Month: August 2021

The Annual Auction: Are We There, Yet?

August 31, 2021 /

There are no “them” in our church. Our church is 100% “us.” Everything we do is supported financially by the people of Foothills, from our justice work to our community service, from teaching children to embrace progressive values to offering transformative programs for adults. We do things this way because it allows our budget to reflects our deepest values.

We are truly grateful for the gifts we have been given, and that is what giving at Foothills is fundamentally about – gratitude. Giving is an expression of gratitude for the gifts we have been given. It is our way of passing it on so courageous love may reach others. 

Our biggest single-event fundraiser of the year is coming up in September – The Annual Auction! It’s also a ton of fun! This year’s theme is Are We There Yet?

We’re still in need of many donations to make this year’s auction as successful as years past, so please consider donating an experience or item as a way to give. Cool donations from recent years included a Snowshoe Hike, a special dinner cooked for someone in their home, and theatre tickets! COVID has made things a little tricky lately, but last year congregants really came through with some creative and safe ideas.

We usually like to encourage events over “stuff,” but COVID-19 means all bets are off! So if you’re a painter/quilter/potter/sculptor/knitter/etc., please think about donating a piece. If you love to bake, consider offering a custom birthday cake or a batch of homemade cookies to be delivered to someone’s home! Consider donating a self-care basket, board game/movie night in a box, a new collection of children’s books, or something else creative. The possibilities are endless!

There will be an Online Silent Auction (Sept 20-27) and a Live Auction on Sept 25. The live auction will be outdoors, socially distanced, and will feature a professional auctioneer! There will be items to bid on across all price ranges.

Donation forms are available at foothillsuu.org/auctiondonation. (This form also has more information and donation ideas.) We – your Foothills Auction Driver – can help with questions and ideas. And if you want to share donating an event or activity with someone else (twice the fun!), talk to us, and we’ll work on pairing you up with someone. You can reach us at foothillsauction@gmail.com.

Thank you for your generosity! We can’t wait to see you at the Auction!

Your Auction Drivers – 
 
Kay Williams
Heidi Schaub
Patti Cochran
Lindsay Tearman
Sue Bloomfield

The Building Bulletin August 2021

August 26, 2021 /

The Building Expansion Team is excited to update everyone on the hard work we have been doing to move us towards our new sanctuary! 

Over the last few months, we have been meeting regularly with our architects, contractor, the city of Fort Collins, and working with different vendors as we move closer to our groundbreaking date. 

We’re happy to report that we remain in our estimates, on our budget as approved in our early 2021 congregational meeting. While we had a few hiccups to work through, we currently still have just under 5% contingency built into the project budget that has not yet been allocated. 

As we’ve engaged in the permitting process, we have encountered a couple of delays that have shifted our timeline by a few months in terms of when the building will be complete. We are now looking at a March 2022 groundbreaking and early 2023 grand re-opening. While we’re a little sad to miss Christmas 2022 in our building as we’d originally thought – we are thrilled that 2023 coincides with our 125th anniversary as a congregation! We will celebrate and dedicate our new building as part of this milestone in our history! 

Our next big report will come in our November congregational meeting – please let us know what questions you are curious about between now and then! You can always get more details about our project at foothillsuu.org/building-expansion.  

In partnership, 
Foothills Building Expansion Team, buildingexpansion@foothillsuu.org

Building for Courageous Love Takes Us All!

While we are amazed by the generosity of giving so far, we still need consistent funding to make all the necessary building updates a reality! If you’ve already pledged to the Capital Campaign, please click HERE to contribute towards your pledge.

If you’d like to make a pledge or increase your pledge to the Capital Campaign, please contact Katie Watkins at katie@foothillsuu.org (you can do so before or after making your first contribution!)

One-time donations to the Capital Campaign are also welcome!

Click HERE to contribute to the Capital Campaign!

Tree News

As many of you know, some of our beloved trees will be affected by the expansion. We are excited to report that the Oak Tree on the patio will be staying! We also had that tree professionally trimmed this week. (As some of you noted, it had grown tremendously, and it was time for a good prune!)

We also have a large Cottonwood tree on the West side of the building that is very unhealthy and almost entirely dead. We are working on removing it as soon as possible. The Climate Justice Team is discussing ideas for repurposing the wood when we bring it down. Until it is removed, please exercise caution by keeping a safe distance from that tree. Until further notice, we have closed our West Parking lot to protect people and vehicles in the unexpected event of heavy winds and a large branch falling.

Our Hometowns

August 26, 2021 /

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Last week, we asked you to share the location of your hometown with us.

Here is a map of the responses, minus one location not mapped: Auckland, New Zealand![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”44542″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

The Angry-Tired Stage

August 20, 2021 /

My kids reached the angry stage of tired this morning. Facing their fourth day in a row of in-person school after such a long time with online or reduced-in-person since March 2020 they were exhausted. When they were toddlers, they would’ve been throwing wild tantrums. As teenagers, it’s more like sulky stares and irritated groans.   
 
I’m not facing my fourth in-person all-day school day, but I still really get where they are at. I mean, I get what it feels like to be angry-tired after too much all in a row and for too long. Maybe you get it too.
 
A lot is coming at us, and – maybe especially because we had that sense that we were headed for a long reprieve, and instead, it’s the opposite – it’s just exhausting. It’s hard to know what to feel. Except tired, and a little – or a lot – angry.  
 
Between the completely confusing and still-chaotic state of the virus, the climate crisis, the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, the devastation in Haiti, and the continued escalating division within our own country playing out at School Board meetings nationwide – not to mention the need to track back-to-school-nights and athletic schedules, or make decisions about travel (again), or time with grandchildren. It is a truly overwhelming time to be alive.  
 
One of the first things my kids do when they are angry-tired is lash out at someone they love, i.e., one of their moms. Being on the receiving end of this anger makes me defensive and angry back. Anger feeds anger. I lash out back. They get (as my daughter says) “consequenced.” 
 
But really, what I know they need most in these moments is my understanding. They need a glass of water, a deep breath, an encouraging word. They need to go to bed early, maybe after a bath. They need connection and compassion.  
 
So, dear ones, have you had a glass of water lately? Taken a few deep breaths every day? Gone to bed early or taken a nap? How about a bath? It’s ok if you rest, slow down. It’s ok not to try to fix anything right now. It’s ok to just be and breathe.  
 
And, it’s ok if you feel angry. Your anger is likely 100% justified – not just the result of weariness. Anger can be fuel that helps us change.  
 
And, remember that anger is one stage of grief, and sometimes we find anger because it’s easier than dealing with sorrow. And so, alongside your anger, I invite you to just spend some time paying attention to the grief that may also be there. And because grief reminds us what we love, it will also help you connect your anger to love.  
 
I know that a lot of our weariness is connected to sustained uncertainty. We just want answers! Well, if that’s you – this Sunday, you’re in luck! Because we’re offering our annual live Q&A service where you bring the questions, and Rev. Elaine and Rev. Sean, and I will be there to offer our answers on the fly. And, because we know that the questions may be especially tough this year, we brought in back up with six of our Unitarian Universalist colleagues joining us from across the country for rapid-fire Q&A. You can submit your questions starting now – learn how below – and then join us Sunday morning as we try our best to give you some of those answers!
 
Sending you all love, and big, deep restoring breaths, 

Gretchen
 
P.S. Remember, you can always revisit Foothills’ Journey Forward, which includes affirmations for each phase of our path!

Song Poll and Question Box for this Sunday's Service!

This Sunday’s service will be full of spontaneity and opportunities for YOU – yes, you, our beloved community members – to interact directly with the service! To start, let us know what music you’d like to hear this Sunday by taking our short song poll. 

Click HERE to take the song poll!

During the service, all three ministers will also answer questions about relationships, community, Unitarian Universalism, and any questions with which you’re grappling about being human in the world today. Click the button below to submit your question!

Please use your real name when you submit a question, and keep checking back to upvote which questions most resonate with you. CLICK HERE a tutorial on how to submit and upvote questions.

Click HERE to submit your questions!
9:00 am on Zoom – link here. 

Or watch a rebroadcast of the service at 11:00 am on Facebook or our website.

The Future is Fluid

August 4, 2021 /

Dear Ones, 

With the COVID-19 landscape changing rapidly, we’re making some important changes. Please check out my video below to learn about these changes – and the why behind them. If you prefer to read my message, please continue to the text below the video. If you do watch the video, please still scroll down through the email to see important graphics with updates to upcoming events and a visual representation of our journey forward (with mantras for each phase!).

After about a 6 month break from listening in on Governor Polis’ weekly press conference, on Monday, I tuned in again. After watching virus rates rise in Larimer County – we’re currently over 100/100K rolling average (over 50 is considered high transmission) – and hearing about a few fully vaccinated people in the Foothills community getting infected, I decided it was time for more information.  

With the vaccines fully available and so highly effective, I’ve so appreciated being less vigilant in the last few months, and embracing a sense of ease in life once again. I’m guessing I’m not alone. And, I’m guessing that it’s likely you haven’t been tuning back in – because the ease feels so good! Like exhaling.  

But it also might mean that you’re operating from outdated information about our current realities. And by outdated, I mean two or three weeks ago. Because that’s how fast the information is shifting.  

For example, it is becoming increasingly clear that after about six months from your second vaccine shot, you are significantly less protected than you were originally, especially if you are also older or immune-compromised. Given that many in our community received their vaccine in January, that means that as of July, vaccines were less effective than they were originally. 

But here’s the good news: Pfizer and Moderna have already started testing what it will mean to offer a third dose booster, specifically to address the Delta variant. Polis actually talked about pushing the FDA to approve this in his press conference. These boosters are showing to be exponentially effective in ensuring continued protection.

The less good news for the short term, however, is that if you are six months or longer since your vaccine, you should assume that you are much less protected than you were, and so you need to take precautions. Return to wearing your mask in all settings. Avoid large public gatherings. Reduce other public interactions as much as possible, especially indoors. 

These precautions are also influencing some of our planning at church as well. We’ve revised our safety guidelines to institute universal mask-wearing and to prohibit eating or drinking for gatherings with more than 10 adults, even when outdoors. As of now, we’re still planning on offering in-person services as of September 19th and are working to establish appropriate safety protocols.  

Dr. Bob Wachter, Chair of the University of California’s Medical Department, recently acknowledged that we are in one of the most confusing moments since the beginning of the pandemic. Even if you read every article and listen to every press conference and podcast, the science is just not yet clear, and the virus is shifting rapidly.  

Can you feel that sense of ease slipping away from you? I know, me too!  

Given that most of us have had a taste of “normalized” interactions, talking about a return to increased precautions and newly unclear science can bring up really negative reactions. It’s important we feel these reactions for the trauma response they are. In other words, they aren’t necessarily about the short-term practices that we’ll need to take up until they figure out the booster or until we manage to get more of our population vaccinated. They are about the trauma and terror of 2020, the isolation and the extended uncertainty – and the body’s response that in doing anything LIKE that again, we might be actually literally doing that again.  

But we aren’t. 

This is not the same as a year ago. The risk of hospitalization or death from COVID remains pretty low if you’re vaccinated (although we don’t know if this wanes over time either, but so far it’s holding to be true). The vaccines work, and they will be adjusted to keep working, which means that this is not the same risk reality we faced a year ago. 

And, we know so much more about how to move things online than we did a year ago. We know so much more about how to adapt and how to connect.  

Many of us have been thinking in terms of a line we’ll cross where we are definitively post-pandemic. A clear after when we can say we are closer to the before than the during. And this line has felt for the last couple of months, very much within reach! But what I’m realizing is, the next new world may be less “post” anything, and instead more fluid, more back-and-forth, more poly-spatial. The next new world will have times where we need to increase precautions, and times where we can move about more freely.  

We are not moving into a world that is all exactly as it was before the pandemic, and we are not moving into a world that is exactly as it was in 2020 – and we aren’t even moving into a world that is the simple addition of these two together. This world remains emergent and evolving, and requires our willingness to stay adaptive, and creative, where we learn how to exhale even in the midst of these shifts.  

This exhale means freeing ourselves into the idea that increased precautions and rising virus numbers do not mean we are simply “still in it” – and also that we are not also simply “out of it.” It means acknowledging and then releasing our fear that we are exactly where we were before the vaccines and also grieving and releasing our wish to “go back to normal.” 

Exhaling means a radical acceptance of here and now. Leveraging what we’ve learned in the last 18 months. And remembering and leaning on our collective resilience, and our wisdom, and our joy – which are also always true. So that we can together imagine and create a more fluid future that is emotionally and spiritually satisfying while still being (as) physically safe (as possible).  

To help us claim this collective exhale, we’re holding a 30-minute online space on August 11th at 7 pm. We’ll share in a guided meditation of release and re-framing where we allow ourselves to fully release where we have been in this journey and make space for where we actually are. Breathe out, so we can breathe in, making space for our more fluid future. Click the image below for more information.

Most of all, this is a time that requires our patience, trusting that the truth continues to be revealed. Which, as we said on Sunday, is great good news in these times. We know so much more than we did a year ago, and we will know so much more a year from now. Let us be here, now, knowing with gratitude that this is not the end of the story.  And, we are all in this together. 

Please see the graphics below for important changes to our upcoming events calendar and a visual illustration of our journey ahead (along with helpful mantras for each phase!).

As ever, 

Gretchen 

Suggested Reading for More Information: 

Delta Variant: How bad could it get? 
Advice for the Vaccinated – NY Times 

Important Changes to Upcoming Events! 
(Click the image to enlarge.)

Foothills’ Journey Forward
(Click the image to enlarge.)

© 2025 Dispatches from the journey of Foothills Unitarian

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑