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THE GIFT OF YOU, SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES at UU VISALIA
"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."
The Gift of You, Kathy van Leuwen, UU San Mateo
We need:
Greeters- for people arriving for services, Contact April #738-1965
Hospitality Hosts- for visitors to Sunday Services, Contact April
The Caring committee is now Johanna Lane, David Reid, Deborah Lynn and Jane Cruser. If you know someone in need of care, call or contact at fellowship.
Communications Team- new members to help plan & implement publicity, newsletter, website, etc., Contact Jolene #627-8538
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Please visit our online bookstore!
Anything you buy from Amazon.com after clicking on the
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logo, will provide a percentage to help support our Fellowship.
The Sequoia Seed: Remembering the Truth of Who You Are
By Karen Wright
From Amazon.com: Deep in an ancient forest of giant sequoias, a small cone waits patiently to release new life. Over the mountain ridge, a wildfire is rapidly approaching. It will destroy all in its path. But, paradoxically, the fire s intense heat will release the tiny seed, smaller than a flake of oatmeal, from the dormant cone and new life will amazingly take root. So it is for us. Problems, difficult people...
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UU Visalia
Quick Links
Home Page:
uuvisalia.org
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Ongoing Fellowship Events
Please 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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Unitarian Universalist Events
UUA General Assembly - online! - Our newly elected President, Marilyn Giese, and her husband David Reid attended the 2010 General Assembly (GA) in Minneapolis in June 23-27. General Assembly is the heart of the democratic way that our faith does business. Actions of social witness are passed at GA, elements that make up future policies are discussed. There were also hundreds of entertaining programs and informative workshops, offering excellent support and learning for leaders in our congregations. Although the event is over you can join the witness for our faith and values at: http://www.uua.org/events/generalassembly/
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The Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF), our UU church without walls, has about 3,500 members scattered all over the world. We have a military ministry at www.clfuu.org/military and as a result are helping to manage the distribution of a wonderful, new meditation manual for UUs and others in the military. It's called Bless All Who Serve, is pocket-sized, and has readings, prayers, and even hymns from many faith traditions. The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) printed the books with the help of generous donors who paid to have copies printed for military people and their families, military chaplains and UU ministers. The CLF is managing the distribution of these free, individual copies of the book.
If you would like a copy, and are in the military, are a family member, or you are a UU minister, please let me know. If there is someone in your family who is deployed or living in another area who would like a copy, the CLF will be happy to mail this book to them. It might make sense to mail one to a person who is deployed and one to a family member at home. The rules around this are flexible. The idea is to get these wonderful books into the hands of those who need them.
For those who don't quite meet the criteria, Bless All Who Serve is available for $8.00 at the UUA bookstore at
http://www.uuabookstore.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=1263.
For those of you who are members of the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF), Bless All Who Serve is also available toborrow from the CLF Library. Contact me with the names of friends and their families in the military who would like a copy. I will need their mailing address(es). Email me if you have any questions. And, thanks. Lorraine Lorraine Dennis
Executive Director
Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF)
ldennis@clfuu.org
617-948-6166 |
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Worship Service Calendar November 2010
Note: Oct 31, for the Dia de Los Muertos Service, Please do not bring animals or pictures of animals. This is just for the people.
November 7th- Cosmic Theology - leader, Janet Wood This sermon explores how we can marvel at the wonder of our existence through encounters that remind us of our context, and of the nature of ultimate reality.
November 14th- Death With Dignity featuring our guest speaker Dr. Wendel Stephens who is a full-time Instructor of Philosophy at Fresno City College . He has been a full-time Instructor there since 1999. He has been active in end-of-life issues since the 1980s. He became a member of the Board of Final Exit Network in March of 2010. Worship associate, Marilyn Giese. Choir will sing
November 21st- "Spirit in Action." Leader: Earl Cruser. The political Left that agrees with many UU values (but not necessarily all of them, nor exclusively so) has many adherents for whom religion or anything smacking of it is frowned upon. Michael Lerner, a staunch advocate for progressive causes and a Rabbi, insists that by rejecting the spiritual dimension of life, the Left is losing both its way and its empathy with average citizens, who are seeking not just a good standard of living, political freedom, etc., but also meaning and purpose in their lives. Earl will discuss how we can and must combine a spiritual understanding with a progressive agenda.
November 28th - Leader, April Hill. It Might Have Been Otherwise: Spiritual Gratitude a sermon by Edwin C. Lynn. None of us want to experience a life threatening illness or an accident to school us into a powerful appreciation of life. The significance of spiritual gratitude is that it is experienced because life is sacred, precious, spirit-filled and holy, not because of or for lack of any one life incident. Choir will sing.
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 fourth Sunday of the month at 10 AM.
See the Announcment board in the foyer before and after every service for detailed information.
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
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UU Visalia Fellowship News
On November 3, the Executive Committee will meet at the home of Marilyn Giese at 6:30pm. The agenda includes s Skype conference with Rev. Jeanelyese Adams and her Transforming Congregations Team from the PCD.
WORKSHOP ON SPIRITUAL PARTNERSHIPS
This workshop will:
· Present participants with the idea of deepening their spiritual practice by working with a "spiritual friend"
· Engage participants in reflecting on their own experiences of the sacred and their current spiritual needs
· Build community among participants with meaningful sharing and listening experiences
This workshop will be held at 7 PM on November 10,
at the Friends Meeting house.
You need not have attended previous workshops in this "Spirit in Practice" series to attend.
If you wish to attend, please RSVP to:
Harold Wood - harold@uuvisalia.org or 697-3525.
To join us at early at 6 PM for soup and salad supper, contact Marilyn Giese at mjgiese2@gmail.com
or 687-1891.
Congratulations, the turnout for help with our new Ning website was good with eight people who now know much more than they did!
Fair Trade Coffee & Tea for Sale
A limited selection of fair trade coffees and teas are available for purchase, with donations over the product cost contributed to the Fellowship. Green Tea or Ceylon Chai for $2.50/box; Rooibois Tea for $2.75/box. Ground Cafe Salvador, Tanzanian Jubilee or Bright Day Brew for $5.15/bag. Ground Decaf Columbian or Whole Bean Organic Love Buzz for $5.65/bag. Cash or checks to April.
Wonderful Wednesdays will continue on Nov and Dec 2nd. Homemade soup, salad, and bread will again be available for supper at 6pm with a suggested donation of $4.00 to cover the cost of food.
Reservations are requested for supper. Call Marilyn Giese at 687-1891 and leave a message each week by Tuesday at 9pm. Participants will can choose between Meditation with Rick Meyers or a class from the UU Tapestry of Faith curricula. See Spiritual Practices item above.
The fall UU Garage Sale extravaganza will take place in Nov. 2010 at 1288 Lincoln Street in Tulare from 8am-3pm. The sale will be held in the back yard, and while entrance and exit can easily be monitored, additional "sales" or staging area help would be appreciated. See announcement board for details.
New! UU Visalia Podcast!
We have started a new audio podcast of Sermons and Presentations from UU Visalia. So far, all 7 of Sam Webster's sermons from the past year are
posted. We will plan to update the podcast site with audio from past and
future presentations. You can download these podcasts here or http://podcast.uuvisalia.org Or just go to the iTunes Store, and search for "Unitarian Visalia".
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 clippings? 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.
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Community Events
Tulare Co. Library in Visalia, 200 W Oak Ave.
First Tuesday Book Club at 6:30 PM
Second Tuesday- Socrates Cafe - Join in a philosophical discussion.
Third Wednesday - Mystery Readers at 6:30PM
Third Thursday Independent films at 4:00PM - 11/18/10 "Only When I Dance"
Fourth Thursday - Community Picks Book Club
12/2/10, Thursday 4PM - Performance of "A Christmas Carol, performed by Actor Duffy Hudson, in the Children's Wing
Check website for more information - www.tularecountylibrary.org
11/16/10, Tuesday, 7PM, Visalia Convention Center - "Three Cups of Tea: An Evening with Greg Mortenson." Mr. Mortenson will narrate his 16-year quest to build schools in Pakistan, which has experienced decades of war, centuries of neglect, severe terrain and remarkably kind people with hopes and dreams. Reserved seating, students $10.00; general admission $25.00, $50.00 and $100.00. Benefits Pro-Youth/ HEART.
New Book About Belief and Disbelief in God
From a Unitarian Universalist Minister Roger C. Schriner has recently published Bridging the Great God Gap: Finding Common Ground Among Believers, Atheists and Agnostics. Dr. Schriner is Minister Emeritus at Mission Peak Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Fremont. His new book helps friends and family members deal with religious differences. It can also help us understand UUs whose theologies differ from our own. You may also want to read it if: * You don't believe in God, but some of those you care about are committed believers.
* You believe in God, and you aren't sure how to communicate with atheists and agnostics.
* Someone in your family quarrels with you about theology.
* You aren't sure if you believe, and you want to reflect about whether there is a God and what God is like. Bridging the Great God Gap includes exercises and meditations for exploring these topics, plus communication guidelines for discussing religion. The book is available for $19.46, including tax and shipping from Roger C. Schriner, 39541 Wilford Ct., Fremont CA 94538, cschriner@uuma.org.
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Contact Info:
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Visalia
info@uuvisalia.org
(559) 477-4214
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If you're searching for a spiritual home that is guided by a quest for truth and meaning, not by a set creed or dogma, we invite you to discover Unitarian Universalism.
We are an open-minded religious community that encourages you to seek your own spiritual path, offering you resources to help you make your own decisions. Unitarian Universalist congregations are places where people gather to nurture their spirits and put their faith into action by helping to make our communities and the world a better place.
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