****************ANNOUNCEMENTS******************

Today at UCG

9:15 a.m.       Gift Bags for the Homeless – seminar C
9:45 a.m.       Childcare – children’s wing
10 a.m.          Worship Service – Rev. Chad McGinnis
                      Friendship Group – west wing
11 a.m.          Fellowship and Beverages – courtyard
11:15 a.m.     Entr’acte – Sanctuary
                      Lively Arts Committee Meeting – library
                      Board of Membership meeting – seminar B
                      Women in the Woods planning meeting – chapel
11:30 a.m.     Youth United and Middle School Together – west wing
                      Sunday Seminar – Reimer Hall
6:30 p.m.       Justice League movie night – Reimer Hall

Gift Bags for the Homeless – The Compassion in Action Committee invites you to provide items for the Gift Bags for the Homeless project in partnership with GRACE Marketplace and St. Francis House.  Please bring donations to Seminar C by 10 a.m.

Entr’acte – A variety of musicians will be offering informal performances of favorite selections from 11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. in the Sanctuary after the service. You are invited to stay and listen!

Sunday Seminar – “Alchemy: The Healing Power of Art,” with local filmmaker, Bridget Fitzpatrick. We will watch Bridget’s short film “Alchemy”, then Bridget will speak about her experience as a filmmaker. Alchemy tells the story of glassblower and social entrepreneur, Rebeccah Byer, as she navigates her grief at the loss of her brother from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, to create a glass studio for youth. The Olio is a place of healing and growth for Rebeccah and her apprentices. In Alchemy, we witness this transformative power through one of Rebeccah’s apprentices, Lucy McGinnis, who struggles with being a young trans woman in North Carolina. In-person in Reimer Hall and on Zoom. Meeting ID: 829 6457 0385 Passcode: 1624

UCG’s Justice League: Racial Justice, Open and Affirming, and Creation Justice invite you to a screening of the movie “Rustin” tonight at 6:30 p.m. in Reimer Hall. The event will be in honor of Black History Month. Bayard Rustin was almost written out of the history books. He was Martin Luther King’s right-hand man and an indispensable part of the Civil Rights Movement. He was responsible for organizing the 1963 historic March on Washington. However, he was openly gay. Due to discrimination and criticism over his sexuality, he took a background role in the movement. Recommended for 13+. Those 12 and younger must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Small Group registration is open! Small groups for this spring are available on ShelbyNext. Paper copies of the offerings along with a registration form are available in the foyer, front office, or at bit.ly/sgspring25. There will also be a small groups table in the courtyard to help with registration, which ends today.

Submissions needed for Lenten Devotional Booklet! Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, and we are seeking submissions of art, photos, and/or writings for this year’s Lenten devotional booklet! Please email your submissions to Taylor Williams at gutsandglorygnv@gmail.com no later than Friday, February 21. For written word, please submit it in the body of your email or as a Word document. Please send all pictures and art pieces in a JPEG format. This year’s Lenten theme is “Through the Lens”.

Visitors Coffee – If you’ve been visiting UCG and would like to learn more about the church, please join Rev. Talia Raymond and members of the Board of Membership for coffee and conversation in the courtyard following the 10 a.m. service on Sunday, February 23. New member Sunday is March 16.

UCG 101 is Wednesday, February 26, 5:30 p.m. in Reimer Hall for those considering church membership, a time to learn about the church and connect with other members over light refreshments. Please contact the office to RSVP or sign up on the bulletin board by the office on Sundays. Please let us know if you need childcare. New Member Sunday is March 16.

We are delighted to host “An Evening with Art Crummer” on Sunday, February 23 at 5 p.m. Join us in Reimer Hall as Art Crummer shares his gifts of poetry and song. Guests will enjoy live music as well as readings from Art’s latest poetry book release, It’s About Time. A light reception will follow. Copies of Art’s books will be available for purchase. Donations support Youth United’s Work Tour 2025 to Washington, DC. We look forward to sharing this magical experience with you!

Racial Justice Committee are collaborating with the Alachua County Community Remembrance Project (ACCRP) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) on a series of lectures about black history in Alachua County, The Other Book: Black History in Alachua County. Each lecture will be held in a different location to contribute to experiential learning. The third lecture will be on Saturday, March 8, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. at the County Administration Building, 12 SE 1st St., Gainesville). The program will look at the Jim Crow Era in Alachua County, with Dr. Michelle Dunlap and Dr. Rik Stevenson. For more information, click here.

The Seminar Committee is regrouping/reorganizing and going strong! We will be offering many exciting seminars with great guest speakers this spring on diverse topics.  Help the committee to keep our seminars diverse and interesting with our new virtual seminar suggestion box! Go to bit.ly/SeminarSuggestions to submit your idea today.

Help wanted for Kids Night Out (KNO) – We are so grateful for how KNO has been going. The children have loved the different events and activities each month. We have two unplanned Fridays left and are looking for volunteers to do activities with the kids. Please email Julia at juliac@ucgainesville.org if you would like to bring your area of expertise to a fun night at KNO.

Join UCG’s Open & Affirming Committee at our next “Open & Affirming Sunday Social.” Come get to know members of UCG in a fun and inclusive environment, hosted by ONA.  We meet up on the Second Sunday of the month. The next Sunday Social will be on March 9 at 6 p.m. We will be getting dinner and playing minigolf at the Pink Flamingo Diner in High Springs! We need to know how many people are coming so please RSVP to Brandon Telg at brantelg@gmail.com by Thursday, March 6.

UCG Supper Club: The last supper club of the year will take place on Saturday, April 12 at Jim White and Lisa McElwee-White’s home on Kanapaha Prairie.  Rather than being assigned a recipe, you will be assigned a category (appetizer, salad, side or dessert) and can bring whatever you wish.  We also request that you bring your place settings and your own beverage so we only need to collect money to reimburse Jim for the meat he will barbecue (no charge for vegetarians).  Please contact Anne Casella (annecasella@gmail.com) or Kimberly McCollough (kmccollough224@gmail.com) if you would like to participate.  The deadline to sign up is Sunday, March 30.

Kairos requests assistance with a meal train for Pam Williams, UCG member in hospice care at home. Please sign up here if you can help.

Speak Up! Make Change!  As we read the “outrage du jour” in the daily news, instead of feeling hopeless and depressed, speak up and make change! One of the most effective methods of influencing our legislators is with phone calls. According to research, people who work in Senate offices understand that people who call are deeply invested in the issues, most likely to vote and to influence others to vote. Calls are tallied daily! One call per day, two minutes a day to make a difference.  Meaghan Bonnaghan has created an easy guide on how to “Speak Up! Make Change” which will be updated weekly!  Let’s do it! Sponsored by the Justice League.

Work has begun on the remodeling of the west side bathrooms. Please use the office bathrooms for the month of February. Exterior access is available from the breezeway between the chapel and courtyard, next to the water fountain. Note also that our west side parking lot may have limited spaces available. Please let the office know if you will need assistance on Sundays for parking so we can help arrange a driver.

Next Sunday, February 23

 9:45 a.m.       Childcare – children’s wing
                      Puzzler Exchange
10 a.m.          Worship Service – Rev. Talia Raymond
11 a.m.          Fellowship and Beverages
11:30 a.m.     Youth United and Middle School Together
                      Visitors Coffee
                      Sunday Seminar
2 p.m.            OWL Training
5 p.m.            An Evening with Art Crummer – Youth United fundraiser