An Annual Miracle-All About Trust

By Rev. Roger Jones, Senior Minister

People ask me, "How do you get paid?  Where does your church get its money?"  (This comes often from folks who have not been involved in a congregation of any kind.) They think the money to pay for staff, rent, utilities and upkeep must come from our denomination, from grants, or -- I don't know what! 

I explain: Members and friends of the congregation make monthly financial donations.  So do I.

Every February we have a Pledge Drive--we fill out pledge forms for the next operating budget year. This gives the Board plenty of time to shape a budget that reflects the visions for the year, based on the total of all the pledges we make. Then folks ask, "How do you know what they are going to donate?"

"That's amazing," a person may say, after I explain it. And it is amazing! This is a generous and reliable community of people, I say. It inspires me.

"How can you be sure people will continue to give after they fill out a pledge form?  What if they stop?"  Well, a few people do stop, when they have a financial disaster, or they move out of state. 

But most of us don't stop, we continue. In fact, every year, during the Pledge Drive, a majority stretch themselves. They think about raising their operating budget pledge amount.

"How come?" 

They know that with more shared resources, UUSS keeps doing what it has always done in service to our mission. We can do more, do it better, and have a more enjoyable time making it all happen when we stretch to raise our commitment. 

"It's still hard to believe."  Well, I say, call it a miracle--our annual miracle. It's based on trust. We put our trust in one another's generosity. We put our trust in the abundance of good will, care, courage and joy that this community reflects and embodies every year.

Now is the time when our annual miracle happens again. It's not a sure thing, but I trust in it. I trust in you. Let me know if you have questions about the annual pledge drive and what it will make possible.  Cheers!

Yours in service,

Roger

"We have some unusual strengths, and we can add strength to strength." 

-- Rev. Ted Webb, UUSS minister, 1971-83

Where's Roger in February?

Sometimes I find an e-mail you sent me days ago, which I hadn't seen. So, if you write but don't hear back from me, please contact me again.  I do want to connect!

I'm available by appointment with you and in the office on weekday afternoons.  I take most Tuesdays off as my Sabbath.  Most Fridays, I study and write at home and avoid e-mail. On February 2 to 6, Rev. Lucy, 500 other UU ministers and I will be at a continuing education institute at Asilomar in Pacific Grove.  Sunday morning, February 8, I am the guest preacher at our landlord church, Sierra Arden UCC, at their 9:00 a.m. service.  The title is, "Money and Real Life," which I preached here in 2012 and have offered in various UU churches since then. For our own 10:15 a.m. service, I welcome a special UUA guest speaker.  See page 1.

Learning to be Okay with Uncertainty

It's been a dull January so far. No rain, cold nights, foggy mornings. The garden seems stagnant. The dogs sleep more than usual. Days are short.

The renovation project at church is focused on the underground upgrades this month, sewer lines, drainage, water and gas hook-ups. I find I am focused more on underground things as well. One of my reflective poems this month is by Anne Hilman:

Learning to Love, by Anne Hillman.

We look with uncertainty
beyond the old choices for
clear-cut answers
to a softer, more permeable aliveness
which is every moment
at the brink of death;
for something new is being born in us
if we but let it.
We stand at a new doorway,
awaiting that which comes...
daring to be human creatures,
vulnerable to the beauty of existence.

There have been many deaths in our church community these past few months-many memorial services, much loss. In the quiet of winter, I find that I strive to be OK with uncertainty, to be open to this soft "permeable aliveness which is every moment at the brink of death" that the poet mentions.   

Part of my aliveness is being with this church community, whether at worship, one-on-one, small group ministry or administrative meetings. I am fed by you--your spirit, your generosity, your support and willingness to commit to our community. May you have a blessed February.

Where's Lucy in February?

 My office hours are T-W-Th afternoons. During the week of February 2, I will be at a ministers' conference at Asilomar. I serve the congregation 75 percent of the time and the third week of the month is my furlough week. Please call or e-mail if you would like to visit so that I can be sure to be available. I will be with you on the Sundays of February 1, 15, and 22.

By Cathy George, UUSS Board Stewardship Liaison

I hate tuna casserole. Yet I make and serve it once a month at St. John's Program for Real Change. This local shelter for women and children is one of our community partners for the Sunday Shared Offering. 

A team of eight to ten of our church members gathers every fourth Wednesday to prepare and serve dinner for 80 or more women and children housed at the shelter. We provide ingredients for casseroles, salad, rolls, corn, fruit and cookies. We also cook and serve. 

I enjoy being part of the team. What happened to the can opener? Do we have enough fruit? Why aren't the steam trays filling with water? We share the challenges and joys together.

There are many ways that UUSS members give generously of themselves to help others. Check out one of the following groups if you'd like to get more involved: Family Promise hosting, Loaves and Fishes meal preparation or serving, American River Parkway monthly clean-up, Faithful Friends visiting immigrant detainees, St. John's Shelter meals, and Kids Freedom Club raising awareness and funds to stop modern slavery.  

"Rings and jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts. The only gift is a portion of thyself."  - Ralph Waldo Emerson

By Dennis Clear, Building Project Steering Committee

Although the fog and drizzle have affected our project schedule, the concrete slab was successfully poured for the foundation at the end of January and framing starts next week. The new roof framing should begin February 20 and take about 7 days. If interested in this phase, please stop by; through the fence you can watch this work in person!

The downed redwood trees from our grove were transported to the mill and their preserved lumber will be used in the new building.  How to use the wood has not been decided yet, one of many design elements still under consideration.  Other elements include storing and display of name tags and the signage/messages that will greet people in the new Welcome Hall. 

A specific chair style has been approved, but the fabric color has yet to be determined.  Alternatives for a new AV system are also still being evaluated.  Please visit the Building Renovation website  for more information related to this exciting project.

Let's reboot this program for UUs who have aged out of SHYG and any others in their 20s and 30s.  First plan:  Gather in a corner of Pilgrim Hall at coffee hour on the fourth Sunday of the month and choose a place to go for lunch and UU fellowship.  Ride sharing encouraged.  All UU young adults and their guests are welcome.  Contact newcomer Derek by e-mail or call 925-683-3001 or Rev. Roger Jones with questions, and show up Feb. 22!  Derek has reactivated the UUSS 20s-30s Facebook page, too.

The ceremony will be held at 890 Morse Ave., Sierra Arden Church in the Sanctuary; reception follows in Pilgrim Hall.  

Sermon by Rev. Dr. Lucas K. Hergert; Charge to the Minister by Rev. Michelle Favreault; Charge to the Congregation by Rev. Lucy Bunch, Act of Installation by our congregation members led by President Linda Clear.  And special music by our choir, pianist and guests!

Rev. Roger's ceremony installation as senior minister of the Unitarian Universalist Society will be held at 4:00 p.m., March 8 at 890 Morse Ave.  Ministers and seminarians from all over Northern California will be attending. The event committee is looking for help in several areas: addressing invitation envelopes, setting up for the event, tearing down or cleaning up afterward, donations of food and/or money, whatever you can do to assist in this celebration. Please visit the Installation Table in Pilgrim Hall following the Sunday service to let us know how you can help.

By Rev. Roger Jones

Geoff Pool is a new member of our Sunday Sound Board Team!  Geoff and Keri are new to Sacramento, but are not new UUs. He writes:  "Keri attended the UU church in Spokane and I attended the UU church in Oak Cliff, TX.  We met in NY, married in PA and moved here October 30.  We're very excited to belong to UU Sac and are looking to meet new friends." 

Please welcome them both. Please also consider being one of the volunteers to take turns staffing our sound board. It's a great way to support the congregation and is not hard to learn.  E-mail Megan Brooks or see her on Sunday, or call the UUSS Office and leave your name and number Thanks!

By Meg Burnett, Interim Choir Director

We intend to hire a new professional choir director next summer before the opening service in our new building.  A new song will be composed for that event. The three-part piece,"Sacred Home," is by Lucy Holstead.  A music professor at Berklee College of Music in Boston, she has Bay Area family. We hope her visit fits into our Building Dedication Service. If so, I will invite her to conduct it!

February 22, Anne Marie Endres, professional voice teacher and experienced choral conductor (new to Sacramento and UUSS), will guest conduct our choir. At the April Earth Day Service, we will share the winner of the Silliman Award for new UU hymns by UUMusicians Network, by our prolific Joyce Poley: "Keepers of the Earth."

If you are attending UU General Assembly (GA) in Portland, Oregon, you may wish to be part of a choir of 200 to 300 folks who practice a couple of songs two or three times for the large Sunday morning service. 

Our Music Program Planning Team is underway, and will determine a way to collect input from all of you who are especially active in our music program on how to continue to deepen our music experience at UUSS in the months and years ahead.  The best is yet to be!

Come share the poems that move you and maybe pick up some new favorites from others. This gathering is for readers, not writers, of poetry, though all are welcome.  Four Tuesday afternoon sessions: Feb. 3, 10, 17 and 24, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. in Rm. 11 at UUSS.  Bring a poem or two to share, with about 15 copies for others.  Facilitated by JoAnn Anglin and Doris Simonis. Sign up at the Adult Enrichment table after Sunday services or e-mail [email protected].

Helping Neighbors in Need at Sierra Arden Food Pantry

By Joan Rubenson

Please bring canned or boxed food items, bath towels, winter jackets, sweat shirts and blankets in good condition for donation to Sierra Arden UCC's Food Closet for those in need. They serve people who live in ZIP codes 95825 and 95864 and would love our help. A collection box is available near the Connections table in Pilgrim Hall after services. Contact Joan Rubenson if you need more information at (916) 363-2415 or [email protected].

By Kathy Styc

Over 80 folks came to UUSS on January 18 and 19 to see the film, "Groundswell Rising," about the health and environmental impact of fracking on communities in Pennsylvania, New York, and Colorado. Presenting the film were Mark Lichty, Executive Producer and a UU from Pennsylvania, and Renard Cohen, the film's director and composer. They showed how communities became active in opposing the process after learning its true dangers.

The United Nations Association of Sacramento co-sponsored this event along with our own Earth Justice Ministry.  We have a copy of the DVD and would be happy to show it again for people who weren't there, or loan it out so you can watch it at home. Please contact me: [email protected].

By Barbara Hopkins

Many thanks to our UUSS Family Promise volunteers for co-hosting at SAUCC during New Year's week, December 28, 2014 to January 4, 2015. We were one of the three support congregations that helped SAUCC to host sixteen Family Promise guests.

Their warm welcome provided the families a memorable start to the new year. Pilgrim Hall became a Family Promise dining area and classrooms became comfortable sleeping areas for the four families who arrived each day at 5 p.m., returning the next morning to the FP Day Center at 7 a.m.

A special thank you to UU cooks who brought dinners: Carol Barrett, Judy Bell with her mother, Virginia Johnson, and Glory Wicklund and Keith White. More thanks to those who slept on cots in nearby rooms, our UU overnighters: Fran Kennedy, Joyce Chadd, Patricia Johnson, Nancy Oprsal, and Susan Lange. (Susan offered to join an overnight shift after reading about it in the Unigram.) Handling the opening were Barbara Hopkins with Francesca Guerrra.  Barbara and Elyse Furman prepared supplies for easy use during the week. And Erik Jensen, returning from his family's Arizona trip, came to lend his muscle to help move cots into a trailer and lift other supplies.

We enjoyed working with Sierra Arden United Church of Christ (SAUCC), Parkside UCC, and First Christian Church. UUSS Family Promise volunteers will again support SAUCC this month. To help, contact Barbara Hopkins or Nancy Oprsal.

By Carrie Cornwell

Join the fun on Friday, February 13, when UUSS will hold its monthly Games Night back home in the Fahs Room.

Hosts Megan Snyder and Ginny Johnson provide cards, chess, checkers, board games, toddler games, kid and adult games. We play different games each month, although there's a regular table of Rummikub.  We've also played 500, Fictionary, Dominoes and Scrabble. We are always up for learning new games, too, so bring one you like and we will play it with you.

The doors will open at 5:30 p.m. for those who want to gather for a potluck dinner, which we will eat at 6:00 p.m. Just bring a dish of any kind to share. It can be something you made, your mother made or you bought on the way over to UUSS.  Game playing begins at 6:30.

Games Night takes place on the second Friday of each month through April. Mark your calendar as we come together in play. For more information or if you are interested in helping to host Games Night, call or e-mail Megan Snyder (916-333-8203 or [email protected]), Ginny Johnson(916-649-0575 or [email protected]), or Carrie Cornwell (916-442-1637 or [email protected]).

Come by yourself, come with a friend, or come with your whole family, but come to play!