by Kitty Merrill | Nov 4, 2017 | Justice Actions
7PEAT, RE & Kitchen Angels Team Up to Green our Dishware
by Mark Mendelson
A UUCV collaborative effort is underway to make reusable dishware second nature, instead of disposable paper/plastic goods, at our on-site and off-site church events. For all-church potlucks, and any other events, you’re always encouraged to bring your own place setting (dish/es, utensils, cup and napkin), however we wanted to have on hand a set to use for the smaller gatherings, like RE events at parks or pools.
The RE Committee recently purchased a 30-person set in durable, midnight blue plastic, conveniently kept in a great tote bag. This new set, together with the plastic dishes RE already had on hand, means we have service for 60. There are also plastic glasses.
Because there is not room to keep this dishware in the kitchen, a plastic bin containing all event dishware will be available in the storage room across from the Green Room. Chinaware and cloth napkins, also available to all, will be kept in a bin or bins next to the plastic-ware as well. Metal silverware and serving utensils will still be stored in the kitchen drawers.
Guidelines for using the dishes:
• Use the reservation sheet on the plastic bin so groups wanting to use dishware can be sure it will be available and know who has it at the moment if it’s in use. All will also know who needs it next and when they need to make sure it’s back, clean and ready for use.
• Clean and return borrowed dishware, glasses, silverware, and utensils to the appropriate storage spot. It is the responsibility solely of the committee or group that checked them out.
• While the church kitchen may be used to wash dishes for on-site events (but not on Sunday mornings please) they should never be left in the kitchen for our Kitchen Angels to deal with (not even in the drying racks)!
A subset of dishes and silverware will remain in the kitchen for easy access on Sunday mornings, or for the occasional meeting that occurs at church. Please return all items to the location from which they were taken, clean and ready for use.
We hope you enjoy using this new resource, and thank you for helping us thrive as a Green Sanctuary, incorporating sustainability in all church activities!
by Kitty Merrill | Nov 4, 2017 | Justice Actions
Dear UUCV Community,
Each of us has abundant gifts through which we can be of service to the world, but if we are too busy comparing or not feeling good enough, we’ll push situations away and miss our opportunity. The idea is the job, relationship, and every encounter that is already happening in our lives is exactly where we are meant to inhabit fully, show up with love, and ask to be a blessing to those around us and thereby the world.
I recently asked Marianne Williamson why it didn’t feel like I was ever doing enough to save the world and she asked what I do for a living. When I told her I’m a DRE at a UU church, she said nothing could be more important than offering spiritual teachings to children and nurturing spiritual growth of the teachers, especially in a Unitarian church which is known for being active! It was a major pat on the back and yet…
Does it give me a pass on political activism? Operating from a sense of abundance and enoughness with the interactions of love and service in my daily life and inhabiting every space I’m currently in to my fullest capacity will enable me to do more. But if I am constantly looking to the horizon to see what more I could be doing instead of showing up fully where I already am, I’m going to not only miss out on the future growth, but miss the opportunities right in front of me where I’ve been called to show up with love!
She also told me to drop the violins and give up my trembling lip because there are women around the world who would be stoned for standing up and speaking at a microphone to ask a question like I did! That’s been playing in my head over and over again.
So I hope each of us will celebrate and recognize the abundance of opportunity to share love, do good, build each other up, and serve everyone we encounter in our communities, even amid the despair and heartbreak.
This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. ~George Bernard Shaw
With love and light, Emily Carroll
emily@uuventura.org
by Kitty Merrill | Nov 4, 2017 | Justice Actions
While money clearly does not grow on trees, it sometimes strikes me as even more miraculous that food actually does. It’s probably my mostly suburban and urban life so far that makes this seem so remarkable. Still, it’s a wonder to drive around Ventura County and see oranges, lemons and limes actually hanging on branches, not just in pyramids at the grocery store.
Our November theme of Abundance is well suited to this time of year. In the Northern Hemisphere the harvest is pretty much over by now and many cultures have celebrations. The fall is a time to consider what we have and be grateful for the abundance in our lives.
Some hold the view that life is a zero-sum game. The more someone else has the less they have. They compete for more so that there is no chance they will ever go wanting. There are people and whole corporations in the world that deliberately seek to profit from our fear. That want to pit us against one another, that tell us to deny the humanity of others.
We live in a culture that often equates abundance with having massive quantities of everything. What if true abundance is just having enough?
Part of why we come to church is to live by a different set of values. Seeking enough, not everything. Satisfaction, not ecstasy. (A little ecstasy goes a long way, after all.) John Lennon asked us to “imagine all the people sharing all the world.” A pretty big dream, though that is the world we seek.
Our message must be that there is enough. We are enough. What if the deepest truth is that there really is enough? Enough love, enough truth, enough integrity, enough kindness, enough goodness in human hearts. So much enough-ness that we can actually share what we have. There is enough, though it is not equitably distributed.
To the extent that we are a people of abundance with enough – and often more than enough – for ourselves, we are called to reach out to others who clearly do not have close to what they need.
In this season of gratitude, may we all consider the abundance in our lives. Not simply of material things, but the abundance of love, friendship, kindness. The fullest bounty of our lives. My fond hope is that no one who is part of this community will feel a lack of the gifts of community.
Happy Thankgiving
Rev. Dana
by Kitty Merrill | Oct 4, 2017 | Justice Actions
Dear UUCV Community,
It has been an amazing start to the church year, and we are grateful for your continued participation and involvement in this community! The RE team has a common vision to see engaged children in teeming classrooms who are growing spiritually and learning to think for themselves in a safe, respectful community! We are so excited for what this year and years to come will bring.
For the first time in my 9 years as a DRE, we have a full slate of teaching teams who are committed and collaborative! Naturally, there are many other ways to get involved with the program, from helping behind the scenes, telling stories, and more, so please get in touch with me if you want in on the fun!
As of September 14, we are excited to announce that we’ve made some changes to two classrooms to better accommodate the needs of our growing children. The nursery is now in the corner room 3 nearer the street, and our 3rd-5th graders are in the larger room across from the bathrooms in Berg Hall. Next time you’re here, please take a moment to visit and see some of these changes. We are so excited! I know change can be uncomfortable for some, so please know nothing is written in stone, and I hope we can give this a try and revisit if needed!
We invite your participation in the book drive for the Harry Potter social action project to battle the horcrux of illiteracy in the world! We are holding a book drive to benefit the Friends of the Library. New and gently used books are accepted in this drive. Children and families are encouraged to go through their books at home and bring in any outgrown or unwanted books to encourage another child to read. Adults are encouraged to comb through their own collections and bring in their unwanted titles. Together, we can provide many, many opportunities to encourage others in the greater Ventura area to read, helping to destroy the Horcrux of illiteracy in our community.
With love and light, Emily Carroll
emily@uuventura.org
by Kitty Merrill | Sep 29, 2017 | Justice Actions
Conversations
The following are the primary responsibilities of the UUCV Board of Trustees. Quoting from our Bylaws: “Article Viii. Duties of The Board Of Trustees, Section 1. The Board shall develop written policies necessary to effectively govern the church. The Board shall conduct strategic planning and congregational assessment. It shall develop the mission and vision of the congregation. It shall hold the fiduciary responsibility for the church and shall annually recommend a budget to the congregation at the Annual Meeting.”
Our Bylaws are found on our website along with our Policy Manual.in the Documents Section (located at the very bottom of our uuventura.org webpages.) I recommend that everyone periodically review these important documents and become familiar with the governance of our congregation. You could say that doing so is part of being informed about our 5th Principle: The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large. The work of the church doesn’t just happen magically. It takes an informed congregation, planning, and willing hands and hearts.
Last month the Board held a retreat with several goals in mind. First, we needed to get acquainted as there are two new members on the Board, and, Second, we needed to begin charting a course for the year ahead and beyond. Very little happens quickly in a church. Slow and steady is typical. It’s known as getting things done in “Church Time.” That means if you are an action oriented person you may become challenged by the pace of decision making at a church. You might hear someone say; “It’s all a process” as if it should be taken for granted, in a tongue and cheek sort of way, as a fact about how churches operate.
The primary emphasis at the Retreat was on creating a Vision for our congregation. This is a process that will take time to unfold. We developed two “Open Questions” to be considered; 1) What is our Mission? and 2) What are the ways we want to grow? In just looking at the first question, about every five years a congregation might review and update their Mission Statement. Ours is at least 10 years old. Even if you really like our current Mission Statement, change is the reason for a review. Our membership has changed, our demographics have changed, and the social issues of the day have changed. But to change it, if that is what we decide, will take a deliberate process and it will take time.
The second question is equally deep and central to our future. In that light, it makes sense to re-examine foundational questions. Going forward you can expect that the Board will be creating opportunities every two months for conversations where questions (like those above) can be explored and the voices of our congregation can be heard. These are really “Holy” conversations, sacred in the sense that they will be about us, the UUCV, and the aspirations and dreams we each hold for our congregation. You may imagine that this will be thoughtful work for all of us. It will also be extremely rewarding.
Living in Paradise,
Bryan Buck, President
by Kitty Merrill | Sep 29, 2017 | Justice Actions
I just seem to grow more deeply in love with this congregation every day.
I love the way people show up, bringing (almost all the time) your kind hearts and best selves to this endeavor of community.
I loved seeing 15 folks from the church at Bep Hogen-Esch’s memorial at the Ted Mayr Funeral Home. Someone said they wished it had been at the church because it feels more like home, and yet they were there. Often, I see people who didn’t know the person who died well or maybe not at all. They come because the community has lost someone, which means they have. Now that’s what I call church people.
We had 30-40 people show up after church a few Sundays back to share thoughts about whether or not to take down a tree as part of the Outdoor Sanctuary Project. Earlier in our process, concerns about removing a canary pine had not gotten a full enough airing. There was some frustration felt on many sides. So the board decided people needed a time to give full voice to those many sides. The conversation was thoughtful and respectful. People shared their thoughts about the tree and also about the process of getting to this decision point. Folks reported that they felt heard.
By the time you are reading this, a decision about the tree will have been made by the hard-working Outdoor Sanctuary Team. I loved hearing folks express their support for the team’s work and leadership while offering their decided (and undecided) opinions. The work of the church is sometimes slow and a little messy. It is that way because living in covenant can be slow and a little messy.
Y’all show up for all generations services. The Water Communion was joyful and fun. I suspect that most of you missed my favorite part of all because it was happening mostly behind you. As we sang “Blue Boat Home” as our final hymn, a gaggle of girls were dancing – twirling and swinging their arms gracefully – by the west alcove. I loved how much fun they were having, how at home they seemed.
One Saturday in September, only a few UUCV people showed up for a coastal clean-up day. Yet that was also the day of a choir retreat, Open Mic Night, a Building and Grounds work party and Bep’s memorial. We show up, though it seems that five events in one day may more than we can manage.
You are a congregation so very easy to love!
Rev. Dana
P.S. – The next place for people to SHOW UP! is for the auction on October 14. It’s an important fund raiser and a really, really good time for all.
