Journey to Ann Arbor
I just got back from my first Association for Unitarian Universalist Music Ministries (AUUMM) Conference in 3 years. This year it was in Ann Arbor, and we really lucked out with good weather plus a GIANT art festival happening in town last week. My cup has been filled up by SO. MUCH. SINGING and camaraderie with my wonderful colleagues. There were only about 100 attendees in per-son this year, much fewer than normal, and we didn’t have a conference choir…
Magic Summer
We’ve been having a joyful and service-filled summer in Religious Education. We began our Magic Summer curriculum from Soul Matters in July, encompassing the three S’s of Silence, Service, and Sunshine. We have experienced silence through a guided meditation that had us imagining ourselves as a sprouting seed, an activity in which we mind-fully passed a cup of water without spilling a drop, a meditation on the meaningfulness of books, and a loving kindness meditation. Our first act of service…
July 10th Worship Service
I am looking forward to a new church year! As grateful as I am to the work of last year’s Board, I anticipate another great year with our new Board. Thank you to all who serve. On July 10, a group of us are leading the Sunday Service to share our recent experiences with racism and anti-racism. It has been a transformative journey for many of us, and we understand we are on a very long path. In addition to…
Special Music
Later this month, I will be attending the Association of UU Music Ministries (AUUMM) annual conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Like everyone else, our organization canceled the last 2 conferences because of COVID, so I’m looking forward to this one even more than usual. One of the best parts about the conference is the in-between conversations with colleagues. I’ve made so many friends throughout the years, and I enjoy reconnecting with them once a year (plus throughout the year on…
Summer RE Program
The school year and church year are winding down, and we are preparing for summer. The Youth Group will be taking a break over the summer (perhaps with 1 or 2 special events), and PreK-7th grade will be combined for our summer program. We’ll be using the Magic Summer curriculum from Soul Matters. This program is based on three magic “S’s” that are what we, as a faith community, need to provide our children and our families to find the…
Hungry for Live Music
I hope that you are as hungry for live music as I am! Our August will be filled with three live musical experiences for our OCUUC family. Please mark your calendars and plan to come out for three fun evenings! Have you heard Spencer LaJoye’s “Plowshare Prayer” yet? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhOZv5i7CHY) It was going around the UU circles on social media for a while, plus we sang it at church a few weeks ago. Well, Spencer LaJoye is going to be on…
We are Awesome
May completed our onsite Ukrainian Refugee program. Everyone who is not with their sponsor has moved to a dormitory in Los Angeles, and our two-story building is almost empty again. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you who donated items, made meals and grocery runs, did onsite stays, drove, and made it all happen. I have been so impressed by all the volunteer response and compassion. We are awesome! The Annual Meeting is upon us. I hope…
A Blessing for Everything
Years ago, I read a book called “The Carmina Gaedelica.” It’s a collection of Celtic Christian prayers, enchantments and blessings from the 19th Century from the Outer Hebrides of the Scottish Isles, a place that had preserved much of its original pagan roots. When you read the prayers and poems (and, yes, spells/enchantments!) you can tell they are unique immediately; they were all once from the druidic/pagan tradition. When Christianity came along, they just added in Jesus and Mary. What…
Enter, Rejoice and Come In
Orange Coast Choir is humming along now that we’re singing back in Daniels Hall. I’m so grateful to Steve Morihiro, Barbara Morihiro, and Sarah Hunter who kept the choir going in creative ways while I was away on my sabbatical. Now that we’re back in full swing, we are adding choir members, working on more challenging material, and improving our technique every week. It’s so much more rewarding to sing together in one room than to sing on Zoom and…
Welcome Back!
It’s so good to be back! On Easter Sunday, April 17th, we welcomed our PreK-7th graders back to our church campus. For some of them, it was their first time in our buildings at all! It was joyful and a little overwhelming to be back in the beginning of the Sunday service with everyone. I got very emotional seeing my own children in the service and interacting with the larger community for the first time in more than two years.…
Volunteerism
April has been a busy and exciting month! I am so proud of all of us! We had a great kickoff to our Pledge Drive, welcomed six new members, had a staffed table at the local Earth Day celebration to promote our Environmental Film Festival, and we created and implemented an amazing program to support Ukrainian Refugees. Whew! Since I was most involved with the Ukrainian Refugee Program, I particularly want to call out all the volunteers who have made…
Beauty in People
I’ve mentioned this before, but I have a really cool gift: I sense the beauty in people. It doesn’t matter who they are or what they do, just about everyone has this inner spark of beauty. You can call it a soul if you like. I’m sure it’s connected to empathy and compassion, but it’s something I’ve been aware of since I was probably a teenager. Often I can tell that this inner beauty in them is covered up by…