Weekly Message for UUSS
August 27, 2021
|
|
Pastoral Thoughts: Vaccination Exemptions?
"Do people ask you to provide a religious exemption from taking the Covid-19 vaccinations?" Then the person followed up: "What is the religious perspective on vaccination, anyway? Here is my answer:
Religious traditions vary on many health issues, and leaders within the same tradition may disagree with one another. But all the Unitarian Universalist leaders I know do urge us to get vaccinated unless a medical condition would make it harmful to do so. "But what about individual choice?" someone asks.
We UUs do affirm the right of individuals to make choices about their own health care. Yet a decision about a vaccine is not only about you, unless you live all alone in a remote area and you never come into contact with anyone else. Most of us don't meet that description. We are inter-connected beings.
The global Covid-19 pandemic has shown how tied together we are with others, near and far. Humans are part of a web of life, made up of other people and other forms of life. We are related to other people, even people we don't know. For good or ill, we are dependent on the actions of others, and they are dependent on our actions.
Our choices affect the health, safety, and sometimes the very survival of others. The choice to raise your immunity and our shared immunity by a vaccine is a choice to fight the spread of an epidemic, to protect people who may be more vulnerable than you are.
We could also think about it as an expression of the ancient religious and ethical instruction: to love your neighbor as yourself. The rapid development of the vaccines would not have happened without people who had devoted years of prior research on other Corona viruses. The rigorous drug approval process of the past year could not have happened without willing volunteers who allowed vaccines to be tested on them for safety and effectiveness. All of those efforts are examples of the "love of neighbor" in action.
In the case of the vaccines, it is not merely a choice about your own health preferences. It is a choice about extending care and healing to the larger community. It is a decision about protecting one another, for we are all in this together. So may it be.
Keep in touch and keep the faith,
P.S.-- Speaking of neighborliness: This Sunday I am preaching at 7:00 a.m. to the UU Church of Canton, New York (where it will be a bit later). Nearly 60 years ago, Rev. Theodore Webb was their minister, a decade before serving UUSS! This Sunday is my part of a carbon-neutral pulpit exchange with my Canton minister friend Rev. James Galasinski. He Zoomed in to preach for us on Father's Day. My sermon for them is "The Stories in Our Head that Get in Our Way." Feel free to attend their service at this link.
|
|
Service Time Is Changing! |
|
Don't forget: Our Sunday Service time will switch back to 10:30 a.m. on September 12. Also: even though there's now an option to attend in person, our services will always be on Zoom, for those who cannot or choose not to come in person, including our transcontinental or overseas attendees! Whenever you do attend in person, remember to wear your mask and come to UUSS early so you can sign in.
|
|
Soul Matters Small Groups Starting Soon
Registration Now Open!
|
|
Groups will begin the second week of October.
Registration closes on September 15, 2021.
Soul Matters groups meet twice a month to build connections and provide a place where participants can share and discuss what matters most. Group activities are structured around monthly themes that are also used in worship and religious education.
These facilitated groups of 8-10 people will meet twice a month starting in October and ending in May.
|
|
You are welcome at UUSS for Sunday Services!
Guidance for Service Attendance
|
|
Show up at 10:45 a.m. on Sunday and sign the contact list at the table in the Welcome Hall (staffed by volunteers). Please wear a mask inside or when any children are present outside.
Make a name tag or retrieve your name tag, then please meet the newcomers and greet old friends in the Welcome Hall or on the new patio. The worship team will open the sanctuary doors for you. You will see a basket in the sanctuary to place your Shared Offering donations, or you may donate by text, US Mail, or online. Thank you!
NOTE: Our Sunday Service time will switch to 10:30 a.m. on Sept. 12. Remember: even though there's now an option to attend in person, our services will always be on Zoom
However you show up, we would love to have you join us!
|
|
Upcoming Sunday Services
Join us for Worship Services:
Sunday Aug. 29 and Sept. 5 at 11:00 a.m.
Service time will change on Sept. 12 to 10:30 a.m..
Services will always be streamed on Zoom also.
The Bookstore is now open before and after the service; masks required.
Miss a service? You can find links to past services here.
Want to join us in person? Show up 15 minutes before service!
Half of all offering donations made in August
will support our community partner:
|
|
Sunday August 29, 11 AM:
Spiritual Practice in Traumatic Times
Rev. Sharon Wylie, guest preacher, with Rev. Dr. Roger Jones, Worship Associate Fred Best, Rev. Sangye Hawke, Violinist Mary Blanchette and Pianist Irina Tchantceva
Rev. Sharon Wylie serves as minister of Chalice UU Church in Escondido and has been a favorite yearly guest in our pulpit.
Developing a daily spiritual practice has never been so necessary. Let's reflect together on the challenges and benefits of spiritual self-care. In addition to the sermon, the service features a delightful story for all ages
|
|
Sunday September 5, 11 AM: Getting to No
Rev. Lucy Bunch, preaching, with Rev. Dr. Roger Jones, Worship Associate Karen Sparrow, Pianist Irina Tchantceva.
As we enter the post-pandemic phase, many of us are making choices about how we want to spend our time and who we want to spend it with. Making good choices about our lives requires the ability to say no. This Sunday we will consider how to set boundaries around our life that give our mind and spirit the space needed to thrive.
This is the last service at 11:00 a.m.; we move 30 minutes earlier next Sunday! (Both in person and streaming on Zoom)
|
|
Sunday September 12, 10:30 AM:
Ingathering: Embracing Possibility
Rev Lucy Bunch, Rev. Dr. Roger Jones, Worship Associate Suzy Mazrole, Pianist Irina Tchantceva, Music Director Anthony Tavianini
We come together at the start of a new church year to name our challenges and express our gratitude for life and for this community. We are not the same congregation that we were before the pandemic. Let us begin again in love. Greet one another on Zoom or in person and welcome our new Music Director on this special day!
We return to our previous time of 10:30 a.m. today, which is Ingathering Sunday. Please come 15 minutes early to sign in (part of the contact tracing guidelines) and greet old friends and new visitors before the 10:30 service. Please wear a mask indoors and in the presence of children while outside. This is a Circle Service, so we welcome all ages. To learn about fall plans and links for Religious Education, please see the RE Outreach.
|
|
Recruiting Sunday Service Greeters for Fall!
Sign up Now!
|
|
Are you a friendly person who likes to welcome people? The Welcome team is recruiting greeters for Sunday Services this fall. Two training sessions are planned on August 22 and 29. Contact welcome@uuss.org to sign up or get your questions answered.
|
|
New UUSS Music Director—Anthony Tavianini |
|
Anthony Tavianini will direct our UUSS Choir and select and lead special Sunday music by volunteer and guest instrumentalists and singers. Read the recent article about him at this link on our website and tune in or show up to meet him at 10:30 on Sept. 12!
|
|
Religious Education (RE) for
children and youth and families
|
|
RE Elementary Program Information:
When the new church year begins on Sept. 12, we are starting a new RE model for Kindergarten through grade 5. It's called Soul Kids! Soul Kids will make use of children's materials from the Soul Matters program, a theme-based ministry program for Unitarian Universalist congregations. We have used it for adults, youth and children in the past year.
RE Youth Groups Information: Please stay tuned for program announcements.
To connect with our Religious Education Coordinator, please contact Miranda at re@uuss.org.
|
|
Groups, Gatherings, and Classes |
|
Sunday Bookstore at UUSS -
Sunday before church and after church you can visit the UUSS Bookstore in our Library. Good values on great reads--$1.00, hardback or paper. Also: CDs by UUSS musicians, books by UUSS authors UUSS Chalice Blend Coffee. (No longer on Fridays.)
|
|
Ted's Web
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. Now meeting in person at UUSS!
|
|
Reading and Responding to Poetry with JoAnn Anglin. The 1st and 3rd Monday each month at 10:00am via Zoom link here. Our next meeting is September 6.
|
|
Ukulele Strum-Along,
Friday, September 10, 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
in the UUSS Fahs Room (education building)
Beginners are welcome, and please come early, at 6:30, and we will get you tuned up and started. We have copies of the music to share and a few ukes to spare.
|
|
Our September 10 speaker was featured recently in a New York Times article What Cutting-Edge Science Can Tell Us About Extreme Weather. Click the link here to read it.
|
|
Message from Racial Justice Committee
1. If you are on the racial justice email list and you did not receive an email on August 6 announcing the Aug 9 discussion topic and resources, please check your junk or spam folder(s). We think the message went awry and many of you (and us) did not receive it. If you have questions contact: racialjustice@uuss.org
2. If you missed the August meeting, don't worry, we postponed the discussion to Monday, September 13.
3. Wednesday morning discussions are cancelled for now.
4. Stay tuned for more, and different, offerings for learning about racial justice and how to practice anti-racism.
5. Action needed: one person to keep the racial justice webpage up to date. No need for highly specialized knowledge but comfort and/or skill with updating webpage content is required. A few hours of time would be needed to get started but then only one to three hours per month on an ongoing basis. A member of the Racial Justice team will give the updates or new content.
|
|
Sangye Hawke’s Ordination: A Day to Remember |
|
Dear Beloved Members and Friends of UUSS:
On August 21, I, Student Minister Sangye Hawke, became Reverend Sangye Hawke inside the lovely sanctuary of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento. No event is without challenges, but the Ordination Team of UUSS made this dual congregation ordination look easy. Working with the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Santa Cruz County, whose membership hovers just under eighty souls, this Co-Ordination was not a first in the realm of ordinations in the last two years held on Zoom, but was a first for both congregations.
Zoom technology also made available clergy to come and participate without the expense and danger of travel. We had clergy and seminarians Zoom in from Okinawa, New York, and Hawaii. We also had attendees from New Zealand. As the Service Leader, Celia Buckley did a fantastic job, shepherding us through the usual internet congestion delays with humor and grace, glowing and radiant. Dirk Tuell, our Sunday Services Tech Wizard, held all the elements together with magic and skill as clergy Zoomed in or sent videos to contribute their wisdom and rituals of ordination. Those of you who wish to view the Ordination can do so, as we made a recording. Dirk can let you know how to view the private video.
Of course, no event can be without Ordination Chairperson Bobbie Keill’s extraordinary talent in both baking and reception. The food was elegant and delicious! Her team worked from 11:00 am creating handmade hors d'heurves, until the ceremony concluded at 4:00 pm!
The weather also seemed divine, never hovering about 84 degrees. Reverend Roger provided wonderful hospitality to several attending local UU clergy and I am deeply beholden to Reverend Doctor Gretchen Woods, Minister Emeritus of Corvalis, Oregon for helping steady my shaking hands and fluttering heart as I put on, for the first time, my new Ministerial Robe.
|
|
Nothing says Resilience more than flowers. This handcrafted arrangement was made by Terrie Taylor with a vase that survived the recent fires.
Reverend Cynthia Davis held us all in her ethereal gift of music, an original composition on a wooden flute, as we pondered the powerful words of a homily provided by the author of "Widening the Circle of Concern", Reverend Leslie Takahashi of Mount Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church of Walnut Creek, California.
Denis Edgren, Vice President of the Board of Trustees, represented UUSS in style and grace, sharing the screen with UUFSCC’s Board President in a tricky technical maneuver that required both parties to speak as if in conversation without being able to talk directly to one another. The result was genuinely Presidential. You are gifted to have such examples of leadership in your congregation.
|
|
But the ceremony would not have been complete if it had not been for the amazingly lovingly crafted stole. Molly Stewart and Karen Sparrow created a gorgeous stole replete with CONSTELLATIONS embroidered on the back and a jellyfish filled with tiny glitter hearts and jewels.
No minister could have been more honored than I was, and I sincerely thank all of you for being part of this life-changing, spiritual event. One of the most popular questions I have been asked is, where will I be a minister? In Santa Cruz? Here?
This year I am working full-time as a chaplain resident at UC Davis Medical Center. But I am also part of this amazing and beloved congregation. Yes, I am here to stay. Thank you for welcoming me back again into your community!
Again, Stay safe, well, and calm. Our most precious resource is each other.
In blessing and love,
The Reverend Sangye Hawke
|
|
UUSS Engaged with the Community |
|
Help for Afghani Refugees |
|
As noted in the last Message, we are grateful that our Afghan friends are safely here, but we know you are grieving the losses and fearing for the safety of your families, friends, colleagues and other Afghans in this uncertain time of chaos and violence. Our prayers and love are with you and them. We want to be of help in practical ways as well as in keeping you in our caring thoughts. Sacramento has the largest number of Afghan immigrants of any city in the nation, and we are proud to patronize our local Afghani businesses, to be connected to individual Afghan American families, and to be partners with local refugee resettlement organizations.
On our website are some suggested ways to provide financial support to organizations that resettle refugees and advocate for U.S. action to protect human rights and save lives. There also is information about the situation from local staff at the IRC.
|
|
We come together to deepen our lives and be a force for healing in the world. |
|
MINISTERS & CHURCH STAFF
Ministers: Rev. Dr. Roger Jones ~ Rev. Lucy Bunch
Minister Emeritus: Rev. Douglas Kraft
Krystal Gollaher, Administrative & Facilities Coordinator
Michele Ebler, Bookkeeper ~ Elaine Cooper, Receptionist
Irina Tchantceva, Pianist
Miranda Massa, Religious Education Coordinator
Jesus Hoyos, Custodian
Dirk Tuell, Webmaster ~ Ivan Caballero, A/V Technician
|
|
Board Members,
July 2021- June 2022
Tonie Darling, President
Denis Edgren, Vice President
Victoria Owens, Treasurer
Anara Guard, Secretary
Board Members at Large:
Hally Cahssai
Frances Myers
David Harlow
Marilyn Reynolds
Eric Ross
|
|
Program Council,
July 2021- June 2022
Susan Davis Co-chair, and
Tina Lawrence-Chiginsky Co-chair
Debby Powell
Beth TenPas
Jon Peterson
Annemieke Farrow
Marilyn Reynolds, Board Liaison
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
