Service Leader: Rev Dave Clements

Worship Associates: Richard J Senghas

Music: Robin Rogers

Pianist: Roger Corman

Share the Basket: Saturday Breakfast for our Neighbors

Service Leader: Scott Miller

Worship Associate: Eric Fischer

Music: Gage Purdy & The Choir

Pianist: Roger Corman

Share the Basket: Russian River Alliance

Service Leaders/Guest: Rev. Dave Clements

Worship Associate: Clare Whitfield

Music: John Ray

Pianist: Paul Gilger

Share the Basket: Saturday Breakfast for our Neighbors

Service Leaders: Rev. Dave Clements

Worship Associate: Susan Thollaug/Linda Lampson

Music: Gage Purdy & The Choir

Pianist: Roger Corman

Share the Basket: Undocufund/NBOP

“The Path of Vulnerability”

Our theme for the month of March is Vulnerability. Brene Brown defines vulnerability as "uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure." Brown goes on to suggest that vulnerability is our most accurate measure of courage; we allow ourselves to be seen when we are vulnerable.

In Brene Browns book, “Daring Greatly”, she states, “Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy and the experiences that make us the most vulnerable.”

I invite all of you to join me this month on a journey of exploration of vulnerability. The path of vulnerability is about choice. There is power in vulnerability as well as barriers to being vulnerable. We will explore together how vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, and creativity. It is the source of hope, empathy, accountability, and authenticity.

Cheers,

Rev. Dave

-Maya Angelou

The year keeps moving along and now we are more than halfway through this fiscal year. It’s hard to believe! Here’s where we are financially:

Financial results through January 2023 - Revenue: We are behind about $21k in pledge revenue through 7 months. Total revenue from operations is behind about $34k mostly from low fundraising revenue and donations. Expenses: Total expenses are also significantly under budget. Net Income: The Glaser Center has net income of over $10k, while operations (excluding the Glaser Center) has a net income of about $23k through the first 7 months of the year.

While this appears to be a very positive result, it is caused primarily by staff positions which were unfilled for some periods of time during the year and staff hours not fulfilled as expected. The last four months of the year tend to have lower pledge revenue as many members have completed their annual pledge at this time in the year. It is expected that, although staff expenses are under budget by over $50k at this time, we may end the year with a loss.

One bright spot is that new rentals continue to come into the Glaser Center. Robin, our Rental Coordinator, is making a big difference for us.

It’s true! The Finance Team and the Board have been working on next year’s budget with the intention of creating a balanced budget. You will be hearing more about this in coming months as the Board wants to involve interested members of the congregation in discussions to include differing perspectives and promote understanding of the difficult financial considerations ahead of us. Please participate in this process.

Linda Balabanian, Treasure

UUCSR Justice Choir: Beginning March 23rd, we will be hosting a bi-monthly meeting of an informal justice choir where we will invite members of the community to gather with us to raise our voices in songs that call for justice, reform, and support in our community and the larger world! In this group we will engage in the empathetic, collaborative, and collective power of singing together to create change. We will also be inviting local speakers to come speak with the choir to offer a platform to disenfranchised and historically marginalized/underrepresented voices. Justice Choir meetings will be on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month from 5:30-6:30pm with some time to socialize afterward. Feel free to stay for the UU Choir afterward at 7pm.

UUCSR Instrumental Group: We are putting together a group of instrumental musicians to provide music during services monthly! This is an open invitation: if you play an instrument and are interested in supporting special music/singing together, please reach out to musicdirector@uusantarosa.org with the subject line “UUCSR Instrumental Group”.

How can you best support the music program at UUCSR in 2023? Consider participating in one of the above projects, joining with the choir on Thursdays, or even becoming a member of the Music Coordinators! The MCs play a significant role in the planning and execution of special music for services and we would love your ideas and help with special music. Please contact Gage with further questions and inquiries - we look forward to making beautiful music together and serving our beloved community for 2023 and beyond! 

Hello all,

This past month we've seen several new families come check out RE! We're so excited to be growing our program, and we want your help spreading the word. If you know a family that might enjoy some or all of our many programs, have them contact me, or better yet, bring them along on for a Sunday service! And, as always, if you want to get involved with RE, we would love to have you. You can contact me at dre@uusantarosa.org to get involved.

In love and gratitude,

Era

Chalice Camp is a week-long day camp for kids entering 1st-9th grade! The camp highlights kernels of our religious heritage and theological turning points in our history that make us who we are today. Campers explore and experience UU identity, history, and values through energetic worship, games, drama, art, and community building.

The camp is held on June 26th-30th from 9:00-5:00pm, with projects, discussions, and games planned throughout. Campers are asked to stay the entire day so that they can experience the camp and its curriculum fully.

$350 for Regular Registration (children entering 1st-6th grade)

$200 for Counselor in Training (youth entering 7th-9th grade)

$300/$150 for Early Registration (thru 3/31)

Check out the Chalice Camp Website, which also has info on Chalice Camps taking place in Marin and Oakland this summer. If you'd like to know more about Santa Rosa's camp, or would like to get involved, please contact camp director Era Capone at dre@uusantarosa.org, or by phone at (707)-494-8799.

This Sunday, the kids of RE will explore what it means to be vulnerable, and what we gain when we let others in. They'll hear the story The Old Woman Who Named Things by Cynthia Rylant and practice vulnerability through art and performance.

This Sunday, the kids of RE are exploring vulnerability through Harry Potter. It can be hard learning the things that we like have parts we might not agree with, and it can be even harder to figure out what to do when we learn those things. Through play, story, and art, kids will grapple with the vulnerability of contradiction.

Join us for a special, early service just for families with children! Unlike multigenerational services, this service is abridged and designed just for kids and their guardian, with opportunities to play games, perform, and have lots of fun!

This Sunday, the kids of RE are celebrating Trans Day of Visibility. They'll hear the story When Aidan Became a Brother by Kyle Lukoff, and afterwards, explore how defining yourself can be both an act of vulnerability and empowerment.

Special Family Service

If you attend services, you are aware that there is a Lay Chaplain each Sunday

who reads the entries in the Milestones book and is available after the service if

someone needs a listening ear.

Additionally, our ministry involves assisting our minister by being in contact with

people who are ill, unable to come to church or who have experienced a recent

loss. We meet twice monthly to identify the needs in the congregation. We are

also available to connect with any congregant who requests it. Please contact one

of us directly or all of us at LayChaplains@uusantarosa.org if you or someone you

know needs support.

Our Lay Chaplains are: Rob Carlisle, Judy Ervice, Bruce Hope, Barb Kezur, Lucia Milburn, Gayle Shirley, Gretchen Vap

At the January Let’s Taco ‘Bout UUCSR! event, folks gathered together for fun, good food and envisioning the future of UUCSR. Here a few exciting short-term opportunities to become engaged, and live into our vision:

Contact Tamara Murrell or Leslie Norinsky for more information.

THE 8TH PRINCIPLE…MOVING FORWARD

You will soon be invited to share in a variety of experiences as we live into our 8th Principle. A Phase 2, 8th Principle Working Group will be communicating with you. You will also be invited to contribute your ideas, looking forward to a community wide endeavor as we do this important work. Someone said that they thought this vote was a part of our congregational healing. It certainly marks a forward movement. The following words seem to capture our intentions.

From Reverend Jonalu Johnstone

WE SHALL OVERCOME

We shall overcome.

When we can truly celebrate the diversity of contributions and talents offered by all people, we shall overcome hatred and prejudice and oppression.

When we can truly extend our hands to one another in loving acceptance, we shall overcome the past that haunts us now.

Living in peace and freedom, we shall overcome the wrongs that have happened and the debts left unpaid.

Let us join together in that commitment to overcome.

Let us say together, “Amen”.

Thank you all for your support of the 8th Principle. We look forward to the journey ahead in loving fellowship.

The Adult Education Committee offers a wide variety of courses and programs in such areas as film, science, current social and political issues, skill development, personal growth, and forms of religious understanding. We always welcome suggestions from anyone who would like to present or participate in a program. Our members are Helge Lemke, Steve Sweaney (co-chairs), Nadene Carroll, Carol Daeley, Linda Lambert, Elizabeth Wheless, and Clare Whitfield.

After showing Not Worth Killing, a short and powerful documentary about an unlikely friendship between a nun and a convicted murderer serving life without parole in Alabama, there will be a panel discussion led by the director, Eric Ivey, and the producer, John Mutz. Panel members will include James Alexander, author of Courage in the Face of Cruelty, a book about his 28 years in the California Prison System; Jason Dorfer, President of Second Chance SRJC; and others to be determined.

John Mutz is a member of UUCSR and a former Station Commander with the LAPD. He is the author of the recently completed book The Restoration of American Policing: 12 Steps to Transformation.

Eric Ivey is an award-winning filmmaker and a resident of West Sonoma County.

Rationing, war bonds, victory gardens, defense workers... these were just a few of the familiar features of what was known as the Home Front—the efforts of US civilians doing what they could to support “our boys” fighting in World War ll. The federal Office of War Information worked with radio programs to help keep that support strong and morale high. And no one in radio pitched in more enthusiastically than Fibber McGee and Molly, This is a class about how they did it, while remaining funny and entertaining. Come to learn about what Home Front Americans were expected to do, and to enjoy comedy with a serious point.

Alan Bell is a long-time Congregation member with 20 years of experience in television, mostly as a public TV producer, and 15 years as a professor of communications.

In April, Rev. Dave will offer a two-session course that he has taught many times over the past 15 years. He will discuss early UU history and will include such topics as women in the ministry and our relationship with Black history.

Rev. Dave Clements is our current minister. He holds an MDiv degree from Meadville Lombard Theological School. Among other accomplishments, he served as interim minister to the multi-cultural and multi-racial Cape Town Unitarian Community. During his time there he kept a journal which became his book When the Elephant Laughed.

Movement and Exercise for Seniors

Time and Location TBA

Breathing and Voice Techniques

Gage Purdy

Time and Location TBA

Would you like to know more about the roots of Unitarian Universalism and its philosophy? Maybe you’re considering becoming a member of UUCSR? If so, you are welcome to attend the next Getting to Know UU classes on Sundays, March 19 & 26. They’ll be held in the Founders Room directly after the services; lunch is provided.

Sign up at the Visitor/Welcome table before the class date or email membership@uusantarosa.org

Please read the new Key Policy Agreement HERE so you know your obligation when requesting a fob.

Please contact Aphrodite if you have any questions administrator@uusantarosa.org

Save the date for our

UUCSR 2023 Service Auction Extravaganza!

 “Time to Sparkle and Shine!”

Saturday May 20th from 5:30 to 8:30pm

We are excited to announce the return of our beloved UUCSR Service Auction. Get ready for an evening of treasure hunting, bidding, fun and laughter. Once again we will be asking you to get creative. What can you offer to make this auction the best yet? Host a French Feast? Lead a wildflower hike? How about offering a Mystery Dinner or a couple of hours of pulling weeds? Are you the artistic/crafty type? The possibilities are open. To get you started, here is the terrific poem created long ago which appeared on our donation forms. Lots of details will be coming over the next several weeks. Most importantly, though, SAVE THE DATE! and get ready to help make our UUCSR “Sparkle and Shine!”

Save the Date – March 5 Author Event

with Rev. Dave Clements

Our interim minister, Rev. Dave Clements, has written a memoir, When the Elephant Laughed, about his experiences as an interim minister in Cape Town, South Africa. We are excited to announce an author reading and book signing with Rev. Dave on March 5, 2023, following the Sunday service.

With chapters such as “The People: A Lesson in Freedom,” “What I Learned from the Townships,” and “The Power of Music in Story,” the book, published just last fall, is not only a memoir, but also a reflection on the history of South Africa and the expression of Unitarian Universalist values in the larger world.

Weather permitting, the event will be held outside in the Courtyard. Rev. Dave will read from the book, respond to questions, and sign books. Books will be available for sale that day, and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to UUCSR, but if you want to buy a copy to read in advance, contact Ellen Skagerberg, or purchase a copy at Copperfield’s Books in Montgomery Village in Santa Rosa.

Climate Change and the Environment

Finally - Something we can do about climate change and plastics pollution!

The Plastics Problem: Be the Solution Now

Join Advocates’ Climate Action Group and others for lunch, movies, discussion, and action after the service on Sunday, March 12.

·    Movies – The Plastics Problem (PBS Special) and an animated short: The Story of Plastics

·    Discussion – Where we’ve been and how plastics affect climate change today

·    Action: In session, thoughtful ways to make a difference

Where: The Founders’ Room

When: 12:30-2:00, Sunday March 12

Light lunch and snacks provided.

In this month's newsletter:

In this month's newsletter:

Men: April 7-9 Men, please mark your calendar for the Men’s Retreat, happening on Easter weekend, Friday evening, April 7 – Sunday afternoon, April 9, 2023, at Black Mountain Retreat Center, in Cazadero. Cost is $160 per person (includes 6 meals), and scholarships are available. 

Women: May 5-7, 2023 Women Together Retreat !!! “Finding Your Spark….Celebrating Our Inner Fire” at St Dorothy’s Rest. Save the dates and watch for registration information via the Weekly Newsblasts, Order of Service Announcements and the April Newsletter. Sign-ups will be in April. We will have our popular small group discussions on the theme – Finding Your Spark - and a variety of great workshops, plus our Silent Auction (which funds scholarships and Women Together activities) and the delicious St Dorothy’s food! There is also time to chat and get to know each other better, play games and take walks around the beautiful grounds under the redwoods of Camp Meeker. Not to be missed!!! The cost for the weekend will be $250 or $230 for dorm beds. We're looking forward to a wonderful weekend!

707-291-2666

Our very own Rev Bev Spears is a featured author in NBOP's February Newsletter on behalf of the NBOP Religious Leaders Caucus. Read her article: Moral Authority HERE:

Share the Basket offerings from Sundays and direct Donations for the month of January:

To make a suggestion for a non-profit to our Share the Basket with please contact Mary Louise Jaffray; email mljaffray@jaffray.us or 707 695-9348.