Christians 2005

October 2005

The UU Christian Fellowship, Austin Chapter, will hold our monthly worship service on Sunday, October 2 at 9:15 in the sanctuary. This month’s theme will be based on the spiritual insights of Hildegard of Bingen, a female Christian mystic of the medieval era. All are invited to share in communion, including children (although childcare is not provided). A small group of us continues to meet for centering prayer (a simple form of meditation) on Monday evenings at 7:00 pm at the church. Check the church calendar for the room number or email James Hamilton (jdhamilton@academicplanet.com). The UUCF’s Fifth Sunday Prayer Breakfast is scheduled for October 30 at 9:15 am in the Fellowship Hall.

June 2005

The Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship (UUCF), Austin Chapter, will have our monthly worship service at 9:15 am, Sunday, June 5, in the Live Oak sanctuary. All are welcome to attend, including children.

The UUCF Austin Chapter met on May 14 and, among other items of business and discussion, authorized a resolution to support and endorse the Live Oak congregation’s passage of a Welcoming Congregation statement. The resolution will be posted on the Austin UUCF Yahoo website, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/liveoakuuchristian, and eventually on the Live Oak website’s Christian pages.

The national UUCF will be active at the UUA General Assembly in Fort Worth being held the last weekend in June this year. In addition to sponsored events and exhibits at the conference, UUCF will have a special gathering at First Christian Church in downtown Fort Worth, Saturday evening, June 25. See www.uua.org or www.uuchristian.org for details.

The UUCF Austin Chapter has been invited by the Live Oak Worship Committee to lead the congregational worship service on Sunday, July 31. The chapter’s worship and liturgical committee will begin planning for this service in June.

May 2005

The Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship (UUCF), Austin Chapter, will hold our monthly worship service with communion at 9:15 am, Sunday, May 1, in the Live Oak sanctuary. All are welcome.

The UUCF Austin Chapter will also have a general meeting at 12:00 noon, Saturday, May 14, at Live Oak, in Room 103. We will discuss ongoing activities and future plans.

Preparations are underway for UUCF events and activities at UUA General Assembly at the end of June in Ft. Worth. Plans are also being made for the UUCF’s annual gathering, Revival, in Ft. Worth in early November.

April 2005

The Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship, Austin Chapter, will hold our monthly worship service at 9:15 am Sunday, April 3, in the sanctuary. All are welcome.

The UUCF Austin Chapter and United Christian Church will co-sponsor meetings for centering prayer on Mondays at 7:00 pm. We will meet in Room 103 at Live Oak on April 11 and April 25, and will meet in the United Christian sanctuary on April 4 and April 18. Centering prayer is a form of meditation based in the Christian mystical tradition.

March 2005

The UU Christian Fellowship, Austin Chapter, will hold our monthly worship service at 9:15 am on Sunday, March 6, in the Live Oak sanctuary. This service includes communion and all are welcome.

On Saturday, March 26, the UUCF will sponsor an Easter Vigil service at 7:00 pm in the Live Oak sanctuary. This service is adapted from the King’s Chapel (UU) liturgy and will include candlelighting and communion. It is a celebration of the emergence of light from darkness, and the victory of life over death, love over hate. The Rev. Chuck Freeman has accepted our invitation to deliver the homily.

Bible study continues at 12:30 pm on the 2^nd and 4^th Sundays of each month at the church, under the direction of Jeff VanMeter.

On Mondays in March at 7:00 pm, the UUCF Austin Chapter and United Christian Church will co-sponsor meetings for Centering Prayer. Centering Prayer is a form of meditation based in the Christian mystical tradition and bearing great similarity to the contemplative practices of Eastern spiritual traditions. We will meet at United Christian Church on March 7 and March 21, and will meet in Room 103 at Live Oak on March 14 and March 28.

The UUCF Austin Chapter is now affiliated with the Center for Progressive Christianity. We will soon post “The 8 Points of Progressive Christianity” advocated by the Center to our web pages; brochures will also be available.

A considerable number of materials related to Unitarian Universalist Christianity have recently been donated to the church library. These include several years’ issues of the UUCF’s theological journal, as well as many books by noted UU authors.

February 2005

On Sunday, February 6, the UU Christian Fellowship, Austin Chapter, will have our monthly worship service at 9:15 am in the sanctuary. Our service features what we find to be an enlightened and affirming liturgy, readings ancient and modern, prayers, hymns, a short homily, and communion open to all. All are welcome; childcare is not provided.

Our next Austin Chapter meeting will be Saturday, February 19, from 10:00 am to noon in Room 103. Chuck will join us to discuss how we can more effectively make ourselves known to those who are looking for a progressive Christian community, and related issues.

Some Live Oak UU Christians attended Bishop John Shelby Spong’s presentations at nearby Unity Church of the Hills on January 15-16. Bishop Spong is a well-known author and spokesman for the liberal wing of the Episcopal Church and liberal Christianity in general. I found his talk on Sunday to be not only educational, but also an inspiring sermon, and highly recommend him to UUs, Christian or non-Christian.

On January 21-22, I attended the Center for Progressive Christianity’s Southwest Regional Conference in Houston. Meeting with so many theologically and culturally (and politically) progressive Christians in one place was a great experience. Conferees hailed from Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, New Orleans, etc., with presenters from across the country and England. This crowd included Episcopalians, Methodists, United Church Christians, American Baptists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, and members of the “Church Alumni Association”, as Bishop Spong calls them. There were at least 2 UUs there, both of us from Austin, although there were former UUs from the participating churches. I heard comments that indicate Live Oak is beginning to get a reputation as a welcoming and accepting community for progressive Christians. The Austin UUCF chapter will soon be affiliating with the Center and will be listed on their website as a progressive Christian organization.

James Hamilton

January 2005

The UU Christian Fellowship, Austin Chapter, celebrated the Advent season with early morning worship on the four Sundays preceding Christmas. We started with just about a half dozen of us on the first Sunday (Thanksgiving weekend!), but more than a dozen adults and children joined together on the final two Sundays for Christmas hymns, lighting the Advent candles, readings, and prayer.

On December 20, Jeff VanMeter led us in a Gnostic Solstice celebration, an innovative and sacred service.

The UUCF will not host a worship service on the first Sunday in January, which is New Year’s weekend. We will resume our monthly worship services on February 6. We will also have a chapter meeting in February. Please see next month’s newsletter for meeting date and time.