Moving Forward with Hope: December 2025 Update from Side With Love
As we enter this holiday season and arrive at the threshold of another year, we are reminded of the deep currents that run through our Unitarian Universalist faith: the inherent worth and dignity of every person, the interdependence that binds us together, and the enduring call to place love at the center of our public and spiritual lives. December offers us a chance to breathe, to honor the complexity of our world, and to return to the wellsprings of courage and compassion that animate our movement.
Image description: Graph paper background decorated with a bullhorn, a lighthouse with a heart on it, and the Side With Love logo. In the center is bright yellow, red, and blue text. 30 DAYS OF LOVE. LOVE AT THE CENTER: REIMAGINING THE WORLD AS IT COULD BE. COMING JANUARY 19TH.
In this spirit of reflection and renewal, we’re preparing to begin 30 Days of Love in January: our annual month-long spiritual journey that invites UUs and our partners to ground ourselves in imagination, justice, and faithful action. This year’s theme, Love at the Center: Imagining the World as It Could Be, calls us to engage the theological heart of our tradition: a belief in the transformative power of human agency, collective liberation, and the possibility of a world shaped by compassion and mutual care.
As 2026 approaches, we move forward with hope not as a feeling, but as a practice- one rooted in community, sustained by spiritual imagination, and strengthened through our work for justice.
We’re grateful to be on this journey with you.
The Side with Love Team
In Case You Missed It: Meet the New UUTV Staff
We’re thrilled to welcome a powerhouse team stepping into leadership with UU the Vote:
Image description: On a navy blue background, white text reads: UU the Vote next to a modified UU the Vote logo in light blue. Beneath, in white text, reads: Introducing our 2026 Team. Below are headshots for Caitlin Breedlove, India Harris, and Samm Pheiffer. Each photo has a yellow starburst motif on it, and each person's name is in blue against a light blue box.
Caitlin Breedlove: a nationally respected organizer and movement strategist with decades of experience building intersectional justice work across the South.
India Harris: a veteran community safety practitioner, spiritual caregiver, and organizer who equips communities with the tools to stay grounded and protected.
Samm Pheiffer: a dynamic voter-engagement strategist whose work bridges healing, abolition, and political power-building.
Together, they bring heart, expertise, and bold imagination to the work ahead. We can’t wait for you to see what they’re creating. Learn more here.
December 8: The Gathering - Creative Lament: Art for Grief and Rage
Image description: Black background. In a mix of yellow and white font reads The Gathering with a sunburst motif above it. Below, on a yellow background reads black text: Fortifying ourselves for the long road ahead. Below, in white text reads Creative Lament: Art for Grief and Rage.
On December 8, we will explore the practice of lamentation and the ways it could provide support in times of grief and sorrow. Rev. JeKaren Bell will invite us to craft our own personalized laments through the power of words and art. To make the experience your own, please bring paper and any art tools you love — stickers, pens, markers, even paint if that's your jam. Your setup can be as simple or as extra as your spirit wants. Side With Love's monthly event to strengthen your spirit, make sense of the threats to democracy, and take meaningful action alongside others! Join us live on Monday, Dec. 8 at 8 ET • 7 CT • 6 MT • 5 PT • 4 AKT • 2 HT on Zoom or register to receive the recording later.
See you at The Gathering to strengthen your spirit, make sense of the threats to democracy, and take meaningful action alongside others!
If you are on staff or a board member of a congregation, we encourage you to ALSO attend Now What: The Gathering for Congregational Leaders
Stop Avelo Action Hour with UU Justice North Carolina
Image description: yellow background with faint image of the back of an airplane. in purple, a parody of the Avelo Airlines logo reads: abduction airlines. Underneath, in white reads Stop Avelo Action Hour with UU Justice North Carolina. After reads Friday, Dec 12 at 11am - 12pm ET and the logos for UU Justice NC and Side With Love.
In April, Avelo Airlines entered into a $150 million contract with ICE to operate deportation flights. Since then, UUs around the country are joining with local partners to fight these deportation fights.
On Friday, December 12 at 11AM - 12PM ET join UU Justice North Carolina at their weekly NC action hour as we organize a National Call to Stop Avelo Airlines. This meeting promises to be energized, positive, and grounding - with updates from UUs in North Carolina who have had success with their Stop Avelo protests.
Let’s Celebrate Your Congregation at the Green Sanctuary Celebration!
In times when it can seem hard to identify joys and successes, celebration is an act of resistance and reimagining.
We invite all to join us on Wednesday, January 28 at 1pm HT - 3 AKT - 4 PT - 5 MT - 6 CT - 7pm ET for our Green Sanctuary Celebration, honoring the incredible climate justice work happening around the country in our congregations.
Image description: Event graphic with a light green background, decorated with large and small green, blue, pink, and yellow striped balloons. In the center is green, dark blue, and black text. Green Sanctuary Celebration. Wednesday, January 28, 1 HT - 3 AKT - 4 PT - 5 MT - 6 CT - 7 ET. The Side With Love and Green Sanctuary logos are below the text.
During the celebration, Green Sanctuary 2030 teams share brief updates on their climate actions. We all get so many fantastic ideas and leave inspired by the ways UUs are advancing climate justice in our communities. All work done is worth celebrating, so be sure to tell us what you’ve done so we can name and appreciate it!
This celebration is always joyful and fun, centering the very real ways all of you are making a change.
Interested in Green Sanctuary? Watch the short orientation video then join our office hours on Jan 7 at 7pm ET / 4pm PT to ask any questions or get more info!
