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Newsletter for February, 2013

Month: 
Feb 2013
From Our Minister: 

Dear friends,
 
One of the things I loved about riding the subway in Boston was getting to see what everyone was reading. Especially the university students — a train leaving Harvard Square was bound to have a Russian novel or two, or at least someone working on flashcards. These days it is probably harder to get your book recommendations by catching sight of a title on the train, since most commuters are reading off their Smartphone or tablet. In any case, my column this month is dedicated to sharing a glimpse of what’s on your minister’s bookshelf:
 
“The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in an Age of Colorblindness,” by Michelle Alexander.  This is the UUA’s Common Read, and also the subject of a four-part series here at the church sponsored by Faith in Action. Bryan Stevenson’s TED talk [http://www.ted.com/talks/bryan_stevenson_we_need_to_talk_about_an_injustice.html] provided the final push I needed to buy this book from our book cart and start reading.
 
“Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard,” by Chip and Dan Heath. A recommendation for those hitting the usual obstacles to their New Year’s resolutions.
 
“A Paradise Built in Hell: the Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster,” by Rebecca Solnit. She describes how solidarity and community result in the wake of earthquakes and other disasters. Some of you may have heard Solnit speak on this topic earlier this fall at the Santa Monica Public Library.
 
“Doubt, A History: The Greater Doubters and Their Legacy of Innovation from Socrates and Jesus to Thomas Jefferson and Emily Dickinson,” by Jennifer Michael Hecht. More to come on this on the first Sunday in February, when Ian Dodd and I join forces for a service about the benefit of doubt.
 
And I’m always taking recommendations, ebook or otherwise. Happy reading — or scrolling.
 
Your minister,
Rev. Rebecca
From Our President: 

cottama.jpgWhen I was asked to serve as president last year, I was asked to serve a one-year term. I might not have said yes, if I had been asked to do more. Now I am finally feeling comfortable that I understand what the job requires, and the year is eight months old. I find the work fulfilling in many ways, but my vision keeps expanding and I haven’t accomplished my goals. So I am going to run for another term. If you choose to elect me at the Annual Meeting on May 19, I will serve as your president for another year, and the nominating committee can breathe a sigh of relief.
 
Sometimes recruiting leaders to tend to the business of the church can be very hard work indeed. Yet these leadership roles can provide wonderful  opportunities for growth and satisfaction. The church committees, the board, and the officers of the board are all working to help our community thrive. A thriving community is better able to care for its members and to do the justice-seeking work we all aspire to. A vibrant community is more capable of growth, of spreading our message of inclusion, of being a positive force in the wider world.
 
Leadership work can also be personally fulfilling. When you commit yourself more fully, you deepen the rewards of your involvement. You get to know more people. You get to know more about the church and the many interesting activities that take place there every week. You have conversations, and you begin to discover more about the forces that drew you to church in the first place. You interact with people from other generations and other circumstances, and you commit yourself to them, because they are a part of an intentional community, which you have joined, and which you are working to support. Church work is spiritual work; if you attend to it mindfully, it acquires purpose and meaning.
 
Unfortunately, there can also be a darker side to making this leap of commitment. You can be disappointed. Your efforts may be less successful than you had hoped. You may have a different vision from some of the people you are working with. You may not like some of them. Your feelings may be hurt. Your fellow volunteers may behave badly. You may behave badly. Risks abound. I encourage you to do it anyway. Church is a special place where you always have the opportunity to begin again in love. You may need a break.
 
You may need months of meditation. Still, your place at the table remains set, waiting for you to join the communal meal once again. We will all work harder to refrain from criticism, to offer help instead of judgment when we see people struggling, to be our better selves.
 
Those of us who recruit may not be aware of you and your special talents. Please make yourself known to
us. Call me, email me, or speak to me at church. I look forward to joining with you on a project that inspires
you.
 
— Cynthia Cottam
Featured Articles: 

Dining for Dollars 2013 is coming!

Many of you know and love this event, but if you’re anyone new, you should know that D4$ is a silent auction where you can bid on events such as dinners, as well as gift certificates, homemade baked goods, and other
treats offered by church members and friends.

D4$ is our church’s biggest fundraiser, but even better, it’s a “win-win-win,” because the church gets the money; the hosts/ donors get tax deductions; and the bidders get to attend great events (or receive fabulous baked goodies, etc.), build community, socialize with friends, and probably meet some new people.

\Inside this issue is a preliminary list of events and other offerings — a final list will be available on the days of bidding, which will take place on February 17 and 24 after each service.

Please note that we have many more events that are still being scheduled, including the annual Choir Concert, an event by Barbara Kernochan, and many, many others. Please contact Melissa Weaver, D4$ Chair, if you would like to host an event, or offer baked goods or services or gift certificates. 

Dining for Dollars Events (listed so far):

1 - Sat 3/16 - 6PM - Moroccan Feast - Bronwen Jones & Tom Hamilton
2 - Sat - 4/6 - 6PM - Beatles Music & Trivia - Janet Goodwin & Karl Lisovsky
3 - Sat - 4/13 - 11AM - Bicycle Ride & French Picnic Lunch - Francois Bar & Alison Kendall
4 - Sat - 4/13 - 6:30PM - Movie Night: “Grease” Singalong - Patrick Meighan & Amy Thiel
5 - Sun - 4/21 7-10PM - Dinner with a Persian Accent - Faz & Lucy Elahi
6 - Sun - 5/5 - 1PM - Bridge Buffet - Janet Goodwin & Karl Lisovsky
7 - Sat - 6/1 - 10AM - Pancake Breakfast - Bob Dietz & Ellen Levy
8 - Sun - 6/2 - 5:30PM - Ladies Night at the Heated Pool - Julie Nyquist
9 - Sun - 6/9 - 5PM - Scrabble and Veggie Chili - Roberta Frye
10 - Sat - 6/15 - 6PM - Mom’s Lasagna & Karen’s Pie - Karen Canady & Robert Michelson
11 - Sat - 7/6 - 6:30PM - French Dinner with Chemistry Explanations - Rebecca Crawford
12 - Sun - 7/14 - PM - Movie at Arclight Hollywood & Arclight Restaurant Dinner - Bonnie Brae
13 - Fri - 7/26 - 7PM - Cocktails & Elegant Patio Dining - Heather Thomas Brittenham
14 - Sun - 7/28 - 11AM - Country Club Brunch in Cheviot Hills - Mark Huberman
15 - Sun - 8/4 - 3PM - Gourmet BBQ - Glenn & Nancy Howell
16 - Sun - 9/15 - 5PM - 9th Annual UUCCSM Scrabble Tournament & Homemade Alphabet Soup Dinner - Elizabeth Fuller & Daniel Kegel
17 - Sat - 10/5 - 6:30PM - Provençal Evening - Kenneth & Crystal Alexander
18 - Sat - 10/12 - 9AM - 1/2 Mile Walking Tour of Great Wall of Los Angeles, with Fabulous Pizza Lunch - Peace & Social Justice Committee
19 - Sat - 11/2 - 7PM - Dia de Los Muertos Celebration (Day of the Dead Celebration) - Linda Van Ligten & Beverly Alison
20 - Sun - 11/3 - 3PM - Christmas Snaps & Snacks - Charles & Christine Haskell
21 - Sat - 12/7 - 6:30PM - Epicureans Unite - Rhonda Peacock
22 - ? - ? - 6:30PM - Music, Dinner & Drinks at Hollywood’s Catalina Bar & Grill - Rick & Peggy Rhoads
23 - $100 Discount on Weekend at De Benneville Pines - Janet James
24 - Monthly Delivery (12 times!) of Baked Goods - Kit Shaw
25 - Two Time Delivery of Old Fashioned Midwestern Banana Bread - Larry Weiner, Laura Carlson-Weiner, Jacob Weiner
26 - Gift Certificates for Sunday Brunch for 2 at Casablanca Restaurant (2 available) - Analee Haro-Simon
27 - Lacing out your Japanese Maple Tree for Health & Beauty (2 offered) - Nancy Hillman
28 - Pet/House Sitting — 9 nights - Nancy Hillman
 
PLEASE NOTE:
  • Money donated (paid) for the winning bids is nonrefundable.
  • The board-approved cancellation policy is available from the D4$ Committee.
  • If you cannot bid in person, you can submit bids by email or U.S. mail — please contact Melissa Weaver for further information. NO PHONE CALL BIDS will be accepted.
  • Remember — bid early and often, and to have the best chance of winning, come to the auction on February 24.
  • If you have any questions, please contact Melissa Weaver.

Ode to Dayla

Nearly 10 years ago, Dayla McDonald joined the UUCCSM newsletter team as a graphic designer. In 2006 she replaced editor-in-chief Carol Agate, first as the newsletter team chair, and finally in 2009, taking the lead as editor-in-chief. Two years ago, she retired from that demanding position and the team turned the reins over to the very capable Charles Haskell.
 
Dayla continued as a graphic designer, but now, coming full circle, she has announced that she is concluding her work on the newsletter. It’s been an amazing 10 years, Dayla. We’ll all miss your creative and steady hand. 

Don’t be a stranger!

 
“The editor walks the craggy wasteland. What she brings to the story is hidden behind every page.  Lost in the space between sentences. Her repairs are invisible — the mechanisms of her craft hidden behind authorial drywall. Ever unknown to readers. ...let us all sing the ballad of the editor and tell their mighty stories. For it is the editor that lifts the story up so that it may catch the sun. And yet it is the author who swallows the syrup of glory.”
— Ode to the Editor, Chuck Windig, http://bit.ly/M6Qbr9
 
— Pam Teplitz, graphic designer

Are you a graphic design professional?

 
Are you a (semi-) expert in QuarkXPress, Adobe InDesign or Microsoft Publisher? Have you been looking for a way to share your skills and talent with UUCCSM? You are probably the perfect person to help us continue to provide a clean, clear, and inviting traditional monthly newsletter, the primary communication vehicle for our community. 
 
You would be responsible for designing just a few issues a year in partnership with other dedicated and experienced church members. You must have access to your own software. We can provide fonts and a clear style guide, but much of the charm of our newsletter is the unique design sensibility each artist brings to their issues of the newsletter. Make an impact at UUCCSM and join our team!
News & Announcements: 

Save the Date!

Our next Camp de Benneville Pines weekend will be September 13-15, 2013 - put it on your calendar!

40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade

 
The year 2013 marks the 40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1972 landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court to make abortion safe and available. On January 12 of this year the California Coalition for Reproductive Choice held a banquet for “clergy pioneers in the struggle for reproductive justice” who helped women to reproductive health care and abortion services during the years prior to Roe v. Wade — the 1960s and early 1970s. These were Pre- Roe v. Wade members of The Clergy Counseling Service and The Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion. Of the eight clergy honored, two were Unitarian Universalists: the Rev. Ellen Livingston and the Rev. Ernie Pipes.

Darling Family Contribution

 
“I have today made a $10,000 donation in memory of my mother, Lu Ann W. Darling. As you may know, she had been actively involved with the church since 1958 in several roles including Church School teacher, membership chair, and organizational development consultant. She gave much to the church during her lifetime and received much in return. My sister, Martha, joins me in honoring our mother and her church.”
 
With my very best regards,
Steve Darling

News from the Communications Committee

 
Faith In Action News is now online in the Faith In Action section of the church website under “Getting Involved.” While Faith in Action has always been available as part of the newsletter, both online and printed, it is now easier to find in the FIA section. A link to our extensive archive of FIA News can be found at the bottom of the FIA
News page.
 
The FIA News content is currently the monthly newsletter article. We are looking for ways to allow more frequent updates and greater visibility, and we are considering expanding the Twitter feed on the home page of the website.
 
If you haven’t noticed it, it’s the blue box below Rebecca’s welcome message. We now follow only the UUA, but may soon add a new UUSMFIA feed to publicize in real time FIA activities and events to church members and the outside community. Other church groups, such as Religious Education and Music, might also use this
technology, and you will be able to follow along with your own Twitter account or just check in on the website. We’ll provide some social media training opportunities if we move forward with this strategy.

Also New on the Website

 
The Small Group Ministry page under both Getting Involved and Sundays & Services includes the brochure and registration form.
 
A pledge form can be downloaded from the 2013 Commitment Campaign page featured in the  Stewardship/Fundraising section of About Our Church. It can also be accessed from the Make A Donation page.
 
If you have any trouble setting up or logging in to your account to retrieve a PDF of the latest or previous newsletters, please contact us. We want your experience to be easy.
 
— Pam Teplitz and Liz Fuller

Please Wear Your Nametag!

 
I’m so embarrassed when I don’t remember your name. Please wear your nametag.

 

Faith in Action News: 

Nonviolent Communication Workshop in Oxnard April 13 and 14

 
The Sixth Annual Nonviolent Communication (NVC) Conference, which is free to attend, will occur in Oxnard April 13 and 14. Nonviolent Communication, based on the work of Dr. Marshall B. Rosenberg, is a tool that may fit well into our church board’s Covenant of Good Relations (see the article by Rev. Rebecca and Cynthia Cottam in the November issue of the church newsletter) and into the deep-listening goals of our upcoming small-group ministries.
 
As stated on the website of the Center for NVC, “NVC begins by assuming that we are all compassionate by nature and that violent strategies — whether verbal or physical — are learned behaviors taught and supported by the prevailing culture. NVC also assumes that we all share the same basic human needs and that each of our actions is a strategy to meet one or more of these needs. People who practice NVC have found greater authenticity in their communication, increased understanding, deepening connection, and conflict resolution.”
 
For more information about the conference and to register, please visit  http://chooseconnection.squarespace.com/nvc-conference/. For more general information about NVC, visit www.cnvc.org/.
 
The UUCCSM Committee on Ministry hopes to organize car pools to the conference. Please contact me for more information.
 
-- Kris Langabeer, Committee on Ministry

160 Pack Forbes for Movie Against the War on Drugs

 
January 12, 2013. What a surprise! We expected 60 at our showing of “The House I Live In,” the award-winning
documentary by Eugene Jarecki that documents the tragic consequences on our communities of the War on Drugs. By the time we started at 7 p.m., 160 people had packed into Forbes Hall to see how the War on Drugs
has pushed incarceration in U.S. prisons, particularly of young African-American and Latino men, to over two million.
 
“The House I Live In” was shown in theaters last fall, and was awarded the Grand Jury Prize for documentary at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. The film is not yet available on DVD, but judging from the interest it has generated, as well as the impact of Michelle Alexander’s book “The New Jim Crow, Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color Blindness,” we will be able to spend more time discussing it in our church community and  organizing to stop the catastrophic effects of the War on Drugs and its underlying racism.
 
This film showing, a free screening from the makers of the film, was co-sponsored by UUCCSM’s Faith in Action Commission, and the Committee for Racial Justice, which meets at the Church in Ocean Park. Many
who came were alerted by Facebook posts, by friends, by news media, and by an email blast from Frank Dorrel, a local film maker and author of “Addicted to War.” Members of the New Jim Crow discussion group at UUCCSM  spent time at our meeting on January 13 reviewing the film, and planning for further discussion of its message.

Peace Vigil Against Torture

 
A fellow peace vigil supporter and I joined a January 11 gathering of about 100 people at the Los Angeles downtown federal building to call for the closure of the Guantanamo Detention Center at the U.S. Naval Base in Cuba. Organized by Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace, the protest (press conference and rally with several people standing silently in orange jumpsuits and black hoods) marked the 11th anniversary of the opening of the prison where over 160 men are still held in deplorable conditions — enduring torture, neglect, and isolation — without charge or trial. Over 80 of them have been designated as eligible for release (insufficient or no evidence against them) but languish there indefinitely as Washington politicians wrangle about whether to release them in the U.S. or return them to their country of origin. On January 1 President
Obama signed revisions to the National Defense Authorization Act, making it even more difficult to transfer any of the detainees or to close the prison as he pledged to do four years ago.
 
In May 2011, our congregation voted at our annual meeting to become an endorsing member of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture. NRCAT was established in January 2006 as a membership organization of religious organizations committed to ending torture that is sponsored or enabled by the United States.
 
Torture is a Moral Issue” is its mission statement. In becoming a member, we joined more than 300 religious organizations, including the UUA and the UUSC.
 
My friend Elly and I were not happy about the cold and blustery weather that morning, but agreed that it felt good to put our faith in action.
 
— Roberta Frye

 

Splinters from the Board: 

As Rev. Rebecca was on vacation with her family on the East Coast, First Vice President Barbara Gibbs lit the

chalice and asked the January meeting attendees to share their thoughts on bold beginnings for the board and for their lives as individuals.
 
President Cynthia Cottam then read out loud the Affirmation of Covenant that the board created at their Board
Retreat earlier this year. It reads as follows:
 
  • I will be true to myself, listen and contribute.
  • I will relate to others with respect, trust, compassion, and support.
  • I will remember that I am representing the community I serve.
  • When I am relating to congregants who are not board members, I will serve as a two-way conduit between the board and the congregation as a whole.
  • I will identify myself and the office I hold.
  • I will be approachable.
  • I will model commitment to the community.
  • I will be an available and encouraging agent of communication.
 
As of this month’s meeting the church has 376 members.
 
Through the Generous Congregation Contributions the UUCCSM donated $1,147 to the Ocean Park Community Center (OPCC) and $273 to Gays and Lesbians Initiating a Dialogue for Equality (GLIDE) during the month of December.
 
Catherine Farmer Loya highlighted that the UCLA Campus Ministry will be launched on Wednesday, January 9.
 
Church Administrator Nurit Gordon highlighted that we received and deposited the $35,000 matching grant check from the Spirit Level Foundation to go towards re-roofing the Sanctuary. We have also received a $10,000 gift to the operating budget from Lu Ann Darling’s son.
 
The board unanimously approved the contract with TectaAmerica to re-roof the Sanctuary, so now the work can
begin. The board also unanimously approved the employment agreement for the Associate Director of Music position.
 
The board resumed and completed the review of the 2012- 2013 annual budget that was approved by the congregation at the May 13, 2012, Annual Meeting. This review prepares the board for the upcoming budget cycle and familiarizes the board with the budget process.
 
The next board meeting will be on February 12.
 
— Bronwen Jones
RE News: 


From Our DRE

 
During our Christmas- and solstice-themed holiday pageant on December 23, all who attended were invited to reflect on the last year and write down a few words about their own “longest nights” — the things that were hardest to bear, or that they wished to leave behind — as well as their “warmest wishes” — things they’d like to bring forward with them into the new year.
 
Friends, within our community we harbor much brokenness, as well as much hope. I’d like to share a small sample of these words with you, and I invite you to think of your own longest night of 2012, and your warmest wish for 2013:
 
Longest Nights:
 
  • Isolation, depression and a lack of community
  • Anxiety and my desire to always be in control
  • Debt, joblessness
  • The past hurts of my childhood
  • All the small fears that hinder…all acts of kindness left undone
  • The most difficult part of this year is knowing so many people who are so alone and in need and feeling guilty
about not helping them more
  • My grandpa died
  • Still being nowhere close to being able to pay the bills by doing what I love
  • The loss of my beloved’s physical presence
  • Worries about everyone’s health
  • Fear of the transitions in life
  • Infertility
  • Loneliness, no family, slow loss of abilities
  • Pain, pain, pain, pain
  • Custody battles, worry

Warmest Wishes:

  • New understanding of myself – new phase of my life
  • Appreciation of productive employment, love of family
  • My 30s
  • Continued effort to treat others as worthy of dignity and respect
  • Joy in my changing relationship with my children
  • I am going to be more active in my community church and practice love and dedication
  • Wisdom, love, joy, energy
  • HOPE for all that sustains and nourishes, LOVE for myself, others & our environment, PEACE within & without
  • Confidence and more awareness
  • A new start. A new school. (The gift of change.)
  • I will bring to the new year the people that I love and thetime we spend together.
  • Confidence in becoming a leader of a new initiative, courage to take on a new role in life, a belief in the
kindness of people
  • I always have my family
  • Having the best year in terms of my career, life and relationship
  • Trust more, take care of myself, look on the positive side

As we reflect on these messages of fear and hope, longing and promise, we remind ourselves that no matter how dark, no matter how long the night, the light shall come again. It is my hope that you will find UUCCSM to be a place where you may bring your whole self, with all of your pain and uncertainty as well as your dreams and joys, to be consecrated within the chalice of our community of faith.

— Catherine Farmer Loya

Ministry Them Quotes for February:  Vocation

 
Bettye Barclay has provided this list of daily thoughts about our ministerial theme for February.
 
February 1. Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am. Parker J. Palmer
 
February 2. I think it would be well, and proper, and obedient, and pure, to grasp your one necessity and not let it go, to dangle from it limp wherever it takes you. Annie Dillard
 
February 3. You owe it to all of us to get on with what you’re good at. W.H. Auden
 
February 4. Discovering vocation does not mean scrambling toward some prize just beyond my reach but
accepting the treasure of true self I already possess. Vocation does not come from a voice out there calling
me to be something I am not. It comes from a voice in here calling me to be the person I was born to be, to fulfill the original selfhood given me at birth by God. Thomas Merton
 
February 5. Every industrious man, in every lawful calling, is a useful man. And one principal reason why men are so often useless is that they neglect their own profession or calling, and divide and shift their attention
among a multiplicity of objects and pursuits. Ralph Waldo Emerson
 
February 6. The blind spiritual instinct that tells us obscurely that our own lives have a particular importance and purpose, and which urges us to find out our vocation, seeks in so doing to bring us to a decision that will dedicate our lives irrevocably to their true purpose. Thomas Merton
 
February 7. Is that what they call a vocation, what you do with joy as if you had fire in your heart, the devil in your body? Josephine Baker
 
February 8. I have no expectation that any man will read history aright who thinks that what was done in a remote age, by men whose names have resounded far, has any deeper sense than what he is doing today. Ralph Waldo Emerson
 
February 9. Don’t be in a hurry about finding your work in the world for yourself — you are not old enough to judge for yourself yet; but just look about you in the place you find yourself in, and try to make things a little better
and honester there. Thomas Hughes
 
February 10. Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life; everyone must carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated; thus,  everyone’s task is as unique as his specific opportunity to implement it. Viktor E. Frankl
 
February 11. An unfulfilled vocation drains the color from a man’s entire existence. Honore de Balzac
 
February 12. The fact of the matter is that the most unexpected and miraculous thing in my life was the arrival in it of poetry itself — as a vocation and an elevation almost. Seamus Heaney
 
February 13. The artist’s vocation is to send light into the human heart. George Sand
 
February 14. When something is a vocation, you don’t really make a decision about it. Cate Blanchett
 
February 15. It is not more vacation we need — it is more vocation. Eleanor Roosevelt
 
February 16. I’ve always felt that if one was going to take seriously this vocation as an artist, you have to get beyond that decorative facade. Anish Kapoor
 
February 17. A society in which vocation and job are separated for most people gradually creates an economy
that is often devoid of spirit, one that frequently fills our pocketbooks at the cost of emptying our souls. Sam Keen
 
February 18. Each man has his own vocation; his talent is his call. There is one direction in which all space is open to him. Ralph Waldo Emerson
 
February 19. The test of a vocation is the love of the drudgery it involves. Logan Pearsall Smith
 
February 20. A vocation that is not mine, no matter how externally valued, does violence to the self. Parker J. Palmer
 
February 21. Where talents and the needs of the world cross, therein lies your vocation. Aristotle
 
February 22. Discover vocation and creation. And joy will come like clairvoyance, where blindness was before. Rumi
 
February 23. The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle. Steve Jobs
 
February 24. Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life. Confucius
 
February 25. To find out what one is fitted to do and to secure an opportunity to do it is the key to happiness. John Dewey
 
February 26. Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have got it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known. Garrison Keillor
 
February 27. Be like a postage stamp. Stick to one thing until you get there. Henry Wheeler Shaw writing as Josh Billings
 
February 28. It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer. Albert Einstein

Lifespan Religious Exploration In February 

 
Children
This month in the children’s RE program, preschoolers will celebrate Valentine’s Day, and will begin to explore the larger world around them, focusing on the moon and the stars this month. Early elementary participants will engage this month’s theme of VOCATION through stories and special class activities, and will also explore some of the many different kinds of “sacred spaces” found in many traditions and cultures all over the world.
 
Upper elementary children in the UUniverse Story program will continue getting to know “Our Cosmic  Neighborhood,” which explores our own solar system, giving participants a sense of scale. The class will also learn about human exploration of the moon and Mars, as well as the formation of the moon and how it is vital to the foundation of life on Earth.
 
Middle-schoolers in the Compass Points classes will explore some of the values Unitarian Universalism draws from its history, exploring the path from Protestors to Pilgrims, and from Calvinism to Channing. We will also take part in this month’s Faith in Action project on February 24 with a visit to the Westside Food Bank for a special food sort with UUCCSM members of all ages.
 
Youth
 
This month in Coming of Age, youth will explore spirituality in film with a visit from Rev. Silvio Nardoni, and will then begin exploring some of the “big questions” of faith, including the meaning of life and death.
 
The high school youth group is gearing up to launch fundraising efforts for this summer’s service trip to New Orleans, and is beginning to craft the theme for their worship service coming up in the spring.
 
The 8th to 9th grade Our Whole Lives sexuality education course is in full swing, and the 10th to 12th grade O.W.L class will begin in March, so families should be on the lookout for invitations to the parent orientations coming up soon.
 
Adults
 
Ongoing:
 
  • “The New Jim Crow” discussion resumes on Sunday, February 10, in the Cottage at 12:45 p.m. with Rick
and Peggy Rhoads.
 
  • Wednesday Night Writers continue to meet on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month in Forbes
Hall, and newcomers are always welcome. February meetings are on the 13th and 27th at 7 p.m.
 
  • Empty Nesters have begun their monthly meetings on the third Sunday of each month upstairs in Forbes at
12:30 p.m. The February meeting will be on the 17th and newcomers are always welcome.
 
  • Necktie Quilters will meet on Saturday, February 2, in Forbes Hall at 10 a.m. Bring your sewing machine,
sharp scissors, and a sack lunch for stitching and fun.
 

Faith Like a River, Part 2: Themes from Unitarian Universalist History

 
Facilitated by Catherine Farmer Loya
Six sessions: Thursdays February 21 – March 28
7-9 p.m., Forbes Room 4
 
Faith Like a River explores the dynamic course of Unitarian, Universalist, and Unitarian Universalist (UU) history — the people, ideas, and movements that have shaped our faith heritage. It invites participants to place themselves into our history and consider its legacies. What lessons do the stories of our history teach that can help us live more faithfully in the present? What lessons do they offer to be lived into the future?
 
Join facilitator Catherine Farmer Loya for an exploration of our UU religious tradition’s roots.
 
After the introductory first session, this course will explore aspects of our history not covered in last spring’s Faith Like a River class; however, there is no need to have taken the earlier course in order to participate fully.
 
Sign up now by emailing catherinedre@yahoo.com or at the Lifespan RE table in Forbes Hall during coffee hour.

How Do Adult Programs Happen?

 
Well, first someone has an idea about something they either would like to learn about or can share their knowledge about at UUCCSM. They come to the Lifespan RE table in Forbes Hall on a Sunday morning and pick up an “Adult Programs Proposal Form” or they contact a committee member (listed below) and talk to him
or her about their idea. If you want to facilitate a program, you can submit the proposal form and it will be discussed at the next Adult Programs meeting (they happen on the first Tuesday of each month). If the committee feels that the concept is appropriate to our goals, we will move ahead with scheduling.
 
If you have an idea but aren’t feeling qualified to be the facilitator, contact someone on the committee and tell us
about it. If we think it is a viable concept, we will try to locate someone who is qualified to lead it.
 
Not all proposals are automatically accepted. Next month we will include a list of the criteria that we use in making our selections. In the meantime, feel free to contact any of our committee members: Carol- Jean Teuffel, Emmy Cresciman, Karen Hsu Patterson, and James Witker.

Patio Chat

 
Monthly UUCCSM Theme Discussion with Leon Henderson-MacLennan @ 10:10 a.m. on the Patio
Sunday, February 24 — Vocation