Mní Wičóni. Water is life.  This sacred truth, which echoed around the world as the Standing Rock Sioux Nation led the movement to resist the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline across the Missouri River, reveres the interdependence that defines all of our existence. In both the original Lakota and translated English,  Mní Wičóni  (Water is life) reminds us that honoring our connections to the elements—the air, the land, the water—transforms our communities. When we fully embrace water not just as a resource for life but as the  source  of life, we shift from extracting its power to tending to it with reverence. Water—life—is no longer a commodity or an obstacle but instead accompanies us as a close relative. Mní Wičóni , Water is life, is not just an anthem of resistance against the devastation and violence that colonization continues to inflict upon this world. Yes, to declare “water is life” is to demand an end to the pipelines and mines that destroy ancestral lands, as well as the deadly pollution of waterways and neighborhoods caused by chemical plants and industrial agriculture. But it is also a message of healing and hope, grounded in the wisdom of communities that have endured and persevered through the worst of humanity. It is sacred guidance—an invitation to all of us—to not only end the harm we have caused but to restore the gratitude and care inherent in the ecosystems to which we belong.

Side with Love Week Two Trans people are divine. This profound truth, first gifted with the world by J. Mase III and Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi in their Black Trans Prayer Book , is not just a statement but a powerful declaration of sacredness and resilience. It reminds us that trans and nonbinary existence is ancient, predating the oppressive systems of colonization, white supremacy, imperialism, and patriarchy that seek to erase or control it. Last week, one of the first actions of the current administration was to enact executive orders that limit the ways trans and nonbinary people can legally identify in our country. It was the latest effort in an ongoing campaign to legislate these divine beings out of existence. It will not work.

Side with Love Week One In January 2021, immigrant communities, organizers, and their allies met the change in the US Presidential Administration with determination and courage, focused on ending the cruel, xenophobic policies from the Trump administration.

“What is love calling you to do?” is the question asked of us by Side With Love, the advocacy arm of the UUA. We are part of very large coalition of organizations and individuals working for social justice. Side With Love campaigns fall under four major divisions: Climate Justice (Create Climate Justice) Democracy (UU the Vote) LGBTQIA+ & Gender Justice (Uplift) Decriminalization/Ending Detention (Love Resists) Even though there are four divisions, it is recognized that all social justice is intersectional. To find out more about Side With Love go to sidewithlove.org There one can find programs, resources, trainings, and blogs. The UUA, through Side With Love Action, supports the work done on the state and congregational level by providing a “clearing house” where groups can advertise and share their events and projects. UU Faith Action NJ represents our state as part of the Side With Love coalition. 30 DAYS OF LOVE 2025: INHABITING OUR FREEDOM DREAMS Each year Side With Love has 30 days of programming to bring all UUs together as a loving community. The family friendly programming consists of various videos, readings, and activities. You can choose when and how you want to participate. This year the program runs January 20-February 14, 2025. This year’s weekly themes are: Week One: “We are home” From the the immigrant justice coalition lead by United We Dream  Week Two: “Trans people are divine” From the creators of the Black Trans Prayer Book Week Three: “Water Is Life” From the Standing Rock protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline Week Four: “There are Black People in the Future” From artist Alisha B. Wormsley Each week’s resources will include: A Side With Love message to provide political education and context for each weekly theme with lessons and inspiration to move through these times.  A journal practice to reflect and dream to chart a course with clarity and care. A creative/art practice to ground in the beauty and abundance of imagination.    A body practice to ground us in resilience and renewal. A family-friendly, multigenerational activity that builds community as we take action for justice.

It’s not too late to sign up for the Service Auction’s premier Mardi Gras celebration in Chu Hall on Saturday, March 8, for $50 per person. We will provide authentic New Orleans fare from appetizers and a dinner buffet to traditional King Cake (Whoever finds the baby in their slice gets a special surprise), along with Hurricane Punch, wine, beer, and non-alcoholic beverages included in the price. Mardi Gras Evening The party will go from 6PM to 9PM, and seating is limited. This is a fabulous opportunity to invite friends from outside the Fellowship to experience our new facilities, catering expertise, and welcoming community. Members and Fellowship friends who missed the initial signup are also welcome. Click here for more information and to RSVP Don’t miss this celebration! Put on you dancing shoes and “Laissez les bon temps rouler!” (Let the good times roll!)

The new calendar year brings many joys and accomplishments, as well as challenges yet addressed, from a Strategic Planning point of view.  In our 2022 Strategic Plan, we had developed a long list of our needs and desires to improve our beloved community here at Morristown UU, and we have accomplished a great deal in the three years since that Plan was approved.  Many of our SP goals have been woven into our current Vision of Ministry and are in the works, some have been completed, and others will be developed as we have time and talent available. Our notable planned accomplishments since the implementation of the 2022 SP include:  Completion of the new MUUF Gateways Center and approval for a Solar array on its roof! A highly successful Ribbon Cutting celebration of the Center and several other events already held in the space. Improved facilities in the mansion itself, including updating our AudioVisual system, restrooms, meeting rooms, and classrooms, and addressing issues such as the parking lot, issues with leaks and drainage, and the long-needed replacement of the roof. Improved Welcoming activities and work to involve new visitors and mentor them into membership, including regular greetings on arrival on Sunday mornings, follow up of contact info and invitations to attend, monthly newcomer welcome gatherings, newcomer classes, prospective member lunches, and invitations to discussion groups and other activities. A new look to our Website and e-Newsletter , increased integration of our website and newsletter platforms, expanded access to post events and activities on the website and publicize them in the newsletter, more regularly updated events and activities, more engagement on social media (including invitations to join us), the development of a new logo and promotional materials, and improved archiving of documents and weekly e-newsletters. More social events and discussion groups to engage members, friends, and visitors. Involvement of Green Earth Ministry and other environmental allies in educating our children and adults in environmental issues and actions. Religious Education has been increasing offerings and engaging children and adults in various programs with the implementation of our lifespan SoulMatters faith formation curriculum. There is improving communication with the congregation regarding children’s RE and program availability. Generosity of our membership in accomplishing many of our fundraising goals. Major accomplishments beyond what we had planned in 2022 include the search for and hiring of our new Minister, Rev. Sasha Ostrom, and new staff supporting RE, A/V, and the Music program.     The Board and Staff are working diligently on the implementation of Policy Governance , (you may have attended education sessions on this topic).  New policies on various aspects of our governance have been and are being developed; we are currently asking for feedback on policy drafts regarding care of material resources .   As part of the Hotchkiss model of Policy Governance, the Board and Committee on Ministries are beginning the use of Open Questions as a guide in listening to the congregation as the Board prepares to develop the goals and vision of ministry that will guide us in the next program year. SP Items we are working on this year: Reinvigoration of our Social Justice work and activities – including SJ leadership (under the Minister’s purview), volunteerism, identification of SJ activities, and work toward MUUF involvement and leadership in local and regional activist groups. This is a goal in our current Vision of Ministry and is being actively worked on, led by Rev. Sasha. Engagement of members and friends in volunteerism – many of our activities (e.g. tabling at local fairs, etc) are desperate for people to volunteer and help with outreach activities outside our walls (as well as within). Our recent Volunteer Fair was well attended and drew many new prospective volunteers for our many Fellowship activities. A volunteer resource/connections team, reporting to the Minister, is being developed to work on engagement, training, and support of new volunteers. The IT team is continuing to work on website development, links, and accessibility, as well as better ways to track web traffic statistics. A new website design is underway and, once complete, a mockup will be released to the congregation for feedback. We anticipate this will be available for public comment in the next few weeks. Items for future work as time, leadership, and volunteers permit: Leadership training and development of Pathways to Leadership; including Improvement of leader succession – identifying new leaders, supporting leadership transitions, and training in group dynamics, motivation, and covenant development. Youth retention and involvement – developing programs and places for youth to socialize and do good works.  Currently few youth are at MUUF; we need to find ways to be inviting and motivating for youth and young adults. Training and practice in respectful, compassionate listening, communications, and allyship .   There have been a number of instances where this training would be useful and guiding, resulting in better communication and community engagement. Improvement of group document storage and retention , including accessibility for committees and teams to their historical information, and work and cataloging of best practices and lessons learned.  We’ve had volunteers working on some types of documents and we are developing Policies to help with storage and retention. Work on feedback systems – monitoring membership dynamics, why people come and why they go, collection of concerns and suggestions, follow-up. We hope our Open Questions discussion sessions will help us hear feedback from the congregation as well. We also hope to begin offering periodic ministry thinktanks with different groups within the congregation soon, beginning with our upcoming “RE & Worship Thinktank” with RE parents as we look ahead to Fall 2025 programming. Increasing engagement with the community outside our walls – online communities, local UU groups and other faith communities in our region, as well as collaboration with social justice groups locally and regionally, and work with the UUA. As you can see, we have accomplished a lot in three years!  We have more work to do – and a fabulous community to do it with.   Our Beloved Community is growing and changing – and we are glad you are a part of it! We have a spreadsheet with more details and timelines available.  If any of these topics appeal to you and you’d be interested in volunteering to help or getting more information, please contact Nan Perigo .

We have been monitoring the approaching storm carefully. At this time, we are still scheduled to have in-person worship at 10 a.m. but encourage you to join us remotely if that feels safer for your family. Out of an abundance of caution and to give people more time to travel home before the storm hits, we are postponing this week’s religious education classes for all ages until next week, as well as our Volunteer Fair. Additionally, please be sure to check your email and Facebook tomorrow morning to verify that we will still be having worship. If a change occurs, it will be publicized by 8 a.m. No communication by 8 a.m. means we’re still on (for worship only.)

The Board of Trustees has granted a preliminary approval to three Care for Material Resource Policy drafts. Prior to finalization, the Board requests our member participation in a comment period. Please review the Policy drafts & provide your comments using this  Google Form . Dates: The member-comment period for the three Care for Material Resource Policy drafts will be 14 days beginning Jan 15th and ending Jan 29th, 2025. Comment submission: Written comments on the proposed policy may also be submitted to the Board electronically at  board@muuf.org , by mail, or through hand delivery. To submit your comments electronically you can use this linked form. If you prefer to mail comments you can send them to Morristown Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 21 Normandy Heights Rd, Morristown NJ 07960, Attn: Policy Governance Committee. To hand deliver your written comments please put them in the Stewardship mailbox on or before Jan. 29th, 2025. Requirements: You must be a member of the Morristown Unitarian Universalist Fellowship to participate in this comment period. All comments will be considered but not answered directly. We welcome your input! The Policy Governance Committee

Hello beloved Community, It is time to make  “GREEN APRONS”  a reality. WHAT  is a ” Green Apron?” It is a well trained individual who will make up a team of well trained volunteers bringing exceptional hospitality to our Fellowship Events! WHO  is a “Green Apron?” YOU ! HOW  do I become a “Green Apron?” Come to a  fun “Souper Saturday” training session. Learn to use the new kitchen equipment while making “soup” that you will enjoy for your lunch as well as serve at our “Souper Sunday” Brunch the next day. WHERE  will this take place? – In our Gateways kitchen of course! WHEN ?- One weekend a month starting in February 2025. Once you have attended a training session weekend, then you  have earned your very own “Green Apron” with our beautiful MUUF logo to wear when you volunteer for the fellowship. You may assist on service auction events, fellowship events and possible rental events. Become a coffee making pro on our new super fast coffee maker. Learn the 3-sink washing method and how to use our sanitizing dishwasher. Learn how to set-up chafing dishes for buffets or use our new washing machine. This is your opportunity to share in the use of our new Gateways building, and continue to create our  sustainable future. Find a “Souper Saturday” training session Also , if you would like to lead a Soup making Saturday, or add your bread making or dessert baking skill to our lunch or brunch, please sign up at the link above as well. If you have any questions, please contact Diana Hart , our Green Apron Guru.

With winter season’s holidays drawing near, we are busy with family and friends, and the Board was recently reflecting on this calendar year 2024 that flew by so quickly. This is my third year on the Board and I will be ending my term as your Board President in June. The Board noted at our December meeting just how busy this year has truly been and I wanted to reflect back on the year as well as celebrate our accomplishments. REFLECT back to December 2023 as the Board was heavily focused on our four Goals, which included Ministerial Search, Building our New Addition, Communication Flow, and Continuing our Journey of Policy Governance. Our interim Minister, the Rev. Joel Miller and our Staff were supporting all of this work and in addition were working on the many operations of our Fellowship including Worship Services, Weekly E-Blasts, and working to refine the single service which had been implemented in the fall. This was a lot of activity! REFLECT back to December 17, 2023 as the Ministerial Search Committee (MSC) had just submitted our Congregational Record, see Transitions article p. 5 . After months of cottage meetings and information gathering, the MSC presented their gathered information to us in a service which included a humorous skit of Sherlock Holmes and Watson searching for our future minister. We were waiting to see which ministers in search would express interest in our Fellowship. In January, the MSC then started the large task of prepping for interviews and Candidating Week in April. REFLECT back to March 17th, 2024, when many of these desires were also expressed and captured in the Board Update Meeting. This 2-hour long meeting was open to the entire congregation and 90+ members attended. Through a facilitated process, presentations were given by the Board and RE Committee on topics of Finance, Communication, and Religious Education. These presentations answered several questions that had been posed to the Board, and this facilitated session was held to capture Concerns, Questions, Ideas, or Gratitudes (CQIG) from all members present that day. A total of 162 comments were written on Post-It notes, read aloud, and saved on flip-charts.  In our June 26th Newsletter a link to a Realm File folder is given where the March 17 Board Update Meeting Report , and many other Fellowship archives, are available to our members.  All Post-It comments were assembled into an Affinity Diagram, with 46 comments related to Finance, 60 related to Communications, and 56 related to Religious Education.  These were organized into 23 Groupings, referred to as Concerns and Questions. The report lists each of these along with many Answers and Actions Underway . Some Actions were implemented immediately as noted in the report, while others are still in discussion. This meeting was an important chance for all members to speak and be heard. CELEBRATE where we are today, after our wonderful Candidating Week and our unanimous, enthusiastic, and joyous calling of the Rev. Sasha Ostrom to be our 5th Settled Minister in 70 years. Rev. Sasha is so very busy and excited to be leading our Sunday services, staff meetings, and implementing a clear Vision of Ministry that was approved by the Board in August. Our Vision of Ministry (VoM) is focused on helping us live into our Interim Mission Statement. Rev. Sasha is working closely with our staff, committees, and members  to build on our strengths and desires. It is exciting to see how Rev. Sasha’s Vision of Ministry embraces our input from the Cottage Meetings and Candidating Week and will be further guided by her direct discussions with each of you during her One-on-One Listening Tour.  If you haven’t had a one-on-one with Rev. Sasha, please see this link for details . REFLECT back to December 2023 when our Gateways team and contractors were working hard to ready the plumbing and electrical pipes to be ready to pour the concrete floor of our New Addition. We could see steel framework and roofing, but there was so very much to do on the project. They were working on change orders, utility challenges, interior and kitchen design down to colors, chairs, and appliances. It was an imposing task! With so much work underway, they organized into several working teams including Construction, Solar, Kitchen, A/V, Design, Donor Recognition, and Rental Planning. In fact, led by the Rental Planning Team, these collective teams identified the wisdom in moving away from the generic name for our project of “New Addition”. As the project was coming to completion, they recommended that proper names be used in our new Rental Agreements and Rental Brochures on our website. The Board asked these teams to propose names for the building elements that were in keeping with our history and also emphasized that our name, Morristown Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and new branding and logo, developed by the UUA and implemented by our JumpStart team, be the most visible part of all brochures. We were delighted, and approved their recommendation that we use the two building names that have been listed in our capital campaign brochures for the past 10 years and associated with the building for the past 100 years. Please see our new Rental Page , which invites potential renters to “consider holding your event at the Morristown Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. Our campus consists of the historic Thorne Oaks Mansion and the contemporary state-of-the-art Gateways Center”.  CELEBRATE now the glow that is still floating through the Fellowship after the dedication of our new Gateways Center brought a weekend of celebration and community to our Fellowship. Rightly so, as it was the culmination of 14 years of effort in implementing our vision for our 6-acre campus. As I noted in my essay Imagination and Dedication , “the weekend brought expressions of amazement, elation, and pride. It prompted entries in diaries, calls to friends and relatives, hugs in our hallways, and greetings from our wider world.”   There were so many moving speeches and reflections in our Dedication. I especially was inspired by Rev. Sasha’s charge to dedicate ourselves to our Unitarian Universalist faith in how we live into this space and use it to grow, bring our Fellowship members closer together, and have a positive impact in our greater community. Having dignitaries, including our Mayor, Township Council, community partners, like the Folk Project and the Historical Society, all present and sharing in our joy and excitement was particularly moving. It was an exciting launch of our transformed campus and this excitement was enthusiastically shared back with the Fellowship by the community members and alumni who were all present that day. REFLECT back a year as the post-pandemic attendance numbers were still low and our Staff, Board, Volunteers were so busy implementing a change to a single service. Children were starting RE in a quiet building at 9AM and the single service for all ages was being held at 10:15 AM. We were all getting used to the routine, but it was different and difficult at times. There was some Adult RE programming, but it was not weekly and not connected to the childrens’ programs. As the UUA did not have an up-to-date curriculum available, DRE Nick Wallwork was working hard with volunteers to integrate elements of our legacy curricula, UUA elements, and new classroom ideas. The team was busy trying to both build and implement the program with both the new time and the new classes. CELEBRATE now that Rev. Sasha was able to both hear this need clearly and immediately bring her experience in implementing the Soul Matters Thematic Ministry program starting immediately at the beginning of her settled ministry. Building on the learnings from last year, our Staff and Committee Volunteers have implemented  a single service schedule including 10 AM services followed by 11:30 AM religious education for youth and adults. The Soul Matters program, produced by a non-profit group of UU ministers and educators, is allowing our Minister, Staff, and Committees to more seamlessly offer RE for ALL ages and in multiple classes and formats, including discussions, art, and coursework. Our Sanctuary has been nearing capacity for most services and we are excited to have the Staff and Committees begin discussions for future growth.  CELEBRATE as we look forward to continued growth of Sunday service  attendance and are confident we can meet any challenges this growth presents. Remember, one goal of our capital project was to augment and improve flow of our members both in our Thorne Oaks Mansion and sanctuary and in our Gateways Center. The Gateways team and the new Kitchen team are gratified to see how the coffee hour in the Al and Minda Chu Hall is working out so wonderfully. The entire congregation can indeed meet together, enjoy coffee and conversation, and easily join (or watch) their children on the playground. Chu Hall recently allowed coffee hour and refreshments to continue at one end while our information session for the new Solar Project was presented on the stage at the other end. This was all enabled with the great acoustics of our new space. Together with the beautiful new classroom space for children and adults, we’re well positioned to effectively work toward fulfilling our mission and vision. It is so wonderful to see these plans come to fruition! REFLECT back to a year ago as the Board was working and communicating four goals from the pulpit and in newsletter articles. These Must-Do priorities for the Board were: 1) Ministerial Search, 2) Building Addition, 3) Communication Flow, and 4) Continuing our Policy Governance Journey. Each of these focus groups called on Board members, Committees, and Staff to give special attention while continuing daily operations. These daily operations are really time consuming and include Budgeting, Expenses, Annual Pledge Drive, vendor contracts, Board communication and archiving, and listening and responding to members’ questions and concerns.  CELEBRATE now that the first two of these goals were so successfully accomplished. With Rev. Sasha Ostrom joyously called to be our Settled Minister and the Gateways Center now open ready for events and installation of our roof-top solar array. So indeed, at this year’s Board retreat, we took time to celebrate these achievements and then to turn our goal setting to our exciting future, keeping our Interim Mission statement as our guide. (It is quoted again at the end of this article). Our discussions led to three Board goals for this year: 1) Supporting Rev. Sasha in her new role as our settled minister and in implementing our 2024-2025 Vision of Ministry, 2) Exploring Open Questions with the entire congregation, and 3) Continuing our Journey in Policy Governance by reviewing and completing key policies.  1st Board Goal : Our Vision of Ministry focuses on three areas, Worship & RE, Enhanced Communication, and Social Justice. Rev. Sasha is leading the implementation of the VoM with the full support of the Board and, of course, the entire Fellowship. The complete wording of the VoM gives more details on how each area will be explored:  “Nurturing our Spiritual Home” and furthering our “search for truth and meaning” through the worship and religious education including use of the Soul Matters Thematic Ministry,  Working to ensure “all are welcome and encouraged to participate” by fostering deeper community connections through relationship-building and enhanced communication via a 1-on-1 listening tour throughout the year, and,  “Working to build a fair and peaceful world” via working with our existing and new social justice teams. Please see the Board Retreat news article for more details.  2nd Board Goal: Our Exploration of Open Questions will kick off in January with discussions led by our Committee on Ministries. These Open Question discussions will allow the entire Fellowship to give input to important topics that will be used to shape our Vision of Ministry for the following year. Open Questions don’t have simple “Yes” or “No” answers, but rather require congregational discernment and discussion. The Board will use our learnings in next year’s Board Retreat to create our Vision of Ministry for that year. With this in mind, the Board picked three Open Questions which we believe are key for our Fellowship: What does it mean to be Welcoming? How do we thoughtfully use our expanded space and facilities? What is our Mission?  SIGN UP for Open Question #1 What does it mean to be Welcoming? Please follow this link to sign up for the first Open Question Sessions to be held in January. Just a single one-hour meeting is requested per Open Question and there are four days to choose from: In-Person on Sunday January 5th or January 12th at 11:30 AM in Chu Hall, or On-Zoom on Thursday January 16th or Tuesday January 28th at 7:30 PM.  We look forward to everyone signing up for the first Open Question discussion on one of these four dates.  SIGN UP LINK for Open Question: What does it mean to be Welcoming? . 3rd Board Goal : The Policy Governance journey last year was communicated in several information sessions and Network meetings. This link to How We Work is a key way the Board has been working to support Rev. Sasha and our Staff. It contains by-laws and an Organization Chart that helps us explain to Staff and Members how we are working to empower Committees and Teams to work together while also having clear leadership. As Rev. Sasha said to our entire congregation after the unanimous vote, she is overjoyed to be with us in Shared Ministry and to help us live into our Mission. The Organizational Chart is fully aligned with the best practices as shared by the UUA and, actually, with many boards of religious and secular non-profit organizations that use Policy Governance. On Board work this year will include making our policies more complete and consistent. Organizational Chart Our interim mission statement still speaks to the Board and Staff and hopefully to you all. As we light the Chalice in our services and homes each week, may its light help us “To nurture a spiritual home where all are welcome and encouraged to participate in a universal search for truth and meaning while working together to build a fair and peaceful world.”  After the Open Question discussions about “What is our Mission?”, we will be poised to work on our settled Mission Statement. Stay tuned! To keep up with our information and events, keep an eye on our weekly Newsletters, either sent to you in the weekly (Wednesday) email blast (ask admin@muuf.org to be added) or online .  Click on the blue-box links “Read More” in each Newsletter article for more information. With these Reflections and Celebrations, we are so looking forward to the start of 2025 ! Happy Holidays, Paul Ferm, President, and your Board of Trustees

Thank you to everyone who paid their Service Auction invoices and picked up their physical winnings after Sunday services in recent weeks. We will no longer have an auction table on Sunday mornings. If you haven’t yet paid, you can use Realm or mail a check made out to MUUF to the Fellowship. If you need assistance using Realm or would like to pay by credit card or Venmo, please contact Katy in the MUUF office. All payments are due by December 31. Bills for donors who are contributing to the Mardi Gras party (March 8) or the Chili Cookoff (October 18) will be sent a few weeks prior to each event. Kindly email ServiceAuction@muuf.org if you’d like a paper statement mailed to you or to make arrangements for picking up remaining auction items. As we enjoy our Service Auction gatherings, services, and homemade goods, let’s celebrate our community. Thanks to your generosity, our 2024 Service Auction raised over $33,000—one of our best results ever!

We’ve wrapped up bidding and buying for our 2024 Service Auction, which raised over $33,000—one of our best results ever! Electronic billing statements were sent to every participant, and paper statements will be available during the social hour after Sunday’s service, along with physical items people need to pick up. Bills for donors who are contributing to group events such as Mardi Gras and the Chili Cookoff are being sent separately. The Auction Team will be taking payments on Sunday (via check or Venmo). People can also pay at any time via Realm. Payments are due by the end of the month. Thank you to everyone who donated an item, is hosting an event, purchased an offering, helped with the kickoff party, or participated in any of the activities related to the auction. It takes a village to put together MUUF’s largest fundraising event of the year, and we appreciate everyone who participated. The “fun-raising” of auction events is starting and will continue through the coming year. We look forward to seeing you!