Dear Reader,
This is the Monday, August 17, 2026 full edition of the Tapestry newsletter of upcoming events and announcements. All events are open to anyone who wishes to join, except where otherwise noted.
Quick Links to Contents:
Upcoming Sunday Service at 11:00 AM:
Virtual and Hybrid Ministry: Mindful Care and Connection
by Dana Ashrawi
Tapestry UU Church of Houston has contracted a new minister who will be joining us remotely at times. We already offer Zoom access to worship services, along with many other congregations. So, what new and current practices will be important to our growing community? How can we begin again with Multiplatform worship, keeping what works while expanding into new ways? Based on a workshop at the Unitarian Universalist Association's 2026 virtual General Assembly, this sermon will explore emerging best practices and wisdom for virtual and hybrid ministry as faithful, effective responses to a growing reality in Unitarian Universalism - Multiplatform group events such as the worship services of our congregation. Let's delve into new ideas to foster stronger relationships between a minister and congregation and support volunteer leadership, grounded in UU values. Let's expand our denominational imagination and embrace new possibilities for even more mindful and meaningful ministry and leadership.
If you're unable to join us in person, Zoom is still an option by clicking HERE.
Announcements:
WASG Accepting New Members!
Registration for the Women Aligned Spirituality Group 2026-27 season is now open! We will meet once a month from September through May. We will be exploring a wide variety of spiritual practices while fostering opportunities for meaningful discussions and connections. New members are welcome to join WASG for the first two months. Then our group will be closed in order to create a sacred space of sharing. Meetings are usually on the THIRD THURSDAY of each month at Elisa and Dawn’s house from 6:30pm - 9:00pm. However, due to the church wide camping trip, WASG will meet on Tuesday, September 22. Then in October, we are planning a “day trip” to Coldspring TX on Saturday, October 17 - times TBA. For more information and to sign up, please see co leads Erika Calderon and Laurie Buffington, or email us at wasg@uutapestry.org.
New Faith Development from the UUA
I (Tracy Cook) attended the online introduction to the UUA’s new Faith Development program. It has a section for all kids, for smaller churches like ours. Like, one-room schoolhouse stuff. Or for larger congregations they have it broken down by specific age groups. They do have a 0-4 years group that I think we could utilize for our childcare peeps should we decide to hire some teenagers - or if two folks would volunteer?
They also have some adult faith development sessions. These have some different components, but everything is tied together with a monthly Values. September is Interdependence.
Along with the regular Faith Development, there’s also a Deep Listening session. I need to read up on that one a bit more, my brain was full! But, would anyone else like to help me and look over the materials together? If so, there are a few more online sessions to get an overview. But if you want to just jump directly into the river, then let’s go! We will find a time to meet, and get our thoughts in order.
Four-Day Local Buddhist Retreat
There has been interest among Tapestry members to learn more about Buddhism and this 4 day retreat in Hempstead offers time and reflection in the Buddhist tradition. It is led by the Mindfulness Practice Community of Houston (MOCH) and former Buddhist monk and now teacher Michael Ciborski. Scholarships are available for those who would like them and the deadline for submission for scholarship is September 7th. Deadline to register for the retreat is October 16th. If you have questions before registering, please feel free to contact Michelle. See more information here: https://www.mpchouston.org/retreats/2026-fall-retreat
Cooking Covenant Group: September Meeting: Cancelled
by Tracy Cook on 8/5/2026
Howdy, Friends and Neighbors!
So our next meeting of the Cooking and Eating Covenant Group is scheduled for Saturday, September 5. However, my sister is coming in from Colorado Springs! Yay! She’s only here for a day, then over to Austin to see our dad and stepmom. The day she’s planning to come up, though, is that Saturday. I want to show her around, which means no Cooking and Eating Group for September. Thank you for understanding!
We will resume meetings on October 3 at my house, 3:00-4:30 PM. We will be celebrating Spooky Foods!!! Please RSVP for this event by October 1 so I know how many places to save.
See you then!
Read More and Comment on the Cooking Covenant Group Blog
Mahjong And More
Join me, Chris Lowe, at Oden’s Place, formally known as Dragons Lair, on the third Wednesday from 6 to 8 for the reintroduction of game night. There is food in the tavern. In this case, we will be starting with one game, we will be learning how to play Mahjong. Mahjong is similar to Dominoes, poker, hearts, and spades, except with Chinese “dominoes.” There is an American version of the Chinese dominoes or in this case tiles, and we have several sets arriving to join us. It’s a game of strategy where you have to be on your toes, quick fast thinking and good hand eye coordination. Of course, don’t forget to bring yourselves and your children. We will have other board games for them to play if they don’t want to learn how to play Mahjong and for adults who don’t wanna learn how to play Mahjong, but want to support their partners. If interested, please text or email me at mahjong@uutapestry.org.
Share-the-Plate
August's share-the-plate offering is going to Houston Children's Charity, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for Greater Houston’s underprivileged, abused, and disabled children who have been otherwise left behind.
Our Next Camping Adventure
Greetings, Campers
The Camping Group is planning our next adventure! We are headed to Goose Island State Park in Port Aransas on September 18-20. We (the Cook Household) have reserved bay front site #24 for $25 per day. The person recommended reserving a spot ASAP since this is not a huge park. Bayfront sites #18, 19, 21, and 23 are still available. More sites under the trees are also available, but with a clearance of 12’ recommended so you don’t scratch the roof of your trailer. If you want to tent-camp, talk to Tracy Cook to see if there is space for a tent without needing another site.
There are also houses for rent in town. Use your favorite site (VRBO, AirBnB, etc) and make reservations! The Park Person did recommend making day pass reservations up to 30 days prior to arrival, as the park does get a significant amount of visitors on the weekends.
Are you more interested in a hotel or motel? Then go ahead and do you! Just also make day pass reservations.
For the Park:
- No firepits at the campsites!
- Portable charcoal or propane grills are permitted
- There *are* fire pits in the day-use area.
- Two vehicles per site, but car + trailer counts as two
- Each site can accommodate 8 people
- Tent campers can be at an RV site for an extra $4 per person per day, as long as we have the space - this head count also includes day-use passes, though!
- If we do end up needing another site, it is only $25 per night or $20 if you want to set up under the trees.
- Check-in is at 2:00 PM
- Check-out is 12Noon - and that means like we are gone by noon, not getting ready to leave around noon.
There is a cancellation policy.
If you cancel on or before the 13th, then you can get most of your money back. The Park will keep $10 per day as a fee.
If you just don’t show up, then the Park gets to keep your money ??
Please email camping@uutapestry.org if you have any questions, or to let us know you have made reservations.
We're Looking for More Liturgists!
Tapestry Disc Golf!
Disc Golf Signal app group SIGN-UP
Interested in getting together for disc golf? If you'd like to play disc golf some early Saturday morning then join the Disc Golf Signal app group for notifications on the day(s) before the game. Then if you are available show up with some water and a hat. There will be discs available so there is no need to buy or bring discs. The game takes less than 2 hours and is free.
You can email dg@uutapestry.org with your Signal app phone number or userName to get an invite to join the Signal app Disc Golf group. If you have the Signal app installed you can send a message to: oldwippersnapper.01 to join the group. Then you'll get a Signal app Disc Golf group event notification whenever anyone posts an upcoming disc golf game event with the date, time, and location for the game. If you see the event notification just show up on Saturday to get some exercise, to spend some time in nature, and to enjoy playing disc golf with friends.
Disc Golf is good fun, companionship, and a great way to get out in nature. All skill levels are welcome, and loaner discs are available. There are a variety of attractive and challenging courses in the NW Houston area (no fees required), and we sometimes organize road trips to sample other venues. See our Disc Golf group slideshow at: https://uutapestry.org/DiscGolf. We also meet on Zoom Fridays at 4 pm CT to talk and plan future events.
The Group is open to current and former members and friends of Tapestry UU Church of Houston who are interested in playing disc golf. Games and other outings are organized on the Tapestry Disc Golfers Facebook private group page and via the Signal app. To learn more, request to join the Tapestry Disc Golfers Facebook group, or email dg@uutapestry.org. See you on the course!
Tapestry Board Meetings
Your Tapestry Board of Trustees is meeting monthly.
When: 2nd Saturday of each month beginning at 3:00 pm.
Where: Location will vary. Email board@uutapestry.org for more meeting specifics.
View the upcoming agenda by clicking HERE.
Covenant Groups
The following groups are currently accepting new members:
- Cooking Covenant Group
- Gardening Covenant Group
The Women Aligned Spiritually Group is currently closed, but it may reopen to new members next summer.
For more information, please see https://uutapestry.org/CovenantGroups or to suggest a new group, email pastpresident@uutapestry.org.
Tapestry Caring Team
Upcoming Events From Our Calendar:
August 17 (Monday), 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM: Fiber Arts Group Meeting
Bring your creativity, your Tapestry spirit, and your favorite fabric arts work in progress to Monica's house in Spring at 6pm on Monday evening. We can stitch 'n *clears throat* while we discuss potential projects for our little group of weavers and needlepointers and crocheters and knitters and quilters and...oh my.
Limited snacks will be provided. Feel free to bring any other clean-finger snack you'd like to enjoy and share! This month
Let's weave a Tapestry of love and action at:
2338 Goldspring Ln.
Spring, TX 77373
--Monica W.
August 18 (Tuesday), 5:30 PM - 6:00 PM: Worship Team Meeting
This meeting is to discuss ongoing Worship Team tasks
August 19 (Wednesday), 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM: Mahjong and More
Please join Chris Lowe at Odin’s Place, formerly Dragon’s Lair, on 249. on the third Wednesday of the month from 6 to 8 for the reintroduction of game night. In this case, we will be starting with Mahjong. We shall learn how to play American Mahjong. It’s similar to Dominoes, poker, hearts, and spades, except with Chinese “dominoes”— or tiles. We have several sets arriving to play with us. It’s a game of strategy where you need to be on your toes, quick, fast thinking and have good hand-eye coordination. no need to bring anything. There will be plenty of food at the tavern inside the store. We may even be playing in there because they have the smaller tables which would be ideal. Of course, don’t forget to bring yourselves and your children. We will have other board games for them to play if they don’t want to learn how to play Mahjong and for adults who don’t want to learn how to play Mahjong, but support their partners.
If interested, please text or email me. The more the merrier!
August 21 (Friday), 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM: Disc Golf V-Beer Meeting
Weekly Friday 3 PM to 4:30 PM disc golf v-beer Zoom meeting. Contact dg@uutapestry.org for more information.
August 22 (Saturday), 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM: WFPB Covenant Group Meeting
The Whole Food Plant Based (WFPB) Covenant Group meets via Zoom on the second and fourth Saturday of each month at 2:00 pm. Our mission is learning more about WFPB eating, cooking, recipe-sharing, and supporting each other in our healthy lifestyle journeys. Please contact wfpb@uutapestry.org if interested in joining us.
August 22 (Saturday), 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM: Learning and Sharing Group
This is a hybrid meeting, Zoom and in-person at Tracy’s house, We will learn and share together!
August 23 (Sunday), 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM: Board Meeting
Any member of Tapestry UU Church is welcome to attend.
Thank you for your interest and readership...
Newsletter editor, Tapestry Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston
newsletter@uutapestry.org