Join us for church on April 20, 2025!
9:30am Religious Education
11:00am Sunday Service
12:00pm Egg hunt and Open Mic
4:00pm Youth Group
An Easter celebration highlighting the diverse perspectives present within Holston Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. This member-led service offers us an opportunity to hear about Easter, past and present, from four of our members, Denee Mattioli, Deb Helmer, Charlie Miller, and Lee Sinnot.
Our annual Flower Communion service is on Sunday, April 27th! Please plan on bringing a flower for this very special service: store bought, from your garden, or a roadside wildflower: all are welcome!
If you'd like to volunteer to bring in an entire vase-worth of flowers to share with people who didn't bring a flower, email minister@hvuuc.org to volunteer!
Registration closes April 30th, limited rooms still available as well as camping. INFO & REGISTRATION HERE: Www.tinyurl.com/hvuucwomen
THEME:
Radical Joy in Hard Times
PLACE:
The Peace Pentagon (www.peacepentagon.net)
88 Oracle Way, Independence, VA
We will have access to the entire campus which includes New River frontage, a babbling creek for water ceremony, turtle labyrinth, medicine wheel and peace pole as well as the picnic pavilion, bathhouse and, of course, the Peace Pentagon chapel.
CONVENER:
Rev. Becky Suzik, UU Peace Fellowship (https://uupf.org) Raleigh, NC;
Rev. Becky’s personal charity: www.joyfuel.org
The purpose of our gathering is to persist in bringing the frequency of JOY into our lives as we face difficult times. The greatest antidote to fear and separation is community, heart resonance and kindling JOY. And, yes, better together!
This gathering is flexible. Come Friday evening for a bonfire, drumming and stay on campus – rates ranging from $25/night camping to $100 for a private King bed and bath. Another option it to rent the whole house and share costs. Plus taxes.
OR – come for just Saturday.. arrive at 10 for a full day of JOY immersion.
PLANNING:
Are you interested in planning the details for the gathering? For example, food committee, leading a JOY activity, other?
REGISTRATION:
Fee: By Donation – No One Will be Turned Away;
INTERESTED? – More details as they are developed.
Email Noel: VP@hvuuc.org
Click through for a collection of upcoming news and events at HVUUC. Click the images to be directed to more information.
Join us for church on April 13, 2025!
9:30am Religious Education
11:00am Sunday Service
12:00pm Potluck
Jeremy Bentham's panopticon has handed us a surprisingly relevant concept for understanding how social media is increasing our self-consciousness to an oppressive degree. Rev. Tiffany explores how we are using technology as a weapon against ourselves, and makes some suggestions about healthy boundaries we can set with ourselves.
HVUUC will have a booth at the Blue Plum festival again this year on Friday June 7th and Saturday June 8th. If you would like to help plan for these days of fun, music, and community art, please join us for our planning meeting.
Sunday April 21st at 12:30 in the REZ
If you would like to volunteer at the booth, please email blueplum@hvuuc.org to sign up.
Tom Burn's Celebration of Life will be at Holston Valley Unitarian Universalist Church on June 1, 2024 at 3:00pm with a reception at 4:00pm.
Because we will not have an "open mic" at this service, we are inviting people to share their memories, stories and photos of Tom to tomburns@hvuuc.org
You can view his obituary here:
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/thomas-burns-obituary?id=54720518
Join us for church on March 31, 2024!
NO RELIGIOUS EDUCATION THIS WEEK.
11:00am Sunday Service
12:00pm Coffee Hour
12:00pm Easter Egg Hunt
This Easter we take a look at Jesus through a variety of sources including the mystical poetry of Kahlil Gibran. His book "Jesus the Son of Man: His Words and His Deeds as Told and Recorded by Those Who Knew Him" is an imaginative work that showcases the humanity and mystery of Jesus from the point of view of people who would have known him. Just as the characters of Gibran's book wrestle with the identity of Jesus, so do we.
Headlines
• Minister’s Note
• Blue Plum Festival
• Coffee House Concert
• Flower Communion
• HVUUC Walking Trail
• UUA Ceasefire Statement
Click here to read the entire newsletter.
Click here for past newsletters.
You can also find a few printed copies at our visitors table in the sanctuary.
Up to date church info is always available at www.hvuuc.org
All these beautiful early spring flowers around the congregation and in our yards mean it must be getting time for Flower Communion! On Sunday April 14th everyone will be invited to bring their own flower to share, in this ceremony that celebrates the beauty of community.
Bring your flower on April 14th!
Our Office Manager will have adjusted hours for the first week of April. Instead of Tuesday and Thursday she will be working Tuesday (4/2) and Wednesday (4/3) that week and will not be in the office on Thursday.
Any important information needs to be submitted by Wednesday April 3rd or it will not be addressed until the following week during normal office hours.
Join us for church on March 24, 2024!
9:30am Religious Education
11:00am Sunday Service
12:00pm Coffee Hour
Questions abound about Artificial Intelligence. Are they beneficial for us or harmful? Are they going to take all our jobs? Are they going to take over the world? Where do they come from and what is their purpose? Rev. Tiffany interviews an AI with these pressing questions and more, and we hear from a friend of the congregation who is studying AI as part of her graduate studies.
With a heavy heart, we share with you the sad news that Tom Burns’ struggle with post-surgery complications came to an end as he passed away during the night between March 7th and March 8th. Martha shares that he fought a valiant battle, and we share with her our astonishment that we would lose Tom over a surgery that had such a small change of complications. Martha and their daughters are supporting each other right now. Martha shares that she doesn’t need anything right now, but that cards, texts and messages are appreciated. A Celebration of Life will be held at the church in June.
The Social Justice Committee invites DEI Alliance as its 5th Sunday speaker on 3/24/2024, due to the 5th Sunday being Easter. Since 2015, DEI Alliance has been working to create and build momentum for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) throughout the region. Their hope is to transform the environment of northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia, so its residents and visitors can thrive.
You can learn more at https://deialliance.org/
Join us for church on March 17, 2024!
9:30am Religious Education
11:00am Sunday Service
12:00pm Coffee Hour
A dive into Unitarian Universalist history reveals classist roots that disenfranchised the poor and working class among our ranks, and within our communities. Together we will examine our past and discuss how to move forward in our mission to widen the circle for all.
Did you know that we have a walking trail here at HVUUC?
The idea of a walking trail on church property has been around for many years. There had been a couple of earlier unsuccessful efforts to cut one. In 2019, Charlie Mattioli took the lead in organizing a group of church members to plan, flag, cut and develop a trail that would be 5-8 feet wide and follow easy terrain. The trail starts in the far left-hand corner of the church’s front parking lot, winds through the woods to the lower parking lot and ends in front of the church.
Click here to learn more about this treasured feature of our grounds.
The only way to create a budget, which you will be voting on April 28th, is by each person at HVUUC to say how much money you can afford to keep the lights on and pay our wonderful staff. This is called a pledge. Please consider pledging, (donations collected during church do not help in determining the budget). Below is the pledge card. You can write to me by email to Stewardship@HVUUC.org. Please email me or call me if you have any questions, phone number is in the Directory. I need all pledges in by March 24th.
Thank you Greg Kramer
Pledge Letter
It is that time of the year when I, the Stewardship Trustee, ask all our church members and friends how much they intend to pledge to the church for our next fiscal year, June 1, 2024, through May 31, 2025. I will then take this amount to the Board of Trustees to develop next year’s budget. The budget that the Board proposes will be voted on at our annual congregational meeting on April 28th.
Why do I ask you to pledge?
If you are giving to the church when we pass the plate, Thank You! When you pledge, I can add this to our budget plan as I mentioned above. When we make our budget, the Stewardship Committee can only use pledges to make the Budget. We have an increase in our preliminary budget, what each committee asked for, and salary increases for our wonderful staff. Can I ask you to donate $4.00 a week or $200.00 a year?
We have so much to celebrate this past year! It is through your donations we have been able to afford the Church Services in person and on YouTube, wonderful music during services, Religious Classes led by Rev Tiffany, Covenant Groups, Religious Ed for our Adults and Children, Wednesday Night Suppers, the Giving Tree, Special Interest Groups and more!
If you are able, I would like you to fill out the pledge form below by March 24th and return it by mail or add it to the collection plate any Sunday or contact me via email or phone with your pledge amount. Feel free to contact me anytime.
Click here to download a pledge card.
Thank you,
Greg Kramer
Stewardship Trustee
Holston Valley Unitarian Universalist Church
stewardship@hvuuc.org
PO Box 8383
Johnson City TN 37615
Join us for church on March 10, 2024!
9:30am Religious Education
11:00am Sunday Service
12:00pm Coffee Hour
12:15pm Choir Rehearsal
How are we building the Beloved Community here? What do we each bring and how can we put all of our vision, talents and resources together in a way that helps us work together for transformation, justice, wonder, and love? Let's imagine together in this highly interactive service.
CUUPS will host a celebration of Ostara/the spring equinox. We will gather to decorate at 5 pm. Ritual and activities will begin at 6 pm.
Come celebrate Ostara with the CUUPS group! We shall be observing the spring equinox. Activates include a ritual, decorating eggs, singing, chanting and drumming.
Email CUUPS@hvuuc.org with any questions.
