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“Hope and Joy” – Rev. Addae Kraba & Yesenia McNett

Christmas offers us a chance to affirm together the vision that shapes and challenges us as a people of faith, because our faith is evident in the way we celebrate the season. Love reaches out beyond our own families as our hands do the work of making this world a better place for all people. Let’s celebrate those things that offer hope to bring us joy. 🎄 This service will be posted to the UUNB YouTube page by 6pm on Christmas Eve. You can access the service at the time which is the most pleasant for you and your family at the UUNB YouTube Channel.

The Board of Trustees is delighted to announce that our wonderful church will be reopened for in-person hybrid services beginning December 5! Those of you that wish to continue attending via Zoom will be able to do that. You will continue to receive a newsletter and a mid-month UUpdate with the Zoom link. Those of you who wish to attend in-person can do so beginning December 5. Out of continuing concern for our health and well-being, vaccinations and masks will be required. Determination of vaccination status will be on the honor system. If you have not been fully vaccinated, please continue to attend via Zoom. Please bring a mask, although we will have some to distribute if you forget. We will have greeters to meet you at the doors and ushers to help you with seating.

The church will be divided into two spaces – one for vaccinated adults and one for largely still unvaccinated children. Adults will enter through the front double doors, pass through the foyer, and enter the Gathering Room. Children will enter through the playground door and enter the RE room. Both spaces have been equipped with air purifiers which kill the Covid-19 virus. A divider will be set up in the hallway between the two bathrooms. The former men’s bathroom will become the RE children’s bathroom. The former women’s bathroom will become a new unisex bathroom for adults. Bathroom use will be restricted to one person at a time.

The Gathering Room has been set up with 8 chairs socially distanced by 6 feet for immunocompromised adults, and 22 chairs socially distanced by 3 feet. When you enter the foyer, a greeter will ask you your party’s size and if you want to sit in a group. An usher will set up additional chairs next to each other to accommodate couples or larger groups. The RE children will be masked and socially distanced by 3 feet. If you have a child in RE, Jessica will be providing more details.

For now, there will be no beverage or food served, however, bottled water will be available. You are also invited to bring your own. We will not be requiring reservations, but a greeter will keep a list of attendees if we need names for contact tracing. If you are diagnosed with Covid-19 after having attended a service in-person, we ask that you inform Dianne Rahm via email or phone. If there are any questions, you can also contact Dianne Rahm (dianne.rahm@sbcglobal.net or 210-216-4976).

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! We hope that you and all of your family members have had a wonderful Merry Christmas. Now it is time for a new year to start and for us to start planning our futures. With the COVID vaccines being administered, hopes of a better tomorrow are starting to whet our appetites to travel, to visit others, to get out and see the world again. While that could be our future, the future of those stuck at the border is much, much less certain. Let us hope our new administration will change the programs affecting our asylum seekers and make it easier for them to come into our country. Let us hope their lives will be better in the near future. Recently our UUNB congregation participated in a project that made the lives of those stuck at the border much better.

On Monday, December 21st, Tully Tullberg, Jo Pendleton (IWC member), and I crossed over into Nuevo Laredo, Mexico to take Christmas presents to the children of the parents stuck at the border. Many members of our church donated funds, toys, clothing, and other supplies to put together individualized gift bags for the kids. We then added items such as toiletries, fruit, candy, coloring books, and crayons, etc. The end result was 12 gift bags for the children in Nuevo Laredo and 7 for those in Saltillo, Mexico. We also took clothing, blankets, and food items for the adults. While we were there, the children put on a Nativity Play for us. It was amazing that they were able to make costumes, build paper mâché animals, angel wings, etc. They even built a small hut to simulate a manger. The baby Christ Child was an actual live refugee baby! We gave so little to them, but they gave us so much in return.

The leaders of the Refugee Support Network, the UUNB Board of Trustees, and other generous members of our community wish to thank all of those that helped make this project a huge success. We all experience a warm feeling when we are able to help others. Those 25 or so families that we gave a small bit of holiday spirit to will realize that there are some Americans who truly believe in their cause and will help them in whatever manner they can.

Here’s hoping you have a wonderful New Year!! Continue to stay healthy and to observe the guidelines of the CDC.

Chili Ornelas

UUNB honored healthcare workers at four different assisted living and skilled nursing facilities in New Braunfels this past Thursday and Friday, December 17 and 18, 2020.

The Social Justice/Social Service Committee led a “Heroes Appreciations Project” to recognize staff at Eden Hill Communities, Rio Terra Senior Living, Kirkwood Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, and Sundance Inn Health Center.

UUNB received help from the local Walmart to obtain 94 poinsettias and safely distribute them to healthcare workers as a symbol of appreciation for their sacrifices during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The following is a “Letter to the Editor” that was published in the September 26th, 2020 edition of the Herald-Zeitung.

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In his famous “I Have a Dream” speech on 28 August 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke about the promise expressed in our Constitution and in our Declaration of Independence.  A promise that “all men, yes, black men and white men, would be guaranteed the inalienable right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Recent demonstrations in New Braunfels, decrying the BLM movement with boisterous noises and the display of firearms, appear to negate that promise.  These recent community incidents do not reflect our national values.

We strongly support and stand by our Mayor Rusty Brockman.  He wrote, “Some members of our community have felt attacked, demoralized, misunderstood, and concerned.  This is not the New Braunfels that I know and love.” 

We also support and stand by Mr. Henry Ford the founder of the local chapter of the MLK Association.  He was quoted recently when speaking about peaceful campaigning by stating, “When someone is threatening others, this a different story.  African-Americans are afraid for their lives.” 

No one should be afraid to live in our city.

We, the Rev. Addae A. Kraba and the the Board of Trustees of the Unitarian Universalists Church of New Braunfels, stand up and strongly state, “This Is Wrong!” 

Our church has several principles that we live by.  We believe there should be justice, equity, and compassion in human relations.  We also believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every person.  We believe in the peaceful expression of democratic right and values, with kindness in all human interactions.  We are sure that other churches in our community hold these beliefs too.

We would like to encourage other religious churches and organizations to come forth and support our mayor and our city council as well as the MLK Association.  While the actions of groups like these convoys are legal, our city council can pass city ordinances that lessen the fear and stress to our citizens.  Possible solutions include, but not limited to, parade permits, limits on number of vehicles in a convoy, police escorts, no horn-honking zones, no shouting at citizens.  No one in our community should ever feel threatened, nor live in fear.

These incidents of harassment, intended or not, are not what our community stand for.  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., ends his speech with his “Let Freedom’Ring” statements. 

We can all work together to create a better future.  It is up to all of us to say, “Let Freedom Ring” from the Streets of the Great City of New Braunfels.

Thank you, 
Rev Addae Kraba and UUNB Board of Trustees

You can now view recorded sessions from the first-ever 100% virtual General Assembly on Vimeo.