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Editors suggestion:
Animal,
Vegetable, Miracle: A
Year of
Food Life
By Barbara Kingsolver, Camille
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UU Visalia
Quick
Links
Home Page:
uuvisalia.org
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Ongoing Fellowship EventsPlease Use your S.H.A.R.E.S. Card
at Save-Mart, Our Fellowship is participating in the
Save-Mart S.H.A.R.E.S program. If you take one of our S.H.A.R.E.S.
cards and give it to the clerk at the check-out counter, our
Fellowship will receive 3% of your grocery purchases from
Save-Mart, at no extra cost to you. Please get your own
S.H.A.R.E.S. card from Jolene. And... bring your receipts for the
Raffle!
Friday
UU Visalia Social Lunch
Group, Join us every Friday at 12:15
p.m.for lunch - we'll
be visiting different locations each week! If you'd like to attend,
contact Harold at 739-8527 or email harold@uuvisalia.org
to be added
to our weekly notification list.Join Our Choir The Choir
practices at 4 PM for rehearsal on several designated Sundays each
month. If you are interested in joining the choir, contact Ken
Elias at kelias@prodigy.net or phone: (559) 561-0610.
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Worship Service Calendar
Our second
month of summer programming - for 2010 we will share multicultural
stories from the book titled Stories in Faith:
Exploring our UU Principles and Sources Through Wisdom Tales by
Forsyth-Vail and Hurd. In the
introduction to their book the authors describe the purpose of
these
tales.
"We share our understanding of what it means to be
human in groups and storytelling is a primary vehicle for this sharing.
Stories reflect the wisdom and experience of the community. They are
meant to be told and retold. Unitarian Universalism is a living
tradition. We
believe that revelation is neither fixed nor complete: there is much
more spiritual truth yet to be discovered. One of the ways we discover
this truth is in the dialogue between stories of the past and challenges
of the present. Stories acquire overtones, for tellers and listeners,
that give insights into life's meaning and purpose."
You and your family are invited to
participate in the
discussions which will follow the reading of the story, and to
share
your own family stories which relate to the topic of the day.
-
Anna Garcia, Worship Team Chair
July 4, "King of the
Birds", a story for 5th Principle: The
right of conscience and the use of the democratic process. Led by Harold Wood
July 11, "The Lion's
Whiskers", a story for 4th Priniciple: A free
and responsible search for truth and meaning. Led by Anna Garcia
July 18, "Orfeo &
Heurodis", a story for 6th Principle: The
goal of world community with peace, liberty & justice for all. Led by Daljit Singh
July 25, "We Are All
One", a story for 7th Principle: Respect for
the interdependent web of all existence. Led by April Hill.
The Social Justice Team meets after the
potluck on the second Sunday of the month. The Worship Team after potluck on the
third Sunday of the month. The Communications
Team meets on the third Sunday of the month at 10 AM. Visitors
are cordially invited to join us for a buffet supper and fellowship
immediately following the 5:00pm Worship Service. Please
Note - Service topics are
subject to change |
UU Visalia Fellowship News
July 2010
Chalice Lighter Call - in the mail!
The
Visalia UU Fellowship has been accepted into the Pacific Central
District (PCD) Weekend Ministry program. The program will provide
professional minister to work with us over the next two years, helping
us get to the point where we are fully able to hire our own Consulting
Minister. A PCD mailing goes out in early July asking for Chalice
Lighter donations totaling $12,000 to pay for the Weekend Ministry
program. Please - give generously!
(The mailing also includes a
request from Walnut Creek's Mount Diablo UU Church to support religious
education and music programs.)
The Gift of You (from Kathy van Leuwen, UU San Mateo
newsletter, June-August 2010)
"Ministry happens wherever
individuals embrace the belief that their good works, their
volunteerism, their acts, can help serve the mission and vision of their
congregation...ministry is something shared by all who are part of a
spiritual community; a way to put faith into action for the benefit of
the church and the wider community." (UUA website)
Giving of
ourselves in service of our mission is vital to healthy congregational
life. In contrast with the consumer culture which envelops us, it is
important that we don't come together to meet only our own needs or
contribute only to our own favorite causes or programs.
What is
your personal ministry? The process of discernment may require some
soul-searching, speaking with congregational leaders to learn more about
possible paths, and some trial and error. Four questions: What am I
doing right now in the congregation that fulfills me? What do I do well?
What fulfills me? What needs to be done?
Often, there is
not one simple answer to these questions. Sometimes what we long most to
do may not be the most pressing thing the congregation's mission
requires. Sometimes what we are good at isn't necessarily what fulfills
us. Sometimes it is more a matter of gathering the courage to do what
your heart is calling you to do; sometimes it is biting the bullet and
doing what you know only you can do. Sometimes we are doing exactly what
is right for us; sometimes we need to stop doing something that is not.
Visalia UU Fellowship's newly elected board is working on
appointments for our various committees in such areas as Community
Impact & Change, Life-Span Learning, Sunday Services, Membership,
and Administration.
Please contact new President Marilyn Giese if
you are interested in serving on a committee.
P.S. Another
question we can ask ourselves when discerning our ministry is this: "Is
there stuff happening in my life right now that suggests I scream for
help?" There are times that we do the ministering, but it is vital to
recognize that there are also times when we must surrender to receiving
ministry: when we are ill, when we are in mourning, when we are going
through a break up or have lost a job, or when life simply has left us
depleted. Receiving ministry means reaching out and letting people care
for you, coming on Sundays simply to sit in the service and talking with
people who will listen.
Audio
Recording from UU Visalia President Marilyn Giese
If you
missed Marilyn Giese's presentation on May 31, you can listen to her 29
minute presentation on our website. Her topic was: Planning and Maintaining a Garden for The
Spirit - Musings on spiritual development and growth for our
congregation. You can download or listen to the mp3 audio
recording of her presentation file here:
http://www.uuvisalia.org/uuv_multimedia.html
Fellowship History. We would
like to write up a
history to post on the web and to format as a pamphlet. Do you have old
documents, newsletters, photos, news clippigs? Please contact a
Board member if you are interested. For more info, see:
A flyer announcing a new
project on congregational histories led by the Unitarian Universalist
Historical Society.
http://www.uua.org/documents/uuhs/create_cong_histories.pdf
Please Label
Ingredients of Potluck Dishes. Some members
and visitors have serious food allergies
and we want them to enjoy dinner without worry. Please list the
ingredients of your potluck dish on a post-it or
index card. Particular concerns are meat, dairy products, peppers and
wheat gluten. Also, if you are willing to divulge your whole recipe, we
will
collect the cards to include in the Fellowship Cookbook Version #2.
SHARES cards earnings are $1129 since
January 09 and still climbing. Don't forget that SHARES cards are also
good at FoodMaxx and Lucky as well as Save-Mart. Bring your receipt for
the quarterly raffle of a Farmer's Market Gift Certificate!
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Community Events
Summer Hikes - Remember John Muir's
advice: "Climb the mountains and get their good
tidings!" Check the Sierra Club Mineral King Group Upcoming
Events page for some local hiking opportunities!
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