Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma

The purpose of this congregation is to provide a haven where members can share in a spiritually, culturally, and socially diverse local religious community. We envision a congregation that will be welcoming to all, that values the contributions of each member in shared ministry, and that actively promotes and models individual development of an ethical way of living. We are intentionally intergenerational, and covenant to provide religious education and spiritual growth for children and adults.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

This Week at UUP: Father's Day


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


To subscribe to "This Week at UUP" for email delivery, please send a request to uupetaluma at gmail dot com.

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND UPCOMING EVENTS

UUP will 'share the plate' this Sunday
In keeping with UUP's commitment to supporting community organizations, UUP will 'share the plate' this Sunday with the Petaluma Kitchen. The Petaluma Kitchen serves a no-cost mid-day meal every day, 100 meals per year, to low and very-low income men, women and children in our community, and often are the first contact for families or individuals who need referrals to other community resources. They also operate the Food Box Program, delivering 240 boxes of food each week, 500,000 pounds of food a year, to very-low income seniors and families.

"New to UU" Visitors' Orientation on Sunday, June 21, after service
Trying out UUP? Visiting for the first time or have been for a while, and want to learn more about our congregation and about Unitarian Universalism? Gather with several UUP members to ask questions you might have and to hear more about UUP. We’ll meet near the fireplace immediately following the service.

Developing spiritual practice through movement with Meredith, Jodi and Jan
Members and friends of UUP are invited to come explore developing spiritual practice through movement with Jodi, Meredith and Jan, Meredith’s partner, as they host their third three-hour workshop on Friday, June 19th from 6:45 to 10 pm. Space is limited, so if you are interested in participating, please reply asap.
The introductory session will begin with improvisational movement to music. We’ll progress to moving without music wherein movement emerges from within. There will be time to reflect, journal, draw, etc., between sessions and then a time for sharing at the end. (Some light snacks will also be served.)
The three of us have all found this to be a fascinating practice and are constantly surprised at what emerges. It is a way to bypass the thinking mind and to access a kind of knowing that lives uniquely in the body, a truthfulness that gets around the censors of thought and ego.
Our intention is to offer these sessions until a group forms that will meet together regularly.
Let us know if you would like more information!

Gather Ye Water and Stones!
When you're out and about on travels, journeys and adventures this summer, remember to gather water and stones to share at our annual Water and Stones participation worship service scheduled for September 13th.

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 21, 2009: "Daddy Dearest: A Father's Day Service"
Guest speaker: Steven Friedman
Worship Leaders: Berkley Sturgeon and David Dodd
Images, stereotypes, and memories of fathers and fathering trigger a wide range of emotion in our culture. Join us as we explore these feelings in a Father's Day service with speaker Steven Friedman, who is a Unitarian Universalist--a member of our sister congregation in Marin--and an oral historian and blogger see his blog: Senior Dad)

Sunday, June 28, 2009: Redefining Call for a Liberal Religious Community
Worship Leaders: Meredith Guest and Jodi Boyle
What do you feel called to do in this world? What does it look like when people act out of a sense of being called to do something? What would it be like if the community of UUP were organized around supporting each of us to pursue what we felt called to do? Join us for an exploration of "call" and what it means for a liberal religious community.
After the service, please join members of the Worship Committee for a discussion of worship at UUP. This is an opportunity to give feedback, make suggestions, express what you value most about what we do together on Sunday mornings. The Worship Committee is always interested in feedback, though it is particularly useful at this time of year before we go into our annual planning retreat on August 15.

REGULARLY SCHEDULED GATHERINGS
* The UUP Board of Trustees will meet on Monday, June 22nd at 7:30 pm at Jean Conrad’s house.

Links:
www.uupetaluma.org
Facebook Page (be sociable with UUP friends!)
Flickr Gallery

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Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Marriage Equality Community Gathering

What We Know and What We Need to Do to Regain Marriage Equality in California

Wednesday, July 1st @ 7 p.m.
Unitarian Universalist Congregation
547 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa

The California Supreme Court has ruled to uphold Prop 8. WE NEED YOU TO GET ENGAGED in the next stage of our marriage equality movement in California.

Join us at this community gathering to get the latest California polling results on local support for marriage equality, initiative options and where we can make a difference. Learn more about how our local community voted on Prop 8 and what we can do to regain marriage equality in California.

We will be creating the greatest grassroots movement this country has ever seen and we want you to be involved. This interactive gathering will provide you an opportunity to be informed on what we know now and then to share your ideas and get your questions answered.

So join us on July 1st and learn what you can do in our local marriage equality coalition and bring a friend! For more information, go to www.getengagedtour.com or write to ca-sonoma@marriagequality.org.

Partial List of Patricipating Organizations:

**CA Faith for Equality **Unitarian Universalist Congregation Santa Rosa
**Courage Campaign **Marriage Equality USA

If your business or organization would like to be involved in organizing this event or donating materials, please e-mail Chari Davidson at ca-sonoma@marriageequality.org or call (707) 332-9537.


Sign Language interpreting provided by Communique Interpreting www.communiqueinterpreting.com . Providing trained, certified, and accurate interpreting since 1994.

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Thursday, June 11, 2009

This Week at UUP: Bring a Flower!


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


To subscribe to "This Week at UUP" for email delivery, please send a request to uupetaluma at gmail dot com.

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND UPCOMING EVENTS

Sunday’s service: bring a flower!
Please bring a flower or two from your garden for Sunday’s celebration of unity in community through our annual flower communion.

Norman Solomon Presentation
UUP is proud to sponsor the appearance of nationally syndicated columnist Norman Solomon, Sunday June 14, 12:30 PM, at Women's Club, 518 B Street in downtown Petaluma, discussing his book "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death". Following his discussion, we will show the film of the same title based on the book and narrated by Sean Penn, followed by a Q&A session conducted by Norman Solomon.
Norman Solomon is a nationally prominent media critic and is the founder and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. He is the author of numerous books. His latest book, "Made Love, Got War: Close Encounters with America’s Warfare State" was published in 2007.
Admission is free. A light lunch will be served. For further information contact Karen Elliott or David Strange.

Developing spiritual practice through movement with Meredith, Jodi and Jan
Members and friends of UUP are invited to come explore developing spiritual practice through movement with Jodi, Meredith and Jan, Meredith’s partner, as they host their third three-hour workshop on Friday, June 19th from 6:45 to 10 pm. Space is limited, so if you are interested in participating, please reply asap.
The introductory session will begin with improvisational movement to music. We’ll progress to moving without music wherein movement emerges from within. There will be time to reflect, journal, draw, etc., between sessions and then a time for sharing at the end. (Some light snacks will also be served.)
The three of us have all found this to be a fascinating practice and are constantly surprised at what emerges. It is a way to bypass the thinking mind and to access a kind of knowing that lives uniquely in the body, a truthfulness that gets around the censors of thought and ego.
Our intention is to offer these sessions until a group forms that will meet together regularly.
Let us know if you would like more information or to sign-up.

Meet with fellow UUs at the General Assembly!
UU General Assembly
Salt Lake City, Utah
June 24-28, 2009
More information, talk to Marlene Abel, UUP Director of Religious Education

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 14, 2009: "Flower Communion: Fostering Unity as Religious Liberals"
Join us for a celebration of unity in community with each other through our annual flower communion. Meredith Guest will offer a homily that speaks to how this tradition relates to our role as religious liberals. Please bring a flower or two from your garden.

Sunday, June 21, 2009: "Warm Father God: A Father's Day Service"
Guest speaker: Steven Friedman
Worship Leaders: Berkley Sturgeon and David Dodd
Images, stereotypes, and memories of fathers and fathering trigger a wide range of emotion in our culture. Join us as we explore these feelings in a Father's Day service with speaker Steven Friedman, who is a Unitarian Universalist--a member of our sister congregation in Marin--and an oral historian and blogger (see his blog, Senior Dad).
To help with planning this service, please take a few minutes to fill out an online survey. (If you completed the survey prior to Mother's Day, we thank you for your feedback.)

REGULARLY SCHEDULED GATHERINGS
* The UUP Women's Group will meet on Monday, June 15th at Jean Conrad's house. The topic is "Embracing Summer".
* The UUP Board of Trustees will meet on Monday, June 22nd at 7:30 pm at Jean Conrad’s house.
* Larking About, the UUP choir meets Wednesdays at 8 pm at David Dodd and Diana Spaulding's house, 716 Bassett St. New singers are always welcome! Our last rehearsal will be next Wednesday, June 17--we'll take a break until mid-August.

Links:
www.uupetaluma.org
Facebook Page (be sociable with UUP friends!)
Flickr Gallery

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Monday, June 08, 2009

Religious Education Update: June 7, 2009

It Takes a Village

Our congregation is well known for its commitment to children and youth. This year, we sent more children and youth to District Assembly than any other congregation. We were well represented in the Coming of Age program. Guest ministers soon learned that our children and youth are present for the beginning of every service. Guests of our congregation remarked, “There are so many children!”

Our intergenerational culture works because it is embraced by all ages. Our youth are learning how to lead worship as Junior Worship Associates. Many children and youth sang in the Children's Choir at our Christmas Eve service Our children and youth have learned to be part of worship, and have grown into participatory roles.

UUP adults continue to be intentionally intergenerational. Our annual Religious Education garage sale last August was the best ever, both in volunteer support and in profits. Our Worship Leaders have supported and guided our teens in presiding over our services. Our Coming of Age mentors worked joyfully with our Coming of Age youth. The Board of Trustees was consistently supportive of our RE program. The Time and Talent Auction committee welcomed the youth's participation. Our RE teachers and volunteers gave generously of their time, love and talents. Our Religious Educaton Committee met faithfully under its chair, Leslie Harrison.

The work we have done together in creating our intergenerational community has paid off handsomely this year. A particular showcase for our inclusive community was our recent UUP Retreat, where adults and children swam, sang, dined and played together. From my vantage point in the kitchen, I marveled at the good-natured camaraderie. It takes a village, including children, youth and adults to create our beloved community.

Marlene Abel
Director of Religious Education

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Thursday, June 04, 2009

This Week at UUP: Annual Congregational Meeting


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


To subscribe to "This Week at UUP" for email delivery, please send a request to uupetaluma at gmail dot com.

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND UPCOMING EVENTS

Come to the Congregational Meeting on Sunday, June 7th!
All members and friends are urged to come and have your voice heard at our Congregational Meeting on June 7th right after services.
* The Budget for the year 2009-2010 will be discussed and voted upon by the membership
* New Board member (s) and nominating committee elected
* You will meet the members of the newly formed Leadership Council
* Results of the congregational survey and the vision offering (including an update on getting a P.T. Minister)
* A delicious lunch is being planned by the Social Responsibility Committee

UUP celebrated our Seventh Annual Memorial Day Retreat
If you were not among the 32 adults and 20 kids to be there in person, the next best thing are some pictures of the retreat that have been posted thanks to David Dodd and Hope and others on our UUP website and Flickr page (link below). Thanks to all of you for a wonderful time--thanks to Marlene and David Hathaway and Tony for the DEE-licious and plentiful food, and to everyone for pitching in and making the retreat flow from hour to day, and to the women for the women's group, and to the kids for all the hilarity and lightness and joy, and to Jodi for the Sunday service, and to Carol and KC and Karen for the artwork and kid activities, and to Richard and David and Tony and all the singers for the music, and to Dick for the night of games, and to all the conversations and quiet times and pool games and haiku (which will be available soon for all to see) and to Four Springs for the beautiful and homey UUP home away from home. We honored Jan Crosby as this year's recipient of our Keepers of the Flame award, given to those UUP people who give of themselves above and beyond to keep our inspiration and community alive and thriving, and we honored Hope, Karen and Elizabeth Nielsen (in absentia) for their Firecracker energy and commitment, emerging in the past year as new leaders and voices among us. We enjoyed and deepened our connections to one another and our community. Until next year….
- T Hathaway

Norman Solomon Presentation
UUP is proud to sponsor the appearance of nationally syndicated columnist Norman Solomon, Sunday June 14, 12:30 PM, at Women's Club, 518 B Street in downtown Petaluma, discussing his book "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death". Following his discussion, we will show the film of the same title based on the book and narrated by Sean Penn, followed by a Q&A session conducted by Norman Solomon.
Norman Solomon is a nationally prominent media critic and is the founder and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. He is the author of numerous books. His latest book, "Made Love, Got War: Close Encounters with America’s Warfare State" was published in 2007.
Admission is free. A light lunch will be served. For further information contact Karen Elliott or David Strange.



Developing spiritual practice through movement with Meredith, Jodi and Jan
Members and friends of UUP are invited to come explore developing spiritual practice through movement with Jodi, Meredith and Jan, Meredith’s partner, as they host their third three-hour workshop on Friday, June 19th from 6:45 to 10 pm. Space is limited, so if you are interested in participating, please reply asap.
The introductory session will begin with improvisational movement to music. We’ll progress to moving without music wherein movement emerges from within. There will be time to reflect, journal, draw, etc., between sessions and then a time for sharing at the end. (Some light snacks will also be served.)
The three of us have all found this to be a fascinating practice and are constantly surprised at what emerges. It is a way to bypass the thinking mind and to access a kind of knowing that lives uniquely in the body, a truthfulness that gets around the censors of thought and ego.
Our intention is to offer these sessions until a group forms that will meet together regularly.
Let us know if you would like more information or to sign-up.

Meet with fellow UUs at the General Assembly!
UUA General Assembly
Salt Lake City, Utah
June 24-28, 2009
More information, talk to Marlene Abel, UUP Director of Religious Education

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY CORNER: "...service is our prayer"
5th Sunday Luncheon moved to June 7th
We've moved the 5th Sunday Luncheon to June 7th to coincide with UUP's annual June Congregational Meeting. Plan to stay after services for a delicious, healthy salad bar lunch made with local, organic and vegan ingredients prepared by your Social Responsibility Committee. Lunch will be followed by our all-important Congregational Meeting, led by your Board of Trustees, where you will hear what's happening at UUP and be able to exercise your privilege and responsibility to vote on issues important to UUP's future. Don't miss it!
Social Responsibility Committee
What we do
The Social Responsibility Committee was formed last fall to create an avenue for folks at UUP to help make a difference in the world beyond our congregation. SRC includes both the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee and Carbon Rings groups. SRC is also the committee tasked with presenting the UUA's Congregational Study/Action Issue (CSAI), "Ethical Eating: Food and Environmental Justice”, to our congregation. This CSAI encompasses aspects of environmental concern, world hunger, and concern for our treatment of animals. Whatever your passion, there is something here for you. On a local level, we have participated in the creation of UUP's environmental parade float, assisted COTS/Petaluma Kitchen with food drives, and we select the Share-The-Plate recipients each month.
How you can help
"Many hands make light work" - and allow us to do even more! You are invited to join us and help UUP make a difference in our community and in the wider world. As we say each Sunday in our Affirmation, "...service is our prayer."
Our next meeting is Tuesday, June 9th, 7:00 - 9:00 pm at Jan Crosby's. For directions and more information, contact Co-Chairs Jan Crosby or Earl Cruser.
SRC Quote for the Week
"Let us bless the source of life that brings forth bread from the Earth. Let our lives be a blessing to the Earth that sustains us, and to all the creatures who, like us, call this planet home." -- John Robbins

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 7, 2009: "An Evolutionary Parable about the Creation of Matter"
Worship Participants: Marlene Abel, Director of Religious Education, and the RE children and youth
Worship Leader: Jodi Boyle
Our RE youth will present "Startull", an evolutionary parable about an average yellow star who discovers the worth of being just medium size star and learns important lessons about the ways of the universe. Marlene Abel, Director of Religious Education and former chemist, will reflect on how the life cycles of stars and the formation of the chemical elements in stellar furnaces led to creation of life on our planet. This is an intergenerational service in which the "stars" of the RE program will be recognized and honored.

Sunday, June 14, 2009: "Flower Communion: Fostering Unity as Religious Liberals"
Join us for a celebration of unity in community with each other through our annual flower communion. Meredith Guest will offer a homily that speaks to how this tradition relates to our role as religious liberals. Please bring a flower or two from your garden.

REGULARLY SCHEDULED GATHERINGS
* The UUP Men’s Group will meet Friday, June 5th at George Beeler’s house - tea 7p, starting 7:30 - 100 Fair Street at the corner of Douglas.
* UUP Worship Leaders will meet Sunday, June 7th from 12:45 pm to 3:30 pm in T's office.
* The UUP Board of Trustees will meet Monday, June 8th at 7:30 pm at Jean Conrad’s house.
* Larking About, the UUP choir meets Wednesdays at 8 pm at David Dodd and Diana Spaulding's house, 716 Bassett St. New singers are always welcome!

Links:
www.uupetaluma.org
Facebook Page (be sociable with UUP friends!)
Flickr Gallery

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