Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto

Susan Owicki

If you have ever been in this church during January and February, you should be familiar with the form of address known as a "canvass moment," now renamed "membership renewal moment." For the next 8 weeks, as part of our annual fund-raising campaign, members of the congregation will speak briefly in each service about what this church means to them.

This year the speakers will share their dreams for UUCPA - what they would most like this church to be. I get to be the first to share a dream. Actually, I'm going to start with a certain frustration.

When I tell someone I am a Unitarian-Universalist, there are 3 common reactions. Perhaps you recognize them. One is "Oh, that church on Charleston? I don't know much about them." The second is "Is that the same thing as Unity?" and the third is "What?" My dream is to begin to hear a fourth response, "I hear such great things about your church." I would like us to be known in the community for our principles and for our actions.

I would like this for two reasons. First, if we are recognized in that way, it means that we must be visibly embodying our principles, in what we say and what we do. I believe we already do this, but I would like to see us do it more, and maybe more visibly.

Second, I hope and believe that there are many in our community whose principles are compatible with ours. If more of those people knew what we stand for, then more of them might join us here. And I would like to see us grow, not just for our own sake. I want us to grow because I believe strongly in our principles, and I believe our community will be the better for having more people joining together in commitment to them.

Kay Pauling

My name is Kay Pauling. Three years ago, I made a New Year's resolution that I actually kept. I started attending this church on the first Sunday of 1999 and have gradually become more and more involved with our activities. In these three years, by working together, we have done a lot to be proud of.

My copy of UU World came last week . In it is the list of congregations that gave their fair share to the Annual Program Fund of the UUA in Boston to support their work. It was great to see our church on the Honor Society list. And then, to top that off, UUCPA was listed as a Leadership Congregation-one of the 53 largest contributors of all the congregations in the US and Canada. If fact, I counted and we were #34.

Another example, we have raised over a million dollars for our building fund in the past few years. And we're justly proud of that-

But how many of us realize that we have to bring in more than that amount every two years just for our operating budget? Jim DeLaHunt, the chairman of our Membership Renewal Committee for this year, pointed that out to me last night. Our operating budget is more that half a million dollars a year. And what does that get us?

Among other things, our generosity allows us to get the best staff-look around you. There's Veronica, who gives us both wonderful music and a wonderful smile; Michael, who leads our choir with such intensity and flair; Danny and Steve, who work long hours to set up the rooms, set up the coffee, and clean up after us; Barbara and Kristina, who greet us with smiles when we go in the office and do their jobs with great skill; and our ministers-Darcey and Kurt, who devote their working hours and more to our well-being. We want to keep the best staff by paying them appropriately. And we need to provide the resources so they can do their best.

In other words, get the best, keep the best and help the best do their best.

I attended a workshop at the Santa Cruz Church yesterday that addressed problems facing mid-size churches. One of the leaders said that our denomination is a "low-expectation" denomination. My interpretation of her remark is that we're don't ask a lot of in either time or money of our members-

What would UUCPA look like if we were a "high-expectation" church? What would be your dream for our church if each of us gave more? One of my dreams is that I'm walking down the walkway over by room 9 after a big rainstorm and there's no water dripping on my head from the light fixtures. I leave you with this challenge-dream about what more we could do if we transformed our church into a "high expectation" church. And then let's live our dreams.

Karl Garcia

My name is Karl Garcia and I was asked to speak a few minutes this morning to tell you why I am a member of and support this church.

Although I was raised a Unitarian Universalist, I did not attend any church when I went off to college and for several years thereafter. I joined this church in 1989 and have been an active member since then to a greater or lesser degree.

One of the things I learned in school and the years after was that I had a liberal religious perspective and that not everyone thought like I did. I can tell you this came as somewhat of a shock. It was very important to me that there was a community of people where I could go who shared my perspective and where I felt at home. The Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto was that home, that place where I felt my ideals were in common and my views respected. I also have learned that part of the responsibility of being a member of a house is to share in the tasks and duties that go into making that house into a home. I have given my time and money to this community because I respect the ideals we stand for.

One of the things I have come to realize over the years is that, in a free society, no one perspective, no single viewpoint dominates a culture for too long. And additionally that the culture is made up of all the voices that can be heard and resonate with people. I believe that our voice speaks to a number of people. I think it is extremely important that the Unitarian Universalist voice is heard and therefore be a part of the culture. I give money and time to this community so that it can make itself heard and be a voice in the larger community.

I recently had the absolute joy of welcoming a daughter, a new life, a new spirit into this world. As I have been watching her grow, watching her learn to gain control her body over these last few months, I have been thinking about her future, what it will be like for her as she grows up and establishes her identity and her values. I certainly want the Unitarian Universalist perspective to be part of that world and so I give time and money to this community so that it will be here for her and her life will be shaped by the ideals I cherish and hold dear.

So, whatever your reason for being here, whatever your perspective, if you think that what we as a community, what we hold as our principles, are important to you, to the larger community, or to our future, I urge you to give what you can. To give time or money or even both. I think it is vital that our voice, our perspective, our ideals are heard. I have given so that this may happen. Please join me.

Richard Heydt

When I began coming to this church in the mid-nineties, I knew that I wanted to sing in the choir. Not long after I started attending church regularly, I joined the choir and I've been in it ever since. Being a choir member has become part of my identity as far as my association with UUCPA. Sometime within the first year or so someone came up to me in the foyer one Sunday morning and introduced herself, thinking that I was a visitor. Now I honestly don't remember who this nice person was, but I responded, "Hi, it's nice to meet you, I'm Richard Heydt. But I'm not really new here, I sing in the choir." And there was a flash of recognition on her face, and she said, "Oh that's right, you're the one with the hair."

The rest of the conversation was fairly uneventful, but I wondered afterwards how I should interpret that remark. My first thought was "Oh geez, when you are in the choir everyone sees your bad hair days. I really have to stop going to Super cuts!" But then I thought this person might have been saying to me "Hey, nice hair!" Unlikely. I go to Super cuts. And although I still don't know, I finally decided she must have been saying to me "Sure, I know you! You're the one in the back row who actually has hair!"

Now why am I telling you this story? Well, it's all about identity, about what things we associate people with and what we recognize them for. Churches have identities, too. What do people think of when you mention the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto? "Oh yeah, that's the church that needs a shorter name," or more benignly, "That's the church that hosts lots of speakers and concerts in its main hall." It would be great if you could ask some arbitrary person on University Avenue what they knew about UUCPA, and they said, "Lots of people from your church are advocates for affordable housing!" Or "Sure, that's the church that speaks up strongly for gay rights."

I personally don't dream of UUCPA as ever being a huge church like MPCC, but I do envision us as having a stronger community identity. I'd like to see us better known at Stanford so that we had more young adults at our services. I wonder how many people we could attract, and how much influence we might have, if more people were aware of us, and if mention of our name evoked a clear, positive image of who we are.

Well, we aren't ever going to know if we can't get the message out. Yes, it takes commitment to do effective social justice work, but it also takes money. And it takes money to get people's attention. We can't promote what we believe in effectively if we're always worried about having enough to pay our ministers and staff. Pledging to this church sustains its life, and gives us a chance to grow in identity and presence.

Josie Stultz

I have been asked to share with you what I dream for this church. Listening to two members of this church this week has helped to understand one thing I dream for this church, and it's the same thing that I dream for myself. The dream is to let the church change me.

The UU principles are inspiring and challenging enough to help me grow for several lifetimes. It is my hope to engage with those principles here with you over the years and experience whatever growth and change comes. It can only be good.

I think we have a well-established tradition here of creating a strong and nurturing spiritual home for ourselves and whoever walks through the doors. I dream that our openness to change will help us find more ways to strengthen our connection to the community and the world. It is my dream to commit to being changed in ways that effect the world outside our doors.

James Chan

When I first visited this church in 1999, I knew nothing about the Unitarian Universalist movement. However, my wife Kirsten had heard of it. When she was growing up in New England, her brother attended a UU retreat at Ferry Beach (Maine) every summer and had a great time.

My first impressions of the UUCPA were its open mindedness, emphasis on social justice and beautiful music each and every Sunday. We liked what we saw and became members about a year later. Like fine wine, UU gets better for me with age. As I got to meet more people after services and at other events, I came to appreciate the independent mindset of this congregation and its commitment to the UU Principles. Through sharing and caring in my evensong group (which incidentally has been meeting for over 2 years since the class ended), not only am I able to support others with their concerns and sorrow, and rejoice in their joys and triumphs, I also allow myself to be vulnerable as well. As a result, we all become strengthened through this interdependent web of life. I came to the personal conclusion that, ultimately, this church clicks not because of its reputation or UU Principles, but because of its people. Indeed, "People who need people, are the luckiest people in the world."