Dear Reader,
This is the Friday, April 18, 2025 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:
Story of Jesus in the Wilderness
by Rev. Alisha Mills
As this Easter season comes to a close, we will hear the story of Jesus's preparation in the wilderness. Jesus' forty days in the wilderness is the model Christians follow in Lent leading to Jesus death and resurrection. What does his time in the wilderness offer to our Tapestry of Unitarian Universalists?
If you're unable to join us in person, Zoom is still an option by clicking HERE.
Announcements:
Tapestry UU Annual Retreat!
When:
Friday, April 25, beginning at 4:00 PM and ending at noon on Sunday, April 27
Where:
Blackwood Educational Land Institute, 27144 Rock Island Rd., Hempstead, TX (~50 mins. from Tapestry off US 290 & Hwy. 6 towards College Station)
Three routes:
Cost:
Cost is per person
for the weekend | Food, Lodging, and
Programming | Food and Programming
(Day Use only) |
| Adult | $150 | $75 | |
| Children 6-18 | $75 | $37.50 |
| Children 5 and under | $37.50 | FREE |
Register HERE.
Pay using one of the options available HERE.
Accommodations:
Strawbale house with 36 bunk beds divided into 2 large rooms, plus 4 small rooms, bathrooms, full kitchen.
There are also two separate cabins available at an additional cost of $150/night, reservation required.
Program will include a guided tour of the farm and some educational activities.
From Blackwood:
“With each group tour we:
- Introduce the concept of food systems.
- Teach how food is grown, what makes a system sustainable, and the value of a healthy diet filled with locally grown meat and produce.
- Show that it is possible—and advantageous—to grow food without chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or other artificial inputs.”
Sorry: No pets allowed
PLEASE BRING WITH YOU:
- Bed linens or sleeping bags
- Pillows
- Towels
- Closed-toe shoes for walking around
- Camping plates and utensils, or let us know if you will be using paper plates
We also suggest:
- Flashlights
- Indoor and outdoor games
- Camera
- Camp chairs
- A refillable water bottle
- Sunscreen, hats, etc
For more information, please email retreat@uutapestry.org.
Social Justice Corner: Actions to Take This Week
TO DO NOW: Today (Thursday, April 17), the families of Uvalde, Moms Demand Action, Texas Gun Sense, and several other organizations are asking residents to call members of the Texas House Public Safety Committee and demand they hold a hearing on HB 1556, which would raise the age for purchase of semi-automatic rifles to 21. Find the committee members and contact info here: https://house.texas.gov/committees/committee/308. Let Melissa Huckabay know if you need a sample calling script.
Civil Rights: Recent actions by the current administration, including abducting international students and deporting legal residents, are putting everyone’s due-process rights in jeopardy. To speak out about this, go to https://americansofconscience.com/04-11-2025/ and scroll to Action 4.
Immigration: Want to be more informed about immigrant rights so you can help others? Register for a Know Your Rights virtual training through ACLU Texas. Register at aclutx.org/events.
Reproductive Justice: Repro Legal Defense Fund provides bail, legal assistance, and comprehensive support to people criminalized for accessing abortion, experiencing pregnancy loss, and providing reproductive healthcare. To donate to this cause, go here: https://reprolegaldefensefund.org/give/.
Choir Practice Sunday 10am
This week the choir will perform I've Got Peace Like a River, join us 10 am Sunday morning for a short practice before worship.
UU Mental Health Network Book Club selection: "Bedlam"
Save the Date
April 19, 2025 for UUMHN Book Club
The Unitarian Universalist Mental Health Network (UUMHN) is pleased to announce its next Book Club selection: Bedlam - An Intimate Journey into America's Mental Health Crisis.. The UUMHN Book Club meets quarterly via Zoom. All are welcome to attend our discussion on April 19th, 2025 at 6 p.m. EST, 3 p.m. PST. Zoom link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83198699901
Tapestry-Signals
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Tapestry is starting to use the Signal app as the preferred common messaging app for different communication topics at Tapestry. Signal offers text, voice, and video messaging and is similar to the WhatsApp app. However, Signal is private, secure, and open-source for transparency whereas the WhatsApp messaging app is owned by Meta and collects extensive user data. For Signal app info and help try the follow sites: https://signal.org/ https://www.reddit.com/r/signal/
Also if you want to understand more about digital privacy and security along with the Signal app then watch the excellent YouTube video: The State of Personal Online Security and Confidentiality | SXSW LIVE - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyH7zoP-JOg
Tapestry groups and individuals are encouraged to create Signal groups with other people. Below I've listed current Tapestry-Signals groups. This Tapestry Newsletter article will be updated as new Tapestry-Signals groups are formed. Below for each Signal group you will the following three items: 1) Tapestry-Signals-GroupName, 2) a list of group members by "username"/"profile name" and 3) on a line below the group description.
If you want to join any of the three listed Signal groups below you will need to install the Signal app and then message "oldwippersnapper.01" without the quotation marks.
Tapestry-Disc-Golf - ?/"Geoff...", ?/"Eric...", "oldwippersnapper.01"/"andyS"
- Group description: group messages about upcoming Tapestry disc golf games along with sharing disc golf photos etc.
Tapestry-Pushback - ?/"Dawn...", "?/"Elisa...", "oldwippersnapper.01"/"andyS"
- Group description: share upcoming protests and other ways to Pushback and assert our values in opposition to policies and actions of the current administration and its allies.
Tapestry-Vegan - "oldwippersnapper.01"/"andyS"
- Group description: share vegan diet info - food ideas, photos, receipts, restaurants, events, videos, podcasts, books, articles, links, etc.
Please communicate with fellow Tapestry UUs by using the Signal app to create and follow topics that interest you.
Letter From Our President: Hello, April!
by Tracy Cook on 4/7/2025
Wow, can you believe it is already April?! I can’t! Wowie-wow, sometimes time seems to just fly by.
Our Retreat is at the end of the month, April 25-27, at Blackwood Farms. This is about an hour away, so you could come out for the day on Saturday. But I would encourage y’all to spend the nights with your Tapestry framily. Walk the trails during the days, hike around, and spend time sitting near the campfire in the evenings. Get away from the stress and the busy-ness of the ‘city’, like Rev Alisha said on the 6th! There is a special meal on Sunday morning that you won’t want to miss. Also, TXUUJM is going to be preaching from Blackwood Farms.
Registration for the Retreat is now OPEN! See the Newsletter for complete details and a map to the location.
Next month, on May 4, we will have our Annual Meeting where we vote on our budget, and our slate for the Board. A quorum is needed, and this can be from Zoom as well as in person. We will have a Town Hall meeting on April 13, so if you have any questions about the budget or about the slate of candidates, ask them then!
May 4 is also when we will have our Volunteer Fair! That’s where we get to see what everyone has been up to in the last year, all of the fun stuff and the good trouble! How many events did you attend?! Were you involved with letter-writing? Did you attend a camping trip? Did you march or protest any issues? Did you volunteer to help out? Then good for you! Give yourself a big pat on the back for getting involved!
Read More and Comment on the Letter From Our President Blog
UBarU News: Registration is Now Open for Multiple Events!
by Tracy Cook on 4/5/2025
Bioblitz Weekend at UBarU
April 25-27, 2025
“A bioblitz is a communal citizen-science effort to record as many species within a designated location and time period as possible. Bioblitzes are great ways to engage the public to connect to their environment while generating useful data for science and conservation. They are also an excuse for naturalists, scientists, and curious members of the public to meet in person in the great outdoors and are a lot of fun!”
For complete information, see the website HERE.
UBarU Summer Family Camp
May 23-26, 2025
Spend time with your family in the beautiful Texas Hill Country! This Memorial Day weekend Family camp will offer opportunities to learn, grow, and share as a family, as well as opportunities for parents to enjoy some free time and activities designed just for them. Other activities will include cookouts, worship, camp meetings, campfires, archery, swimming, games, nature education, and a star party (pending conditions). Programming is being planned for kids (5 years old +) and adults.
You can see a sample schedule on the website HERE.
UBarU Summer Youth Camps - 2025
2025 Summer Youth camp dates:
Camps begin on Sunday afternoon with drop-off 4-5 p.m. and end on Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m. except Senior camp which has a bridging ceremony at 10:30 am and ends closer to 11:30 am.
- Primary camp - for campers ages 9-11 or rising* grades 4-6th - June 8-14, 2025
- Intermediate camp - for campers age 12-14 or rising grades - 7-9th June 15-21, 2025
- Senior camp camp - for campers age 15-18 or rising grades 10th-2025 high school graduates - June 22-28, 2025
* “rising” means this is the grade the camper will attend in the fall of 2025, not the grade they have just completed.
There is a *lot* more information on the UBARU website HERE.
YA Weekend 2025
Join us June 28-July 1, 2025
Young adults (ages 18-30 years old) are invited to UBarU for a weekend of camp fun including games, chants, swimming, hiking the labyrinth and more. You are invited to attend the Senior youth Camp Bridging ceremony on Saturday, June 28, 2025 at 10 a.m. and stay until noon on Tuesday, July 1, 2025.
For more information, see the website HERE.
SWUUSI or “Southwest UU Summer Intergenerational”
Camp at UBarU
July 22-27, 2025
SWUUSI Camp (Southwest Unitarian Universalist Summer Intergenerational Camp) is community, relaxation, nature, worship, music, faith development, justice work, great food, and programming for all ages. We will reprise a theme from 2005 - “The Good Faith is Messy”. We are also shifting the dates so that those who can only get a weekend off can join us. Choose to arrive Tuesday or Friday and stay until Sunday.
More information about workshops will be posted soon, but registration is open HERE
Read More and Comment on the UBarU News Blog
Share-the-Plate
April's share-the-plate offering is going to Trees for Houston, a nonprofit organization dedicated to planting, protecting and promoting trees in the greater Houston area since 1983. Now celebrating their 40th anniversary with over half a million trees planted, they grow, plant and maintain over 20,000 trees each year for a multitude of projects across the greater Houston region. They take requests from the public to plant trees wherever they may benefit the public, and will plant a tree to honor someone's memory or other special occasion. They maintain the trees for 2 years after planting them. Trees reduce air pollution, provide oxygen, reduce urban heat and home cooling bills by shading buildings and concrete. Trees provide food and habitat for wildlife. Trees reduce storm water runoff and slow erosion. Not least of all trees reduce stress and beautify our surroundings. Your donation allows Trees For Houston to plant and maintain vibrant, healthy neighborhoods throughout the Houston region.
Stewardship Blog: STEWARDSHIP 2025
by Geoff Sanders on 4/1/2025
A big thank you to everyone who has turned in their pledge for the 2025-26 fiscal year! If you haven’t pledged yet, please see the last paragraph of this post. Where do we go from here?
Our Finance Team will use the total of our pledges to create a budget for next year. You will have an opportunity to discuss and ask questions about the budget at a Townhall scheduled for April 13th. The budget will then be finalized, and the congregation will vote on it at our Annual Meeting on May 4th.
Of course, running a church costs money, but I think we’re getting excellent value. First and foremost, we have a dedicated minister. We are paying Alisha for 80 hours a month, but I believe she’s been going above and beyond. Some of the many services she provides include:
- Leads our Worship Team and helped us develop monthly sermon themes that reinforce our mission and vision
- Presents an average of two sermons a month
- Developed a Pathways to Membership class for new members
- Became an active member of the Houston UU Ministers Association
- Provides pastoral care and is available to members as needed
Thank you Alisha for all your hard work and efforts!
We also have a beautiful worship space and a very compatible landlord. Yes, it would be nice to have our own space, but that will have to wait until we can afford it.
Members can review our 2024-25 budget at: https://uutapestry.org/Portals/Tapestry/Documents/Leadership/Financials/2024-2025/Tapestry%20Revised%20Budget%202024-2025.pdf. You must sign in in order to access the Members Portal area of the website.
What can members do beyond pledging? Lend a hand. A lot goes into running a church, and all jobs are important. Not sure what to do? Ask someone who looks busy. I’m sure they’d love some assistance. Want to be a leader? Talk to a member of the Third Principle Team. The 3PT "works in concert with the Board, other church committees and teams, and the Minister to recommend Voting Members to serve as team leads” and Board Members.
Want to see the list of teams and their members? Visit the Members Portal of our website at: https://uutapestry.org/CommitteesAndGroups. If a certain team looks interesting, ask the Team Leader for information.
Don't see something that interests you? Start your own group. You'll need at least two other Tapestry Members if you want it to be a Tapestry supported group. Team leaders should make sure that all Team meetings and activities are listed on the Tapestry Calendar, https://uutapestry.org/calendar.
Every member’s pledge is important, and if you haven’t submitted yours yet, please do so asap. The easiest way is on our website at https://uutapestry.org/pledge. If that doesn't work for you, just call, text or meet with our Treasurer, Dawn Newcomer. But don't wait! Dawn is already working on next year's budget. Thank you all for all that you do!
Read More and Comment on the Stewardship Blog
ISO - Greeters for the rotation
Do you enjoy hospitality? Would you like to work with Andy? We all love Andy and this is your chance to work with him and his team of greeters. We are looking for a few people to help out at the front door and/or the welcome cart inside. Requirement is to be available at a minimum once per month. Contact Rev. Alisha or Andy to sign-up.
ISO Hospitality Helpers for Sundays
Would you like to help our beloved Susan on Sunday mornings? We are in search of people to help with set-up of the social hall on Sunday mornings at 10:15am and/or help with the cleanup after coffee hour. If you would be willing to help with these tasks once per month please see Susan Berg or Rev. Alisha to inquire.
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!
We're Looking for More Liturgists!
Tapestry Board Meetings
Your Tapestry Board of Trustees is meeting monthly.
When: 2nd Thursday of each month beginning at 1:00 pm.
Where: On Tapestry’s Thursday Zoom account unless otherwise published.
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:
April 18 (Friday), 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM: Committee on Ministry Meeting
April 18 (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
April 19 (Saturday), 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM: Board Meeting
This meeting has been changed to Saturday the 19th at 3:00-4:30, in person at Tapestry. We have had a Board member change their availability, which necessitates this. Thank you for your patience as we try different times!
April 20 (Sunday), 11:15 AM - 12:30 PM: Circle of Trees Multigen Workshop
Circle of Trees is a multi-generational program of eight workshops that nurture deep connection with trees, nature, and all of earth's living creatures. The program uses trees as an entry point to understand and connect with life on earth. Across many cultures, trees are recognized as a symbol for life on earth—for example, the biblical Tree of Life. Even young children understand trees as sustainers of life, fundamental engines of life on earth as we know it. Trees create and purify the air we breathe. They house and provide resources for myriad creatures, including humans. They bring us peace, joy, and delight.
This program will:
- Provide a basic understanding of why trees are, literally, “providers of life”
- Identify threats to trees and the web of life and provide inspiration to take action
- Explore using methods that are spiritual, non-intellectual, with the hope of fostering deep connection
- Provide meaningful ways in which participants can actively promote the health of trees and, by extension, the web of life
- Reinforce the concept of interdependence as expressed in the seventh Unitarian Universalist Principle, “Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part”
- Affirm that stewardship of the earth is an explicit act of Unitarian Universalist faith.
Tapestry will offer Circle of Trees during worship on the 3rd Sunday of each month from September - April. Plan on likely going outside and be prepared for the session to last 60-90 minutes. The opportunity will be announced during worship and those interested in participating will leave after announcements.
Please reach out to the leader directly for any questions.
December 15 - Trees, Sanctuary for the Spirit with Todd Mills
January 19 - Trees, From Peril to Progress with Melissa Huckabay & Jasmine Pantuso
February 16 - Council Among Trees, Part 1 with Dawn Newcomer & Elisa Kaplan
March 16 - Council Among Trees, Part 2 with Grace Ngo
April 20 - Come be with the Trees with James Moore
#UUTapestryHTX #UnitarianUniversalist #ReligiousEducation #uuHouston #CircleofTrees #Multigen
April 20 (Sunday), 1:45 PM - 4:45 PM: Brew CrUU
The Tapestry Brew CrUU meets at a different brewery or brewpub every 3rd Sunday after church. All are welcome, even if you don't drink beer! Please contact brewcruu@uutapestry.org for more information.
April 20 (Sunday), 3:00 PM - 6:30 PM: D&D RPG Group @ Dragon's Lair
Monsters from beneath the streets have long threatened the fantastic cities of the Sword Coast, but now the plague of disappearances has become more literal. Can you stop The Vanishing?
Dragon's Lair Houston
21155A Tomball Pkwy, Houston, TX 77070
https://www.dlair.net/houston-north/
Contact information:
Eric Huckabay - eric.huck@gmail.com
David McCorkell - david.mccorkell@hcpl.net
April 23 (Wednesday), 6:00 PM - 7:15 PM: Worship Team In-Person Meeting
Thank you for your interest and readership...
Newsletter editor, Tapestry Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston
newsletter@uutapestry.org