This Week at UUP: May 31-June 4, 2008

The Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma
An Oasis for Heart and Mind Every Sunday in Downtown Petaluma


ANNOUNCEMENTS AND UPCOMING EVENTS

UUP Congregational Meeting
The UUP Congregational Meeting is tomorrow, Sunday, June 1st after the service. Please plan to attend!!

Considering Becoming a Member of UUP? The next New Member Ingathering is tomorrow, Sunday, June 1st
If you've been attending UUP regularly and have been thinking about joining the congregation as a member, here's your chance! We will hold a new member welcome ceremony during the service tomorrow, Sunday, June 1st. For details, please contact Hope Stewart, for the UUP Membership Committee.

Ordination of Leland Bond-Upson
On Sunday, June 8th, the Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma will ordain Leland Bond-Upson, a graduate of Starr King School for the Ministry (class of 1976!) and a former Regular Guest Minister at UUP. The ceremony will begin at 4:30 and will include UU Ministers from throughout the Pacific Central District as well as representatives from the Unitarian Universalist Association. Our own Reverend Ben Kocs-Meyers will officiate. All those associated with UUP are welcome to attend! We also invited our neighbors from the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Marin, as Lee is a long-time member of that congregation. As we are expecting a crowd, kindly R.S.V.P. to uupetaluma at gmail dot com or call 773-2835.

The members of UUP voted enthusiastically in favor of ordaining Lee and of hosting a party worthy of this important event. As such, we will be looking for help from UUPetaluminaries to help make the event a success. We will need volunteers to help set up and decorate, cook, clean up, etc. We also ask that Petaluma folks bring a pot-luck hors-devours tray to share with our guests. There will be a sign up sheet circulated, but if you are anxious to volunteer, please contact KC Greaney.

Curious about why Lee waited until now to be ordained? Here is his story, in his own words...

I have been asked why I waited so long to get ordained. After all, many of my Starr King School peers (class of 1976!), got ordained by their home or internship churches right away. I didn't, because my feeling was that ordination should come when a congregation has called a minister to serve.

At that point I wanted to work in partnership with my new wife and I wanted to stay in the Bay Area. Then, as we know, 'way leads on to way', and I went into education, started a family, and performed only incidental ministerial duties over the years. Internships, conducting rites of passage, preaching here and there, and service on Boards (Starr King, Marin, Legislative Ministry) are all worthy, but don't constitute a call.

However, when the UUs of Petaluma and I got together, and I began to preach there once a month, something good began, and it grew and deepened over the five years, and after it ended, I realized I had been called to ministry at last. So I asked to be ordained, and the Petaluminaries said yes, with feeling. And so, despite the long journey, I am perfectly happy and content with where I am and how I got here. Thank you for your help along the way.

UPCOMING SUNDAY SERVICES
(Social time with refreshments begins at 10:00 am , at the Petaluma Woman's Club, 518 B Street. Worship service begins at 10:30 am. )

Sunday, June 1st: 'Saint Stephen with a Rose': Ritual, Rapture and the Grateful Dead Experience
Guest Speaker: Mary Goodenough
Guest musician: David Gans
Worship Leader: David Dodd
Drawing on mythologist Joseph Campbell's lecture: "Ritual and Rapture: From Dionysus to the Grateful Dead," Goodenough will discuss ritual and rapture as they relate to the Grateful Dead experience. Grateful Dead concerts were, as Campbell discovered first hand, a container for religious experience characterized by an opening of the heart. The music, dancing and participation of all present created a ritual performance that brought about a catharsis of mind, heart and senses, thus opening one both into full awareness of the self and one's relationship with the natural world. Goodenough will also consider a few lyrical images (from Grateful Dead anthem "Saint Stephen," and others), then briefly describe their personal significance as well as their centrality to the Grateful Dead experience. Appropriate dress encouraged!
Mary Goodenough, a member of UUP, is a published scholar on the topic of Grateful Dead spirituality. David Gans, guest musician, is a long-time authority on the band and a wonderful musician in his own right. UUP member David Dodd has published three books about the band, and runs the Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics website.

Sunday, June 8, 2008: Ordination Sunday
Later on this day, the congregation will gather to ordain Leland Bond-Upson into the Unitarian Universalist ministry. The authority of a congregation to ordain an individual who has fulfilled the requirements for ministerial service to the world is unique in the liberal religious tradition. It is both a joyous and an auspicious occassion. In honor of this milestone in the life of UUP (its first ordination) and the ordinand-elect (his ONLY ordination) there will be two brief homilies: "The Power of 'YES'", by the Rev. Ben Kocs-Meyers, and "The Power of 'KNOW'", by Leland Bond-Upson. Diana Spaulding will serve as Worship Associate and special music for the occassion will be provided by Elizabeth Nielsen, and David Dodd. All are invited to share in this hour of worship and celebration in preparation for the Service of Ordination to be held later in the day.

REGULARLY SCHEDULED GATHERINGS
Joint meeting of the UPP Board of Trustees and Worship Associates Committee: Sunday June 1st, 8:30 am
Larking About, the UUP Singers, meets this Thursday from 8 to 9:30 at the home of Diana Spaulding and David Dodd.

www.uupetaluma.org