Happy New Year  2026 UUFA Community

January 2026 Sunday services -All  begin at 11:oo AM and are held at 184 Longview Hts., Athens, OH 45701

January 4 – New You, New UU Banner – Who are we? Symbols and sigels Envisioning for a new banner. Please join us today as we develop our ideas for this new banner.  Nellie James & Roberta Roberson service leaders. 

January 11 – The Quiet Work of Winter – The Quiet Work of Winter is a reflective service centered on rest, interdependence, and transformation. Drawing on nature’s winter rhythms, we consider how our shared values invite us to honor cycles of rest and care—in ourselves, our communities, and our world. We welcome Lish Greiner as our service leader. 

January 18 – Grounding In Context –  As we approach the observance of the Martin Luther King Holiday, the service will examine the role of humor in the pursuit and understanding of UU principles and in the life and work of MLK. Jessie Roberson is our service leader.

January 25 – Reimagining Thriving  January 25th marks the first of five Sunday services that fall under the Unitarian Universalist Association’s (UUA) “30 Days of Love.” The series is designed to move us to enact the principle that Love is at the Center of our faith community. At a time when our community, both local and global, is facing many challenges, we are “Reimagining the World as it Could Be.” In this first Sunday of the series Pete Mather will lead us in exploring how to champion the audacious goal of all people thriving in today’s world. 

 

Happy New Year Message from our congregational President

Dear Friends, Members, and Kindred Spirits of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Athens,

As we move toward a new calendar year, I find myself reflecting on the wild ride that has been 2025. It has been a year marked by what often felt like a dark tunnel, moving further from the light. The impacts have been felt on the personal and societal levels. Those who embrace democratic and inclusive values have had our resolve tested. We’ve witnessed the deliberate engineering of division, the politics of separation, and the rise of narratives that divert our attention from what we have in common.

Yet, within the Fellowship and beyond, I see signs of a hopeful awakening.

This year has brought into sharper focus a heightened collective consciousness around issues of equity and justice. People are daily being confronted with images of systemic harm, and they are responding with a passion that has for too long been sedated. Times like this bring to the surface awareness and need for transformation. There is a visceral understanding that we are all stitched together in one fabric of destiny.

This is where our Unitarian Universalist faith, and specifically our commitment to the
“Interdependent Web of All Existence,” becomes not just a principle, but a radical call to action.

“Separation is Not Reality”

In 2025, I participated in a cross-cultural experience in South Africa with a seminary class. Throughout the two weeks in the country, we repeatedly encountered the legacy of Apartheid, a political and social system based on class division and race-based hierarchy. Seeing these same distorted values surfacing in the U.S. and around the world today can be disheartening. Our faith tradition affirms and promotes the inherent worth and dignity of every person, and calls us to justice, equity, and compassion in human relations. These principles are not isolated ideals; they
flow from the ultimate truth that we are but one part of an interdependent web.
One of our South African hosts forcefully asserted that “Separation is not Reality.” The forces of division are built upon a seductive yet false illusion that we are independent from one another—the idea that one person or one group can truly flourish while others suffer. As 2025 comes to an end, we recognize the insidious nature of this lie. The health of the whole is bound up in the health of every part. When one person's right to flourish is denied, the fabric of society frays, and the security of us all is threatened.

I believe our most important task is to challenge the notion that radical independence is a virtue. As Unitarian Universalists in Athens, we choose to embrace the hopeful road grounded in seeing our common plight as humans, as well as our connection to nature.
We are called to consciously, intentionally, and faithfully remember the truth of interdependence when the wider world is trying to forget it.

We are called to:

•  Embrace opportunities to cross divides: Recognizing that every person, even those

  with whom we disagree, is a part of the whole and is worth being in connection with.

• Act for justice: Understanding that working to dismantle oppression is not an act of

  charity, but a necessary act of preservation for the entire, interconnected human

  community. It is the core of our spiritual work.

• Hold our community close: Providing a harbor of care, connection, and spiritual

  resilience against the storms of isolation and despair.

• Weaving a Future Together

The hope I see emerging in this time is not a naive optimism that things will simply get better on their own. It is a hope born from the rising consciousness of people—across generations and backgrounds—who are willing open their eyes to the reality of connection and to do the necessary work of weaving a more just and equitable world.

At the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Athens, we have the chance to be a sanctuary where we can rest and renew our spirits, and a generative space where we sharpen our will and skills for justice. Let us continue to draw strength from embracing our fundamental interdependence, recognizing that our destinies are bound up with one another. Let us refuse the temptation of division, and instead, invest our time, energy, and love in the ties that truly bind us. The path forward requires courage, persistence, and a deep commitment to the web of life. I am grateful to be on this journey with all of you, walking forward in hope, grounded in love, and forever connected.

Warmly,
Pete Mather
Board President, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Athens

What’s New in Unitarian Universalist Association news?

Honor and Commitment

By Takiyah Nur Amin

December 17, 2025

“Our children need a sense of specialness that comes from participating in a known and loved ritual. They need the mastery of self-discipline that comes from order. They need the self-awareness that comes from a knowledge of their past. They need Kwanzaa as a tool for building their future and our own.”
—Jessica B. Harris

The first Kwanzaa workshop I ever gave was in the first grade for all my classmates. By the age of six, I’d had plenty of experience celebrating Kwanzaa and accompanying my mother to churches, schools, libraries, and community centers where she gave presentations on this special tradition. Kwanzaa started in 1966—my family started observing it in our home in 1967—so I’ve never lived a year of my life without the gift and brilliance of this holiday.

When I was really little, it was like magic: we’d go to bed one evening and wake up to a beautiful Kwanzaa table set up in our living room that my parents had worked on overnight. In my family we talked about the Nguzo Saba—Kwanzaa’s seven principles—all year round and in December, we gathered to reflect and celebrate!

At Kwanzaa, part of the ritual each day is to pass around the Kikombe cha Umoja (unity cup). Everybody talks about what they did to honor that day’s principle throughout the year, and the commitment that they’re making for next year. That was a big deal as a kid. When you get gifts at Kwanzaa, they’re supposed to be reminders of your heritage and culture and to honor the commitments that you made throughout the year. This meant gifts were always tied to meaningful stuff.

So when you’re a little kid, you might say, “For Umoja, I’m really going to try to fight less with my siblings this year.” And when Kwanzaa rolls around, your mother has given you a boardgame to share with your brother and sister and written you a beautiful card that says, “I saw you trying hard this year to get along better with your siblings, and Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you.” That recognition and celebration of who I was and what I’d done made me feel affirmed and supported.

Now, it could also be a little embarrassing: you’d go back to school and kids would ask, “What’d you get for the holidays?” Some kids got a Nintendo; I got a piece of Kente cloth and books from my grandmother. But it was important and empowering–and as an adult, the Nguzo Saba, Kwanzaa’s 7 principles–sometimes referred to as the Foundation for Complex Problem Solving–still help me. There have been times where I’ve been stumped—trying to do something or solve something—and I’ve used those principles to help order my thinking. They’ve been a reminder, too, about valuing my heritage, history, and culture as a person of African descent in the world.

Today, as an adult away from home, I have to make the magic—if the Kwanzaa table goes up, it’s because I’m putting it up. Plus, every year is somebody’s first Kwanzaa: there’s somebody who hasn’t heard about it, or they’ve heard misconceptions. Those of us who grew up with Kwanzaa have an additional responsibility to teach the tradition: No, you can’t just have red, white, and blue candles. No, you can’t leave stuff off the table. No, you can’t just change stuff: it’s a tradition. There’s so much richness to be found in incorporating the principles all year and then celebrating the annual observance.

As a Black UU from a multi-religious family, having a celebration that focused on our shared history, heritage, and culture grounded and guided me, ethically and culturally. I am grateful for the tradition of Kwanzaa and hopeful that others will continue to embrace its depth and beauty.

Prayer

Spirit of Life, thank you for principles that guide, traditions that inform, and celebrations that remind us of the very best of who we are and what we can be in the world.

 

UUFA Year Review in Photos  – Thank you to everyone in our community for your contributions this past year.  We are an active and engaged community .  Warmest regards to all for a Happy New Year.