Dear Reader,
This is the Sunday, July 5, 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:
Independence Day Celebration
by Allan Perkins
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Come celebrate the 4th of July with a short talk about our country's founding and a celebration in the fellowship hall afterward. Please bring side dishes if possible and wear your patriotic outfits!
If you're unable to join us in person, Zoom is still an option by clicking HERE.
Announcements:
Share-the-Plate
July's share-the-plate offering is going to Youth Odyssey. Created in 1997, Youth Odyssey is a 501(c)(3) non-profit based in Corpus Christi, Texas driven to address the rising tide of juvenile crime and violence. Youth Odyssey is on a mission to inspire, engage, and empower disadvantaged and underprivileged youth through leadership development, life skills, and outdoor adventure. We target youth ages 10-17 through teaching basic life skills.
Mahjong And More
Please join me, Chris Lowe, at Odin’s Place, formerly Dragon’s Lair, on 249. on Wednesday, July 15 from 6 to 8 for the reintroduction of game night. In this case, we will be starting with one game. 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 at mahjong@uutapestry.org. The more the merrier, plus I’ll be celebrating my birthday with friends, so that means you and yours.
Introducing: Your New Covenant Group Coordinator
Hello, Fellow Members and Friends,
My name is Tracy Cook, and I have been a member of Tapestry for almost a quarter of a century! I am stepping off the Board of Trustees, and, as I mentioned a few weeks ago, I am ready to take on some new roles.
Geoff Sanders asked if I would be interested in re-starting the Covenant Group Lead role. We used to have a group that was dedicated to helping Covenant Group Leaders and Co-Leaders run their groups. We would meet to discuss any issues we were having, or maybe things we were struggling with. But, membership soon faded - mostly because many of us were self-proclaimed covenant group ‘junkies’ and were familiar with what resources to turn to for solutions, ha! I said ‘yes, but…’ Yes, I would re-start the group, but with a different format.
So, I would like to introduce Covenant Group Leadership: Tracy Cook Style!
- If you are interested in starting up either a Covenant Group or an Interest Group, come talk to me. This can be whenever you see me up at church, or you can email me (covenant@uutapestry.org) or text me, or call me.
- If you are struggling with something in running your group, please contact me and we can discuss possible solutions. I am not going to solve the issue for you, I don’t wish to overstep. But I am aware of options that you may not have considered.
- This is for current leaders, as well, not just newbies.
- I see the entire group of leaders getting together a few times a year to celebrate us! It is challenging to run a group all year, and we should celebrate our successes.
One idea many of us have been tossing around is resuming our Wednesday Game Night, so let’s go ahead and set a date for that. We don’t want to burden Hospitality with anything, so if you want to bring something to eat for your family, then bring stuff that doesn’t require any dishes from Tapestry. Not even a serving utensil! I’ve been talking with some folks about choosing a time and date for their proposed Covenant Group or Interest Group to meet, and Friends, the struggle is REAL! One solution cis to possibly meet on Wednesdays… We can try it this summer and see how it works?
And, I am still workshopping the job title. Please share your thoughts or opinions with me at covenant@uutapestry.org!
Cooking Covenant Group: July: Thank You!!!
by Tracy Cook on 6/8/2026
Howdy, Friends and Neighbors!
July is our annual Give-Back to say thank you to Tapestry for all of y’all’s continued support for the work we do. I know most of our meetings are more inward-facing - we learn together, we share together. But this is the time of year where we reach out to y’all with something yummy and let you know we appreciate you!
We will meet on July 3, at 7:00 PM, at my/Tracy’s house. We are meeting on a Friday this year, because there’s some Big Deal Birthday on Saturday that I thought people might want to attend, ha!
Because we are meeting early, I have some suggestions if you’d like to participate:
- Please bring 50 individually wrapped servings of your homemade goodies
- If you are making mini-loaves of bread, count one mini-loaf as like 4 servings - or consider making cupcake-sized portions
- No refrigeration required, please, as I don’t have the space.
- If you wish to bring something refrigerated, that is fine! Just bring it Sunday morning to church!
- Label your gift for food sensitivities and allergies, please. This is just a list of items you used, not your full recipe.
- For example, my yogurt usually uses whole milk, Life9 (a probiotic), and a starter scoop from a previous batch of yogurt. I’m not making yogurt, but this is an example of what the label might look like…
- We have some friends and members who have a restricted diet, some by choice. We have members who don’t eat meat, some whose diets are plant-based, and some who eat gluten-free. I will be making some offerings specifically for my gluten-free or plant-based friends, but if you want to also include a treat for these folks, I am sure they would appreciate it!
- ANYONE can bring something to contribute as a thank you! You don’t have to be a regular attendee of the Cooking and Eating Covenant Group!
On Sunday, we will display each family’s bag of goodies with names. Please stop by and pick up your bag after church in the Fellowship Hall! You can eat your treats then, or save them for later. Also, please pick up any refrigerated offerings if there are some.
Thank you for all of your support this year! We *love* cooking for people, and we are so grateful we have friends who love to eat, ha!
Read More and Comment on the Cooking Covenant Group Blog
UBarU News: Summer Events
by Tracy Cook on 5/21/2026
Summer Camp for Youth!!!
For full details, go to https://www.ubaru.org/summer-camps.
UBARU Summer Camps are a favorite of UU kids! Many children have made lasting friendships that started at camp and continued into ‘real life’. My own kids did this, and both have worked the camps for years. My elder son still works in the kitchen!
Highly recommended, 5 stars!
YA Weekend - June 27-30
The participation in this event has continued to grow! We have at least one person who attended in the past. For more information, go to https://www.ubaru.org/young-adult-camp-weekend.
SWUUSI Camp - July 14-19
Ahhh, SWUUSI! Southwest Unitarian Universalist Summer Camp for the entire family! This camp was started as a ministerial retreat, but quickly grew to include our church families. Or ‘framilies’ as I like to refer to us. This camp is in its 80+ year, how cool is that!
We have several families who attend, my own included. Want to join in?! Go to https://www.ubaru.org/swuusicamp for all the details, including a sample schedule.
I apologize for the late notice this year, as the Director had many requirements that she and about 20 local camps were trying to renegotiate with a legislature that was not in session this year.
GenderfUUl Weekend - August 14-16
The GenderfUUl Retreat is an affirming retreat where trans, non-binary, and agender UUs can build community with each other. For more details please go to https://www.ubaru.org/genderfuul-weekend.
Read More and Comment on the UBarU News Blog
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.
We're Looking for More Liturgists!
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:
July 5 (Sunday), 12:00 PM - 12:30 PM: Birthday Sunday
July 5 (Sunday), 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM: 250th Birthday Party
Next Sunday, July 5th, we will be having a Happy 250th Birthday Party!!!
We have the following items covered:
- Burgers
- Hot dogs (all-beef)
- Veggie burgers/Black bean burgers
- Buns
- Toppings and condiments
- Potato Salad
If *you* would like to bring something, please bring foods that can be served at room temperature, or heat it up at home, as we do not have access to any working plugs. We only have the one for coffee and hot water, and we cannot add a power strip or the outlet will overload. Just a cautionary tale...
July 6 (Monday), 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM: Program Council
July 7 (Tuesday), 5:30 PM - 6:00 PM: Worship Team Meeting
This meeting is to discuss ongoing Worship Team tasks
July 8 (Wednesday), 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM: Board Meeting
Any member of Tapestry UU Church is welcome to attend.
July 9 (Thursday), 6:30 AM - 8:00 PM: Tapestry’s Decluttering Covenant Group
Tapestry’s Decluttering Covenant Group is relaunching!
Meetings will be held on zoom starting Thursday, June 18, then subsequent Thursdays for 7 to 8 weeks.
Meeting time: 6:30pm to 8:00pm
Leader: Elisa Kaplan
Coleader: tbd
This will be a repeat of the material we covered back in 2021, so it’s time to revisit what we learned and attack our new clutter! We will meet once a week, on zoom, for 7-8 weeks, followed by two fundraisers for Tapestry. The first will be an online auction for furniture and household items in good or better condition. The second will be an in-person garage sale of whatever didn’t sell in the auction plus other items such as clothes, toys and books. Please note that you do NOT need to join the covenant group to donate items to the auction or garage sale (but if you’re having trouble letting go you may want to participate!)
Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/95470366583?pwd=SHy68SfDixwb8UaFYPeTQqNyJsnSxU.1.
Email deculttering@uutapestry.org with questions.
July 10 (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.
July 11 (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.
Thank you for your interest and readership...
Newsletter editor, Tapestry Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston
newsletter@uutapestry.org