November 7 to 9 will be a weekend of high school UU's

gathering for friendship, leadership, and fun. YRUU or "Young Religious Unitarian Universalists" is a district-wide program open to youth in high school. For more information, please visit the Website Fall Con 2014: CONtinuity.
 

By Miranda Massa, Religious Education (RE) Coordinator

• An all ages Games Night/Potluck is planned at UUSS on Friday, November 14.
• This month's all ages service on Gratitude will be on Sunday, November 23. There will be no RE classes on that day, but child care will be offered in the Nursery for those in kindergarten and younger.
• RE calendar details and other information can be found at http://uuss.org/Groups/RE/index.php.

What a great congregational meeting we had on October 12. The attendance was excellent, and we finished in less than an hour. These meetings are getting to be a piece of cake. If you were unable to attend, the following was my report:

Well here we are, almost halfway through my second 

year as President. I can't say enough what a really splendid time it has been for me. I want to say again to all of you how much I appreciate all of your support and 

kind words. As I was preparing for this morning I was thinking, "Gee, what is there to report because from my perspective and that of the Board, things are moving along very well." The transition to our Home away from Home went so smoothly, just a couple of little hiccups but nothing that wasn't resolved very quickly. I think we owe this seamless process to all of the volunteers from the various committees, Music, Kitchen, Bookstore, Membership, the leadership of the Building Committee and all of the days and hours put in by our ministers and Office staff.

All of our standing committees are functioning so well: Stewardship, thank you Chuck and Lauren; Music and Choir, a special thanks to Meg Burnett; Coffee Committee; and Membership, Judy Lane; and all of the work done by the Board liaison to the Membership committee, Linda Klein.  Our new Board members Denis Edgren, Shirley Hines, Terry Preston and Carol Jacobs have taken on their Board duties with enthusiasm. I want to say thank you to the whole Board for all of the work they do on behalf of the congregation.

I also want to thank the Building Project Steering Committee, the Project Management team, the Fundraising team and the Logistics team for the way they are supporting and dealing with all of the issues involved in our building project. Margaret, Janet, Carrie, Dennis, Cassie, Colene Schlaepfer, Rich Howard, Mary Howard, Judy Moran, John McMillan, and Glory Wicklund. I know I have probably left people off, but as they say, you know who you are, and while I might not have mentioned you by name, I know you are working very hard.

And as always, thanks to all of you for your continuing participation in all aspects of our lives at UUSS. Without you we would have none of this. I also want to thank the former members of UUCC who have decided to join our community. I know it was a hard choice for you, but we welcome you and want to support you in any way we can.

But lastly I want to take this opportunity to personally and publicly say thank you to Roger. He has been so helpful to me, listening to my concerns both personally and in my role as Board President, supporting me, encouraging me, keeping me on track, and helping me make good decisions. Thank you so very much, Roger.

I haven't had an opportunity to say thank you to the congregation for all that we have accomplished in these last few months. I have been a member of this church for almost 20 years and I have never felt more proud or uplifted as I do right now.

Namaste'  --Linda

We share every weekly offering with the greater community. This month, our offerings go to Loaves & Fishes. In a spirit of love, hospitality and non-judgment, it feeds the hungry and shelters the homeless.  Since 1983, it has provided an oasis of welcome, safety, and cleanliness for homeless adults and children seeking survival services.  

For August, we sent $1,890 to WALK Sacramento.  For September, we sent $1,796 to Mustard Seed School.  Thank you!

Course donations:  If no fee is listed when an Adult Enrichment class is offered, a freewill donation to UUSS is encouraged for overhead expenses.

Evening Silent Meditation

With Rev. Roger Jones and Others

6:00-6:35 p.m., Wednesdays, Nov. 12, 19, and 26 in Classroom 6

Whether you have not yet begun mindfulness meditation or have practiced for years, we invite you to partake of the support of others in a simple practice of noticing.  Since 1995, my experience has been in the Buddhist Vipassana tradition.  Yet I'm not a trained teacher, just your host!  We'll gather at 6:00, hear opening words at 6:10 and sit for 20 minutes.  This leaves time for choir practice or other evening meetings at UUSS.

Islam:  Faith and Practice

With Rev. Lucy Bunch and Mohammad Arshadi

Part 1:  Sunday, November 16, 1:30-3:30 p.m.

Part 2:  Tuesday, November 18, 7:15-9:15 p.m.  [tentative]

Due to the structure of the sessions, attendance at Part 1 is required to attend Part 2.

Fee:  $25-$45 sliding scale (for the whole course); Youth Group members free.

Checks payable to UUSS Adult Enrichment.

Maximum  25 people.  Sign up Sundays at Adult Enrichment Table.

Part 1 led by Rev. Lucy will cover the history and theology of Islam.  We will also raise questions about how we approach another faith and learn from it. There will be an opportunity to consider questions we may ask our visitor in part 2.

Mohammad Arshadi will be our guest at Part 2.  He will answer questions developed in Part 1 and will offer recitations from the Holy Qur'an, which often sound musical to western ears.  He recently received his BA in psychology from CSU Sacramento.  He has spent years as a child and youth in both Iran and California.  He is active in a local Mosque.   Because of his beautiful voice, he is frequently asked to offer recitations of the Qur'an at funerals, celebrations, and other community events.  Last spring at the memorial service at UUSS for the mother of Hossein Mehrdadi, Mohammad recited some scriptures (in Arabic) and Persian poetry (in Farsi). You will enjoy meeting Mohammad!

Pilgrimage for the Soul

With Rev. Lucy Bunch and Connie Beal, a certified Soul Collage facilitator

A daylong workshop with Soul Collage and UUSS Labyrinth walks. 

Saturday Nov 22 (rain or shine) at 2425 Sierra Blvd, 9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. 

Lunch provided.

 Come join us on a journey of discovery. SoulCollage� is a creative and satisfying collage process. Each participant will make one or more collage cards, and we will use the cards intuitively to answer life's questions and participate in self-discovery. Two facilitated labyrinth walks during the day will help us deepen our understanding.

Sliding scale $50-$75

(Scholarships are available-no one turned away for lack of ability to pay.)

Yoga Monday {list the same as before}

Yoga Mondays at 2425 Sierra with Paige Labrie

 Paige has taught at UUSS and in our region for many years and is a regular volunteer in Religious Education.  She invites you to try a session first for free, then decide whether to pay for a series.  Held in UUSS classrooms.  Come a little early for your first time!

• Yoga in a Chair (for all abilities) - Mondays 10:00-11:00 a.m.
• Yoga on a Mat (bring one if you can) - Mondays 7:00-8:00 p.m.

UU Book Reading Group

The UUSS Book Readers will be meeting Tuesday, December 2 at 7:00 p.m. to discuss Soldier Girls: The Battles of Three Women at Home and at War, by Helen Thorpe. This book describes the impact on these women of their deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan. We are meeting at a special time due to the Thanksgiving holiday. For more information, contact Jim Glidden at [email protected] or (916) 649-9697.

[Note: book title should be italicized: Soldier Girls ... War]

Keep a Song in Your Heart!

Dirk Tuell, our contractor on the new website, meets with Rev. Roger for comments on the pages that Dirk has completed and also enter text himself, using WordPress Visual Composer. Rev. Lucy, RE Coordinator Miranda Massa and Communication and Facilities Coordinator Stanton Vedell are also commenting and adding content. As time passes, more users will be trained to enter their material.

Dirk has created a page and blog for Rev. Lucy, where the Spiritual Deepening Circles can communicate. There are 102 people already involved! Next project will be a blog where Dennis Clear will post updates and media about the building renovation project.

Dirk and the photographers at our church have put together a collection of 6000+ photos, and from that he has sorted out 400 of the best to provide a library to choose from for display on the website. Many thanks to all the photographers for their lively photos showing UUSS members and visitors enjoying Sunday services and other activities.

Invitees included all the churches who meet at SAUCC, plus the Gateway International School across the street. I didn't count, but the room was full of long tables and there had to have been at least 200 people there. The tables were decorated with fall centerpieces and covered

Entertainment included production numbers by the youth of the various churches and the Gateway International School, who presented eight little girls with braids and pinafores singing a Russian children's song in their little piping voices. Adorable! Meg Burnett led everyone in a chorus of "Siyahamba," and our own Billie Menz was there to provide background music for the event and to accompany a bunch of us singing "This is My Song" (number 159 in the UU hymnal Singing the Living Tradition) as our contribution. The members of the Fijian church did synchronized dance from

 gotta be there!

Thanks to our hosts at 890 Morse Ave., UUSS can keep up our tradition of a potluck on the holiday.  They have generously offered us use of their space, suitably named Pilgrim Hall!  (Congregationalists are descendants of the Pilgrims.)

Setup begins by 11 AM, and we will say grace and feast around 2 PM.  The format is mainly pot luck with a requested donation of $5 per adult.  Advance donations are needed to cover supplies and turkeys, tofurkeys, and other needed items.  Among other help, we need four volunteers to pick up a frozen turkey at church on Sunday, November 23, to take home to defrost, cook and carve prior to coming to Sierra Arden on Thanksgiving Day. 

Bring your own tableware to use and then wash back at home if you can.  We will have some disposable plates etc., but there is no dishwashing possible.

Please label your pot luck contribution-with your name and what it is and vegetarian, vegan, nuts, dairy, gluten-free, etc.  A complete ingredients list or recipe will make you very popular.  Bring your own serving utensils.

Label your casserole dishes, serving utensils, dishes, ware) with your name and phone number.  Other than Rev. Roger, we will not have any UUSS staff or equipment on Thanksgiving.  Our chafing dishes were stolen, but our Sunday coffee maker will be available.  

If you would like to help decorate please sign up.  Then arrive on Thanksgiving Day after 10:00.  We also need cleanup help 4:00-5:00.  We need a few more folks on the organizing team.  Thanks to Patricia Johnson and Kathy Stricklin for stepping up already.

During this construction year, we are glad that we can still do this for all who like the breaking bread and giving thanks in community, including singles, families, kids, adults and elders from UUSS, the UU Community Church, and Sierra Arden. 

We do need to know how many to plan for.  Sign up to attend or to help out (or to do both!) at coffee hour on a Sunday in November or e-mail Laurie Jones.

Join us on Saturday, December 6 for a Home for the Holidays Party!  This will take the place of our traditional tree trimming party.  Because we're at SAUCC on Sundays, we won't be seeing our tree each week (our hosts put up another tree at SAUCC, which they will decorate).  AT our party we'll make ornaments and other crafts to take home.  We might also get to decorate around UUSS. Want to put our tree in the Fahs Room? 

We'll be in the Fahs Room, Rooms 6, 7 and 8. Doors will open at 6, but activities won't start until 6:30 p.m.  Please bring plenty of dessert to share for this dessert potluck.  (It would be good to have supper before you come.) We'll also enjoy holiday music, making gingerbread houses, and crafting ornaments. Bring your wish list, too, as a special visitor who usually dresses in red will be with us that evening!