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Love is the Spirit of this Church, and Service is its Prayer.
WORSHIP SERVICE
"How Do We Lead?"
Sunday, December 8, 2024, 10:50 am
Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister
Church has always been a place (and houses of worship in general) where the definition and understanding of how leadership shows up among us is broader and fuller than the world sometimes defines it. It's not so much that we loosen the definition but that we see so clearly how it takes so many different skills and gifts to make the whole of what we want to do together possible. This Sunday we will ask three leaders, in different tenures of leadership, to reflect on what calls them into the work and what they have learned and reflect on our own notion of and call to lead. The service is created and led with our Nominating Committee -- the group charged at UUSF not just of identifying leaders but equipping and developing and celebrating their leadership.
Watch This Week's Service Here
Watch Previously Recorded Worship Services
THE FLAME
UUSF Weekly Newsletter
December 4, 2024
The Flame, our weekly newsletter, is published every Wednesday! We cover Sunday services as well as recent UUSF news and upcoming events. On Fridays, we also send a brief email outlining the weekend's events. If you send us an email at flame@uusf.org The Flame will be sent directly to your inbox.
December: Presence
Woody Allen famously once said, “80% of success in life is just showing up.” Showing up certainly matters. Studies of people who “are lucky” find that those folks who are out circulating in the world, making friends, and making connections “get more lucky.” Being there when opportunity arises matters. Friendships are formed, so often, by “time on task.” Presence—that quality of just being there, steadily, reliably—matters. And this month we want to invite you to pay attention also to the kinds of presence we can pay attention to, to how we can deepen our connection to self, to each other, to the miraculous, mysterious, and unknown, to purpose and calling. It won’t all happen in our services. You might find it in the poem of the month or a small group, a discussion of an issue in the world, a piece of music, or conversation over coffee some day in the courtyard. We invite you to be present to presence!
-- Soul Matters (www.soulmatterssharingcircle.com)
Holiday Faire, December 8 After Services
On December 8th, UUSF will host its beloved multi-generational holiday faire after church, featuring festive activities and offerings for all ages. Attendees can enjoy beautiful piano music by Mark Sumner while indulging in a delicious Ben Bear Chili luncheon, priced at $15 for adults and free for children under 7, ensuring no one is turned away due to financial constraints. This year’s faire will include a Healing and Wellness table, a UUSF Swag table, a Women's Group gift table, and the return of handmade wreaths by Marie Kazan Komerick, alongside popular vendor tables such as the Up on Top cookie sale and arts and crafts by the Art Committee. Guests can also visit the Victorian Tea Room for dessert, enjoy a holiday bar with seasonal drinks for a $5 donation, and participate in contests, including a poker raffle and a holiday outfit competition. Questions? Reach out to Co-Chairs Stacey Coyle and Cheryl Deaner at holidayfair@uusf.org.
Christmas Eve
"Christmas Eve Night"
Tuesday, December 24, 2024, 4:45 pm
Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, Senior Minister, preaching
Join us for an interactive telling of the Christmas story. This service is for all ages and costumes will be provided for those who want them.
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Honor Your Loved Ones This Holiday Season with a Poinsettia Dedication
Dedications are due by Wednesday, December 18.
Please consider honoring a loved one by dedicating a poinsettia to our holiday display. We recommend a $40 donation to sustain the sanctuary's floral arrangements throughout the year. Dedications will appear in the order of service on Tuesday, December 24. You may pay by check, and if there is a dedication, name it on the memo line. Alternatively, you may pay via the uusf.org payment donate button (here), but select the Sunday Flowers/Poinsettias line. You can enter the dedication online, but we recommend sending it via email to jsilk@uusf.org by 6:00 pm Wednesday, December 18.
GET INVOLVED!
“… and Service is our Prayer.”
UUSF relies on all of us to offer our time and ideas in order to build the church that we all know and love! To see a list of volunteer opportunities, classes, and ministries, visit the "Finding Your Ministry" form below. For additional questions, or if you are interested in finding other ways to get involved at UUSF, feel free to contact the UUSF Nominating Committee HERE.
NEWCOMER ORIENTATION
NEWCOMER ORIENTATION
Sunday December 1: Martin Luther King Room
12:30pm
New to this community? New to Unitarian Universalism?
Newcomers are welcome to join us after the service to meet some of our members and learn more about our congregation and Unitarian Universalism.
It's a great chance to meet other folks in the community, ask any questions you might have, and find out how to get involved in our programs and ministries.
Free childcare is available to attendees who need it.
We look forward to meeting you!
Upcoming! & Watch Now
"Skilling up for Love"
Sunday, October 20, 10:50 am, 2024
The Wild West Bank: Lawless Settlers
Sunday Forum, October 27, 9:30 am, 2024
"Listening to Our Ancestors"
Sunday, October 27, 10:50 am, 2024
(VIEW HERE)
"Uncertainty"
Sunday, November 3, 10:50 am, 2024
Expanded War in the Middle East.
What to Expect From the New Administration.
Sunday Forum, November 10, 9:30 am, 2024
"The State of the Nation, and its Soul"
Sunday, November 10, 10:50 am, 2024
"Inside the Iranian Uprising"
Friday, November 15, 6:30 pm, 2024
Sensible Cinema
Critical Perspectives on the Genocide in Gaza
Ian Mooney & Vets for Peace
Sunday Forum, November 17, 9:30 am, 2024
"Forgiveness & Repair: A Ritual"
Sunday, November 17, 10:50 am, 2024
"Social Justice Town Hall "
Sunday, November 17, 12:30 pm, 2024
"Breaking Bread"
Sunday, November 24, 10:50 am, 2024
"Committee Chairs Meet"
Sunday, November 24, 12:30 pm, 2024
The Death Penalty is Dying with Bob Bacon
Sunday Forum, December 1, 9:30 am, 2024
"Seeing Nature and Presence Through the Eyes of Robin Wall Kimmerer"
Sunday, December 1, 10:50 am, 2024
"How Do We Lead?"
Sunday, December 8, 10:50 am, 2024
Poetry and Lunch with Robert Lavett Smith
Tuesday, December 10, noon to 12:30 pm
"On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century" by Timothy Snyder
Minister's Book Group
Wednesday, December 11, 6:30-8 PM
UUSF presents Standing Together: Palestinian & Israeli activists working together.
Saturday, December 14, 6:30 pm, TSK Room/Zoom
FAMILY MINISTRY
Stay up to date with what is happening for our families and Sunday School program by subscribing to the Thursday weekly emails. To be put on the email list, please contact Rev. Laura Shennum at lshennum@uusf.org.
FROM THE COVID ADVISORY GROUP
Recommendation for close contacts of cases.
If you have new COVID-19 symptoms, you should test and mask right away.
If you do not have symptoms, and are at higher risk of severe COVID-19 infection and would benefit from treatment, you should test within 5 days.
If you do not have symptoms and have contact with people who are at higher risk for severe infection, you should mask indoors when around such people for 10 days. Consider testing within 5 days after the last exposure date (Day 0) and before contact with higher-risk people. For further details, see CDPH COVID-19 testing guidance.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
If you have questions, suggestions, resources or want/need clarification, please reach out to our Covid Advisory Team Here.
NEW TO UUSF?
GET CONNECTED
WATCH & LISTEN
While we meet live every Sunday morning at 10:50 am PT, worship certainly isn’t restricted to those moments! Anytime you need a comforting word, a song that will help you with your life, visit our video archives or listen to one of our podcasts.
