by Kitty Merrill | Jul 29, 2017 | Religious Ed News
The next Religious Exploration term starts September 17. Parents, teachers and volunteers, please visit the UU Ventura website at http://www.uuventura.org to register your kids for our Religious Exploration program, or to register yourself as a volunteer or teacher.
Choose “Childrens’ Religious Education” from the “Learning” menu, and then click Child Registration or Volunteer Registration from the menu on the left. This will help us get our new Director of Religious Exploration ready for the new year. If you’re already registered, you only need to re-register if you have information to update.
by Kitty Merrill | Jul 29, 2017 | Justice Actions
Are We in a District or a Region?
Jim Merrill, Board President, Pacific Southwest District
Yes, and yes. To paraphrase Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), the reports of the death of the PSWD – and other western districts – are greatly exaggerated. All four districts of the Pacific Western Region (PWR) – our own Pacific Southwest District, the Pacific Central District, the Pacific Northwest District, and the Mountain Desert District – remain independent districts within the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. We also continue to develop our cooperative relationship in our PWR Regional Collaboration arrangement, our own western approach to changes within the UUA.
All four of the PWR districts recognize that we represent vast territories, unlike many districts. Our region covers more than half of the territory of the United States. And, we are physically and perhaps psychically more distant from Boston than most U.S. UU congregations.
As PSWD board president, I am in monthly contact with leaders from the other three PWR districts, and we share our similarities and differences, as well as working on shared initiatives and the evolution of sharing district staff. The past couple of years have been a time of profound staff changes. Last year, we acknowledged the movement of the Rev. Tera Little from PSWD/PWR service to parish service. With the retirement of the Rev. Dr. Ken Brown at the end of June, 2016, your PSWD board began to learn what the shift from having a de facto District Executive to region-wide Congregational Life staff is like.
Each congregation in our district has a primary contact on the Congregational Life (CL) staff. The CL staff have primary-contact relationships with congregations as well as portfolio specializations. Thus, our district congregations may rely upon the services of our primary contact CL staff; but we might also be referred to the expertise of any staff member throughout the region. Contacts with CL staff are made by the minister or the board president.
After Ken’s departure, we have relied heavily on the good offices of PWR Regional Lead the Rev. Dr. James Kubal-Kumoto. As time goes forward, we’ll continue developing ways to become more independent in doing our work and interdependent in serving the congregations of the district.
by Kitty Merrill | Jul 29, 2017 | Justice Actions
Gudrun Eastham, Chair
In preparation for the fall church year, the Membership Committee will host a special Greeter Review after Worship Services on Sunday, August 13 at 11:45am in the Sanctuary. We’ll review greeters tasks before, during and after Services and include a chance to rehearse the “taking up the offering” ritual!
If you’ve ever been interested in being on the Greeter Welcoming Team, I enthusiastically invite you to attend this gathering. All current Greeters are invited, as well.
And, here is another opportunity to be involved with the Membership Committee: several openings are available. Committee works in tandem with Beverly Jordan, Membership Manager, and Rev. Dana Worsnop in presenting 3-4 orientation workshops during the year for those persons who want to know more about UU history and our church, and who might be interested in joining as Members or Pledging Friends. The committee also co-hosts with Beverly 2-3 “Newcomer Chats” to meet newcomers and share their stories and hear our stories. If you’d like to join the Membership Committee contact Gudrun: 805/479-4852 or druzel@msn.com.
May your summer days continue to be rewarding. May your summer nights bring restorative rest.
by Kitty Merrill | Jul 29, 2017 | Finance Committee
Our members and friends have been generous in pledging donations to turn our playground into an Outdoor Sanctuary for use by all age groups. The design for this renewal project is beautiful, practical, and environmentally sound. See the design poster in Berg Hall.
The total project will cost between $60,000 and $80,000. If we missed asking you to participate in funding the project and would like to help, please contact Michael Akseven at church or makseven@yahoo.com.
Our most important financial goal is to increase annual pledges by approximately $40,000 per year by April 2019 when the 2019-2020 budget will be constructed. This is an average monthly increase of $16 per pledger, per month.
If desired or needed, you can change your future pledge amount at any time by notifying Jennifer Seale, UUCV Office Manager, at 805/644-3898, extension 100, or jennifer@uuventura.org.
You can make one time donations or set up automatic pledge payments on www.uuventura.org by clicking on “Give” on the right side of the masthead area, then, click on the picture of the mouse and follow the instructions; or by contacting David Smith at 805/216- 9331 or davidpaseo@verizon.net.
by Kitty Merrill | Jul 29, 2017 | Building and Grounds
I learned something this week. A new member Rob March, who came out to Building and Grounds in May and again in July, shared a quote from Robert Ingersoll, “The hands that help are better than the hands that pray.” I never realized how much that applies to those of us who serve this church as volunteers. A few members of the church are drawn to service as a way of becoming part of the group and getting to know others. There are others who volunteer as part of their spiritual practice. They are giving back to the church community in a special way that can bring them the satisfaction of adding to the beauty and function of the church.
I look at the succulent gardens at the entrance of the parking and I remember Mario Martin and Denny Thomas and all the work they did to get them going. It’s a legacy they gave the church. There are many other people who work behind the scenes. You may not know them but many are involved in B&G. Some people do things during the week like keep the sprinkler systems working, paint the handicap parking spots and curbs, climb on the roof looking for why the gutters are leaking, and pick up trash as they walk by it on the church grounds.
I enjoy getting to know people while I am doing something with them. It is even better when I can learn from them. Doug Tate showed me a quick and easy way to remove weeds growing in cracks. Kitty Merrill told me how to kill the roots of the plants that were just beheaded. After Rob March swept the front parking lot and entry, he and I got to know each other while we cleared weeds out of one planting bed.
The Dynamic Trio, Mike Sixbey, Mike Duffy, and Bill Peltola do great projects together. They moved a kitchen cabinet down the wall 9 inches so a new refrigerator would fit into the existing space. Carol Simmons emptied the cupboards, and Shelah Wilgus and I put things back.
Cindy Camilucci kept us going and cleaned up vases from the sanctuary. We didn’t manage to find time to kick back, relax, socialize, and eat snacks; all our snacking was done on the run. But in the end the crew of eight got a lot done!
by Linda Pietrzak
