New Beginnings
By now I’m sure you’ve heard that I have submitted my resignation to the Board, and my last day will be our ingathering Water Communion service on September 10. I gave the church a long notice so the transition can be as smooth as possible. The reason I’m resigning is that I am feeling led to do more work in the adoption space — with my podcast, speaking opportunities, and parent coaching. It was a difficult decision for me since…
UU Maker Space Program
On June 11th we will begin our summer UU Maker Space program in Religious Education. Kids in grades K-12 are invited to join us every Sunday to play creatively, solve problems, and learn from failure so that they can grow up to change the world! As UU religious educator Joy Berry writes, Our kids thrive on DOING. It changes their brains and the way they see themselves: When we make things, we are more confident, more open, less anxious about…
Delight!
Delight is a word I often use in describing how I feel when someone does something wonderful for someone else. The word comes from the Latin, “delectare” meaning “to charm.” I feel delight when I see this congregation reaching out and helping one another. I feel delight when I find the perfect match for my foster puppies. I feel delight when someone takes the time to give kudos where they are due. I feel delight when I see our RE…
Auction, GA and More
What a great Auction! It was super fun and raised more than $15,000, well above the budgeted amount. Thank you JoLynn and Debra, our co-chairs, the entire Auction Committee, and everyone else who contributed, bought, and helped make it happen. We are awesome! It truly takes a village, and this is one of the best examples of all the ways we make it happen. Tom and I are looking forward to returning to attending General Assembly (GA) in person in…
Making Music
Throughout my life, I’ve often reflected that music has literally saved my life. I can’t imagine my life without it. It’s how I communicate, how I bring myself peace, how I express myself, how I open to the Mystery, and so much more. How is music healing in your life? I’m reading the book The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk. (Great book!) The author gives lots of…
Superhero Academy
This year the Elementary Religious Education class, for kindergarten to sixth grade, is using a curriculum called Superhero Academy. On January 22nd, they learned from Spider-Man that “great power comes with great responsibility” and also that you don’t always have to try to save the whole world. Sometimes it’s important to focus on helping in your own neck of the woods, just like Peter Parker started out being everyone’s “friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.” With that in mind, the class turned their…
Contractor’s Bid
The Sanctuary Construction Committee finally received a bid from the contractor on Friday, January 20th. Unfortunately, it is $2.7M, substantially higher than the $1.8M we have authorized. Bad news. As was presented at the town hall meeting in January, the principal reasons for the increased bids are inflation and increased requirements from the city. The Committee has met twice now since receiving the bid, and has asked our architect to propose cuts that would bring us closer to our financial…
Love is Love
You all know how excited I get when we talk about “love.” For me, it’s the way I experience the holy and how I see it act in the world. And of course, different cultures around the world often note that there are different kinds of love and have different words for it. The most common are words coined by the Catholic church: Philia, Eros, and Agape. Philia is meant to express the type of love between friends or from…
Our Whole Lives (OWL)
For ten weeks, nine 4th-6th graders from OCUUC, Tapestry UU, and the wider community gave it their all in the vital and life-affirming Our Whole Lives (OWL) Lifespan Sexuality Education program. With the intrepid leadership of our OWL facilitators, Maria Goode, Jacques Kilchoer, and Rev. Judy Tomlinson, they explored Sexuality and Values, Images in Popular Culture, Body Image, Changes of Puberty, Gender, Feelings and Attraction, Reproduction and Staying Healthy, Decisions and Actions, Consent and Peer Pressure, and Healthy Relationships. By…
We Made a Difference
“Look at all the work we’ve done, everybody showin’ up!” This is the first line of one of my favorite choir songs. We’ve really lived it this Fall! As we go into another calendar year, we can be proud of ourselves. We have had lots of “regular” activities with sermon discussion groups, book groups, another successful auction, and other groups that usually meet on a regular basis. Of course, Sunday mornings is our favorite activity. In addition, Rev. Sian taught…
Mantra
Welcome to the new year! Each year, people around the globe find a spurt of motivation to make a new year’s resolution – to diet, get in shape, expand their mind, see family more – the list goes on and on. We try year after year to change and grow. I think it’s a rather beautiful tradition even if it tends to fade away within a few weeks. It’s so wonderfully human to try! Recently I was talking to one…
Meaningful Worship Services
First a word of gratitude to Steve Morihiro and Susan Shaw, who have often been leading the music on my days off. They are consistent, conscientious, talented, and collaborative. We’re so lucky to have these two willing to be leaders in our church! I also want to give a shout-out to the tech crew – Avery Brown, our awesome weekly Audio Engineer, plus all the volunteers who run the camera, run the slideshow, act as Zoom MC, and create the…