Newsletter for September, 2014
From Our Minister:
Let us worship with our eyes and ears and fingertips;
Let us love the world through heart and mind and body.
These opening lines of Ken Patton’s Call to Worship (#437) always bring my spirit to its feet, because Ken is about to tell me that worship and love have a lot in common.
Simply put, in worship, we hold up things of worth. Worship, worthy, worth — they all share Old English origins, so it should be easy to remember that worship is a time when we turn towards what is worthy, valuable, dear, or beloved.
One of the great gifts of my summer study leave and vacation was being able to worship with diverse congregations across the country. I saw what they were holding up as worthy: an idea, a person, a story, a mystery, participation in a communal undertaking, or some combination of these elements. In the “godless congregation” of Sunday Assembly-Los Angeles, in the spirit-filled worship of the emergent UU congregation Sanctuary Boston, in the crowded sanctuary of St. Camillus Catholic Church- in all these communities I found people just like you and me, choosing to turn aside from the normal day to consider things of worth. What they placed at the center of worship differed sharply — and this is why it is so good to be home with you now! — but in each case there was a reorientation, a new direction, an interruption, if not a disruption, of normal life.
By my rough estimate, our community invests about 45% of all our overall staff and financial resources in uplifting worship.*
I believe we allocate our resources this way because worship turns us toward things of worth. At its best, worship lights a fire and raises the dead. It binds up the broken and awakens the sleeping. It breaks our silence, fills our cups, guides our feet, and sends us forth hopeful, refreshed, and renewed.
Worship calls us, as Ken Patton does, to learn to love.
As you know, on September 7 we return to two worship services on Sunday mornings, at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. If you know a few people who could use a reorientation toward what is worthy, I hope you’ll invite them to worship, too.
See you in church,
— Rev. Rebecca
PS: It is a joy to welcome our Intern Minister, Nica Eaton-Guinn, to church. As Nica’s Teaching Congregation, we will offer her opportunities to integrate her academic studies with the practice of ministry. Nica will be will us for an intensive 80%-time internship through the end of June 2015. Please see page XX and XX for more from Nica and our Internship Committee.
*If my estimate is in the ballpark, of the $616,000 our congregation hopes to raise to support the church this year, about $270,000 will directly support worship, which works out to just over $5,000 each Sunday.
From Our Intern Minister
It’s such an honor to begin my service here at UU Santa Monica as Intern Minister. I’ve had a warm welcome from staff and congregants alike. Please introduce yourselves and let me know what you love about UUSM. Meanwhile, here’s a little more about me.
Though I was born in New York City, I lived in Frankfurt, Germany for the first 9 years of my life, growing up bilingually. At age 9, we moved to the UK where I had to adjust my American-German accent to speak the Queen’s English! For college I moved back to the US and attended Princeton University, majoring in Sociology with a minor in Theater and Music History.
My professional life has included working for the National Symphony Orchestra, organizing concerts for children; being an Artist Manager for IMG (International Management Group) in London, managing classical musicians, such as the violinist Joshua Bell and the singing group, The King’s Singers; touring the world as a professional actress and singer; and training and working as a Creative Arts Therapist using all the arts for helping children and adults explore and express their subconscious. I also lived and worked at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, where I studied with leaders in the Mind-Body-Spirit movement.
Having fallen in love with California, I ended up moving to Santa Barbara. There I met my husband, Michael and later gave birth to our son Gabriel, who is now 10 years old. In Santa Barbara, I worked as a life coach with various specialties: mentoring parents with young children; teaching voice and self-expression; and helping women uncover their life purpose and true essence.
After having been a lifetime seeker, it was an invitation by my brother one Christmas to attend his UU congregation in Princeton, New Jersey, that finally introduced me to Unitarian Universalism. I felt like I had found home. The values of pluralism, freedom, justice and love resonated with me deeply. Returning to Santa Barbara, I joined the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara, and later worked as their Membership Coordinator. Three years in that role gave me a first hand understanding of UU church workings, and how to be a truly welcoming congregation. It also inspired my call to ministry. During my formation as a Minister, I also worked as a Hospice Chaplain. I have completed 3 years at Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley and am now at UUSM for the final, experiential portion of my formation.
I am profoundly grateful to be here with you and be mentored by Reverend Rebecca. I look forward to getting to know each of you, and serving as your Intern Minister this coming year.
— Nica Eaton-Guinn
Our Sunday Worship Leaders: Daniel Gledhill (Church Accompanist), Nica Eaton-Guinn (Intern Minister), DeReau K. Farrar (Director of Music), the Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur (Minister), and Catherine Farmer Loya (Director of Religious Education). Photo by Charles Haskell.From Our President:
“Policy Governance is a fundamental redesign of church management. It calls on a board to focus on the organization’s vision and goals rather than minutia, and to give staff more freedom in making decisions.”
Whoa, that would make me stop and think and ask questions!
Perhaps you recall my mentioning Policy Governance in my “inaugural” speech at the Annual Meeting. I mentioned it as a process that might benefit our congregation as we go forward. We can take pride in our accomplishments, thanks to the united effort of our leadership and congregants. It is now an auspicious time to reflect on serving our mission in the best way possible.
At the time of the Annual Meeting, I had only just been introduced to the concept but it made sense to me and also seemed inspirational. Leadership roles are carefully defined: Oversight belongs to the Board; Management is the staff’s sphere; Discernment (i.e., articulating mission and vision) and strategy (i.e., making the big choices) are shared with the Board, staff, and congregation.
I began by reading “Reinventing Your Board” by John and Miriam Carver, the authors of the formal model for Policy Governance, also known as the Carver model. The model is intended to apply to all non-profit boards and is written as such, so it must be interpreted for UU churches. At General Assembly, I talked to congregations who had implemented Policy Governance (including the UUA) or were in the process of doing so. I also got some useful feedback from our district representatives and was introduced to “Governance and Ministry; Rethinking Board Leadership” by Dan Hotchkiss, a UU minister. The latter is far better for our purposes.
The Board is in a process of education that will proceed slowly with careful deliberation and with help from the district. Currently, the Board is educating itself by reading and discussing the Hotchkiss book. Ultimately a change in the way we do things will only happen by a vote of the congregation, but I feel that we will benefit from the process no matter what.
Many ask me what Policy Governance is. It is difficult to articulate a succinct statement that really explains it, so I offer you a gift. If you are interested in Policy Governance as it might apply to our church, I will happily give you a copy of Dan Hotchkiss’s book that you may keep, underline, and annotate as you wish. I hope it will inspire dialog and good ideas. Please contact me if you are interested.
I’ll be keeping you informed as we go forward. Honestly I am excited about where this effort will take us!
— Patricia Wright
Featured Articles:
Call for a Humanist Banner
In Spring of 2013 noted Humanist author/blogger and LGBT activist James Croft stepped to the podium of UU Santa Monica, looked around the Sanctuary, and said, “I love your worship space. These banners are beauti…wait! Where's your Humanist banner?” Where, indeed? The symbols of most of the world's faith traditions festoon the upper walls of our Sanctuary, but in James' (and, no doubt, many UUs') view, there was something missing.
Unitarian Universalism and religious and secular humanism share a lot of DNA. In many ways modern Humanism is a direct descendant of Unitarianism. Humanism, in its simplest form, is a positive life stance that affirms the ability and responsibility of humans to lead ethical, compassionate and fulfilling lives, guided by reason and free of creed or dogma. Sound familiar? It should. In 1933 the original Humanist Manifesto was authored by Unitarian minister Raymond Bragg and signed by 34 philosophers, theologians, and clergy, 15 of them Unitarians. Humanism and Unitarianism led parallel lives throughout the civil rights and anti-war movements of the '60s, the women's movement of the '70s, and the gay rights movement beginning in the '80s.
In 1984 the UUA adopted the Six Sources of the Living Tradition, the fifth of which is: "Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit."
Humanism was the default worldview at UU Santa Monica for many years. In a 2009 congregational poll of the membership, nearly half (47.7%) self-identified as Humanist, the largest single bloc, followed by the next largest bloc who identified as agnostic, atheist, or freethinker. Humanists were the "silent majority" for much of the church's history. In recent years, UU Santa Monica has mirrored the UU denomination nationwide, taking a more broad-based, "big tent" (in the words of Rev. Rebecca) approach to tolerance and inclusiveness to people from all faith traditions and beliefs. This is symbolized by the parade of colorful banners that decorates our Sanctuary walls.
But even while Unitarianism is opening its doors to people from a broader spectrum of beliefs, membership has remained flat or grown only slightly over the decades and still represents only 0.03% of the American population. At the same time, the growth among Humanists, agnostics, atheists and other non-religious people, the so-called “rise of the nones,” has been explosive, doubling in just the past decade to one in five Americans (one in three of those under 30). Much of this growth is a reaction to the conservative political activism of the Religious Right and the military response to 9/11. Today the “nones” are the second largest religious group in America and the fastest-growing. But while most of them feel no particular compulsion to join an organization, there are still some seeking a community, a home.
Imagine one of those seekers coming to visit UU Santa Monica. She has heard that Unitarians respect an individual’s personal search for truth and meaning and she expects to find, if not people who think exactly like her, at least people who share her values of ethics, compassion and social justice. Upon entering the Sanctuary she will immediately see that Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus and Pagans are openly welcomed. But where is the invitation to her, the Humanist? Moreover, where is the acknowledgement of the nearly half of the existing membership who already identify as Humanists? How would she know they are here?
In the coming weeks, AAHS: Agnostics, Atheists, Humanists & Secularists, the free-thought group at UU Santa Monica, will be asking the Board to consider a proposal to add a Humanist banner to the panoply of perspectives already represented in the Sanctuary (1) to acknowledge the rich shared history of Unitarianism and Humanism and to remember Humanism is one of the Six Sources of the Living Tradition, (2) to ensure that Humanists, agnostics, atheists, and other freethinkers know they have a place at the table at UU Santa Monica, and (3) to remind the rest of the UU Santa Monica community that, while we hold no belief in the supernatural, we are bound to all UUs through our shared values and that we are a vibrant and vital part of this church community.
If you agree with us that Humanism — and humanists — deserve an overdue place alongside the other great faith traditions honored on the sanctuary walls and would like to support a gesture of inclusion and “big tent”-ism at UU Santa Monica, stop by the AAHS table in Forbes Hall during coffee hour, talk to an AAHS leader (Ian Dodd, James Witker, or Mark Warkentin among others), check out our Photoshop mock-up of what a representative banner might look like on the Sanctuary wall, and sign our petition of support. Whether or not you share our worldview, we love being in community with you, and we appreciate your support.
This article was written by Ian Dodd, Len Harris, Mark Warkentin, and James Witker. The photo is a digital mock-up of one possible design for a Humanist banner created by James Witker.
Towel Stampede!
Beverly Allison with some of the many towels for the homeless donated to OPCC at the Towel Stampede in her home on August 24. Peggy Kharraz helped organize the event, which attracted about 45 people. Photo courtesy of W. Murrell.News & Announcements:
Reminder: It's renewal time for the Scrip program at Ralph's
If you shop at Ralph's, you can designate UU Santa Monica as the recipient for donations through the market’s community contribution program. Participants are required to register for the new term at www.ralphs.com starting September 1. Even if you have registered as recently as last month you MUST re-register in September to keep your account current. Easy step-by-step instructions are posted on the ralphs.com website: Click on Community, then Community Contributions, then “For participant questions, click here.” You may also request a letter with a barcode that can be scanned at the checkout counter. Email your request to community.programs@ralphs.com
Announcements, Order of Service and Newsletter Submissions
The correct address for submission of items to our Weekly Announcements (or corrections of items that have appeared in the Announcements) is office@uusm.org
Order of Service items should be sent to oos@uusm.org
Items for our monthly newsletter should always be sent to newsletter@uusm.org
Also, please note that these submissions and corrections should NOT be made by clicking “reply” to an announcements or newsletter mailing. Clicking "reply" directs your message to our outgoing mailing list, not to the staff members you need to reach. The mailing list is moderated, so your “reply” is held in a moderation queue until our webmaster can review it and forward it to the correct person. “Reply”-generated messages do eventually get where they need to go, but it is faster and better and more efficient to direct your message to the correct destination from the beginning.
Faith in Action News:
Film Reveals Risks Confronted by Central American Children Migrants
The documentary “Which Way Home,” presented Sunday, August 10, by the Peace and Social Justice Committee of Faith in Action, graphically demonstrates the dangers experienced by children from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala attempting to migrate to the United States. For many migrants, this involves riding on top of la bestia — the beast — freight trains through Mexico to the U.S. border, where they risk falling and losing a limb or even their lives, as well as robbery, extortion, and/or rape by drug gangs.
The discussion following the film focused on the recent growth in the number of unaccompanied children from Central America arriving in the United States, from 3,304 in Fiscal Year 2009 (the year the film was made) to 42,933 in Fiscal Year 2014 as of June 30; the reasons for the increase; the U.S. role in creating conditions in their home countries conducive to migration; and the response in this country to the children migrants.
Why are the children coming? Children migrate for a number of reasons, including poverty in their home countries, perceived opportunities in the United States, and family reunification. However, the recent upsurge in the migration of children corresponds to the growing presence of drug cartels and the growth of gang- and drug-related violence in the Central American countries. Today, Honduras has the highest murder rate in the world; El Salvador and Guatemala are fourth and fifth. Children who have turned up at the border reveal the extent and nature of the violence they are trying to escape: drug gangs have taken over schools and entire neighborhoods; students are submitted to relentless pressure to join the gangs or work for cartels with threats of killing them or members of their families if they refuse. Several report that members of their families and/or friends have been killed, in some cases in their presence.
What is the U.S. role in these conditions? Latin American specialists as well as experts on drug policy have pointed out the responsibility of the United States in creating conditions in Central America giving rise to violence, including support for repressive governments; economic policies favoring corporations at the expense of national interests; and drug policies, including resistance to the legalization of drug possession, the trafficking of guns and other weapons from the United States into Mexico and other countries, and anti-drug policies in Latin America that have tended to simply displace drug trafficking from one region to another. The United States is the major market for drugs; guns and other arms from the United States have aggravated the violence that has accompanied the growth of the cartels in these countries. In fact, many of the gangs heavily involved in the drug trade, such as the Mara Salvatrucha, have their origins on the streets of Los Angeles and other U.S. cities.
U.S. officials have recognized that many of the children as well as other immigrants are fleeing conditions from the home countries. Efforts to improve these conditions should include revisiting U.S. policies and their impact in the region, including trade policy and the drug war.
What has been the U.S. response to the growing number of children migrants from Central America? The response in the United States has been varied. Officially, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, originally passed in 2000 and amended by the Bush administration in 2008, entitles all unaccompanied children from non-contiguous countries (i.e., other than Mexico and Canada) to a hearing before an immigration judge to determine whether they are eligible for asylum or other types of protection. However, in its efforts to discourage further migration, the Obama administration has sought to facilitate deportation of the children, in part by eliminating this protection, a move that has been resisted to date. At the local level, reactions have ranged from strong opposition and rejection of their presence, epitomized by the ugly demonstrations in Murietta, to the more welcoming policy of some cities. In the case of Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti has met with advocacy groups such as CARECEN (Central American Resource Center), CHIRLA (Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles), and Esperanza, an organization of Catholic Charities, to provide various types of assistance to the young immigrants, including housing and food, transportation to enable them to reunite with distant families, and legal aid, including access to lawyers who can represent them in court proceedings.
Efforts are also being made to remove children from warehouses and military barracks, uniting them with their families where possible, or placing them in smaller shelters where conditions are better.
What Can We Do? One important course of action is advocacy on behalf of children immigrants. We should urge the president and Congress to recognize that the majority of the young people and families fleeing these countries are fleeing from violence and should be treated as refugees. This recognition includes a right to due process, including a hearing before an immigration judge, and access to lawyers who can represent them in court proceedings.
Second, we can support groups and organizations that are working on behalf of refugee children. Groups providing assistance include CARECEN, CHIRLA, Esperanza Immigrant Rights project, and Justice for Immigrants-Inland Empire.
— Nora Hamilton
“Detention Stories: Life Inside California’s New Angel Island”
This is a new documentary from Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC), directed by UU Santa Monica regular visitor Will Coley Although Will Coley has moved to New York and visits us less frequently, this new film expresses the passion that he and thousands of Unitarian Universalists have for the just treatment of undocumented immigrants and an end to their mass incarceration.
“Detention Stories” was pre-screened on August 8 at Orange Coast UU Church in Costa Mesa. The film briefly documents the history of immigration detention in the United States, with special reference to Angel Island in San Francisco, where over 1 million immigrants, mainly Chinese laborers, were detained from 1910 to 1940, when the detention center was closed. Through visual and auditory testimony of men and women both currently in U.S. detention centers and recently released, the film reveals the sub-standard living conditions and medical treatment, and the harassment and social isolation that exist in both public and private detention jails. The stories of these detainees are a testament to their resilience in the face of continuing personal legal battles and the Congressional stalemate on immigration reform.
Despite President Barack Obama’s statement of January 10, 2010, in reference to Angel Island: — “They journeyed across the Pacific, seeking better lives for themselves and for their children. Many arrived at Angel Island, weary but hopeful only to be unjustly confined for months and in some cases years. As we remember their struggle, we honor all who have been drawn to America by dreams of limitless opportunity”— the Obama administration houses 400,000 immigrants yearly in detention centers in the United States, with California having the largest population in detention.
The film can be viewed at CIVIC’s website: www.endisolation.org/detention-stories/ and for more coverage, enter Detention Stories: Life Inside California’s New Angel Island into your search engine. For more information on Will’s activities, see www.aquifermedia.com.
— Peggy Rhoads
Take Back Adelanto
Our friends at Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC) participated in an action on Saturday, August 16, to protest the City of Adelanto’s plans to expand their prison run by GEO Group, a publicly traded prison corporation with record profits amounting to billions of dollars each year. Currently GEO Group is expanding its immigration detention facility in Adelanto by 640 additional beds. The expansion is slated to be completed by July 2015, and will make Adelanto home to the largest immigrant detention center in the country.
Adelanto is located in San Bernardino County in a remote and isolated high desert location. Families and visitors who wish to visit immigrants in detention there currently face an onerous journey that is not easily accessible by public transportation.
According to a press release by CIVIC, Adelanto has invested too much in prisons and far too little on education. There is no middle school or high school district in Adelanto. Victor Valley Union High School District finished completion of Adelanto High School back in 2012, but the school sat vacant for two years because it was $3.4 million over budget. Meanwhile, the county jail expansion that opened in February was $25 million over budget.
The Take Back Adelanto action focused on highlighting the current prison industrial complex within the high desert, stopping the expansion of the Adelanto facility, and delivering a message to the city that the community needs to focus on education and opportunities for our young people.
Sign the petition to STOP THE EXPANSION at Bit.ly/No_Expansion and learn more at www.defunddetention.org
— Cathie Gentile
IF THE SHU FITS: Voices from Solitary Confinement
Splinters from the Board:
Meeting of August 12, 2014
After lasagna and check-in, we welcomed our intern minister, Nica Eaton-Guinn, to her first Board meeting with us. Business began with Bryan Oakes’ report from the Facilities Development Committee. Final inspection for the office/pergola project was delayed due to another form to be filled out, but should be accomplished within the next couple of weeks. At that point we will discover if the city needs us to address any further issues. It is time to install the gutters along the lower edge of the roof. They are actually part of the roof project, but could not be installed until the work on the south wall was complete. The Board approved the expenditure of $980 for this work. The second project that needs attention while the roofers are here is the roof over the Arizona entry to Forbes Hall. This roof unfortunately drains toward the building, causing water to pool and potentially damage interior walls. This condition will be repaired and the roof sealed. The Board approved up to $4,000 to complete this work. The new garden for the space inside our Pergola Wall will begin its imagination phase under the supervision of Lisa Cahill, Alison Kendall and the Green Committee. We are grateful to them for taking on this project and look forward to future reports.
The Board heard reports from the staff. We have three new members, Christie and David Ferraria and Kikanza Nuri-Robin. Total membership stands at 380. The generous congregation donation for July totaled $586, given to CLUE LA and to Step Up on Second. Kit Shaw gave the treasurer’s report. Income for July is $5300 more than budgeted due to increase in rental income. The Finance Committee met in July and will meet again in September. The treasurer plans to write a quarterly report for the newsletter to update the congregation on the church’s finances.
Karl Lisovsky reported on the Audio/Visual project. Work continues on installing speakers in the sanctuary and Forbes. The screen and projector will have to wait until the electrical work is done in the sanctuary.
The Board reviewed plans for its retreat on September 6.
The Board had read 80 pages of “Governance and Ministry” for this meeting. We discussed the way our church appears to be organized, including the relationship of the Board to committees and staff. We will try to finish the book by our next meeting.
— Cynthia Cottam
RE News:
From Our DRE
Welcome to the 2014-15 program year! I am so excited about what is to come this year for all of us here at UUSM. We have wonderful Sunday morning RE programs planned for children and youth, as well as a wide variety of adult programs coming up this fall and throughout the year. But we’re also inviting all at UUSM to join us this year as we experiment with a new “Full Week Faith” focus, aimed at equipping people of all ages to practice being Unitarian Universalist every day of the week by living meaning-full lives aligned with their own most deeply-held values.
Our congregational ministry theme for this month is LOVE. As Unitarian Universalists, we have the power to bring our message of love and hope into every interaction we have out in the world. I have thought for a long time that the most important thing we do here is help our young people learn how to be in community with others. It is easy be kind and compassionate to your best friend. It is easy to be in relationship with those we feel are like-minded, or those who we like. But what about the kid who sits behind you in class, or the person you see every day at work, who just rubs you the wrong way? How about when someone’s behavior makes it hard to love them? Or when we’ve been hurt? What then? Our faith tells us that the person we don’t like is still a person, still deserves to be treated with respect and kindness, and calls us to do the hard work of seeking to be in authentic community even when — or especially when — it is hard. That is when we are most truly living our Unitarian Universalist values. That is the hard work. Church, to me, is a place to come to in order to be reminded every week that spiritual work is not easy work, but it is good work. Church is a place where I’m given some tools and some provisions and some company, if I wish it, for doing the hard spiritual work of stretching beyond what is presently comfortable for me.
At the end of September Jewish people all over the world will celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the High Holy Days during which people examine their lives and seek to make amends with any they have wronged in the last year. How well this aligns with our theme of love for this month. I am reminded of the refrain from a reading by UU minister Rev. Rob Eller-Isaacs: “We forgive ourselves and each other; we begin again in love.” May we all, this month and throughout the year that is before us, practice forgiving ourselves and each other, and seek always to begin again in love.
— Catherine Farmer Loya
Love
Bettye Barclay has provided this list of weekly thoughts about our ministerial theme for September. Daily thoughts are published in the weekly email announcements.
— Week 1. “The first duty of love is to listen.” Paul Tillich
— Week 2. “Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.” Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
— Week 3. “I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality…I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
— Week 4. “Blessed is the influence of one true, loving human soul on another.” George Eliot
— Week 5. “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Confucius
Adult Religious Exploration
As a new church year begins, we look forward to a multitude of Adult RE program offerings, designed to challenge, inspire, motivate, and encourage religious and spiritual discussion, learning, and exploration. Exciting things are on the way, including “Owning Your Religious Past” (see separate article by Dan Patterson), as well as “Lessons of Loss.” Keep an eye out for details in the coming months. Here are ongoing programs for the month of September.
— Karen Hsu Patterson
Owning Your Religious Past
Do you want to come to terms with how your religious perspective has changed? Do you want to sort out what to leave behind, what to bring into the present, and what to redefine? Do you want to explore who you are religiously and who you hope to become? “Owning Your Religious Past” invites you to revisit religious spaces and people from childhood in a way that promotes greater self-understanding and personal peace. Join facilitators Carrie Lauer and Dan Patterson for a five-session seminar, starting Monday, September 15 at 7 p.m. in Forbes 1. Sign up at the Lifespan RE table in Forbes Hall during coffee hour. Childcare is available on request.
— Dan Patterson
Bluestockings: A Feminist Salon
Bluestockings, a feminist salon, invites church members and friends to join them on fourth Sundays for a potluck supper followed by a discussion (topic TBD). Our next meeting is Sunday, September 28, 5 p.m., in Forbes Hall.
Our Bluestockings salon is inspired by The Blue Stocking Society of England, an informal women’s social and educational movement. It was founded as a women’s literary discussion group, a revolutionary step away from traditional, non-intellectual women’s activities. The women involved in this group usually had more education and fewer children than most other English women of the time. Talk of politics was prohibited. Literature and the arts were the main subjects of discussion. Educated men were invited to the meetings.
Local Bluestockings meeting are most often attended by an equal gender mix. For more information contact Karen Hsu Patterson.
Patio Chat
Join us on the Patio on Sunday, September 28, at 10:10 a.m. for a lively, thoughtul discussion of our monthly Ministry theme led by Natalie Kahn.
Wednesday Night Writers
A welcoming space for all writers, regardless of prior writing experience or expertise. Join us September 10 and September 24, 7 p.m., Forbes Hall for writing, helpful critiques, and moral support. Unlock your creativity! No sign-ups required — just show up!
Long, Strange Trip: A UU History:
Our six-part video and discussion series, about the history of Unitarian and Universalist thought from the beginning of the Christian era to what we know today as Unitarian Universalism, returns on Wednesday, September 17, 7 p.m., in Forbes Hall.
We will screen “Part V: Evolution.” This episode follows both Unitarianism and Universalism through the late 19th and early 20th centuries as they evolve from Christian Bible-oriented religions to our present-day non-creedal movement. Highlights of the hour-long video include:
- Discussion of influences as diverse as Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species,” the Civil War, feminism and suffrage, and the Social Gospel;
- The roles of Mary Livermore, Julia Ward Howe, Henry Whitney Bellows, Antoinette Brown, Olympia Brown, Celia Burleigh, Jenkin Lloyd Jones, Mary White Ovington, John Haynes Holmes, and Clarence Skinner.
The screening will be followed by guided discussion.
You are welcome to bring your own brown-bag supper for pre-workshop socializing at 6 p.m. before the screening begins. Childcare is available on request. Sign up in Forbes Hall at the LRE table after Sunday services.
Programs for Children and Youth
On Ingathering Sunday, September 7, we’ll celebrate the beginning of a new church year together as one community of all ages, where “Love Reaches Out” — all will attend the service in the sanctuary. Then on the September 14, all children and youth who attend will take part in a special Social Justice project, while many of our church families are enjoying the church camp weekend at Camp de Benneville Pines. RE Classes will begin on Sunday, September 21. No matter the age of your child, we have something exciting in store this year:
Preschool: “Chalice Children” celebrates the wondrous qualities of the children themselves and expands outward to the community around them. This program helps young children learn what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist and creates a sense of connection to nature and the universe. Using a chalice theme, children learn about their religious community, engage in sharing with others, and explore a sense of belonging.
Kindergarten to 2nd Grade: “Spirit Seekers” shares core stories of our faith, focusing this year on Sacred Stories from many religious traditions, and touches also on our monthly all-church ministry themes as well as the 7 UU Principles. We’ll engage children in stories and activities to help them make meaning of their lives, grow a strong UU identity, and create a spiritual community together that honors multiple learning styles and celebrates beauty in diversity.
3rd to 5th Grade: “The UUniverse Story” How do we know what we know? All meaning stories, origin stories or creation myths, regardless of time or setting, have been a reflection of all the knowledge and technology available to its particular culture. This curriculum, developed by UUSM members Ian Dodd and Margot Page, is designed to celebrate what we know in the 21st century and to nurture a sense of awe and wonder for the world around us through a hands-on, science-based curriculum intended to give an appreciation of the incredible achievements of our species to understand the world and our place in it. Kids will engage our UU Principles, history and values as they explore the Big Bang and the origins of the Universe, the chemistry of life, the ideas of evolution and change over time, and the interconnectedness of all people from our shared ancestry with each other and every other life form on the planet.
6th to 7th Grade: “Interfaith Quest” is a brand new two-year comparative religions course that takes participants outside of our own walls to learn about the world’s religions through building relationships and doing interfaith service work with youth from a variety of religious traditions. Participants will reflect on the unique and universal aspects of religious experience, explore their own values as they relate to many other faith traditions, and increase their appreciation of religious diversity. The concept for this new course was inspired by the book “Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, in the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation” by Eboo Patel. Mr. Patel’s experience taught him that when youth from faiths who share the common value of doing good work in the world come together to work cooperatively on a service project, it not only helps to break down barriers of misunderstanding, but also deepens one’s own faith through sharing it with others
8th Grade: “Coming of Age” provides opportunities for youth to learn who they are and where they are on their spiritual journey, bond with other teens, celebrate their gifts, learn about the church and how it works, and articulate their own personal beliefs within the context of our UU faith. The year culminates on Coming of Age Sunday, May 17, when the youth will present religious credo statements before the congregation in a worship service of their own design.
9th to 12th Grade: “Young Religious Unitarian Universalists (YRUU)” empowers teens, with the guidance of adult advisors, to create their own vision and mission for their program. YRUU youth will explore what it means to be young and UU, how our UU principles inform how we live our lives, and what power young UUs have to change the world. YRUU also takes part in social justice projects, organizes social gatherings, and will plan and lead a Sunday worship service for the congregation.
YRUU Summer Service Trip
For those of you who were unable to attend YRUU's service on Sunday, August 17 -- “Esperanza/Hope — Reflections on the Youth Trip to Mexico," here are Paice Van Ooyen and Jake Weiner's perspectives on the trip along with some photos.
Every Year YRUU goes on a summer trip. When we were deciding where to go on this year's trip we all wanted to do something along the lines of last year's service trip to New Orleans. We chose to go to Mexico and build houses with a group called Esperanza. When the time came we all carpooled down to the border, parked the cars and walked across the border. I found this to be a bit of an odd experience mostly because I was not really sure when we had officially entered Mexico. No one checked our passports or anything; I saw nothing that signaled that we were in a different country. I was sure we were across when we were waiting for our bus. The bus took us to the Esperanza facility (which was a nice place). The next few days required lots of physical and difficult work. The first day we built the walls of a house which involved carrying cinder blocks and pouring cement (and there were some puppies on site that kept every one smiling). The second day we poured a roof; we poured more cement and carried buckets of cement in a line through wooden beams and up stairs. This was challenging but we had lots of help from a college group that was working with Esperanza at the same time. On the third and final day of work we poured another roof. This time we (collectively with the college group) carried the buckets of cement up scaffolding and poured it. At the end of each day we had time to talk to the families that would be living in the houses. On our last day in Mexico we went to some shops by the beach and each bought some pretty cool stuff. Then we had some lunch and headed to the border. The crossing back into the U.S. was a different experience than going in to Mexico. We waited in lines for hours and at the end they checked our passports and asked some of us questions but it wasn't too bad. And we all got home safe, happy, and full of new memories to cherish.
— Paice Van Ooyen
Like every object in the known universe a whole comprises many smaller units. To build a house you must first make cement and then pour the roof. However before you can pour a roof you must build walls, and before you can build walls you must have a lot of bricks. Bricks can easily be taken for granted. In fact when I first arrived at the worksite I wondered why the bricks weren’t delivered closer to the foundation of the house. Bricks like people do not serve a purpose unless they all stack up in perfect harmony.
Fortunately for me, I was able to experience every step in the process of building a house. On the first of three building days in Tijuana, our YRUU team arrived at a site where a foundation had already been built and bricks had been stacked so they were ready to be used. Endless stacks of bricks lay 30 feet away from the foundation. As individuals it could have taken the entire day to move all of the bricks and there would be a high likelihood of injury. Instead of working as individual units we worked together as a whole team and created a line where the bricks could be passed along with each individual doing their part to help the whole.
Teamwork seemed to be an overlying theme for the entire trip: everything we did from working with the college kids to pour the second story roof, to our chores on a daily basis, and even the artistry that was unsynchronized unswimming from our second annual talent show (which I hope no one will ever have the pleasure of watching).
All three days we worked while in Mexico we went to a different location and each day we poured concrete. In other words, we knew nothing else. We found out later from the college group that we were extremely lucky to do something as fun as pouring concrete as it was rare you could do something where you can actually see your progress. They hadn’t poured concrete in weeks. The first day we poured concrete into the walls we had just built. This was a grueling endless process with tons of buckets full of rocks and sand that had to be transported to people who would then hoist them into the cement machine. If you did not cleanly pour the bucket and your arm touched the walls of the mixer it would cut right through your skin instantaneously. The first day we had mixed and poured ten bags worth of cement. The next morning when we arrived at the site not only were there nearly fifty bags of cement but we would also have to transport them up stairs onto the roof. This task with the help of the college kids remarkably took only 3 hours but I can tell you for a fact that there was not one portion of my body that was not caked in cement powder and only after hours of scrubbing did my face return to its original shade of white.
Two days after our brick brigade I found out why we had to move those bricks. Bricks which look so expertly crafted are not delivered but rather made by a team of at least ten people shoveling and moving hundreds of buckets of sand, cutting open bags of cement powder, pouring buckets of water and shoveling wet cement into the brick press. It all begins with a gigantic mountain of sand, 5 hearty shovels will generally fill a bucket and each load of cement requires 5 bucketfuls transferred from the top of the mountain over a fence to the people running the cement machine (note: we learned the importance of lifting with our legs, especially when it came to lifting 40 pound buckets over a 4 foot fence).
-- Jake Weiner