4:30-5:15 p.m. – Outdoor Pageant Service: We’ll celebrate with an abbreviated version of our No-Rehearsal Pageant on the steps of the Meeting House and finish up with candles lit, singing Silent Night. We will all be wearing masks except worship leaders at the microphone.
5:15-6 p.m. – Open Sanctuary & Outside Cookie Hour: When the pageant is over we will have a Cookie Hour outdoors; all are welcome to bring cookies or drinks to share. The Sanctuary will be open in all its holiday splendor. Organ and piano will take turns filling the space with music, while congregants are invited to step inside, warm up, and meditate on the season. Everyone will wear masks, and numbers will be limited as each household spends about five minutes at a time enjoying the Sanctuary.
7 p.m. – Live-Streamed Christmas Eve Service: A traditional service of lessons and carols live-streamed from our Sanctuary. Please share this link with friends and family and access the livestream at: uusociety.org/worship-and-music/live-streamed-sunday-worship. All available in-person seating for this service has been filled.
You can give to our special Christmas Eve Offering,which is shared with the FUUSB Discretionary Fund and Joint Urban Ministry Project.
Be Part of the Christmas Pageant!
Erika Reif, Director of Lifespan Faith Development
All are welcome to take part in the traditional "No-Rehearsal Christmas Pageant," adapted this year for the front steps of the Meeting House!
We still could use a couple more volunteers to arrive around 4 p.m. and help get people costumed.
We are also looking to cast the roles of Mary, Joseph and Caesar in advance. None of these will have a speaking part. Anyone of any age can volunteer.
Everyone else who wants to be part of the action should come at 4:15 to choose a costume for the 4:30 pageant.
We need strong carolers to help carry the acapella hymns without James. So please, singers, come lend your voice (masked).
For this Sunday, the staff has pre-recorded our Christmas gift to you! Please join us for a dramatic reading of “A Child’s Christmas in Wales.” The video link for this special service will be shared on our website at uusociety.org, and on ourYouTubechannel. There will be no Zoom Coffee Hour today.
Sunday, January 2 at 10 a.m.
Rowan Van Ness, Ministerial Intern, with Melinda Lee
"Intersections and Interdependence: What the Disability Rights Movement Teaches Us About Radical Welcoming"
The disability rights movement inherently includes people with a large variety of physical and intellectual disabilities, in addition to people of all races, ages, and sexualities. Insights from this movement provide a thought-provoking canvas for work we are doing at the FirstUU Society on "radical welcoming," giving us the opportunity to more deeply consider how we live out our values. Rowan won the EqUUal Access annual sermon contest with a version of this sermon in 2021 and is thrilled to share it with you all.
We are continuing to invite a small number of (vaccinated, masked) people to attend worship in person on most Sundays. Sign up for January 2 at: rsvp.church/r/eJ7rm65u. The service will be live-streamed from the Sanctuary at 10 a.m. The link will be shared on our website,uusociety.org. If you miss the livestream, a recording will be available on ourYouTube channel.
All are welcome to Zoom Coffee Hour at 11 a.m. at this link:bit.ly/3j4RxJ9.
'Tis the Season for Giving
This is the time of year when many of you are considering your charitable contributions for the year. While many of you give regularly to FUUSB by fulfilling your annual pledge, there are also other ways to share your treasure through the Society.
Socially Responsible Santa - Gifts to this fund are distributed by amazing UU elves to members of our larger community in the form of cash gifts. This allows people the dignity of purchasing their own gifts for their families.
Discretionary Fund - Gifts to this fund help members of our congregation and greater Burlington community throughout the year with things such as utility bills, uncovered medical expenses, and other unexpected financial emergencies.
Share the Plate - Each month our Share the Plate collections are split between FUUSB and a local non-profit. In December our collections are going to our Socially Responsible Santa program.
Gift to FUUSB - One-time gifts can be made to FUUSB to help us fulfill our mission.
Beyond These Walls - Contributions are still being accepted to help defer the ongoing costs associated with live-streaming our worship services.
Angel Fund - We often have members who are unable to meet their pledge due to unforeseen circumstances. During the pandemic, this is happening even more often. The Angel Fund helps to replace that lost pledge income.
Gifts can be made by sending a check to the Meeting House with the fund you'd like to give to written in the memo line, donation of stock (please let Christina know if you've donated stock to FUUSB), or a charitable distribution from your retirement account (please contact your tax advisor for more information about this option). You may also make a contribution to FUUSB by clicking on this link: Donate Now!
If you have any questions, please contact Christina Fulton at [email protected]. Thank you!
Expanded Charitable Deductions
Christina Fulton, Director of Operations & Finance
If you do not itemize on your tax return, take note that there are expanded charitable giving deductions that are in place until the end of 2021. Click here for more detailed information.
FUUSB Holiday Cards Still Available!
To order, go to: gofundraise.link/FUUSBholidaysale2021 or email Hope Baker-Carr at [email protected]. Contact Hope to arrange delivery or pick-up. Cards come in packages of 8, one of each design, for $16. Includes works by member artists Rodney Lowe, Carol MacDonald, Sarah Rosedahl, Janet Biehl, and others. Also included are two select photos from FUUSB Christmas Eve services. Inside message: PEACE * JOY * LOVE.
Holiday Break for Thursday Open Sanctuary Hour
Christina Fulton, Director of Operations & Finance
We hope you have had an opportunity to enjoy our Thursday Open Sanctuary Hour. We've heard from many of you how much you've enjoyed spending a few minutes in our beautiful Sanctuary. Our staff will be taking a holiday break and so the Open Sanctuary Hour will be on hiatus on December 23 and 30. We will continue with our weekly Open Sanctuary Hour beginning on Thursday, January 6 at 5 p.m.
FUUSB's Holiday Break
Please note that the Society offices will be closed from December 25 through January 3, while the staff takes a long winter's nap!
There will be no eNews on December 30.
Best wishes for this holiday season and the new year!
Mary Williams, Society Administrator
We are seeking article submissions for the next Steeple newsletter! The deadline to submit articles is January 10, and the word limit is 400 words. If you would like to write about a FUUSB project or team for the upcoming issue, or have questions, please email [email protected]. For details on the Steeple, please visit uusociety.org/information/stay-connected. Thank you!