Building Our Community — Fellowship, Fun, and Food

• Breakfast Group: Meets at 8:00 AM each Thursday at the 43rd Street Deli.
• Brown Bag Lunch: Meets each Tuesday noon for lunch and conversation in the Commons Room.
• Coffee hour is an informal social time with snacks in the Phillips Social Hall immediately following Sunday morning services.
• Dinner Club: Rotating groups share potlucks the third Sunday evening at members’ homes. Dinners take place in each host’s home. Each host coordinates the time and menu with all participants, and provides the settings and appetizers. The co-host provides the main dish. Others either bring salad, bread and vegetables, or desserts. All guests bring their own drink. Hosts may arrange an alternative time and date by contacting all their guests.
• Men’s Group:  UUFG men gather the first, third, and fifth Sundays at 6 PM in the Common Room.
• Not Just Singles (aka The Merry Bunch): Lunch in an area restaurant after Sunday Service; scheduled social events listed in The Millhopper or Sunday Gazette.
• Picnics: Spring and fall intergenerational picnics on the playground provide desserts and drinks with lunch for sale or brown bag.  Dates announced in The Millhopper and on the office calendar.
• TGIF Socials: Held second Friday evening in different members’ homes. BYOB and a snack to share. See The Millhopper (monthly newsletter) for schedule.

Expanding our Minds, Deepening our Spirits, Stengthening our Bodies

• Adult Discussion: 9:30 AM each Sunday in the Commons Room. Discussions on a variety of topics led by members and guests.
• Book Cart/Library:  New books from Beacon Press and used books donated by members are for sale from the book cart in the Phillips Social Hall during coffee hour.  Books, journals, and other materials are available for checkout in Classroom 5 on Sunday mornings and by appointment.  Paperbacks are on sale and there is a magazine exchange in the Phillips Social Hall.
• Café Scientifique Gainesville: Forum on science issues in an informal setting several evenings during the year in the Phillips Social Hall.
• Labyrinth: There is no right way to walk a labyrinth. You might use the labyrinth for walking meditation. Play music or sing. Pray out loud. Walk alone and with a crowd. Most of all pay attention to your experience.
• Meditation Groups:  Join the Rev. Meredith Garmon Fridays from 7 to 8:30 PM in the Common Room for Zen meditation.  Tuesday mornings from 7:00 to 8:30 AM, Rev. Garmon leads morning meditation.  At 2 PM on Saturdays, the Azalea Sangha class follows the tradition of Vietnamese teacher Thich Nhat Han. 
• Music Programs: Chalice Choir rehearses 7:45 PM Thursdays and sings at Sunday services several times each month. Concert series sponsors four Sunday concerts per year. During the month of July, there is a Summer Choir open to all singers — come in early on Sundays (at 10 AM) and join in the fun!
• Sunday Service: 11 AM each Sunday in the sanctuary, conducted by one of our ministers, LoraKim Joyner or Meredith Garmon (377-1669; ; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) and the Sunday Worship Service Committee. Members serve as lay leaders to assist with chalice lighting, reading, children’s time, and to lead the worship during the summer months.

Fostering the Next Generation

• Children and Youth Programs Committee (CYREC)
• Children’s Dedication: Performed during Sunday services to provide congregational recognition of the sacredness of the child and devotion to the child’s spiritual well-being. For newborn to age 12; may be arranged with the ministers, LoraKim Joyner and Meredith Garmon, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
• Children's Religious Education: Children participate in the "Story for All Ages" in the 11 AM Sunday Service and then attend religious education classes until 12:30 PM.
• Choir for Children and Youth: Rehearses at 6:30 PM Thursdays for participation in the Sunday service once or twice a month. There are two separate choirs for the children: the Shalom Choir is for all children and youth treble singers in grades K-12, and the Beacon Singers is composed of our middle and high school aged youth.
• Coming of Age Program: Preparation for coming of age ceremony for youth in eighth to twelfth grades.
• Circle Camp provides a two-week interdenominational day camp experience in June.  Youth counselor opportunities and scholarships are available.
• Secret Pals matches children with adult members of the congregation for communication, shared interest, and a luncheon.
• Winterfest, Halloween Festival, and Easter Picnic mark the seasons with children’s activities from a variety of religious traditions.

Caring for Each Other, Maintaining Community

• Circles of Life
• Conflict Management: Elder Jolaine Jones-Porkoney created a series of half-hour seminars on conflict management for presentation to the Governing Board. This web site makes the information available to all.
• Community Matters Listserv:  This is an email for members and friends to post information of community events, social concerns, and other non UUFG-related items of interest to members.
• Congregation Communication
• Covenant Groups: Small groups meet twice monthly for conversation and support. Several days and times are available. See The Millhopper for schedules.
• News and Needs Listserv: Members and friends may use this UUFG e-mail list to post brief messages concerning help needed, services offered, or UUFG events. (UUFG office 377-1669; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )
• Pastoral Care: Trained pastoral associates are available to visit members who are sick or have other needs for care.  Persons interested in training to become pastoral associates may contact the ministers. Appointments for counseling in times of crisis, loss, or spiritual searching may be made with the ministers.  (Rev. LoraKim Joyner or Rev. Meredith Garmon — 377-1669, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; Cam Pierce in UUFG office 377-1669, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )
• Retreats: An all-congregation weekend retreat is being planned for May 2009.  Weekend and week-long retreats are held periodically by Unitarian organizations at various locations including the Southern Winter Institute in Miami (SWIM), the Southern UU Summer Institute (SUUSI) in Virginia, the UU Pines Retreat Center in Brooksville, Florida, Women and Religion Retreats, and The Mountain Retreat Center in Highlands, North Carolina.

Maintaining our Congregation, Supporting our Denomination

• Art Display: The Arts Display Committee hangs art from paintings to quilts in the sanctuary.
• Buildings and Grounds Maintenance: The B&G committee coordinates work projects the second Saturday morning. Commune with nature and with friends while maintaining the UUFG facilities.
• Committees: Leadership Development Committee, Membership Committee, Music Committee, UU Connections Committee, Finance Committee and Canvass Committee
• Fundraisers: Periodic service auctions, yard sales, art sales, concerts, and other events to raise funds for the congregation’s operating budget. Each year we have an annual service auction that is well-attended and lots of fun.  The last few themes have included: Blue Boat Home, Margaritaville, and Bombay Dreams. Other committees have held sales and other special event nights, like the Chalice Choir's Cabaret Night.
• Sound Room: Runs the sound system and records our Sunday services and special events.
• Strategic Planning: Develops long- and short-range plans for UUFG’s future.
• Sunday Facilitators: Each Sunday morning there are roles for members as greeters, ushers, coffee servers, decorators, lock-up crew, visitors’ table staff, and sound technicians.
• Technology: Committee deals with computer hardware, software, and networking issues for UUFG office and staff.
• UU Connections: Provides information on activities with other UUs in the Northeast Cluster, the Florida District, and the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA).

Serving the Wider Community, Preserving our World

• Interweave and Welcoming Congregation: Provides friendship, support, and activism on issues affecting lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgendered persons and their heterosexual allies at UUFG and in the community. Potluck and program at 6:30 PM the second Sunday at UUFG. (Cam Pierce in the UUFG office 377-1669 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )
• Ministry for Earth builds awareness of societal environmental issues for personal lifestyle changes and community action. Projects include organic gardening, natural landscaping, energy and resource conservation. A Simplicity Circle group promotes individual choice of simple living to have minimal impact on the environment.
• Social Justice Programs: Committee meets second Wednesday of each month in the Commons Room.
  
  Service Projects include participating in the Interfaith Hospitality Network program to house homeless families in UUFG facilities one week per quarter (UUFG members and friends provide overnight supervision, meals, transportation, set-up and take-down, and laundry); providing volunteers and scholarships for the Prairie View Academy’s after-school enrichment program; and offering funds, food, and volunteer service to the Gainesville Community Ministry program that provides emergency assistance to people in need.
  
  Justice Action Projects include “Putting a Face on Racism,” “Putting a Face on Poverty,” criminal justice reform, and influencing public policy on various issues.