Connections Newsletter All the news you need to know to connect, grow, and serve.

Join Us For Worship Sunday, January 6, 2019 | 9:15 and 11:15 a.m. “The Vision to See” Sermon by Walter Clark, Ministerial Assistant The New Year always gives us an impetus to look back on the previous year, but also to look forward and imagine a new future. As a congregation you are poised to envision a new future; not only will you be imagining what kind of new minister you would like to have serve you, but also how you can be as a congregation in a new way. Walter will reflect on how vision of the future can affect our present.

Livestream

Upcoming Services January 13, 9:15 and 11:15 a.m. "Healing From Broken Trust” - Sermon by Rev. Sarah Lammert, UUA Co-Director for Ministries and Faith Development. January 20, 9:15 and 11:15 a.m. Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday "Dangerous Unselfishness" - Sermon by Walter Clark, Ministerial Assistant. This is an all-church service. There are no Religious Education classes. More upcoming services here.

Celebrating First UUCA Commissioned Lay Minister

UUCA members and friends are invited to join in a celebration for the official recognition of Diane Ullius as UUCA's first Commissioned Lay Minister. Please plan on joining us for this special occasion this Sunday, June 6. The celebration service begins at 3 p.m. with a reception to follow. Please RSVP to commissioningdiane@gmail.com. If you wish to make a donation in Diane's honor, donations are gratefully accepted to the UUCA Endowment Fund here. Date: Sunday, January 6, 3:00 p.m. Location: UUCA Sanctuary

Friday Morning Devotions We invite you to smooth the path into the weekend with a half-hour of meditation followed by shared reflections each Friday morning beginning at 7 a.m. Please contact in advance either David McTaggart ( dmctagg@gmail.com ) or Gregg Forte ( gforte@mac.com ). A ride is available afterward to Ballston Metro. Date: Each Friday, 7:00 a.m. Location: Room 20 (Youth Room)

Lifespan Religious Education

Multigen Game Night All are invited and welcome to a multigen game night. Games for kids and families 4 to 6 p.m. Beginning at 6:15 there will be time for parents and adults to play games as well. Childcare will start at 6:15 for kids who are no longer playing games, ages 5 and younger. Bring a favorite game or play one of ours. Dinner will be picnic style—bring your family’s dinner or have dinner beforehand.   Date: Saturday, January 19, 4 to 6 p.m. Games for kids & families; 6:15 p.m. Adult game time. Location: Activity Room

Annual Chilli Cook Off is January 27! Come hungry to sample all the vegetarian and meat chilis and cast your vote for your favorites! Thanks in advance for your support and we hope to see you at this fun multigenerational event! All proceeds going toward Youth Service Trips. Date: Sunday, January 27, 12:15- 1:30 p.m. Location: Fellowship Hall and Center Gallery Register Now to Compete in the Chili Cook Off  If you’ve always dreamed about being a chili champion, now is your chance! Register here: goo.gl/oMnvjb Prizes for: Best Meat Chili and Best Vegetarian Chili, as well as Best Name! Please find even more detailed information through the registration link. Registration closes on January 15, 2019, so register now! More RE News

Upcoming Winter Adult Education Workshops The Enneagram, 1/10, 1/17, /24, 1/31, 7-9 p.m. Conflict Transformation, 2/9 1-4 p.m.  Check here for registration.

Conflict Transformation While conflict can be scary and divisive, it is also possible for conflict, when approached in a healthy manner, to be an opportunity for growth and learning. Rev. Terasa is trained in the approach of “Conflict Transformation” that assumes that conflict is not something that can be “managed” so much as processed in a way that can be transformative. This method has been used in contexts such as the South Africa Truth and Reconciliation process, and in peace negotiations in Ireland. We will explore our own personal responses to conflict, look at what brain science has to teach us, examine system theories, and practice ways in which groups can create opportunities for healthy conversations. Check here for registration.  Date: Saturday, February 9, 1 to 4 p.m. Location: Activity Room

Enneagram Workshop Join Rev. Terasa for a four-part series exploring the Enneagram.  Have you ever asked yourself the quintessential human question of identity, “Who am I?” Most of us spend a lifetime trying to figure out who we are and how we relate to others. The Enneagram offers a bright path to cutting through the internal clutter and finding our way back to who we are created to be. Based on the nine classic archetypes of human character structure, the Enneagram exposes the nine ways we lie to ourselves about who we think we are, illustrates the nine ways we get lost, and reveals nine ways we find our way home to our True Self.  Check here for registration.  Dates: Thursdays, January 10 thru 31, 7-9 p.m. Location: Activity Room

Faith in Action

Share-the-Plate January 6: Metro DC PFLAG Sunday's STP offering will benefit Metro DC PFLAG. Metro DC PFLAG strives to promote the equality and wellness of the LGBTQ community and their families and friends through community support, educational opportunities, and advocacy efforts. Metro DC PFLAG sponsors 15 community groups across the DC area, including groups for adults, groups for youth, and groups with a transgender focus. Community Groups provide participants with the opportunity to share experiences in regard to sexual orientation and gender expression and how it affects their families. Among other needs, Share-the-Plate contributions will help fund a sign language interpreter for one of the Virginia groups. The Arlington PFLAG Community Group, started by Equality UUCA in 2011, meets right here at UUCA on the second Tuesday of each month. UUCA also helped start ALY: Arlington LGBTQ+Ally Youth, a PFLAG group for teens ages 13-18, which currently meets at Central United Methodist Church on Fairfax Drive. Like UUCA, Metro DC PFLAG envisions a world where diversity is celebrated and all people are respected, valued, and affirmed inclusive of their sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. Interested in attending a group, or want resources? Visit pflagdc.org or stop by the table in Fellowship Hall on Sunday. Donations are accepted for each week's STP recipient through the following Saturday at midnight. Make online donations here.

New Congress, New Opportunities for Climate Change Action Start the new year by urging our Senators to take bold action to protect vulnerable communities, wildlife and our environment--our interdependent web of life. Congress will soon be considering infrastructure reform legislation. Now is the time to tell our Senators we support bipartisan climate-resilient infrastructure reform legislation that will mitigate the impacts of climate change. On January 6, come to UUSJ's "Write Here! Write Now!" table after each service to write your personal letters. Fact sheets and supplies will be available. Or write your letter in advance and drop it off. UUs for Social Justice’s Capitol Hill Advocacy Corps will hand-deliver letters to Senators on January 8. Contact Lavonagrow@mac.com if any questions. To learn more about the UUSJ Capitol Hill Advocacy Corps check UUSJ's advocacy page here.

Come to Richmond With VOICE VOICE,  Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement, is about to do something new in its decade-long history: flood our state legislative offices with advocates like you to promote criminal justice reform, education funding, and other high priorities. If you read our last update in Connections you already know Governor Northam and Attorney General Herring have been pushing to reform the cash bail system and committing to expanded funding for school counselors. The governor is now working to end another longstanding injustice in our justice system: the revoking of a resident's driver's license for unpaid court costs, a practice that has prevented many low-income Virginians from being able to drive for more than a decade. You can find out more about these and other outcomes of VOICE's successful work here: 2018 VOICE State & Local Victories.  Like all things political, even the best efforts of our governor and attorney general might not yield permanent progress without the legislature's engagement. That is why, over the next four weeks, VOICE congregations are sending energized members down to Richmond to visit multiple delegates and senators and make our case. Are you energized? Please let us know, because we are aiming to visit every single day the House and Senate are in session, and need lots of folks to cover different days. Stop by our VOICE table before or after services on Sunday and sign up.   Any questions? Contact Pat Findikoglu, patfindikoglu@gmail.com, or David McTaggart, dmctagg@gmail.com, or come talk with us at our VOICE information table on Sunday.

New Day Rising Conference Identifying Your Congregation’s Next Steps in the Struggle with White Supremacy Culture Slightly overwhelmed by all the options in tackling white supremacy? Feeling stuck, or coming up against resistance? How do you know where to start? Or what comes next? Join with Central East Region staff and UU congregational leaders for this day of learning, growing and rising. Hear from each other about what has worked and why, assess your congregation’s next fruitful and faithful step, and see some of the great resource options available. There is something for everyone when a New Day Rises! Sponsor: Central East Region of the UUA, UU Congregation of Fairfax. Costs: Sliding Scale fee of $20-$30-$40. You may request a waver for a $10 fee as needed on the registration form. Lunch is included. Child care is available at $5 per child, but must be requested in advance. Register here. Date: Saturday, January 26, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 pm  Location: UU Congregation of Fairfax, 2709 Hunter Mill Rd, Oakton, Va.

A-SPAN Personal Items Drive UUCAers are asked to bring donated personal items this Sunday for distribution through A-SPAN--the Arlington agency that serves the homeless. Needed items include: travel-sized toiletries, socks, boots, coats, or gift cards (Giant, Safeway, etc.). Those wishing to serve as holiday sponsors for individual clients can get wish lists by emailing Yana Bellemy at abellemy@a-span.org. Items for sponsored clients can be dropped at ASPAN directly prior to the holidays or can be brought to UUCA’s A-SPAN team in Fellowship Hall on January 6 after services.  Date: January 6 - drop-off between services Location: Fellowship Hall

Better Angels Workshop: How to Talk Across the Political Divide The opening message on the UUCA website does a great job of summing up what it means to be a welcoming congregation: "You matter to us! All of you - no matter your race, age, faith, sexual orientation, gender identity, political affiliation, or economic status - you will find a home here." In the current era of polarization, where 84% of Americans question whether they share even the most basic values with people who have different political beliefs, that message of acceptance and common humanity is more desperately needed than ever. Join fellow UUCA-ers for a workshop on Saturday, January 12 that explores how to understand and connect with people with whom we disagree politically. For more details or to sign up, visit the link here. Questions? Contact Sarah Yue, alanandsarah@gmail.com. Date: Saturday, January 12, 9 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Location: Activity Room

Early American Black Women Writers Come and join a discussion of the writings of black women writers. There is no advance reading; selections of poems and essays are provided at the meeting. Usually, we explore the work of early writers from the 1700’s to the early 1900’s. Though at the January meeting, we will focus on a contemporary poet, Tracy K. Smith, poet laureate of the U.S. We will read several poems and excerpts from her memoir, Ordinary Light. Smith is the author of four poetry collections, including the Pulitzer-winning Life on Mars. Questions? Ann Ulmschneider, aulmsch@msn.com. Date: Wednesday, January 16, 2019, 7:00-9:00 p.m. Location: Welcome Room

Register for January Allyship Workshop As part of our congregation's Live the Pledge campaign to end racism, UUCA has partnered with Service Never Sleeps to offer a racial justice Allyship training. Over 200 UUCAers have already taken this training. Now it’s your turn! This workshop teaches about the causes of racial injustice, how to be an effective ally for marginalized communities, and how to actively influence and educate others. More information and sign up here. Questions? Contact Alex Ziehm, Alexandraziehm92@gmail.com. Date: Sunday, January 20, 1:30 to 7:30 p.m. Location: Parlor (Room 13/15)

UUCA African American Book Sharing What We Have Read Our UUCA African American Book Sharing Circle has met now for almost two years. We will celebrate what we have learned and shared on January 6. We will have a copy of all the books we have read and participants in our sharing will be at the table ready to talk about what we have learned intellectually and experienced emotionally and spiritually as we discovered America through African American eyes, ears, and voices. Please join us in Fellowship Hall on January 6 following the services. Date: Sunday, January 6, after services Location: Fellowship Hall What We Will Read AND, join us to discover the artistry of Maya Angelou and her first autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings at our sharing circle on Friday, January 18.  A Penguin/Random House review describes this book “…as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. [This book] captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right.” See you January 18.  Date: Friday, January 18, 7:30 p.m. Location: Welcome Room

Wheel of Life

A memorial service in celebration of the life of Thurlow Wilson will be held on Saturday, January 19, 2:00 p.m. in our Sanctuary. Washington Post obituary.

A memorial service for Eleanor Weekes will be held at Vinson Hall Retirement Community on Saturday, January 5, 2:00 p.m.

Congregational Life

First Sunday Humanist Hour This Sunday, Bill Fogarty will lead a discussion of Mere Morality, a new book by Dan Barker. What drives us to be good? How do we even know how to be good? Barker thinks the answers are not so complicated. In his book, Barker offers a simple compass for navigating life's most difficult moral and ethical dilemmas. We will also contrast this book with Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, and his discussion of the Four Cardinal Virtues. Does anyone even remember those four basic virtues? And with the new year upon us, we will also share our stories about beginnings and first days, whether it was your first day of school, or the first day of a job, or any beginning. Questions? Contact Bill Fogarty, wafogarty@aol.com. Date: Sunday, January 6, 9:15 a.m. Location: Chapel

Young Adult Events Update Mark your calendars for the Holiday Potluck on January 12 at 5:30 p.m. at Jessica’s house in Reston! Please RSVP on Facebook or by emailing jpeterson@uucava.org. Feel free to wear your ugliest Christmas sweater and we will also have a white elephant gift exchange!  The first Divine Reading of 2019 is on January 10 and the first BPQ of 2019 is on January 15. Mark your calendars! Day Alliance January Speaker Trash Free Seas w/ Sarah Kollar of the Ocean Conservancy Everyone is invited to come hear Sarah Kollar, the Outreach Manager, International Coastal Cleanup for the Trash Free Seas Program® at the Ocean Conservancy. Her talk will focus on reducing ocean trash, particularly plastics. Sarah holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Environmental Studies from Eckerd College. Following the talk there will be a catered luncheon. There is no need for reservations for the talk, though please make a reservation for lunch by contacting Henriette Kellum, h.kellum@verizon.net. Date: Tuesday, January 8, 10:30 a.m. Coffee Social; 11 a.m. Speaker; 12 p.m. Luncheon Location: Center Gallery

HUUmanists Meeting Author (and UUCAer) Warren Wright Discusses New Book on Millennials    Did you know that UUCA Board member Warren Wright is an authority on generations and Millennials? Well, among other things, after being a managing partner at Gallup, Inc., he founded Second Wave Learning, whose mission is to prepare the next generation of leaders. Later, Warren began a partnership with author and economist Neil Howe—the person who coined the term “Millennials” and worked with Howe to build two new companies using the knowledge of generational theory for research and consulting. Warren has just published Second-Wave Millennials: Tapping the Potential of America's Youth.  Come to hear Warren present findings from his book, including (1) The impact of different generations on American history since the early 20th century-- social mood, economics, politics, and religion, and (2) The contribution of the Millennial generation to the next 20 years.  All are invited. For further information, contact Jere Cummins, jeroldcummins@gmail.com.   Date: Tuesday, January 8, 7:30 p.m. Location: Board Room

Happy Hour Hosted by Sanctuary Singers Sanctuary Singers invites you to join us for Happy Hour in January. Members of this group not only sing but are also really good cooks! So come on down for what promises to be a delicious event. We are a singer-friendly and welcoming group and would love to have some new singers join us! (No previous singing experience necessary. Just a desire to minister through music.)  No interest in singing? Come for a social evening and meet the people who make beautiful music on Sunday mornings. Bring a beverage to share if you like (wine or non-alcoholic, we have plenty of beer leftover from the Cabaret). Date: Thursday, January 10, 6-7:30 p.m. Location: Fellowship Hall

Safety in Houses of Worship Special Training Arlington County Police Corporal Elizabeth Lennon and her team will present Safety in Houses of Worship at UUCA. All are invited to attend. Those who serve in leadership and/or volunteer roles at UUCA on Sunday mornings are especially encouraged to participate in a session. Questions can be directed to Annie@uucava.org. Dates: January 13 or February 17, 12:30–2:00 p.m. Location: Sanctuary In addition, we will be forming a UUCA Safety Ministry Team with the goals of increasing awareness and embracing safety. This team will initially meet monthly and once established will meet on an as needed basis. Focusing on three basic concepts can help us start this ministry team: Value – Recognize the value of the people and facilities under our care and embrace their safety and security as a key to our church; Team – Assemble a team dedicated to safety and security; and Work – Identify areas of risk at UUCA and work to address those risks. If you are interested in this team, please email Tamara, tsrader@uucava.org. The first meeting will happen in February after the second training session.

New Pastoral Care Gathering Death Cafe A Death Cafe gathering seeks to increase awareness of death with a view to help people make the most of their (finite) lives. It's a safe, welcoming place in which people share their ideas, concerns, fears, and hopes about death. Death Cafe's have become a global movement. There have been thousands of Death Cafe gatherings held throughout the world. From the administrative details of death and dying to the most profound spiritual or philosophical issues, all topics are welcome. Mark your calendar for January 20. Come for the coffee, tea and cake, and stay for what promises to be interesting and stimulating conversation. Questions? Contact Colleen Duewel, ckdcares@gmail.com Date: Sunday, January 20, 2:00 p.m. Location: Activity Room

New UU Class Unitarian Universalism is a way of thinking and being in the world. It is a faith discipline, enriched by faith traditions, that forms the foundation for a way to live this life. It matters how we conduct our lives and work to make the world a better place. Unitarian Universalism wants each of us to know why. It challenges us to deepen our own faith principles and practices in response to our own experience and, whenever possible, to stand on the side of love. There will be plenty of chances to ask questions and to get to know others in the class. It's also part of the path to membership at UUCA.  Rev. Dr. Terasa Cooley will be leading the class. The class is free and includes dinner, but registration is required.  Register here. Free childcare is available upon request. Contact Sarah.Masters@uucava.org for more information. Date: Tuesday, January 22, 6 to-9 p.m. Location: Fellowship Hall

NEW newsletter deadline: Connections deadline for submissions is EACH Monday at noon with publication on Wednesday. See below on how to submit an announcement.

How to submit an announcement to UUCA's Connections newsletter:   Deadline is noon each Monday. Please put "Connections" or "newsletter" in the subject box. Send announcement (150 words or fewer) in body of email or Word doc attachment. Images and attachments accepted, though no guarantee of publishing Send announcements to pubasst@uucava.org. Questions about Connections? Contact MaryAnn@uucava.org.

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Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, VA 4444 Arlington Blvd Arlington, Virginia Call: (703) 892-2565 Email: uuca@uucava.org ‌ ‌