by Admin | Feb 2, 2018 | Climate Action
Let the Sun Shine!
by Jim Merrill
At the January 7, 2018 meeting of Seventh Principle Environmental Action Team (7PEAT), we learned that the installation of our solar panels in 2015, our church rooftop generation plant has produced 74,750 kWh (kilowatt hours) of electricity. To put that figure in perspective, the average California home uses 6,684 kWh annually. Our rooftop panels have generated enough power for 11.2 California homes per year since 2015!
The 7PEAT team is glad to share with anyone how our congregation is reducing our carbon footprint through photovoltaic generation and through our many other sustainability initiatives.
Contact: Jim Merrill:
merrilly@verizon.net
by Admin | Feb 2, 2018 | Building and Grounds
by Linda Pietrzak
It is amazing how much work can get done when you get seven B&G people focused on a single goal. The goal was to remove the dead bushes along the block wall on the west side of the property as well as the majority of the pine needles. We had a three-cubic yard (a small dumpster) dumpster delivered to the property for the Work Party. Mike Sixbey, Bill Peltola, George and Ruth Owens, Geoff Dann, Joyce Sattler, and Haibiba Peterson all pitched in and filled the dumpster including stomping down the pine needles, at least the same amount of debris was put into plastic bags, the three toters were also topped off. AND there is still one more bush at the very back of the property!! I hope you got a chance to notice the improvement when you do please thank them for their hard work.
Geoff Dann checked the lighting in the sanctuary. Linda Pietrzak watered the olive tree by the entrance and cut up two large carboard boxes. Merle Oberg repaired one sprinkler out front. The second sprinkler got him before he could repair it. His coat got quite wet. Such dedication!
Thank goodness the repairs on the gutters were completed before the big rain storm and didn’t appear to leak. Without this work the damage could have been substantial.
It was such a busy Saturday for our church family. Not only were there all the parades and demonstrations commemorating the Women’s March last year, there was a new member orientation, and a UU Board retreat.
What makes the B&G people so special is several people wanted to know when they could come and make up the time they missed. I love these people.
Want to help? Contact Linda Pietrzak: linda.w.pietrzak@gmail.com
by Admin | Feb 2, 2018 | Stewardship Report
Building a New Way
We are “Building a New Way” using a new/old system for our Stewardship Drive, going back to what worked well many years ago. This year we will be talking face-to-face with you to hear your comments about what makes you grateful about your experiences with this church. These conversations allow you to share your feelings about your church involvement, and they help us all move into the future renewed and inspired. They are also times where we get to know each other better.
Please respond when canvas volunteers calls you in March to ask for an appointment to meet with you for your conversation, and to determine your level of financial support for next year. Yes, these visits will be about your pledges for the 2018-2019 operating funds, though they will also be about the church and how we create its mission together. Most people come away saying it was way more fun that they expected. (Miles better than, say, a call from the IRS about money….)
We, as a congregation, are constantly building a new way based upon love and generosity. Our sanctuary and classrooms are overflowing with people who want and need what we offer. Help us build our community of inclusion, acceptance, and understanding. Please take the time to respond and meet with one of our volunteers during this year’s member to member canvas. Your participation will remind you of how lucky we are to have each other and our shared vision of what each of us and the world needs.
Contact: Maura Raffensperger: Maurapics@gmail.com
by Admin | Feb 2, 2018 | Justice Actions
Dear UUCV Community,
At my first religious education committee meeting at UUCV, Rev. Dana asked us to share our hopes, dreams, and fondest wishes for the program, and a lot of us envisioned full classrooms of engaged kids at all age levels. Voila! We are truly filling our classrooms, with thanks to each of you for coming back Sunday after Sunday, bringing friends, and to the ever-expanding team of volunteers who give their time, energy, and resources to be with our children and youth.
We are delighted to have opened a new preschool classroom and parents voted for a mindfulness-based kindness curriculum. Our three and four year olds are learning kindness, compassion, paying attention to their emotions, and more. What if we all took steps to improve well-being in our lives and communities?
We also launched a Coming of Age program for 12-14 year olds, a rite of passage as they transition into their adolescence by developing their beliefs and culminating in a camping trip and leading a Sunday service in June.
May we continue to hold in our hearts every child and youth, parent, grandparent, teacher, and congregant who walks through our doors and beyond! All are invited to visit the RE bulletin board in the back of Berg Hall to write a name of someone they hold in their heart and post it!
“Let perseverance be your engine and hope your fuel.” H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Emily Carroll, Director of Religious Education
emily@uuventura.org
by Admin | Feb 2, 2018 | Justice Actions
“Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness.” Seneca
Lift Up Your Voice (LUYV) To End Homelessness
by Kathy Powell
Lift Up Your Voice Lift is as always “weaving a tapestry” in our community supporting our homeless neighbors. Our esteemed Chair Sue Brinkmeyer has handed the baton over after she stepped up for our past esteemed Chair Harold Dale Cartlidge. Many thanks and blessings sent to them both.
Our group monthly serves a big meal at Family to Family to over 100 people, brings dinner to Riverhaven, assists at the Winter Warming Shelter, volunteers weekly at One Stop and we have members in Oxnard and Ventura working with policy issues for both cities.
Please contact me, Kathy Powell if you want to talk about where you might fit in. kathypurpleprincess@gmail.com or 805/910-8860. Sometimes just going out for one time with our Park Outreach Team helps you dip your toe in the water and we laugh and talk and could help direct you where you may fit in best.
Lift Up Your Voice has two boxes in Berg Hall for donations to our homeless outreaches. We need freshly laundered clothes, jackets, shoes, blankets, sleeping bags, backpacks or luggage. These things are so valuable as we go out into the community. Please remember our folks live outside, they don’t have access to electricity or devices we consider common in our houses. Lately we have been getting donations of dvds, electronics and other things they wouldn’t be able to use. I will speak for myself that as I get older my energy level isn’t what it used to be so trying to find good places for those things is a bit difficult. Please keep this in mind and perhaps contact a thrift store or a shelter that can use those precious things.
