Membership News and Gatherings
Open Mic at Reeb – First Saturdays 6-8pm
Reeb hosts an open mic event on the first Saturday of every month. Suggested donation is $5/person, and all admission and concession proceeds will go to JRUUC. Invite your friends and neighbors! Please come and entertain with your music, poetry, comedy or any other talent you can offer! To donate food or beverages to sell, or for further information, please contact Mike Stimson.
For February 2026 only the Open Mic will be the second Saturday – February 14th. Also known as Valentine’s Day. All are welcome.
Community Potluck Meals – 3rd Sunday After Service
Please join us for our next potluck community meal! All are welcome. We are always looking for volunteers to help cook for our community meals! Vegan, vegetarian, Gluten/Dairy Free items are always appreciated! Please contact Emily at re@jruuc.org to sign up with a dish! Your support is what helps us be able to continue this important community building and fellowship. Thank you!
Check here for upcoming dates for meals.
Folk Music Gathering – Saturdays
Please come sing and play folk music with us on the first and third Saturdays of the month. The folk group will meet at 10am for about an hour and a half. If you want to join, please contact Mike by the Friday before, and he will confirm we have a critical mass of folk singers! Please bring your favorite folk songs to share with us (lyrics and chords, if you have them!).
Bring your voice and/or an instrument. If there’s a song you want to sing, bring some lyrics and chords printed out to share. This is just for fun, all are welcome! Please come and lend your voice to our song. Contact Mike Stimson with questions and check your weekly newsletter for any changes. More info here.
Please note: For January 2026 the Folk Group will meet every Saturday and plans to provide music at some of our upcoming Sunday services!
Monthly Laughter Yoga
Monthly Laughter Yoga is coming to JRUUC starting Monday, September 8. If you enjoyed the Laughter Yoga offered at a Sunday service back in April, you’ll be tickled to know that we are now offering a monthly Laughter Yoga session available to anyone and everyone! Members of the Laughter Club of Madison will return to JRUUC on the second Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m. for one hour of healing laughter in community. Mark your calendar, and bring a friend! Second Mondays, 6:30–7:30 p.m. at JRUUC, beginning September 8. Questions? Contact Virginia.
Quarterly-ish Potlucks
In case you are new or have not yet participated, this is the story: A Quarterly Potluck is a chance for Reeb folks to sit together for a meal and conversation with 5 to 8 friends you may or may not have already met. The magic computer randomly puts the groups together, and one of the group members will host the others in their home at a date convenient to the participants.
If you are already on our list for these events, you don’t need to sign up again. If you would like to start participating or just want more info, write to Jan Gordon.
Book Lovers Club
Thanks go to Renee for organizing this group! We will meet for a half hour for general chit chat and enjoyment of treats/any food you might want to bring for yourself, and then for an hour to focus the discussion on books.
Join us! Drop-ins welcome. No need to commit to coming to all of the meetings.
- Monday 5-Jan 6:30-8:00
- Saturday 7-Feb 9:30-11:00
- Monday 2-March 6:30-8:00
- Saturday 11-April 9:30-11:00
- Monday 4-May 6:30-8;00
- Saturday 6-June 9:30-11:00
- Monday 6-July 6:30-8:00
- Saturday 1-August 9:30-11:00
- Monday 31-August 6:30-8:00
- Saturday 3-October 9:30-11:00
- Monday 2-November 6:30-8:00
- Saturday 5-December 9:30-11:00
This group will not follow the traditional book club format of picking a book, reading it, and discussing it as a group. Instead, we are thinking of it as more of a space to share book recommendations, swap books, and eat treats. To help focus discussions, each month has a theme. For example, what is your favorite book, favorite biography, favorite non-fiction, favorite sci-fi/fantasy, etc. Watch your newsletter for more information.
For 2026, based on feedback received, let’s plan to try an alternating Monday and Saturday schedule for the first week of the month (most of the time). We can check-in mid-year and see if the schedule is working. If it is working great! If it’s not working I’m open to suggestions.
- For Monday meetings, we will follow the current time of meetings from 6:30-7:00 pm for general chit chat and then talk about books from 7:00-8:00 pm.
- For Saturday meetings, let’s plan on meeting at 9:30 am for general chit chat (and coffee/tea!) and then talk about books from 10:00-11:00 am.
Note: With this schedule our first meeting in 2026 will be very soon: 05-Jan-26! For Jan-26 let’s try a challenge and topic, please feel free to pick whichever suits you best to discuss.
- Challenge: Choose a book to read from a “Best book of the year list” for 2025 (or 2024 or 2023…)
- Topic: What is the best book you have read that someone has recommended to you?
Contact Renee to be added to the email list and for access to the spreadsheet with recommended books.
Sunday Greeters Needed
Please consider making a difference at JRUUC by becoming a greeter. For one Sunday per month, greeters arrive 20-30 minutes before service to get the building ready to welcome everyone, start the coffee, and greet everyone who arrives. After service, greeters clean up the kitchen so that we are ready to go for next Sunday. Please contact Liz Chapa if this sounds fun and you’d like to be added to the group. Training will be provided.
Thanks to Our Awesome Tabling Volunteers –
A dedicated group of volunteers helped to spread the word about JRUUC at Eken Park Festival on 8/16, and PrideFest on 8/17. This is an important way that we reach out to those who haven’t found us yet.
Special thanks to our intrepid Eken Park volunteers who braved the intermittent rainstorms on Saturday! Thanks for doing setup, sharing your love for our congregation, bringing flowers, candy, and decorations, and taking it all down afterwards, and especially for your joyful smiles. Thanks also to the other Reeb folks who stopped by.
Contact us if you are interested in representing JRUUC at events this summer… farmer’s markets, neighborhood festivals etc. This is a fun way to introduce folks to Unitarian Universalism and our little community. Contact Deb Myrbo or the membership team for more information, and watch your weekly newsletter for upcoming events.
Are You in Our Directory in Breeze?
Please contact our office administrator (Bryan at office@jruuc.org) to find out how to get your contact information in our directory and set up your account in Breeze, our new church software.
JRUUC Membership Team looking for new members!
If you like getting to know visitors and new members, planning social events, or just want to help at JRUUC in a small but important way, please consider joining the Membership Team. Contact any current team members for more information – Liz Chapa, Kelly Kearns, Deb Myrbo and Elaine Morrison, or send a message here.