Last December, Coastside Hope updated their office and food pantry and now cordially invites the community for tacos and a tour on Friday, April 21st, 3-5pm. Coastside Hope's Mission is to provide necessities to the working poor, the homeless, seniors living below the poverty level, the disabled, and families and/or individuals in crisis here on the Mid-Coast. Last year, Coastside Hope distributed over 466,000 pounds of free food, mostly to needy families with children. Learn about their other programs such as tax preparation, rental assistance, citizenship classes, their Brown Bag program for seniors, and more at their upcoming Open House. Coastside Hope is located at 99 Ave. Alhambra in El Granada. Please consider supporting this critical non-profit on or before May 4th by visiting their Coastside Gives portal.
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UUCC Gallery View Sunday, April 16th, 11am |
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Continuing with the Touchstones Theme for April, Grief, Reb Moshe Heyn from the Coastside Jewish Community returns to us to speak on "Good Grief: Living with Loss" — part of UUCC's Gallery View Sundays over Zoom, April 16th, at 11am. Grief is a natural response to loss but the pain can often feel overwhelming. Whether we are struggling to cope with the death of a loved one, or with any number of other losses, we are often left feeling that life will never be the same again. Even if that is true, there are healthy ways of coping that can help us come to terms with death and loss, and that can help find new meaning in life.
Rabbi Moshe Heyn has worked as a Hospice Chaplain for well over a decade. He has walked with hundreds of patients through the many stages of living and dying, and has counseled and supported many of their loved ones who were left behind. He will share stories about some of his most remarkable encounters and some of the most life-changing lessons he has gleaned from them. UUCC Gallery View Sunday, April 16th, 11am, Zoom link can always be found on the UUCC website at uucoastside.org on the day of the service.
Please join us at 11:00 am Pacific, 2pm Eastern
or Meeting ID: 661 775 5196 Password: 416762
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UUCC Congregational Meeting Final Report |
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On March 19, UUCC held its Third Congregational Meeting, at Senior Coastsiders with 20 people in attendance, both in person and over Zoom. UUCC's Planning Committee has incorporated many of thoughtful suggestions on service format and community building.
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First Sunday services will continue in-person at Odd Fellows Hall, with masking recommended. Third Sunday services will be held only over Zoom. We are hoping to rotate lay-led leadership with 3rd Sundays, and are looking towards experimenting with the format to encourage more discussion.
- In an effort to keep First Sunday services to 60 minutes, we plan to shorten introductions, announcements, and acknowledgments; more detail is to be in the printed Order of Services.
- We will continue to enjoy a rich musical program with Preludes, Sermon Interludes, Practice of Generosity Interludes, and a Closing Hymn on First Sundays. And we work towards programming better known and easier-to-sing hymns.
- Talk Back on First Sundays is likely to be dependent on the speaker. We will poll people's interest to discuss the service over lunch by reserving the back table at Cafe Society. Talk Back will be a more regular part of Third Sunday services.
- Interest was expressed in what is required for UUCC to become a covenanting community with UUA. This may require encouraging monthly pledges to sustain the full cost of church operation: covering rental costs, speaker fees, and musician fees. We plan to present our findings to the community before the beginning of the summer.
- Without a current music director, we are entertaining other ways of raising funds rather than our traditional All-Music fundraiser in December. A suggestion was made to move the all-music fundraiser to a month other than December, when there is less competition for musicians playing holiday services. We will poll the community at large regarding these options.
- We continue to explore different ways we can encourage more people to attend UUCC services, which could involve hiring a marketing professional to guide us on how to target a broader demographic and include more intergenerational attendance.
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RSVPs Needed for Tovis Page's Ordination, May 6th |
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Ordination is one of the most important traditions of the Unitarian Universalist faith as it represents a congregation’s faith in, and support for, a new minister within our denomination. It is a rite of initiation through which a lay person is welcomed into the community of clergy, usually after years of preparation. In the Unitarian Universalist tradition, the ritual of ordination also allows the minister to use the title of Reverend.
Along with UUSM and UUFRC, UUCC has been invited to present a gift to Tovis during her Ordination ceremony on May 6th. Tovis' divinity school internship was shared by UUSM and UUCC from September 2018 to March 2019, where she played a huge role in shaping UUCC's current Order of Service planning. Tovis's home church is UUFRC, where she has helped with Religious Exploration, Interfaith Affairs, Social Justice, and Board Governance. Tovis is currently one of the Gap Ministers at UU San Mateo through July 2023. We're hoping for a big UUCC turnout to show Tovis how excited we are to support her in this next big step in becoming a fully ordained Unitarian Universalist minister.
The ceremony will take place at UUFRC on Saturday, May 6th, 2pm to 3:30pm, with a reception to follow. RSVPs are required for in-person attendance. Virtual attendance via Zoom is likely also available. UUFRC is located at 2124 Brewster Ave in Redwood City. Please click the link here to RSVP for in-person attendance.
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YouTube Recording of Last Sunday's Service |
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Ron Ahnen delivered a truly inspiring sermon on Sunday, April 2nd, chronicling his personal spiritual journey of grief over the unspeakable way he lost his 7-year-old sister to homicide in 1973. You can watch Ron's sermon here. The full service included three moving, poetry readings; and the music was truly outstanding with selections by Vera Vanderschalk, Diedrik and Kaj Edholm. Diedrik arranged a version of Toshio Masuda's "Sadness and Sorrow," from the anime series Naruto; and the music literally brought tears to many in attendance. The recording of this performance is now up on our YouTube channel and as of this counting has received 43 views. Please enjoy! As good as it sounds recorded, it was even better in person.
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UUCC First Sunday In-Person Service, May 7th |
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The Touchstones Theme for May is Reconciliation. On May 7th, our Beloved Jane Thanx returns to UUCC to deliver a sermon entitled "The Pointy Finger of Blame." Whether you’re pointing the accusing finger at yourself or someone else, how do you make peace? How can you move out of hate into love?
The most important thing in having a successful conversation is the process in the head and heart before one opens their mouth. Through personal stories and experiences of successful resolution of conflict in her own life, Jane Thanx will explore the possibilities of reconciliation in personal relationships.
Once again, beautiful music will be provided by Diedrik Edholm and his father, Kaj. Along with playing a piece by Beethoven, Diedrik will play his own arrangement of the Beatles song "We Can Work It Out" for violin and piano. We also welcome back our amazing classical guitarist, Vera Vanderschalk, to play an interlude.
This live in-person service takes place at Odd Fellows Hall, 526 Main Street, Half Moon Bay, CA, 94019. Out of courtesy to our elders, we recommend mask wearing for churchgoers throughout the service—with the exception of those actively speaking at the front of the room. Odd Fellows Hall is quite spacious for social distancing and has a new high-circulation air ventilation system.
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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 May 7th 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
- 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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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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