UCG Young Adult Group

UCG’s Young Adult Group is open to all post-high school young adults and meets for lunch twice per month from September through April. The group meets at the fountain in the Courtyard after the second service to walk to a local eatery and enjoy lunch together. Join us this month on September 12th & 26th.…

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September Sunday Seminars

During September, the UCG Sunday Seminar Committee will host an inspiring collection of Sunday Seminars: They will be available on Zoom at 10:15am. Meeting ID: 829 6457 0385, Passcode: 1624. Here are September’s offerings:   September 12 UCG Enriches My Life – Hosted by Sanford Berg, this seminar will be a time for sharing experiences when UCG programs,…

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United Tribes – September 2021

For the month of September  while we remain in the red zone we will continue with Activity Time fun and games outdoors only during the 9:15am service.  Advanced registration is required each week. All children over the age of two are required to wear masks for the entire time they are in our care.  Care will…

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CMRB – Tim Martin

As you all probably know, boards and committees are the engines that make UCG go. Boards and committees plan and carry out programming, provide guidance and feedback to the ministers, and perform critical outreach to our community. During the pandemic, membership in several boards and committees has dropped periously low. This not only hinders our…

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Food 4 Kids Update

I am very pleased to tell you that the planning for another F4Ks year at Rawlings Elementary School is under way. All of the volunteers are happy that we were able to complete the program last year. Historically, we have always fed a large group of students but this last year it was the largest…

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Coronavirus Advisory Team

The Covid Advisory Team has revised the screening questions for Sunday morning worship services. The new screening questions take into account the varied landscape of scenarios currently present in our community. The availability of testing, a likelihood of asymptomatic infections, and a younger virus-vulnerable population necessitate a new flowchart approach. Please click here to familiarize yourself…

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Celebrating the Bergs

Catherine and Sanford Berg are two of our longest-tenured members of the United Church of Gainesville. They joined UCG in 1971- while we were still worshipping at the Presbyterian Student Center on University Avenue. Since then, they have been loyal and loving members and have seen us through many shifts, turns, transitions, and triumphs. They…

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Time & Talent Update – 2021

On August 29th UCG had the first in-person Board and Committee recruitment fair in two and a half years. We owe much appreciation to Moderator-elect Barb Gibbs as well as Lisa and Shanna in the office for putting so much energy and effort into planning this years’ Time and Talent event. The pandemic has left…

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The Vinery

Near the beginning of June I received an email from the Rev. Alexis Carter Thomas, looking for congregations within two miles of a university campus who might be interested in learning about the program she is managing.  Her email read, “The Vinery is a vision made possible by the Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations Initiative. The…

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RJC All-Church Read and More

All-Church Read! – September through November, 2021, Racial Justice Committee will sponsor an all-church read of Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson. Four small groups will be offered as zoom book discussions. A variety of dates and times will be available. The first group begins September 22. Please sign up early. If you…

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September Moderator’s Minute

Earlier this summer Bromleigh asked me to speak during a Sunday service about our church year theme “Return, Reunite, Reimagine”.  I initially planned on giving a standard oration to share my thoughts and ideas on what this theme means to me. However, after some reflection, I realized that most of UCG already knows my feelings…

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Please Help

On Tuesday evening, August 3, the Alachua County School Board will vote on the COVID-19 plan for the coming school year (which begins August 10).  Currently, the plan names mask-wearing by all individuals, vaccinated and otherwise, as “strongly encouraged,” but not mandated. “Strongly encouraged” is not enough given the rise in cases and the growing…

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