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June 9, 2019: The Language of the Flowers
Flower Communion is a uniquely UU ritual, a celebration of the beauty of life and diversity in all its forms. As we honor this tradition today, we are reminded that our world is again in need of our radical vision of one interdependent earth family. This will be an
intergenerational service with all ages included throughout and feature the celebrated musical duo Emma's Revolution.
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Upcoming Topics and Leaders
6/9/19: Cheating Children Into Elite Colleges: How and Why?
Jim Prochaska
6/16/19: The Ups and Downs of Making Waves
Yvonne Devine/Jack Travis
The Sunday Circle is held from 9:00 am to 10:00 am each Sunday in the Fireside Room.
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Dear ones,
What good energy we had at the congregational meeting last Sunday! Thank you to all the leaders (and followers!) who made that wonderful gathering happen.
I know that the whole Mission team was thrilled, as I was, at the response to our new Mission Statement. I have confidence these words will serve the congregation well for years to come:
To inspire joy and justice in an imperfect world, we:
Share life's journey,
Celebrate many paths, and
Act to make a difference.
In the coming weeks and months we will begin to integrate this Mission into the life of our community. It will take time for these words to make their way into the many layers of our congregation, from the surface layers--like our website, other digital communications and printed materials--to the deeper layers of how we organize our resources. It will take time, but I don't know any better reason to "do church" than making the commitments of this Mission more and more real among us.
Remember that we have a Sunday of celebration coming as we end our church year and look forward to the Summer! Please bring a flower to share for our flower communion, and food to share for our potluck celebration after the service where we will say "Aloha!" to our Director of Family Ministries, Jeffrey Melcher, and honor the service he has given.
With you on the journey,
Rev. Marcus
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Bittersweet farewell - This is my last newsletter article as Director of Family Ministries. We
have had a beautiful seven years together creating and keeping meaningful space for children, OWL classes, refurbishing the lower level of the building, holding a space-time segment of the week for intergenerational family community. I look forward to visiting you all next Spring and seeing how you are all doing. You are welcome to follow my professional-personal-spiritual journey on my blog: https://jeffreymelcher.blogspot.com/. Thank you to everyone giving me your blessings and bittersweet farewells. Our love and care for each other even as we loosen our weekly relationship is apparent. I deeply wish for you all a new love with your next DFM. "...And In the End, the Love We Take Is Equal to the Love We Make." - The Beatles
Small Faithify.org fundraiser for OWL program - Mary G has already written another short article for this newsletter, but just a word from me here. Part of the experiment this year with expanding the OWL program was to hire two teachers in order to serve the needs of the families interested in OWL offerings. Instead of turning families away, we took a leap of faith that we could fundraise the budget gap. Please follow this link and donate and support a model for the future of multi-community OWL programming.
Permaculture Playground Project update
A few weeks ago I mentioned the redwood picnic tables that are coming. We expect they will be finished during the summer. The little garden project planned by Luka Coole for the Summer RE program now has a compost bin which was built this past Sunday. Link to Anderson Rowe's photojournal record of this process.
More Photos
Stone Soup 2018
Photos from Previous Years
UUCM Feb 2018
Old Favorites
I hope to see you all this Sunday. If we miss each other, then know that I wish you the best.
May we love the world into healing and change that includes all humanity and the planet which is our nest.
Until we meet again: Peace, Salaam, Shalom
~ jef ~
Jeffrey Melcher, M.Div.
Director of Family Ministries
415.578.9788
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Upcoming dates link to the UUCM calendar for saving on iCal, Outlook, etc.
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
10:30 AM - 1:30 PM
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Reminder - if you want an article to go in this newsletter send it to
groupemail@uumarin.org
not to Lisa Cohen.
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Flower Communion Sunday - June 9
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End of Year Festivities - Sunday, June 9
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Flower Communion during service - Bring a flower or two to share
Potluck after the service - (Note updated food assignments)
A-F Protein
G-N Salad
O-R Fruit
S-Z Dessert
Farewell to Jef after service - say goodbye to Jef
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Let's Fund Our OWL Program
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UU Marin Multi-Community OWL Outreach Project
UUCM is just completing a remarkable multi-community OWL program (Our Whole Lives:
https://www.uua.org/re/owl
) with 11 families from four separate communities: the Marin Waldorf School and three UU congregations. By June 9, 13
students in grades 4-7
will have completed the
program, with 22 parents attending the six-week OWL Parent class.
Although certified UUCM volunteers usually teach our OWL classes, the size and age range of this class required us to hire a second teaching team. This expense was not covered by our budget; we now have a $1,400 funding gap.
UUA has created a crowdfunding website, Faithify, to encourage innovative projects that extend the reach of UU values.
The UUCM Board of Trustees has approved using
Faithify
to attempt to raise the $1,400 needed to fund this program.
Donors may pledge to contribute by credit card, using the secure link below -- any amount will help.
Pledges will not be processed unless the campaign is successful -- that is, if the campaign raises $1,400 by June 13, donor accounts will be charged on June 14;
if not, all pledges will be canceled and the project will be closed.
Please make a contribution to support this significant success in sharing the OWL resources outside of our UU circles. If any questions, please contact Jef Melcher, Director of Family Ministries, at dre@UUMarin.org.
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For two and one-half years, the Marin Organizing Committee (UUCM is a member) has pushed the city of San Rafael for legal protections for renters. Several of our members have
worked closely with MOC to effect this change.
On June 6, 2019, the first reading of a new set of ordinances was read at the San Rafael City Council Meeting. Just Cause for Eviction and Mandatory Mediation between landlord and tenant (if rent increases 5% or more in a year) were approved.
People in photo:
Joyce Tarlton
Victoria Holdridge (not shown)
Linda Haumann
Anne Spatola
Joan Smith
Karen Auroy
Katherine Da Silva Jain
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At the UU Marin Congregational Meeting on June 2, 2019, the Mission Task Force announced the new church mission that was a result of six months of conversations with 123 people from 13 groups over such questions of "Why do we come to church?" and other inquiries. The committee also did interviews with individuals and got input from nine people online. The following mission statement was approved unanimously by the 65 members attending the meeting:
To inspire joy and justice in an imperfect world, we
Share life's journey,
Celebrate many paths, and
Act to make a difference.
The Mission Task Force was chaired by Wendy Meluch with members Carol Kerr, Mikey Songster, Ted Gaebler, Kim Holscher and Rev. Marcus Hartlief.
Other key actions were electing two new board members: Mary Bicknell and Gretchen Leavitt and appointing three delegates to the UUA General Assembly: Luka Coole, Mary Gilstrap, and Anne Spatola.
Treasurer Margaret Johnston reported that the projected $12K deficit for this church year instead resulted in a $12K surplus because of generous pledges and outstanding fundraising efforts. The proposed budget for 2019-20 of $444,433 with projected revenues of $439,700 with a projected $4,733 deficit was approved by the congregation. As yet unfunded is a projected $19K expense to repair and repave the parking lot.
The longtime service of Jeffrey Melcher, Director of Family Ministries, was recognized by Susan Mathews on behalf of the congregation. He will be celebrated at a potluck lunch on Sunday, June 9th. Volunteers of the Month were recognized and given certificates.
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January: Jim Finn: Facilities
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February: Dianne Estrada: Soul Matters Leadership
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March: Lynne Scarpa: Fundraising Dinners
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April: Ali Jenkins & Marilyn Nelson: Partner Church
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May: Thomas Ervin & Dianne Estrada: Retreat
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June: Wendy Meluch: Mission Task Force
Respectfully submitted,
Kat Braeman
Board Secretary
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Ushers needed - No experience necessary - We train you.
Short hours, regular work, great rewards, good working conditions.
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Charades at Game Night - June 7
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How do you act out the title of the "Game of Thrones" TV series without speaking? How quickly could your teammates guess "Middlemarch" if you stomped in place in the middle of the room? The "War" part of Tolstoy's novel might be easy to portray, but what about the "Peace" part? (Would it "sound like" peas or piece?)
Come release your creative side in a low-key pickup game of Charades. Carol and Doug Kerr and Jan Seagrave will be the ringleaders of this tomfoolery, which is being added to the regular Family Games Night beginning
Friday, June 7, from 7 to 9 pm. We will gather in the Fireside Room with the rest of the board and card-gamers, but will move shortly thereafter to the Dream Room for our antics. Instructions and the few supplies needed will be provided. Adults and teens are invited to join in. Please bring your ideas for movie,TV, play, song, and novel titles, and very short quotations, for a member of the opposing team to act out silently and for their teammates to guess. Bring potluck snacks to share with all the gamers, to the Fireside Room, if you wish.
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Our congregation has applied for a Chalice Lighter grant to help us continue to grow by offering a shuttle service on Sunday mornings when our parking lot has reached capacity. Chalice Lighters is a program for members of UU congregations in our area (the Pacific Central District) to support projects like this that grow Unitarian Universalism. Chalice Lighters are asked to pitch in $20 up to three times a year to support such projects. You can read more about the program here:
To get this grant, the District hopes that we will show our support for the program by members of our congregation signing up to be Chalice Lighters themselves. Would you consider taking this stand to help us get a grant now, and support the growth of Unitarian Universalism in our region in the future? You can sign up here:
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General Assembly - June 19-23, Coming Soon
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General Assembly is the annual meeting of our Unitarian Universalist Association. Attendees worship, witness, learn, connect, and make policy for the Association through democratic process.
The 2019 General Assembly will be June 19-23 in Spokane, Washington.
https://www.uua.org/ga
UUCM's delegates are Mary Gilstrap, Anne Spatola, and Luka Coole.
The 2019 Ware Lecturer is Richard Blanco.
Rev. Lindi Ramsden, Director of Partnerships and Emerging Programs at Starr King School for the Ministry, will deliver the sermon at the 2019 Service of the Living Tradition.
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Social Justice Education/Action
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If you are not already receiving emails from the social justice committee and wish to receive them along with information about social justice actions/rallies in and around Marin, please send your email address to:
socialjustice@uumarin.org
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Do you want to make a difference in our county and the world?
We focus on local issues which are relevant to all of us. Bring your ideas and concerns to the
UUCM Social Justice Committee.
We meet the third Sunday of each month at noon.
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Continue your commitment to environmental and economic justice by shopping at
http://shop.uusc.org
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Staff Links
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Office hours:
Tuesday-Thursday: mid-morning to late afternoon or into the evening.
Call, text or email to make an appointment.
415-578-9632 (direct), 510-213-0404 (cell)
Office hours:
Wed 10:30-2:00
Thursday 10:30-2:00
Sunday 9:00-1:00
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I appreciate any feedback about this weekly newsletter.
eWeekly Deadline for Thursday issue:
Tuesday by 7 am - activities and announcements, staff columns, committee reports
Weekly articles can contain:
- Notices of UUCM sponsored events, meetings, or other activities which involve the entire congregation.
- Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) or Pacific Central District (PCD) announcements of interest to the entire congregation.
(Staff article length 250 words)
Weekly, UUCM Connect and Special Announcements Editor: Lisa Cohen
Proofreader: Victoria Holdridge
Backup Production Editor: Valerie Taylor
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Marin
415-479-4131
240 Channing Way
San Rafael, CA 94903
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