Religious Education Update: June 29, 2008

Highlights of the RE Year

Today’s service marks the end of the RE year, and the beginning of my two month vacation. You’ll still be seeing me around UUP, except for two weeks in July when I’ll be at Family Camp at the Mendocino Woodlands. The RE Committee is providing fun activities for the kids while I’m gone. As we close down the year, I would like to mention some of the highlights in RE.

**** The RE Committee is back, and stronger than ever. I feel supported and guided. Many thanks to Leslie Harrison, chair, and the dedicated committee members: KC Greaney, Leslie Balestreri, Ellen Beeler, Sharron Belson, Mary Goodenough, Jane McMaster, Janette Morrow and Elizabeth Nielsen.

**** The growth in the kids. The children obviously grow physically, but I also see other growth spurts. It is exciting when a kid volunteers to be in a play for the first time, or when another kid bonds with a new friend. When our UUP kids were able to speak in front of hundreds of adults at District Assembly about UU Principles and why they are happy to be UU, I was thrilled.

**** I love how UUP does intergenerational services. We begin with Water and Stones, continue with Day of the Dead, Stone Soup, Santa Lucia and the Winter Solstice Drum Circle and Flower Communion.

****Our UUP adults spoke to our kids about some of their interests: Phil Boyle on maps and city planning, Hope Stewart on the fight for gay marriage, and Stacey Meinzen on protecting the earth.

****Our regular RE teachers: Jane McMaster, Lara Abel, Sharron Belson, and Kimmy West. Special thanks to KC Greaney, Leslie B. and Leslie H for planning Service Sundays.

With much gratitude,
Marlene Abel
Director of Religious Education

This Week at UUP: June 29-July 2

The Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma
Nurture Your Spirit. Help Heal Our World.


ANNOUNCEMENTS AND UPCOMING EVENTS

Ric Masten's last book now in print
Ric Masten's last book, Words and One Liners Take 3 - Not Dead Yet, arrived on the day Ric died. It is now available by mail order for $30 each plus $3 postage or at a 30% discount for 10 books or more ($21 each plus postage). Please let Jan Crosby know if you would like to have Ric's final book. If there are enough requests, she'll do a group order for the discounted price.
Here's an article about Ric's memorial service.

Religious Education Garage & Bake Sale, Saturday August 23rd
Save the date and save your stuff! Help support religious education programming by donating items and baked goods for our annual sale on August 23rd, 9-2pm, 8 Nob Hill Terrace.
Drop offs welcome starting Monday, August 11th at the Greaney or Harrison-Lee households. For more information contact Leslie Harrison, lahlee10@sbcglobal.net or 773-2226.

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.)

This Sunday, June 29, 2008: Why Religious Literacy Matters
Speaker: Marlene Abel, Director of Religious Education
Worship Leader: Meredith Guest
Americans are more interested in religion and consider it more important in their daily lives than people in other developed nations, but, statistically, we know little about world religions or our own faiths. As a result, we Americans make political and moral decisions based on our beliefs, but without basic religious knowledge. The service will focus on why religious literacy matters, both for our UUP children and for all Americans.

Sunday, July 6, 2008: Re-Examining Our Relationship to Animals: An Interdependence Day Service
The Rev. Ben Kocs-Meyers, Preaching
Diana Spaulding, Worship Leader
What place do animals have in our lives? We may not ask ourselves this question everyday, but it's one worth exploring in light of our commitment to being good stewards of the earth, and advocates for the Sacred Circle of life. Please bring pictures of your favorite animals, pets, etc, to place on the alter and share. This service is inspired by Janet Crosby, who bought the sermon topic at the UUP auction.

REGULARLY SCHEDULED GATHERINGS
The next meeting of the UUP Men's Group is Friday, July 11th at Dick Allen's house.

www.uupetaluma.org

Religious Education Update: June 22, 2008

Looking Ahead

The RE Committee recently decided that our program for children and youth will focus on World Religions next year. I am looking at some UU curriculum in this area, including "Neighboring Faiths" for our middle school age youth (next fall's 6th, 7th, and 8th graders) and "A World of New Friends: An Introduction to World Religions" for elementary age kids. I'm investigating Spirit Play for the youngest, which includes wisdom stories from many traditions. I'm excited about the study of World Religions, particularly since I just completed a course on Comparative Religion at Santa Rosa Junior College, which stretched and changed my preconceptions about religious truths.

This is the introduction to one of our texts we'll be using,
Sacred Myths, Stories of World Religions:

"Long ago, myths about gods and goddesses explained
the natural world. When people heard thunder or
lightning, they said the sky gods were angry…. Over
the centuries, religious beliefs changed and shifted,
until now hundreds of different religions exist
around the world, each with its fervent followers.
Some people think that their religion is the only
true and correct one. Some have gone to war to
force others to change their spiritual beliefs. …
Why do they care so much, and why is religion so important?

The Sacred Myths from all the major traditions are truly good stories,
which probably helps explains why they have been passed down through the centuries. Why does the Hindu god Ganesh have the head of an elephant? How did the young Jewish boy David defeat Goliath? Why did Persephone travel to the Underworld? What do these stories mean? Stay tuned….

Marlene Abel
Director of Religious Education

This Week at UUP: June 20-25, 2008

The Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma
Nurture Your Spirit. Help Heal Our World.


ANNOUNCEMENTS AND UPCOMING EVENTS

Pizza Party for teens and their parents – This Sunday, June 22nd at 11:30 at UUP
All UUP teens and their parents are invited to stay for pizza, salad, drinks and ice cream immediately after the service on Sunday, June 22. This will be a working lunch for us to consider teen programming and activities for next school year, including a possible Coming of Age program at UUP, participation in YRUU conferences at the district level (Young Religious UU's), networking with teens from other Northbay UU churches, and social events. Teen input is especially encouraged and valued.

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 22, 2008: Gay Pride 08
Guest speaker: Meredith Guest
Worship Leaders: Jodi Boyle and Joyce Tischler
This service honors gay pride month and will take a more focused look at the "T" of GLBT. While transsexuality is often the least visible and most confusing of the issues surrounding sexual orientation and identity, at its heart it's about the urge to live an authentic life, a theme with which we are all familiar.

June 29, 2008: Why Religious Literacy Matters
Speaker: Marlene Abel, Director of Religious Education
Worship Leader: Meredith Guest
Americans are more interested in religion and consider it more important in their daily lives than people in other developed nations, but, statistically, we know little about world religions or our own faiths. As a result, we Americans make political and moral decisions based on our beliefs, but without basic religious knowledge. The service will focus on why religious literacy matters, both for our UUP children and for all Americans.

REGULARLY SCHEDULED GATHERINGS
UUP Board of Trustees will meet Sunday, June 22nd at 8:30 am in the Christian Science Reading Room.
The UUP Membership Committee will meet Monday, June 23rd at 7:30 pm at Hope Stewart's house.

www.uupetaluma.org

Religious Education Update: June 15, 2008

Gay Marriage

For many UU’s, this week will be a historic time of celebration for the triumph of individual freedom. This week, many committed couples will marry, including my friends David Jones and Don Williams, members of the San Francisco UU church. In July, another friend of mine is marrying her partner of 17 years, and I will have the great honor af playing my trumpet as part of a small ensemble at her wedding reception.

As UU’s, we can rightfully be proud of our denomination’s leadership is promoting the civil rights of all loving couples. For me, the right to marry the person one loves is necessary for the pursuit of happiness promised by our Declaration of Independence so long ago.

My hope is that future generations will consider the right of gays to marry as a given. I take heart in the majority acceptance of this right by California’s current young adults.

But what of the religious right’s strong conviction that gay marriage is morally wrong? A quick look at history tells me that passages from the Bible were used to justify slavery in the Civil War era. "[Slavery] was established by decree of Almighty God...it is sanctioned in the Bible, in both Testaments, from Genesis to Revelation...it has existed in all ages, has been found among the people of the highest civilization, and in nations of the highest proficiency in the arts." Jefferson Davis, President, Confederate States of America. In 1884, the Rev. H. M Goodwin, argues against Women’s Suffrage, “Scripture, declares man to be the “head of the woman” and of the family, and for the same reason he is the proper head and ruler of the State.”

Society is ever changing, and I foresee a day in our children’s future when laws against gay marriage will be a dim memory, much as laws supporting slavery or opposing women’s right to vote have faded from our view.

Marlene Abel
Director of Religious Education

This Week at UUP: June 13-19, 2008

The Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma
Nurture Your Spirit. Help Heal Our World.


ANNOUNCEMENTS AND UPCOMING EVENTS

Photos from Annual Retreat
We had three fantastic photographers on hand at our annual all-congregational retreat over Memorial Day weekend at Four Springs Retreat Center in Lake County--Hope Stewart, Susan Price, and George Beeler. Many of their photos are now posted on the UUP Flickr website--take a look! We're also adding some of the many haiku composed over the course of the retreat, which were read at our closing circle, as captions for the photos.

Pizza Party for teens and their parents - Sunday, June 22nd at 11:30 at UUP
All UUP teens and their parents are invited to stay for pizza, salad, drinks and ice cream immediately after the service on Sunday, June 22. This will be a working lunch for us to consider teen programming and activities for next school year, including a possible Coming of Age program at UUP, participation in YRUU conferences at the district level (Young Religious UU's), networking with teens from other Northbay UU churches, and social events. Teen input is especially encouraged and valued.

Larking About Takes A Summer Break
The UUP Choir, Larking About, will take a summer break from our regular rehearsal schedule. We'll resume our rehearsals in August, when we'll start preparing to sing at the Water and Stones Ingathering service in early September. Meanwhile, we will probably have a couple of singing events over the course of the summer, open to all who like to sing. Stay tuned!

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 15, 2008: A Passion for Freedom
Minister: Rev. Béla-Botond Jakabházi
Worship Leader: Diana Spaulding
A note from the speaker: "Although there are considerable differences between American UU`s and Transylvanian Unitarianism - because we live in different societies and in slightly different kind of cultures-- I am more and more conscious about our common passion for justice, human dignity, true fellowship, real peace and love--and I know that we all feel responsible for these values. As a progressive liberal from Transylvania, being here among UU`s gives me the unique opportunity to learn from your experience, spirituality, and social involvement. At the same time I am getting a clearer perspective on the values of my own church both to celebrate my tradition, and at the same time to be skeptical about it. My experience here is like looking into a mirror-an American UU mirror-in which my own church and religious tradition show its strong points and weaknesses. This is truly a transformative experience."

Sunday , June 22, 2008: "Gay Pride 08"
Guest speaker: Meredith Guest
Worship Leaders: Jodi Boyle and Joyce Tischler
This service honors gay pride month and will take a more focused look at the "T" of GLBT. While transsexuality is often the least visible and most confusing of the issues surrounding sexual orientation and identity, at its heart it's about the urge to live an authentic life, a theme with which we are all familiar.

REGULARLY SCHEDULED GATHERINGS
UUP Women's Group will meet Monday, June 16th at 7:30 pm at Jean Conrad's house.

www.uupetaluma.org

Religious Education Update: June 8, 2008

The Power of Community

Later today, the Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma will ordain our good friend Leland Bond-Upson, our regular Guest Minister during this congregation’s formative years. Through the tradition of congregational polity, a form of governance in the American Unitarian Association since 1825, congregations have the right to elect their own leadership. There is no bishop or ruling council “somewhere else” that dictates our choices. Our current national organization, the Unitarian Universalist Association, retained the AUA view of congregational autonomy when it formed in 1961.

Our congregation will ordain Lee in a formal service today, but as Lee notes in a recent letter, he has already been called into ministry through his relationship with us, “ … 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. “ In today’s service, we will formally recognize, honor, and celebrate Lee’s status as a UU minister in our hearts and in his own.

Today’s service is one example of how a congregation has power that is greater than the sum of its members acting individually. No individual can ordain another in Unitarian Universalism, but as a collective body, we consecrate Lee into the ministry. This gift flows both ways, I believe. Our community helped Lee receive his calling, and his care, love, wisdom and concern helped us through bumps and growing pains, as we grew up to be the young congregation we are today.

Thank you, Lee, for blessing us through your time with us. We offer you our love and good wishes as you continue in your life’s ministry in our faith.

Marlene Abel
Director of Religious Education

Photos from UUP's Annual Retreat

Annual Retreat 2008
Originally uploaded by Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma

The photos from our Annual Retreat are being posted! Visit our Flickr website to see them--just click on the picture and you'll be taken there!