Board of Business – January 2026

by Alan Hill (Chair, Board of Business)   On Sunday, January 11, we will have a congregational meeting where our primary task will be to adopt a final 2026 operating budget for UCG. Back in October the congregation approved a “challenge” budget which set our pledge goal for 2026 at an ambitious $870,787. In my…

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Sunday Seminars – January 2026

The Sunday Seminar Committee is pleased to announce the line-up of seminars for January. Seminars are in person and on Zoom on Sundays at 11:30 a.m. Meeting ID: 829 6457 0385 Passcode: 1624   January 4: “One U.S. Historian’s Take on the Current Political Moment” – Warren Goldstein As we close the book on a dreadful…

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Consider gifting banned books

Are you wondering what to purchase for those folks on your holiday shopping list? Consider gifting banned books! The number of books banned since 2021 has increased dramatically. Pen America noted 6,870 bans within the 2024-2025 school year alone. This means that unless students frequent public libraries and/or bookstores, they not only lack access to…

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Giving Paths – part 2 (DAFs)

by Alan Hill, Chair, UCG Board of Business This is the second of a three-part series on advanced ways to financially support your United Church of Gainesville. In part one we learned about qualified charitable distributions (QCD’s) from a traditional individual retirement account (IRA) for persons at least 70½ years old. In this part we…

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Congregationalism – What?! Part 1

by Suzanne Huggard, Council Member-at-Large There are Interim Ministers, and the Florida Conference, and the United Church of Christ, and Congregationalism. Oh My! What?! Are we the United Church of Gainesville Congregationalists? What does that mean? If you read the back of the Sunday bulletin, you may have noticed the sentence that says, “This church…

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Clergy Corner – November 2025

Don’t Tell Me I Have Homework by Rev. Dr. Donna Schaper In addition to making your pledge for 2026 through our investment campaign, please read the Convergence report of our fascinating congregation, which is so well told in their report. THANK YOU. Please also come to the Sunday, November 9 meeting with at least one question,…

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