This Week at UUP: The World According To Mister Rogers

MESSAGE FROM REVEREND MARY

We are half way through October, speeding toward Halloween and the Day of the Dead, El Dia de Los Muertos.  A time for remembering – with grief and celebration the people, and also animals, we have lost. A friend from seminary who recently gave birth to her first child shared her news with the UU ministers’ chat list.  The baby arrived on his due date, healthy and loved.  His parents are sleep-deprived and delighted.

I’m sitting with birth and death and thinking about compassion, our worship theme for the month, and how it relates to faith. At the end of her post my new mom friend and minister included this tag line: "Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
All the big decisions in our lives are stepping out on faith – even when we don’t necessarily know it at the time.  Choosing to stay in familiar territory or move to another place, partnering/marrying/separating, having children and not, where to go to school, whether to become involved in a spiritual community.  Our choices are full of unknowability.  We look at options, collect information, maybe test out the choice, but in the end, we step out and experience what comes next.  Sometimes our choices are joyous, embracing adventure and sometimes they emerge from unwanted circumstances that challenge us to find a new way given the unexpectedness of life.

In our walking and running, stair climbing and stumbling through life, faith reminds us to open all our senses – our hearts, minds, bodies and spirits, to consider possibilities.  Faith invites us to let go of certainty and take risks.  Compassion invites us to attend to the fears and doubts and sadness we experience in our lives.  They are real and worthy of care.  We can give compassion to each other and equally to ourselves.  We can inquire and listen.  We can remember and remind.  We are not alone in this winding path of life.  Yes, we are solitary at times, but in choosing UUP we are not alone.  Community, connection, compassion and stepping out on faith are here and now.

In faith and love,
Reverend Mary

Events and Announcements

Caring Circle
PDC Leadership Day: Fostering Dynamic Leadership in a Challenging Time
Naomi Klein Event with NBOP
Interfaith Opportunities
UU Justice Ministry: Walking the Walk Justice Leadership Summit!
Dia de los Muertos Event

Caring Circle
For the next 3 weeks the Caring Circle will be recruiting more people who can provide an occasional service such as a ride, a meal, a visit. There will be a table of info in the back of the sanctuary with info on the Caring Circle and the kind of help we give each other. Please just think on this and consider ways you may be able to help. The Caring Circle is the heart of UUP. Blessings, Anne and Hope - Co-chairs  (back to top)

Fostering Dynamic Leadership in a Challenging Time
with Jim Key, UUA Moderator
Hosted by UU Church of Berkeley
Saturday, October 25
Registration: 9:00 am, Program 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
A UUP carpool is going to this event – room for one more!  Register soon and contact George Beeler about the carpool.  Price goes up on Friday, October 17.

PCD Leadership Day 2014 will be dedicated to exploring bold and dynamic leadership. It’s pretty obvious that we live in difficult times. It’s also obvious that we have lay leaders and clergy in our district who are creative, intelligent, and free-thinking. So what can we do to give ourselves and our leaders permission to be bold and to take risks? How can we bring the best parts of ourselves to deepening our religious experience and bringing our faith to life in the world? How can we become the leaders that our faith and our world will need five, ten, and twenty years from now?

Jim Key, the Moderator of the UUA and a long-time organizational consultant, will lead the participants in Leadership Day through a series of discussions and exercises designed to open up our minds to new possibilities, help us discover the courage to take bold leaps, and create concrete plans to take back to our congregations. Along the way we’ll experience vibrant music, worship, and the fellowship of many of the most exciting religious leaders here in the West.

Leadership Day registration begins at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 25 at the UU Church of Berkeley. The workshop begins at 10:00 a.m. and ends at 4:00 p.m. The registration fee of $50 includes both breakfast snacks and lunch. Click here to register.   (back to top)

Naomi Klein will speak and sign books at the North Bay Organizing Project event: Capitalism vs. The Climate.
“In her new book (This Changes Everything) she turns her (attention) on capitalism’s role in climate change. She argues that “we have not done the things that are necessary to lower emissions because these things fundamentally conflict with deregulated capitalism... We are stuck because the actions that would give us the best chance of averting catastrophe – and would benefit the vast majority – are extremely threatening to an elite minority that has a stranglehold over our economy, our political process, and most of our major media outlets.” Quote from The Telegraph. For full article see http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/11145801/This-Changes-Everything-Naomi-Klein.html
• To carpool for an opportunity to discuss the issues before and after the event, meet at Women’s Club to leave at 6:15 p.m. or contact George at agbcomm@sonc.net
• When: 7 p.m., Friday October 17th
• Where: Vets Memorial Hall, 1351 Maple Ave, Santa Rosa (back to top)

Interfaith Opportunities
Reverend Mary is part of an interfaith clergy group in Petaluma. Here are two opportunities for connecting with neighboring congregations – one coming up soon and another coming in May. Rabbi Wayne Dosick, author of Living Judaism, will be scholar in residence at B’nai Israel Jewish Center, the weekend of October 24 through 26. See B’nai Israel’s website for details: http://www.bnaiisrael.net/

B’nai Israel Jewish Center and United Church of Christ Petaluma are planning a journey to Israel at the end of May, 2015. The trip will be led by Rabbi Ted Feldman and Reverend Blythe Osner. The journey will meet the cultural diversity of Israel and visit sites sacred to Judaism and Christianity. Anyone who would like to learn more there will be an informational meeting on November 11 at 7 pm at the United Church of Christ, Petaluma. If you’re curious for information before November 11, Reverend Mary has the detailed itinerary.  (back to top)

Walking the Walk Justice Leadership Summit!
The 2014 Walking the Walk Justice Leaders Summit is just around the corner. Spaces are still available for this powerful weekend gathering of justice leaders from throughout the state. Join us November 14 - 16 at the NatureBridge Conference Center in beautiful Sausalito, California. (Reverend Mary will be one of the workshop presenters.)

We are pleased and honored to have the world renowned eco-philosopher and activist Joanna Macy join us Friday evening for a fireside chat. We are also delighted that on Saturday the Reverend Deborah Holder, Minister of Beloved Community for the UUA Western Region, will offer two powerful sessions that will help you and your congregation well into the future.

Pick up practical training to strengthen the justice ministries in your congregation. Become more grounded in UU theologies and history to support action in the world. Refresh your spirit with dynamic worship and the warmth of UU justice community. Learn strategies to address climate change, housing insecurity, and advance immigrant justice, the human right to water, and LGBTQ rights. Network with like-minded UU’s and learn how to build effective multi-faith coalitions.
Click Here for More information and to reserve your space!

If you are unable to attend but wish to be part of this event, please consider donating to the Scholarship & Hardship Fund. Everything raised goes to help young adults and dedicated UU activists attend who would otherwise be unable to do so. (back to top)

Dia de los Muertos Event
For over a decade, UUP has hosted a Dia de los Muertos Sunday service in collaboration with the month-long city-wide celebration in Petaluma. This year, in part due to the grant writing efforts of UU Petaluman KC Greaney, SRJC Petaluma is hosting an afternoon of activities to celebrate El Dia de los Muertos. On Saturday, October 18th, from noon-4:00p.m., a series of activities and performances will be offered free of charge to the public. This is a fabulous opportunity to engage in an event that bridges cultures!

Events include: A historical lecture on the Aztec concept of death by Profesora Laura Larque; Danza Azteca Coyolxauiqui; Windsor Bloco; Paquiyollotzin Ballet Folklorico of Petaluma; and a one-man show, "Pocho in the House: Bicultural Adventures of a Mexican-American," written and performed by Joe Voltierra.

All day (noon-4:00p.m.) activities include: an Art exhibit, "Life & Death: Remembrance of our Loved Ones" featuring artwork of SRJC students, staff and faculty celebrating El Dia de los Muertos; crafts and kid friendly activities, the Free Bookmobile of Sonoma County, a Jumpy House, and food trucks. Please join us, and bring la familia! All events will be at SRJC Petaluma, 680 Sonoma Mountain Parkway, Petaluma.

For more information:
http://libguides.santarosa.edu/diadelosmuertos
https://petalumaartscenter.org/el-dia-de-los-muertos-petaluma-2014/
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