HUU sponsors a major fund raiser event each year in February. 2012 was the year of the HUU auction, and 2013 is the year of the All Church Saturday Suppers! All Church Saturday Suppers are a no cooking, fun and enjoyable way to spend an evening with friends while raising funds for HUU.

Saturday Suppers differ from Circle Dinners, in that each host/hostess provides the entire meal. Guests enjoy a dinner without the need to to bring a dish to share. In exchange, they are asked to make a $15 contribution to HUU as a fund raiser.

All dinners will be held on the same night, Saturday, February 23rd. You may choose from at least six different hosts; sign up sheets can be found on the back table in the sanctuary.

Judith Hollowood and Laura Dent will lead a workshop on Saturday January 19, 10 am. We’ll provide guidelines and checklists for leading a service on Sunday and also cover the process we’ve used to develop a talk for Sunday services. Experienced facilitators as well as inexperienced leaders and folks just thinking about facilitating will find something worthwhile in this morning. The workshop is scheduled to last two hours.

Let us know you’re coming at laura@huuweb.org  or judith@huuweb.org, though preregistration is not required.

Members and friends of the Interfaith Association: The City of Harrisonburg is celebrating the International Day of Prayer for Peace with a Peace & Unity Prayer Vigil and Dedication of the Peace Pole on Wednesday, September 21, 2011, at the Lucy Simms Building, 620 Simms Avenue, Harrisonburg. The event begins at 7PM and is free to the public.  Jeffrey Helsing of the United States Institute for Peace is the keynote speaker. Everyone is welcome

Judith Hollowood and David Lane will hold an orientation session for people who are curious about Unitarian-Universalism and HUU, maybe even thinking about joining the fellowship. Session 1 on Saturday October 1 from 10 to 12, rolling into session 2 at the potluck on Sunday October 2. Sign up via email to Judith or David (judith@huuweb.org, david@huuweb.org). You can also just drop in.

A time for reflection, meditation, and renewal – a time to nurture and explore our deeper selves with music, wisdom words, and silence: that’s how we envision VESPERS, a new addition to the HUU worship calendar.

No sermon, no announcements, no technical explanations that interrupt the flow. A worship style that asks participants to stop, focus with song and silence, and listen to the “still, small voice” within.

If you seek a language of reverence that can quiet the mind and free the heart to hear its own truth, consider joining us for a half hour every other month on early Sunday evenings. We will gather for the first time on September 18 at 7:00 PM.

WHEN: May 1, 2011
WHERE: Harrisonburg Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

What is it ?

The “Shower of Stoles” is a remarkable collection of over 1,000 clergy stoles. A stole is the long band of cloth that many clergy wear around their necks in worship. The Shower of Stoles began in the mid 90’s as a way for clergy and their supporters to speak of the pain and suffering they endured while remaining closeted as GLBT persons OR after they finally came out and were asked to leave or literally thrown out of their churches/denominations. Some of the clergy were also suffering AIDS and have died since they donated their stoles to this traveling exhibit.

We will NOT be having all 1,000 stoles ! We will have 30 which will be on display during worship and following during the potluck until around 1:30 p.m. The public has been invited to come to see this display from noon to 1:30 as well.

Every stole tells a story. On the reverse of each stole is a card telling about the person/s who donated the stole and a little of their journey. It is a moving and powerful display.

This showing at HUU is sponsored by our Board and by the Welcoming Congregation Task Force of HUU. HUU is in the process of being certified as a “Welcoming Congregation” through the UUA. Harrisonburg UU has welcomed GLBT persons from the beginning. Certification is a way of joining with hundreds of other UU congregations in a unified witness to our welcome to GLBT persons and to ALL PERSONS. We are nearing the end of the certification process and thank all at HUU for their ongoing support !

What is a pledge?

A pledge is an offer and a plan to contribute an amount of money you choose to your church over the course of the July-June financial year. 

How is this different from putting money in the plate?

Your pledge is the money HUU counts on. The Sunday cash offering provides a small amount of additional income. 

How many people pledge?

In 2009-10, 34 pledges; in 2010-11, 37 pledges. A pledge from a household is counted once, even if there are two members, so the number of pledges is normally fewer than the number of members.

How much should I pledge?

We hope you will give at a level that reflects your ability to contribute and your enthusiasm for HUU. Every household’s ability to give is different.  The range of individual pledged amounts is very wide. 

Every pledge raises our level of participation, and that encourages others to believe that HUU is worth their financial support. All pledges are valuable because they help the governing body of the church plan the budget that members vote on in May.   

In other words, no pledge is too small. In recent years, the average pledge has been in the $1,350 – $1,550 range. As we propose bigger budgets, we hope for bigger pledges. [Read more…]