Calendar – Detail
There is a lot going on at UUCPA. Here is a brief listing of upcoming events. For a more comprehensive list, please visit the calendar.
Upcoming Events for Children & Youth
Upcoming Adult Classes
Upcoming Music
Upcoming Newcomer/Visitor Events
Upcoming Group Meetings
Upcoming Justice Projects/Events
Upcoming Special Events
Upcoming Holiday Events
Upcoming Non-UUCPA Events
Upcoming Events for Children & Youth
Sunday School for children and youth preK through grade 8
05/10/2026, 10:30 am - 11:30 am UUCPA (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Because we believe in learning by doing, a very important part of our religious education is participation, with all ages, in the first part of regular worship services. Then during Sunday school, young people learn and play with people their age. Feel free to ask Sunday school teachers what they did this week. If you would like to review curriculum materials that are not online, please contact Rev. Cat Boyle.
Children and Youth Religious Education Committee meeting
05/14/2026, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Oversees and evaluates all children and youth programs; plans and carries out special events; organizes Baby Cafe; supports social justice projects that welcome children and youth; more generally, helps the wider congregation better meet the needs of families, children, and youth. Contact: cyrecommittee@uucpa.org. Chair: Edie Keating. Board Liaison: Rev. Cat Boyle
All Ages Game Night
05/16/2026, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm Room 4/5 (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Bring your favorite board game and snacks and learn a new one with your family and friends. Everyone welcome!
Questions? Contact Rev. Cat.
Check out more family fun activities here.
Sunday School for children and youth preK through grade 8
05/17/2026, 10:30 am - 11:30 am UUCPA (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Because we believe in learning by doing, a very important part of our religious education is participation, with all ages, in the first part of regular worship services. Then during Sunday school, young people learn and play with people their age. Feel free to ask Sunday school teachers what they did this week. If you would like to review curriculum materials that are not online, please contact Rev. Cat Boyle.
Parents Night Out!
05/23/2026, 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm Room 4/5 (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Parents deserve a break! Let UUCPA take care of dinner and childcare while you go out on the town every fourth Saturday (holidays excluded), usually 5:00-8:00 pm. Age range to participate: 5 and up. Please RSVP so we can get an accurate headcount. (Can’t access the sign up? Email Rev. Cat and she’ll help you sign up and get on the mailing list.)
Do you have a high schooler who would like to be part of our childcare team for this event for community service hours and some change? Email Rev. Cat.
Sunday School for children and youth preK through grade 8
05/24/2026, 10:30 am - 11:30 am UUCPA (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Because we believe in learning by doing, a very important part of our religious education is participation, with all ages, in the first part of regular worship services. Then during Sunday school, young people learn and play with people their age. Feel free to ask Sunday school teachers what they did this week. If you would like to review curriculum materials that are not online, please contact Rev. Cat Boyle.
Sunday School for children and youth preK through grade 8
05/31/2026, 10:30 am - 11:30 am UUCPA (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Because we believe in learning by doing, a very important part of our religious education is participation, with all ages, in the first part of regular worship services. Then during Sunday school, young people learn and play with people their age. Feel free to ask Sunday school teachers what they did this week. If you would like to review curriculum materials that are not online, please contact Rev. Cat Boyle.
Sunday School for children and youth preK through grade 8
06/07/2026, 10:30 am - 11:30 am UUCPA (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Because we believe in learning by doing, a very important part of our religious education is participation, with all ages, in the first part of regular worship services. Then during Sunday school, young people learn and play with people their age. Feel free to ask Sunday school teachers what they did this week. If you would like to review curriculum materials that are not online, please contact Rev. Cat Boyle.
Children and Youth Religious Education Committee meeting
06/11/2026, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Oversees and evaluates all children and youth programs; plans and carries out special events; organizes Baby Cafe; supports social justice projects that welcome children and youth; more generally, helps the wider congregation better meet the needs of families, children, and youth. Contact: cyrecommittee@uucpa.org. Chair: Edie Keating. Board Liaison: Rev. Cat Boyle
Sunday School for children and youth preK through grade 8
06/14/2026, 10:30 am - 11:30 am UUCPA (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Because we believe in learning by doing, a very important part of our religious education is participation, with all ages, in the first part of regular worship services. Then during Sunday school, young people learn and play with people their age. Feel free to ask Sunday school teachers what they did this week. If you would like to review curriculum materials that are not online, please contact Rev. Cat Boyle.
Upcoming Adult Classes
ALJ Class – Buddhi-Tarianism? A Friendly Meeting with a UU (Buddhist) Monk
05/24/2026, 11:45 am - 1:30 pm Fireside Room (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Buddhi-Tarianism? A Friendly Meeting with a UU (Buddhist) Monk
- Date:May 24, 2026
- Time: 11:45-1:30
- Location: Fireside Room In person only (ZOOM not available for this class)
- Presenter: Ajahn Kovilo Bhikkhu
- Light snacks will be available after the service.
- Child care will be provided.
Description
Meditation, Conversation, and Q&A with Ajahn Kovilo of Clear Mountain Monastery Seattle, Washington
Join Ajahn Kovilo Bhikkhu, a Unitarian-born American Buddhist monk, for conversation, several short guided meditations, and Q&A centering around Buddhism as seen through Unitarian eyes. Topics for discussion may include:
- The Four Noble Truths (an exploration of the foundation of Buddhism)
- The similarities and differences between Unitarianism and Buddhism
- The beauty of cognitive flexibility around how and when to pick up your ego
- The utility and practice of deep meditation
- The aspects of faith and transcendence in Buddhism
- Being Buddhist in America
- The beauty of Buddhist ceremony
Presenter Bio
Ajahn Kovilo is a Unitarian-born, Theravāda Buddhist monk. Having been introduced to meditation through the Goenka Vipassana tradition in the early 2000s, Ajahn entered the monastery in 2006 and received full ordination at Abhayagiri Monastery, California in 2010, spending the next decade training at monasteries in the Ajahn Chah tradition in America and Thailand.
Ajahn is now helping to found Clear Mountain Monastery in Seattle/North Bend, Washington – a vibrant community with beautiful in-person and online gatherings and now land! For more information, visit www.clearmountainmonastery.org and check out their YouTube interviews with many Buddhist luminaries such as Tara Brach, Jack Kornfield, the Walk for Peace monks, and others.
Upcoming Music
Sacred Harp Shape Note Singing
05/10/2026, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm Fireside Room (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Join the democratic and inclusive American song tradition of Sacred Harp music, one of the oldest ongoing music traditions in the United States. Rolling Stone magazine talks about “the soaring magnificence of Sacred Harp.” National Public Radio calls it “full-body singing,” and radio station KALW says it’s a “communal experience.” Come find out for yourself. Beginners are always welcome, and loaner books are available.
Dates: 2nd & 4th Sunday every month
Time: 2-4 pm
Location: The Fireside Room
Facilitator: Palo Alto Sacred Harp singers
Contact: sacredharp@uucpa.org
Registration: Not required
Choir Practice
05/14/2026, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Main Hall (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Singers wanted! We can use singers on all parts. Don’t be shy – give us a try!
The UUCPA choir welcomes singers of all vocal backgrounds. We are looking for people:
- Who love to sing with others and be inspired by the act of making live music
- Who want to learn and perform a variety of musical styles, in many different languages
- Who can join us in weekly rehearsals and Sunday morning worship
You don’t have to sight-read, but you should be able to understand a music score and to learn a part quickly after hearing it. Bruce makes pronunciation recordings to help us learn the text in languages other than English.
Date: Rehearsals – Thursday, 7-9 pm, and Sunday, 9:45 am; Performances – Sunday, 10:15 am, September to mid-Jun
Location: Main Hall
Facilitator: Bruce Olstad, Music Director (music-director@uucpa.org)
Contact: music@uucpa.org
By Your Side Singers
05/20/2026, 7:30 pm - 8:45 pm Hamaker Library (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
You are welcome to sing with the By Your Side Singers, the 1st Wed of the month June – Aug, the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays during the rest of the year.
Choir Practice
05/21/2026, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Main Hall (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Singers wanted! We can use singers on all parts. Don’t be shy – give us a try!
The UUCPA choir welcomes singers of all vocal backgrounds. We are looking for people:
- Who love to sing with others and be inspired by the act of making live music
- Who want to learn and perform a variety of musical styles, in many different languages
- Who can join us in weekly rehearsals and Sunday morning worship
You don’t have to sight-read, but you should be able to understand a music score and to learn a part quickly after hearing it. Bruce makes pronunciation recordings to help us learn the text in languages other than English.
Date: Rehearsals – Thursday, 7-9 pm, and Sunday, 9:45 am; Performances – Sunday, 10:15 am, September to mid-Jun
Location: Main Hall
Facilitator: Bruce Olstad, Music Director (music-director@uucpa.org)
Contact: music@uucpa.org
Sacred Harp Shape Note Singing
05/24/2026, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm Fireside Room (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Join the democratic and inclusive American song tradition of Sacred Harp music, one of the oldest ongoing music traditions in the United States. Rolling Stone magazine talks about “the soaring magnificence of Sacred Harp.” National Public Radio calls it “full-body singing,” and radio station KALW says it’s a “communal experience.” Come find out for yourself. Beginners are always welcome, and loaner books are available.
Dates: 2nd & 4th Sunday every month
Time: 2-4 pm
Location: Fireside Room
Facilitator: Palo Alto Sacred Harp singers
Contact: sacredharp@uucpa.org
Registration: Not required
Upcoming Newcomer/Visitor Events
Upcoming Group Meetings/Gatherings
Resonant Reading (Wednesday)-All Threaded Together-from Train Dreams
05/13/2026, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Facilitators use a light hand, posting the reading in the chat and calling on whoever’s Zoom hand is up. Suggestions for readings* come from group members, who also take turns facilitating, if they want to try that role.
The reading for this session: Wednesday, May 13
In the forest, every least thing is important.
It’s all threaded together, so you can’t tell where one thing ends and another begins, if you really look at it.
The little insects you can’t even see, they play a role as vital as the river.
The dead tree is just as important as the living one.
There must me something for us to learn from that.
The world needs a hermit in the woods as much as a preacher in the pulpit.
[The hermit] just waiting to see what [they’ve] been left here for.
When Robert Grainier died in his sleep sometime in November 1968, his life ended as quietly as it had begun.
He’d never purchased a firearm or spoken into a telephone.
He had no idea who his parents might have been, and he left no heirs behind him.
But on that spring day [being flown in a biplane}, as he misplaced all sense of up and down, he felt, at last, connected to it all.
—From the film Train Dreams, 2025, Clint Bentley / Greg Kwedar/ Denis Johnson
How to join:
- Join this class from your Web browser: https://zoom.us/j/96865808923, passcode 227385
- Join this class using the Zoom app: Meeting ID: 968 6580 8923
- Join this class by phone: 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) Meeting ID: 968 6580 8923
- Join this class by one-tap on mobile phones: 6699006833,,96865808923# (San Jose)
- Phoning in, but not in the Bay Area? Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/abL8clvIYT
This is the Zoom link for Wednesdays. For the Zoom link for Saturday, go to Calendar and click on a Saturday session.
Questions? Drop an e-mail to resonant-reading+owner@uucpa.org.
*This activity was formerly called “Sacred Text Reading.” That proved misleading–for one thing, more often than not our sources are secular–but it’s worth describing the qualities of a sacred text, which we still look for in the readings we choose. It is any reading that helps us to:
- connect to something of supreme importance to us
- feel more connected to other beings or to the universe
- feel more intensely alive
- align our lives with our values,
- perceive or feel more deeply
- be more fully and authentically ourselves.
Saturday Meditation
05/16/2026, 9:00 am - 10:30 am (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
The Saturday morning meditation group welcomes all to join us on Zoom for meditation and conversation. Meditation time begins promptly at 9:10 and lasts for 40 minutes, including several short readings. Next, we share tea and conversation, talking about what is important to us in the moment – perhaps our response to the readings or something that is going on in our lives.
- Dates: Every Saturday
- Time: 9:00 – 10:30 am
- Location: Online
- Facilitator: Leadership is shared and rotates weekly
- Contact: The Zoom link is available from Susan Owicki – email susanowicki@uucpa.org by 9:00 pm on Friday.
Come Meditate with Us!
Resonant Reading (Saturday)-Materialism and Subjectivity-Karr
05/16/2026, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Facilitators use a light hand, posting the reading in the chat and calling on whoever’s Zoom hand is up. Suggestions for readings* come from group members, who also take turns facilitating, if they want to try that role.
The reading for this session: Saturday May 16
How to join:
- Join this class from your Web browser: https://zoom.us/j/91019857324, passcode 227385
- Join this class using the Zoom app: Meeting ID: 910 1985 7324
- Join this class by phone: 669 900 9128 US (San Jose), Meeting ID: 910 1985 7324
- Join this class by on-tap on mobile phones: +16699009128,,91019857324# US (San Jose)
- Phoning in, but not in the bay area? Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/abL8clvIYT
This is the Zoom link for Saturdays. For the Wednesday Zoom link, go to the Calendar and click on a Wednesday session.
Questions? Drop an e-mail to resonant-reading+owner@uucpa.org.
*This activity was formerly called “Sacred Text Reading.” That proved misleading–for one thing, more often than not our sources are secular–but it’s worth describing the qualities of a sacred text, which we still look for in the readings we choose. It is any reading that helps us to:
- connect to something of supreme importance to us
- feel more connected to other beings or to the universe
- feel more intensely alive
- align our lives with our values,
- perceive or feel more deeply
- be more fully and authentically ourselves.
Seasoned Souls – Group for Older Adults
05/17/2026, 11:45 am - 1:00 pm Room 10 (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Some things take time to age, like fine wine and wonderful cheese. If you are a “seasoned soul” and want to find camaraderie and support and discuss the challenges, opportunities, and transformations we encounter as we age, please join us!
We are a group of seasoned souls 60+ years young who meet the third Sunday of each month, from 11:45 a.m.–1:00 p.m., following the church service. Room 10. The group will be facilitated by Jan Rosin and Kathy Puryear.
Questions? Email seasonedsouls@uucpa.org
Spiritual Adventures in Parenting
05/17/2026, 11:45 am - 12:45 pm Fireside Room (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
If you are a parent to a child between the ages of birth through high school, we invite you to join UUCPA’s monthly parent group, Spiritual Adventures In Parenting!
We meet on the third Sunday of each month, from 11:45 a.m.–12:45 p.m., following the church service. Childcare is provided, and families can choose to have lunch together afterward if they wish.
Together, we:
- Explore the spiritual dimensions and meaning of our parenting and
- Cultivate deep connections with one another.
The group is facilitated by fellow UUCPA parent Matt Rosin.
To find out more, email spiritualparenting@uucpa.org.
Parent Groups page:
Resonant Reading (Wednesday)
05/20/2026, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Facilitators use a light hand, posting the reading in the chat and calling on whoever’s Zoom hand is up. Suggestions for readings* come from group members, who also take turns facilitating, if they want to try that role.
The reading for this session:
How to join:
- Join this class from your Web browser: https://zoom.us/j/96865808923, passcode 227385
- Join this class using the Zoom app: Meeting ID: 968 6580 8923
- Join this class by phone: 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) Meeting ID: 968 6580 8923
- Join this class by one-tap on mobile phones: 6699006833,,96865808923# (San Jose)
- Phoning in, but not in the Bay Area? Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/abL8clvIYT
This is the Zoom link for Wednesdays. For the Zoom link for Saturday, go to Calendar and click on a Saturday session.
Questions? Drop an e-mail to resonant-reading+owner@uucpa.org.
*This activity was formerly called “Sacred Text Reading.” That proved misleading–for one thing, more often than not our sources are secular–but it’s worth describing the qualities of a sacred text, which we still look for in the readings we choose. It is any reading that helps us to:
- connect to something of supreme importance to us
- feel more connected to other beings or to the universe
- feel more intensely alive
- align our lives with our values,
- perceive or feel more deeply
- be more fully and authentically ourselves.
Sci-Fi / Fantasy Discussion Group
Jules (2023 movie)
05/20/2026, 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
On May 20, 2026, 7-8:00, we’ll discuss the 2023 movie “Jules”
From Rotten Tomatoes:
Jules follows Milton (Ben Kingsley) who lives a quiet life of routine in a small western Pennsylvania town, but finds his day upended when a UFO and its extra-terrestrial passenger crash land in his backyard. Before long, Milton develops a close relationship with the extra-terrestrial he calls “Jules.” Things become complicated when two neighbors (Harriet Sansom Harris and Jane Curtin) discover Jules and the government quickly closes in. What follows is a funny, wildly inventive ride as the three neighbors find meaning and connection later in life — thanks to this unlikely stranger.
available in libraries, Kanopy, Apple TV, and Amazon.
2023 movie “Jules”At the end of the meeting, we will choose a movie for our July 20 meeting.
The Sci-Fi and Fantasy Discussion Group was meeting via Zoom before it was cool! Lovers of science fiction and fantasy, at UUCPA and beyond, have been getting together online to talk about books, movies, and television episodes chosen by the group, every other month since early 2019. Past books include The Broken Earth Trilogy (N. K. Jemisin), The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (Robert Heinlein), Parable of the Sower (Octavia Butler), The Left Hand of Darkness (Ursula K. Le Guin), Red Moon (Kim Stanley Robinson); past television and movies include Arrival, Blink (Doctor Who), Serenity and The Train Job (Firefly), and The Day the Earth Stood Still.
The meeting method: via Zoom, 7-8:30 p.m.
- Dates: Third Wednesdays, except for December and summer
- Time: 7-8:30 pm
- Location: Online
- Facilitator: Bill Hackenberger (scifi+owner@uucpa.org)
- Registration: Not required
Join the meeting via Zoom: Link
- Meeting ID: 924 4906 7832
- Passcode: 825590
Dial by your location •
- +1 669 444 9171 US
- +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
Find other upcoming dates on the web page.
Saturday Meditation
05/23/2026, 9:00 am - 10:30 am (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
The Saturday morning meditation group welcomes all to join us on Zoom for meditation and conversation. Meditation time begins promptly at 9:10 and lasts for 40 minutes, including several short readings. Next, we share tea and conversation, talking about what is important to us in the moment – perhaps our response to the readings or something that is going on in our lives.
- Dates: Every Saturday
- Time: 9:00 – 10:30 am
- Location: Online
- Facilitator: Leadership is shared and rotates weekly
- Contact: The Zoom link is available from Susan Owicki – email susanowicki@uucpa.org by 9:00 pm on Friday.
Come Meditate with Us!
Resonant Reading (Saturday)
05/23/2026, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Facilitators use a light hand, posting the reading in the chat and calling on whoever’s Zoom hand is up. Suggestions for readings* come from group members, who also take turns facilitating, if they want to try that role.
The reading for this session:
How to join:
- Join this class from your Web browser: https://zoom.us/j/91019857324, passcode 227385
- Join this class using the Zoom app: Meeting ID: 910 1985 7324
- Join this class by phone: 669 900 9128 US (San Jose), Meeting ID: 910 1985 7324
- Join this class by on-tap on mobile phones: +16699009128,,91019857324# US (San Jose)
- Phoning in, but not in the bay area? Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/abL8clvIYT
This is the Zoom link for Saturdays. For the Wednesday Zoom link, go to the Calendar and click on a Wednesday session.
Questions? Drop an e-mail to resonant-reading+owner@uucpa.org.
*This activity was formerly called “Sacred Text Reading.” That proved misleading–for one thing, more often than not our sources are secular–but it’s worth describing the qualities of a sacred text, which we still look for in the readings we choose. It is any reading that helps us to:
- connect to something of supreme importance to us
- feel more connected to other beings or to the universe
- feel more intensely alive
- align our lives with our values,
- perceive or feel more deeply
- be more fully and authentically ourselves.
Resonant Reading (Wednesday)
05/27/2026, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Facilitators use a light hand, posting the reading in the chat and calling on whoever’s Zoom hand is up. Suggestions for readings* come from group members, who also take turns facilitating, if they want to try that role.
The reading for this session:
How to join:
- Join this class from your Web browser: https://zoom.us/j/96865808923, passcode 227385
- Join this class using the Zoom app: Meeting ID: 968 6580 8923
- Join this class by phone: 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) Meeting ID: 968 6580 8923
- Join this class by one-tap on mobile phones: 6699006833,,96865808923# (San Jose)
- Phoning in, but not in the Bay Area? Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/abL8clvIYT
This is the Zoom link for Wednesdays. For the Zoom link for Saturday, go to Calendar and click on a Saturday session.
Questions? Drop an e-mail to resonant-reading+owner@uucpa.org.
*This activity was formerly called “Sacred Text Reading.” That proved misleading–for one thing, more often than not our sources are secular–but it’s worth describing the qualities of a sacred text, which we still look for in the readings we choose. It is any reading that helps us to:
- connect to something of supreme importance to us
- feel more connected to other beings or to the universe
- feel more intensely alive
- align our lives with our values,
- perceive or feel more deeply
- be more fully and authentically ourselves.