|
Save the Dates! MLK Weekend 2025 is coming up this weekend!
Read below or click this link to see our extensive offerings this year.
| |
|
Seminary for a Day: February 1, 2025
Experience a day of inspiration, learning, and connection on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. Gather with UU faith leaders from across the country, including Rev. Dr. Sofia Betancourt, as they lead workshops, worship, and fellowship focused on issues that matter most to our faith today. Our diverse and powerful tradition will guide us as we explore how Unitarian Universalism can meet the challenges of our time. Join us!
Seminary for a Day, UUCA 2/1/2025:
Because Your GPS Can’t Navigate THIS Journey
Click here for more information, the list of workshops and to register.
| |
|
Single services continue through the month of January!
Based on feedback from members and friends, along with conversations held among staff and board members, we will be extending our experiment of holding worship at 10:15am on Sunday mornings. We are excited to continue to gather as one community.
| |
|
If you are able-bodied and not traveling with children, please consider parking at one of our external lot options. These include:
a) Park across George Mason Dr in the Masonic Lodge parking lot (use this address in your GPS: 1 S. George Mason Dr, Arlington, VA 22204),
b) Park on the street in the neighborhood or along George Mason Dr,
c) Park at Arlington Hall West Park and follow the trail to 1st Pl S and UUCA.
Or, find a friend (or two) who lives nearby and arrange to carpool to church together. This not only will free up space in the parking lot, but also supports climate activism!
| |
|
Calling all Girl Scouts!
This Sunday (1/19), UUCA is inviting Girls Scouts who are members or active church participants to sit at a shared table during the Coffee Hour in Fellowship Hall and offer cookie orders to congregants. Girl Scouts are requested to wear their uniforms. If your Girl Scout would like to participate, please email Lainie Morgan in advance to register at kunajuky@gmail.com
| |
|
New to UU Classes on January 22 & 26, 2024
Thinking about joining this church community? Want to learn more about what membership might be? New to Unitarian Universalism?
This two-class series is a great way to discover more and connect with others.
Registration is required. Register here. Contact Nicole via email with questions or for more information.
| |
|
Little Friends for Peace and UUCA are Calling Peace Astronauts and Mission Imagination Support Crew!
Registration for 2025 Peace Camp is now open, and spaces are going fast! Sign your camper up to explore the Peace Galaxy: Mission Imagination. June 30-July 11 at UUCA. Peace Astronauts ages 5-14 will experience cooperative games, team-building, storytelling, discussions and projects on conflict resolution, self-expression, and exploration of positive change.
Week 1: June 30 - July 3 (No Peace Camp on July 4!)
Week 2: July 7 - July 11
Time: 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM (after care available until 6:00 PM)
Support Crew: Ages 14 - Adult
Cost: $340 per week (after-care available for $125 per week, includes snack and Lunch)
Need-based scholarships available. Email MJ Park at peacecamp@LFFP.org.
| |
|
We are deeply saddened by the passing of our beloved Director of Handbells, Ken Bissell, who died on January 7. As we shared in December, Ken had been in the ICU following a heart procedure in the fall. Even so, this loss comes as a shock and brings us deep grief. His kindness, talent, respect for the work of others and leadership will be missed.
If you have personal news to share, such as births, graduations, special moments, or challenges, email careteam@uucava.org for support, or communications@uucava.org with announcements.
_______________________________________
Can WE Help YOU?
Care Team Hotline: 703-892-2565, extension 1210 | careteam@ucava.org
One of the questions you might ask is, “How do the people at UUCA look out for one another?” At UUCA we have created a network of caring connections that will provide a supportive, compassionate presence when you may be struggling, alone, or in pain.
Our Care Team responds to concerns through careful listening, checks on you if you are ill and need help, and is there to help you through life’s transitions. They can also provide food and other support services when you need an extra helping hand.
Our UUCA Ministers offer that unique spiritual guidance you might be looking for. Both are here with one-2-one support when you need it. You can reach them directly: Rev. Amanda (apoppei@uucava.org) or Rev. CTC (revctc@uucava.org) or by calling the church office at 703-892-2565
| |
|
More events listed below.
Please note some email providers will truncate this message.
| |
Lifespan Faith Development- Find Inspiration | |
|
Religious Education
This Week in Religious Education
Some RE classes meet at the 10:15am service.
-
All lower RE Classes (5th grade and younger) WILL meet.
- Middle school classes will NOT meet- students are welcome in worship with their families
- 6th grade will not meet
- 7th grade will not meet
- 8th grade OWL will not meet
-
Teen Group WILL meet.
Here at UUCA we offer several ways kids can enjoy their time at UUCA:
- Spirit Space: For kids 4 years and younger at the front of the Sanctuary.
- Fellowship Hall: Play space for toddlers and kids of all ages. Puzzles and coloring sheets for anyone!
If you are new to our community, please register your children and teens here. This will add you to our mailing list.
| |
|
Beginning Connections Covenant Group
Beginning Connections groups offer people a chance to connect with others, experience the gift of listening and being listened to, and have a chance to explore values in the Unitarian Universalist tradition. These groups are especially designed for people who are relatively new to the church. Each week the facilitators will invite established members of the UUCA community so participants can make connections and meet new friends.
Use this link to register and learn more: https://uucava.shelbynextchms.com/external/form/5e82e689-df6c-490c-8378-2e1420d5d1bf
There will be two sections of Beginning Connections. Both groups will start in February and meet at UUCA in person at 7 PM. Please select only one group.
Please read the details below carefully and note dates.
Group A will meet on Wednesdays 2/26, 3/5, 3/12, 3/19, 3/26
Group B will meet on Tuesdays 2/25, 3/4, 3/18, 3/25, 4/1 (note skips 3/11)
Both groups meet at UUCA in person @7pm
| |
Events- Come for Community | |
|
Arlington Unitarian Cooperative Preschool (AUCP) Open House and 2025-26 Enrollment
Explore AUCP’s Open House on Saturday, January 25 from 10 am - 12 pm. Prospective families can meet teachers and current families, see classrooms, and get a sense of the school. RSVP
encouraged. Children are welcome to attend with their parents! The monthly Antiracism Book Club for Preschoolers will read aloud at 11:00 am in the UUCA downstairs library, so please join in.
Contact membership.aucpva@gmail.com for questions.
AUCP (in UUCA’s downstairs RE rooms) is accepting applications for the upcoming school year and UUCA members receive preferential admission status. The application deadline is Friday, February 7.
| | |
|
|
UUCA Social Justice Needs You!
Come, stand with others that live your values!
UUCA is assembling a team to attend "The People's March on Washington". The event is on Jan. 18, 2025. It is led by a body of leading civil rights, racial justice, and reproductive health organizations, including the Women's March, Planned Parenthood, and the National Women's Law Center -- the March is an attempt to bring all people who are fearful of a second Trump Administration, including some women, LGBTQ+ people, and immigrants, under the same umbrella. Please talk to Rev. CTC on Sunday morning, email her at (revctc@uucava.org), or contact a member of the SJMT (sjmt@uucava.org) if you want to join the march on 1/18. We genuinely need a team organizer to get this started!!!!
Many details about the march have yet to be finalized, but organizers expect at least 50,000 people to attend. More information here - https://www.peoplesmarch.com/
| |
|
MoonFire Darkness and Renewal Ritual
Sunday, January 19, 1:00 p.m.
Join MoonFire on Sunday, January 19 at 1:00 PM to honor and celebrate Darkness and Renewal. Even though we have already passed the Winter Solstice, the days are still short in this dark time of the year. Just as the Earth uses this time to rest and rejuvenate for the coming year, we, too, should take time to slow down and renew ourselves. We will be celebrating darkness, as well as the returning light. A potluck and time for fellowship will follow the ritual, so bring a dish or drink to share, along with your own plates/utensils, if possible. Any questions, please contact us at moonfirecoords@gmail.com.
| |
|
First Fridays
An opportunity for everyone to gather in community, join in conversation, and just have fun with a different theme each month. We will be here every First Friday from 6:30-9:00pm in the Activity room downstairs with food ready to welcome everyone of all ages - family friendly and encouraged. Events are free but donations are welcome to cover costs.
Friday, February 7 from 6:30-9pm: Soup, Stew, Chili Potluck & Valentine's
Join us in the middle of winter for some warm comfort food. Please bring your favorite soup, stew, and chili to share. Create Valentine's Day cards to give to others and decorate some Valentine's cookies to eat! Families welcome.
Friday, March 7 from 6:30-9pm: Family Board Games Night for All Ages
Join us for a family friendly board games night, we will have plenty of games for all ages or bring your favorite to play with others. Pizza and light refreshments will be provided.
| |
Volunteer- Live With Purpose | |
|
INFORMATION ABOUT VIRGINIA LOBBYING DAYS ON SOCIAL JUSTICE TOPICS
There is a lot of important advocacy work to be done in 2025! Check out these opportunities to lobby on behalf of important issues. Most groups help to organize travel to Richmond, click this link to be taken to the information page with links to sign up.
| |
|
Help Those Experiencing Homelessness -- New Opportunities!
In response to an outpouring of volunteer interest in the Bagged Meals program, UUCA is opening up two new opportunities for congregants of all ages to help people experiencing homelessness in our community:
1) Starting October, 4 volunteer slots will be available on the second Sunday of each month to serve hot meals to clients at the PathForward Homeless Services Center. You can sign up via the same SignUpGenius page as the Bagged Meals program (linked below).
2) In January, PathForward is once again opening their doors to UUCA volunteers of all ages to assemble bagged meals on site and tour the Homeless Services Center. Those of us who participated last year had a wonderful experience; if you haven't yet had a chance to visit PathForward and get to know their programs, please consider signing up!
You can sign up for these and other opportunities here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094BA8AA22A1F4CF8-uuca
| |
|
Can you help keep the Little Pantry stocked? If you're interested in volunteering, please click this link to sign up.
| |
|
You’re invited to Wednesday Night Peace Circles
7:30 - 8:30 PM via Zoom.
Join our circle every other Wednesday at 7:30pm. Starting Jan 15 and extending through March 19. Root. Connect. Share. Grow. Change. Zoom meeting ID: 863 717 5637 / passcode: PEACE.
Upcoming Dates and Topics are:
January 15th - Living in the Present
February 5th - Art of Loving
February 19th- How Not to Bite the Hook
March 5th - Keeping a Healthy Balance
March 19th - Making Good Choices
Sign up for reminders and join our circle.
| |
|
Security System Update
As many of you already know we are in the process of replacing the existing security system. This includes a new door entry system. For those people who currently enter the church after hours using their phone, access card, or fob they will no longer work. To continue to access the church after hours please contact the facilities manager, Matt Connors, and he will re-establish your credentials. Matt’s email is mconnors@uucava.org.
| |
|
Need Help Accessing the Membership Directory?
If you're a member trying to access the directory, it's easy! Just click the Shelby link and enter your email address and password.
Forgot your password? No worries! Simply click "Forgot Password," and you'll receive a prompt to reset it.
| |
|
Hey! Are You Part of the Facebook Group?
You might have already joined UUCA's Facebook page, but did you know there is a GROUP, just for UUCA members and friends? Check it out HERE.
| |
|
Send in Photos from Your Group Gatherings
Do you meet for a Book Club, Covenant Group, Adult RE, or Committee Meeting? Please, send us a photo or two! Katie would LOVE to have some photos from your groups -- both posed and informal. Just use your cell phone camera -- they are so good now -- and email them in. Please ask permission prior to taking the photos and let people know they will be used for UUCA newsletters (and possibly on the website!) If possible, include the names of those photographed. Submit photos to nhaley@uucava.org and communications@uucava.org.
| |
|
|
African American Book Sharing Circle
CHANGE in plan for Friday, January 17. Instead of meeting over Zoom, we will attend the “Good Trouble” concert at 7:00 at UUCA, featuring the women’s group “beheld.“ They will sing protest and social justice songs in honor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.
On February 21, we will discuss The survivors of the Clotilda: the lost stories of the last captives of the American slave trade, by Hannah Durkin (2024) An immersive and revelatory history of the Clotilda, the last slave ship to land on US soil, told through the stories of its survivors-the last documented survivors of any slave ship-whose lives diverged and intersected in profound ways.
On March 21, we will discuss Colored Television by Danzy Senna (2024). After failing to sell her novel, main characterJane turns her desperate gaze to Hollywood. When she finagles a meeting with a hot young producer with a seven-figure deal to create "diverse content" for a streaming network, he seems excited to work with a "real writer" to create what he envisions as the greatest biracial comedy ever to hit the small screen. Things finally seem to be going right for Jane--until they go terribly wrong.
| |
Early American to 21st Century Black Women Writers
Wed., Jan. 15, 2025, 7-9pm, Zoom
Los Angeles-based Wanda Coleman, poet, essayist, storyteller, and screenwriter, was often called the city's unofficial poet laureate. A single mother who fitted ill-paid writing gigs around a series of pink-collar jobs, Coleman wed inventive, Beat-inspired forms to a fierce vision of the city's constantly broken promises, especially to people of color. No advance reading. This is a casual group dedicated to researching the lives and work of black women writers, and all are warmly welcomed! Roxanne Rhodes facilitates. Questions? Contact Gay: cimag@georgetown.edu. Zoom link: https://uucava-org.zoom.us/j/86431166987?pwd=Q2VWazBQcnRVTzgvOEFibERHYXQ2dz09
| |
Our Stories, Our Lives Winter Break
UUCA's stories-and-conversation group will NOT meet in December. We'll resume on Tuesday, January 28, 11:00-12:30. Watch for details.
| |
|
Monday: Meditation and Dharma Talk
7:30 pm-8:45 pm, UUCA Activity Room and simultaneously on Zoom
A meditation and dharma talk with an opportunity for sharing afterward is offered in partnership with the Insight Meditation Community of Washington (IMCW). Held in the Activity Room on the lower level and simultaneously on Zoom. Subscribe to the email list on the IMCW page for the event to receive the Zoom link, topics, class cancellation alerts, and private access to the recorded talks.
Contact: Stig Regli.
| |
|
Wednesday: Hour of Silence
7:30 pm-8:45 pm, UUCA Room 20 (Youth Room)
Join us in Room 20 on Wednesday evenings for an hour of in-person silent sitting and/or walking meditation or contemplation, followed by mindful discussion. We enjoy this opportunity to ground ourselves in the middle of our busy week. Please arrive a few minutes early so we can begin at 7:30, and bring what you need to be comfortable.
Contact: Suzan Chastain.
| |
|
Friday: First Light Meditation
7:00 am-7:45 am, on Zoom LINK HERE
A half-hour silent meditation with an opportunity for sharing afterward, on Zoom. Contact: David McTaggart at dmctagg@gmail.com or Gregg Forte at gforte@mac.com.
| |
|
Newsletter deadline: Connections deadline for submissions is EACH Tuesday at 10 a.m. with publication on Thursday. See below on how to submit an announcement.
How to submit an announcement to UUCA's Connections newsletter:
- Deadline is 10 a.m. each Tuesday.
-
Submit article requests to communications@uucava.org, subject line: Connections
-
Questions about Connections? Contact communications@uucava.org.
| | | | |
