SUUF Events
August 25: Building Community: A SUUF Community Celebration
Sunday Service at 10:00 a.m.
followed by a Vegetarian Potluck
Speaker/hosts: Paul Friedman and Tanya Mayer
Culminating our summer theme of Building Community, you are invited to share messages about community—whether about our SUUF community and/or our larger community, or the concept of community in general.
Come lend your voice this Sunday whether or not you’ve been able to attend SUUF throughout the summer. Quotations, testimonials, poems, songs, works of art, stories or something else–all are welcome (email submissions to sedonapaul@gmail.com and he’ll get back to you).
Afterwards, we’ll share a joyous potluck. Please bring a dish to share along with a can of food for the Sedona Community Food Bank.
Back by Popular Demand!
Women of Courage
Inspiring Performance by the Quad City Interfaith Choir of Prescott,
with songs and stories about extraordinary women
Saturday, October 19, 2024, 2:00-3:15 PM
Church of the Red Rocks, 54 Bowstring Dr, Sedona
Music by Mary Lou Prince Words by Patty Christiena Willis
Singers from:
Unitarian Universalist, Latter Day Saints, Jewish, Presbyterian and Congregational Churches of Prescott
A Free Event
Co-sponsored by Church of the Red Rocks and Sedona Unitarian Universalist Fellowship as a gift to our community. The Choir is also gifting their presentation. Love Offerings will be given to Hope House and the Verde Valley Sanctuary.
Past 2023 – 2024 SUUF Events
30 Year SUUF Anniversary Celebration – Sunday, September 24, 2023
On September 26, 1993, at 4:00 p.m., at Kachina Point Retirement Village (now called Sedona Winds), in the VOC, Rev. Joyce Smith, Flagstaff’s UU minister, led SUUF’s first service. SUUF was born! We’ll celebrate 30 years and share some of that story at our 10 am Sunday service with a special coffee and cake hour after service.
To learn more, read “A Brief SUUF History.”
Manzanita Outreach Volunteer Gathering – October 12, 2023
Our SUUF Outreach Committee plans volunteer opportunities, this year on October 12, 9:30 to noon and and again in February, at Manzanita Outreach, a food providing service. Their goal is to create the first food secure county in the nation. We will go to their site in Cottonwood to do our part in helping them reach their goal. They have tasks ready for us when we arrive, usually packing or sorting, to help them serve the large number of people who depend on them. About 20 people volunteer for such events. Watch this space, your newsletter, and emails for the dates and join us. It’s a rewarding time.
Rev. Anthony Mtuawsa Johnson’s Installation – Saturday, October 21, 2023
We are so pleased that Reverend Anthony Mtuaswa Johnson is now our Settled Minister, and we’re celebrating that momentous commitment on Saturday, October 21, from 3 to 6 p.m. in the JCSVV synagogue. Momentous, because in our 30-year history, this is our first settled ministry. We feel blessed with the joy, vibrancy, and inspiration that Rev. Anthony brings us week after week. He interned at SUUF in 2018, and became our minister in the fall of 2021. At the annual meeting in May of 2023, a unanimous vote cemented this ongoing relationship between us.
The celebratory installation will include music by Susannah Martin, Rev. Anthony’s daughter, Karma, and others. You’ll hear heartfelt messages from several of Anthony’s UU colleagues and friends. The sanctuary will be alive with music, friends, inspiration, and with a deep honoring and appreciation for our dear Rev. Anthony Mtuaswa Johnson. After the ceremony, we’ll break bread together and meet and visit with new and old friends.
Women of Courage
Inspiring Performance by the Quad City Interfaith Choir of Prescott, with songs and stories about extraordinary women
Saturday, November 11, 2023 – 2:00-3:15 PM
Church of the Red Rocks, 54 Bowstring Dr, Sedona
Music by Mary Lou Prince Words by Patty Christiena Willis
Singers from:
Unitarian Universalist, Latter Day Saints, Jewish, Presbyterian and Congregational Churches of Prescott
A Free Event
Co-sponsored by Church of the Red Rocks and Sedona Unitarian Universalist Fellowship as a gift to our community. The Choir is also gifting their presentation. Love Offerings will be given to Hope House and the Verde Valley Sanctuary.
Community Outreach – November 2023
SUUF Holiday Party
Sunday, December 10th, 2023
at the HUB, 5:30-8:30
Last year’s holiday party was such fun, it’s now an annual event! Our music director, Susannah Martin, will again perform with her group, 3MKi, this year adding a variety of musical hits in addition to festive holiday fare.
Come enjoy the music, the food, fun, and friends.
We’re always grateful for our helpful SUUF volunteers who join together to make events like this happen! Let us know how you’d like to help.
Tickets are available at SUUF Sunday mornings and online at SusannahMartinMusic.com.
Click here for a map and directions to the Hub.
Mardi Gras Auction & Celebration
Saturday, February 17, 2024 at the Hub
SUUF Auctions have been an annual source of joviality, good food, and fundraising for 10 years (with a pause of a couple of years due to Covid). Well, they’re baaack! Our 2020 auction included 53 live and silent auction items and activities plus 7 raffles! This one promises to be all that! We’ve started our collection of items for the 2024 auction and you can help! What businesses do you frequent which might contribute items or services to the auction? Click here for a link to a flyer that you can print and give to businesses who might offer auction items. Flyers are also available at SUUF on Sundays.
Flor De Bee, that oh-so-talented duo with Susannah Martin and Vincent Z, will perform Sedona Globe Trottin’ Jazz: groovy world classics for your entertainment, including Gipsy Kings, Edith Piaf, Santana and more. We’ll have a N’Orleans/Mardi Gras Inspired Menu, Décor and Dress. Mark it on your calendar…it’s not to be missed!
Manzanita Outreach Volunteer Gathering – February 22, 2024
Their goal is to create the first food secure county in the nation. We went to their site in Cottonwood and sorted tomatoes as we chatted and enjoyed our time together. It’s fun to help them serve the large number of people who depend on them. About 12 people volunteered. Watch this space, your newsletter, and emails for the dates and join us.
SUUF Annual Talent Show:
“SUUF’s Got Talent!”
Sunday, April 21, 2024, at 11:30
What a rousing talent show our congregation created in 2023! Popular demand said it must return in 2024…and so it is! Once again, there will be vocals, dance, skits, magic, poetry and surprises. What talent might you share? It’s all in fun…not designed for professionals, so don’t be shy! Michael Steele will direct the show. Contact Michael (magicalmichael48@gmail.com) for more information. It’s fun to see our SUUF friends onstage being fantastic, free, and often frivolous!
Invitation to All Movie Fans!
As a continuation of our Mardi Gras Auction, February 17, this movie event will be held Sunday, May 5, 2024 at 12:30 pm at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre. Included with the ticket will be a coupon for one snack item or a drink (including alcoholic beverages) at concessions. The cost is $25 per ticket, as a SUUF fundraiser.
The film, Oppenheimer, is about the physicist who created the first atomic bomb with an all-star cast including Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr. and Matt Damon. It won four academy awards this year. Join SUUF friends and pay at the door if you haven’t already done so. Thanks to Michelle and Gerry Snyder for providing the theater and to Penny and Eddie DeJarnette for the snacks.
Annual Meeting, May 19, 2024
The election of candidates for offices for 2024-25, a vote on adopting the 8th Principle, Welcoming Congregation Commitments, the proposed budget, and reports of the 2023-24 year will take place following our Sunday service.
Today’s service and meeting will be held at the Sedona United Methodist Church, located at 110 Indian Cliffs Rd, further south from the synagogue on 179 at the Back o’ Beyond / Indian Cliffs roundabout.
There is plenty of parking in both lower and upper parking lots. The upper lot leads directly to the sanctuary. If entering from the lower lot, there’s an elevator to the 2nd floor sanctuary.
The post-service Annual Meeting will begin after a short break.
Coffee will be available after service, then return to your seat for this look back at our year and a glimpse forward into SUUF’s future.
Yavapai Reentry Project Training
Saturday, June 8 from 9-12, free workshop on preparing to be a Community Coach for a person reentering the Verde Valley after incarceration. A primary focus will be on learning the social services available to assist that individual in handling the basic practical life challenges faced during the first few months of freedom. This workshop is a follow-up to the talk given after a recent SUUF service by the The Yavapai Reentry Project Director, Clarissa Nelson.
The workshop is for people considering signing up for this role. It will be held at the Steps to Recovery Homes headquarters at 637 N Main Street in Cottonwood. You’ll learn the skills and information needed for helping that person set goals, create plans, access referrals, and have the emotional support for taking the steps that will turn their life in a positive direction and keep it moving that way till they are able to do it on their own. No prior experience or education is needed. SUUF people who sign up will work together as a small team to make the program easier and more enjoyable for everyone involved. This program provides an opportunity to make a real difference in in someone’s life.
Important: To register for this training or to obtain more information, please email info@YavapaiReentryProject.org or call Clarissa (928) 925-4433. (Pre-registration is necessary so Clarissa knows how many binders to bring.)
From SUUF Social Justice Team: Announcement of a Gathering of the Pai. For more information, visit yavapai-apache.org (click arrows over to the notice) or contact Sarah Anne Fread if you would like to attend with others.
