🌉 RE Bridge Weekly | Youth Vision Coming to Life | Trans Day of Remembrance
Sunday, November 15, 2026
💜 A Note from the DRE | One Fantabulous Year!
November 16 marks my one-year anniversary as the DRE of this beautiful community! And WOW, what a year it has been! 🥳💜 Thank you all for welcoming me into this community and for being such shining examples of awesomeness, creativity, kindness, and vision!
Over this past year, our Religious Exploration program has shifted, grown, and blossomed into something so beautifully collaborative. Our volunteer community has doubled! I've watched so many of you step into new roles, explore new possibilities, and generously share your gifts with us all. You've shared your shine, and what a difference it makes!
One of the most meaningful parts of this journey has been watching our youth step into active participation within the church. Seeing them discover their voices, take ownership of their roles, and recognize that they are not simply part of this community, but active creators of it, has been absolutely beautiful.
I know you all hear it often, but I absolutely LOVE my job! And so much of that love comes from getting to work alongside such like-hearted souls. People who care deeply, hold space for one another, live and love with intention, and excitedly embrace expansion, transformation, and all the possibilities that come with them.
What a gift it is to be part of a community that doesn't just welcome growth but actively helps it flourish! Thank you for a truly fantabulous first year! Here's to all we've created together and all the wonder still waiting to unfold! ✨
Love & Light, Jess Ox
🌟 Youth Group Gathering!
Sunday, November 15 | 4:00–6:00 PM 📍 The REZ 💜 Facilitators: Emi & Jess
Calling all our 6th–12th graders! 🥳
Our next Youth Group Gathering is here, and we're looking forward to an afternoon of connection, conversation, laughter, and fun!
Come hang out, share your ideas, enjoy some games, and spend time with your fellow youth as we continue building a community that's uniquely yours!
We can't wait to see you there! 💜✨
🍲 From Vision to Action | Youth Feed the Hungry Project!
Saturday, November 21 | The Melting Pot
What happens when our youth dream up a way to make a difference and then put their hearts into making it happen?
Their vision begins becoming reality! 🥳
Throughout the 2025–26 program year, our HVUUC Youth worked to raise funds to help feed those experiencing hunger in our community. Their vision? To bring in a food truck that could provide meals to our unhoused and food-insecure neighbors. And now, we're so excited to see that vision coming to fruition!
On Saturday, November 21, The Melting Pot will host its monthly Community Health & Wellness Resource Fair, and we're thrilled to bring our Youth Group's vision into this beautiful community effort!
Funds raised by our youth will go toward providing a food truck, hosted in The Melting Pot's parking lot following the morning event. This will offer brunch and lunch to community members who may not have been able to attend the earlier meal service.
Here's how you can help! 💜
● Volunteer: Youth and families are encouraged to lend a hand during the morning event, the food truck service, or both! Please use the November 21 Volunteer Sign-Up so The Melting Pot can coordinate volunteers and community needs.
● Help us find a food truck: We're still working diligently to secure a food truck for the day! If you have suggestions, connections, or time to help make a few calls, we'd love your support. Email dre@hvuuc.org.
What a beautiful example of our youth turning compassion into action and showing us what happens when community comes together around a shared vision!
🏳️⚧Trans Day of Remembrance | Service & Nursery Care
Friday, November 20 | 6:00–8:00 PM 📍 HVUUC
Our community will be hosting a Trans Day of Remembrance service on November 20, honoring and remembering transgender lives lost to violence and affirming our commitment to love, dignity, and belonging.
Our nursery will be open during the service! 💜
If you anticipate your child(ren) joining us in the nursery that evening, please email Jess Ox at dre@hvuuc.org to let our caregiving team know.
This helps us prepare a fun, welcoming, and engaging evening for our young UU friends while their families participate in this meaningful service.
Thank you for helping us plan with care and intention!
📚 Free Library Spotlight | A Celebration of Youth Service!
Our Youth's Free Library project is getting ready for its next exciting chapter! 📖✨
The library they built is going up at the Tri-Cities Airport, and the airport would love to feature our HVUUC Youth in a short promotional video celebrating the project!
Youth will be invited to place books into their library, and one or two may have the opportunity to share a little about the heart and inspiration behind their efforts.
Wednesday, December 2 | 4:00 PM 📍 Tri-Cities Airport
We'd love to have our youth there to celebrate the completion of this meaningful service project and share their shine with the wider community! 💜
✨ Wonder Worship | What a Wonderful Turnout!
13 young humans joined us for Wonder Worship this past Sunday! 🥳💜
What a joy for so much curiosity, energy, and wonder to gather together!
Wonder Worship creates space for our younger UUs, kindergarten through 6th grade, to explore the themes of our worship services in ways that speak to them through imagination, movement, reflection, creativity, and play.
It's worship experienced through the wonderful ways young minds and hearts connect with the world!
Upcoming Wonder Worship Sundays:
● November 15
● November 22
● November 29 - No Wonder Worship
We can't wait to see what wonders unfold next! ✨
🤝 Religious Exploration Collaborative (REC)
We're bringing REC back together in person! 🥳
We want to see your smiling faces, hear your ideas, and continue building this beautiful Religious Exploration program together!
REC is a space where your creativity, inspiration, and voice help shape the experiences we create for our HVUUC community. Whether you've been involved for years or are just beginning to explore ways to contribute, your perspective matters!
Sunday, December 6 🕧 12:45–1:15 PM 📍 Adult 2 Classroom, REZ
Bring your ideas, your curiosity, and your collaborative spirit. Let's see what we can create together! 💜
🍂 No RE Programming November 29th
Thanksgiving weekend there will be no regular Religious Exploration classes, and as we gather for our intergenerational Soup Communion service, there will be no Wonder Worship on November 29.
We look forward to sharing this special worship experience together across generations! 💜
🎂 November Birthdays!
Sending a whole lot of birthday love to our November celebrants! 🥳
🎉 Jim McKoy
🎉 Doug McKee
🎉 Ethan Miller — Youth
May your next trip around the sun bring joy, connection, adventure, and plenty of reasons to celebrate!
Happy Birthday from your HVUUC RE community! 💜
🌈 Gratitudes Across the Bridge
Oh, the beautiful things that happen when people share their shine! ✨
This week's gratitude is overflowing with appreciation for the many hands, hearts, and creative minds that make our Religious Exploration community so special!
● 💜 Tazley, Beth, and Katie — For leading our young friends in such a fun and engaging Wonder Worship experience, and for so gracefully adapting to accommodate an excitedly large group of 13 young humans!
● 💜 Brooklynn — For being our wonderful RE go-to while I was away and helping keep everything flowing!
● 💜 Byron — For facilitating our Adult 2 group in a meaningful discussion around the stories we carry, the stories we tell ourselves, and the ones we get to rewrite along our journeys.
● 💜 Jill and Cyndi — For guiding our K–5 explorers through Ubuntu and the mindfulness we practice through kindness, connection, and community awareness.
● 💜 Lee and Brooklynn — For leading our 6th–12th graders in exploring what truth, trust, and integrity mean to them.
● 💜 Jill, Sharon, and Rev. Tiffany — For stepping into the nursery during our Annual Service Auction, helping ensure our families could participate in and enjoy the festivities while our youngest UUs were cared for!
● 💜 Our entire RE community — For extending such a warm welcome to a new family visiting us this past weekend. Every act of kindness helps create that beautiful sense of belonging we hope all who enter our doors will experience!
And goodness, I have a feeling I've left out a name or two, because there are just so many wonderful humans sharing their gifts!
Please know that I see you, I appreciate you, and I am so very grateful for all the ways you share your shine with our HVUUC Religious Exploration community!
Thank you for being part of what makes this community so beautifully ours. 💜✨