Year: 2021 (Page 3 of 23)

All Community Message: Covid Exposure & Safety Measures

December 3, 2021 /

Dear Foothills friends and members,

We received notification today that we experienced a COVID exposure in our 8:30 AM service on November 28th.  All those in attendance have been notified and sent follow up information. 

Out of an abundance of caution, we have asked all attendees at that service to abstain from in-person church events either until they have results of a negative PCR or have surpassed 10 days since exposure. Because many of our attendees at that service attend weekly, we have also made the  decision to cancel this week’s 8:30 AM service.  We are grateful to be able to invite everyone to instead attend our 9:00 service online instead.  

Foothills Unitarian Church takes an aggressive approach to risk mitigation, including vaccine requirements, distancing and masking, which means the likelihood of spread in this type of environment from one vaccinated person to another is extremely low. 

However, this is a good a reminder for all of us to stay vigilant and attentive to precautions that keep our whole community safe. 

We will still offer our 10 AM intergenerational service in person in addition to our 9 and 11 AM online services, as well as hold the Congregational Meeting online at 1 PM. We look forward to seeing you soon! 

Thank you for helping us keep our community safe!

Making Peace with What Haunts Us (Day 7)

December 2, 2021 /

Making Peace With What Haunts Us: A Writing Practice

Find a pen and paper. 

Set aside 10 minutes in a quiet space that allows you to focus.

When we consider making peace with what haunts us, it can be helpful to examine where exactly we’re trying to get to. What do we mean by “peace”? The following reflection and writing prompts from Unitarian Universalist Minister Rev. Karen Hering can guide our journey by helping us discern where we’d like to end up.

***********

We sometimes think of peace as an absence of conflict, but the experience of true peace can have a very strong presence. Answer the questions below in a brainstorming fashion, jotting down whatever comes to you without asking why. If a particular question doesn’t evoke any response, move on to the next. When you get to the end, look over your answers and use as many of them as you like in writing from the prompt provided.

  • If peace were a room in your house, what room would it be?
  • What object in your home or in your workplace do you associate with peace?
  • If peace were a way of moving what would it do (walking, skipping, leaping…)?
  • If peace were a food, what would it be and how would it taste?
  • Where in your body is most sensitive to feelings of peace? How do you experience peace in your body? (Use as many of your senses as you can in describing this.)
  • If peace were a color, what color and quality of color (deep, pale, reflective) would it be?
  • If peace were a musical instrument, what would it be and what music would it play?
  • If peace were a creature – on land or in sky or sea – what would it be and how would it live and move in the world? What sounds would it make?
  • What place in nature, real or imagined, do you associate with peace?

Now, using as many the associations named above as you like, begin with the prompt below and follow wherever it leads:

I found peace…

What Captures Your Heart?

November 30, 2021 /
Donate for Giving Tuesday

Giving Tuesday is all about finding a place to give that captures your heart. It’s about spending money in a way that reflects your deepest values.

At Foothills, our budget reflects our deepest values. From children’s programming to justice work, everything we do is funded by you – our beloved community members. We’re excited to share just a glimpse into the impact we’ve had in 2021 (stay tuned for our full annual report coming next month!):

  • We played a crucial role in launching the Vaccine Equity Coalition, a grassroots effort by local organizations to improve access to the Covid-19 vaccine in BIPOC and Latinx communities. The Spanish-language call line created by the coalition registered 2,700 community members for vaccines, and five community clinics administered 1411 vaccines. And these numbers don’t capture the enormous effort involved in organizing outreach, addressing vaccine hesitancy, 2nd dose reminders, community updates on new variants, and more. Our work helping to form and support the coalition led to us being honored with BizWest’s COVID 19 Health Care Heroes Ally Award. 

  • 267 children and youth participated in our Family Ministry programs so far this year! We offered three in-person outdoor Kids Camps, weekly high school youth group, a Blessing of the Animals, a Blessing of the Backpacks, and 15 middle schoolers participated in our Coming of Age Program. We were also able to relaunch the Our Whole Lives Sexuality Education program, in which 23 8th & 9th graders are currently participating! 

  • From meals and individual outreach to grief support and caring cards, we provided over 600 acts of care. 

  • 280 people participated in a small group. 

  • 198 people were involved with racial justice initiatives, including training, book groups, social change teams, and community partnerships. 

  • We continued to house families experiencing homelessness in our building through our partnership with the Family Housing Network, and we were named Family Housing Network’s Partner Organization of the Year. 

  • Over 1,000 people joined us for one of the 112 Sunday services we’ve held so far this year, and the YouTube videos of our services received over 37,000 views. 

  • We shared $65,000 with our community partners doing important work, including LGBT support, suicide prevention, and racial justice advocacy.

While 2021 has been a great year of engagement for our church, the Pandemic and all that came with it continue to be difficult for many in our community and beyond. We remain committed to showing up every day to care for each other, to strive for a world free from oppression, and to offer a home away from home where all are welcome to find grounding and belonging. All our work requires funding, and we are working hard to close our budget out strong.

We have set a big goal of raising $10,000 today for Giving Tuesday.

If you have already made an end-of-year gift, thank you. It not only makes a difference for our Foothills Community but also for spreading our progressive values and Courageous Love in Northern Colorado and beyond.

If you haven’t yet made a gift, we hope you’ll consider making a gift to Foothills Unitarian today – but if it’s not us, we still hope you’ll find a place to give that aligns with your hopes for the future. Because together, we can unleash courageous love across Northern Colorado and beyond.

Give Today

Making Peace with What Haunts Us (Day 6)

November 30, 2021 /

Today, Kelsey offers a short audio guide on how to respond (rather than react) when one of your ghosts is triggered.

Audio Guide for Responding to Ghosts

Notice of Congregational Meeting: December 5th

November 22, 2021 /
Review Meeting Packet

NOTICE OF CONGREGATIONAL MEETING

The Board of Trustees announces Foothills’ fall congregational meeting at 1 pm on Sunday, December 5th, online, for the purposes of approving the 2022 operating budget. Please CLICK HERE to register for the Congregational Meeting.

Unitarian Universalist churches are independent and self-governing. Annually, each congregation must vote to approve its budget for the upcoming year.

Foothills’ Board of Trustees has reviewed the proposed budget prepared by Ministry and affirms that it is fiscally sound and sufficiently funds the work of advancing the congregation’s seven vision statements in the coming year.

Our bylaws require a quorum of 10 percent of our membership to convene this budget approval meeting. We encourage all friends members of the congregation to attend. Per our church bylaws, in order to vote in congregational meetings, you must be on the membership rolls at least 30 days in advance of the meeting.  If you are unsure of your membership status, please contact the Foothills office at (970) 493-5906.

There will be an opportunity for detailed review and discussion of the budget on Tuesday, November 30th at noon on Zoom. The zoom room link for this question and answer session can also be found at www.foothillsuu.org/today for November 30th.

The meeting agenda will consist of the 2022 budget approval, a year-end report from the ministry, and a building expansion update, as well as our annual celebration of new births and remembrance of members who have died during the year.

We look forward to seeing you at this important moment in the life of our congregation.

Sue Sullivan
President
Board of Trustees

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2025 Dispatches from the journey of Foothills Unitarian

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑