Pre-K – 5^th Grade & 6^th – 12^th Grade

This Sunday, in lieu of our CYRE classes, our kiddos will be performing their Holiday Pageant for the entire congregation. Nursery care will still be available. We ask that, if your child is performing, please have them at the church by 10 AM for a brief rehearsal prior to the service. 

We also have some upcoming events for December that we would like everyone to be aware of! Our Solstice Service will be on December 21^st, which is a Thursday, and will begin at 7 PM. There will not be any CYRE classes, but the Nursery will still be open starting at 6:45 PM. 

For Christmas Eve, UUCH will have a Pancake Breakfast at 10:45 AM instead of our usual service. Rev Jaimie and others will be making pancakes in the kitchen, and Kristen will be in the Fellowship Hall with electric skillets set up for any kids/youths who would like to make pancakes. There will also be a topping bar and, most likely, some whipped cream! That same evening at 5:30 PM, we will have our Christmas Eve service. The Nursery will be open at 5:15 PM, but we will not have CYRE classes. CYRE classes will resume next month on January 14^th.  

Alabama Hispanic Association Dinner and Christmas Party

The 9th annual Alabama Hispanic Association (AHA) dinner and Christmas party is scheduled for December 16th! This is an all-church event and we need your help to make this a success!

You can get involved in 3 ways:

1) Make a financial donation for teen gifts: We will be sharing the plate for the AHA party during the Sunday service on December 10th to collect donations to cover the cost of presents for about 25 teenagers. Please note on checks that it is for the “AHA Christmas Gifts.” (AHA funds gifts for younger children.)

In addition to sharing the plate, online donations are also being accepted now through December 10th. You can donate online by following these steps:

1. Click this link: https://engage.suran.com/uuahuntsville
2. If you have an Engage account, sign in

• Select “New Gift” from the menu in the upper right corner
• Enter your gift amount in the “AL Hispanic Assoc Christmas Gifts” line
• Select “Continue” and check out like normal

If you do not have an Engage account and want to proceed as a guest

• Click on “Create a Gift”
• Enter the amount of your gift in “AL Hispanic Assoc Christmas Gifts
• Click "Continue as Guest" and follow the on-screen instructions

Another option for donating online is to scan the QR code in the weekly Sunday Order of Service.

2) Donate a stuffed animal for children: We are collecting stuffed animals to be given out to the children at the party. You can bring new or like-new stuffed animals to church and put them in the boxes in the Foyer or the Fellowship Hall.

3) Donate food and/or your time: We need help with food for the dinner, setup, clean up, decorating, and working the dinner. Sign-up sheets are available in the fellowship hall and at this link. 



Please contact social.justice@uuch.org if you have any questions.

Message from our Care Commitee

Summer Peters is relocating to Las Vegas to be with her family. Summer entered hospice care in April this year after ending treatment for cancer. As her health is failing, being with family is best for her.

If you would like to send a card or contact her, her address is below:

Summer Peters

2701 North Decatur Blvd

Apt 1095

Las Vegas, Nevada. 89108

317-508-7697

Thanks to volunteers Lynda Lamitie, Gail Williams, Melodie Bier, and Rachel Schieb for helping to clean Summer's apartment last week.  

If anyone is interested in Summer's gently used furniture, contact Nancy Pettus, 256-427-1427. Her belongings need to be removed by mid-January.

CAJA Director to Speak on December 17th

UUCH will be hosting an informational session on the Court Appointed Juvenile Advocate (CAJA) program on December 17th after the worship service. The CAJA program’s main purpose is to secure safety and permanence for children who are victims of abuse and neglect. CAJA volunteers are appointed by judges as Officers of the Court to objectively investigate abuse and neglect cases.

The independent CAJA volunteer has but one goal: to determine what decisions would be in the child’s best interests, ensuring that fact-based reports include recommendations that reflect those actions or decisions for the judge to consider. CAJA volunteers come from all professions – teachers, engineers, auto workers, homemakers, and college students. They are united in the belief that every child deserves a safe, permanent home, as quickly as possible.

The Executive Director for CAJA will be speaking about the program and how critical volunteers are to the success of the program beginning at 12:15 pm on December 17th.

Please email social.justice@uuch.org with any questions.

Fellowship lunch at Walton's Southern Table

Please join us for lunch at Walton's Southern Table on December 21 @ 11 am. As the name suggests, this restaurant has great Southern food!

When: Thursday, December 21 @ 11:00 AM

Where: Walton's, 4901 Whitesburg Dr, Huntsville, AL 35802

Please sign up so we know how many to expect. SignUp Genius link here.

Money will never be a barrier to participating in Fellowship at UUCH. If you need financial assistance to participate, please contact Rev. Jaimie at minister@uuch.org.

Contact Sarah Rody at sarahsrody28@gmail.com or Steve Rittenberg at srittenberg@gmail.com if you have any questions or need assistance.

Window Survey Responses

Dear UUCH,

Earlier this fall, we asked you to take some time to complete a survey sharing your thoughts and opinions about the stained glass windows that decorate our Sanctuary. Thank you to all 64 of you who took the time to participate in this survey. We truly appreciate your willingness to share your thoughts, and are excited to share the results back with the congregation.

As the old joke suggests, when you put 10 Unitarian Universalists in a room you get 11 opinions. Similarly in this survey, there was a wide variety of thoughts and opinions without much in the way of consensus. The only question that had a majority response was that 81% of you want a choice and a vote on whatever changes are made to the windows.

The Worship Arts Team looked through the results and has identified a few themes that we can respond to:

We saw strong opinions that the windows don’t match our theology and might confuse visitors. So we are planning to make a pamphlet and/or signage to help explain our windows and contextualize them within the history of our building.

There was interest in having symbols and images from religious traditions other than UU and Christianity in the Sanctuary. That could come in the form of covers for the pew crosses or additional artwork. Worship arts will continue to brainstorm how best to implement this.

There was concern about how things would be funded and general questions about how the other large-budget projects, like the beam repair, would be impacted by a window project. We want to reiterate that there is no line in our church budget for the stained glass windows, and so there is no planned spending for them this year. If our community wants to invest in additional art to decorate the sanctuary, that would make an excellent budget proposal for next year. The projects, like the beam repair, that were budgeted for will continue as planned and will not be impacted.

Worship Arts will continue to reflect on these survey responses. Thank you again for participating in this conversation and for your care and dedication to UUCH.

Blessings

Rev. Jaimie

Invite Guests to Your Table

We are encouraging UUCH members and friends to participate in the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee’s (UUSC) Guest at Your Table program now through the end of December. The UUSC is a nonprofit, nonsectarian organization advancing human rights together with an international community of grassroots partners and advocates. Striving to center the voices of people most affected by injustice, UUSC creates eye-to-eye relationships with frontline grassroots movements across the world that support marginalized communities in determining their steps for the future.

Guest at Your Table is UUSC’s annual intergenerational program to raise support for and awareness about key human rights issues. Since UUSC works in more than 20 countries, with over 50 grassroots partners, there are thousands of individuals involved in and who benefit from the work that our members make possible. The Guest at Your Table program is an opportunity to celebrate grassroots partnership, support human rights, and learn about just four of these individuals—the “guests” in Guest at Your Table.

This year’s Guests are fighting for the right to seek safety in Mexico and the United States, convincing the UN’s International Court of Justice to address the human rights threatened by the climate crisis in the South Pacific, and replenishing the energy of human rights activists in eastern Europe by addressing burn-out. At this extraordinary juncture in history, we think their stories will offer inspiration and guidance on the path toward justice and liberation for all.

In the Fellowship Hall, there is a table with boxes and information about this year’s Guests. You are welcome to pick up a box and have it represent one of the UUSC Guests at your dining table. The information sheets provide a background on these individuals along with data on how your contribution can help these people.

We will keep these Guests at our table through the holidays and then return the boxes to the church in January. If you prefer, you can send donations directly to the UUSC using the envelopes on the table or via the website below:



https://donate.uusc.org/give/75595/#!/donation/checkout

If you have any questions, please contact Brad Korb at social.justice@uuch.org.

New 6-week Covenant Group

Contact Teri Thomas (terit4u@yahoo.come) for questions/signup or utilize the ARE table in fellowship hall. Please note: as this group is for discovery and growth, no new members will be admitted after the first meeting.

Circle of Candles

Rev. Jaimie lit a candle of Sorrow: "Long time UUCH member Rebecca Holm passed away at the age of 96. You can view her Obituary here."

Kathryn Heath lit a candle of Sorrow: "Our wonderful friend, Jane Kilbride, passed away last week. She was a lovely dancer and teacher; full of compassion, courage, love, and wisdom."

Bridgit DeMoor lit a candle of Joy: "My Dad turned 87 years old on December 2nd. All of us gathered in Duluthy, GA to celebrate! Plus his Alabama team won!"

Angela Arnold lit a candle of Joy: "Great News! I finally started treatment for my multiple sclerosis and feel almost human again! Also I was approved for both social security and NASA disability. It has been a great week! For the first time in nearly a year I feel hopeful. Also, George is recovering well from his heart surgery."

Brian Verchot lit a candle of Joy: "My transfer to morning shift came through last month. I am so thankful to wake with the sun and see my family longer each day."