October 12, 11 am    “The Gospel of Free Thought” 
As a denomination we promote what I’d like to call the “Gospel of Free Thought.” And we promote this with regard to both Religion and Spirituality.  I believe we should actively share this worldview with others around us. If that is proselytizing, then so be it. Let’s proselytize. Please join us as Rev. John Pepper is in the Thoreau pulpit once again to reflect on these ideas and our long-held UU belief that we not proselytize.

Join us in-person for our weekly gathering.

During in-person worship service, Religious Education is offered for children 5 and over. You are invited to join us for hospitality after the service.

Interested in joining this service in person? Get in Touch!

October 12, 9:45 am   “From Ancient Tribes to a Modern Nation: The Nation of Israel”

Ryan Donohue will introduce this discussion on the timely topic of the nation of Israel. 

The word Israel carries many layers of meaning, from biblical tribes and ancient kingdoms to a global religious identity and eventually a modern nation state. How did a people once scattered across the world maintain a sense of continuity, and what role did memory, myth, and tradition play in shaping that journey? This presentation will trace the fascinating story of Israel’s evolution, beginning with its earliest origins and leading to the creation of the modern state in 1948, while also considering why questions of belonging and land remain so deeply contested.

Adult Discussion Group will be meeting in person @ 9:45 AM in Thoreau’s Clark Cabin except on the third Sunday of each month when we will meet in the Sanctuary @ 11 AM.

The AC and HEPA filter will be running to keep Clark Cabin & the Sanctuary as safe as possible.

For those that prefer: We will provide ZOOM via the OWL system when we meet in the cabin & our Moderator Tamara will recognize your hand up and add you to the queue.

Thoreauvians and friends will be notified each week (tuucannounce@groups.io) of our ADG topic, time and zoom login.
Please keep an eye out for our notices.

Interested in joining this discussion? Get in Touch!

2nd Friday Discussion Group will meet on Oct 10th at Becks Prime:
1822 SH-6 S, Sugar Land, TX  77478.  
Near the Sugar Land Whole Foods.  
Here’s the menu: https://www.becksprime.com/menu/menu.pdf  

TOPIC: Patio Ponderings 

We’ll probably lead off with the Israel/Palestine situation and the Nobel Peace Prize.  In the spirit of Halloween we may then move on to what other scary stuff is happening and why.  

Come join the October gathering of Thoreau’s Second Friday discussion group at 11 am on the shady patio at Beck’s Prime, 1822 Hwy 6, Sugar Land, TX 77478.  

All opinions and puzzlements welcome!

Reoccurring monthly on the Second Friday.

Interested in joining this discussion? Get in Touch!

Book: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

A New York Times Bestseller

Soon to be a Netflix Film

A Read With Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick!

“Remarkably Bright Creatures is a beautiful examination of how loneliness can be transformed, cracked open, with the slightest touch from another living thing.” -- Kevin Wilson, author of Nothing to See Here

For fans of A Man Called Ove, a charming, witty and compulsively readable exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope that traces a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus

After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors—until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late.

Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.

Books are selected by the members of the Women’s Book Club

Reoccurring monthly on the First Monday, starting at 1:00 PM; we meet in members’ homes.

Interested in joining this discussion? Get in Touch!

October 5, 11 am   "UU Response to Authoritarians:  With Justice Our Guide?"

In the Unitarian Universalist faith tradition, seeking social justice is an imperative founded on our tenets of universal dignity and love as central principles. When we learn of patterns of repeated intentional injustice, it can be difficult to avoid despair, even with the models of 20th century civil rights leaders like MLK and John Lewis. In today's service, our Emeritus Minister, Rev. Dan returns to share reflections on justice and practical reminders of how persistent commitment and organization can overcome the obstacles we encounter.

Join us in-person for our weekly gathering.

During in-person worship service, Religious Education is offered for children 5 and over. You are invited to join us for hospitality after the service.

Interested in joining this service in person? Get in Touch!

October 5, 9:45 am   “World Sight Day”

Bill Johnson will be our guest speaker on understanding and interacting with the blind.  

Adult Discussion Group will be meeting in person @ 9:45 AM in Thoreau’s Clark Cabin except on the third Sunday of each month when we will meet in the Sanctuary @ 11 AM.

The AC and HEPA filter will be running to keep Clark Cabin & the Sanctuary as safe as possible.

For those that prefer: We will provide ZOOM via the OWL system when we meet in the cabin & our Moderator Tamara will recognize your hand up and add you to the queue.

Thoreauvians and friends will be notified each week (tuucannounce@groups.io) of our ADG topic, time and zoom login.
Please keep an eye out for our notices.

Interested in joining this discussion? Get in Touch!

September 28, 11 am   “What to Say When You Don’t Know What to Say”

Too often uncomfortable situations such as a sudden death, chronic illness, or inappropriate remarks, leave us with no words, tripped up responses, or defensive outbursts. Is there a better way to respond?  Lindi Kohn, who has been on both ends of not knowing what to say, will be in the pulpit to talk about what she has learned.

Join us in-person for our weekly gathering.

During in-person worship service, Religious Education is offered for children 5 and over, and a nursery is available. You are invited to join us for hospitality after the service.

Interested in joining this service in person? Get in Touch!

September 28, 9:45 am  “History of the world in 18 minutes ”

Jim Sheridan will lead this discussion on the “History of the world in 18 minutes”. Backed by stunning illustrations, David Christian narrates a complete history of the universe, from the Big Bang to the Internet, in a riveting 18 minutes. This is "Big History": an enlightening, wide-angle look at complexity, life and humanity, set against our slim share of the cosmic timeline.

Adult Discussion Group will be meeting in person @ 9:45 AM in Thoreau’s Clark Cabin except on the third Sunday of each month when we will meet in the Sanctuary @ 11 AM.

The AC and HEPA filter will be running to keep Clark Cabin & the Sanctuary as safe as possible.

For those that prefer: We will provide ZOOM via the OWL system when we meet in the cabin & our Moderator Tamara will recognize your hand up and add you to the queue.

Thoreauvians and friends will be notified each week (tuucannounce@groups.io) of our ADG topic, time and zoom login.
Please keep an eye out for our notices.

Interested in joining this discussion? Get in Touch!

AE Lunchitarians

This is a recurring virtual meeting every Wednesday from noon - 1:30 PM.

Thoreau Lunchitarians discuss books, or other matters arising

Check your email for topic details and the Zoom link!

Interested in joining this discussion? Get in Touch!

Please join us for the Men's monthly dinner group.

Location: Beck’s Prime 1822 Hwy 6 Sugar Land, TX 77478

Let us know to look out for you! Get in Touch.

AE Lunchitarians

This is a recurring virtual meeting every Wednesday from noon - 1:30 PM.

Thoreau Lunchitarians discuss books, or other matters arising

Check your email for topic details and the Zoom link!

Interested in joining this discussion? Get in Touch!

September 14, 11 am    “Make Believe’

Some things we resist, we might learn to accept (a family members annoying but non-destructive habit). Other things that we accept, we might learn to resist (social injustice). Rev. Daniel O’Connell is back in the Thoreau pulpit to ask “what can we learn something from how children ‘pretend.’”

Join us in-person for our weekly gathering.

During in-person worship service, Religious Education is offered for children 5 and over, and a nursery is available. You are invited to join us for hospitality after the service.

Interested in joining this service in person? Get in Touch!

September 14, 9:45 am   “In the USA Law is King”

Ron Hammons will examine the American principle of having no kings, and no one above the law.

Adult Discussion Group will be meeting in person @ 9:45 AM in Thoreau’s Clark Cabin except on the third Sunday of each month when we will meet in the Sanctuary @ 11 AM.

The AC and HEPA filter will be running to keep Clark Cabin & the Sanctuary as safe as possible.

For those that prefer: We will provide ZOOM via the OWL system when we meet in the cabin & our Moderator Tamara will recognize your hand up and add you to the queue.

Thoreauvians and friends will be notified each week (tuucannounce@groups.io) of our ADG topic, time and zoom login.
Please keep an eye out for our notices.

Interested in joining this discussion? Get in Touch!

2nd Friday Discussion Group will meet on Sept 12th at Becks Prime:
1822 SH-6 S, Sugar Land, TX  77478.  
Near the Sugar Land Whole Foods.  
Here’s the menu: https://www.becksprime.com/menu/menu.pdf  

TOPIC: Patio Ponderings

We’ll discuss whatever you’d like to hear other’s thoughts about.  Often we share new thoughts about issues as old as Rome:

“The abuse of buying and selling votes crept in and money began to play an important part in determining elections.  Later on, however, this process of corruption spread to the law courts, and to the army, and finally when even the sword became enslaved by the power of gold, the republic was subject to the rule of emperors.” — From Plutarch’s eulogy for the fallen Roman republic.

ALL are welcome!

Reoccurring monthly on the Second Friday.

Interested in joining this discussion? Get in Touch!

AE Lunchitarians

This is a recurring virtual meeting every Wednesday from noon - 1:30 PM.

Thoreau Lunchitarians discuss books, or other matters arising

Check your email for topic details and the Zoom link!

Interested in joining this discussion? Get in Touch!

Book: The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak

A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK
Winner of the 2022 BookTube Silver Medal in Fiction * Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction

"A wise novel of love and grief, roots and branches, displacement and home, faith and belief. Balm for our bruised times." -David Mitchell, author of Utopia Avenue

A rich, magical new novel on belonging and identity, love and trauma, nature and renewal, from the Booker-shortlisted author of 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World.

Two teenagers, a Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot, meet at a taverna on the island they both call home. In the taverna, hidden beneath garlands of garlic, chili peppers and creeping honeysuckle, Kostas and Defne grow in their forbidden love for each other. A fig tree stretches through a cavity in the roof, and this tree bears witness to their hushed, happy meetings and eventually, to their silent, surreptitious departures. The tree is there when war breaks out, when the capital is reduced to ashes and rubble, and when the teenagers vanish. Decades later, Kostas returns. He is a botanist looking for native species, but really, he's searching for lost love.

Years later a Ficus carica grows in the back garden of a house in London where Ada Kazantzakis lives. This tree is her only connection to an island she has never visited--- her only connection to her family's troubled history and her complex identity as she seeks to untangle years of secrets to find her place in the world.

A moving, beautifully written, and delicately constructed story of love, division, transcendence, history, and eco-consciousness, The Island of Missing Trees is Elif Shafak's best work yet.

Books are selected by the members of the Women’s Book Club

Reoccurring monthly on the First Monday, starting at 1:00 PM; we meet in members’ homes.

Interested in joining this discussion? Get in Touch!

September 7, 11 am   "Little Altars Everywhere: Modern UU Transcendentalism?"

If we can be fully open to our senses- all six (?) of them-  we may be inspired by our encounters with everyday objects, beings, and places to find greater meaning for our lives. Thoreau and Emerson wrote extensively on their "direct experience of the Divine in Nature." Using this auction-item topic as a point of convergence, our Emeritus Minister, Rev. Dan King, returns to share reflections on how we can promote an awareness of an essence greater than ourselves.

Join us in-person for our weekly gathering.

During in-person worship service, Religious Education is offered for children 5 and over, and a nursery is available. You are invited to join us for hospitality after the service.

Interested in joining this service in person? Get in Touch!

September 7, 9:45 am   “AI – The Mother of Invention?”

Amanda Ayles will explore AI, where its going and what we can do with it.

Adult Discussion Group will be meeting in person @ 9:45 AM in Thoreau’s Clark Cabin except on the third Sunday of each month when we will meet in the Sanctuary @ 11 AM.

The AC and HEPA filter will be running to keep Clark Cabin & the Sanctuary as safe as possible.

For those that prefer: We will provide ZOOM via the OWL system when we meet in the cabin & our Moderator Tamara will recognize your hand up and add you to the queue.

Thoreauvians and friends will be notified each week (tuucannounce@groups.io) of our ADG topic, time and zoom login.
Please keep an eye out for our notices.

Interested in joining this discussion? Get in Touch!

AE Lunchitarians

This is a recurring virtual meeting every Wednesday from noon - 1:30 PM.

Thoreau Lunchitarians discuss books, or other matters arising

Check your email for topic details and the Zoom link!

Interested in joining this discussion? Get in Touch!

August 31 - “Silence is Complicity”

Ron Masters’ grandmother’s grandfather, David Mahon, argued for diversity, equity, and inclusion—across national borders—as Universalist religious principles in a 1860 speech to his Unitarian congregation in County Antrim, Ireland. He vigorously opposed oppression of ordinary people for the enrichment of the political and religious establishment. By 1880, he migrated with his wife and children to a farm in Iowa. Mahon’s message resonates with our situation today. Ron will read from his great-great-grandfather’s sermon. Ron says: “I found the original manuscript and a transcription among my father’s effects after dad died in 2011, having not been aware of Mahon previously. Thoroughly modern Mahon would fit right in at Thoreau today.”

Join us in-person for our weekly gathering.

During in-person worship service, Religious Education is offered for children 5 and over, and a nursery is available.

Interested in joining this service in person? Get in Touch!

August 31  “US Newspapers”

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, newspapers in the United States have played an important role historically. Garna Christian will lead this look at American print journalism.

Adult Discussion Group will be meeting in person @ 9:45 AM in Thoreau’s Clark Cabin except on the third Sunday of each month when we will meet in the Sanctuary @ 11 AM.

The AC and HEPA filter will be running to keep Clark Cabin & the Sanctuary as safe as possible.

For those that prefer: We will provide ZOOM via the OWL system when we meet in the cabin & our Moderator Tamara will recognize your hand up and add you to the queue.

Thoreauvians and friends will be notified each week (tuucannounce@groups.io) of our ADG topic, time and zoom login.
Please keep an eye out for our notices.

Interested in joining this discussion? Get in Touch!

AE Lunchitarians

This is a recurring virtual meeting every Wednesday from noon - 1:30 PM.

Thoreau Lunchitarians discuss books, or other matters arising

Check your email for topic details and the Zoom link!

Interested in joining this discussion? Get in Touch!

August 24 - “Including Others as a Habit of Mind”

You already know how to be more inclusive.  You know how it can transform you.  But you've fallen out of the habit.  David Throop of Bay Area UU will be in the pulpit to tell us how to find our way back.

Join us in-person for our weekly gathering.

During in-person worship service, Religious Education is offered for children 5 and over, and a nursery is available. You are invited to join us for hospitality after the service.

Interested in joining this service in person? Get in Touch!

August 24  “Self-Reliance”

Noel Zinn will lead this discussion on Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay, “Self-Reliance”.

Adult Discussion Group will be meeting in person @ 9:45 AM in Thoreau’s Clark Cabin except on the third Sunday of each month when we will meet in the Sanctuary @ 11 AM.

The AC and HEPA filter will be running to keep Clark Cabin & the Sanctuary as safe as possible.

For those that prefer: We will provide ZOOM via the OWL system when we meet in the cabin & our Moderator Tamara will recognize your hand up and add you to the queue.

Thoreauvians and friends will be notified each week (tuucannounce@groups.io) of our ADG topic, time and zoom login.
Please keep an eye out for our notices.

Interested in joining this discussion? Get in Touch!

Please join us for the Men's monthly dinner group.

Location: Beck’s Prime 1822 Hwy 6 Sugar Land, TX 77478

Let us know to look out for you! Get in Touch.

AE Lunchitarians

This is a recurring virtual meeting every Wednesday from noon - 1:30 PM.

Thoreau Lunchitarians discuss books, or other matters arising

Check your email for topic details and the Zoom link!

Interested in joining this discussion? Get in Touch!

AE Lunchitarians

This is a recurring virtual meeting every Wednesday from noon - 1:30 PM.

Thoreau Lunchitarians discuss books, or other matters arising

Check your email for topic details and the Zoom link!

Interested in joining this discussion? Get in Touch!

August 10: Water Ceremony and Ingathering

Join us this Sunday as we gather together to begin a new chapter in community, reflection, and renewal.

Each year at Thoreau UU, we celebrate the start of our new church year and coming back together as a community with our Annual Water ceremony and In-Gathering. Everyone is invited to bring water with them to church and to share insights garnered over the summer as they gathered their water, or to reflect on the everyday holiness of their water offering. So bring some water on Sunday and think about a few short sentences you can say about why water is meaningful to you.

Join us in-person for our weekly gathering.

This is an intergenerational service, so there will be no RE class for the children. You are invited to join us for hospitality after the service.

Interested in joining this service in person? Get in Touch!