by Kitty Merrill | Dec 1, 2016 | Justice Actions
It was midweek and the church building was occupied by several groups meeting simultaneously, when Beverly Jordan, Membership Manager, staged a most enthusiastic, informative and enjoyable Pathway to Membership Orientation Workshop for eight newcomers in Berg Hall! All in attendance were given the opportunity to share how they first heard about our church, what drew them to check us out, and what past faith/church experiences they had. Beverly highlighted benefits gained by membership in a UU church. Several church leaders, committee chairs, and committee members spoke: Harold Dale Cartlidge reviewed the focus of the Social Action Committee; Erica Duffy shared RE program highlights and curricula, including the reading of the Seven Principles from a child’s viewpoint; Anne Escobedo explained how support groups are established and maintained; Kathy Swift led the group in a song revealing the rewards of participating in church choir; David Smith related the meaning of pledging and other aspects of stewardship; Rev Dana offered a spirited overview of UU history, and Gudrun Eastham invited attendees to experience Buddhist meditation practice. A video was shown about the meaning of membership and all learned a new song, …”everyone is welcome at the table…”. In addition to a Newcomer Packet, pledge cards were circulated and attendees came away informed, delighted, nourished, and challenged! The second Pathway to Membership will occur in January, 2017. In the meantime, speak to someone you don’t know, ask a newcomer to a specific event and review our Seven Principles. — by Gudrun Eastham
by Kitty Merrill | Dec 1, 2016 | Justice Actions
Be a PSWD Chalice Lighter (CL)!
We at UUCV stand to benefit from a Chalice Lighter (CL) call. Please join that call. It’s an appeal to the generosity of people in the Pacific Southwest District (PSWD) to donate to support the UU movement. In this case, the appeal goes out to congregations in southern California, Arizona, and Nevada to support our own Membership Manager position. The PSWD CL program gives us the chance to be in community with all 49 congregations in the PSWD. To be a CL, one commits to answering up to three requests for donations of at least $20. These donations add up throughout the district to provide funding to our sister congregations to build, modify buildings, equip, and staff – all in support of advancing our values in ways that could not be done with a congregation’s own funding alone. UUCV has benefited from Chalice Lighters twice in recent times. Funding was instrumental in getting a new sound system when we moved to our Ralston campus. And, a CL grant made it possible for us to hire an Assistant Minister, a ministry that had transformative effects on our church community. UUCV is in the closing days of a call to raise funds for the first year of our Membership Manager position. If you are already a CL, give generously. If not, this is an especially appropriate time to sign on and give. For more info: www.pswduua. org. Look under “Programs and Resources” for the link to the PSWD Chalice Lighters program or contact Jim Merrill, current President of the PSWD Board of Trustees.
by Kitty Merrill | Nov 1, 2016 | Justice Actions
Lift Up Your Voice (LUYV) Events
Join us Thursday, November 17, for our third annual Take a Hungry Person to Lunch event in observation of National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness week. Past participants tell us they love getting beyond the stereotypes and fear and, many times, seeing how interesting and talented their lunch partners are.
We’ll start in Berg Hall at 10:30am hearing from Gayle, a woman who taught school before becoming homeless and living in the river bottom for years. We’ll also meet the couple who took her to lunch two years ago — a meeting that ultimately helped Gayle return to housing. We’ll see a brief video of one of our church members telling of her years living on the streets of Ventura.
Then we’ll head over to Ventura’s Plaza Park, where you’ll meet the individual you (and a friend, if you like) will take to lunch. You’ll walk (or drive) to a nearby restaurant and get to know one another over a meal. Please contact Kathy Powell at kathypurpleprincess@gmail.com or 805/910-8860 for further info. and to sign up to be a host.
Also, mark your calendars and plan to join us for our 11th annual Homeless Persons’ Memorial Service on Sunday, December 18 at 3pm in the gazebo at Ventura’s Plaza Park. Details will be in the December newsletter.
by Sue Brinkmeyer
by Kitty Merrill | Nov 1, 2016 | Justice Actions
7PEAT News!
Thanks so much to our congregation for helping the 7th Principle Environmental Action Team (7PEAT) prioritize action areas for the coming year. Your sticki-notes and sign ups in August have now been tallied. Here are the ideas with the top level of response:
- Commit2Respond Shift to a lower Carbon Footprint
Congregational Potlucks/Talks
Sign Ups: Gudrun Eastham, Julie Moore, Maura Raffensberger, Shelah Wilgus, Kappy Paulson, Pam Waldron, Teresa Zdanowich, Sue Brinkmeyer
- Commit2Respond Advance Hands-on Work in our Wider Community
Biodiversity in the City and Citizen Science
Sign Ups: Kappy Paulson, Vanessa Frank, Mark Mendelsohn
- Commit2Respond Grow the Climate Movement
Collaboration with Other Groups
Sign Ups: Gudrun Eastham, Maura Raffensberger, Donna Ingram, Teresa Zdanowich
We’ll share more information about these projects as the teams get going!
If you are interested in working on one of these environmental issues, come to our meetings, the first Sunday of the month at 11:30 in the Conference Room and jump in!
If you want to find out more, email Kitty Merrill at greenkitty@outlook.com, or talk to any of the team members.
If you are feeling called by an issue that isn’t on our list, here are some options:
- When Social Action’s Coordinating Committee has its focus group lunch on Nov. 13, come and talk up your area of interest.
- Gather a couple of allies, and come to the next 7PEAT meeting and we’ll add your project to our list.
- Consider breaking it down into an individual event to show off the idea to others, and see if you can grow it from there.
by Kitty Merrill | Nov 1, 2016 | Justice Actions
District Assembly, General Assembly, UU-UNO, Oh My!
Registration for District Assembly opens on January 1, 2017; If you are a 9th-12th grade youth interested in attending, register for DA Youth Caucus!
General Assembly Youth Caucus Staff applications open in Nov! If you are a 9th-12th grade youth who is interested in leading Youth Caucus at General Assembly 2017, see www.uua.org/re/youth/events/gacaucus.
The UU-UNO office is currently accepting applications to be an Envoy, a Youth Rep for the UU-UN Office, application information on www.uua.org/international/un/envoys. If you are a 9th-12th grade youth who is interested in global justice please apply!!
Contact Tanner Linden-Akseven (Youth Events Coordinator) at tanakseven@gmail.com for more information about youth opportunities and experiences
by Kitty Merrill | Nov 1, 2016 | Justice Actions
How Do We Develop Our Faith and Beliefs?
James Fowler’s Developmental Stages of Faith provides us with a framework of the stages of faith development over our life span. It is interesting to read for anyone curious about spiritual growth.
Fowler states in the first stage of this development the child learns from their family and community what their faith is, what they believe in. At this stage they need to know that they are accepted and cared about and loved. What they learn is being “caught” from what’s around them. It’s what the people they trust and care about are doing so they do it too.
One way our church teaches our children and youth is each Sunday when they attend the beginning of our Worship Service. They get to know our religion learning about it by doing. All children and youth attend the first fifteen minutes of the Sunday morning services and also attend three to six intergenerational services in the course of the year.
When they attend services, young people learn our religious tradition through participating and doing: they sing and hear liberal religious music, they learn how to be in community with adults. They learn that sitting quietly is a form of spiritual practice. This is a way we use to intentionally deepen our children’s feeling of being a part of a community. Because we believe this is important for their growth and we want to prepare them to become Unitarian Universalist adults should they choose to become Unitarian Universalists when they are old enough to make their own decisions.
Joyce Faber, Acting DRE
