Ministerial Message for April 28, 2020
Etiquette Edition
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Friends -
On my trip to the store the other day, the people behind me in line refused to keep 6 ft away. I pointed out to them (fairly kindly) to stay on red the patch on the floor and they ignored me.
Similarly, neighbors in the court at the end of my street have been having "social distancing" happy hour, with very minimal distancing. And today when I saw the pictures of the Southern California beaches full of people I want to shout "what the hell are you people doing!"
What's a caring, compassionate, justice oriented person to do? Well I can't do anything about the beaches in SoCal, and I can't do much about the people in the court, except alienate myself from the neighbors. But I did do something about the people in the grocery store.
My main concern was for the clerk who had to deal with people all day and possibly be exposed to the virus. So I turned fairly aggressive and told the people behind me to "back up right now." They looked surprised, but they did back up, a bit. The clerk gave a grateful look and nod.
I felt very protective of her, knowing that it would be
difficult
for her to stand up for herself.
In this time of uncertainty what are the rules of behavior? Perhaps they are the same as always; be reasonable, be fair, be thoughtful and kind and help those who for whatever reason can't help themselves. And try to minimize your judgement of those who aren't doing as well as you think they should be.
Sending love to all,
P.S. Join me tomorrow night for Exploring Unitarian Universalism. We will consider the Seventh Principle: Respect for the Interdependent Web of which we are apart. Zoom in at 7, link in the block below. I would love to see you there.
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 Onl
ine worship services
via
Zoom
Services this week:
Join Rev Roger tonight for our Vespers service with the theme of Simplicity. Its the last few days for contributions to our community partner for April the International Rescue Committee. Find out more about them
here. Go to our website
http://www.uuss.org/donate/
to make a donation.
Exploring Unitarian Universalism continues Wednesday April 29th at 7:00. For newcomers as well as long-term UUs, this engaging series used to take place before church on the third Sunday morning of each month. Now it will happen weekly in our Zoom room
Link here. Next weeks session will focus on the Seventh Principle of UU.
This Sunday, April 26, our
Stewardship Team has an open house at 1:00 p.m., in the same
Zoom Room as the service and Coffee Time after service. All are welcome to bring your questions about pledging for the budget year 2020-21 and hear a campaign update.
Zoom Room streaming open house:
Drop in to chat with one of your ministers and whoever else drops in. All ages welcome! Friday, 10:30 a.m.
Zoom link here.
Religious Education Ministries--Spirit Play (now Zooming at 9:30 Sunday mornings) Youth Groups and Coming of Age
are meeting in various ways, including families together for an open house. On Sunday evenings there is Parent Voices, a session with Miranda and Sangye for adults who are parenting. If you didn't see an email for RE families and volunteers, contact Religious Education Coordinator Miranda Massa: re@uuss.org
Theology on Tap every Friday evening by Zoom
Bring a beverage of choice (from your own fridge) in the room of your choice (in your own place) and a community conversation.
Find the Zoom link by emailing theologyontap@uuss.org.
Is your group meeting on ZOOM?
Let us know and we will post it in the next message.
Does your UUSS group want to meet on Zoom?
The UUSS Zoom is a busy place. So busy that we added a third account to accommodate all the meetings. Contact Krystal Gollaher, our Administrative and Facilities Coordinator, if you want to set up a meeting for your group.
Sermons to
hear at any time:
Do you miss hearing sermons?
You can find more than 5 years of sermons on our web site.
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Many of us are on regular Zoom meetings these days. If you don't want to be that person who makes the meetings difficult for everyone else please consider the following Zoom etiquette:
- Don't be a Zoom bore - balance your contribution to that of others.
- Make friends with the mute button. Use it when you are not speaking. This will minimize the impact of other sounds in your environment (such as barking dogs) .
- Use standard meeting courtesy - don't interrupt. It can be particularly disruptive on Zoom.
- For small groups turn on your video unless there is a really good reason to have it off. You will not be fully engaged in the meeting otherwise. Sorry if you are having a bad hair day - wear a hat. We are all having a bad hair day.
If you are facilitating a Zoom meeting consider the following:
- As people enter the room let them know if they need to adjust their camera. (or if they have spinach in their teeth)
- Show them how they can mute themselves (bottom left on computers) and tell them to do so if there is loud background noise in their home.
- Test everyone's sound.
- Show them how to switch from speaker view to gallery view (upper right on computers)
- Make sure to ask everyone present to introduce themselves. This is especially important for open meetings where everyone may not know everyone else.
- Practice good meeting management. Ask people to raise their hands and be called on before speaking. You may love the free for all , but it can be quite intimidating for some folks.
- Welcome latecomers into the space (but don't interrupt the speaker to do so).
- Use a structured approach to sharing: when each participant is responding to a question or prompt, propose that each speaker nominate the next person to speak.
- Keep your sense of humor.
(adapted from the Zoom blog)
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Meanwhile Back at the Ranch
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Its been quite active at UUSS this past week.
The supports for the patio cover are complete and have been inspected by the county. Work on the structure continues this week.
Many of the RE rooms are being painted, and the Main Building is being super cleaned and sanitized.
We are grateful to our
custodians, Jesus and
Miguel for their hard work while we are away.
The roses are blooming.
Several folks have come out to weed the flower beds. Everything is looking good. The Labyrinth is available for those who need a walking meditation.
But the star of the show are the Agaves that are blooming in the succulent garden. They are truly a sight to be seen.
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Religious Education by Zoom
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Families, kids and youth! Don't miss out. Virtually connect with our Religious
education
programs. We have several ways to virtually connect.
- Morning Zoom with Miranda - All RE/All Programs/All Ages, families and volunteers! Come show me your smile! Fridays at 9:00 in the morning.
- Zoom to Spirit Play with Miranda & Student Minister Sangye Hawke for kids in elementary school. Sundays at 9:30 a.m. (new time starts April 26)
- Junior High Youth Group (grades 6-7-8) Zoom on Sundays at 4 p.m.
- Senior High Youth Group (9-10-11-12) Zoom on Sundays at 7 p.m.
- Parent Voices Zoom with Miranda & Sangye for adults to share space together every Sunday night at 8 p.m.
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Get Connected - UUSS Phone Ministry
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To keep the community connected, we are offering a Phone Ministr
y where participants can make or receive calls throughout the week with other participants. An email reminder will be sent with the contact information and when to make or expect to receive a call. There about 20 people participating at this time, and there is room for more.
This program will
run as long as needed.
If you have any questions or comments or if you wish to change your schedule or drop out of the group, please email
PhoneMinistry@uuss.org
.
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We come together to deepen our lives and be a force for healing in the world.
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