The Sacred Work of Repair
In a time of global transformation, uncertainty, and awakening, our Unitarian Universalist tradition calls us to be both deeply rooted and boldly rising. This congregational year, Rooted & Rising: Faith for a Changing World invites us to explore how our spiritual lives, values, and communities can ground us while inspiring courageous action.
Monthly Reflection
What harm have I left unaddressed—and what might it take to move toward repair with humility and love?
The turning of the year brings us face-to-face with what is broken—within us, between us, and around us. Repair is holy work. It asks us not for perfection, but for truth, courage, and a willingness to begin again. It is slow and sacred, uncomfortable and necessary. Repair means listening deeply, holding accountability with compassion, and trusting that healing is possible—even when scars remain. This month, we confront the places that need tending, and ask what it means to be a people committed to restoration, justice, and grace.
Significant Dates
01/01 New Year’s Day
01/05 George Washington Carver Day
01/15 Civil Rights Day
01/19 Martin Luther King Day
Celebrating Diversity: Dreamers, Justice Makers, and Change Leaders
Each week we honor individuals and movements, past and present, local and global, who have lifted their voices to transform our world. From civil rights leaders and cultural visionaries to grassroots organizers, artists, and everyday dreamers, we will celebrate the people whose lives exemplify resilience, moral imagination, and the power of collective action.
As we cross the threshold into a new year, we enter a season shaped by reflection, renewal, and the shared longing for a more just and compassionate world. January carries the echoes of winter holidays celebrated across cultures, rituals of light, community, music, and hope that remind us of what is possible when people come together. It is a month alive with stories of courage and conviction, where the flicker of a single flame has the power to illuminate an entire community.
Weekly Themes
Week 1 – Inner Worlds: Dreamers Who Build From Within
Week 2 – Courage in Motion: Activists and Organizers Who Move Communities
Week 3 – Voices of Culture: Artists, Writers, and Musicians Who Shift the World
Week 4 – Building Beloved Community: Leaders of Peace, Solidarity, and Social Change
Week 5 – Future Builders: Youth, Innovators, and New-Generation Leaders
Sunday Celebrations Overview
NOTE: BridgesUU does not host Sunday Celebrations. We offer resources including monthly and weekly blurbs, Celebration Outlines, Sunday Scripts, Musical Selections, Celebrating Our Youth Stories, Activies, and Resources, as well as, Multimedia Decks.
Our theme this month is “The Sacred Work of Repair,” asking: What harm have I left unaddressed and what might it take to move toward repair with humility and love?
Together we will reflect on restoration, justice, and grace, honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and remembering that repair is not quick or easy—it is holy work that calls us to truth, courage, and love.
Sunday Celebrations
Sun, Jan 04, 2026 – “Restoration as a Sacred Act”
We turn toward restoration not only of our spirits, but of relationships and communities. We will be asking: “What does it mean to restore trust, dignity, and connection in a fractured world?” During our time together we will explore how restoration is not about erasing the past, but about choosing life, wholeness, and renewal.
Sun, Jan 11, 2026 – “Justice as a Sacred Act”
Repair cannot happen without justice. To mend what is broken means naming harm, addressing inequity, and working for liberation. During our time together, we will lift up the call to justice as essential to the sacred work of repair, reminding us that repair without justice is incomplete.
Sun, Jan 18, 2026 – “Grace as a Sacred Act” (MLK Day)
On this Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, we will reflect on the role of grace in movements for justice and repair. Grace does not erase accountability but offers a spirit of compassion, courage, and resilience that makes repair possible. Together, we will honor Dr. King’s vision of a Beloved Community rooted in both justice and grace.
Sun, Jan 25, 2026 – “Repair is Sacred Work”
Repair is not quick or easy ~ it is sacred. It asks us to sit with discomfort, to practice humility, and to persist even when reconciliation seems distant. We will gather the threads of our month to remind us that repair, though unfinished and ongoing, is sacred ground where love takes root and rises again.
Creative Arts
Each month we are creating our music that align with our theme for the month. All of our music is available for unlimited use by BridgesUU Covenanting Communities. If you are interested in becoming a BridgesUU Covenanting Community or licensing one of our songs, please let us know. We will be happy to provide sheet music as well as audio and video files.
Song of the Month:
“BridgesUU: 3007: The Seeds We Plant“
Written & Composed by Paul Ermisch
(verse 1)
The seeds we plant in wounded ground
May take their time to sprout and grow.
But roots run deep where hope is found,
Redeeming trust and love will flow
When promises are unfulfilled
And trust is broken into parts
We listen deeply in our hearts
And find another way to grow
in every wound and every scar,
there is a story to be told.
Of who we are and how we heal,
With love that makes us brave and bold.
(verse 2)
The table set for all to share,
No soul excluded from the feast.
We practice love and radical care
Until the first becomes the least.
Through silent grief and whispered prayer,
We gather strength from what remains.
The broken places that we bear
Become the ground where justice reigns.
The arc bends slow but bends toward right,
Though weariness may cloud our view.
We hold each other through the fight
And build the world that justice calls us to.
LifeSpan Learning
Sometimes things break feelings, friendships, even trust. In this month, we’ll explore how making things right is work. Through stories, play, and reflection, children will learn how to say “I’m sorry,” how to fix what’s broken, and how to help build a world filled with fairness, love, and care. Together, we practice the sacred art of healing and hope.
More 2025/26 Year Themes
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