A Sweet Parting
Just a quick note to say I hope you will be able to be at tomorrow’s service, which is my last Sunday at UUCPA. (My last day is June 30, but on Sunday the 22nd I’ll be at General Assembly, and on Sunday the 29th I’ll be in the UU contingent in the ...
Our beloved Rev. Amy Zucker-Morgenstern’s last Sunday at UUCPA is this Sunday, June 15. Plan your father’s day celebration for later in the day and come join us for this celebratory service at 10:15 am and reception on the patio immediately following. We’ll thank Amy for the many gifts she has bestowed on us and get ...
American Humanist Association Annual Conference Watch Party at UUCPA - June 28
On Saturday, June 21 we will celebrate the longest day of the year with a Summer Solstice Celebration. Please join us at 6 p.m. for a ceremony to mark the moment, then we will share food and conversation in a potluck afterwards (more details coming soon). Children and adults are welcome! Following the Solstice Celebration ...
Yes, it’s really happening. After years of planning, meeting, raising money, and permitting, we are finally going to break ground. What started in 2021 as a kitchen remodel project has turned into so much more: New Kitchen + Electrical Upgrade + Electric Heat Pump HVAC + Updated Choir Room + EV Chargers + Bathroom and ...
On June 14, 1775, the Second Continental Congress created the Continental Army in order to coordinate the military efforts of the thirteen colonies to wrest control of their fate from England’s monarchy. Under George Washington’s leadership, they prevailed and established a new nation. For the subsequent 250 years, while political parties have risen and fallen, ...
At our June 1 congregational meeting, the UUCPA congregation resoundingly voted yes to call Reverend Catherine Boyle to continue as Assistant Minister of Religious Education. Rev. Cat accepted our call and sent this message:
Thank you—truly—for the joy and honor of calling me as your Minister of Religious Education. I’m filled with gratitude for your trust ...
Please check out all the fun events we have planned for this summer. Grab a printed copy from the CYRE board this Sunday.
May 25
Summer Sunday School for K-8 Starts at 10:15
Jun 1
Flower Communion Intergenerational Service
Jun 8
Summer Sunday School for K-8 at 10:15
Jun 15
Summer Sunday School for K-8 at 10:15
Jun 21
Equinox Celebration and Game Night 6 ...
The Forum meets from 8:30 to 10 am on Sunday mornings. Here are the Forum topics for June 2025:
6/1 (Great Decisions) International Cooperation on Climate Change – Sarah Doxiadis
6/8 Women are not marrying now. Why? Warren Schmidt
6/15 Memories of Forum Folks – Dick Duda (Facilitator)
6/22 Should we do away with daylight savings time? Tom Parker
6/29 ...
The Resonant Reading group, an exploration of ideas, feelings, and our life experiences using a different short reading as our springboard each time, meets on Saturdays at 4 pm and Wednesdays at noon via Zoom. All are wide open and you are welcome to come twice a week or once in a while. ...
The “lasts” of my time here can be confusing. Key dates in June are:
Sunday, June 8: the last service I am leading, and my last sermon
Sunday, June 15: celebration service, led by the congregation–the last Sunday I will be here
Monday, June 16 – Monday, June 23, I will be in Baltimore for the Unitarian Universalist ...
UUCPA members have a big decision to make next week!
Dear UUCPA folks,
Well, here we are! The congregation has gathered in numerous small groups to talk about the future of our religious education (RE) ministry, the Discernment Committee has compiled a report of these conversations, and the Board has unanimously recommended that we call Rev. Cat ...
Great news on the Campus Vision Project! Both of our permits, the Building Permit and the Utility Permit, have been approved! So are we knocking down walls tomorrow? Not quite yet …
The next step is to get an updated bid from the contractor, Bach Construction, based on the approved plans which include changes required by ...
Most years, our Flower Communion is on the second Sunday in May (the same day as Mothers’ Day), but please note that this year we will celebrate it on June 1. This is one of Unitarian Universalism’s most beloved traditions. Everyone brings a flower, creating a multi-colored, multi-scented, many-splendored abundance of blooms on our altar ...
There will be a special congregational meeting on Sunday, June 1st, at 11:30AM, directly following the service. At this meeting, the RE Discernment Task Force will present their final report and recommendation based on the feedback they received during the small group discussion phase of the discernment process. That report has been shared with the congregation and ...
Glad you asked …
Campus Vision: working to decarbonize the UUCPA campus, getting rid of natural gas
EV ride events, collaborating with Acterra and other to expand awareness
Activity Fair: encourage more walking, bicycling events
Veg forward UUCPA food, kudos to Edie Keating Sundays lunch and brunches, environmentally friendly cheese tasting, and looking for more ideas to get member ...
This week, the Religious Education Discernment Task Force shared our report with the UUCPA Board, and the Board endorsed our recommendation to move ahead for Reverend Cat Boyle to become our called Assistant Minister of Religious Education. Overall, we find that Cat’s strengths are needed by UUCPA, and we believe that she will continue to ...
Ecojustice Camp is running this year from July 21-25. More information and register here.
Did you know that one million people will line Market Street to cheer the SF Pride Parade on Sunday, June 29? All of them know that religion has been a source of hatred and persecution for LGBTQIA+ folks. How many of them also know that there’s a faith tradition that has been countering that hatred ...
. . . which makes this Sunday’s service extra-special.
https://youtu.be/leapdEjqWG0
The Heart and Home Collaborative’s Board sent this letter, along with several notes written by guests (reproduced here):
Heart and Home Collaborative’s women’s cold weather shelter wrapped up its 2024–25 shelter season on March 31, and we just want to say thank you.
Because your community opened its doors, women had a safe place to come inside — not ...
To opt out, please inform the church office by June 15
We have had numerous requests for us to resume making a printed directory of church members. Wishing to balance connection and privacy, we will only print names, photos, email addresses, and phone numbers–no physical addresses. If you wish to have any or all of your ...
Let us thank you!
If you have included UUCPA in your will, or if you are thinking about it and would like to learn more, please join us for a thank-you brunch in your honor next Sunday, May 18 at 12 noon in the Fireside Room.
Let us know via the online Legacy Society form–we wouldn’t want ...
Dismantling White Supremacy, which was founded in November 2019, is coming to a close with two sermons by Amy–one the evening of Tuesday, May 13, the second the evening of Tuesday, June 10–with each followed by lots of time for Q&A and discussion. They address the questions: How can we incorporate anti-racism into whatever other ...
Thank you to everyone who participated in UUCPA’s Annual Meeting on April 27! With a strong turnout, we accomplished a lot together:
New Leadership Elected: We warmly welcome our incoming Board of Trustees members—Robert Neff, Steve Ludington, Liam Mina, Heather Chen, Arhan Dutta, David Puryear (full terms), and Gary Rosin (partial term). We also elected Linda ...
We recently sent a notice that the Action Council was requesting Board approval to sign a letter on behalf of UUCPA rejecting presidential attacks on nonprofit organizations. This message is to let you know that both the Action Council and the Board voted unanimously to sign this letter, along with the UUA, on behalf of UUCPA. ...
Michael and Susan Plass are having their 50th wedding anniversary at the end of May this year, and their daughter Karen is hoping to gather some stories about them from friends who have known them over the years. These stories could be handwritten or via email, whichever is easiest for whoever is providing the story. Any ...
Our national Unitarian Universalist Association has signed onto this open letter rejecting presidential attacks on nonprofit organizations, started by the ACLU.
From the letter: “This attack on nonprofits is not happening in a vacuum, but as a part of a wholesale offensive against organizations and individuals that advocate for ideas or serve communities that the president finds objectionable, ...
Our Farewell Reverend Amy scrapbook is coming together, but we still need your messages!
How to participate:
Visit the writing table Sundays on the church patio.
Choose paper and create a scrapbook page to be included in the book.
Fill it out there or take the page home and return it later. All scrapbook pages must be received by May 25!
What should you ...
The Action Council is pleased to announce the new slate of approved Justice Partners for FY25-26, to be voted on at the April 27 Annual Meeting. You can find the list of Partners here. There are some changes of note:
1. We replaced Acterra with Canopy as the environmental Justice Partner, based on a nomination from the Green Sanctuary Committee.
2. We added a second LGBTQIA+-focused ...
The Forum meets from 8:30 to 10 am on Sunday mornings. Here are the Forum topics for May 2025:
5/4 India: Between China, the West, and the Global South – Kunda (Kay Brown) (Great Decisions)
5/11 Dealing with forgetfulness – Susan Owicki
5/18 Recent histories: memories vs current perceptions (notable people) Dick Duda and/or Richard Heydt
5/25 Discussion of Matters ...
What to do if ICE shows up at your congregation, place of worship, non-profit business, clinic, or private employer - May 7
The UUCPA Budget Town Hall Meeting was held on April 13 (see below). The presentation from the meeting can be found here.
Ever wonder how your financial contributions add up and fuel our mission as you have 2nd Sunday lunch? Come to the Main Hall for the FY25-26 Budget Town Hall meeting this Sunday, April 13, from ...
About ten of UUCPA’s members and friends were part of the crowd on April 15, 2025, at a protest demanding that the Trump administration obey the Supreme Court by returning Kilmar Ábrego García home. Through what ICE calls an “administrative error,” Ábrego García was sent to El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center last month.
The protest ...
The Forum meets from 8:30 to 10 am on Sunday mornings. Here are the Forum topics for April 2025:
4/6 U.S.-China Relations – Dick Duda (Great Decisions)
4/13 Hydrogen: Fuel of the Future? – Richard Heydt
4/20 The value of kindness – Susan Owicki
4/27 Discussion of Matters of Current Local, National, & International Interest, & Selection of Forum ...
Over the past six weeks, we were honored to host the Heart and Home program at UUCPA, providing meals and shelter for 15 women. Heartfelt thanks to everyone who contributed meals and supported the effort. Special appreciation to our congregation, staff, and main hall renters for being flexible with room assignments so H&H could stay ...
Help Canopy plant 15 trees in south Palo Alto’s Ramos park neighborhood on April 12, 9 am to 1 pm. Register here by April 1 (indicate you are coming from UUCPA on the reg form). Join folks from the UU Fellowship of Sunnyvale and the UU Church of Palo Alto. Our collaborative Climate Justice Revival ...
For this week’s update on our annual 25-26 pledge drive, we continue to move toward our budget goal of $540k that will support all the expenses for the staff and programs. To date 109 members (a fair amount of new members) have pledged $417k, which leaves us $123k short. For context, last year’s pledge drive ...
The Nominating Committee is pleased to present this year’s candidates for election to the Board of Trustees, to the Nominating Committee itself, and for delegates to the General Assembly. The congregation will vote on these nominations at the Annual Meeting on Sunday April 27.
For the Board of Trustees (May 2025 through April 2028 except as ...
Last year, Rev. Cat brought a group of teens to SF Pride, and when Rev. Amy met up with them afterwards they noted: there was only one faith- or spirituality-based organization in the whole parade, and it wasn’t Unitarian Universalist. They resolved to put the call out to Bay Area UU congregations and represent in ...
Dear UUCPA folks,
Thank you so much to all who have made their pledges for the coming year! We have received 97 pledges so far, and are waiting to hear from at least 50 more individuals or families. Many of those commitments are from people who didn’t pledge last year, which is exciting. If you have ...
Based on a previous congregational endorsement of public financing of election campaigns, on behalf of California Clean Money Campaign I (Nancy Neff) am asking the Board to approve the following at the March 26 Board meeting:
UUCPA endorses Senate Bill 42 (SB 42), the California Fair Elections Act of 2026, a state bill which will place ...
Our children and youth will be participating in a spring project, an immersive Judean Village experience starting in April and we’re still looking for shopkeepers/assistants to help bring our Roman era village to life. It takes a village to raise a child and this is your opportunity to be the whole village. Only one Sunday ...
If you have included UUCPA in your will, or if you are thinking about it and would like to learn more, please join us for a thank-you brunch in your honor.
Let us know via the 2025-2026 online pledge form, or online Legacy Society form or fill out the legacy card in your pledge packet and ...
This is a reminder that the nomination period for FY25-26 Justice Partners is open. Nominations will be accepted until end of day Wednesday, March 19. Please submit your nominations to actioncouncil@uucpa.org. The original request for nominations with more details can be found on our website here.
Thank you,
The Action Council
On January 22nd, Rev. Amy announced her plan to resign from her position as UUCPA Parish Minister in June. (Read her full announcement here.) While saddened by her decision to leave, the board acknowledges with deep gratitude Amy’s more than 22 years of service and will be working with her to plan a celebration worthy ...
Interfaith Iftar dinner, March 9
On November 24, 2024, we held a UUCPA congregational meeting where members overwhelmingly approved completing the Campus Vision project with a total budget of $2,855,000.
At that time, we were planning to submit our plans to the City of Palo Alto Building Department for permit approval on December 1. Unfortunately, the architectural pre-review took longer ...
Last year UUCPA agreed to co-sponsor St. Mark’s Episcopal Church’s speaker series on White Christian Nationalism and its threats to our communities. The final event in this series is coming up! It will be held on Wednesday, February 26, 2025, at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church at 7 PM. The speaker is Stanford Professor Kathryn ...
The Forum meets from 8:30 to 10 am on Sunday mornings. Here are the Forum topics for March 2025:
3/2 Great Decisions: U.S. Changing Leadership of the World Economy – David Puryear
3/9 Surviving political turmoil – Dick Duda (facilitator)
3/16 A short poem you wrote yourself or that you love – Sarah Doxiadis and Trisha Suppes
3/23 ...
