Board Report May 2023

by | May 30, 2023 | Building and Grounds

Many of you will have heard that our Annual Meeting will include a vote on whether to authorize a capital campaign to raise $10,000 to build a 5-foot high fence with a gate along the eastern (walkway) side of our church property. We need to understand that a capital campaign does not draw from existing church funds. It is a fundraising campaign seeking donations for a specific purpose. If it is approved by the congregation, those donors who want to support the project will finance the project.

The proposal for this fence project was recommended to your board by the Health and Safety Ministry Team. (H&S) The proposal arises from the problems our grounds face from the effects of having uninvited visitors who camp out on our property. Some are respectful of our space. Many, unfortunately, are not – leaving trash, sometimes drug paraphernalia, and worse, on our grounds. 

Our congregation has an established record of reaching out to serve the unhoused population, to advocate for services to house and treat them as needed, assist in transitions, and serve compassionately.   Allowing people to desecrate our grounds is not part of that mission.

The fence recommendation from the Health and Safety Ministry Team is a response to the problems we face with unauthorized and sometimes dangerous use of our grounds. H&S proposes it as a deterrent. They recognize that a 5-foot fence will not be a barrier to a determined intruder. The proposal is to erect a fence that says that people are welcome here for church purposes, but not to defile our campus.

People who have heard of this proposal have also expressed concerns. Some note that a 5-foot barrier that does not encircle the entire open part of the property may not curb unwelcome trespassers, who can hop a fence or walk around. Some note that given our status as a church, a fence may seem counter to our status a a sanctuary space.

I have heard yet  more opinions in favor and opposed, I believe that our conversation at the annual meeting will be a conservation among friends, some of whom may disagree, but that we will hold that conversation with love and respect.

Jim Merrill (he/him)

Between Sundays 5/17/23

by | May 18, 2023 | Between Sundays

Come one, come all, to the Congregational Conversation after the service this Sunday, May 21, at 11:30. We’ll meet in person in the sanctuary or on Zoom at the same link that was sent out for the morning service.

This is your opportunity to hear about the state of budget development at this time. We’ll also discuss a proposal to launch a capital campaign to enhance our grounds security with a fence along our eastern border (by the bike/walking path). Both the budget and the capital campaign proposal will be voted on at our Annual Meeting Sunday, June 11, at 11:30, live and on Zoom. So come this Sunday and be up to date on the issues members will be voting on next month.

Jim Merrill (he/him)

UUA General Assembly 2023

by | May 4, 2023 | News (home)

The Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly (GA) will be held live in Pittsburgh, PA, June 21-25, 2023.  https://www.uua.org/ga

If you plan to register to attend in person or or online, consider whether you would like to represent UUCV as a voting member delegate. 

To vote on the business agenda, delegates must be registered for GA. There are three ways to register as a delegate:

  • In-person Registrant – You plan to go to Pittsburgh.
  • Full Virtual Registrant – You have signed up and will have full access to all online GA programming.
  • Business-only Registrant – You will be able to vote on business matters but not have access to any other elements of GA programming.

Delegates do not have to be registered for GA to vote in the election of candidates for office but they must be certified by the board president or minister. Rev. Dana will not be receiving requests for certification, so please let board president Jim Merrill (president@uuventura.org) know of your interest.

Our congregation is entitled to five member delegates, based on our membership number. If more than five of us are interested in serving as delegates, as board president I will certify delegates  based on the timing of their request and the status of their GA participation, with elected representatives of the congregation having priority. People who wish to serve as delegates must first register for GA and request to be certified. Again, let Jim know.

Between Sundays 5/2/23

by | May 2, 2023 | Between Sundays

Kitty and I, along with Bryan and Gretchen Buck, Rev. Carolyn Price and Orval Osborne, and Martha Kazlo, gathered with fellow supporters of Camp de Benneville Pines for the first annual Pacific Southwest Service Area Assembly, in lovely San Luis Obispo.

In case you missed it, the Pacific Southwest District of the UUA (PSWD) has ceased to function as an entity. Its efforts are now to conform to regionalization and merge with the Mountain Desert District of the UUA. It is a slow process. The PSWD exists in name and law only.

Into the breach stepped the Camp de Benneville Pines board and professional leadership. In case you did not know, our camp in the mountains, Camp de Benneville Pines, is owned by all the members of all the congregations of the area included in the PSWD, not by the PSWD or by the UUA. Camp leaders determined that in the void left by the PSWD, they would hold a gathering in the spirit of former District Assemblies, to do camp business, and to bind our 50 congregations together. The camp folks coined the term Pacific Southwest Service Area as a substitute for PSWD, which was the same group of covenanted congregations. 

There were compelling keynote speakers, field trips to appeal to a variety of interests, and social times on campus at the Unitarian Universalists of San Luis Obispo to keep us mingling.

One great joy was to hear it announced that the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura (Yes, that’s us, UUCV) will host the second annual PSWSA Assembly in April, 2024.

This will be our great honor, and the good people of UU SLO have set a high bar for hospitality. I’m sure that we can limbo under it.

More to come.
Jim he/him

Reflections On Equity

by | Apr 20, 2023 | reflections

Gary Zinik

  “Mom and Dad, there’s something I need to tell you, and you better sit down.” I was packing for a business trip and my thoughts were elsewhere when my 16 year-old son made this announcement. It was the “you better sit down” that caught my attention. I stopped what I was doing and sat on the sofa next to my wife. We waited. He was nervous and avoided eye contact. Finally he blurted out, “I’m gay.” I had an immediate sense of relief, and I think my wife did too. We were not surprised.

We had already had private discussions about the possibility that our son was gay. In fact, by the time he came out to us he already had a boyfriend (the man he would later marry). That night the three of us hugged and cried. My son was greatly relieved by our acceptance, admitting that he feared condemnation and rejection. Understandably so. LGBT kids often suffer inner turmoil over the decision to come out to their parents. When they have the courage to do so, many get judged harshly and at worst are expelled from home and lose the love and support they need the most. My daughter, on the other hand, dated boys in high school and had a couple significant relationships. However, after tagging along with her brother to gay parties and Pride festivals (maybe they were more fun), she “crossed over” and started dating girls. She has since married a woman.

By the time my kids were both in college, Proposition 8 (which banned gay marriage in California) was ruled unconstitutional, and the national campaign for Married Equality was in full swing. The Unitarian Universalist Church was on the forefront of that campaign, embodied by the slogan “SIDING WITH LOVE” emblazoned on their signature yellow T-shirts. Since my family personally had a lot at stake in that campaign (how many families have two gay kids?), I felt compelled to do something, and started a local chapter of PFLAG.

Founded in 1972, PFLAG is the first and largest organization in the county that provides support, education, and advocacy to parents, friends, and allies of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community. Beginning in 2012, Ventura PFLAG met monthly at UUCV. These were free, open support group meetings that were attended primarily by parents adjusting to the news they had an LGBTQ member of the family. We sat in a circle and took turns telling our stories. I learned to bring a box of tissues, since tears were common. But so was laughter, and it seemed miracle moments of deeper understanding happened regularly at the meetings. The world would be a better place if every family everywhere that’s adjusting to accepting a loved one as queer could attend a PFLAG meeting.

In 2017, PFLAG moved to the Community Resource Center, where it continues to meet on the 4th Tuesday of the month at 7:00pm, in person and on Zoom. Please email pflag.ventura.ca@gmail.com for more information. Also see www.diversitycollectivevc.org, and www.plfag.org. The mission of the UUCV Equity Ministry is to develop new understanding of power dynamics and learn new skills and new behaviors to build a more compassionate, aware, and equitable church community.

REFLECTIONS ON EQUITY
Kitty Merrill, 2/16/23
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