E-Octagram
May 20, 2018
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   Week at a Glance   UUC Sunday Service  What's Happening at UUC Serve   UUC Committees Adult Religious Enrichment   UUC and Beyond    
This Weekend is Huge!
When it rains it pours at UUC. This weekend we celebrate on multiple fronts, starting with...

-- A combined Silent Auction and Banquet is planned for Saturday afternoon and evening. Our hosts for this grand event, the UUC Board of Trustees, are hard at work putting the finishing touches on the set up. The doors open at 3:00 pm and the bidding starts at 3:30 pm. Check out the catalog in advance HERE
The banquet begins at 5:00 with 120 RSVP'd guests attending. We hope to see everyone there to help us celebrate the completion of the project and honor all those who have helped to make it a reality.









Sunday morning is the annual UUC celebration of Flower Communion. Rev Patrice Curtis will be the service leader and her sermon is titled "Bound Together". Bring your flowers to join in the service.
The weekend of celebration turns its attention to the business side of UUC church activities with the Annual General Meeting , which starts at 12:30 pm in the Octagon. If you would like to read the bios of our new Board nominees go HERE. To read or download the official meeting packet click HERE
Wait, there's more! This week the Art Committee is hard at work hanging the annual
Members Art Show in the Octagon. As always there is some incredible work by our members and it's worth viewing each and every one. It will be hanging through September so be sure to take the time. Viewing hours are 9-12 am Mon-Thurs and noon to 1:00 pm on Sundays
Not to mention that the One Blood bus is here this Sunday and hoping for lots of donors. Eat a good breakfast and hop on the bus to give the gift of Life after Flower Communion.
UUC WEEK AT A GLANCE

May 20th, Sunday --
Open Issues : 9:30-10:20, Patio Room
Conversation: "Fentanyl-related fatalities in the U.S." They rose from 3,016 in 2013 to approximately 20,000 in 2016, while other opioid-related fatalities barely changed. Why? What should we be doing, if anything, that's different? We will show 3 short video clips made in Philadelphia and Vancouver.
Sunday Service: 10:30-11:45, Octagon
Service Leader: Rev. Patrice Curtis, "Bound Together" Rev. Patrice Curtis will be talking about her recent trip to the border of Mexico and America. How does this relate to this annual UU covenant event? Come and find out Sunday May 20th.

This week's Pastoral Associate: Marie Chapman

Sunday's Religious Enrichment
Growing Together - Children's Gardening Experience
'Jungle" Jay Hardman will endeavor to engender a love of nature in a new generation of youth. This serves to acquaint them with Perennial Urban Food Forestry and the abundance that THEY can generate in an Organic Garden. 
Using exclusively locally sourced materials, we share the ideals that eliminate negative impacts of GMOs and the petrochemical fertilizers, pesticides and carbon footprint of transport of these and our food.

Exhale Every Wednesday at 6:00-6:45 pm, in the Octagon
By popular demand, Exhale - Mindfulness and Meditation now runs weekly. Come sit or walk with us in a simple format that focuses on breath. Our large sanctuary has room for both sitting and walking meditation. We meditate for 10 minutes or so, three or four times. Late-comers welcome, enter softly.
This practice supports your other spiritual practices when you are unable to attend your primary spiritual community. Stay for tea and conversation afterward. Contact Kathy Krohn at:   uuc.kathykrohn@gmail.com

May 27th, Sunday: Memorial Day Weekend

J une 7th, Thursday: End of Life Choices Meeting , 1:30-3:00 pm, Westwood Rm.

June 10th, Sunday: Environmental Justice Committee Meeting , 12:15 - 2:00 pm, Chorale Room

June 24th, Sunday: Humanist Monthly Meeting , 12:30-1:30 pm, Octagon,  Monthly Meeting



Meet with Rev. Patrice Curtis
If you would like to meet with Rev. Patrice contact the office at 727-531-7704. If you wish to contact her, please call
(510) 852-9304.



Rev. Patrice Curtis
This Sunday
May 20th, 2018
 Service 
Sunday, 10:30-11:45

Service Leader:
Rev. Patrice Curtis
"Bound Together"

  Pastoral Care Associates

UUC has a strong team of lay Pastoral Associates who offer confidential, emotional support and spiritual companionship to fellow church members. You can access pastoral care by contacting Rev. Patrice Curtis at 727-531-7704 ext. 5 or revpatrice@uuc.org .
Please note that emails sent to the front office are not confidential; emails to Rev. Patrice are.
This week’s pastoral care associate is Marie Chapman and he is available at
727-531-7704 ext. 5.  
Open Issues
9:30-10:20 am
Patio Room
Conversation: "Fentanyl-related fatalities in the U.S." They rose from 3,016 in 2013 to approximately 20,000 in 2016, while other opioid-related fatalities barely changed. Why? What should we be doing, if anything, that's different? We will show 3 short video clips made in Philadelphia and Vancouver.
  Flowers for Sunday Services
If you would like to supply the flowers for an upcoming Sunday service in honor of a special event or person in your life, please email Laura Daniel at flowers@uuc.org . She will help you coordinate your contribution. 
Sunday's Religious Enrichment
Growing Together - Children's Gardening Experience
'Jungle" Jay Hardman will endeavor to engender a love of nature in a new generation of youth. This serves to acquaint them with Perennial Urban Food Forestry and the abundance that THEY can generate in an Organic Garden. 
Using exclusively locally sourced materials, we share the ideals that eliminate negative impacts of GMOs and the petrochemical fertilizers, pesticides and carbon footprint of transport of these and our food.
Have you signed up for a Covenant Group yet for next year? Go HERE
The Last Board of Trustees meeting was held on April 18, 2018. You can read the minutes by clicking on this link HERE
Spring Into Service

UUC is hoping that many of its members are eager to enrich their experience by volunteering on a regular basis. We NEED you at the front desk, at Sunday Service, assisting at member events, or serving on or even leading a committee.

'Everybody' thinks 'Somebody' did it, when in fact, 'Nobody' did.
What's Happening at UUC
UUC Chorale selected to go to Carnegie Hall in 2019!

We are thrilled to have our very own UUC chorale selected to be part of a concert at Carnegie Hall in February 2019. UUC was selected to perform the piece " Lux: The Dawn From On High" by American composer Dan Forrest. To listen to the premiere of the recently written work, go to this website:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ly_leYhUVrU UUC Chorale members will join other selected choirs in order to join forces with about 250 singers, a full professional orchestra and conductor. They will spend 5 days in New York preparing and performing the concert at Carnegie Hall.  If you would like to contribute financially in order to help fund this incredible outreach, please e-mail Carol Kay - bookkeeper@UUC.org
From Our Chorale Conductor, David Katz
to the UUC Community

As music director of UUC, I am blessed to share in a very unique way with a beloved community. I am consistently filled with gratitude and appreciation towards those who share their time, talent and financial resources with the UUC community.
With that in mind, I want to personally thank those of you who have contributed to assisting our upcoming Carnegie Hall endeavor.
The opportunity to be invited to participate at Carnegie Hall is unbelievable. Carnegie Hall is one of the great halls of the world in one of the great cities of the world. We bring to Carnegie Hall our Unitarian Universalist love of all that is beautiful and good in the form of music.
However, this commitment comes with a cost. Each singer serves as an underwriter to pay for the rental of the hall, the professional orchestra of considerable size, the excellent conductor and the employees of Carnegie Hall who help put the production together. Additional costs include travel, hotel
and ground transportation expenses while in NY. There are additional costs associated with learning the piece such as the purchase of the music scores, professional part recordings to aid in learning the work, and compensating our professional section leaders for the extra hours that they spend in rehearsal beyond our regular rehearsal days and times.
Your gift, on a tangible level, supports all of this. But perhaps more powerful but intangible is the beauty of music that you make happen. This is one of the great gifts of humanity and on behalf of myself, Linda Jones and the UUC chorale, we thank you for that.
If you would like to give to our Carnegie Hall fund, contact Carol Kay (bookkeeper@UUC.org); or checks may be made out to UUC. Please make sure you indicate on the memo line that it is for Carnegie Hall. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact me at katzmusicstudio@aol.com.
Blessed Be and Shalom, David
Readers Forum
Fridays, 10:30 am, Chorale Rm.

We finish  Lilac Girls  on May 4. We’ll read  Snow Flower  and the  Secret Fan  by Lisa See on May 11, 18 and  Cat’s Cradle  by Kurt Vonnegut on May 25, and June 1st. Then , we’ll break for the summer. We meet Fridays at 10:30 in Chorale Room.
Exhale is Weekly
Thru May
Wednesdays 6-6:45 pm
A Gathering for Sitting and Moving Mindfulness.
Join us weekly for meditation and some quiet moments of mindfulness and connection. All levels of meditators welcome.
UUC Committee Meetings and Events
Please get your meeting information to events@uuc.org NO LATER than one week before the next E-Octagram (publishes on Thursdays). If there are changes, they must get to the above email NO LATER than the Wednesday before publishing. Thank you. 
End of Life Choices
June 7th, Thursday, 1:30-3:00 pm, Westwood Rm
Humanist Meeting
June 24, 2018, Sunday, 12:30-1:30 pm, Octagon
Environmental Justice Committee
Sunday, June 10th, 12:15-2:00 pm, Chorale Room
FOOTNOTES FROM THE LIBRARY:
 BLACK LIVES MATTER AT UUC!
A new addition:

"When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir"   by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele

...from the Amazon review: 
Raised by a single mother in an impoverished neighborhood in Los Angeles, Patrisse Khan-Cullors experienced firsthand the prejudice and persecution Black Americans endure at the hands of law enforcement. For Patrisse, the most vulnerable people in the country are Black people. Deliberately and ruthlessly targeted by a criminal justice system serving a white privilege agenda, Black people are subjected to unjustifiable racial profiling and police brutality. In 2013, when Trayvon Martin’s killer went free, Patrisse’s outrage led her to co-found Black Lives Matter with Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi.

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The Library is also expanding a shelf featuring UUC authors, but we need some help. The section is located just below the Unitarian Universalism section. Please stop by and see if your favorite UUC author is there, and more importantly, if you have copies of these UUC works, consider donating them to the Library.

Let me know about Books, CD's or other material that have had an impact on your Spiritual/Intellectual Journey!

Please let us know what they are because they might also be available to others.

Contact: 

Introducing our new feature from the UUC Librarian Bruce Gotts:
Famous UUs ...

JOHN ADAMS: A Biography of the one of America's founding fathers and second president of the United States

In this powerful, epic biography, David McCullough unfolds the adventurous life journey of John Adams, the brilliant, fiercely independent, often irascible, always honest Yankee patriot who spared nothing in his zeal for the American Revolution; who rose to become the second president of the United States and saved the country from blundering into an unnecessary war; who was learned beyond all but a few and regarded by some as “out of his senses”; and whose marriage to the wise and valiant Abigail Adams is one of the moving love stories in American history.

This is history on a grand scale—a book about politics and war and social issues, but also about human nature, love, religious faith, virtue, ambition, friendship, and betrayal, and the far-reaching consequences of noble ideas. Above all,  John Adams  is an enthralling, often surprising story of one of the most important and fascinating Americans who ever lived.  

"John Adams" by David McCullough is available in the Anastasia Maxwell Library


Beyond UUC...
General Assembly (GA) is the annual meeting of our Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). Attendees worship, witness, learn, connect, and make policy for the Association through democratic process. Anyone may attend; congregations must certify annually to send voting delegates.
General Assembly will be held in Kansas City, MO, June 20 – June 24. To find registration, housing, hotel information go on line to: https://www.uua.org/ga  

Theme - All Are Called
Grounded in a deep belief that we are all prophets, Unitarian Universalists ask, “How can we faithfully meet the demands of our time?” The call to witness and act for justice in our society and in the world is clear. So, too, is the call to examine our structures and practices, dismantling and transforming those which fail to recognize the full humanity of all people and to honor the interdependent web of life. Join us in Kansas City as we dive deeply into questions of mission for our Unitarian Universalist Association, for our congregations and communities, and for each of us as individuals. Together, we’ll ask:
Who and how are we called to be at this time, individually and collectively?
How are we called to act and to live?
How does our Unitarian Universalist legacy strengthen us in living out our mission? In what ways does our legacy present challenges and impediments to answering our call?
The call of our faith has a place for each of us. Join us in Kansas City to build courageous, collective leadership with tools, skills and connections. 
 
 Kansas City MO
The City of Fountains is practically overflowing with adventure. Whether it’s the scent of smoldering BBQ luring you to a plate of ribs, the sweet echo of jazz welcoming an evening of entertainment or the spray of fountains inviting you to kick off your shoes and make a splash, you’ll sense inspiration in the air – and find it along every boulevard. 
As America's most centrally located major metropolitan area, Kansas City's location is a huge advantage for travelers. In fact, more than 55 million Americans can get to Kansas City in less than a day’s drive. And flying there is even easier—as Kansas City International Airport (KCI) is just a three-hour flight away from each coast. All major U.S. air carriers serve KCI, which offers more than 400 daily flights with nonstop service to 48 destinations.

Volunteering
As a volunteer your registration fee would be waived.  You will work eighteen hours. There are volunteer opportunities in a variety of activities.  Go to the website for lots of information:

If you’d like to work with Sue Boone as an usher please contact her for more information.  

Or for any other questions feel free to contact Sue.
Spiritual Leadership in Communities of Faith: A Contemplative Retreat begins on Sunday, July 29th and ends on Friday, August 3rd, 20a8. The retreat will take place at the Transfiguration Spirituality Center near Cincinnati, Ohio and the tuition includes housing and all meals. Ther number of participants is limited to 24 divided into 3 categories: clergy, non-ordained religious professional, and lay leaders. There's still room in all categories. We will explore 4 areas of spiritual direction:
--What is spiritual direction/Guidance/companioning
-- Small group spiritual direction
-- The training and supervision of group leaders, and
-- Justice as a spiritual path.
To find out more go to: https://spiritualleadershipretreat.org
Southeast Unitarian Universalist Summer Institute invites you to explore, build community, make music and have fun this summer at Western Carolina University, in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains. For more information go to: http://suusi.org