by Admin | Nov 25, 2019 | News (home)
Please note: Recycling Soft/Film Plastics By Mark Mendelsohn and Celia Ortenberg It’s easier than we thought!
The Mendelsohn family will no longer be collecting your soft, otherwise known as film, plastics to take them to Santa Paula’s curbside recycling program. Santa Paula’s recyclables are now taken to Oxnard’s Del Norte transfer station, that does not recycle the film plastics.
The bin in the church kitchen will be removed as of December 1 because every one of us can now simply drop them off on our regular shopping trips! Sprouts, WinCo, Vons, Target and Kohl’s send them on their journey to become outdoor decking, fencing and furniture products manufactured in the USA by the socially and environmentally responsible company, Trex.
Of course, reducing and reusing is always preferred to recycling, so do that first, but when you find yourself ready to recycle, know there are many film plastics that can find a new life with Trex.
- These include grocery bags, bread bags, case overwrap (e.g., around toilet paper rolls), dry cleaning bags, newspaper sleeves, ice bags, wood pellet bags, produce bags, air pillows, bubble wrap, shrink wrap, salt bags, and cereal bags.
- Zip-top bags are acceptable only if they do not have a lining, Plastic shipping envelopes, padded or not, are acceptable but not combos of paper and plastic.
- All film plastics should be 99% dry and clean. Rinse out and dry zip-top bags, but with all others it’s more like a shake out the crumbs level of cleaning.
Trex explained a good way to feel for the HDPE #2 and LDPE #4 types of plastic that are accepted, is to stretch the plastic with your finger. If it leaves a finger dimple, then it’s good. Some items NOT acceptable are biodegradable/compostable bags, frozen entree wrappers and other plastics that are shiny, crinkly, and rip easily/straight, as well as foil-lined chip/snack/energy bar bags/wrappers, and pet food bags.
Trex is counting on us to properly sort and only submit these accepted film plastics! Other types slow down their process, cost more to burn off of the correct plastics, and jeopardize the entire film plastic recycling program of the submitting store!
Check out the posters in the church kitchen to help you get used to this new way of caring for the Earth!
by Admin | Nov 21, 2019 | Pastoral Associates, Support Group News
This Life Crisis Form is for the confidential use of the Minister and others authorized to access this information. Please complete the form with information you would like to have on file with the Minister. You may wish to complete only some parts of this form and leave others blank. We encourage you to share this with your family.
Update this form as needed. Having this information on file will enable your church to serve you and your family in the event of a death or other crisis. Please call the church office at 805-644-3898 if you would like assistance from the Minister in completing this form or to facilitate a family discussion regarding making decisions.
Confidential Life Crisis Form for UUCV
(web version to fill out)
CONFIDENTIAL LIFE CRISIS FORM (v. 2.1)
(download, print & fill out)
by Admin | Nov 21, 2019 | Justice Actions
The Memorial Service for Our Homeless Neighbors
Saturday, December 14th at 3:00 pm
Plaza Park in Ventura.
This is a beautiful service to remember those who have died homeless in Ventura County this year.
by Admin | Nov 14, 2019 | Between Sundays
Good People,
Welcome to Between Sundays!
Often things arise at church – between Sundays – that are interesting or needful of raised awareness, but rarely do they fit into the rhythm of our newsletter. Sometimes I get a spark of creativity or insight that doesn’t fit into a particular sermon, and I still want some way to share. By the time it might come out in the newsletter 2-3 weeks later, it doesn’t feel as timely or lively or even as insightful.
As a way to communicate about matters in the church and beyond in a more timely way, we are introducing “Between Sundays” written by the minister, and sometimes the board president or a member of the staff.
Have you noticed lately that with all the options we have for communicating, that we actually seem to be missing more and more? I hope Between Sundays will be a way to cut through some of the overwhelm and the eye-glazing stupor we can fall into while staring at an inbox with so many things to read.
So here is a way to get word out in a timely and engaging way.
Between Sundays will be posted with a link from our website home page. We’ll send it out on a e-blast, and you’ll find a link to it in UUCV This Week on Thursdays. We’ll also post the link on our internal Facebook page – Unitarian Universalist Facebook of Ventura. (Just like the page to gain access.)
Yours in service of good, clear, lively, useful communication,
Rev. Dana
by Admin | Sep 29, 2019 | Children's Curriculum, News (home), Religious Ed News
After a lovely summer, it has been powerful to come back together as a community for ingathering and fall classes. One parent said it’s amazing to see how comfortable her son is in this community after he stood and volunteered to speak in a worship service. We seek to provide a space for children to feel a sense of safety and belonging, and also learn and grow in a community that holds us all accountable when we see injustice.
One community I have belonged to for over ten years is the young adult camp at De Benneville Pines, a Unitarian Universalist campground in the San Bernardino mountains. The theme this year was radical resilience, and I experienced the value of centering joy to promote resilience, as collective joy disrupts oppression, and is a revolutionary act. With all that each of our hearts is holding, and as our hearts break with all that we see, may we not take this community for granted. May we offer a meal, a cup of tea, a warm hug, a listening ear, a smile, and center joy, as we work, despite it all.
The Religious Education team is excited about our fall course offerings! The youth are undertaking the longstanding tradition of Unitarian Universalist teens visiting other faith communities within our city. Crossing Paths is the latest rendition, which uses the lens of analyzing what problem each religious notices, and which solution they provide. The upper elementary students will use Sing to the Power, a Tapestry of Faith curriculum that affirms our Unitarian Universalist heritage of confronting “powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love.” Participants experience their own power, and understand how it can help them to be leaders. The lower elementary will use the Soul Matters theme-based ministry packets for religious education to deepen the connection to the monthly themes with age appropriate activities, including a wonder box! I’d love to speak more with you about these classes if you have questions or comments.
With Armfuls of Love,
Emily Carroll
Director of Religious Education
