Upcoming Sunday Services on ZOOM
Make sure you have a Chalice available to light before the Service begins.
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Services can be seen on Zoom every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. Our Touchstones The theme for April is Mindfulness.
April 4th:
Sunday Service with Rev. Fred Wooden, Marci Beaudoin, Katie Seiferth, and Dave Juday
Sermon: "Were You There"
Join our Service every week at this link: Zoom Worship Service
Find previous services here.
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In the Meantime,
Scandalous! That’s what we say when someone really acts out. Or we used to say it. But you know what I mean. What you may not know is where the word comes from. It’s from the Greek ‘skandalon,’ which means a ‘trap.’ Think of political scandals where the media catches them in their sins - from Wilbur Morse to Mark Sanford to Matt Gaetz.
I am thinking of this word at Easter because for us the traditional message of Easter - the unjust death and miraculous resurrection - is scandalous. It asks people to abandon common sense and decency. And early Jesus followers knew that. But today, the original shock has worn off. What was scandalous 2000 years ago is now revered.
And that is a real scandal. Christians (mostly) have become inured to the horror of the story. Take the bare facts of Good Friday (which was not good in any sense) and what you have is an arrest, torture, and execution. That was nothing new in Imperial Rome. They had treated thousands like that, including lining the Appian Way with 6000 crucified slaves after the revolt of Spartacus. But today the horror of that story has been diluted by piety and theology such that the scandal of it all is gone.
I mention this because the acceptance of abuse and violence and death is the moral scandal of our times. This week we have seen yet another trial of a police officer for the unnecessary death of another unarmed black man, George Floyd. But we know the Appian Way of our history from 1776 to now is well populated with crucifixions.
That we accept this as the price of doing business is the real scandal. The American romance with violence is a scandal greater than the scandal of violence itself. The American denial of systemic racism is a scandal greater than the scandal of racism itself. And we can thank organized Christianity for making violence and oppression normal. Churches lit the fires of anti-semitism, justified the enslavement of Africans, celebrated the conquest of the Americas, and demonized women. This Easter that is the scandal now. - FW
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Happenings Announcements
Want an announcement in Happenings? Fill this out.
Questions about Happenings email Happenings@vuu.org
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Help Wanted
Can you help? VUU has as many needs while virtual as ever … in fact, perhaps more! All safely, socially distant, and many from home.
Thank you for how many of you have responded so far. We still have some positions to fill.
Happenings – Volunteer wanted to help from home with weekly newsletter. We are currently using mailchimp. Experience in an email blast program preferred. Contact admin@vuu.org.
Membership Team – Members wanted to greet newcomers, connect members, facilitate Journey to Membership classes. Contact minister@vuu.org.
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VIRTUAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY JUNE 23-27, 2021
General Assembly (GA) is the Unitarian Universalist Association’s annual meeting. For more information on this year’s GA, click here. At each GA, member congregations are able to appoint delegates to vote on national initiatives; VUU is allocated six delegates. If you would like to represent VUU at GA, please contact DeeAnne McClenahan at deeannemcc@gmail.com.
If you haven't registered for Virtual GA 2021 already, there is no better time than right now! Registered attendees are among the first to hear program announcements, such as the Ware Lecturer and featured speakers, and only registered attendees will have access to the NEW! GA app. So, register early to join online discussions, familiarize yourself with the GA schedule, and find your place in our community of communities.
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Congregational Conversations - April 11th
Please save the date for the next congregational conversation on April 11th directly after service.
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FAITH FORMATION PROGRAMMING THIS SPRING
Registration link
 NO CLASSES FOR EASTER
ELEMENTARY:
2yr olds - 5th graders, Sundays 1-2 pm: CartUUns, Unitarian Universalist values through the animated short films of Pixar and Disney.
Please note:
1) Monthly "take home" bags of supplies will be created for each participant. Please indicate (on registration) if you can pick up bags at VUU, help deliver, or need delivery.
MIDDLE SCHOOL: 6th-8th graders, Sundays 2-3pm : Crossing Paths, Exploring the World's Religions using a UU theological framework. Virtual visits will enable youth to experience our "neighboring faiths.”
Please note:
1) Classes will be recorded and uploaded as PRIVATE to the VUU YouTube channel. Families will receive an email with the link to view the videos.
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EastVUU Meeting Thurs. April 8, 6:30-8:30pm
Celebrate our Earth by zooming with the EastVUU group to hear from our own Sandy Whitley about the intersection of climate change and social justice issues and hear how the Biden Administration is addressing resulting inequities. We’ll also discuss easy actions you can take to help the planet! ALL ARE WELCOME!
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/739743734?pwd=MXZST25uRUMvbjUrK0hXVlJWa2VzUT09
Meeting ID: 739 743 734
Password: 920559
Save the Date! Thurs. April 22, 6:30-8:30pm. We will celebrate spring with our first in person get together with a BYO picnic dinner and a walk around the lake at Red Mountain Park. More details to follow. We will be wearing masks and social distancing. ALL ARE WELCOME.
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Thank you to everyone who donated their items! Hayley and Barbara Q. were able to bring the items to the centers that work with refugees and asylum seekers, and the donations were greatly appreciated. Look out for future announcements in the Happenings regarding opportunities to help out asylum seekers and refugees.
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Page Turners
The Page Turner’s April book is Tell Me How It Ends – An Essay in Forty Questions by Valeria Luiselli. This is about the author’s volunteer work translating for child immigrants. It confronts with compassion and honesty the problem of the North American refugee crisis. The meeting will be on April 15 at 7:00pm. Anyone interested in discussing the book is invited to participate. If you would like to receive the Zoom link, email Amy at agmonahan@gmail.com
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Knit Wits
Knit Wits is looking for people who knit or crochet. We are a small group of needleworkers who has produced hats for IHelp, UMom, and Phoenix area children's hospital units. Now we are working on shawls to be given to VUU women experiencing significant health issues or grieving the loss of a loved one. Join us! We don't have meetings, we just knit or crochet! For more info, contact Sue Keen at jancarnation@yahoo.com or 480-570-1071.
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Food for Life and Planet
FLP Meeting 4/9: Spilling the Beans… In a Good Way! Beans are a wonderful source of protein, fiber and B vitamins. Research indicates they lower cholesterol and increase healthy gut bacteria. Many of us, however, feel challenged about their preparation, and some of us just plain don’t like the taste. On Friday, 4/9 at 10am, let’s share some recipes, restaurants that offer delicious bean options, and ideas about how to get more into our diets. Try a bean you’ve never tasted before and let us all know what you think! To get us started, here are 86 recipe ideas from Bon Appetit, some of which will appeal to our carnivore friends. Hope you can join us!
ZOOM Meeting Information:
FLP: Food for Life & Planet, Fridays 10:00 - 11:30 AM
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82566280722?pwd=U3ViaWU0bG5RaDFpMXo4WmxWVVpudz09
Meeting ID: 825 6628 0722
Passcode: FLP
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Paz de Cristo
We are looking for volunteers to serve meals at Paz de Cristo. During this time of Covid, we need seven volunteers each month. All precautions are taken to ensure safety and social distancing. Want to sign up? Want more info? Click here. Thanks in advance!
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 News from VUU’s Green Sanctuary Garden: A Warm Thank You to Kat and Dick Karpinen
About a year ago, Kat Karpinen enthusiastically agreed to lead FLP’s involvement in the VUU Green Sanctuary Garden. With Dick’s support and encouragement, Kat has been tireless in her effort to ensure the garden’s success by coordinating volunteers, making significant and long-lasting friendships with fellow congregation gardeners and much more. We now not only have a beautiful garden, but one that feeds low income and homeless individuals throughout our community. But there’s more! Kat and Dick also made a substantial contribution by commissioning a custom-built garden shed that is now complete. It’s huge, beautiful and allows all of us happy-but-messy gardeners to stay well-organized. Kat and Dick, thank you so much.
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VUU Earth Day 2021
April 22nd is Earth Day and although we cannot be together to celebrate or take action, there is much we can do on our own and with families and friends to educate ourselves and to fall in love-- again and again-- with our beautiful planet. The Environmental Action Team (EAT) invites you to participate in a month-long Earth Day contest to win fabulous earth-loving prizes. From April 5 to April 27, receive one contest entry for every earth-friendly activity you complete. Choose from the activities provided or create your own! The link below will be live April 5th and includes all of the details. For more information, contact Sandy Whitley, Linda Ruehlman or Denise McLeod. Link to Contest: VUU Earth Day 2021
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 Valley Interfaith Project and VUU want to know WHAT'S KEEPING YOU UP AT NIGHT? Register here to tell your story and listen to others as we prepare to organize for action in 2021-2022.
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 Our Dalai Lama and Friends virtual gathering meets every Sunday at 9 a.m. It be will on Zoom.
Here is the link.
Meeting ID: 388 347 383
Password: 347553
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Social Distance...But Make it Social Justice
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Community Health and Safety Training and Phonebank
Thursday, April 1st, 5:30 - 7:30 pm
Tuesday, April 6th, 5 - 7 pm
Saturday, April 10th, 11 - 1 pm
Thursday, April 15th, 6 - 8 pm
Tuesday, April 20th, 4:30 - 6:30 pm
Wednesday, April 28th, 5 - 7 pm
Anti-racism allies know that safety doesn't start or end with police. It comes from strong communities, supported by affordable housing, mental health care, programs for drug users, job training, and education. We have work to do in Arizona around engaging our peers in discussions about ending police violence. Will you join UUJAZ, Poder in Action / AZ Poder, and White People Against White Supremacy to call 24,000 people in March and April? Let's create community safety in Phoenix together!
Register for any of our phonebanking dates here.
Community Safety: Conversation, Tactics, and Action to Defund the Police
April 7th, 2021, 5-6:30 pm
Join a conversation and workshop with Rev. Jason Lydon ( Minister at Second Unitarian Church of Chicago), Laura Wagner (Executive Director of UU Mass Action Network), and Janine Gelsinger (Executive Director of UU Justice Arizona) about how BIPOC folx in cities like Chicago and Phoenix are engaging in this work, and ways you can take action.
Last year millions of people gathered in the streets to protest police violence and honor the lives it has stolen. At General Assembly 2020, we committed ourselves to the work of racial justice by passing the “Amen to Uprising” Action of Immediate Witness. Over the summer, organizers, activists, and faith leaders joined us for “Taking a Collective Breath”, a series that explored the Breathe Act--a piece of legislation that seeks to reform federal laws and eliminate funding for federal programs that criminalize Black, Muslim, and immigrant communities and reinvests our resources in community solutions for education, health, and the environment.
Don’t miss “Community Safety: Conversation, tactics, and action to defund the police” on Wednesday, April 7, 2021, 8-9:30 pm ET/5-6:30 pm PT.
National Phonebank
April 17th, 2021
For the last two years, UUJAZ has worked in coalition with local partners around police accountability and ending police violence. Now they are working with that coalition to decrease police funding in this spring's budget cycle, and they want our help!
Join us for this 90-minute convo-shop (conversation and workshop) with UUJAZ, their partners on the ground, and UU leaders around the country to deepen our understanding of safety and policing, and get prepared to support the Phoenix coalition in a phonebank on April 17th.
Join us on April 7th to sign up for the phonebank on the 17th
DACA Clinic: Volunteers Needed
2nd and 4th Saturdays at First Church UCC Phoenix, 12-4 pm
DACA is back! and UUJAZ is proud to be partnering with Keep Phoenix Together to empower Dreamers by assisting them with their DACA application. This life-changing immigration policy was recently reinstated by court ruling, and your support can help give Dreamers the tools to apply for deferred deportation under DACA. Volunteers are needed at the Keep Phoenix Together clinic. Anyone who can spare a few hours on a Saturday afternoon can help, no special language or legal skills necessary.
Sign up to volunteer here.
If you cannot volunteer, you can also donate to the scholarship fund for DACA applications and renewals. Dreamers pay $495 every time they renew and your financial support makes this possible.
Donate here.
Book GroUUp
3rd Fridays, 12-1:30 pm
What legacy will you leave your beloved: your children, grandchildren, congregation, community, and/or country about how you worked to dismantle systemic racism during your lifetime? What will you bequeath to your beloved? What is your hope for their future, for Beloved Community?
Join Rev. Tina Squire and Steve Kraynak on the third Friday of each month for a justice-centered book discussion from the perspective of our Unitarian Universalist values. Here we will use reading, conversation, and writing to answer these questions.
April 16, 2021: Discuss BREATHE – A Letter To My Sons by Imani Perry
May 21, 2021: Read aloud our own letters we've written to our Beloved.
Register for Book GroUUp here.
Sign-Ups Open Now
Trans Inclusion in Congregations from Transforming Hearts Collective
Do you want to be part of the most impactful UU adult education we've ever experienced? You can learn more about how to create a more welcoming congregation, delve into our shared faith, connect with each other, and discover things you didn't know about yourself.
UUJAZ is thrilled to provide access to this online course on radical welcoming for all AZ UUs, thanks to a generous grant from the UU Funding panel. As a plus, this course on transformational culture shift counts towards your annual Welcoming Congregation renewal.
Valley UU - Starts April 27th - Valley Registration
Surprise UU - Starts April 27th - Surprise Registration
Mountain Vista - Starts May 9th - Mt. Vista Registration
Borderlands UU - Starts May 9th - Borderlands Registration
Sky Island UU - Starts May 9th - Sky Island Registration
If you’re interested in scheduling a course for your congregation, email uujaz.director@gmail.com.
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