Back in the Swing of Things
It’s always nice to be back in the swing of things! The choir’s “comeback performance” from their summer hiatus was on groundbreaking day, and I don’t think I could have asked for anyone better to celebrate that with! I am always filled with such kindness and with such elation when music is back in my life, especially after these long summer breaks. Even though some music is still present in the service during the summer break it’s always nice to…
Invitation
Happy fall! This past week the RE elementary class has started the fall curriculum titled “Invitation”. This curriculum will teach on how to live in love as well as focusing on how Unitarian Universalism is a lived faith that inspires us to act, live, and love our values out in the world. Our RE Youth are finishing their Coming-of-Age program as they are finalizing their credos to read in front of the church during the Youth led service on October…
Centering Love – Shared Work
It’s great to be back after my summer break! I missed you all and am looking forward to the new church year. On Sunday, I preached about Generosity as a Spiritual practice and its role in centering love in our shared work as Unitarian Universalists. Starting on October 13, I invite you to participate in donating to the Share Ourselves food pantry. By donating to Share Ourselves, our community at OCUUC can help support their critical work of alleviating food…
Leaders Shape the Future
Traditionally, your Board utilized their August meeting to conduct a retreat during which they participated in team building exercises and determined specific goals to guide their activities for the coming year. This year the Retreat was broadened to include Chairs of standing committees, past Board presidents and OCUUC staff; in all, we had 30 church leaders participate. The September Board meeting processed the input from this half-day Retreat in order to determine our annual goals. These two meetings have illuminated…
Active Listening
We’ve all been told that listening and hearing are two different things; that hearing is passive, whereas listening is active. So, we can hear what someone is saying, but we might not be listening, which involves not just the words, but the emotions and ideas being expressed both verbally and physically. Listening is quite hard, actually. It requires us to pay attention to the entire person. As we take in the information from the other person, it is very natural…
Sanctuary Construction Update – Week #3
The old building is really gone now, with just a small pile of rubble left. The old building’s foundation was 8 inches deeper on one side than the other. Yikes! It’s all gone now. The web cam is making it easy to check our progress, and the time lapse videos are just so much fun! Check the web page! Work this week has been focused on preparing the site. They dug down several feet and found our soil is wetter…
Sanctuary Construction Update – Week #2
What a week of progress! Hoffman & Associates’ construction crew started off the work week on Monday, September 9 by removing the exterior parapet walls and removing material from the interior of the building to prepare for its demolition. “Demolition Day” followed on Wednesday, September 11 with a large CAT (Caterpillar brand) excavator tearing away the rear of the building. The activity was out of range of the construction camera but Rev. Sian and Bob Loeschen were there to document…
Sanctuary Construction Update – Week #1
Following our groundbreaking event on Sunday, September 1, our contractor began the day after Labor Day (September 3) to prepare the site for demolition. Bricks and pavers in the courtyard were removed to be reused later in the project and a chain link construction fence was installed surrounding the work site. They also capped the sewer and water supply and Edison removed the electric meter, de-energizing the building. Recyclable materials, including lumber, were removed from the building. A kick-off construction…
Fall Curriculum
As we approach the end of the summer the RE classes are finishing up their summer curriculum and excited to continue on their UU education. As we start the school year I am excited to introduce our fall curriculum as the RE elementary class will be starting the curriculum titled “Invitation”. This curriculum will teach on how to live in love as well as focusing on how Unitarian Universalism is a lived faith that inspires us to act, live, and…
UU Climate Justice Revival
September brings a special event to OCUUC and you’ll want to mark your calendar and make sure you don’t miss out. UU congregations across our country will be involved in the Climate Justice Revival developed by the UUA in order to renew our commitment to the planet, and we’re now “on the map” as a participating congregation which you can see at the Revival home page: https://www.uuclimatejustice.org/ I am proud to share that a strong team at OCUUC has come…
An Invitation
The monthly theme this month is “invitation” which is, for me, at the heart of Unitarian Universalist worship. We don’t have creeds or dogmas that “tell” people what to believe. We have people sitting in our pews that have all kinds of different beliefs – theists to atheists and everything in between. So it’s important that we respect the pluralism of our faith by making everything inviting. You might have noticed that I always “invite” people to meditation or to…
Construction Happenings
I know that we are all eager to hear the latest news on the sanctuary construction, and for that reason I asked Craig Spery, Chair of our Construction Committee, to give us an update. – Kathleen McFarlin As your Sanctuary Construction Committee Chair, I’m happy to give you a heads up about construction happenings that are on the immediate horizon for the beautiful new sanctuary we’ve all been waiting for. Since we signed and celebrated our con-tract last month with…