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December 20, 2019
Issue #525
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Upcoming Worship Services
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Saturday, December 21, 2019, 4:30 pm, Winter Solstice: Gifts of the Dark
Lara Abel, Director of Family Ministries, Lynne Scarpa, Rev. Marcus Hartlief
Since before recorded history, humans have acknowledged the winter solstice - that turning of the stars when the longest night of the year gives way to the growing of daylight hours - the rebirth of the new year.
Through the centuries, we humans have celebrated the solstice with ritual, story and song. Join us on this longest night to honor the Solstice and welcome the expanding light.
Come mark this longest night with a community celebration of crafts, music and story! All ages are invited to gather in the Fireside Room for solstice crafts and refreshment, followed by a ritual to honor the dark and cast into a fire that which we would let go of.
Sunday December 22, 2019 at 10:30 am: The Return of the Sun
Rev. Marcus Hartlief
It is so ordinary and natural that the days stop getting shorter and the light returns. Living in our world of ubiquitous artificial light, can we still share in the awe that solstice has brought to people throughout time and place? We celebrate the returning light this year with an intergenerational retelling of the Miwok tale of why hummingbird has a red throat. All ages are welcome through the service (Wee Ones class will still take place after the story).
Tuesday, December 24, 2019 at 6:00 pm: Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
Rev. Marcus Hartlief
We gather to sing carols, light candles, and tell an old story of hope and peace once again.
Sunday, December 29, 2019 at 10:30 am: Participatory Poetry Service
Terry Lucas, Marin Poet Laureate
As we come to the end of our month exploring awe, we will gather to share our favorite poems that bring us, in the words of Matthew Zapruder, "to that place beyond words by words themselves."
What poems carry you close to an unsayable awe, and help you feel it?
What poems describe the indescribable?
Bring poems (1 page maximum please) written by you or others, to read aloud. Or just come to listen.
Coffee and tea will be served during the service in the Fellowship Hall.
The service will be led by Terry Lucas, Poet Laureate of Marin County; and Jan Seagrave, member of UUCM and a local poet active in the Marin Poetry Center.
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Upcoming Topics and Leaders
| 12/22/19 |
Calm and Focus |
Kim Holscher |
| 12/29/19 |
Resolute or Unresolved? |
Carol Kerr |
| 1/5/20 |
Generating a Generation of Geniuses |
Jim Prochaska |
| 1/12/20 |
Connecting and Building Community |
Kat Braeman |
| 1/19/20 |
Attention, Attention |
Janice Prochaska |
| 1/26/20 |
Principles of Giving: How to Choose a Charitable Cause |
Jim Harrison |
| 2/2/20 |
Critical Thinking |
Jerry Moore |
The Sunday Circle is held from 9:00 am to 10:00 am
each Sunday in the Fireside Room.
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Christmas Eve Refreshments
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We will be having hot cider and finger food in the Fireside Room immediately after the Christmas Eve service.
If you would like to donate baked goods, please bring them to the kitchen before the service.
Mary Gilstrap and Margaret Johnston are in charge of set up and cleanup. Volunteers to help with either are welcome.
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If you are planning to make contributions for the 2019 tax year, please make sure to send them into the church office by Dec. 31. The administrator will be out of the office beginning Dec. 23 until Jan. 6, so any checks received by then with a Dec. 31 date (or before) will be entered as a 2019 contribution and will appear on your annual statement accordingly. Online contributions need to be submitted no later than Dec. 27, to allow enough time to settle into the bank by the 31st. If it isn't on the church's December bank statement, we cannot honor it as a December contribution (sorry!).
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Sharing Joys and Concerns
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"Joys and Concerns" are an important part of our Sunday service and we want to hear yours. Pink slips - no longer in our order of service - are in a basket at the entrance to the sanctuary. If you have a joy or concern to share, please pick up a pink slip and fill it out. The ushers will collect them during the first hymn.
From the Pastoral Care Committee
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Join Theater On the Go to See Two Local Plays in December
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Dec. 22, 2 pm, "She Loves Me," Ross Valley Players
Dec. 29, 2 pm, "The World Goes Round," Cinnabar Theater
Sandy Levitan, who led a theater club at the Dominican OLLI program for over 10 years, will be offering a theater activity called Theater On the Go for the winter of this year.
The plays for December are both Sunday matinees:
Ross Valley Players, "She Loves Me," Dec. 22, 2 pm. Hearts will be captivated by the plights of Geoge, Amalia, and their co-workers in the Parfumerie. See
rossvalleyplayers.com
Cinnabar Theater, Petaluma, "The World Goes Round," Dec. 29, 2 pm. All your favorite hits from "Cabaret" and "Chicago" plus lots of great songs from lesser known musicals are spun into a delightful cabaret-style revue, that has garnered loads of awards from coast to coast. See http://cinnabartheater.com/the-world-goes-round/
For Theater on the Go, UUCM members and friends should buy their tickets from the theater and arrange their own transportation.
Let Sandy know which plays you'll attend, and plans can be made for dinner or lunch before or after the play, and discussion will be included.
This series is sponsored by the Adult Education Committee.
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Jordan Decker in After-Service Discussion
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Jordan Decker, our Sunday Speaker on January 5, will lead us in a discussion of his sermon "It's a Tight Rope" after the service, beginning at 12:15 in the Fireside Room. Please plan to remain at UUCM, partake of some refreshments, and join us for further exploration of the topic and Q-and-A time with Jordan.
This discussion is sponsored by the UUCM Adult Ed Committee and is funded by an Art Wesley Grant.
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Have something to share with the UU Marin church community? Send it to newsletter@uumarin.org, by Tuesdays at 7 AM for same week publications.
Order of Service announcements are due by Wednesday at 5 PM,
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Welcome New Members to UU Marin!
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Last Sunday we celebrated new members with an ingathering ceremony in our service,
here are their short bios that were shared in the Order of Service:
John Eller
I was raised in a UU family in Tulsa, San Mateo and Cincinnati. My sister Janne and her husband, Rob, are UU co-ministers and served at Oakland and now at St. Paul, MN. My brother Jim served as a UU minister, retiring from a Kansas City congregation. I am a retired architect and currently sit on the Marin County Planning Commission.
Margy Eller
I was raised as a Quaker outside Philadelphia in the 50s and 60s. I was introduced to Unitarianism in St. Petersburg, Florida with Rev. Dick Boeke when my parents moved to Florida in the late 1960s. Dick Boeke presided on our marriage in the Bay Area in 1977.
Living in Marin for almost 40 years, I have been a member of several other liberal congregations but am pleased to be a part of the Unitarian community again. My career
was in financial services.
Jackie Gorton
Jackie's parents did not plan on having a baby while her dad was at Wharton in Philadelphia; so she was a surprise. Jackie adopted her father's conservative values and grew up outside of Syracuse, NY in Fayetteville-Manlius, a community very much like Marin. From conservatism to outrage -- in college she radically changed to a passionate anti-Vietnam War protester. Her history professor predicted how the war would escalate and the young man sitting next to her described the pain of having his buddies return home in body bags. After completing her BS in Nursing at SUNY, Plattsburgh, Jackie moved to liberal San Francisco to attend graduate school at UCSF and majored in Adult Psychiatric Nursing. She married, had two daughters and divorced. Even though she was married and a working mother with two little girls, she quit her secure civil service job in administration at SF Community Mental Health Services to fulfill her dream of becoming an attorney. Jackie never lost her passion whether for her work, her family, her causes such as finding housing for the homeless, or for her volunteer work with Legal Aid of Marin. She is very excited to become a member of UUCM and looks forward to "inspiring joy and justice in an imperfect world by acting to make a difference."
Lee Howard
On the cusp of turning 80, I feel good about:
Being Mom to 4 daughters and 3 step sons
Being Granny to 8 and great granny to 2
Touching the lives of hundreds of Kindergartners
Working hard at being kind.
Ginnie Job
Born Groundhog Day 1944, Ginnie enjoyed a storybook childhood filled with laughter, books, music, curiosity, critters, and puns... but no TV. She earned an English degree from William Jewell College, married, raised two sons and 25 Golden Retriever puppies. Job (not that one!) included PR for National Young Audiences and creative writing & product innovation at Hallmark Cards. For fun, she free-lanced stories, wrote/sold song lyrics, attended/performed in local theater, devoured books, lobbied in DC for people with immune deficiencies, and spent time at the lakeside log cabin her grandparents built. She and Jerry moved to Mill Valley
in 2017 to help spoil grandchildren.
Jerry Job
To the tune of "Davy, Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier":
Born on a farm in Mis-ssou-ri
Not too far from the city, K.C.
Caught chickens for meals at the age of three
Graduated college with a Masters Degree.
Happy, Happy Jerry. Membership on its way.
4 children born, but an infant passed
7 grandchildren, they are the best
Proud of them all, they're doing okay
I may be blessed or just lucky that way.
Merry, Merry Jerry. Membership on its way
Teaching was the initial goal
High-school counselor, his best loved role
Sold real estate to better provide
New wife Ginnie now by his side
Lucky, Lucky Jerry. Membership on its way
Always tried to be athletic
Softball, basketball, but golf's pathetic
Singing in the choir, I'm usually off key
Amanda is tolerant of old Jerry
Jerry, Jerry Job: Loves UU of Marin
Kathie Kertesz
I first joined Unitarian Sunday School when I was nine, then became a member of the church in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. I was a very active member of Liberal Religious Youth (LRY) all over the South, traveling up to 17 hours to go to church youth conferences. I love the arts, especially music and dance, and have already joined the UU Marin choir. I've lived in Marin for over 40 years and now live in a studio in Kentfield.
Joan Smith
Joan Smith came to UUCM having been raised in the Methodist Church and having raised
her children as a convinced Friend in Abington Monthly Meeting. She has found an outlet
for giving back through our Social Justice, Hospitality and Leadership Committees. And
she is forever grateful for the fellowship and caring of those who share this sacred space.
And bios to follow for new members Perry Nelson, husband of our choir director Amanda Nelson, and Brenda Galilee & Emilio Rojas, who were under the weather and unable to participate in the ingathering on Sunday.
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Race: the Power of an Illusion - Film and Discussion co-sponsored by Social Justice and Adult Education Committees
January 12 Episode I "The Difference Between Us"
January 26 Episode II "The Story We Tell"
February 9 Episode III "The House We Live In"
All sessions will be 12:15- 2:00 PM in the Fireside Room.
In these sessions, we will view and discuss each of the hour long segments of this powerful DVD that explores what race really is. In the words of the producer, the "hope is to clear away the biological underbrush and leave starkly visible the underlying social, economic, and political conditions that disproportionally channel advantages and opportunities to white people."
The discussions will be led by the Reverend Theresa Novak and Anne Spatola.
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UUA Common Read Schedule Change
An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States
by Roxane Dunbar-Ortiz
Our discussion of this year's UUA Common Read, An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States, will be held on Sunday, Jan. 19, in the Fireside Room. (It had previously been scheduled for Jan. 5.) This will give you more time to get the book and read it! Bev Munyon and Jan Seagrave will lead the discussion, which will cover the middle of the book, chapters 6-8.
How to get a copy of the book:
- Borrow one of seven copies that are circulating among UUCM members. Check in the Community Room for the Common Read box to find a copy. It's also available at the Marin County Free Library.
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You're Invited . . . to celebrate 70 years of our fellowship on Saturday, January 25, 2020 from 4:00 - 7:00 pm, in our sanctuary.
Join us to share your memories of our Congregation or learn about our history, reminisce to live music, enjoy themed appetizers, learn some new dance moves to music of the decades and raise a glass of bubbly to our future. There is something planned for everyone of all ages. Please give as generously as you can at one of the following levels to place your name on our HONORED GUEST list.
All proceeds benefit UUCM and help defray the shortfall of our 2020 budget.
PURPLE Sapphire $700 +
GREEN Sapphire $500 - $699
YELLOW Sapphire $100 - $499
PINK Sapphire $7 - $99
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Calling volunteers who would love to create a beautiful "organic sculpture" this winter for the Sunday morning service. Some of you like to purchase flowers at the markets (inexpensive and they last all week!). Some of you prefer to forage in your yard for blooms who love the cold weather (and we all have them!) and some would like to create an interesting shape using branches. We SO enjoy and appreciate them all! Please send me an email -
sallyrschroeder@comcast.net - and let me know your preferred date. Better to add a second choice in case yours was taken earlier. The months are January, February and March.
Many thanks! May joy and beauty be part of this season for everyone of you.
Sally
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UU Tours of Alaska now open!
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WhaleCoast Alaska has opened their 2020 tours of Alaska for 2020! WhaleCoast Alaska is a Unitarian Universalist eco-cultural and spiritual program for people who are looking for a more authentic Alaskan experience. Tours are operated in cooperation with four UU Alaska fellowships
- Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, and Sitka - that provide home stays, dinner parties, activities, and transportation for the guests.
The Alaska National Parks Tour will be June 13-23, and the All-Alaska Tour will be July 10-22. These tours fill fast! For comprehensive information, go to
https://whalecoastak.org
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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
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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)
Director of Family Ministries:
Office hours:
Wednesday and Thursday afternoons
415-578-9788 (direct)
Administrator:
Choir Director:
Amanda Nelson
Early Childhood Teacher: Glynda Christian
Don Beck: 415-892-0642
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Feedback about this weekly newsletter is appreciated. Please note change in email address:
eWeekly Deadline for Friday 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 Western Region announcements of interest to the entire congregation.
(Staff article length 250 words)
Proofreader: Victoria T. Holdridge
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Marin
415-479-4131
240 Channing Way
San Rafael, CA 94903
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