UUFG offers a wide variety of opportunities for fellowship and socializing. We invite you to participate!

Sunday Coffee Hour

Visitors, newcomers, friends, members and children are invited to get together for coffee, conversation, and fellowship in UUFG's Phillips Hall every Sunday following the Sunday worship service. Volunteers are need to help make coffee, set up and clean up.
Contact: Wendy Price

Social Events

International Potluck & Intergenerational Game Night

On the 4th Saturday of each month, we come together as an all ages community to break bread and commune with each other over games.  We typically begin by gathering at 6 PM in the Phillips Hall to set up our themed potluck together before eating and then playing board games, card games, or just sitting together and talking.  All are welcome; bring a dish to share.  If you have a board game or card game to share, bring it too!

Contact: Kristin Stevens, Heather McAuslane, or Lynne Capehart

Congregation-wide Events

The UUFG Special Events committee organizes a variety of dinners and other social events for members and friends throughout the year. Typical events include Neighborhood potlucks, picnics, and Thanksgiving dinners.

Dinner Club

Dinners provide opportunities to meet with other UUs in a small group for socializing and enjoyable dining.  Meeting from October through May, a coordinator pairs groups of 6 to 10 members and friends to break bread together. Rotating groups share potlucks the third Sunday evening at members’ homes. Dinners take place in each host’s home. Each host coordinates the time and menu with all participants, and provides the settings and appetizers. The co-host provides the main dish. Others either bring salad, bread and vegetables, or desserts. All guests bring their own drink. Hosts may arrange an alternative time and date by contacting all their guests. 
Contact: Carol Rivers

TGIF

These are adult social gatherings meeting at 5:30 p.m. on second Fridays from September through May, and rotate locations. The hosting member’s home location is published in the Sunday Gazette and the weekly enews. All adults are invited to share appetizers, drinks, conversation and friendship in our host member's home. Newcomers are always welcome, so we look forward to having you join us one month!

Spiritual Practices Groups

Dancing Crane Zen Center

This Zen Buddhist study/practice group meets 7:00-9:00 p.m. every Friday in the Common Room for sitting meditation, reading, and practice support. All are welcome.
Contact: Rev. Meredith Garmon

Humanist Circle

The UUFG Humanist Circle meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at local restaurants for good food and conversation. This is an open circle so you are invited to join us.
Contact: Al Tweedy

Circle of InnerBeing

The Circle of InnerBeing meets on the third Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. in the Library (Room 6). Our practice includes sharing readings from different spiritual traditions and discussing their personal meaning for each of us. Sometimes we have chanting, or guided medtiation, or watch a video, or listen to an audio. We focus on our own spiritual journeys and our interconnectedness. We have brief silent meditation periods at the beginning and end of the meeting. We enjoy welcoming newcomers. 
Contact: Janese Nix or Olivia Stryker

Tuesday Morning Meditation

This Zen Buddhist study/practice group meets 8:30-9:30 p.m. every Tuesday in the Common Room for sitting meditation, reading, and practice support. All are welcome.
Contact: Rev. Meredith Garmon

Social Groups

Around the UU World

Around the UU World meets each Wednesday noon for a shared brown bag lunch and conversation in the Common Room.
Contact: Rev. Meredith Garmon

Interweave

Interweave supports UUFG's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered community; their parents, family members, friends and allies. Affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association's Interweave Continental, we work to end discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. We meet socially every month and hold larger events to promote learning, growth and fellowship for the congregation and outreach to the local area throughout the year, including Pride Month.
Contact: Janese Nix

At our Fellowship we strive to deepen our connections to one another and the earth as we offer compassionate service to each other, our community, and the earth. There are many ways we can grow our connections outward so that we become stronger as individuals and as a caring community. To facilitate weaving our web of relationships ever stronger and broader, our congregation offers Circles of Life:

• Circles invigorate affinity, care, and small groups and build our care program.
• Allow us to keep track of life experiences and needs of one another.
• Offer the gift of being in relationship with one another.
• Offer the gift of presence and deep listening to the other.
• Facilitate communication throughout the congregation as one Circle of Life can let others know what is going on for their people and what care they may need.
• We can also see who we are as a group — what are our concerns as a community?
• Provide a context for learning the arts of caring — listening, nonviolent communication, being a healing presence in times of grief and loss.

Joining or Creating the Circles of Life

Our Circles of Life are intended to strengthen our congregation by giving members (old and new) an opportunity to get acquainted with other members in small group situations outside of the Sunday services. We do this by offering circles that appeal to a variety of interests: Affinity Circles that pull together members with a common interest; Pastoral Circles that can help members deal with specific problems such as dealing with Alzheimer’s or handling addiction problems; and Current Issues Circles that can discuss what is going on in our country, our city, or our congregation.

We encourage all of our members to consider joining at least one circle. If you don’t see a circle that interests you, perhaps you could start your own circle and see if others would like to join. Several circle possibilities that have been suggested are:

• a Book Club Circle to read and discuss the Ministers’ recommended Book of the Month;
• a Book Club Circle to choose books to read and discuss;
• a Fine Arts and Music Circle II to accommodate the overflow from the current FAMC;
• a Theater Circle where members would go together to performances at the Gainesville Community Playhouse, the Hippodrome, or the Constans Theater and then discuss what they saw.

If you would like to start a circle but aren’t sure how to do it, or if you would like to join one, but aren’t sure which one, contact the UUFG Office.