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Our UU Heritage: Let’s Pass It On

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This month’s theme is a juicy one—heritage.

I decided to begin my preparations for this article by looking up the numerous definitions of heritage. There was one upon which I chose to focus—“valued objects and qualities, such as cultural traditions . . ., that have been passed down from previous generations.” UU’s have many beloved objects and qualities (and I might add rituals), that make up our heritage. Included among those objects, qualities, and rituals are our chalices (including our rituals of lighting and extinguishing them), our sharing of joys and sorrows, our commitments to social justice, and our respect for theological diversity. Our heritage is a rich and meaningful one, and our efforts to find creative and sustainable ways of passing our heritage on to the next generation of UU’s is the very heart of our work in Family Ministry.

The issues that we face each time we meet together as a Team and each time we meet with our children and youth in Kids Connection or teen meetings center on a few important questions. How do young people come to identify with UU values, rituals, and traditions? And how can we (the adults) work in such a way that our words and actions make our UU heritage clear, accessible, and engaging for our youth? This effort to highlight and share the some times intangible attributes of our UU heritage while interacting with our children and youth is important work. It is one of the many ways UU’s can touch the future.

If you would like to know more about the Family Ministry Team and the many opportunities for UUCM adults to find purpose and meaning inherent in our Team’s work, please reach out to one or the other of us—Cheryl Spaulding, Lindsay Dunckel, and Rene Wiley. We would be delighted to discuss with you ways that you might participate in building this program into one that is ready to serve our current group of children, as well as the children who will one Sunday show up with their parents ready to explore Unitarian Universalism for the first time.
TOGETHER WE CAN TOUCH THE FUTURE!!

Activities This Month Include:
Building and Grounds Workday: October 21, 9am-12pm. All ages welcome. Age appropriate
task will be made available for children.
Harvest Festival: Saturday, October 21, 3 pm to 6 pm, at UUCM. $10 for adults, kids are free.
Come enjoy music, face painting, apple crafts, corn hole, chili and corn bread, and more,
including lots of UUCM opportunities to connect with each other.

Share the Plate!

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UUCM’s August Share the Plate recipient, Animal Place, will receive $652.97, thanks to generous UUCM members, friends, and visitors.  These weekly donations add up.  Thank you all.

As of this writing, we are currently finishing up collections for our September partner, Sierra Streams
Institute. 

 Our October Share the Plate recipient is Wildlife Rehabilitation and Release (WR&R). 

Founded in 1985, WR&R is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the care and rehabilitation of injured and orphaned wildlife. Each year our team returns to the wild over 100 different species of native wildlife, including mammals, bats, songbirds, and raptors.  WR&R is completely funded by volunteers and generous individuals.

cawildlife911.org

Thank you, each of you, for your continual compassion and justice-centered generosity.

Answering the Call of Love: Support our Haitian Family!

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Join us in building a network of support for our Haitian family, who has fled violence and chaos in their home country to find a respite here in Nevada County, thanks to the Humanitarian Parole program and the generous sponsorship by a UUCM member family.

We hope you’ll join us in turning our values into verbs as we build a world more compassionate, sustainable, and just – one family at a time!

For more information about how you can offer support, click here.

Update on Welcome to Andou/St Fort Family

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Moustapha Andou and sons Daniel (8) and Samuel (4) are moving rapidly toward completion of many paperwork activities, and the boys began school last Wednesday and seem to be happy and doing well, although it is clear that the boys suffer from the “secondary trauma” of beginning a new school in a new language, and immediately following their departure from Haiti and their father Nazaire, whose status and travel approval we continue trying to expedite. All three are progressing rapidly in English as a second language.

We are grateful for those who have contributed time, many household items, and money in support of Moustapha and the boys. Today we are most needing help in transporting the boys to school occasionally, and transportation for Moustapha to some of the appointments that are still pending for medical and other services. She plans to begin preparing to take the driving tests and then able to do much of the school driving, and search for work. And for those who can contribute financially, the number of anticipated and unexpected expenses is substantial. After using 225,000 frequent flyer miles for 3 tickets to San Francisco, we anticipate a significant airfare to bring the Dad Nazaire to be reunited with his family.

We are especially grateful to the UUCM Justice Team for sponsoring the September 9 Welcome event and ask that you all attend and meet the family in person.

New Art show in the Library featuring Rene Weilmann

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September 15th – November 15th 23

UUCM Anthony Library

Three Sisters

Renée Weilmann grew up in Southern California and Hawaii, and has lived in Nevada City for the past 24 years. In her early years, she loved expressing herself creatively through drawing and painting, and studying Hawaiian, Tahitian, ballet and tap dance. Later, in high school and college, she studied photography and printmaking. In the 1990s she began to paint, and simultaneously began “painting” with plants in her garden. In the mid 2000’s, she began quilting with UUCM’s “Frayed Knots”, a group started and led by Kia Hatch which included UUCM members Gwen Eymann, Robin Hart, Theresa Houtman, and Gail Johnson-Vaughn. This is the first time her paintings have been shown publicly

Hirschman’s Pond

Welcome, September!

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Welcome back to a new church year of working together, celebrating together, and simply
enjoying each others’ company. One thing this UU community does exceptionally well is
welcome people into the flow of activity that is UUCM. It is who we are and what we do—“we
are a welcoming people.”

This month we are extending a very heartfelt welcome to the Andou-St. Fort family.
Moustapha, and her two sons—Daniel (8) and Samuel (4)—traveled all the way from Haiti to
start new lives here in Nevada County. On Saturday, September 9, from 7pm to approximately
9pm here at UUCM, we will hold a reception to welcome this special family formally. All,
including children, are invited to join us as we express our commitment to being a supportive
and caring presence during this challenging time in their lives. Both of the Andou-St. Fort boys
will be at the reception. Childcare will be provided. Perhaps your children would enjoy meeting
them and being a part of this welcoming event.

With the inception of the new church year, we are also welcoming children, especially those
who took a summer break from Sundays at UUCM, back to Kids Connection every Sunday
during the service. Upon entering our Kids Connection room, you may notice a new
arrangement, as well as some new materials for play. We are inviting all children to come see
these changes for themselves. As the year progresses, we will be exploring how to use the
Kids Connection space available to us as we explore what we are calling “UU Values and
Principles at Play.” More to come on these developments.

Please take note of family-friendly events in September:

Kids Connection will be available every Sunday in September.

Reception for the Andou-St. Fort Family: Saturday, September 9, 7 pm – approximately 9 pm,
at UUCM. Children welcome.

Building and Grounds Workday: Saturday, September 16, 9 am – 12 pm. All ages are welcome.
Age appropriate tasks will be made available for children.

Share the Plate!

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UUCM’s July Share the Plate recipient, Color Me Human, will receive $993.97, thanks to generous UUCM members, friends, and visitors.  These weekly donations add up.  Thank you all.

As of this writing, we are currently finishing up collections for our August partner,  Animal Place. 

Our September Share the Plate recipient is Sierra Streams Institute.

Sierra Streams Institute is a regional watershed science organization based in Nevada City, California, dedicated to increasing watershed stewardship capacity throughout the Sierra Nevada region and beyond. SSI work with local, state, and federal agencies as well as universities and community groups to find solutions to the problems that afflict Deer Creek, Bear River and other watersheds.  UUCM member Lang Waters is President of the Board of Directors for Sierra Streams Institute.

Thank you, each of you, for your continual compassion and justice centered generosity.

Dear Soul Matters Circle Members

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Dear Soul Matter Circle members,

We hope you’ve had a rich experience in your circle this year. Thank you to you and the facilitators for bringing yourselves so genuinely to this journey of sharing and connecting. Here’s to share the plans ahead, to ask about your participation in the new year, and to request a sentence or two about what the experience has meant to you.

As you may know, each circle decides what it wants to do over the summer. Some circles meet for simple social celebrations of the year. Some seek materials as a resource for a couple more months of sharing.

We’re beginning our planning for the fall, which includes saying a huge THANK YOU! to Jo Waters for her fabulous administrating, and welcoming Gene Gilligan and Lin Jovanovic to the Soul Matters Administrator role!

We’ll be getting word and invitations out in August, starter/sample circles will be offered in September, and then we’ll kick off the official new year of circles in October.

You know already that Soul Matters circles are meant to form for one congregation year. Circles are then invited to draw upon the powerful connections formed and to share that ability to go deep by making new connections with new people the next year, so that the threads across the community become more and more widespread, interwoven, and strong. Plus, you’ll still have the deep connections you’ve already made to take with you!

Would you like to be in a Soul Matters Circle in the coming UUCM year? If you know already, please contact Gene at SoulMatters@uugrassvalley.org.  Otherwise, Gene will reach out in August.  And, if you feel drawn to the possibility of facilitating a circle, please contact Gene or Rev Kevin. 

Regardless, would you please share with us a sentence or two about what being in a circle has meant to you, or how it has been valuable?

It’s a great way to help new people know what circles can offer, and for us to get feedback. We’d also be glad for any descriptions and photos of service projects circles undertook.

Please send your thoughts and photos to Gene at SoulMatters@uugrassvalley.org.

May those of you still concluding your Soul Matters year have a meaningful closing circle or two.

With gratitude for the heart and soul that you brought to your circle, and with deep gratitude to our generous and thoughtful facilitators,

Rev. Kevin, Gene Gilligan, and Lin Jovanovic