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Weekly Message for UUSS
for October 30, 2020
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Dear Ones -
I don't know about you, but I am holding my breath until after the election - hoping and praying that our country gets it right. It's a tough time to be an American. Please know that you are not alone, you are part of a strong and committed team that is ready to work for compassion and justice regardless of the outcome.
But it's going to be a long few days until November 4th, and perhaps even longer until we know the outcome of the election. Please take care of yourselves and don't overdose on the news. It is known to be toxic - you can even get too much Rachel Maddow! If you need support, please reach out to Rev Roger or me. We are here for you.
In the coming week there are many opportunities to gather with others for support and emotional sustenance. We will gather on Tuesday at 7 PM when both Rev Roger and I will be at our Vesper service. On Wednesday Rev Roger will lead the post-election Wellspring Wednesday gathering.
Our Unitarian Universalist Association is hosting a special gathering Thursday at 5 PM Pacific Time. You can find information about this gathering, and other gatherings of UU's around the country at this link.
On the good news front, our patio cover is complete and passed its final inspection from the County. Its ready to go just in time for the UUSS Board's decision to allow groups of up to 10 individuals to meet outdoors at church. Check out the message from President Sally for more information.
I miss you all and appreciate all the support you have given Rev Roger and me. I hope to see you on Zoom in the near future. Keep breathing.
Sending love to all,
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Campus is Open to Small Groups Meeting Outside
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Hello Friends and Fellow Congregants,
It is a tough time and many of us are feeling the stress of quarantine and not being able to congregate with our friends at our wonderfully spiritual facility. The Board has approved a plan to open the campus to physical gathering of groups of fewer than 10 people OUTSIDE ONLY.
The Physical Gathering Task Force gave considerable thought to the Outdoor Gathering Guidelines. We ask for your cooperation in abiding by the Guidelines presented to ensure the safety and continued health of our congregants.
If you are interested in hosting an outdoor gathering and UUSS, please read the
As conditions improve in Sacramento County the Task Force will revisit these guidelines to see if and how to open up more. In the meantime, please know that our first concern is the safety and health of all our congregants.
The Board recommitted to the policy to suspend inside gatherings until May 2021 or until a viable vaccine is identified. Thank you all for your continued patience during this most trying time. Warm regards, President
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Community Partners Voting Complete!
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Thank you to all the folks who nominated worthy and meaningful organizations to be considered as UUSS Community Partners. 81 members cast their votes for twelve of the fifteen nominees and the new Partners for 2021 are: Family Promise, Mustard Seed School, Arden Arcade Black Child Legacy Campaign, International Rescue Committee of Northern California, WEAVE (When Everyone Acts Violence Ends), Sacramento Native American Health Center, Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services, River City Food Bank, Loaves and Fishes, Effie Yeaw Nature Center, Sacramento Area Congregations Together, and Del Oro Caregiver Resource Center. We hope you found the voting process easy. As always, any questions can be directed to boardsecretary@uuss.org.
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November Soul Matters Theme : Healing
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This month we will explore healing in our Soul Matters Small Groups, at Vespers and WellSpring Wednesday and in services throughout the month. You can find a packet for individual reflection on our Soul Matters web page.
Its understandable that we want to escape our pain. Worry, loss, death, exhaustion, anxiety, Covid claustrophobia, political instability, the unraveling of our democracy, racial harm. It's all overwhelming. But what if the work is to travel toward it? What if proximity to pain not distance from it is the real route to healing?
This is what all the great spiritual traditions teach. Forget eliminating your pain; lean into it. Hold it in your frightened hands until you realize it's more malleable than you thought. Until you realize your strong and courageous hands can shape it, can take its sharp edges and mold them into pathways that connect you with other people's pain, can transform it from a weapon that has wounded you into a bridge that connects you to others.
This of course doesn't mean the hurt goes away. But it does mean we end up feeling larger, and more whole. And maybe that is the most important healing of all.
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Join Our Services
November Theme: Healing
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Join us for Worship Services:
Sundays at 11:00 a.m. ~ Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m.
Daylight Savings Time ends this weekend.
Don't' Forget to "Fall Back" one hour on Saturday night! 
 Sunday Nov. 1: Remembering Our Beloved Dead
Rev. Lucy Bunch with Rev. Roger Jones and Worship Associate Larry Boles, Music Director Keith Atwater and Pianist Irina Tchantceva
We come together in community to honor our loved ones who have died and whom we wish to remember and celebrate. We will read the roll call of names of those in our UUSS community who have died in the past year and recognize those who have died from COVID, and other causes. We will feature our altar of remembrance during the services and have a chance to share our memories of those who have gone before. Come with an open heart.
Daylight Savings Time Ends Today November 1.
Tuesday Nov. 3:
Courage for the Long Haul: What Do You Wish for this Country?
Rev. Dr. Roger Jones, Rev. Lucy Bunch
Worship Associate Frances Myers
Music Director Keith Atwater and Pianist Irina Tchantceva
Before this year's election results are tallied up across the country, and before California's polls have closed, we'll gather together tonight to share our concerns and hopes--but also our strength with one another. Make sure to vote first!
 Sunday Nov. 8:
Hungering for it to be Over:
Making Space for the Way Forward
Rev. Dr. Roger Jones, Rev. Lucy Bunch, Worship Associate Fred Best, Music Director Keith Atwater, Pianist Irina Tchantceva
To say the election campaigns have been stressful is an understatement. Whether or not we have a clear result of the nation's elections by this day, we know that much worry will remain and many people will be hurting and at risk across the country. Let us make space to be together to share support, reclaim our deepest values, and remind ourselves that, in any outcome, the work of democracy and human flourishing remains unfinished.
Tuesday November 10: The Healing Power of Music
Rev. Lucy Bunch, Worship, Music Director Keith Atwater, Pianist Irina Tchantceva
The Soul Matters Theme for November is healing, and we can sure use some! Let's come together and experience the healing power of music, through word and song.
Be our Chalice lighter! We invite you to be an
on-screen chalice lighter--as individuals or as families--on a Sunday. You can light your home chalice or candle for all of us at the beginning of the service and extinguish at the end.
We'll Zoom you into the morning service. We hope to see more beloved and familiar faces.
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California Ballot Propositions
Outreach & Advice from UUSS Partners
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Prop. 15--UUSS is a member congregation of Sacramento ACT, which has been part of a coalition that recruited 1.8 million voter signatures for Proposition 15, "Schools and Communities First." This
 would close property-tax loopholes for large corporations. It would yield at least $130 million a year for Sacramento County alone for schools and community services. Sac ACT is asking each of us to Pledge to Vote (and support Prop. 15). Join a team to text or telephone registered voters or share information on your social media: yes15.org
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Get Out the Vote--Last Call!
How You Can Help
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 UU the Vote is our denomination's nonpartisan voter-organizing effort, working in conjunction with partner organizations. One of those partners is Reclaim Our Vote, for which UUSS member Sue Jones is coordinating the work of regional volunteers.
Texting and Telephoning Campaign: From now to November 3, please help with phone banking or sending texts to voters to get out the vote. Sue can connect you with that or you can go through UU the Vote, as some of our UUSS members are doing. Contact Sue Jones at rov.sacvalley@gmail.com.
Through UU the Vote, a number of UUSS folks have joined a phone-bank team for national call-in days to battleground states. (We get oriented, trained in the first 30 minutes or so of the phone bank, make our calls together, and celebrate our results.) This work is fulfilling and fun. RSVP for the Next Phone Bank
If you would like to contribute to UU the Vote mail a check to UU the Vote, UUA, 24 Farnsworth St., Boston, MA 02201, or text VOTELOVE to 51555.
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Connections:
Classes and Gatherings
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Friday Morning Bookstore Hours at UUSS
Every Friday from 9:00-11:00. Sign up for a private shopping shift by contacting the Office by email or (916) 483-9283; wear a mask and bring a bag for some great reads--$1.00, hardback or paper. Also CDs by UUSS musicians, books by UUSS authors.
Chalice Blend Coffee is available in the Bookstore on Fridays
and at the Office: $12/bag (regular, decaf, ground or beans).
Every Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. join the group for a discussion of the politics of the day. Named in honor of our late Minister Emeritus, Rev. Theodore Webb. Zoom Link.
Wellspring Wednesday with our Ministers
Join us every Wednesday at 7 PM on Zoom for 60-90 minutes.
this Wednesday Nov 4, Rev Roger will host a post election gathering to help us process the outcome (or lack thereof). Come gather with for comfort and/or celebration.
Religion Class with Keith Atwater!
Keith is offering a monthly class on the 3rd Wellspring Wednesday
of every month, at 7:00 p.m.
Nov. 18 - "A Bible Study for UUs - Part One"
An academic and spiritual approach. Unlike many traditional Christian "Bible Study" classes, our interactive critical analysis will investigate this ancient text's sources, development over time, translations, interpretations, key ideas, and core narratives. (Part One - Hebrew Bible/ Old Testament: he'll post advance notes and questions or uuss.org, but you can email him directly: keith@uuss.org.
 Parent Voices Nov. 1, 8:00 p.m. The first Sunday of the month, supportive conversations with parents and grandparents, hosted by Miranda. The group is discussing "Growing UUs: A Recipe Book." Get link here.
Reading and Responding to Poetry with JoAnn Anglin, Monday, Nov. 2, at 10:00 AM via Zoom link. This class meets the first and third Mondays of every month. Excerpt from Ghost Sickness link for this poem here.
"Three Conversations About Death" with Molly Stuart on Zoom. In this program, we work our way from a practical understanding of the issues surrounding end of life care, then explore our life values so that we can respect them even during death, and finally articulate specific gradations in the kind of care we hope for. Please plan to attend all three. We do this to protect our family and caregivers from difficult and uncertain decisions and to receive the kind of care we wish for. Thursdays: Nov. 5, Nov. 12. 1 pm. For more info email Molly@mollystuart.com. Suggested Donation to UUSS $50.
Theology on Tap - Friday, Nov. 6, at 7:00 p.m. The first Friday of each month. Bubbly conversation on yeasty topics of a UU flavor. Bring a beverage of your choice to your computer screen. Greet others in the large room, and then we go into small breakout rooms to reflect and share on one of many deep topics. Link here. Cheers! Visit with your old an and new friends and your favorite craft project. All welcome! Join via Zoom link
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 InterPlay led by Rev. Lucy and friends Takes place the second and fourth Saturday morning of the month, 10:30 to noon. InterPlay is a series of forms that combine movement, storytelling, stillness, and sound to access your body wisdom. Take an opportunity to tune in, connect with others, give yourself moments of ease, and be playful! If you are looking for a way to have fun and insights all at once, come join us! Next session is November 14. Link here. Learn more about here.
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Religious Education for
children and youth
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Spirit Play
every Sunday at 9:30 a.m. for those in
grades K-5. With RE Coordinator Miranda Massa and adult volunteers. Maintaining our connections, remembering our Rainbow Promises, and sustaining our sense of wonder, online together. Get links here.
Junior High Youth Group
Sunday, Nov. 1, 4:00 p.m. with Rev. Cynthia Davis & Miranda Massa
1st and 3rd Sundays at 4:00 p.m for those in grades 6-7-8.
Making friendships, finding support and joy, online together,
with a team of adult volunteer leaders.
Senior High Youth Group (SHYG)
SHYG meets with adult volunteer leaders every other Sunday at 1:00 p.m. by Zoom with lead advisor Dirk Tuell and other volunteer adult advisors.
Parent Voices Nov. 1, 8:00 p.m.
The first Sunday of the month, supportive conversations with parents and grandparents, hosted by Miranda. The group is discussing "Growing UUs: A Recipe Book." Get link here.
Reminder to families: See the Online Services listing for an invitation to be featured in a Sunday service to do the official rituals of Chalice Lighting and Extinguishing.
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Gather for reflection and discussion on Racial Justice: 1st & 3rd Mondays at 7:00 p.m.
2nd & 4th Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m.
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At UUSS we are on a journey together to work to dismantle racism, individually, organizationally and systemically. As a mostly White congregation, we are doing a lot of learning and finding ways to take action.
Join our Racial Justice team for thoughtful discussion on the 1st at 3rd Mondays of the month at 7:00 PM and the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays at 10:30 AM. See topics, reflection questions, and materials, including articles and videos, at this link at our website.
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Are you interested in serving as a worship associate?
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Do you watch the Worship Associates at services and say, "I could do that"? Here's your chance.
The Religious Service Committee is recruiting! Please click here for information and qualifications, and what you need to do to apply. The Worship Associate's role is both an honor and a responsibility. Plus its fun and rewarding. We would love to have you join our ranks.
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Our Community Partner for November:
Opening Doors
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 Our Community Partner for November is Opening Doors. Their mission is to empower refugees, immigrants, human trafficking survivors, and underserved Sacramento-area residents to achieve self-sufficiency by providing safe places, skills development, business loans, and connections to community resources. Half of our offering for November will be shared with this organization, so please give generously.
Donate by credit card here to the Shared Offering or mail a check to UUSS, 2425 Sierra Blvd., Sacramento 95825. Whether on PayPal or by check, note "Shared Offering." Thank you for your generosity to UUSS and our community partners.
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UUSS OFFICERS & BOARD of TRUSTEES
Sally White, President
Denis Edgren, Vice-President
Victoria Owens, Treasurer
Anara Guard, Secretary
David Harlow, Trustee at Large
Marilyn Reynolds,Trustee at Large
Hally Cahssai,Trustee at Large
Eric Ross, Trustee at Large
Tonie Darling, Trustee at Large
Board meetings: 7:00 p.m., 4th Thursday of every month; 3rd Thursday in November, December.
PROGRAM COUNCIL
Susan Davis, Co-chair
Margaret Wilcox, Co-chair
Tina Chiginsky-Lawrence
Lorri Reynard
Debby Powell
Jon Peterson
Youth Members: Jade Lewis-Boles and Alec Redmond
Program Council meetings: 7:00 p.m., 3rd Thursday of every month.
Ministers
Rev. Dr. Roger Jones and Rev. Lucy Bunch
Rev. Douglas Kraft, Minister Emeritus
Church Staff Members Krystal Gollaher, Administrative and Facilities Coordinator Michele Ebler, Bookkeeper ~ Elaine Cooper, Receptionist Miranda Massa, Religious Education Coordinator Keith Atwater, Music Director ~ Irina Tchantceva, Pianist Jesus Hoyos - Sunday thru Thursday, Evening Custodian Ivan Caballero, Sunday Audio Tech ~ Dirk Tuell, Web Master/Tech Support
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| UUSS Mission | |
We come together to deepen our lives and be a force for healing in the world.
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