Midweek UUpdate 6/17/26

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Proudly Progressive, Boldly Inclusive, Radically Friendly

It’s Time! Interested in FREE Registration for GA Sessions? click here

Our national Unitarian Universalist conference is HERE in Louisville!
Register here to attend the meetings. General Assembly worship services and workshops at the Galt House. Some highlights:

  • Get to know UUs from around the region and country
  • Keynote from Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of the Washington National Cathedral
  • Multiple worship services with our faith’s best preachers
  • Interactive “Meet the Moment” workshops both in person and online
  • Lots of webinar-style workshops you can stream all summer

Do You Want to Attend GA Sessions for FREE?
Click here for a FREE special opportunity to participate in sessions, workshops and worship services. Click here to learn more about GA in general.

FYI 

2026 Kentuckiana Pride Day Saturday June 20

  • Parade – Walk, Ride, or Watch
    First U will join with All Peoples. To locate the UU group in the lineup n the day of the parade, contact the office.
  • Glitter Blessings 
    Join First U and All Peoples! People are needed to help with the Glitter Blessing Booth! You can help leading up to the event and/or on the day. If you’re interested in fun times for a bright cause, contact the office.

Compassion Team

There will be an information and training meeting about the Compassion Team via zoom on Monday, June 22 at 3:30pm. It’s an opportunity to learn what they do and how it’s done for anyone that may be interested. Contact the office if you have questions. Click here for the zoom link.

Marti and Kent McDaniel Memorial Service

Sunday, July 5, 2 pm in the Sanctuary and on zoom (link TBD)
The McDaniel family and First U invite you to join in a celebration of the lives of Kent and Marti, longtime church members who died this year after moving to California in 2020. Reception to follow at church. Cards may be sent to Kirk McDaniel, please contact the office for the address.

Food Requests for McDaniel Memorial Service Reception

We are requesting food donations of finger foods and small sweets.  Contact the office. Please let Lois know if you can bring something and if you are willing to serve as a volunteer to assist. Thanks!

From the Connections Ministry

Click here to connect

Activities Survey Click here. Please participate! We need information about your interests and activities at First Unitarian. This helps us conduct the events and programs that will help make your involvement more interesting. Let us know what you think!

Join Us This Sunday at 11:00am
 
June 21

A Solarpunk
 Summer Solstice:
Dreaming the FutureSpeaker: Valerie Schwartz

Join us for an exploration of the literature, aesthetic, and social movement that is the Solarpunk genre, just in time to welcome the Summer Solstice. What is your brightest dream of our planet’s possible future?
Solarpunk highlights reverence for nature and community as it encourages us to reach for a vision of the future that is sustainable, equitable, joyful, and even achievable!
About the Speaker:
Valerie Schwartz is a member of First Unitarian as well as the Druidic traditions
Ár nDraíocht Féin and the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids. She has practiced Earth based spirituality for a little over three decades, and when she is not wandering in the woods or sitting with her nose in a book, she enjoys cooking, Tai Chi, attempting gardening, storytelling style RPGs, and helping to support and organize a local Druid fellowship. She lives in Louisville with her husband, kiddo, a reclusive cat, and a dog who by his sheer enthusiasm for life reminds her to enjoy the ride.
 

For the zoom link, Click here. The Meeting ID is 4508929882 if you can’t attend in person.  You will not need a password. Contact the volunteer desk if you have trouble getting online.
The Nursery: The Tadpoles Room will be open for babies and pre-k  from 9:30am-12:15pm on Sundays. Registration Forms. are required for each child, including those in the nursery.

Join Us for Upcoming Services
 
June 28

Our Annual UUA General Assembly Worship Service

Disciples of Love
Speaker Rev. Jen Youngsun Ryu
 

As is our tradition on the Sunday after GA, we will be joining UU’s across the country sharing in the annual UUA General Assembly worship that will take place here in Louisville at the Galt House the week before and is recorded for use by UU congregations at a time that fits with their schedules.
 
About the Speaker:
The Rev. Jen Youngsun Ryu (she/her) serves the Unitarian Universalist Church in Eugene, arriving in 2021 while the building was still closed and the congregation was finding its way back to one another.
Born in Seoul and raised in Ohio, she found Unitarian Universalism as a young adult in Baltimore and was drawn to a faith that honors both the tough mind and the tender heart.
 

This year, she celebrates the 20th anniversary of her ordination with a steady conviction that our liberal faith, practiced with honesty and love, changes lives for the good.
 
July 5

Dear America
Speaker: Rev. Liz Weber

At our country’s 250th anniversary, we have become… a much *less* perfect Union.
The realities of fascism and Christian nationalism continue the legacy of racism in our country. Where do we find the hope to move forward that is also part of our story? With the horror and the hope alike, what do we want to say to America and Americans today?

RE: Religious Exploration
Contact Loren Crawford, Director of Religious Exploration (DRE)
Learn About More Upcoming RE Opportunities Here
Families Welcome / Childcare Available beginning at 9:30

Adult (RE) Contact: Adult Religious Exploration

Are you curious about RE? Click here
All are Welcome: Members, friends, visitors, curious people, and people lost in the building are all welcome.
Check-in begins at 9:45. Class meets in the Church Library at 10am.

Click here (or see above) for information about  Adult RE.

Adult RE June 21: Gender Inequality
Pete Webber will lead our conversation on Sunday by taking time on Father’s Day to consider how the patriarchy does lots of harm, and how it most explicitly and persistently spits out gender-based inequalities across our society, to the detriment of all.

There are other connections that make this topic timely. This coming week is the anniversary of Title IX (June 23,1972 – 54 years ago). Also, on June 23, 1977, the UUA General Assembly unanimously passed a resolution on “Women and Religion” summoning all UUs to critically examine the ways that, in each of our lives, traditional religious beliefs have devalued women and calling on all of us to “avoid sexist assumptions and language in the future.”

Children’s RE Contact: Loren Crawford

This begins in the sanctuary at 11:00 with the Moment for Ages. They leave during the Song for the Children.

The Nursery: Tadpoles will be open for babies and pre-k  from 9:30am-12:15pm on Sundays. Registration Forms. Registration information is required for each child, including those in the nursery. They will join the older children in Summer RE as appropriate.

Summer RE for Kids!

JUNE
  • 21 Remote Control Vehicle Day:  Bring a remote control toy to share if you have one. We’ll have races and obstacle courses in the courtyard.
  • 28 Cooking Day I: Create goodies for a donation-based lemonade stand. All proceeds go to CLCM
JULY
  • 5 Painting Day: Body portraits, chalk murals, finger painting. It will get messy. 
  • 12 Water Day II: Prepare to get wet! Bring a towel and extra clothes!
  • 19: Board Game Day: A wide assortment of games for all ages
  • :26: Build a Fort Day: Build a fort in the Raccoon Room and have a spooky time
AUGUST
  • 2 Solar Oven Day: Build a pizza box solar oven to make s’mores
  • 9 Peace Stone Day: Paint flat rocks with kind words to hide around the neighborhood 
  • 16: Cooking Day II: Create goodies for a donation-based lemonade stand. Proceeds go to CLCM 
  • 23 Jar Day: Decorate jars for Water Communion. Give to the congregation at coffee hour.
  • 30: Water Day III The Last One:  It’s Water Communion Day!
September 6: RE Classes begin