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.
Come represent HVUUC at this years Blue Plum Music Festival ! Our congregation will be tabling to the greater community with our Music Madness table. Come help us make DIY music shakers with our community or just stop in for a visit while you enjoy live music at a great local festival!
We will have a table on Friday 09/07 from 4pm-8pm
Then again on Saturday 09/08 from 11am - 8pm
Come show the community what we are all about!
Email blueplum@hvuuc.org with any questions.
Headlines
Minister’s Note
Game Nights
Transposition Film
Endowment Fund
Voter Postcard Writing
GA Feedback Meeting
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
Join us for church on June 2, 2024!
9:00am Religious Education
11:00am Sunday Service
12:00pm Coffee Hour
4:00pm Youth Group Event
Kick off Pride month with a celebration of poet and activist Audre Lorde. Her insightful essays and moving poetry give us a view of truly intersectional justice work drawn from her own lived experience. “There is no thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.”
Summer RE begins this Sunday, June 2, at 9:30 am outside on the back deck of the church. So far we have the following activities booked for June:
June 2: Giving to Something Bigger (Justin Ridley and Sue Cadwallader)
June 9: Dutch Oven Cooking (Greg Kramer)
June 16: Astronomy (Mike Frisch and Sue Cadwallader)
June 23: Open
June 30: Kinetic Game Time (Kirk Roberts)
Please note that Summer RE is combined for kids and youth from grades K-12 (ages 5 - 18). Come and join us for RE fun this summer! If you have questions or would like to sign up to help with Summer RE please contact our DRE Justin Ridley dre@hvuuc.org
Join us for church on May 19, 2024 and wear your best Star Wars attire!
9:30am Religious Education
11:00am Sunday Service
12:00pm Coffee Hour
May the Force Be with You, Unitarian Universalists! This Sunday our pulpit and music is packed with Star Wars fans as we explore what this piece of modern mythology has to teach us about good, evil, and everything in between.
We have noticed that sometimes the parking lot is so crowded on Sunday morning that people with physical disabilities are having to walk too far to get to the building. As we consider longer term fixes for this challenge, we are asking everyone who is in good physical health and doesn't have small children to make an effort to park either in the lower parking lot or fill the furthest away parking spaces first in the main lot.
I will be making every effort to lead by example, so if you see my car in a close-up parking spot on Sunday morning, make sure to give me a hard time about it! This is how we build the beloved community. Thanks! -Rev. Tiffany
Music Fest will not be happening this Saturday May 18th. When a new date has been picked it will be announced. Email musicdirector@hvuuc.org or fellowship@hvuuc.org with any questions.
CUUPs Full Moon ritual has been rescheduled for May 23rd at 6:00PM. Email cuups@hvuuc.org with any questions.
Join us for church on May 12, 2024!
9:30am Religious Education
11:00am Sunday Service
12:00pm Coffee Hour
Throughout this church year Rev. Tiffany has been exploring the Six Sources of Unitarian Universalism as listed in the current version of Article II. But there have been changes proposed to Article II which will remove the listing of the six sources. What will replace it, and is it an improvement?
Supporting liberal religion is a challenge! Compared to megachurches nearby, our resources sometimes feel small. That is why we need to be smart about how we financially support our principles.
Annual pledges are the largest source of HVUUC’s income. In good years pledges often rise, but when the economy falters, pledges may drop.
HVUUC’s endowment fund can reduce funding volatility. This money is intended to provide long-term, stable income to the church. The fund’s bylaws require it to donate 4% of the rolling 3-year balance to the church each year. Real growth of the endowment fund therefore relies on continued donations from the congregation over time.
The endowment fund has a bit over $163,000 invested and will contribute $6,435 to next year’s annual operating budget.
Historically, the largest donations to the endowment fund have been from estates and similar donations. Wills can be written to bequeath a specific amount of money, or a specified percentage of the available funds.
Some donations have been made by businesses. For example, Lynn and Paulette Byrd, owners of the RE/MAX Results Real Estate Team, provide a percentage of any commission associated with congregants.
And lastly, individual congregants make donations designed to honor life events (e.g., graduations, marriages or even divorces). Gifts are also made to memorialize someone who passed away. In 2024 so far, 10 such donations (ranging from $25 to $250, with a median of $75) have been contributed, and they add up – over $900 just this year so far.
Honorary gifts are easy! Write a check to HVUUC with “endowment fund” written on the note line. You can attach a note to identify an honoree. Turn it in with the weekly plate or mail to the church. The endowment committee will write you an acknowledgement and inform the honoree (or their surviving family) of your generosity.
If you have any questions about the endowment fund and how it operates please don’t hesitate to reach out by emailing endowment@hvuuc.org.
Join us for church on May 5, 2024!
9:30am Religious Education
11:00am Sunday Service
12:00pm Under G-d Film Screening
The Sixth Source of Unitarian Universalism is "Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature" Today we explore those rhythms by exploring mythologies from around the globe, and pondering what they mean for us as Unitarian Universalists.
HVUUC, the RE Collaborative, and RISE: Healthy for Life invite you to a documentary film screening of Under G-d, on Sunday, May 5, at 1:00 pm. A light meal will be provided after the service before the screening begins.
Under G-d
A film by Paula Eiselt
Under G-d is a documentary short about the national Jewish response to the Dobbs Decision woven through the lived experiences of impacted women and the various lawsuits currently being launched by Jewish and interfaith leaders to challenge the overturning of Roe v. Wade, state by state.
We will watch the film together, then facilitators from RISE will lead a discussion on the film and what actions we can take together in our community/state/country.
See the trailer below and visit the Facebook page to RSVP:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1137351984178387/?ref=newsfeed
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4aB-3Bxw3c
For questions or more information contact Justin Ridley - dre@hvuuc.org
Headlines
Minister’s Note
Game Nights
Coffee House Concert
Sunday Potluck
Beltane Ritual
Women’s Night
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
