News from Children’s Religious Education – October, 2016

by Kitty Merrill | Oct 2, 2016 | Justice Actions

A Heartfelt Thanks to the Brinkmeyers for hosting our annual RE Welcome BBQ and Pool party at their clubhouse. It was a wonderful day for all. Thank You’s to the many families who participated in the annual Coastal Beach Cleanup at Silver Strand Beach in Oxnard that same day.
Both activities culminated the Summer study program of the Channel Islands Eco-System. Our Santa Cruz Island trip was a wonderful adventure concluding our study of our Channel Islands. We saw dolphins, enjoyed hiking and were all thrilled to see the Island Fox. Our Ranger Naturalist, Andrea, told me our children had impressed her with their wide knowledge of the natural history of the channel Islands and their integration of the complexity.
A Big Welcome to all families and students, and teachers to our journey together this year! We are like a three-legged stool – all three legs are needed to hold the stool steady. If any leg is missing the stool cannot stand or be steady. Consider parents are one leg, your children the second and teachers are the third leg – a team working together to nurture your children’s spiritual growth and development.
You can check out “The Mindful Child, How to Help your kid Manage Stress and Become Happier, Kinder, and More Compassionate,” by Susan Kaiser Greenland from RE office. Greenland teaches how to be more effective with children, keep curiosity alive, and how mindfulness can be taught to even young children.
October Schedule
Regular Classes meet on October 2, 9, 16 and 23.
October 30 All classes meet in Berg Hall for a Pumpkin Caroling parade to the Lexington in Halloween costumes to give cards to residents
Pre K – 1st: The first part of the year will focus on treasuring our own and other’s thoughts and feelings. During the second half of the year the focus will turn outward to explore the treasures of our church, our UU faith, our world community, and the interconnected web of life. Central will be both a class and a personal treasure chest which will be taken home. Every Sunday the children will make or find a treasure symbolic of the day’s theme.
2nd – 5th: We’ll explore and discuss the stories of the Hebrew and Christian Bibles through an exciting curriculum Bibleodeon. We’ll act out some stories, listen to others and talk about a mystery question every week. We’ll make things and listen to music and look at art.
6th – 8th: This class will expand their understanding and experience of other churches, temples and places of worship. They will choose to visit 6 places of worship and learn the fundamental unity underlying all religions as well as the differences. They will also learn about their own spiritual development, the various stages of religious belief, faith and non-faith or agnosticism. They will practice service to others with visits to convalescent hospitals, taking cards to shut-ins, helping with our annual Homeless Memorial in December and Caroling in a nearby Retirement Home.
Youth Group – Our youth will participate in District meetings, area conferences and our regional Camp DeBenneville to develop their leadership skills, expand their understanding, knowledge and appreciation of our religion and appreciate the strength Unitarianism/ Universalism gives in their lives. Tanner Linden-Akseven is the Youth Coordinator for our church. With the help of our youth advisors, this group will continue the development of their living skills and spiritual growth. They are tentatively scheduled to host a District Youth Con (gathering) at our church in June, 2017.
Mark Your Calendar
Teachers Meetings October 9 • November 13 •
Our teaching team meets to collaborate as we support individual growth and our work as a team.
Youth Choir Starts October 16
All youth through middle school are welcome. We meet on Sundays after RE from 11:25-11:50am. The choir will sing on Nov 20 with the adult choir and on Christmas Eve. Contact: Carolyn Howard – Carolynhowardvoice@ gmail.com.
OWL Classes
Led by Vel Akseven, Coordinator, for 3rd and 4th Grade and Sr. High School. Starting date the Fall TBA.

Social Action News – October

by Kitty Merrill | Oct 2, 2016 | Justice Actions

Lift Up Your Voice (LUYV) To End Homelessness
by Sue Brinkmeyer
Once again, our UUCV advocates showed up at City Hall, and we made a difference.
Thank you to Harold Dale Cartlidge and Dorothy Fasthorse, who distributed our “Homes For All” placards to support housing. They came from UUCV and from our allied organizations: CAUSE, The Housing Authority of Ventura, VCCLUE, United Farmworkers, Church of the Foothills, Temple Beth Torah, Ventura Social Services Task Force, and others. Ten of these advocates spoke, and many more sent emails or contributed comment cards.
The result: City Council voted to add back in many more housing units, especially affordable housing, that would have been deleted from the city’s general plan. Thank you to all who played a part in this effort. We didn’t get everything we wanted, but we did make a difference.
.

Notes from the President’s Desk – October 2016

by Kitty Merrill | Oct 2, 2016 | Justice Actions

Process Takes Time

Process is defined as a series of actions or steps taken to achieve a particular end. That sounds right. But the experience can be quite different. No one can tell you how long it will take to reach that end or goal. When you engage in the work of process you are making an open-ended commitment to see the issue through to its conclusion. Some processes are fast and fun, and others slow and challenging. Either way, when the work of process is done well, the rewards are worth the effort.

In my August column I made reference to the work of Process when building relationships. We do not instantly know or understand each other in a minute or two without taking a lot of little steps together. Some steps are easy, like saying “Hi.” Some are more difficult, like saying you’re “sorry” to someone. Walking together and building friendships takes time. Becoming connected to the church community takes time and is a process that depends upon the making of friends. It’s an essential part of the spiritual journey.

The work of the church is typically organized by committees. It takes many committees and lots of people volunteering to make all of the things that happen at church a reality. Tom Berg used to say “Who do you think does all this work? Little Elves?” Well the answer is; We do the work and we seem to do it quite well. You see it’s part of each person’s own ministry to find what fills them and participate in the life of the church. All of us contributing to the common good through individual efforts of our time and energy to make the UUCV a vibrant, living, breathing place of spiritual discovery. We are an amazing church!

There is a song titled; “I’m a Unitarian” by Grace Lewis-McLaren, 1987, that follows an old Hungarian tune. We have sung it at campouts and “Open Mic Nights.” It is a musical satire of sorts on UUs, with one particular line reading; “Policies I do espouse, resolutions pending. But committees are my pride, meetings without endings.” UUs have a reputation for long meetings. When it comes to committee work, process, can test one’s character. Yet the rewards of those efforts are certain to include deepening of relationships and building friendships with those who served with you on the committee.

Working together is a process. Each day we get a little further along in our goals. Yet isn’t the purpose of committee work to get things done? Certainly there are plans to make, tasks to complete. And they will get done, but please, do not let getting the work done, get in the way of how we go about doing that work together. It is easy to understand how some folks avoid committee work. I hope that you don’t. You may have tried it before and didn’t enjoy the experience, but you are needed. Your help, your talent, your time, is needed and wanted.

You do not have to join a committee in order to help achieve the goals that a committee is tasked. Religious Education has a committee but what they need most are volunteers for classroom teaching. B&G has a committee but what they need most is to have volunteers come out once a month and spend a few hours caring for our church facility. The Social Action has lots of ways for you to get involved to promote the common good and build a better world. The Kitchen Committee, Pastoral Caring Committee, and many others need your help to not only make those activities what they are but to share the load in the friendship of building a loving community. They all need willing hands and hearts. Please reach out to what interests you. That’s a process of discovery and it’s worthy of your time and effort.

Living in Paradise,

Bryan Buck, President