Blog
Labor of Love This Sunday
The tradition continues! The annual Labor of Love will take place this Sunday, September 3, 8:30-11:45am, in place of our worship service. We will clean up and trim up the church, so bring your yard tools, gloves and drinks. Tasks will include: moving and discarding furniture, removing fallen branches and trash from the campus, weeding, cleaning out rooms, and washing windows and doors. There’s plenty to do, so come one and come all and we will find a chore for…
Minister’s Message for June 2023
Dear Ones, Our liturgical theme for June is Delight. When I asked the participants of the Wednesday night minister’s class to help me understand the difference between delight and joy, some said that delight has an unexpected quality to it. I rather like that response. And, I find that it rings true to my experience. I find that I use the word delight when I am immensely pleased about something happening in the moment, and quite often something unexpected, as well. What does delight mean for you? The…
Letter to the Congregation: New Ministry Contract
Dear Ones, This is a season of mixed emotions for me as I balance anticipatory grief in leaving you with the delight of having signed a one year renewable contract to serve the Unitarian Universalist Church of the North Hills in the Pittsburgh, PA metropolitan area. It isn’t quite as close to home as I had hoped, but close enough to get home in a long afternoon. They have 183 members and 63 children. Their church is a converted dairy…
The Membership Committee is in Need of Members
We have a great need to build and retain membership in the church, and we need fresh ideas and new faces on the committee. Contact if you’re interested.
Help Feed our Campus Cats
Several years ago the church committed to caring for the feral cat colony that has lived on our church grounds for years. All have been neutered and seem relatively healthy. We currently have three regulars and an occasional fourth cat who shows up now and then. Five dedicated people feed them on a schedule twice a day, bringing the food they deliver with them and placing by the dumpster. Some do it once a week and some seven times a…
Minister’s Letter for April 2023
Dear Ones, The liturgical theme for April is resistance. One way we resist injustice and lack of compassion is what we refer to as “speaking truth to power.” On Monday evening, I participated in a powerful act of resistance when I joined those of our members who attended the I.C.A.R.E. Nehemiah Assembly. At that assembly, clergy and lay people of many different faith traditions presented a series of social and legal problems, well-researched suggestions for tackling those problems, and a…
ICARE Nehemiah Assembly 2023
UUCJ has been a member of ICARE (Interfaith Coalition for Action, Reconciliation and Empowerment) for over 20 years. Members of UUCJ have served on many research committees and the executive committee. Lois Hoeft served on the steering committee for youth civil citations for 10 years until they became a part of the culture of Jacksonville. Part of that action included 4 Neighborhood Accountability Boards (NABS) being formed in Jacksonville – the Northside, West, Beaches and Arlington. The Arlington NAB happens…
Childcare Worker Position
The Membership Team would like to hire an adult (over 18) child care worker for Sunday mornings for three hours a week. Could lead to more hours as we build the REC Room and open the nursery for more events. Application, interview and background check required. Email .
Action Needed to Protect the Okefenokee Swamp!
Twin Pines, a mining company based in Alabama, is proposing to mine titanium in the immediate vicinity of the Okefenokee Swamp. The mining would require the withdrawal of millions of gallons of water which would be very detrimental to the health of the Swamp and to the rivers that it feeds. Unitarians can protest the proposed mining by emailing objections to the mining to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources at: by March 20, 2023. You can state that no…
Minister’s Message for March 2023
Dear Ones, Sometimes the Universe aligns matters in a way that unavoidably resonates with what is happening in our lives. That’s how I experience the fact that our Soul Matters liturgical theme for March is Vulnerability. I recently found myself standing before the assembled mourners at my mother’s memorial service remarking on her loyalty, steadfastness, and readiness to provide a safety net whenever one was needed. I concluded by saying that with her death I felt a little less secure…