Progress Report Card
Our Sanctuary Construction Committee held our regularly scheduled progress meeting with our architects from domusstudio on July 1st. We reviewed and commented on the new project renderings that the architects have prepared to reflect the newest refinements of the design. We look forward to sharing these revised plans with you in the near future starting on Saturday, July 17th at the Isa Graves sculpture wine & cheese reception in the courtyard from 4 to 7 p.m. and in the courtyard…
Thanks
This is my last blog post as President of the OCUUC Board of Trustees. I have served three consecutive one-year terms as President with this final year’s term ending June 30, 2021. I am glad to have one last opportunity to correspond with you via this platform. Serving as President these last three years has been fulfilling, sometimes a challenge, and always an honor. Thank you all for allowing me to serve in this capacity. I am grateful to be part of…
Hybrid Services
We’ve been doing hybrid services now for several weeks, and it’s been a real learning experience for all of us. Everything has gone very smoothly so far, and I’m so happy that we are able to keep Zoom worship going for those who prefer it, as well as having our physical doors open for those who prefer to attend in person. There is an enormous amount of technical details to keep track of now. Big thanks to Steve Morihiro for…
Transitions
Transition is in the air. We are moving back to in-person church and Religious Education. We are shifting into summer mode with free and open days during the week and guests in our pulpit on Sundays. And we are changing over from one Director of Religious Education (DRE) to another. Transitions are always a bit tricky. Like passing a baton in a relay race, there is always the danger that someone might drop the stick. Karen Magoon Pearson, our incoming…
Sound Check
On Thursday our Sanctuary Construction Committee was joined by Beth Syverson and Steve Morihiro for a productive planning session on Zoom with professionals from our acoustic-sound system consultant Sound Image of San Diego. Our architects from domsstudio led the discussion. Among the topics were the acoustics of the room and how adjustments in sound might be achieved through baffles and building materials. The consultants also focused on our audio and video equipment needs and placement for the new sanctuary and…
Artful Construction
Our Sanctuary Construction Committee is looking forward to our Zoom meeting this Thursday with our architect David Keitel. He will be presenting revised concepts for the sanctuary that address the need to meet code requirements that are in place because the sprinklered sanctuary structure must be a certain distance from existing campus structures that do not have sprinklers. The revised concepts will also reflect some changes needed to be made due to the increase in building materials due to COVID.…
Marking Underground Utilities
On Friday a representative from our new sanctuary project’s civil engineering firm was on the OCUUC campus to locate all the underground utilities. This is an important step beginning with the project’s demolition phase later this year so the contractor will know which utilities need to be capped and avoided. If you were at the church service on Sunday you may have noticed a lot of various colored dots painted on the courtyard and the parking area. This is the…
Learning from Experience
Memorial Day is often referred to as the unofficial start of summer and this year it has even more special significance at OCUUC as we open the church for in-person Sunday services and we head out on long-delayed travel for the first time since March 2020. You can rest assured, however, that your Sanctuary Construction Committee will continue on the forward path to bring the new sanctuary plans to reality. We gather on Zoom from places near and far to…