There are many channels of communication available at Wildflower Church for making announcements and publicizing events, classes, meetings and other church programs. Note that space is limited for most of these channels, so please make announcements and articles brief and concise. Short announcements with an email address or webpage link for more information are more effective than long announcements. Announcements and articles that are too long may have to be shortened by the editors.

Contact with questions, feedback, or ideas.

Special Note: Before announcing and publicizing a church-related event, please check the calendar to verify that the event date, time and location are available. Then, follow the procedures listed below to place your event on the calendar.

Church Calendar

• The calendar lists all church meetings, classes and events. It is included as an insert in the Order of Service each Sunday, and is also available on the Calendar page of the website. 
• To place an event on the calendar, send an email to  and include name of your event, date, time, location and contact person with phone number and/or email address. After you receive a confirmation email from the calendar coordinator you can publicize your event using the communications channels listed below.

Weekly News Email Announcement

• This set of church-related announcements is sent out weekly on Tuesdays by email to all church members, friends, and visitors who have provided an email address.
• To place an announcement on the weekly news email, send an email to by the end of the day on Monday. Please supply the announcement in Arial 12-pt. font, with a heading/title in bold. Please edit your announcement carefully and make sure that your announcement includes all important information, and can be published exactly as written. Graphics cannot be included. Specify how long you'd like the announcement to run (just one week. for a specific period of weeks, or indefinitely).

Sunday Service Email Announcement

• This is sent out by email on Friday to all church members, friends, and visitors who have provided an email address. These announcements pertain only to what is happening at the church on the following Sunday.
• To include something in this announcement, send an email to by end of business on Thursday.

Order of Service

• This is the sheet that describes the components of the service. It is handed out at the door as people arrive for the Sunday worship service. This is best for announcements related to events happening that particular day.
• Space is very limited, so keep the announcement to a sentence or two. Also, make sure that it can be published exactly as written.
• To place an announcement in the Order of Service, contact the service coordinator for that Sunday. The service coordinator has the authority to decide what is appropriate for these announcements. The service coordinator can be found on the Sermons page of our website.

Newsletter

• The newsletter is produced monthly and posted on the Newsletters page of the website. An email notification is sent to all church members, friends, and visitors who have provided an email address. 
• To include information in the newsletter, send brief articles to before the 15th of the month. For example, the deadline for the July issue of the newsletter is June 15.
• Before submitting your article: Please double-check any pertinent pieces of information (names, telephone numbers, websites and email addresses, dates and times, locations, prices, etc.) to make sure they are all correct.
• Newsletter editors reserve the right to edit all information for clarity, grammar, and length, as needed, and to make editorial decisions about which information to include in the current newsletter due to space limitations.
• Newsletter submission guidelines:
  • Information that is repeated in the newsletter for more than two months will be posted on the web site instead of in the newsletter, which is reserved for current news. Examples of information more appropriate for posting on the web site include descriptions of ongoing covenant groups, education classes, and social action information.
  • In the subject line of your email, include the month and the title of your article. For example, Subject: May newsletter – Prospective Member Orientation (or whatever catchy title you prefer)
  • Use plain text, preferably Times New Roman font, 11 point, without formatting (e.g., do not use bold, italics, pictures or boxes.)
  • Place your article as plain text in the body of your email or attach it as a Word or RTF document, and send it to
  • All tables should be formatted as Word documents before submission
  • All photographs should be .jpg or .tif file
  • Length of articles:
    • Minister’s column and president’s column: 250 words
    • All other announcements and articles: 75-125 words

Website

• To place information on the church website, send an email to the website editors at with all relevant information.

Electronic Mailing Lists

• INFO
  • The INFO list is an informal electronic mailing list for announcements that might be of general interest to church members. For discussion or dialogue, use the Wildflower Discussion Yahoo! Group (see below). Anything goes, within reason (including goods for sale, services, events, etc.), but don't write a message that you wouldn't want children to read, and be careful with political material, since endorsing candidates is not allowed under our charitable status.
  • To subscribe to the INFO list, go to http://lists.wildflowerchurch.org/mailman/listinfo and click on the Info link.
  • You will receive an email that includes instructions for posting messages to the list, unsubscribing, changing your mail options, and resetting your password.

Yahoo! Groups

• Wildflower Discussion Yahoo! Group ()
  • This group is for discussion and general community building among the congregants of Wildflower Church. All topics are encouraged as long as they’re discussed in a manner consistent with our Unitarian Universalist tradition: respectfully, with an eye for learning about someone else's point of view. Feel free to open up discussion to stories about our lives, beliefs, happenings, etc. Any topic that promotes community and friendship within our congregation is welcome, but be careful with political material, since endorsing candidates is not allowed under our charitable status.
  • To join this group, visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wildfloweruus/
• Children's Religious Education Yahoo! Group ()
  • This group is used for communicating issues related to the Children and Youth Religious Education programs, and for any information and discussion that might be broadly relevant to Wildflower families with young children.
  • To join this group, send an email to the Director of Religious Education at . She will send you an invitation to join.
• Wildflower VOYAGers Yahoo! Group ()
  • The Wildflower VOYAGers is a spiritual/social group of UUs born between 1960-1979. The Wildflower Very Old Young Adult Group is part of the larger VOYAGer community but also maintains a separate Yahoo! Group to celebrate Wildflower spirit and create more VOYAGer opportunities for South Austinites and their friends.
  • To join this group, visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wildvoyagers/