News - The Week Ahead at UUCB

Babies and the News
Rev. Marcus Liefert
Sunday December 7 Worship Service 11 am

How are we supposed to hold all the desperation of our times and all the wonder of the season all at once? The journey to Bethlehem beckons, promising a mess of politics, poverty, unplanned pregnancy, braying animals, and a hope powerful enough to change the world.

In Person, Facebook Live and YouTube
Wanna watch last week’s sermon? Replay it here.
Listen to a recording of our sermons wherever you get your podcasts

Saturday, December 6

10 am Tree Decorating PartyIn Person – Families and children particularly welcome! We will be decorating the tree and putting out the train underneath. There will be tasty snacks.

9 am Choir and Chamber Winter SongsSanctuary – Experience the luminous choral works of Ola Gjeilo, including Tundra, Northern Lights, and The Ground, alongside exquisite chamber music by Mozart and Schumann, featuring a Mozart sonata and quartet and Schumann’s Piano Quintet. More Info.

Sunday December 7, 2025

10 am Youth and Children’s Choir Rehearsal
Meditation Room (below the Sanctuary) – Open to all children and youth, ages 5½ and up. Prior musical experience is not required. Email Teacher Katie for questions.

10:30 am Coffee and Community
Atrium – Starts at 10:30 am in the Atrium

11 am Religious Education
In Person – Join us for Religious Exploration (RE). We have activities for children from kindergarten through 12th grade. Together, we will talk about building the common good. Please email Kathryn Jay, Minister of Congregational Life for more information: kathryn@uucb.org.

11 am Worship Service
In Person, Facebook Live and YouTube – Babies and the News. Rev. Marcus Liefert, preaching.

12 pm Light Lunch
Social Hall – Be our guest for a light lunch in the Social Hall after the service. Helpers to prepare food and clean up are always welcome! For information on how to volunteer, please email Rev. Kathryn Jay.

12:15 pm Food Blessing
Main Parking Lot – At the end of the day’s service, we will be blessing the food gathered from our Annual Drive.

12:30 pm Newcomer Q&A
Fireside Room – Informal gathering where visitors and newcomers can learn more about what UUCB has to offer.

1 pm Pride Project (1st Sunday)
Safir Room – The Pride project’s objective is to initiate social gatherings, increase visibility, provide a platform for education and awareness, offer support and develop responses to current events.

1 pm Humanist Connections
Zoom and Safir Room – December 7: Harold Ogren will help arrange for the selection of topics and speakers for January followed by a “Freethinkers” group discussion. The Humanist Connections group meets weekly to discuss topics relating to our humanity, values, ideas. “A free and responsible search for truth and meaning.” (4th principle of Unitarian Universalism.) For more information, contact Harold Ogren.

Click here to join on Zoom

The Week

Monday, December 8

9 am Write for Your LifeZoom – “Write For Your Life” is a meditative sharing practice for people who like to write. Please email Kit Hewitt for Zoom link and details.

9 am Women’s Meditation Group
Zoom – This group meets weekly to practice “Mettā” (pr. METTT-tttah) or “loving kindness” meditation in the Southeast Asian Buddhist philosophy tradition. Contact: Evelie Delfino Såles Posch.

Tuesday, December 9

10 am Improving Your Balance Through Tai Chi
In Person – Email Neil Clark for more information.

12:15 pm Applied UU Buddhist SanghaZoom – A weekly discussion group with time for meditation. Contact Lynnette Delgado for more info.

11:30 am – 1:30 pm Immigrant Solidarity Project VigilsIn Person – Join us to show solidarity with people going to immigration court in Concord at 1855 Gateway Blvd. We’ll be on the sidewalk between the entry and exit lanes of the building driveway. Bring sun protection, water and a chair if you need one. We have signs in English and Spanish. Contact Francey (970) 391-2547 for more info. Interest Form and Calendar.

6 pm An Evening with Rev. Mary Katherine Morn, President of UUSCAtrium – Please join Rev. Marcus Liefert, Rev. Kathryn Jay, and UU’s from around the Bay Area who support UUSC’s work for a gathering with Rev. Mary Katherine Morn to hear her firsthand stories of the impact of UUSC’s human rights and social justice initiatives. Come to be inspired, to learn how UUSC partners around the world have resisted authoritarian governments for years, and to connect with others who care about advancing human rights over a simple soup supper. RSVP here.

Wednesday, December 10

10 am Walk & Talk Group
A small group meets for a vigorous one-hour walk. All are welcome. We are building loving community while supporting our physical and mental well-being. On 1st Wednesdays, meet at Pt. Isabel (dog park) parking lot. On 2nd and 4th Wednesdays, meet at the UUCB front parking lot and we will walk from there. On 3rd and 5th Wednesdays, contact Ann Harlow or Lisa Maynard for meeting location.

10:30 am Aging with Grace
Zoom – A weekly gathering of people sharing ideas and encouragement as they age. Contact Anne Greenwood or Jane Ramsey.

7 pm Social Justice Council (2nd Wednesday)
Zoom – For more information, contact Cyndy Greenleaf.

Thursday, December 11

5:30 pm Learn Javanese music at UUCB! In Person – Experience firsthand the meditative Javanese gamelan. All ages and levels of musical skill welcome. Contact Daniel Schmidt or Tom Tripp.

7:15 pm Choir Rehearsal
In Person – Luminescence, our choir of adults, joins to sing on Thursday nights in the Sanctuary. New singers are most welcome! You don’t need choral experience, nor do you need to read music—though both help in learning the new music.

Friday, December 12

9:30 am Improving Your Balance Through Tai Chi
In Person – Contact Neil Clark for more information.

Saturday, December 13

10 am Holiday Remembrance Event
In Person – Join us in making and decorating holiday cookies and drawings, signing holiday cards, and making remembrance bags for those 80 and better and those for whom 2025 has been a tough year. More Info.

2 pm Adult Exploration: Death Café Conversations
Safir Room – Death Café is a recent movement that brings people together to “drink tea, eat cake, and talk about death.” When we feel safe talking about death and dying, it helps us make the most of our finite lives. Everyone is welcome.

7:30 pm Kensington Symphony Orchestra: Winter Daydreams
Sanctuary – Join KSO in their presentation of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 1 in G minor, Op 13 (“Winter Daydreams”). Tickets Here.

Upcoming Events

Dec 14 – Last Day to Vote for 2026 Good Neighbors
Dec 17 – Blue Holiday Service
Dec 19-29 – Winter Labyrinth
Dec 20 – Church du Soleil
Dec 21 – Mist Tree Moon Circle
Dec 21 – Messiah Sing-Along
Dec 24 – Christmas Cookie Potluck
Dec 24 – Christmas Eve Worship Services

Announcements & Resources

We want YOU TO VOTE to help select UUCB’s Good Neighbor recipients for 2026. Voting will happen at the Social Justice Council meeting, Wednesday, December 10 at 7pm on Zoom. We have prepared a document about the organizations you have nominated. Please read the informational packet about all 25 nominees. Included are the names of each non profit, their mission statements, and websites. At the Social Justice Council meeting, you will hear from each nominated organization. More Info.

Click here to join on zoom.

Please join us in Holiday Remembrance Activities December 13 10am – 4pm. We’ll create Loving Community and remember our members 80 and better and those we’re aware have had a rough year. We’ll brighten the season by writing cards and creating remembrance bags, filled with cookies baked and decorated by our children and families.You may donate holiday cards in the box in the office. After church on Dec 14, you may choose one or more bags to deliver and share a holiday chat. Contact pastoral care, Melissa Rosales or Barbara Cullinane.

We were just gifted with a donation for Blessings Bags. Blessings Bags had “retired,” but because there is such momentum and interest, we are re-starting the project! We ask that if you travel and acquire toiletries (such as toothpaste, brushes, soap, shampoo, conditioner, lotion) please bring them to UUCB and there will be a fuchsia box in the atrium to welcome them. We also need socks. Our first assemble will be in January 2026.

Beloved community, as the season of generosity approaches, let us remember how essential our staff are to the life of our church. Their dedication in facilities, administration, music, family ministry, and more keeps our community inspired and thriving. Through Dec 22, a cash-only donation box will be in the atrium for end-of-year staff appreciation gifts. With over 20 staff members, our goal is at least $100 per person, to be presented at a special gathering later this year. Thank you for your generosity! Please contact Carla McCasland with any questions.

We are looking for a new home for our Baldwin Baby Grand piano! If you would like this piano, or know someone who would, please reach out to Janae Heard soon – we are trying to re-home it as soon as possible!

Good Neighbor for December

Nurturing Independence Through Artistic Development (NIAD)
Mission: Through its visual arts studio program, NIAD gives people with disabilities the skills and experience to express themselves, be independent and earn income as an artist. This nurturing community of artists fosters experimentation, increases competence to make informed choices and increases connections among diverse communities through the commonality of creative expression.

UUCB Staff and Board Availability

Board Listening Presence: Helen Toy.
Rev. Marcus Liefert (Minister) meetings by appointment on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Email
Rev. Kathryn Jay (Minister of Congregational Life): open office hours Tuesday and Thursday. By appointment on Wednesday and Friday. Email
Bryan Baker (Director of Music): in person Thursdays and Sunday mornings, and remotely Fridays. Email
Janae Heard (Operations Director): in office Tuesdays and Thursdays 11-5. Works remotely M-W-F. Email
Peter Barnholdt (Facilities Manager): Tuesday-Friday 11-7:30. Email
Charis Domador (Manager of Membership and Engagement): in office Thursdays and Sundays. Works remotely M-W. Email
Eliza Cantwell (Office Administrator and Rentals Coordinator): in office Tuesdays and Thursdays 10-4. Email.
Diana Steinbach (Finance Administrator) works remotely Mondays and Thursdays. Email

Staff will be on holiday December 25 – January 1.

Stay in Touch

Pastoral Care Need? If you or a UUCB congregant you know is sick, hospitalized, recovering, grieving or otherwise in need of attention and support, please email us at pastoralcare@uucb.org. In case of a pastoral emergency, you may call Rev. Marcus Liefert at (510) 525-0302 ext. 303 He is always available for pastoral needs, as phone messages will be forwarded to him.
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Social Justice email list: Email Sheldon Jones.

Submit items for The Week Ahead to weekahead@uucb.org by 8 am Wednesday. Please limit announcements to 325 characters (with spaces).

Submit items for the Beacon monthly newsletter to beacon@uucb.org by the 15th of the month.

Our Board of Trustees Widening the Circle Vision Statement:
“We, the trustees of UUCB commit ourselves to championing racialjustice, embodying anti-racist practices, and confronting anddismantling white supremacy culture and all forms of oppression(including but not limited to racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia,transphobia, classism, ageism, xenophobia and religious oppression,including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia) in everything we do.”