All across the country legislators are passing laws that restrict people’s rights and push an agenda of white Christian nationalism. People of faith need to fight back and remind those whose rights are being compromised that they are not alone. Unitarian Universalists believe that every body is sacred. UU Side with Love is sponsoring two events to support LGBTQ justice. On Wednesday, March 22, at 5 p.m. is a webinar to show the work UUs are engaging in right now in the context of the wave of hateful legislation and violence against trans and queer people. On Friday, March 31, at 5 p.m. PT is a UUA Trans Day of Visibility Virtual Party for Trans/Nonbinary Families. Click here to join either or both events.
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UUCC Congregational Meeting, March 19th |
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UUCC holds its Third Congregational Meeting on March 19th, at 11am, in-person at Senior Coastsiders at 925 Main Street. We’ll be meeting in their Media Room, which provides a big screen to better interact in real time with those who join us over Zoom. We’re hoping for 100% participation from all who are inspired by our services. We’ll be discussing service structure, continued masking policies, music direction, what we can do to inspire better attendance, broader participation, stuff like that. Please email us if you wish to add any items to the agenda. To join by Zoom, here's the link.
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UUCC First Sunday In-Person Service, April 2nd |
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The Touchstones Theme for April is Grief. On April 2nd, our Beloved Ron Ahnen returns to deliver a sermon entitled "Remembering Rosie: A 50 Year Journey of Grief from Theism to Humanism." How we understand and experience grief in our lives depends a lot on our personal faith. As our faith and spiritual lives evolve over time, so do our forms of grieving. Ron Ahnen explores with us the linkages between faith and grief through a reflection on how he has grieved over the course of five decades the loss of his seven year old sister, Rose Marie, who died by homicide in 1973.
Once again, beautiful music will be provided by Diedrik Edholm and his father, Kaj. Along with playing a piece by Schubert, Diedrik will play his own arrangement of "Sadness and Sorrow" for violin and piano from the anime series Naruto, composed by Toshio Masuda (Musashi Project).
This live in-person service takes place at Odd Fellows Hall, 526 Main Street, Half Moon Bay, CA, 94019. Out of an abundance of caution, we require mask wearing for churchgoers throughout the service—with the exception of those actively speaking at the front of the room. Odd Fellows Hall has quite new high-circulation air ventilation system. And since May 2022, with our mask protocols in place, no one attending our in-person services at Odd Fellows Hall has caught COVID. The link to join us over Zoom will be included in the next newsletter.
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The Ordination of Tovis Page, May 6th |
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Please mark May 6th on your calendars to celebrate the ordination of Tovis Page
into the Unitarian Universalist ministry. The ceremony will take place at UUFRC (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Redwood City), 2pm to 3:30pm, with a reception to follow. RSVPs will be required for in-person attendance. Virtual attendance via Zoom will be made available. Stay tuned for more details as the date gets closer. UUFRC is located at 2124 Brewster Ave in Redwood City.
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Tovis' internship at UU San Mateo was shared with UUCC from September 2018 to March 2019. As well as delivering wonderful sermons on first Sundays, Tovis guided UUCC on producing better and more formal services with an improved Order of Service format. Throughout her development into a full-fledged UU minister, some things have remained the same about Tovis: her kindness, humility, and role modeling of what it truly looks like to have Love as a Center. |
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Volunteer Jobs Needed for In-Person Services |
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Now that we are meeting in person on First Sundays, we need help in different ways. Can you commit to helping out in any of the following ways?
- Photograph our April 2nd Service
- Bring flowers!
- Greet people as they come in
- Set up chairs before, and/or put them away after, the Service
- Help unload and load video equipment for hybrid service
- Assist with setting up video equipment for hybrid service
- Pass out the orders of service and distribute hymnals
- Assist with hand-held cameras for hybrid service
- Clean up of the hall before closing
To tell us how you can help our Beloved Community come together again, please contact us at uucoastside@gmail.com. And thanks to all who have or continue to volunteer!
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Compassionate Caring Committee: |
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The UUCC Compassionate Caring Committee volunteers are often able to support our members during life events such as post-operative, illness, or being homebound. Do you need food delivery or an errand run? Are you feeling loneliness, loss, or grief that a call might help?
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We Appreciate Your Support: |
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For supporting UUCC financially, we have two options: |
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If you prefer to donate by check, please make your check payable to UU San Mateo, and write UUCC on the memo line. Please mail your check to:
Nancy Palmer
506 Willow Avenue
Half Moon Bay, CA 94019-1648
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UUCC Planning Committee Meeting Highlights |
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The UUCC Planning Committee had a busier than usual January and February so apologies for tardy summaries.
Summaries for December 2022 - February 2023:
- Our December fundraiser raised a total of $3,200 dollars for Abundant Grace, so another highly successful and creative all-music program under the direction of Tom Devine.
- Sadly, accepted the resignation of our wonderful Music Director, Tom Devine.
- Introduced two talented new pianists to UUCC services in January and February, Carol Siegal, and Diedrik Edholm.
- Hosted our first Burning Bowl Ritual on January 1st, in collaboration with UUSM and tech lead, Nicholas Soriano Smith.
- Helped with planning and participation in three public memorial services on behalf of the victims of the January 23rd shooting.
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Bill Heavlin and Esther Wallace, MDiv, currently are co-facilitating a Shared Pulpit class of 10: 7 from UUSM, 2 from UUCC, and one from Lake County.
- Attended an Multi-Faith Potluck sponsored by Eric DeBode at Abundant Grace in February with other Coastside Faith Leaders to discuss collaborative approaches to the housing crisis and homelessness.
- Attended a Half Moon Bay City Council meeting to speak in support of affordable housing on behalf of Faith in Action Coastside.
- Reports on monthly attended meetings for the Coastside Collaborative, CoastPride Multi-faith Partner, and PWR Presidents Meeting for Small Congregations.
- Hosting our Third Congregational Meeting on March 19th and appreciative of the insurance rider provided by UUSM to rent the Media Room at Senior Coastsiders.
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Unitarian Universalist Coastside Community
Half Moon Bay, California
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Bill Heavlin, UUCC Planning Committee
Dave Rokosky, UUCC Planning Committee
Noreen Cooper Heavlin, UUCC Planning Committee
Bruce Rafnel, UUCC Technical Director
Nancy Palmer, UUCC Treasurer
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