The Longest Night service is a reflective time when we will hold sacred space for any who are experiencing a difficult time, or for whom the Christmas Season can spark memories of grief or loss. For all who struggle against the darkness, we will sing meditative and peaceful music, including some Taizé selections.

Questions? Contact AV at alicia@uumc.org!

Looking for some additional support? Check out our Longest Night Resources.

Everyone should sing at Christmas! Our Christmas Eve choir is open to all. If you're a college student returning home or a visitor attending with your family, you only need to attend this ONE rehearsal in order to join the choir on Christmas Eve at 5:30PM and/or 10:30PM. Singers are welcome to join even if they can only sing at ONE of the two services!

Attire for Christmas Eve singers is semi-formal concert blacks (slacks/skirts/blouse/button-ups) with red accents.

Email AV at alicia@uumc.org to sign up and with any questions!

Do you enjoy reading, listening to, or writing poetry? Check out UUMC's poetry group! They meet on the third Tuesday of every month at 7 PM. We'll rotate meeting locations around the area (usually homes). Gatherings usually entail everyone bringing a couple of poems that they want to share aloud. The poems can be your own, old faithfuls from your favorite poets, or newly-discovered pieces.

Reach out to Lauren Hanks for more info: laurennicolehanks@gmail.com.

The most wonderful Sunday of the year! During worship, we’ll have our annual Christmas Pageant and all children are invited to participate!

When the service is over, parents are invited to pick up their kids and head to the Advent Festival where we will have a chili cook-off, crafts and advent garden. See you there! Everyone is welcome :)

Questions? Contact Jillian at jillian@uumc.org!

The most wonderful Family Sunday of the year! Christmas Pageant, blessing of the preemie blankets, and Advent Festival to follow.

All children (ages 2 and up) are encouraged to come to Sunday School to find their pageant costumes. The pageant takes place at the beginning of the 11am worship service. Following the pageant, volunteers will escort all kiddos back to the classrooms to play.

Join us after worship for our annual Advent Festival!

Questions? Contact Jillian at jillian@uumc.org!

Bring a cookie to share and let's sample each other's favorite holiday treats! We will join together in fellowship as a queer community.

Questions? Contact AV at alicia@uumc.org!

The best way to spread Christmas Cheer is SINGING LOUD for all to hear!

Join us for UUMC's annual Christmas Caroling Party! We will meet at AV, Kenzie, & Laura's place at 6 PM to grab some music packets, then we will carol from house to house around the neighborhood. We'll return to the house after singing and share cider, snacks, s'mores and cookies! Not up to walking around? Feel free to join for fellowship and snacks around 7!

RSVP for the Address!

The Caregivers Support Group will meet via Zoom on the Second Tuesday of each month at 6:30 pm. It is a safe place for persons to gather and share confidentially about the joys and challenges of caregiving.

JOIN US ON ZOOM

College students come join us for a stress reliever event with the animals!

Questions? Contact Megan at motto@uumc.org!

Join us for our annual Lessons and Carols service! The choir and congregation will join together to sing traditional carols as well as more contemporary compositions, interspersed with the Christmas Story read by congregants and community leaders. Doors will open at 6 pm, at 6:30 pm, we’ll have a special set of prelude music, which will only be performed before the 7 pm service. Let's sing the songs of the season together!

Our Gardener's “Young Adult” Sunday School class will be gathering to celebrate together.

If you’d like to join, please email Megan for more details! motto@uumc.org

Join us for our annual Lessons and Carols service! The choir and congregation will join together to sing traditional carols as well as more contemporary compositions, interspersed with the Christmas Story read by congregants and community leaders. Let's sing the songs of the season together!

Note: If you can’t join us at 11 am there is a 7 pm Lessons & Carols Service available as well.

Tweens (4th & 5th graders) and youth (6th - 12th grades), join Natasha and Jillian at the church at 4:30.

We are taking a holiday field trip to Crepe Crazy, where almost all of the employees are deaf and the hearing people are required to know sign language. We’ll get some yummy food, grab a hot chocolate and walk the trail together for our last gathering of 2024.

Pick up at the church at 7:30pm!

The Gardeners, our “Young Adult” Sunday School Class will gather to share in a Friendsgiving potluck.

If you’d like to attend, please email Megan at motto@uumc.org!

(Previously Prime Time Lunch)

Join us for our annual Thanksgiving Lunch for our over 70 crowd. We will have music and great food from Pok-e-jo's Smokehouse and great time for fellowship.

Wear some working clothes to worship! After worship, everyone is invited to join staff and Trustees for a church-wide workday after worship.

We'll meet in the Fellowship Hall following worship for a quick brown-bag lunch and to hear more about the various work areas. There will be indoor and outdoor projects for persons of all ages and capabilities to participate.

Our last workday was a great success and we appreciate all who are able to come and join us as tend to the building and campus ahead of the beautiful and busy Advent and Christmas season. Bring your own simple lunch. Drinks will be provided.

Join Jillian and Natasha in the Fellowship Hall for lunch and fellowship! We'll work on cleaning, painting and spiffying up the courtyard to make it as lovely as possible. Please bring lunch and clothes to get dirty! Pickup at the church at 2:30!

Questions? Contact Jillian at jillian@uumc.org or Natasha at natasha@uumc.org

Sundays
November 17 - December 1

Pastor Earl will be leading a three-week Sunday School class for those interested in learning more about Methodist beliefs and The United Methodist Church. The class will meet during the Sunday School hour from 9:45-10:45 in the Fellowship Hall.

The Caregivers Support Group will meet via Zoom on the Second Tuesday of each month at 6:30 pm. It is a safe place for persons to gather and share confidentially about the joys and challenges of caregiving.

JOIN US ON ZOOM

Megan and Earl will lead a "Power of Planning" seminar during the Sunday School hour on November 10. This seminar is an opportunity for persons to gain information that can assist in end of life care decisions as well as memorial/funeral service planning. A few take-home resources will be provided and the time together will include the presentation of materials as well as time to visit with others at your table. Members of The UUMC Foundation will also provide information about opportunities to give to The Foundation.

Youth parents, come hang out by the fire in the Ulack's backyard. Bring your favorite beverage or nibble or just bring yourselves. Looking forward to a kid-free catch-up & getting to know you.

Questions? Contact Natasha at natasha@uumc.org!

An Election Connection Event!

Join us for a community dinner! This day of community building is an opportunity for us to connect, lean on one another, enjoy some fun and to remind one another that God is with us as we await election results.

We’ll have some soup and baked potatoes for dinner, and invite you to bring a side to share. After dinner, we’ll divide up into teams (making sure we have people from every generation on each team) and answer trivia questions!

We’d love to see you there!

An Election Connection Event!

Join us for a free yoga class in the chapel. This gentle yoga class is open to all ages and all levels of experience. Participants are encouraged to bring a towel or yoga mat, but not necessary. The main thing is to bring yourself and an openness to this experience that promises to ground us and center us on this momentous day.

Chris Leigh P. has been teaching hatha yoga for almost a decade and is one of Pastor Teresa’s favorite yoga instructors at Flow Yoga here in Austin. Chris received her Hatha teaching certification under the guidance of her beloved teacher Sat Nam Joti Kaur Khalsi at the Blue Cypress School of Holism in Wimberley Texas.

Join us for an intergenerational day of fellowship on Election Day, Tuesday November 5. Doors open at 11 am and we'll be here through the evening with cut off time for children and youth at 8 pm. This come-and-go day of community building is an opportunity for us to connect, lean on one another, enjoy some fun and to remind one another that God is with us as we await election results.

Schedule

11 am - Make Your Own Pizza Lunch
1 pm - Yoga with Chris Leigh Parker
2-6 pm - Crafts, Games and More!
6 pm - Community Dinner
7 pm - All Generations Trivia

Any questions? Contact AV at alicia@uumc.org or Natasha at natasha@uumc.org!

Join Natasha and Jillian right after church in the Fellowship Hall to eat lunch before we head to our host's house for our annual Olympic games. Tweens vs. youth- we'll see who wins this year! Please bring lunch and play clothes. Pickup is 2:30 at the church!

We will observe All Saints Sunday on November 3 at 11am in the sanctuary with a special worship service. The Congregational Church of Austin will join us for a worship service including a lighting of candles for All Saints’ Sunday and the Brahms Requiem. We anticipate the service being 90 minutes to 2 hours. Due to the length of the requiem, we will celebrate Communion on November 10.

Under the direction of A. Villareal, the UUMC Sanctuary Choir accompanied by Dr. Eun Joo Fierro, other guest musicians and the Congregational Church of Austin Choir will present the Brahms Requiem. The Brahms’ Requiem is a renowned work, composed by Johannes Brahms during a time of personal grief to provide comfort and peace to others experiencing grief and loss. 

On November 3rd we will present Johannes Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem) as an integral part of our All Saints Service. This masterwork of the Romantic era features texts that Brahms himself selected from Luther’s translation of the Bible. The language was chosen for its accessibility to German congregations- deviating meaningfully from the Latin (Catholic) requiems. The opening line- “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted” can serve as a succinct representation of the intention of the work: to comfort. Brahms began work on the requiem in 1857, a year after his friend Robert Schumann died. His mother Christiane passed away in 1865, and the work was completed in the summer of 1866. Many colleagues and conductors gave him guidance and feedback along this journey, including Clara Schumann.

Throughout the piece we meditate on the fleeting but meaningful qualities of life, the pain of loss in death, and the certainty of God comforting us both when we mourn, and when we die. We pass away, but the word of the Lord remains. And when we rest from our labors, our works follow after us. Together on November 3rd, amidst the lighting of candles and the voicing of names of those we have lost this year, we will have the opportunity to experience the breadth of emotions present in grief, and we will conclude with a reminder that there is great comfort to be found.

Choir: UUMC Sanctuary Choir and the Congregational Church of Austin Choir

Accompanists: Dr. Eun Joo Fierro

Conductor: A. Villarreal

Treat your kids fifth grade and under to a fun night out with friends at UUMC! We'll always have crafts, recreation, STEM, pizza, movie and dessert. This month our theme is All Saints/Dia De Los Muertos!

PNO is the perfect time to do something fun by yourselves or join other parents for community time together. We can't wait to see you there!

Questions? Contact Jillian!

Register Here by October 31

Can’t make it in November? We’ll have a couple more in February & May!