Those who can travel safely to the church building will still gather in-person in the sanctuary on Christmas Eve, but if the weather conditions feel too risky where you are, please follow your own comfort level, and enjoy the livestream from the safety and warmth of home. The congregation is encouraged to check the road and weather conditions and to dress and plan accordingly before going out this weekend including to the Christmas Eve services.

As of December 22, 2022, the COVID-19 transmission level in Champaign County is HIGH. Unfortunately, that means this week's in-person Christmas Eve holiday cookies/treat event between the services has been cancelled. Masks will be required in UUCUC’s building for all large group in-person activities, until the transmission level drops to Medium or Low. While no snacks or beverages will be served during Christmas Eve, we can still congregate in Fellowship Hall after the services for conversation, to play games, and just be together. Please visit this link for UUCUC’s current COVID Safety Guidelines.

There will be childcare provided for both Christmas Eve services on December 24 and for the January 1 service. Children from birth to 5 years old are welcome in the nursery.

Please send your joys or sorrows to joysandsorrows@uucuc.org any time before the Joys and Sorrows portion of the service. They will be read aloud.

We welcome and affirm people of all abilities and we want to be sure that no one is excluded for full participation in the life of our church. Our church building offers:

For more information about the accessibility options we offer, please visit our website here, and if you have any questions please feel free to reach out admin@uucuc.org.

Your contributions and support allow us to continue to respond with love and resources to the needs in our congregation and the wider community. We couldn’t do it without your support and we are grateful to each of you.

Bookmark our UUCUC Events and UUCUC Calendar webpage for future reference.

After the Sunday service on January 8th, at 11:45 a.m., Care Core will host an informal gathering to share our memories and stories of dear Gin. We’ll circle together in the seating area at the back of the sanctuary, and will reminisce on the life and gifts she shared with our whole church community. Gin and her family chose not to have any formal memorial service, so this brief gathering will provide a space for anyone at UUCUC who knew and loved her to support each other and share remembrances.

Throughout December in our weekly eNews Reverend KB will be offering the UUCUC community a short guided meditation by way of prerecorded video.

Please consider donating to the Little Free Pantries run by AJ Herzog (Champaign) and UUCUC (Urbana). Their Amazon wish list has been updated to include the most high priority items. All orders sent through Amazon are split between the two pantries. You are also welcome to drop off items in person at both locations. Questions? Contact AJ (zogs92(at)gmail.com) or Pat Nolan (pnolan96(at)aol.com).

JOYS AND SORROWS sent to joysandsorrows@uucuc.org for last Sunday, December 18, 2022.

From Samuel Beshers: Joy for my stepmother, Barbara Beshers, who is spending the weekend in Chicago with my wife Lynn, enjoying Christmas time in the city.

From Christine Cahill: Son Tristan will arrive home on December 24. He has been living in Japan.

From Marsha Clinard: Charlie and I will be celebrating our 26th wedding anniversary on Wednesday. We were married here in our sanctuary on the winter solstice by Elaine Gehrmann on a beautiful day. 

From Philip Eichelberger: Joy. Thanks is not quite enough for the joy of transportation, with my recent 6 weeks of treatments that the Care Core provided to me for my cancer diagnosis. THANKS A LOT! Many Blessings to All!

From Rev. Sally Fritsche: I was honored to participate this week in creating a goodbye ritual, as Claudia and David Gross have officially moved out of their house and into Clark Lindsey. A small group gathered in their former home’s garden to reflect on the many memories held within, and to scatter the ashes of several beloved family pets. The most unique part of the goodbye was leaving out two layers of wedding cake for the squirrels to find. The cakes had been preserved in the freezer for decades, commemorating the marriages of David and Claudia, and of their son, coming out to be displayed on special anniversaries. Now they are part of the ecosystem and foundations of that home, living on in memory forever.

From Katie Goslin: Joy for the possibilities, community, and hope as I attend my first in-person service in months.

From Sophie Meyn: Celebrating over one year of stable scans after surgery to remove a brain tumor in September 2021.

From Jerry + Priscilla: Huge Thank you to Michael + Cindy Loui for Friday night’s carols and cookies—so much fun listening to Young and Old.

From Umeeta Sadarangani: Please keep my parents in your thoughts. They are in Mumbai, emptying the apartment they called home and saying final goodbyes to family and friends, before returning to Connecticut. They are 87 and don’t plan to return to India again. Marilyn and I just returned from four weeks helping them in this process; we are grateful to have been part of this huge life change with them.

From Beth Simpson: This is the last time solstice is celebrated… from here it’s peace, peace, peace.

From David Wolf: (this is nearly universal) I am glad I have many good body parts, loving community, and sense of joy and clarity. I am sad many body parts don’t work as well anymore.

Please send your joys or sorrows to joysandsorrows@uucuc.org any time before the Joys and Sorrows portion of the service. They will be read aloud.

UUCUC Social Action Offering. Each month a selected organization is chosen to receive offerings from our congregation. You may donate to the social action offering for the month in one of the following ways:

My name is Brigitte Pieke, and I was the chair of the partner churches committee for 20 years – but I am getting old.

I really love our partner churches congregations in Szekelykal, Romania, and in Nongtalang, India.

This church here in Urbana has a long history with our partner churches in Romania and in India. This congregation has made a commitment to both partner churches.

The UNITARIAN Church in Romania lies right on the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. It has a lot of fruit orchards, and the village lives of farming. When you wake up in the morning, the cows are coming out of their barns and going down the dirt road to pastures outside of the village. We helped them build a community house for their congregation.

The church in India is in the North East in Megalaya and about three hours away from the state capital, Shillong. Culturally, it is in what is called the tribal area of Khasi Hills. This is an area where they have the last working matrilineal culture. Their dream was always to build a new church. The old one was damaged by monsoon floods. We helped the to realize their dream of building a new big beautiful church, where we are remembered each time they hold a service.

Here in our church, we have had wonderful Indian Dinners, Romanian Lunches and Dinners, and snacks during coffee hours. Oh well, people got older (including me) and the pandemic happened. The international partner churches organization is being reorganized. Now it is headed by the Unitarian-Universalist Association. The UUA has experience with the United Nations and other international organizations.

The Partner Churches have survived, we have survived, and the relationships have survived. I went to Romania in 1996 with my daughter. Peri Ceperley (who has passed) also went with her daughter to Romania. And Kathleen Robbins went 4 years ago to Szekelykal. Kathleen also wanted to go to India, but the pandemic got in the way.

The pandemic made in-person contacts more difficult, but it has not destroyed the relationships. With such distant friends, the video component of broad familiarity with things like Zoom has actually made keeping up with what’s going on in our partner churches easier. And definitely “Whatsapp” is a great and cheap resource for people in India and Romania, and for us.

So, out of the challenges of the past three years has come a new and hopeful opportunity. Let’s not forget what the Romanian minister wrote several years ago: He was so happy that they were not forgotten, that people on the other side of the world here in Urbana remembered them, and think about them and their situation in Romania.

What we most need here in this church, is a person who is interested to learn about our partner church congregations and their histories. Who would keep up the contact with them over Facebook, Whatsapp, or Zoom and inform our congregation about their progress. It is a great learning experience. I learned a lot about their lives and their situations. It enlarged my life and I would not have missed it for anything. Think about it. You can always contact me. and I can help with whatever is necessary. My e-mail is available in the membership booklet, or just call the church office.

Read our policy on publications for details.

Please send your submittals to pubs@uucuc.org and not to the admin email.

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