Perspectives for December 2025

You have likely heard me reflect on the question of how are we, as a UU congregation, called to show up for each other and our world in these difficult days? What is our work to do? I was honored to talk about this with Carrie Newcomer and Parker Palmer in their podcast, The Growing Edge, last June.

In these times, it is so important for us to be 1) a Community of Courage - resisting authoritarianism and defending and demanding democracy; 2) a Community of Sanctuary - providing solace and protection to those in danger and for our own spirits; and 3) a Community of Imagination - remembering that we need to continue to sow seeds of possibility, nurturing the world we want to create. All three of these feel so relevant to our ministry these days, and throughout the year, we are taking time to reflect on these areas.

This year, in September, we began with the theme of Imagination. As December arrives, we will explore what it means to be a Community of Sanctuary. Lately, my mind has been drawn to practices and wisdom that call us to kindness, to gentleness, to care for ourselves and each other. Much weighs on our spirits and the news is frankly maddening, heartbreaking and also triggering for many. How can we learn to create sanctuary - a place for peace and rootedness and safety within our own spirits? And how do we nurture a community where we create this for each other and experience it ourselves? This is our focus for December - a much needed tending of the spirit. I am grateful that Carrie Newcomer will join us for our service on December 7th to help us begin to dive into this topic.

-Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray

revsfg@uubloomington.org

There are many ways we can be sanctuaries for each other. One is by recognizing and honoring where each of us are on our life journey. Our lifespan religious education offerings aim to create space for people to explore aspects of their lives in order to deepen their connection to themselves, other people, the natural world, and the Mystery that lies beyond understanding.

On December 14, we’ll be celebrating our Elders – or, as they prefer to call themselves, those on the eldering journey. Becoming an elder is more than simply getting old. In fact, one can become an elder at any age. Becoming an elder involves an intention to process the events and experiences of one’s life, letting go of failures, pain and disappointments, as well as attachments to youth, previous roles, and identities. Becoming an elder involves the spiritual work of seeing one’s life in an ever-widening context, and coming to terms with death. The work of eldering is never done, but if you find yourself on this journey or drawn to it and would like some company, consider signing up for The Inner Work of Age. This 12-week series will be offered on Wednesdays, 2-4pm, beginning on January 14. Those who would like to participate in the Elder Ritual on Dec. 14 should contact me (kimball@uubloomington.org) as soon as possible.

On December 21 at 6pm all are invited to celebrate the Winter Solstice with a special meditative service involving candlelight, music, and a contemplative spiral walk. Winter is a time for slowing down and for resting, for taking stock and for envisioning what we want to bring to life when the wheel turns once more to springtime. We take time on the shortest day to notice the changing season and how it resonates in our bodies and in our lives. This practice of observing and grounding ourselves in seasonal shifts helps us live more in sync with the natural world and its rhythms, creating a sanctuary that we carry within us.

-Dr. Stephanie Kimball, Director of Lifespan Religious Education

kimball@uubloomington.org

As we move into the month of December, we turn to the theme of Community of Sanctuary. How can we work together to create and maintain a community in which all feel safe and protected? …willing to express their true selves? …able to share their concerns without fear of reprisal? How can we use the strength of our community to provide sanctuary to others? During this challenging time in our country, when so many of our UU values are under threat, intentional efforts to nurture sanctuary within and outside of UUCB feel especially critical.

In November’s Board column, Linda mentioned the mission discernment process that we will begin this year. This process will offer congregants the opportunity to reflect on what we are called to do for each other and for the larger community, including how we understand and prioritize our commitment to sanctuary. The collective priorities we articulate through this process will set our course for the next several years. We will want to hear from you! Please join these conversations over the next several months in ways that are meaningful to you.

Members will be able to share their perspectives on UUCB matters even sooner, at our upcoming mid-year congregational meeting, Sunday, December 14, at 1:15pm in the Meeting Room. We will vote on several proposed amendments to our Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws. Please join us!

Jane McLeod, President

The Caring Committee supports the congregation by coordinating its services with the Pastoral Associates Care Team. The PACT works closely with Reverend Susan to support those who are experiencing illness, loss, isolation or life changes while the Caring Committee provides practical assistance with meals for congregants who are in need of temporary food assistance due to a variety of needs (i.e., a health issue, a family death, the birth or adoption of a child, a traumatic weather event, etc.); occasional rides to medical appointments; or refreshments for a reception in conjunction with a memorial service. Referrals to the Caring Committee come from the PACT. Our members are: Sandy Churchill (Soup Train), Martha Dogan (Transportation), Doris Wittenburg (Memorial Receptions) and Kathleen Sideli (Convener). We are grateful to everyone in the congregation who volunteer to provide these essential and much appreciated services throughout the year and invite others to join us in our efforts through the Church Center https://uucb.churchcenter.com/groups/support. As the saying goes, “It takes a village…”

The Legacy Circle was created to recognize and thank donors who have included UUCB in their estate plans. On Nov 1st, we held the annual celebration for our Legacy Circle to thank them for their intentions and BOY DID WE HAVE A GOOD TIME! We had a great spread of food and drink to greet people as they arrived and caught up with one another, which was then followed by the entertainment. Sue Swaney coordinated a Broadway Sing-Along featuring Broadway veterans Richard Roland and Sylvia McNair (by the way, a 2-time Grammy winner) with the gift-of-music Ray Fellman at the piano. We were all singing so boldly that those of us who cannot carry a tune could belt it out and nobody knew! Solo performances by Richard and Sylvia were stunning with full goosebumps and a few tears for all.

If you plan to include UUCB in your estate planning and would like to join the UUCB Legacy Circle, or if you already have estate plans for UUCB and would like to join the Legacy Circle, or if you just have questions, please feel free to contact any member of the Planned Giving Committee. Joining the Legacy Circle is not a requirement, it is an option. You may also remain anonymous in the Legacy Circle while still being invited to the annual celebrations.

Planned Giving Committee

Harlan Lewis, Ann Kamman, Charlotte Appel

Planned Giving Testimonial

In 2023 we travelled to the East Coast to visit our daughter and stopped in Ithaca, NY along the way. While there we attended the First Unitarian Society of Ithaca housed in a beautiful building built c. 1894. We found that the people we were meeting were so like the people in our own congregation, but their congregation was struggling, having a harder time bouncing back from COVID than we were. As we spoke with them we realized one striking difference – they didn’t have our Task Forces. They explained that they were a liberal university town and that other groups already existed to cover most issues. If anyone was interested, they could join those groups. Our Task Forces focus our efforts and work with other groups making UUCB a strong force in our community and striving to make Bloomington the community we want to live in. Can you imagine if we simply relied on our own university to lead the way – IU who has struggled to allow peaceful protests in recent years and is currently battling to control what is printed on campus? We love Bloomington and want it to stay free and supportive for a very long time. For these reasons and more we have chosen to include UUCB in our estate planning.

Andrew & Charlotte Appel

The Holidays are starting, and the Bazaar is just a week away, so it seemed appropriate to share a recipe from a past Bazaar Cookie Walk. This recipe comes from a publication created in the late 1980’s by longtime member Cookie Lynch, “The Cookie Jar Cookbook” and it contains many of the recipes baked for their then-recent Holiday Bazaar. This recipe was baked by her husband Bill and is a -one bowl, super easy, great for kids to do- kind of recipe. Bill and Cookie Lynch were beloved founding members of our congregation and if you ask anyone with a 20-year or older ribbon on their nametag, they will probably have Bill and Cookie stories.

RASPBERRY OATMEAL BARS

1 ¼ cup All-Purpose flour

1 ¼ cups Quick cooking oats (uncooked)

½ cup sugar

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

¾ cup butter, melted

2 tsp vanilla

10 oz fruit preserves (seedless red raspberry)

½ cup flaked coconut

Combine flour, oats, sugar, soda and salt in a large bowl and blend well. Add butter and vanilla, mix until crumbly. Save 1 cup of mixture for top. Press remaining crumb mix into a 13”x9”x2” baking pan. Spread preserves to within 1/4 inch of edge of pan. Sprinkle with reserve crumb mixture and coconut. Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned (note - could be as long as 40 minutes, you should smell them). Cool and cut into bars. Makes 2 dozen.

-Charlotte Appel

Holiday Giving

Opportunities are plentiful, especially during the holiday season, for UU congregants to volunteer their time to assist local agencies, donate funds, and provide food and gifts to local families and individuals who need our help.

UU task forces and the UU Social Justice Coordinating Team have organized efforts to help support the local community.

UUCB Giving Tree project

Our Giving Tree project this year benefits families served by Middle Way House, Boys & Girls Club, and New Hope for Families, and helps fulfill agencies' needs. Participate by picking out one or more gift tags in Fellowship Hall after Sunday services in November. Or, you can select gift ideas online at https://uucb.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/3254616.

Bring the gifts to church, unwrapped, in a bag/box to either service on Dec. 7. Securely attach the gift tag you received or create one, including the agency name, gift name, and number. If you can’t come that day, drop them off at the main church office before Dec. 7.

Holiday food baskets for Pathways

Congregants can help families in need of food this holiday season and beyond through the Pathways (formerly MCUM) Holiday Food Basket campaign. A shopping list provided by Pathways to assemble baskets that will be distributed to Pathways clients between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The shopping list can be found at:

https://www.uubloomington.org/documents/555/2025_Food_Basket_List.pdf.

The UU Church has been contributing these food baskets for many years, with the help of the Hunger Task Force. More than 80 baskets are needed by Pathways.

Please sign up and get a shopping list at an easel next to the Meeting Room. Congregants need to deliver food by Wed., Dec. 3, before 4 p.m., at Pathways, 827 W. 14th Ct.

Monetary donations are welcome to help buy items for a food basket. Please contact Dee Morris (using this contact form), if you want to donate funds or need someone to shop for you.

Pathways also needs more support from the community to sponsor families in its Compass Early Learning program this holiday season. Sixteen families still need to be matched with individuals, groups, or organizations to provide gifts and essential items. Specifically, 8 families of 2 people, 6 families of 3 people, and 2 families of 4 people need sponsors. Sponsors choose the family size they can support.

Sponsors are asked to purchase 3-5 gifts, based on your budget, for each family member from a list created by the family and given to sponsors. Wrapped presents are due on a date in December determined by Pathways.

If you are interested, please visit: https://btownpathways.org/support/holiday/ or contact Shannon Hampton, director of operations, at shampton@btownpathways.org.

Bloomington Severe Winter Emergency Shelter

Volunteers are needed for the Bloomington Severe Winter Emergency Shelter (B-SWERS) hosted by several local churches. During the shelter season, Oct. 1 through March 31, a B-SWERS leadership team oversees shelter operations, supports volunteers, and works with the host churches – First Christian Church, First United Methodist Church, and First Presbyterian Church. The UU Homelessness Task Force encourages people to participate in this effort.

The shelter is open 8:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. for guests 18 years and older when overnight weather is predicted to be below 25 degrees or includes precipitation dangerous to human survival.

To volunteer, fill out the required volunteer interest and availability registration form at: https://forms.gle/nRowuQPsATBJDGMy5. After submitting the form, you will be sent a link to the B-SWERS manual that prepares volunteers for their shifts. The form will ask you to list one or more of five available shifts (between 7:15 a.m. to 8 a.m.) you could do.

Beginning 48 hours before the predicted weather for opening the shelter, volunteers will be recruited for shifts by email. When enough volunteers are available, the shelter will open. Most shifts are between 2 ½ to 3 ½ hours, although the first shift is 1 hour.

Contact the shelter’s volunteer coordinator, Allie Jewell, alliej205@gmail.com, with any questions.

Beacon Center -- warm clothing and blankets

Warm clothing and other necessities to cope with winter weather are needed for people who visit the Beacon Center. Items most needed are gloves, warm socks, hats, gloves, hand warmers, blankets, and emergency safety blankets. UU congregants can drop off these items in bins located under the Social Justice table in the main foyer or outside under the Portico. The Homelessness Task Force will deliver the items to Beacon.

In addition to these winter and holiday-related drives, task forces can use help year-round for these efforts:

• Little Free Pantry non-perishable food donations. The Hunger Task Force collects food in bins under the social justice table in the main foyer or near the Portico.
• Community Kitchen volunteers. UU Church congregants are needed for three shifts monthly to prepare and/or serve food at 1515 S. Rogers St. Shifts are 2 or 3 hours. Food donations are always needed and can be delivered there. To volunteer, visit: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0C4FAEAD2FA5F58-60365087-community#/.

We are so grateful to the UU Church for the Social Justice Grant our two task forces - Hunger and Homelessness - received, totaling $1000. One member of the Social Justice Task Force worked at Friends Place last summer and discovered they didn’t receive a meal Sunday evenings. She also heard about Taste of Bloomington and their desire not to waste any food at their August event. At the invitation of the people in charge, she organized folks to pick up leftover food when the event ended on August 2nd. She was able to refrigerate pizza and take it to Friends Place Sunday evening. The folks were thrilled! And this member was moved by their excitement and appreciation. From this an idea unfolded. Why not find a way to provide meals for these folks every Sunday? And make it pizza! Something they hardly ever get to eat! A treat! We will be providing pizza every Sunday evening (which Pizza X is providing at a much reduced rate with no tip or delivery charge) from December 2025 through February of 2026.

The Homelessness Task Force is working hard to support Beacon’s Light the Way Campaign and those experiencing homelessness in general. We gave a benefit concert and raised $1898.98 (thanks to so many who donated their talents). We had a wonderful car wash that raised $2000. Christine Banister organized many families who washed cars, sold yummy treats, and had lots of fun working together. We're having a big sale of creative articles that many people (around 30 folks) have donated in memory of Alan Backler to our Homelessness Task Force Table at the Holiday Bazaar. We have over 200 reasonably priced and absolutely wonderful pieces of arts and crafts of all kinds for sale at the bazaar. If you’d like to help sell at our table, contact Barb Backler using this contact form.

We are encouraging people to work at the Winter Shelters that are being held on very cold evenings at 3 different alternating churches in town. Jason Lopez, a new congregant of our church, volunteered the first two cold nights. He says this: “With the weather getting colder, most shelters in town are at full capacity, and there isn’t enough space to meet the needs of everyone experiencing homelessness. B-SWERS provides immediate comfort and relief to those who would otherwise be sleeping outside in freezing temperatures. You can show your support and compassion by volunteering. You’ll get a sense of fulfillment for assisting in positive and meaningful work and also have a better understanding of how to meet the needs of people who are most vulnerable and susceptible to homelessness.”

There is no end to the needs of the hungry and the homeless in our community which are only going to increase, and there is no end to the generosity of our congregation.

We have an ongoing winter clothing drive - you can drop socks, hats, gloves, blankets, coats, hand warmers, and toiletries in the bins in the hallway.

You can also volunteer at Friends Place. Shifts are 5-7 pm. Contact Tory at Shalom: 812-961-2868

Child Dedications

Child Dedications will be offered on Sunday, December 21st and at both Christmas Eve services. Please contact Rev. Susan if you would like to have your child or children dedicated.

At this time of year, filled with holidays and holy days, we are reminded of the importance of honoring the ceremonies of passage. In Unitarian Universalist congregations, child dedications are an opportunity for parents to bring their young children to be blessed and welcomed into community. It is also a way for the community to offer their blessings and support to the parents and children. The child dedication is not a ritual to remove sin, nor to provide special privilege, but a recognition of the importance of honoring the young lives in our community and their families. It is also a time when parents and the congregation as a whole are asked to dedicate themselves to the fullest unfolding and development of the child and to nurturing a community of peace in which all children may grow.

We use water and a rose for the dedication. Water is a symbol of nature’s bounty and our own connection to nature as part of the human family. The rose is a symbol of the unique gift that each child is and our hope that each child will, throughout their lives, unfold and blossom just as the rose.

If you are interested in having your child or children dedicated at one of the Christmas eve services, or have any questions, please email Rev. Susan at revsfg@uubloomington.org or call the office at 812-332-3695.

December 28 at 10:30 a.m.
Finding Hope in Choppy Waters
Service Leader: Rev. Dennis McCarty
We live in challenging times. Anyone who strives for a just and caring world — and engages the national news — is likely to sense a bitter taste of failure as we close out a tumultuous year. To keep up our resilience, might it help to look at success and failure in a different way? Rev. Dennis will look at success, failure, and some lessons of history as we sort out these trying times.
Rev. Dennis McCarty is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington, and author, and Minister Emeritus at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbus, Indiana.