by Kitty Merrill | Dec 30, 2016 | Justice Actions
(Nor like any you’ve ever attended)
Update: Registration starts Jan. 15!
Save the date for the Pacific Southwest District’s first-ever Justice District Assembly, March 31-April 2, 2017. Based in Tucson, Arizona, this justice district assembly will focus on border and migrant justice issues.
Following a plenary session in Tucson Friday evening, participants will have opportunities Saturday morning to fan out across southern Arizona for experiential activities led by several different groups working on justice issues in the region, including some cross-border activities.
This is part of our approach of partnering with others to work better, together. Saturday evening, participants will return to one of three different gathering locations for discussion and to share meals, which will be followed by a multisite video annual meeting led by yours truly.
Sunday morning, there will be a cross-border worship service to conclude the experience. The planners are hoping that participants will be inspired by what they have experienced and learned and take that inspiration back to their home communities for continued action. Check it out: http://justiceda2017.weebly.com/
by Jim Merrill
by Kitty Merrill | Dec 28, 2016 | Justice Actions
Lift Up Your Voice (LUYV) To End Homelessness
by Kathleen (Kappy) Paulson
For the 11th year we, and others from the Ventura faith community, honored those who died on our streets as homeless. Rev. Dana and the Ventura clergy read the names of fifty-three people with ages ranging from 2 hours to 81 years old.
We are especially thankful to Zoe and Linda Jean for their help with the snacks, flowers and programs. Andy Edgar-Beltran sang beautifully haunting songs. Thanks to Dan Flores for the use of his audio equipment. Manny Edgar-Beltran’s community Madonna Ministry donated $500 to prepare bags for folks in the park. So many others played small parts in making the afternoon successful. Finally, this is Sue Brinkmeyer’s last Homeless Memorial (at least the planning part). We are grateful for Sue (and Kent’s) dedication to our homeless brothers and sisters.
We remembered those in need this holiday season with generous contributions to Inreach/Outreach causes in late November and early December.
School on Wheels received $1137 to help provide one-on-one tutoring, mentoring, academic support, backpacks and school supplies for students living in homeless situations in Ventura. Volunteers are trained and then assigned to an individual child and work with him or her for one hour each week wherever the child’s location may be.
We collected $556 for SMART Recovery (Self Management and Recovery Training) which allows the group to meet weekly, as the facilitator volunteers her time. Participants work on recovering from all types of addictive behaviors, be that drinking, taking drugs, overworking or any other habitual action that is harmful to one’s health or life balance.
An offering of $609 went to IMatter Youth, a national grassroots organizing umbrella organization that creates tools for youth leadership on climate change. Funds will support mentoring of local youth leaders, resources and tools.
Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry of California (UUJMCA) received $507 to support leadership development and education; organizing and advocacy for environmental justice; immigration justice; lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality, and healthcare reform.
Homeless Count Needs Volunteers
by Kent Brinkmeyer
The County of Ventura needs your help to complete the Homeless Count on Tuesday, Jan 24. Local groups from each of our 10 cities lead the effort at count sites throughout the county. The count is a requirement for every community receiving HUD federal funding. In Ventura County, HUD funding accounts for almost $2 million annually to support homeless individuals and families. Volunteers will work in teams and receive training in recording the count. Teams go out in the early morning, during the day, and in the evening to places where homeless persons are known to gather. Counters must be 18 and are in the field for a couple of hours at a time,. Because we need to cover so much territory and many hours, a large number of volunteers is needed.
Won’t you consider joining us for this enormously powerful cause? Volunteers are encouraged to attend a volunteer count training in a convenient location in each city.
by Kitty Merrill | Dec 28, 2016 | Justice Actions
Resolutions
Happy New Year Everyone! Are you ready for a fresh start? Do you dare to risk making any New Year resolutions? Are you willing to be bold? Was 2016 a year full of Joys and Sorrows, any less meaningful because it didn’t turn out as you hoped? Will 2017, with all its promise, be a disappointment if you slip up on your resolutions? It seems to me that Abe Lincoln got it right, attributed with the following quote; “Folks are usually about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” Maybe the question to ask this year is: How will your faith, your search for truth and meaning, inform the decisions you make in 2017?
The Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura of which we are a part, is a community that helps us live a more full and meaningful life. All that is needed is our participation. In covenant, we agree to assume the best intentions of each other. In living our faith, we should give that same consideration to ourselves when making a resolution. We make them with the best of intentions.
The church year is based on the fiscal calendar July to June, and not on the calendar year January to December. Organizations generally function in this manner for regulatory reporting and tax reasons. So, we respect the calendar year but arrange our church activities around the fiscal. The summer months are typically less busy and we conclude our year in June with the annual meeting, approval of our budget, and election of our slate of candidates. In addition, our committees determine who will be Chair for the coming year. In as much as we are celebrating the beginning of 2017 we are only halfway through our church year. In reflecting on the past six months much has been accomplished. The most important to me is that we have formed a new relationship with Rev. Dana and that she is settling in nicely as our minister. The next six months will be full of activity and likely feel as if they are passing quickly. There is much to do and a lot to be excited about with plenty of opportunities for everyone to get involved.
The following poem is “Our Deepest Fear” by Marianne Williamson. I think it suggests an idea for a New Year resolution that is not about fixing oneself and doesn’t involve guilt as some resolutions do. This poem is about giving yourself permission to be you and that is a resolution worth making.
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Living in Paradise,
Bryan Buck, President
by Kitty Merrill | Dec 28, 2016 | Justice Actions
As part of my Membership Manager profile we are including the role of Coordinator of Adult and Spiritual Growth Programs. A task force is currently forming to collaborate with me in supporting the current groups and bringing in other inspirational programs as well. See the information in this newsletter on the Building Your Own Theology class facilitated by Reverend Carolyn Price coming in February 2017. This congregation does a great job of offering a variety of groups that people can connect with. As the church grows, these small groups are vital for individual growth and community connection. Pick up a Spiritual Growth and Adult Programs booklet on the Adult Programs Table in Berg Hall for details about most of these programs. Thank you to Silvia Hutchins, Steve Jacobson and Celia Ortenberg for the work they have done in recent years to support and inspire small group programming!
The small circles where we meet help us to know who we are and who we want to be in the world.
by Beverly Jordan, Membership Manager
by Kitty Merrill | Dec 28, 2016 | Justice Actions
Happy New Year.
So we enter a new year together. I’ve been around now just long enough to have gotten to know a few of you pretty well, many enough to want to know more, and some hardly or not at all.
There is a 60-year-old piece called “When to Call the Minister.” Some of it is pretty dated, so here is my updated and revised version.
When to Call the Minister?
Here are a few suggestions:
✓ When you haven’t met me yet, but would like to
✓ When you are worried about your teenagers … or your aging parents.
✓ When you’re going in the hospital or know someone else in the congregation who is.
✓ When you have lost a loved one or an animal companion.
✓ When you’re pregnant (but don’t want to be).
✓ When you have a child to be dedicated.
✓ When you’ve been arrested (or ought to be).
✓ When you are having a spiritual crisis or life crisis.
✓ When you have a friend or neighbor who would like more information about Unitarian Universalism.
✓ When you’d like to show us what a good cook you are!
✓ When you have suggestions to make about programs for the church, sermons or Sunday services.
✓ When you’d like help with committee work or with other congregational activities.
✓ When you’re mad at me.
✓ When you’d like to talk religion with me. (That one is my favorite!)
This is a serious (and sometimes really fun!) part of the work I do among you. I share it gratefully with the Caring Team and the newly forming Pastoral Associates – a trained cadre of folks who reach out and coordinate our pastoral efforts.
I have no set office hours, and am generally available Monday through Thursday. I will happily arrange a time that works for us best. Fridays are my Sabbath, and I will only respond to the most urgent of matters or outright emergencies. Saturday is mostly reserved as a writing day.
Some people are reluctant to call my cell phone, though I have become completely unhooked from a landline. So please call or text on my cell phone. It’s really the fastest way to reach me. 503/312-0401.
With love,
Rev. Dana
