Dear Members and Friends,   
As we approach the end of the church year, I want to share some thoughts about my tenure as your Board President and express thanks to all of you who have contributed to maintaining our church community over the past two years.  As I have said, church governance is a team effort. 

There are so many people to thank for how well we have survived the past two years.  We have wonderful, capable staff.  Led by Rev. Dana, our valiant staff includes: 

• Jennifer Luce, Congregational Administrator
• Fidelity Ballmer, Director of Religious Education
• Carolyn Bjerke, Music Director
• Jimmy Vasquez, Membership Coordinator
• Brian Fortune, Audio/Visual Technician
• Russell Seveney, Safety Monitor

In the summer of 2020, a few months after the pandemic started, the Board created an Annual Vision of Ministry, basically a goal for the 2020-2021 church year.  This vision stated:
 
The Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura Board of Trustees will guide the congregation through the current COVID-19 situation to come out on the other side healthy, engaged, and vital.  We will be flexible and open to what a healthy, engaged, and vital church will look like in a new post-coronavirus reality.
 
Little did we know that the pandemic would continue far beyond 2020.    Many of us thought (at least hoped) the pandemic would last a few months and we would be back to normal, but we have experienced wave after wave of COVID variants and it is still not completely over.
 
We have survived the worst of COVID and have reason for optimism.  We are beginning to reopen more fully.  We have learned to adapt to changing conditions and been able to maintain our sense of community.  We are not back to pre-pandemic normal, but there will be a “new normal” that we are still defining. 
 
We will look back a few years from now and realize these were historic times.  With crisis comes both danger and opportunity.  As a church we have shown great resilience.  We have the opportunity to make UUCV a stronger and more vital place as we have learned to cope with the ups and downs of the pandemic.
 
It was my privilege to work with a terrific Board of Trustees.  Over the past two years, the Board has included:

• Xenia Young, Vice President
• Cassie Tondro, Secretary
• Ron Dallas, Treasurer
• Ray Escobedo, Trustee
• Rebeca Fassett, Trustee
• Lisa Connolly, Vice President in 2020-2021
• Silvia Hutchins, Secretary in 2020-2021
• Gary Norris, Treasurer in 2020
• Kent Brinkmeyer, Trustee in 2020-2021

 We have many volunteers.  There are too many to name individually, but I want to recognize several groups and leaders that helped keep us together: 

• Reopening Team, chaired by Bryan Buck
• Generosity Team, chaired by Bryan Buck
• Leadership Development Committee, chaired by Gary Zinik
• Finance Committee, chaired by David Smith
• Worship Team, including Worship Associates and Tech Team

I thank Bryan Buck, our previous Board President, for his steadfast support.  I have greatly appreciated his thoughts and encouragement.  Many thanks to all of you who have offered words of support to me over the past two years.
 
Most of all, I thank Rev. Dana for her positive energy and vision. It has been a privilege and pleasure to work with her. 
 
I am optimistic that the coming year will bring increased reopening and vitality to UUCV.  We will have a capable new Board President in Jim Merrill.  Please give Jim the same support and encouragement you have given to me.
 
See you in church!
 
Be well,
Yukio Okano
UUCV Board Presidentt

Dear Mrembers and Friends,   
This is a good time to look back over the church year and reflect on where we are.  We have survived another challenging year.  COVID fatigue was settling in when we entered the current church year.  We were still grappling with many unknowns, including how the pandemic would affect members, church membership, church programming, finances, and our sense of community.
 
Little did we know that the pandemic would continue for another year and more.  Many of us  thought the pandemic might last only a few more months and we would be back to normal.  Although we are not fully through COVID misery, we have survived the worst of the pandemic and have reason for optimism.
 
In fits and starts, we have reopened more fully.  We have adapted to changing conditions and  maintained our sense of community.  As a church, we have shown great resilience.  We are not back to pre-pandemic normal, but we are defining a “new normal.”  
 
So how will things look as we enter a new church year?  A recent Board Happy Hour discussion focused on what we should keep and what we should change.  Here are a few concerns that were raised:

• As we reopen our in-person worship services and other in-person activities, how do we greet one another?  Do we allow or discourage hugging and touching?  Is there a way we can signal to others our preferences?  Do we continue the “bridge of love” with children? 

• Change has already come to our worship services.  Hybrid services (in-person and virtual via Zoom and YouTube) are here to stay.  It is unlikely that we will again have 175 or more people back together in the sanctuary.  Hybrid services are a good thing for those who cannot come in person.  Can we expand our hybrid technology for small groups.

As we reopen more fully, can we resume having members light the chalice, reinstate a flower committee, having people bring food for food banks?  Can we broaden our musical offerings?  Should we return to passing the offering basket?

• Can we redefine how we do coffee hour?  Many have complained that our former Berg Hall coffee hour felt intimidating and unwelcoming.  Those of us who have been members for a while find our friends and take a table.  We look forward to our weekly visit with church friends.  But those who are newer may experience coffee hour as a gathering of cliques and feel left out.

Our coffee hours held outdoors have a different feel.  There are no tables and fewer chairs.  Being outdoors and having less structure make it easier to mingle and interact with different people.  Can we preserve this if we move back indoors?  

• The pandemic has shown us the importance of social contact, particularly for those of us who may live alone and/or have limited family nearby.  How can we promote social interaction in a safe and meaningful way?  Some ideas raised include having low-cost or free lunches after the service, having a free “pie” event where people would bring desserts or other foods to share, church-wide events such as the recent picnic, and resuming circle suppers.

• Volunteerism at many churches has suffered during the pandemic.  How do we develop new leadership for important church roles?  How do we reinvigorate our important social justice programs that address environmental and immigration issues?  How do we address racial justice and 8^th Principle concerns?  Can we strengthen our homelessness initiatives? 

More questions than answers have been raised in this article.  But coping with crisis offers opportunity along with danger.  We have the opportunity to make UUCV a stronger, more resilient, and more vital community for us all.
 
Be well,
Yukio Okano 
UUCV Board President

June will be a very busy month at the UU Church of Ventura.

Lo many years ago, many Unitarian and Universalist churches would actually close down for the summer. UU Ventura has always been a ‘year-round’ church, yet every church year has its rhythms.

Summer does tend to be a slower time for many programs and positions in our community, even as others – like our Finance Folks and Administrator – are even harder at work. Given that one fiscal year ends on June 30, and the next begins July 1, there is a flurry of financial accounting (mostly done quietly in the background).

Our theme for June is Celebrating Blessing, of which there will be many throughout the month. So, hold onto your hat, here are the blessings that June will bring, in chronological order.

June 5
Our service this Sunday – Blooming and Growing and Blooming Some More – will include our Flower Communion, a Baby Dedication, and our Bridging Ceremony as we send off our graduating seniors to the next phase of their lives, complete with singing Joni Mitchell’s Circle Game. Following the service will be our annual All Church Picnic at Arroyo Verde Park.

What to Bring
For Flower Communion bring a flower (or two or three) for the ritual. Expect to take with you the gift of a flower brought by someone else.
For the Picnic bring something to grill and grilling utensils, a dish to share, and your own re-useable plates and such. Provided for everyone will be a grill fired up, drinks, and condiments.

June 12
Our service will be about Counting Blessings, which is something our human selves need to actively practice given that our inherited wiring tends to have us scanning the horizon for all that could go wrong. After the service we will hold our Annual Church Meeting, in which the members of the church will vote on the budget and next year’s incoming officers.

What to Bring
For the service, bring your wounded, brave, and/or joyful heart.
For the annual meeting, bring an open mind and heart, and willingness to engage in participatory democracy.

June 19
The service will be celebrating Juneteenth, our most recently designated federal holiday, which recognizes the day that the last enslaved people in the United States learned that they were free. This is a particularly full time as it is also Pride Weekend and Father’s Day.

What to Bring
An open mind and heart, willing to learn and grow.

June 26 – Join thousands of fellow UUs in worship beginning at 9:30 am!!
For the service, we’ll be joining the live stream of the service from General Assembly in Portland – The Deal on Those Days lead by Rev. Gretchen Haley, Rev. Shari Halliday-Quan, Rev. Sean Neil-Barron, Lea Morris, Adam Podd, Joseph and Aimee Santos-Lyons, and Allison King with the GA Choir.

This promises to be a stirring service about the future of this faith. For more detail on the service, see this link: June 19: GA Worship

PLEASE NOTE: This service will be live-streamed beginning at 9:30 am!!!
Church will host a watch party or you can join in from home. With any luck you might be able to see Carolyn Bjerke, Fidelity Ballmer, Cindy Piester, or me (our UUCV contingent at GA) when the camera pans across the GA congregation.

DON’T FORGET: This service will be live-streamed beginning at 9:30 am!!!
Whew! How’s that for a month of Blessings?

With love,
Rev. Dana
Did I mention that worship for June 26 begins at 9:30!!

Good People,

As the pandemic is receding and/or we are learning to live with the changes it has wrought in our lives, we get to see what life will be like AC – After COVID.

I will continue to resist speaking of anything as ‘normal’ again – neither in the sense of returning to what was or in what will be new. The most I will say is that we will eventually take up habits that are predictable enough that we can begin to count on them – even make plans based on recognizable patterns…

As we are coming together in person with fewer and fewer restrictions, we have a chance to revisit facets of church life and decide whether to return to them, adapt them, or let them fall away. Which patterns or habits do we want do we want to revive and what can we let go so we are free to reimagine what ‘doing church’ can look like?

And the Board of Trustees wants to hear from you. This is what they asking at their Happy Hour with the Board on Thursday, June 5 at 5 pm. Zoom number 707 277 4205. As UUCV reopens, what should we keep and what should we change?

One example is already kinda decided – printed orders of service.

For years our Environmental Action Team has been proposing that we stop printing orders of service to save paper and ink and labor. I have deliberately said nothing about this when we re-opened in person. Several people have mentioned that they are glad to be done with them, though one person asked about printing them again. As an elegant compromise, our MAGICians have started listing the names of each of the service elements on the slides. 

And there are more.

• We haven’t had a printed monthly newsletter for more than a year. The Publicity Team is exploring options of having a lengthier website-based newsletter that UUCV This Week will link to. What else might work?
• Singing the children out under the Bridge of Love after a story in the service. So far, I have heard one person who prefers the service without it. Several say this is one of their favorite elements that they miss a lot. Yet the idea of people breathing into each other’s faces as they form an arch does seem a bit iffy. How might we adapt this practice?
• Coffee Hour. Being in break out rooms on Zoom confirmed some of the limitations of Coffee Hour. Some reported having deeper conversations with a variety of people in Zoom breakout rooms. Meeting outdoors has also been sweet. Is there a way to adapt Coffee Hour? Can we make it hybrid? Or find ways to invite people to circulate more indoors?

We have a chance to look at church with new eyes.

There is very little that we absolutely must do. 

So, what do we want to do and why?

As folks who love the questions at least as much as we love answers, we have another opportunity to practice our faith.

So attend Happy Hour on Thursday or let me or Yukio Okano, Ron Dallas, Xenia Young, Rebeca Fasset, Ray Escobedo, or Cassie Tondro know.

As the Buddha noted that everything is always changing, yet as Octavia Butler tells us we can also shape change.

Let us continue down this spiritual and congregational path together,

Rev. Dana