MVUU Newsletter
Jan 27, 2023
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Weekly Calendar
Sunday, Jan 28
Parents of Preschoolers (POPS)
Sunday, Jan 29
Sunday Book Group Online
Sunday Service & Fellowship Hour
Pulpitpalooza, led by Jamili Omar & Deb Roberts
Monday, Jan 30
Dance to Heal
Tuesday, Jan 31
Bookaholics Unanimous
Men's Night Out (Virtual)
Wednesday, Feb 1
MVUU Poetry Sharing
MVUU Choir
Thursday, Feb 2
Mindful Meditation at MVUU
Friday, Feb 3
Mahjong at MVUU
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Our newsletter is growing! Make sure to fully scroll down or click on "Read Entire Message" in your email so you see all that is happening at MVUU! |
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MVUU's Current Airborne Communicable Disease status is
LOW Risk in Arizona
Our building is open. Sunday services are in-person and/or online. We do request that attendees continue to wear masks while indoors unless actively eating or drinking.
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A Moment with the Minister...
Dear Mountain Vista UUs,
I am feeling much better. After a solid couple weeks of being laid low by COVID, I am nearly back to my regular energy level. I don't believe in silver linings, but I have found something about my experience to be grateful for. My starting the year and my first six months slowly due to illness allowed me to reconnect with my creativity.
While I don't recommend getting COVID to reestablish your connection to imagination and wonder, I do suggest exploring what being "fallow" might mean to you. My favorite definition is: soil left untilled or unsown after plowing. The earth which can be worked is instead left to rest, to grow rich with potential rather than energetic with life.
Ann Wickham, in her poem, "The Fallow," captures my feelings of the fallow:
Now, Tiller, hold your grain,
Leave her to sun and rain
And the kind air
Then trench her with a well-judged measure
Of feeding pleasure,
And give her peace
To dream of her increase
And your good care.
Well might you reap miraculous yield
From such a happy, nourished field!
As my energy returns, I'm being cautious to take things slowly and seek fallow moments everyday. I'm enjoying my miraculous yield, but recognize the wisdom of moving more intentionally leaving time for sun and rain as I live into 2023.
In faith,
Rev. Matthew
PS - Here's a delight I want to share. Shari Hill helped our water communion grow with two of her stunning stones. You can see these in person by visiting our grove altar and joining in our ongoing water communion. - Rev. MFC
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February 2023 MVUU Sunday Services: Inviting Joy
February 5 Happy Birthday Universe! (Apple Pie Sunday)
Rev. Matthew and Robin Bousel leading
Bake and bring your favorite apple pie to celebrate the birthday of the Universe (and everything else too). We will begin our invitation to Joy with a celebration of all that ever was, is, and will be.
February 12 Embodying Joy: Our Whole Lives
Rev. Matthew, Susan Alexander, and Stacie Sosa, Religious Exploration Coordinator, leading
We celebrate Valentine’s Day with a multigenerational service embodying Joy. Our bodies are vital to our experience and expression of Joy just as our bodies experience the need for justice.
February 19: Joys and Sorrows
Rev. Matthew and Samar Adi leading
“Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine,
Under every grief and pine,
Runs a joy with silken twine.
It is right it should be so,
We were made for joy and woe,
And when this we rightly know,
Through the world we safely go.”
- William Blake
February 26: Joy of Liberation
Rev. Matthew and Beloved Conversations: Among leading
What is the Joy in our MVUU mission? As we build an open-hearted, welcoming community where we work together in covenant to transform ourselves and our world through love, do we make space for Joy to sustain and propel us forward? Members of our Beloved Conversations: Among team will offer their thoughts and feelings as guidance along our way.
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Meet Claudia Silverman
I was raised UU. As a teen, I was active in the UU Church youth group known as Liberal Religious Youth, or LRY. Although LRY has long been disbanded, my experience in the local and national LRY organization was a formative one, helping to confirm my liberal values to the present day. I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. I went to college in Oberlin, Ohio, and law school at the New York University School of Law. My professional life began as an antitrust attorney at the US Department of Justice in Washington DC, where I met my husband, Randall Gephart. He and I moved to California in 1983, and we spent 35 years in Mammoth Lakes, a ski resort town in the Eastern High Sierra. I practiced law in Mammoth, primarily family law. I retired in 2021. We raised our two sons in Mammoth Lakes. We moved to Ventura, CA four years ago, and moved to Oro Valley in August of 2022.
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Meet Randall Gephart
I grew up in Phoenix and Tucson, and spent my young adulthood hiking and backpacking in and around the Superstitions, Rincons, Catalinas, Mount Wrightson, Mount Lemon, and Sabino Canyon. After a year at Occidental College, I graduated from Arizona State University in economics and followed with a law degree from ASU. Following law school, I worked at the US Department of Justice in Washington DC, where I met my wife, Claudia Silverman. We eventually moved to Mammoth Lakes California, where I divided my time between powder skiing, hiking, and practicing law as a criminal defense attorney. We raised our two sons in Mammoth, and they became avid skiers and hikers. I retired in 2018 and Claudia and I moved to Ventura, and in August 2022, we moved to Oro Valley. I guess you could say I have come full circle.
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POPS: Parenting Preschoolers
Saturday, January 28, 1 pm
Parents and Caregivers of Preschoolers, Join any time!
Join the Baja 4 families in this POPs is a video-based, at-home curriculum grounded in Unitarian Universalism and designed for parents and caregivers of children ages 2-5. By engaging with POP videos, parents and caregivers will come to understand their child’s spiritual development, to build rituals that support this development, and to see themselves as spiritual teachers.
Each month, on your own, watch three short videos on the theme of the month.
With our POPS adults, meet once a month to check in and share. With our children, join other kids for story and crafts time! All activities are optional and free for Baja 4 families! Questions? Email Jamili Omar.
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Mesquite Madness! Second Chance Sale Update
Saturday, Feb 11 Deadline
Deadline to buy is Saturday, February 11, Email Jane Paul. Here are the openings as of Jan 22. More slots may be sold before this newsletter is published:
New Listing: French Dinner on Friday, Oct 13. Join Jane and Conrad Paul
for Vichyssoise, Beef Bourguignon, savory sides, and Crème Brulee for dessert. 2
openings $75
New Event: Wildflower Hike & Picnic Lunch on Tuesday, Mar 28. Led by
Melanie Landa and Elizabeth Van Horn. Enjoy spring wildflowers on Sutherland
Trail at Catalina State Park. Hike is easy with a moderate elevation gain., 5
openings, $40
New Date: Scottish Afternoon moved to Sunday, Feb 26. Marian Menconi
& Allan Lyon host a Single Malt Scotch tasting in their Saddlebrooke home.
Ample savory treats and Scottish lore. Those who fancy a wee dram of something
else are warmly welcomed. 5 openings, $45
Celebration of Creativity Luncheon, Saturday April 22 outdoors at Elizabeth
Van Horn’s home. Share your creative passion with other MVUU artists. All
dietary needs will be met. 10 openings $25.
Donor and Bidder statements have been emailed. Email me if you need it sent
again.
Jane Paul, Mesquite Madness
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Bookaholics Unanimous
Tuesday, Jan 31, 2 pm
We are a group of enthusiastic readers who meet the last Tuesday of the month at 2 pm by zoom. We select a variety of books based on what has intrigued members. We have a full schedule of great books for the new year. Our next meeting is on Tuesday, Jan 31 at 2 pm. The book is Matrix by Lauren Groff. If you are interested in learning more about the group Email Anne Leonard or call (520) 307-8045.
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MVUU Poetry Sharing
Wednesday, Feb 1, 3 pm
MVUU poets will be meeting on Zoom to read some of our poems in the MVUU Poetry Sharing meeting on Wednesday, Feb 1, 2023 at 3 pm. You may prepare 1-3 poems for reading to the group. We don’t critique the poems, just read and discuss them. If you'd like your poems to be displayed with Zoom Screen Sharing as you read them, please Email Alan Harris at lease one day before the meeting. Listeners are always welcome. After each meeting we send out a PDF of the poems that were displayed and read. If you'd like to be on the list to receive this, please let Alan know.
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MVUU First Aid and CPR Training with Desert Fire CPR
Saturday, Feb 4 Sign Up Deadline
Ready to help keep your community safer? Want to help others when an emergency happens? We’ll help you prepare!
CPR/First Aid Class will be taught by Desert Fire CPR & First Aid, Inc. who has been serving Southern Arizona for over 20 years, providing premier education, training, and certification in American Heart Association’s BLS Provider, ACLS Provider and PALS Provider programs. This program conforms to the 2015 AHA Guidelines Update for CPR & ECC and the 2015 AHA and ARC Guidelines Update for First Aid. Students receive a certification card and e-book.
To register, please complete this form Complete This Form or Email Stacie Sosa The registration deadline is Saturday, Feb 4. We will pick a day and time once everyone has filled out the form.
In order to keep this training accessible, we are asking that folks contribute the amounts they are able. The full cost is $50 per person. Payment is due the week before the class starts. Scholarships are available by contacting Stacie. Any amount above the program cost will go to help others who are unable to pay.
Thank you!
Stacie Sosa, RE Coordinator
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MVUU Library Book Sale is Coming!
Sunday, Feb 5, 2023, 11:30 am
We have a great collection of amazing books for sale.
We Need Helpers!
Volunteer Dates
- Saturday, Feb 4, Setup, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
- Sunday, Feb 5, Sales, 9:30 am - 10:30 am and 11:30 am - 1:00 pm
- Sunday, Feb 5, Pack up books, 1:00 pm
To volunteer, contact Connie Armstrong at (520) 544-7723.
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TUCSON FESTIVAL OF BOOKS
Saturday & Sunday, Mar 4-5
For many years MVUU, in conjunction with the other Baja 4 congregations, has had a booth at the TFB. There we expose UU principles to hundreds of people through books published by our own Skinner House and Beacon Presses. A large number of UU-related books will be on display. Since we are not a bookstore we cannot sell books, but we do give away a significant number of books, as well as provide a link to inSpirit, our UUA Bookstore. Our free bookmarks carry contact info for all Baja 4 congregations. This is one of our major outreach projects. Volunteers are needed for setup, booth duty, and teardown. It is Fun, Festive, and Educational. Email Steve Bottorff
Regards,
Steve Bottorff
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January Woven Basket Partner:
CONTIGO
The Contigo Team is so grateful for all the support, help and love that the congregation has provided to this project and the people we have supported over the past two years. Now you’ve heard our story; and learned about the four folks we have previously accompanied, as well as the family we are currently supporting with their variety of health needs.
The January Woven Basket is our major fundraiser for the year. Our goal is to raise enough money to complete the accompaniment of the Sylvestre/Dorvincil family to full legal status, full time employment, continued improving health, and all the things they need to become a part of the Tucson community. We hope you will give generously to this effort and please know that your contribution makes a meaningful difference in the lives of this family. Thank you! We deeply appreciate your support.
Donate via MVUU as the Woven Basket Partner: You can make your donations online at http://mvuu.org/donate/ or by sending a check to the Church Office. The mailing address is: MVUU, P. O. Box 91080, Tucson AZ 85752. Please make checks payable to "MVUU" and indicate that this donation is for the Woven Basket/Contigo in the memo line.
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The Sunday Book Group on Zoom
Sunday, Jan 22, 8:15 am
We are currently discussing, The Song of the Cell: An exploration of medicine and the new human, by Siddhartha Mukherjee. We will be reading and discussing this book well into March 2023. For more information contact John Clark at Email John Clark.
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Dance to Heal
Mondays at 9 am
This is a one-hour class at the Jewish Community Center on Mondays at 9 am. The participants are primarily MVUU members. First class is free. Classes $15. Questions?
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Men's Night Out (Virtual)
Tuesdays at 7 pm
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MVUU Choir
Wednesdays at 6 pm
Do you enjoy music? Being a part of a singing community? Join us Wednesday evenings for Choir! Email Chris Tackett
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MVUU Mindful Meditation
Thursdays at 9 am
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Mahjong Is Back!
Fridays at 2 pm
Weekly Mahjong game sessions in the Oasis Room at MVUU! All are welcome to join us for an afternoon of fun! If you have any questions, please Email Barb Seyfried.
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Caring Circles
Join a Caring Circle to connect, strengthen, and expand ties within our congregation. Circles meet weekly or bi-weekly via Zoom and/or in person. Got Questions? Email Pi Irwin
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MVUU LGBTQ+
We are a Welcoming Congregation, inviting and celebrating all LGBTQs in all areas of our community. For those wanting to speak to someone from the church about LGBTQ+ issues or community, email or text MVUU's affiliated minister, Rev. Christiane Heyde (520) 393-9960.
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Volunteer with MVUU!
If you are a part of a volunteer team or would like to join others supporting our community, please click on
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Fellowship Hour Goodies & Treats Sign Up
We now are ready to welcome the congregation's participation via the Fellowship Hour Goodies Sign Up for each week. We cater to those with special food preferences and request only one to two items per category. Thank you!
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MVUU Membership Invitation
If you are interested in joining our community and would like to become a member at MVUU, please Email Tom Bunch.
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Our Whole Lives (OWL) Education
Starting in January 2023
Do you want to see the OWL program at MVUU, want to give back to your community, and fight for Reproductive Justice? Email Stacie Sosa
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Give your pledge or
Donate to MVUU online
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Send your check to MVUU, P.O. Box 91080, Tucson, AZ 85752, indicating which fund you'd like it to go to (i.e. Pledge, Operating Fund, Capital Campaign, Woven Basket, etc.). |
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Find your Friends in MVUU's Photo Directory
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Newsletter Deadlines: The next newsletter will be published Friday, Feb 3. Submit articles to editor@mvuu.org by 12 pm, Monday, Jan 30. No Exceptions. Articles may not exceed 250 words. Thank you.
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