

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

The church is pleased to present a special art show in Holland Sanctuary, beginning on November 10,curated by Valarie Lee James and her collaborator, Antonia Gallegos.The artworks, made by migrant children mostly from Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico, are amazing, and are displayed as simple drawings or on quilts made by the Esperanza Quilters. 

The show will be on display through December 9.You may come to see it M-F, 9-1, or on Sundays after service until 1. Call the office at 520-748-1551 to be sure someone is there to open the door for you. 

If you do your holiday shopping next Sunday, Dec. 8, at the UUCT annual Mata Ortiz pottery sale, you can cross some names off your gift list as well as help the potters of Mata Ortiz support their families. Recent State Department travel advisories have warned against travel to the Mexican state of Chihuahua because of the increase in violent crime. Mata Ortiz is located in Chihuahua, and without tourists coming to buy their pottery, their economy has taken quite a hit. That is why we at UUCT continue to invite our friends from the village to sell pottery here once a year. So come meet some of the potters, see how their pottery is made and buy beautiful art work for yourself or your friends and family.