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
11/15/2026, 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.
All Ages Game Night
11/21/2026, 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm Fireside Room (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!
Game Nights happen every third Saturday August 2026 through May 2027 except for December, Fireside Room 6-9 pm
Questions? Contact gamenight@uucpa.org
Sunday School for children and youth preK through grade 8
11/22/2026, 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!
11/28/2026, 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm Room 4/5 (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Parents’ Night Out
every fourth Saturday August 2026 until May 2027 except for November and December, Room 4-5 5-8 pm
Sunday School for children and youth preK through grade 8
11/29/2026, 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
12/06/2026, 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
12/13/2026, 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.
All Ages Game Night
12/19/2026, 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm Fireside Room (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!
Game Nights happen every third Saturday August 2026 through May 2027 except for December, Fireside Room 6-9 pm
Questions? Contact gamenight@uucpa.org
Sunday School for children and youth preK through grade 8
12/20/2026, 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!
12/26/2026, 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm Room 4/5 (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Parents’ Night Out
every fourth Saturday August 2026 until May 2027 except for November and December, Room 4-5 5-8 pm
Upcoming Adult Classes
Starting Point: A Group for Newcomers
11/15/2026, 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Are you new or newish to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto? Want to deepen your connection with the congregation but aren’t sure how? Or want to gain clarity about what it means to be a UU? If so, Starting Point is for you.
We will meet on four Sundays (Sep 27, Oct 11, Oct 25, Nov 8, Nov 15), after the church service from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. in Room tbd. There’ll be time to share about ourselves, get to know each other, and learn through fun and thought-provoking interactive activities.
Snacks and childcare will be provided.
Note that anyone is welcome—no matter how long you’ve been coming to UUCPA. If you are interested, we encourage you to register and attend. Here’s the form to register: 2026 Fall Starting Point Registration
–Gloria Geller and Jenny Robertson
Upcoming Music
Choir Practice
11/12/2026, 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
Harmonic Circle
11/15/2026, 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Date: 1st, 3rd, and 5th Sundays monthly
Time: usually from 1:00 – 3:00 pm
Location: usually the McFadden Patio in the warmer months or room 4-5 in winter
Contact: harmoniccircle@uucpa.
Registration: Not required
In response to divisive U.S. politics, we want more harmony and community in our lives. Music-making leads to harmony, and builds community!
We have our own songbook with 230+ songs, and you are also welcome to bring songs to share. We do everything from simple unison singing, to four-part harmony. We sing old songs and new songs, and occasionally a song one of us wrote. We go around the circle, and each person gets to choose a song. We’ll try to sing anything you choose, but it will go better if you can sing and/or play the song for us. We love it if you teach us harmony parts for your song.
We’re a supportive singing community, and we do our best to make everyone sound great. We welcome instruments, too. Bring your guitar, ukulele, autoharp, mandolin, fiddle, keyboard, or any other instrument that goes well with singing.
By Your Side Singers – Practice
11/18/2026, 7:30 pm - 8:45 pm Hamaker Library (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Join us for warm, welcoming small-group singing of beloved songs from our hymnals and other sources. In our practice sessions, we sing together and develop our skills for singing for others on a pastoral care visit. No registration required. New and seasoned singers both welcome.
Choir Practice
11/19/2026, 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
11/22/2026, 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
Starting Point: A Group for Newcomers
11/15/2026, 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Are you new or newish to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto? Want to deepen your connection with the congregation but aren’t sure how? Or want to gain clarity about what it means to be a UU? If so, Starting Point is for you.
We will meet on four Sundays (Sep 27, Oct 11, Oct 25, Nov 8, Nov 15), after the church service from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. in Room tbd. There’ll be time to share about ourselves, get to know each other, and learn through fun and thought-provoking interactive activities.
Snacks and childcare will be provided.
Note that anyone is welcome—no matter how long you’ve been coming to UUCPA. If you are interested, we encourage you to register and attend. Here’s the form to register: 2026 Fall Starting Point Registration
–Gloria Geller and Jenny Robertson
Upcoming Group Meetings/Gatherings
Resonant Reading (Wednesday)-Practical Wisdom
11/11/2026, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
“… we will inquire into something, but we will not grasp it, if in some way we depart from ourselves and from our own nature, and besides, in the same way as the remaining arts may be said to be perfected in one respect, but to be deficient in practical wisdom in another respect…”
—Papyrus manuscript, part of a vast carbonized library of Herculaneum preserved by volcanic ash. As of June 2026, the remaining passages—which examine ethics, knowledge and human nature—are accessible for the first time since 79 C.E.
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.
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
11/14/2026, 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)-No Meeting
11/14/2026, 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.
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
11/15/2026, 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
11/15/2026, 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)
11/18/2026, 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.
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
11/18/2026, 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
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.
November 18, 2026, 7-8:00, Zoom as usual.
We’ll discuss the 2022 movie “The Artifice Girl” (1 hr, 33 mins)
From Rotten Tomatoes:
*A team of special agents discovers a revolutionary new computer program to bait and trap online predators. After teaming up with the program’s troubled developer, they soon find that the AI is rapidly advancing beyond its original purpose.
available in libraries, Hoopla, Apple, and Amazon.
At the end of the meeting, we will choose a movie for our January 20 meeting.
The meeting method: via Zoom, 7-8:30 p.m.
- Dates: Third Wednesdays
- 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
11/21/2026, 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)-History is stories-Le Guin
11/21/2026, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
To create a nonexistent history, one tells a story to learn what happened. I believe this much like what historians of the so-called real world do. Even if we are present at some historic event, do we comprehend it—or even remember it—until we can tell it as a story? And for events in times or places outside our own experience, we have nothing to go on but the stories other people tell us. Past events exist, after all, only in memory, which is a form of imagination. The event is real now, but once it’s then, its continuing reality is entirely up to us, dependent on our energy and honesty. If we let it drop from memory, only imagination can restore the least glimmer of it. If we lie about the past, forcing it to tell a story we want it to tell, to mean what we want it to mean, it loses its reality, becomes a fake. To bring the past along with us through time in the hold-alls of myth and history is a heavy undertaking; but as Lao Tzu says, wise people march along with the baggage wagons.Ursula K. Le Guin, forward to
Tales from Earthsea (2001), p. xii.
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.
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)
11/25/2026, 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.
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.
Upcoming Justice Projects/Events
Upcoming Special Events
UUCPA Annual Auction
11/14/2026, 5:30 pm - 9:00 pm UUCPA Main Hall & Online (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Each year in November, the church auctions goods and services at a wonderful party with live music, dancing, food (heavy hors d’oeuvres, balloon lady, live auction for the kids, silent and live auction for everyone!)
See uucpa.org/whats-happening/all-church-auction/ for the latest details.
UUCPA Money Matters Meeting
04/04/2027, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm Main Hall (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)
Ever wonder how your pledges determine the size of our budget and how much we have for things like salaries and programming? Or, how much it costs to keep our campus open? Or, if UUCPA has any other sources of income besides pledges?
Come to the Main Hall for the Money Matters Info Session for answers to these questions and more! Learn about how UUCPA works financially and how UUCPA is planning to use its funds in the coming 2026-2027 fiscal year. You’ll also get the latest status update on our current pledge drive.
Childcare providing pizza and movie in Room 2 for kids. Childcare will run until the Money Matters Info Session is complete.
To attend the meeting remotely, use the same Zoom link as the 10:30AM service.
We look forward to seeing you there!
-The UUCPA Board and Finance Committee
2027 Annual Meeting
04/25/2027, 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm UUCPA (Add to calendar: Google, iCal, webcal)