Add the Words is a community-centric, volunteer-based organization and the only state-wide group focused on the lived equality of gay, trans, and queer people in the state of Idaho.

Initially, the organization’s only focus was updating the Idaho Human Rights Act to include “sexual orientation and gender identity.” Since then the organization has worked through a trauma-informed lens, building beloved communities and caretaking in newly imagined ways while still using collective power to advocate to Idaho’s leadership – at all levels — the need for basic protections and recognized humanity of LGBTQ+ people in the Gem State.

Brandon Connolly will be speaking more on the organization’s efforts and answering questions on what to expect this coming legislative session and how we can show up and support the LGBTQ+ community.

On this last day of 2023, we will explore different ways of saying goodbye to the old and hello to the new.
We’ll discuss practices of celebrating the start of a new year with an international focus.
Do we need luck, fortune, happiness and health in 2024 YES we do!

Let’s talk about traditional ways to insure good tidings and explore avenues to let go of those practices, habits, life walks which didn’t serve us well in 2023.
We will also discuss foods traditionally eaten to usher in a new year and nosh a bit on these favorite dishes.

Discussion led by Pam Blankenheim

Christmas Eve Morn is here! Rev. Jenny Peek, our visiting minister from Pocatello UU Fellowship, will join us online and share her reflection on the quiet moments before great change. We remember where we were when momentous events happened even decades later. Let’s imagine the morning before the birth of a baby in a manger all those years ago.

Melody Lenkner is Worship Associate

Join Matt Reynolds, CSI Sociologist, and Brian Johns, Head of the Magic Valley Interreligious Dialogue Group, for a conversation on the value of interfaith action. Brian and Matt will explore the value of respecting different faith traditions and discuss the work of the Magic Valley Interreligious Dialogue group to make those ideals reality in our community. 

Perri Gardner is the Worship Associate

December is a month of many holidays and celebrations, including the Winter Solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah, Rohatsu or Bodhi Day, Kwanzaa, and Boxing Day. Unitarian Universalists Unitarian Universalists recognize the importance of all these holiday events during this month. This year Hanukkah began Thursday evening December 7th at sundown and continues through Friday December 15th. Hanukkah is the Jewish eight-day, wintertime “festival of lights,” celebrated with a nightly menorah lighting, special prayers and fried foods.

Join us this Sunday for a celebration with Tony Prater who will share the importance of this special time. Our service Sunday will be both in person at our location 160 9th Avenue East in Twin Falls as well as on ZOOM beginning at 10:30 AM Mountain Time. 

Don Morishita will be the worship associate.

It’s the first Sunday of Advent! Let us take a break from the frenzy of the physical planning, shopping, and preparing to reflect with hopeful anticipation on the joy and celebrations to come. Join the Magic Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship for a service that celebrates the holiday season through song and story-telling.Our service Sunday will be both in person at our location 160 9th Avenue East in Twin Falls as well as on ZOOM beginning at 10:30 AM Mountain Time. 

Presented by Perri Gardner

Worship Associate is Jonathan Thompson

This time of year is traditionally filled with joy and gatherings of family and friends. It is a time for giving thanks and celebration. And, for many, it is also a time of grief and sorrow. How do we as a community hold space for both the joyful abundance of the season and the depth of loss and longing that many people feel?

Service by our intern minister, Jeannine Robinett

Music by Collete Hoglund

Worship Associate is Melody Lenkner

When it feels as though we are living in a time of scarcity, how can we act from a place of abundance? Come hear the familiar story introducing three strangers who coax an entire village into realizing the power of sharing and giving in the interactive service. This story also motivates us to be aware of opportunities to notice grace and practice random acts of kindness.

Join us for our Stone Soup Service, canned food drive and potluck lunch following the service. Please bring a non-perishable food item to donate to the Idaho Food Bank.

Presented by Don Morishita

Presented by Jenny Peek

November is Native American Heritage Month. Join us this Sunday for a reflection by Jim Woods who will summarize what early anthropologists working in Idaho recorded about indigenous marriage, family, politics, and world view.  To us, some of the recorded customs may seem very unusual and difficult to understand.  However, anthropology offers a way to explain these differences to provide a fuller appreciation of modern human diversity.

Don Morishita is the Worship Associate