Transforming Ourselves, Each Other and the World
As you may have noticed, this printed newsletter is different from the UUCPA Bulletins you used to receive. The UUCPA bi-weekly Bulletin will be taking a break for a while (Aug. 9, 2020, was the last one). We hope to have new plans for The Bulletin by the time we resume meeting at UUCPA in person. In the meantime, please accept this interim printed version to keep you informed.
Join services via Zoom: zoom.us/j/485021387. The password is available by emailing sundayservice@uucpa.org or on UUCPA’s outgoing voicemail message, 650-494-0541. It is also included in the weekly update emails. To watch services live on our Facebook page visit: facebook.com/uucpa/live.
“The opiate of the theologians” . . . “a threat to Christianity” . . . “a pernicious heresy”: What is this terrifying doctrine? Universalism. We celebrate it this morning in what is, by one reckoning, the 250th anniversary year of its blossoming on this continent. … read more.
Over many decades, our congregation has helped countless people to get under a roof (oftentimes ours!) and to find transitional and permanent housing. Frustratingly, housing and homelessness are even more acute problems than ever. AND: no one is better situated than us to figure out … read more.
Rev. Phebe Ann Coffin Hanaford
Who gets written out of history, and whose stories have been lost to us until they are retold? Rev. Barnaby Feder tells us about two, Rev. Phebe Hanaford and Rev. Elizabeth Padgham, and we’ll even hear directly from them!
Rev. Elizabeth … read more.
As of 4/7/21, we have received 142 pledges totaling $474,905. If you have already pledged, thank you! If you haven’t, please submit your pledge as soon as possible. For more information, go to www.uucpa.org/pledge
The Forum meets from 9:00 to 10:15 Sunday mornings in the Fireside Room. Here are the topics for May, 2021:
Everyone is welcome to come and participate in a stimulating discussion. Topics are chosen by the group about one month ahead.
The Forum will meet via online video conference. The link will be emailed to members of forum-announce@uucpa.org. If you aren’t already in that group (or if you aren’t sure), please request to join by 9 pm Saturday evening for the next day’s meeting info by sending an email to forum-announce+subscribe@uucpa.org.
Everyone is welcome.
Each month the Church supports a social justice organization by donating one Sunday’s plate collection. The UUCPA Action Council reviewed the current program, considered current and proposed causes nominated by congregants, and decided on this slate of organizations to present to the congregation for approval at the Annual Meeting on April 25.
Factors that were given priority in making the recommendations were:
This year the Action Council is proposing one new partner, Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), to replace UU The Vote, which we added for the election year last year.
If you have feedback or questions on this Justice Partner slate, please talk to one of the members of the Action Council: Kristi Iverson (Chair), Sally Ahnger (Justice Partner Coordinator), Edie Keating, Karen Skold, Tina Kochel, or Jessica Martin.
Respectfully submitted for consideration by the UUCPA Action Council
Slate of 2021-2022 Justice Partners
American Muslim Voice (AMV) – May
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 through teach-in opportunities at schools, colleges, universities, places of worship, and peace conventions.
Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity (IM4HI) – June
The Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity is a statewide California organization that connects clergy and people of faith to the work of social justice in Los Angeles County, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the Inland Valleys. They work to make the criminal justice system more just, and the immigration system fairer and more humane. In the last two years, IM4HI trained 1,500 people of faith to take leadership roles, engaged 140 congregations and partner organizations, and reached more than 35,000 people with a message of hope, love and resilience.
Outlet – July
Outlet is a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Questioning (LGBTQQ) Youth organization based in Mountain View. As the Peninsula’s only comprehensive LGBTQQ youth organization, it provides services to youth and adults who work with youth, including bilingual Spanish services.
Ada’s Café – August
Located in the Mitchell Park Community Center, Ada’s Cafe and Catering is dedicated to hiring, training, and empowering people with disabilities in a commercial food service business. Ada’s provides jobs for the disabled while creating numerous employment and internship opportunities for other local teens and college students as job buddies.
Hotel de Zink – September
Hotel de Zink, a rotating church shelter program run by InnVision, is hosted by UUCPA during September. We offer breakfast, bag lunch, dinner, and a place to sleep for 10 – 15 homeless community members. We recruit volunteers to provide dinner each night as well as funds to cover costs for breakfast and lunch food and supplies.
South Bay Sanctuary Covenant (SBSC) – October
SBSC is an interfaith, non-partisan organization of churches and individuals in the Bay Area. The group is concerned with peace, justice and liberation for the people of Central America and for the refugees who have fled these areas.
Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) (new partner) – November
SURJ Sacred Heart Chapter is based in San Jose and is part of a national network of groups and individuals organizing white people for racial justice. There are over 150 SURJ chapters and affiliates nationwide. Through community organizing, mobilizing, and education, SURJ moves white people to act as part of a multi-racial majority for justice, with passion and accountability. Accountability means being in relationship with and taking direction from people of color and working on the issues that matter most to accountability partners, organizations run by people of color.
California Clean Money Campaign – December
California Clean Money is dedicated to limiting the undue influence of money in politics in order to achieve an open and accountable government that is responsive to the needs of all Californians. After numerous successes, California Clean Money continues to focus on transparency in funding of candidates and ballot initiative ads. A major long-term goal is public funding of election campaigns.
Abilities United – January
Located next door to the church, Abilities United (now called AbilityPath after merging with Gatepath) advances advocacy, inclusion, and independence for people with developmental (autism, cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, and intellectual disability) and physical disabilities. Except during the pandemic, a group of members comes over to our church every Monday and breaks down our Main Hall (stacks and moves chairs).
California Interfaith Power and Light (CIPL) – February
CIPL serves congregations and institutions of many faiths that are committed to working together to protect our common home, the Earth. They provide guides and educational programs for energy efficiency, solar installations, electric vehicles, water saving, etc. From time to time they engage in advocacy. UUCPA is one of over 600 member congregations.
Heart and Home (H+H) – March
Heart and Home, founded by Stanford students, provides night-time winter shelter for fifteen unhoused women in the general Palo Alto vicinity, and is in its fourth year of being hosted by UUCPA for six weeks each year. Operated by H+H and rotating between Palo Alto houses of faith, the shelter is run by volunteers from the community and Stanford University, and is staffed by trained professionals.
Community Health Awareness Council (CHAC) – April
