We value our professionals but there would be no church without volunteers. Everyone has something to offer, some experience or expertise, whether for a class, a short-term task, or a longer commitment, from making sandwiches to making investments. This week, we are highlighting a few open volunteer positions and activities. Please reach out ...
If you weren’t able to attend the Campus Future Vision Workshop on June 12, you still have a chance to give your input! Please fill out this survey (link below) by midnight on June 25, 2022. Thank you for sharing your vision!
https://forms.gle/sEEB5ikPGBDLkxJY9
We can’t wait to hear from you,
The Campus Vision Task Force
The Forum meets from 9:00 to 10:15 Sunday mornings. Here are the Forum topics for July 2022:
7/3 The Current State of Climate Change – Fred Zeise
7/10 Technologies for accessibility – Fred Zeise & Cecil Bridges
7/17 Gun Control? Bob Greene
7/24 Technologies for Removing CO2 – Robert Ruether
7/31 Discussion of Matters of Current Local, National, and International Interest, ...
Beginning on Sunday, June 19 and running through Sunday, July 31, we will have one service at 10:30 a.m. The speakers at the pulpit will be situated to be simultaneously visible for those inside the Main Hall and on the patio, and of course, online.
Our service lineup includes John Wright on teaching our children ...
The UUA’s national UU the Vote campaign for 2022 is now underway and we at UUCPA are planning to join in once again. Many of you are already writing postcards or otherwise participating in the Reclaim Our Vote (ROV) get-out-the-vote efforts by getting postcards from Linda Henigin or doing texting or phone banking in response ...
Every Saturday at 4 pm, and every Wednesday at 12 noon, something special happens in this Zoom room. A small group of people contemplates a short passage together. Some of the texts are from traditional scriptures such as the Bible or the Dhammapada, others from explicitly spiritual authors such as Simone Weil or Ralph Waldo ...
Dear UUCPA folks,
It was such a pleasure last week to see Cat on our campus and how warmly she was greeted. In keeping with the theme of tomorrow’s service, joy and sorrow are intermixed. I’m excited to get to know this new colleague better and to help her develop what I know will soon be ...
What’s the best way to envision our world? Input from ALL parties! Only when we understand the experience of everyone can we create a world where everyone feels at home.
That’s why YOU are invited to our Campus Future Vision workshop, Sunday, June 12, 2022, from 1-5 pm. Please RSVP here! Join us in the Main ...
Meet Your Leaders!
Did you know that our community is led by an all-volunteer Board of Trustees that meets monthly? Anyone is welcome to attend our meetings and learn how UUCPA is governed. In an effort to make the Board more accessible to the entire community, we will feature one Board member each month in our ...
My time at UUCPA is winding down. My last Sunday will be June 5, when I’ll be teaching Sunday school with my successor, Rev. Cat Boyle. The week of June 6, I’ll be helping get ready for Ecojustice Camp, then I’ll be one of the counselors at Ecojustice Camp from June 13-17. Right after camp ...
Campus work day, June 4 9-noon
Updates from our COVID Safety Team: 1) Gatherings that involve food are fun and build community. If your group wants to serve food at an upcoming gathering, make sure you do the following: a) eat outdoors; b) encourage those eating to maintain a 4′ distance from those outside their household; c) wear a mask when ...
It is with pleasure that I introduce our new Board of Trustees for this fiscal year (May 1, 2022- April 30, 2023).
Brooke Bishara- President
Kevin Crane- VP of Finance
Buzz Frahn- VP of Facilities/ Co-President
Kevin Ma- SecretaryKay Brown- Treasurer
Lisa Helmonds- Membership Portfolio
Barbara Smith-Thomas- Staff Relations Portfolio
Joanna Ragsdale- CYRE Portfolio
Maria Almli- Denominational Concerns Portfolio
Heather Chen- Communications Portfolio
Paula Hillard- ...
Brown Bag Books meets Tues, June 7
This past month the Action Council has made the following two endorsements:
Speak-Pray-Act to End Gun Violence event: June 5, 3:00-4:15 p.m., Lytton Plaza, Palo Alto
This event is being hosted by Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice with co-sponsorship from several groups, including the UUCPA Action Council. It is being held in conjunction with this weekend’s ...
LifeMoves, with Brian Weller as UUCPA liaison, has the goal of” Breaking the Cycle of Homelessness “ in Silicon Valley. LifeMoves opened in Mountain View in May 2021, and is on track to open four new program sites by summer 2023. These sites (San Jose, Redwood City, San Mateo, plus safe RV parking in San ...
Dear UUCPA folks,
June is usually a time of winding-down, when the church goes into its quieter season of summer. We’re a year-round church, no question, but in summer, a lot of activities take a month or two off, the ministers take a chunk of their study leave and vacation, attendance dips as folks are traveling ...
The Action Council and the Board of Trustees have both approved a request for UUCPA to endorse the Move to Amend efforts and House Joint Resolution 48 (HJR48). HJR48 proposes an amendment to the U.S. Constitution which unequivocally states that inalienable rights belong to human beings only (not corporations), and that money is not a ...
Since 1978, when it was designed by San Franciscan Gilbert Baker, the rainbow flag has symbolized the beauty and pride of what was then mostly recognized as the gay and lesbian community. Over the years, the community’s self-definition has expanded to include people of all sexual orientations, sexes, gender identities, and gender expressions. By hanging ...
Are you thinking about when to say goodbye to Dan? Your best opportunities are this Sunday and next, 5/15 and 5/22.
On both Sundays there will be a “Goodbye, Dan” table on the patio at church with a variety of materials to make a card or write a goodbye note. If you prefer to write your note ...
We are so pleased to announce that UUCPA has found our next Assistant Minister of Religious Education, Reverend Catherine Boyle. She comes to us having served as Director of Family Ministry at the UU Church in Berkeley, as well as the Director of Religious Education at the UU Church in Silver Spring, Maryland. She was ...
About a dozen UUCPA folks each year are Worship Associates, helping to plan and lead the service and giving a reflection. That program is re-starting after going fairly quiet during COVID.
And now, there are two new ways to help create the Sunday morning experience for our community.
Worship Arts is for you if you would like ...
Adjusting, and re-adjusting, and re-adjusting again to the many changes wrought by the pandemic has taken so much of my time that I have put our wonderful Worship Associates program on the back burner for two years. But it is time to heat it up again. The reflections written and delivered by Worship Associates enrich ...
Are you perplexed about what you can do about the war in Ukraine? Here are some possible actions**:
1. Write the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington D.C. and/or the Ukrainian Consulate in San Francisco expressing support for the refugees.
2. Write our senators and representatives urging negotiations to end the war.
If you will be at church on Sunday, May 15, there ...
Special session of Dismantling White Supremacy, May 24, 7:15 to 8:45
You’ve got a committee or group that means a lot to you, but it seems like the same few people keep coming to it, and you want to bring in a whole lot more. What do you do? There are some concrete actions you can take that will make a big difference. Even better, you ...
Hello UUCPA Volunteers, the UUCPA Buildings and Grounds team runs a workday monthly on the first Saturday, 9-12. We meet this Saturday, May 7, 9-12. This month’s list includes:
THE BIG TASK: TAKING DOWN THE FENCES – we are going to remove most of the fencing around the front gardens
Gardening
Painting: Refresh white paint on ...
This Sunday, we bring hundreds of flowers together, via camera or in person, in our annual celebration of the beauty within and all around us that makes life sacred. For many Unitarian Universalists, this is their favorite service of the year. Details are here.
See you there!
Amy & Dan
Photo by Behzad Soleimanian on Unsplash
Peninsula journalist and author Michelle Carter, who has been traveling and living in — and writing about — the former Soviet Union for the past 30 years, will talk about Vladimir Putin’s obsession with a perceived threat from the west, its historic foundation and what triggered his savage assault on Ukraine. She’ll also talk about ...
I hope you can join me for Discovering UUCPA this Sunday!
The topic of this session is How Things Work / Volunteering and Membership. It’s the perfect session to attend if: you feel like UUCPA is or might become your spiritual community, but you still don’t know many people . . . you’re wondering how activities get started ...
The Justice Partner for May, as chosen by the congregation at the annual meeting, is American Muslim Voice (AMV). AMV is a local grassroots, nonviolent, inclusive, civil, immigrant and human rights organization. AMV hosts open houses, peace picnics and peace conventions annually to unite neighbors and strangers alike, including the popular EID celebrations. They also provide the Muslim perspective ...
The Forum meets from 9:00 to 10:15 Sunday mornings. Here are the Forum topics for June:
6/5 Why We Sleep – Jai Cho
6/12 Pet Peeves and Pearly Moments – General Discussion
6/19 The Education Worth Having – Rob Ruether
6/26 Discussion of Matters of Current Local, National, and International Interest, and Selection of Forum Discussion Topics for August
The ...
You’ve probably heard by now that I’ve accepted a position as the minister at the UU church in Cohasset, Massachusetts. I’ve had a great 13 years at UUCPA, but I decided it was time to look for new professional challenges, and to move closer to family. Of course I’m sad to leave UUCPA. I’ve greatly ...
Ecojustice Camp, a week-long ecology day camp sponsored by UUCPA, will run from June 13-17 in 2022. For children and teens just completing gr. 2-8, it’s a full-day camp from 9-3, with a long day on Wednesday for a field trip, and an overnight on Thursday evening.
We had closed off registration due to a staffing ...
Children should please continue to wear masks in classroom areas. When children are seated and socially distanced, masks may come off at the teacher’s discretion. When playing active games, or playing on the playground, masks must be worn. Ask for a mask if you forgot yours!
CYRE Committee strongly encourages children and adults must to wear a mask when getting ...
We’ll have Maypole dancing this Sunday, May 1, after the first service. If you would like to join the Maypole dance, it will take place in the front garden.
Waffles are back – expect them every fourth Sunday.
And – our day to say a fond farewell to Dan happens to be a fourth Sunday – so please join us May 22 at 10:30 on the patio for – you guessed it – waffles! – and a chance to say thank you and best wishes to ...
There will be no Sunday school on Sunday, May 29, Memorial Day weekend. Child care will be available.
Dear UUCPA folks,
This week has brought so many reminders of how delicately we balance as we create community.
Since COVID began, we have sought to balance safety and connection. And to make things more nuanced still, safety means not only protection from the virus, but sufficient connection to stave off isolation and its accompanying mental health ...
We have updated the requirements for masking while on UUCPA campus.
1.) Masks continue to be required for all indoor activities.
2.) Masks are strongly recommended while outdoors on campus.
We recognize that UUCPA may be more COVID-cautious than other congregations. We base these guidelines on current science with the intention of protecting those most vulnerable in our ...
The next meeting of Brown Bag Books is at noon on Tuesday, May 3, via Zoom. We’ll discuss The Music Shop, a novel by Rachel Joyce. It is both charming and profound, and is well worth reading. Please join us if you can.
Hannah Beckerman of The Guardian writes, “Since her bestselling debut in 2012, The Unlikely Pilgrimage ...
Wisdom from the Welcome Table, May 4
As a California Clean Money Campaign volunteer, long-time UUCPA member Nancy Neff is working with the League of Women Voters (LWV) of Palo Alto on proposed campaign finance reforms for Palo Alto City Council races. LWV volunteers have talked with Council members but there has been no action yet. One Council member recently made a ...
The Annual Meeting is Sunday – April 24
The Campus Vision Task Force has chosen an architect for the visioning phase of the project. Come to the annual meeting on Sunday, April 24, 2022 at 1pm to hear all about it and vote to approve the funds for the architect.
See you there,
Campus Vision TF: Sally Ahnger, Jeff Cashdollar, Thida Cornes, Bill ...
We hope you will attend Sunday’s Annual Meeting, April 24, 2022 at 1 pm. If you cannot attend, you can have someone be your proxy to vote for you or you can send in your absentee ballot. The proxy form and absentee ballot can be found at www.uucpa.org/about-us/our-governance/voting-proxy-absentee-ballot-uucpa-congregational-meetings/
In either case, please send one of the following forms ...
At our April 26 session of White Folks Dismantling White Supremacy, we will be hearing about and discussing what it means to share power with people from disadvantaged communities and what it would mean to adopt an “Ethic of Risk” in this context. We will view two brief videos with a discussion following each one. Please come ...
Following is the final weekly summary of the canvass status for this year. It includes all pledges received by noon on 4/20/2022.
Thank you for making this a successful pledge drive! Note that it isn’t too late to submit your pledge for the 2022-23 fiscal year. For more information, go to www.uucpa.org/pledge.
Pledge totals as of noon Apr 20
Number ...
The UUCPA 2020-2021 Annual Report is now available for your reading pleasure on the website: uucpa.org/about-us/our-governance/#annual.
