An eventful summer...

by Eric Huckabay on 8/27/2025

For those who might have been away for the summer: it has been an eventful transition period the last couple months at Tapestry.  Since I became president in July, we've dealt first with threats thanks to a national news story, and now with the impending departure of our minister.  We are now entering a time of discernment for the congregation as we figure out where to go next.

Our last search took us 2.5 years. The UUA minister listings didn't prove to be terribly helpful because, surprisingly enough, there aren't a lot of people eager to make a cross-country move for a part time job that puts them in the role of leading a tiny liberal congregation in the middle of deep red Texas.

We're not in a financial position right now to hire a full time minister, unless someone out there happened across a few tens of thousands of dollars that you meant to send in but forgot about.  But churches historically struggle to retain members, let alone grow, when they are lay led.

So, what should we do?

We're probably going to have to get creative.  We will probably need to look for people who don't match all of our assumptions about what we're looking for.  Perhaps that will be someone without a seminary background.  Perhaps we will need to partner with another local church to share the services of a full time position -- maybe even a non-UU, or perhaps even non-Christian church.  Are we willing to embrace someone who has a non-religious bent?  A humanist, or a secular celebrant?  A scholar or a counselor instead of a minister and preacher?  How flexible can we be?

What places and organizations can help us, outside of the obvious?  Should we be posting on a jobs board?  Should we be asking our friends at LGBT+ organizations (say, The Montrose Center) for recommendations?  What about other area churches? Should we be talking to local seminaries about recent graduates?

Whatever our direction; I promise to bring creativity and flexibility to the process.  I encourage you all to bring yours, as well.

It’s June!!!

by Tracy Cook on 6/1/2025

Wow! Can you believe it’s JUNE! Welcome, Summer!!!

This will be my last blog as your President. I have to admit, it has been a full year, and we have accomplished a *lot*!

Which of these events do you recall?!

• Dawn finding the ooopsies Pledge mistake - a mistake several of us have done before - and we adjusted? What a great compromise we made! It almost closed the gap created by the missing amount!
• Our Thanksgiving Campout, where we *again* brought too much food! But people also felt comfortable attending without needing to bring anything but themselves. I heard several people saying that was a great gift to them, to just show up and be warmly embraced by framily.
• The Holiday Treats Bake Sale, where we collectively sold soooooo many items! OPM, baby!  Other People’s Money! And do you remember my Peppermint Nipples?! OMG, toooooo funny!
• The Climate Justice Revival where we gathered together to envision and make a plan for the future. What kinds of damage do we, as people, do to the environment? How could this change? What would our world look like if we made these changes a part of our day-to-day living?

It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as your President this year. I’m excited to see how Eric Huckabay will lead us forward in the coming year! I warmly welcome James Moore as our incoming President-Elect, and Lisa Pedersen as our new Member-at-Large. Thank y’all for your trust and support. It has meant the world to me! 

Welcome to May!

by Tracy Cook on 5/5/2025

Wow, almost a year has passed since y’all elected me as your President. I cannot believe we have just had our Annual meeting again! Congratulations to our incoming members. James Moore is stepping into the President-Elect position this summer, and Lisa Pedersen is taking a Member-at-Large position. I am so glad to welcome them to the Board of Trustees, and am really looking forward to having their input!

I’m also enthusiastic about our newest Covenant Group, the WFPB group. They meet every Saturday on Zoom at 2:30 PM. Whole Food Plant Based is a completely plant-based diet, aka vegan. No animal products are used at all. If you were at the Retreat, we had vegan options there for our friends who choose this path, and I have to say the foods were yummy. I know our vegan friends have been talking since *forever* about getting a group together. And after a few of them went on a plant-based cruise recently, they dove into setting this in motion!

The Board will be meeting to combine the two various budgets into one cohesive proposal. I guess this is what happens when the Board members meet without the Finance team, and then the Finance team meets separately from the Board. Yikes! Those circumstances will probably never happen again, thank goodness. But this year they did. Thank you for being so flexible and trusting us to work out a plan.

Bear with me for just a few more weeks, and then you will get to hear a brand new voice in these blogs as Eric Huckabay steps into his new role as President! Yay, Eric!

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!

Welcome to March! And Happy Birthday, Tapestry!

by Tracy Cook on 3/5/2025

Welcome to March!

This is my birthday month, and also Tapestry’s birthday, how exciting is that?! We have so much going on this month, so let’s dive in…

For the first Sunday this month, we have Birthday Sunday, and I will be standing up there hearing all of y’all’s beautiful voices and basking in the love, along with several others! I wonder what kind of cake we will enjoy?!

The second Sunday this month we will be off-site at the Juge’s clubhouse. The location is at 17623 Moss Point Dr. The time is still the same, 11:00-12 noon. But there will be no Zoom, so make sure to adjust your plans if you wish to attend.

For the third Sunday, our Circle of Trees will meet starting just past 11:00. Hopefully we can meet outside! It has been so nice recently! But I enjoy this class any way I can get it. The sermon on Sunday promises to be a good one, from Melissa Huckabay, titled Poetic Justice. She is a published poet, so I think she may know a thing or two about the topic!

The fourth Sunday Rev Alisha Mills will be in the pulpit with a message about Spring. This season is all about creativity and new life, new energies brought into new or familiar projects and activities. I enjoy the invigorations of spring and what all is blooming and sprouting up from the ground.

And this month we have a fifth Sunday! Rev Alisha is in the pulpit again this week preaching about the creative contributions of five wise and wonderful women.

We also will be kicking off our Stewardship Campaign this month. Please keep an eye on our Stewardship Blog. And, hey, this month it features MEEEEEE! As if you don’t get enough of me already, ha! But, please do read the testimonies from other people and not just mine. There are soooooooo many reasons to love this church and this community. I’m very glad I found Tapestry. How about you?