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Living in the Spirit of Thanks
November 23, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. Online and in-person Rev. Joyce Palmer
Gratitude is more than a passing feeling it can be a spiritual practice that shapes the way we see ourselves, our communities, and the wider world. Drawing inspiration from Galen Guengerich’s The Way of Gratitude: A New Spirituality for Today, this service invites us to consider how cultivating gratitude can deepen our lives.
We will share the plate with The Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth
Mission: Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth is a seedbed for spiritual grounding and education that inspires deep practices of Earth care, justice and flourishing for all.
Vision: A world in which reverence, gratitude, and care for each other and for the living Earth are central to the lives of all people. Click Here to Donate
Sex & Gender Justice Team
Sunday, November 23, Noon: Lunch with the Sex & Gender Justice Team at Disco Chicken! 212 E. State St. This is instead of our usual monthly meeting. Let Lia Gima know BY SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22, if you would like to join us.
MELD Donation Collection
We will be holding our annual holiday collection to support Rockford MELD again this year. You are invited to choose an ornament from the tree with an item requested by a family listed on the back of it. You may choose more than one ornament. Once you have purchased the items listed on the ornament, place them in the bin in the narthex designated for MELD donations. Please do not wrap the items that you donate. Contact Lindsay with any questions reuurockford@gmail.com.
Donations will be collected through Sunday, December 14.
Past Sunday Services
Did you know you can watch past Sunday services anytime? We have them on our website under past worship services so you never have to miss a Sunday! Click here to find a service that you haven’t seen yet! You can also always go to our Facebook and YouTube pages.
Action of the Week:
Shop with Your UU Values this Holiday Seaso
Last Sunday UUs turned out more than 500 people across the state – more than half the statewide total turnout – to express our UU values and protest AT&T’s complicity with ICE. The protest rally held by our Champaign-Urbana UUs was even featured on the Rachel Maddow show on Monday night (21:00-21:30 on this video)! And we’re just getting started – the next action is planned for Saturday, December 13. First: We’re asking you to not only sign but also share last week’s pledge not to buy any AT&T products or plans this holiday season until AT&T stops contracting with ICE. More than 6000 people have signed since the campaign was launched Sunday and the count is rising by the hour. Our goal is to reduce AT&T’s holiday bump by more than the amount of the ICE contract to make it in AT&T’s interest to drop the contract.
Second: We have a big ask to buy from local small businesses (rather than corporate) this holiday season. Learn more by attending the national “We Choose Workers over Billionaires This Holiday Season” call at 7 pm CT TONIGHT (Thursday, 11/20). We encourage you to pass this along and invite friends and fellow congregation members to attend. We don’t usually consider an informational meeting an “action” but this one merits an exception given the scale of what’s being attempted.
The Board of Trustees:
President: Wendy Bennett
Vice President: Diane Kuehl
Clerk: Scott Garwick
Treasurer: Bob Spelman
Trustees: Kendra Asbury, Clark Logemann, Neita Webster
The Unitarian Universalist Church, Rockford, IL | 4848 Turner St., Rockford, IL 61107 | 815-398-6322 | uurockford.org |
