“Understanding the Bible: An Introduction for Skeptics, Seekers, and Religious Liberals”by former UUA President John Buehrens. We will read and discuss the  book, with an emphasis on our own backgrounds and 

spiritual/personal growth on June 2 at 12:45 p.m. in the  Cotage and June 16 at 11:45 a.m. James Witker will facilitate. The book is available in Forbes Hall and you can sign  up for the workshop at the Lifespan table there.

Calendar of upcoming events:

 

Sunday, 4/28

             YRUU Sunday Service – don’t miss it!

             Faith in Action Sunday for 1^st-5^th grades – doggy treats for shelter puppies

             8^th-9^th O.W.L. meets (begins at 12:30 today only)

            10^th-12^th O.W.L. meets (begins at 12:30 today only)

Tuesday, 4/30

            Under-5 Play Group meets, 9:30-11:00am in the cottage

Sunday, 5/5

            8^th-9^th O.W.L. final class & graduation!

            10^th-12^th O.W.L. meets

Tuesday, 5/7

            Under-5 Play Group meets, 9:30-11:00am in the cottage

Sunday, 5/12

            Coming of Age sponsors Second Sunday Supper, with launch of new UU holiday

            Coming of Age credo reading with Rebecca & Catherine

Tuesday, 5/14

            Under-5 Play Group meets, 9:30-11:00am in the cottage

Sunday, 5/19

            Coming of Age Service – don’t miss it!

            Family Coming of Age ceremony & dinner, 5-8pm

Tuesday, 5/21

            Under-5 Play Group meets, 9:30-11:00am in the cottage

Sunday, 5/26

            Deadline for artwork submissions for RE Art Wall in June

            Final Classroom Sunday in RE – LRE Sunday prep

Tuesday, 5/28

            Under-5 Play Group meets, 9:30-11:00am in the cottage

Sunday, 6/2

            Lifespan RE Sunday Service & Volunteer Appreciation!

           

 

Volunteer Opportunities:

 

NEW Summer RE Programs – Leaders and Assistants Needed: I am excited to share the programs we will be offering in this summer.  Our preschool-kindergarten class will be reprising the very popular Senses program last offered in 2011.  And for elementary and up, we’re very pleased to be offering a summer program called “Sunday Chalice Camp,” which will bring the wonderful UU summer camp experience to our children, right here on Sunday mornings at UUCCSM, designed to foster UU identity with fun, active camp-style activities. Tie-dye shirts, water balloon races, maybe even s’mores and sing-alongs!  For both programs we will be recruiting church members to sign up to help for one Sunday during the summer – we need leaders as well as an assistant for the Summer Chalice Camp program, and assistants only for the Senses program for preschool-kindergaren. The summer festivities will kick off on June 16.  And now’s the time to start filling in our volunteer slots.  We need one leader and one assistant for each class.  Can you help?  We’ll make sure snacks and supplies are on hand, and provide a template and tips for planning the morning’s activities.  This is a great toe-dipping opportunity if you’re considering teaching in our RE program, or if not it’s also a fabulous way to spend just one morning getting to know some of the youngest members of our community.  The schedule for the summer is listed below.  Pick your day before it gets grabbed by someone else!  Sign up at the Lifespan RE table during coffee hour, or contact catherinedre@yahoo.com or call 310-829-5436 x105 for more information or to volunteer. 

 

 

 

 

 

This Week in RE:

 

·         Preschool-Kindergarten: “May Day” This week our preschool-K classes will celebrate the spring with special May Day crafts and stories.  Meets in the NW room of the cottage.

 

·         1^st-5^th Grade: Social Justice – Doggy Treats & Animal Rescue Fair! This week our 1^st-5^th grade classes will join together for a special service project: making doggy treats that will be donated to shelter puppies.  We’ll also have a special visit from the Dawgsquad animal rescue, along with some of their friendliest pooches!  Please wear clothes that will be ok if they get messy with doggy treat ingredients.

 

·         6^th-12^th Grade:  All are invited to attend the YRUU Sunday service with their families; no separate RE classes will be offered for these ages. 

 

 

Announcements:

 

 

NEW We need you! Please consider volunteering in RE - Have you ever wondered about the nature of reality?  Have you ever wanted to explore new ways of putting our UU principles into practice?  Do you feel that you're still a learner yourself, and always will be? The Lifespan RE Committee is currently recruiting volunteers for the 2012-13 RE program starting in September.  We're looking for teachers to lead 1-2 Sundays per month, as well as volunteers for many other parts of our large and vibrant program for children and youth.

Do you love spending time with young children as they learn about the world and make friends?  Then assisting in our Nursery or Preschool-K class is the right place for you!

 

Are you passionate about sharing the core stories of our faith with children as they make meaning of their lives, grow a strong UU identity, and create a spiritual community together?  Then join our Spirit Play team, for 1st-2nd graders.  

 

Does the prospect of helping our inquisitive youngsters understand their own power to make change and confront “powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love” sound exciting?  Then join our 3^rd-5^th graders in theSing to the Power program.

 

Is a commitment to putting our UU values into action an important part of your UU identity?  Would you enjoy helping youth develop their own skills and passion for justice-making?  Then you'll love being a leader for our 6th-7th grade Heeding the Call class.

 

Is deep exploration of your personal theology, and engaging others in articulating who they are & what their beliefs are within the context of our UU faith most exciting to you?  Then join our 8th grade Coming of Age team (9:00 only).

 

Are you a creative, loving, flexible adult who gets a kick out of teens and wants to support them as they grow into young adults?  Then consider joining our 9th-12th gradeYRUU advisor team!

 

NEW June Art Wall Dedicated to our UUCCSM Children and Youth:  I’m sure you’ve all admired the wonderful artwork on our Art Wall in Forbes Hall each month.  Well, it’s our RE children’s turn!  Beverly Alison is coordinating a children’s art show for the Art Wall in June, and all children and youth at UUCCSM are encouraged to submit a work for inclusion.  Each piece must be framed, preferably with wire in the back.  There are no restrictions as to size or medium.  One submission per child (families with multiple children can submit one for each child) accompanied by a small label containing title, medium and price.  If the art is not for sale please indicate NFS on the legend.  The collection point for your submissions is Catherine's office.  Beverly Alison has donated several frames so if you need one they are stored in the office of the DRE. Please contact Cynthia Littleton or Beverly Alison for additional information.  The deadline for submissions will be May 28th.  Let’s make this a show to remember!

 

Under-5 UU Play Group Meeting Weekly:  A weekday play group for children under 5 and their parents will begin meeting weekly on Tuesdays from 9:30-11:00 am in the Cottage nursery.  Contact Jonathon Bijur for more info.

 

UUCCSM Shirt Sale Continues this Week!  Show your UUCCSM pride and help support our YRUU youth’s fund-raising effort for their service-learning trip to New Orleans this summer by purchasing a special UUCCSM t-shirt!  Shirts are $25 each and are available in a wide variety of styles and sizes and come in a rainbow of colors, with our UUCCSM logo printed in white.  We have t-shirts in adult and child sizes, women’s cut short-sleeve and ¾ sleeve t-shirts, and long-sleeve t-shirts!  On sale now in the courtyard on Sundays following the service – purchase one of the shirts we have on hand, or place an order for the exact shirt you want if it’s not already available.  Hint: these shirts are GREAT to wear as part of the UUCCSM contingent at the Pride Parade in June, or if you purchase a white shirt they’d be perfect for tie-dying, on your own, at our UUCCSM church camp in September or on Tie-Dye Sunday in summer RE!

 

Let’s Go to Camp this Summer!  de Benneville Pines Summer Camp Registration Open:  Flyers and registration information for this year’s Summer Camps at our lovely UU camp in the mountains are now available online. UUCCSM has its own church camp weekend in September each year (HIGHLY recommended), but there are many more opportunities to go to camp for people of all ages throughout the summer.  See below or check out the full roster of programs at http://www.uucamp.org. 

 

What is Camp de Benneville Pines?  Owned by our UU district (including SoCal, Arizona and part of Nevada), the camp is located in the Barton Flats area of the San Bernardino National Forest, about 90 miles east of Los Angeles. At an elevation of 6,800 feet, the camp is surrounded by a forest of towering pines, cedars, and oaks. The mission of Camp de Benneville Pines is to provide a mountain retreat where Unitarian Universalist principles and values are lived and celebrated in community.

 

Elementary Summer Camp, “Generosity of Spirit,” June 30 – July 6, 2013

http://www.uucamp.org/camps/2013/PSWD/elem_summer/Elem_Summer_Camp_2013.html

For youth completing grades 2-5.

Please join us as we play, sing, laugh, swim and enjoy the greatness of being in community with Unitarian Universalists from all over the Pacific Southwest District. We talked last summer about how “what we bring to the world is exactly what the world needs from us.” This summer, we will explore the many ways in which we can share who we are and be where we are needed.  As always, we will have tons, tons, tons of fun!

 

Jr. High Summer Camp, “Keep the Unity in ComUUnity,” July 7 - 13, 2013

http://www.uucamp.org/camps/2013/PSWD/jrhigh_summer/JrHigh_Summer_Camp_2013.html

For youth completing grades 6-8.

This year, our Junior High summer camp will be centered around becoming peacemakers in our lives and in the world! Each day we will focus on one of the following: respect, communication, listening, forgiving, and living courageously. Living peacefully - at home, at school, with friends - begins with us and spreads like ripples in water. Campers will also participate in swimming, hiking, canoeing, archery, crafts and more!

 

YRUU Sr High Summer Camp, “Camp IllUUminate-Us,” July 14 - 20, 2013

http://www.uucamp.org/camps/2013/PSWD/srhigh_summer/SrHigh_Summer_Camp_2013.html

For youth completing grades 9-12.

Let that little light of yours shine brightly at Camp IllUUminate-Us, a spectacular summer week of self-discovery and fun in a caring, accepting community. Roast marshmallows, tell stories and worship, all around a blazing bonfire. Join in groups to share your favorite song and learn about each other. Come to Summer Camp! You'll get to discover wonderful friendships, work together in team building games at our Summer Olympics, and enjoy an exciting star-gazing evening, all the while singing "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine!" Who wouldn't want to let their individuality shine and grow within our spectacular district-wide youth community? Enjoy all of your favorite workshops and events, not to mention quite a few new activities. You can expect an illuminating and exciting week at Camp DeBenneville Pines! We hope to see you there!!

 

UU Family Camp, “Exploring the Interdependent Web”, July 21-27, 2013,

http://www.uucamp.org/camps/2013/PSWD/family_summer/Family_Summer_Camp_2013.html

Unitarian Universalists affirm and promote 7 key principals or beliefs within our congregations and communities. The 7th principal states: " Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.  But who is included in our web? Does it include all life? What does “respect” actually mean? What does it mean to be “interdependent?” How can we teach our children? How can we influence one another? In this year’s Family Camp, let’s explore the interdependent web and how we are each a part of it. In our beautiful natural setting, we can spend a week together making music, "capturing the flag", tie-dyeing, staring at trees, hiking, contemplating, swimming, worshiping, laughing and playing. In a co-operative environment, we will explore together what it means to be part of an interdependent web. Price includes lodging, all meals, all workshops and activities, including hiking, swimming, canoeing, playing, music making, archery and arts & crafts.  Oh yes, and all the R & R you can fit into the week!  Register early; this camp sells out.  An extra perk for UUCCSM folks: the Camp Dean is our very own Amy Brunell! 

 

 

Please sign up to bring snack for your child’s RE Class:  Most of our RE classes still have lots of open spots for parents to sign up to bring a snack to class. Children and youth value snack highly as part of their RE experience; parents, please take part in making sure it’s available every Sunday!  Here are links to online signup pages for each class; just fill in your last name for the Sundays you’re willing to help out, and you’ll get a reminder email midweek leading up to the Sundays you’ve signed up for.

 

·         9:00 Preschool-K: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ufVuIEr6mprU7qJoBIB5zLLa_3jE9N7fr3A4zTaWhMk/edit#

·         9:00 1^st-2^nd Grades: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AF3KpLXhQQ3VjhG6iUoJ_pnLty_UXzI9ZeitbBd0H8M/edit#

·         9:00 3^rd-5^th Grades: https://docs.google.com/document/d/110AaDJ89pZT_ZjO9lVreQ27fKGmKOFOho7AKExSyLRI/edit#

·         9:00 6^th-7^th Grades: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EKU4mbGqhw44nPj9LdfW27-csnLDHW5QmxOrejIam74/edit

·         9:00 8^th Grade (COA): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FB5jHL7YoaH108ssr5IJGlnhiK8jg20s0Koj11Lm3ps/edit

·         9:00 9^th-12^th YRUU: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oqqIus8jaWyxtJYmWcNpmbsosVpi1TfA-F11_sSAwnU/edit

·         11:00 Preschool-K: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gPziJCMxNoRq4-0griRoMOrkjZZ5jMqfEzieCUTWpFs/edit#heading=h.gjdgxs

·         11:00 1^st-2^nd Grades: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UnitBIIPUViUOH-hIAYZD4eMoNSv_Tbpd8pFyCs-q34/edit#

·         11:00 3^rd-5^th Grades: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zMN3zUu13da4GFt8xgIBQbnoRP1PLh_kA3qr_IYx_xE/edit#

·         11:00 6^th-7^th Grades: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12d_JtawEjyetDi1mFIKU_Ds8v0KqpCcVEiTGhHEIJZE/edit

 

 

RE Books Wish List on Amazon:  Another arm of the “master wish list” for the RE program, is an Amazon Wishlist of books and supplies that will be useful in RE classes this year or that will be valuable resources for teachers & families in our church.  We do have some money earmarked for purchases, but we are running on a tight RE budget, and donations are happily accepted.  If you’d like to help out by donating to the program, check out the Amazon list at http://tinyurl.com/rewishlist. (Used books in “good” condition are just fine!)  THANK YOU to the members who have already sent books or other supplies our way – they are so appreciated!

 

UU Everyday (resources and ideas for practicing your UU values at home):

 

Chalice Lighting Words of the Week (April’s Theme – TRANSFORMATION):

 

April 28:

Water flows from high in the mountains.

Water runs deep in the Earth.

Miraculously, water comes to us, and sustains all life.

 

Water and sun

Green these plants.

When the rain of compassion falls,

Even a desert becomes an

Immense, green ocean.

-- Thich Nhat Hanh

 

For the 2012-13 church year we’re trying out a new way of living as one lifespan religious community: congregation-wide ministry themes.  Each month we’ll explore a new theme, and in April our theme is TRANSFORMATION.  The chalice lightings shared here will be used in all of our RE classes, and I hope that your family will also share it at home during the week.  I’m tickled by the idea of all of our UUCCSM families sharing a reflection in common each week as we go about our daily lives. 

 

An At-Home Activity to Reinforce our UU Values – “May Day”: (from The Book of New Family Traditions by Meg Cox)  The first day of May is a fascinating holiday because its history is so diverse.  Centuries ago in Europe, it was celebrated as a spring festival and fertility rite, with feasting, crowning of May Queens. And dancing around a maypole.  Devout religious types frowned on all the wild drinking and partying, including the Puritans who came to this country.  What celebration is done in the U.S. today tends to be somewhat muted, though flowers still figure as am important element, and some schools and community groups erect maypoles.  In Hawaii, May Day is “Lei Day,” and the local people drape one another with those colorful flower necklaces.  Still another aspect is May Day’s association with workers’ rights: at the end of the 19^th century, union organizers were fighting hard for the right to an eight-hour workday, and had May Day rallies in support of this. Here are some ideas for families who want to mold this background into traditions of their own.

Flower Garlands:  Flower crowns and garlands are lovely, but the flowers quickly die.  Instead of using live flowers, get some small dried or silk flowers at a craft store, and using florist’s wire and ribbon, make a crown to fit the head of each young child in the family.  Tie additional bright ribbons to the back, so they stream down past the waist.  Improvise your own May Day party and feast, with music and dancing.  If you haven’t yet, start working in your garden on this day.

Family Job Tree:  To honor the history of labor in your family, create a family tree going back several generations that shows not only family members’ names but also what work they did during their lives.  Talk about the history of work and labor, the movement away fro agrarian life in this country, and imagine jobs and work in future times, including the adulthood of your kids.

Flowers Forever:  Kate Smith helps her kids gather flowers on May Day and then preserve them.  They make a simple flower press, placing the blossoms between two layers of cardboard, then squishing them together with heavy books such as phone books.  Leave the flowers to dry and flatten overnight, then glue them to frames, turn plain paper into pretty stationary, or glue the flowers into a diary or other special book.

 

 

This Week in UU History: (From This Day in Unitarian Universalist History, by Frank Schulman)

 

April 28, 1579:  Faustus Socinus went to reside at Krakow, Poland, where he eventually became the leader of the Unitarian movement, formally called the Minor Reformed Church.

 

April 29, 1733:  Simeon Howard was born.  He trained for the ministry at Harvard University and succeeded Jonathan Mayhew as minister of West Church (Unitarian) in Boston in 1767.  He also married Mayhew’s widow.  West Church was prosperous and known for its liberal views.  During the Revolutionary War, the British tore the steeple off the church, housed soldiers inside, and forced Howard out of the city.  He went to Nova Scotia, where he became a popular preacher, but he returned to West Church after the war and continued as its minister until his death in 1804 at the age of 71.  Howard was noted as a man of deep piety and cheerful disposition.

 

April 30, 1771:  Hosea Ballou was born in Richmond, New Hampshire.  Known as the “father of American Universalism,” he was reared Baptist and became a Universalist at age 19.  He founded the Second Universalist Society in Boston and served as its first minister from 1817 to 1846.  Ballou published catechisms as well as Notes on Parables (1804) and A Treatise on Atonement (1805), which recast universal salvation in terms of Unitarian divine benevolence rather than as a modification of Calvinist Trinitarianism.  Ballou engaged in numerous religious controversies and edited the Universalist Expositer with his great-nephew, Hosea Ballou 2d.  He and John Murray are the most famous early organizers of American Universalism, although the details of their beliefs were not the same.

 

May 1, 1933:  The Humanist Manifesto was published.  Signed by 36 prominent thinkers, among them scientists, philosophers, and academics, including seven Unitarian ministers and one Universalist minister, the Manifesto affirmed 14 points of religious humanism and became a rallying cry for liberal religious thinkers.

 

May 3, 1912:  May Sarton was born in Wondelgem, Belgium.  Her family came to America to escape the Germans during World War II, and she was introduced to Unitarianism in Cambridge, Massachusetts, under the ministry of Samuel McChord Crothers.  Although she never joined a Unitarian church, Sarton’s sentiments were Unitarian.  Early in her life, Sarton wanted to be an actress, but poetry was her first love.  Her 50 publications include the memoir I Knew a Phoenix (1954), the novelFaithful Are the Wounds (1955), and the poetry collection In Time Like Air (1958). Sarton lectured and read her poetry widely in Unitarian churches.  When she announced publicly that she was a lesbian, she won acclaim from feminist circles. In 1982, she delivered the Ware Lecture, “The Values We Have to Keep,” at the General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association, and the Unitarian Universalist Women’s Federation gave her the Ministry to Women Award.  May Sarton died on July 16, 1995.

 

May 4, 1796:  Horace Mann was born in Franklin, Massachusetts.  A Unitarian, he was a tutor in Latin and Greek at Brown University and a lawyer.  Mann served in the Massachusetts House and Senate, advocating state hospitals for the insane, restriction of slavery, regulation of liquor sales, and educational reforms.  He secured passage of a bill creating a state board of education and gave up a lucrative legal practice to become secretary to the board.  In this position, he advocated establishment of teachers’ colleges, called normal schools, and led the fight for nonsectarian education with trained teachers paid adequately.  In 1848 he went to Congress, filling the seat vacated by John Quincy Adams.  Mann served as president of Antioch College from 1853 until his death on August 2, 1859.