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
Helpers- to post UU direction signs for Sunday services, Contact April
Co-Leader -"Spirit in Practice" Adult Ed Class, Contact Harold #739-8527
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
Powered by Amazon.com
logo, will provide a percentage to help support our Fellowship.
Editors (very strong) suggestion:
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
By Michael Pollan
Michael Pollan's last book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, launched a national conversation about the American way of eating; now In Defense of Food
shows us how to change it, one meal at a time. Pollan proposes a new
answer to the question of what we should eat that comes down to seven
simple but liberating words: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
Pollan's bracing and eloquent manifesto shows us how we can start
making thoughtful food choices that will enrich our lives, enlarge our
sense of what it means to be healthy, and bring pleasure back to eating.
Use GoodSearch to support our Fellowship!
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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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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Worship Service Calendar
September 5, This is the last in our summer series of stories taken from the book titled Stories in Faith. The stories are Nanabush and the Bulrushes and The Green Man - these stories are used to illustrate the Sixth Source- Spiritual Teachings of Earth Centered Traditions - leaders will be Maribel and Cesar Rodriguez.
September 12, "Ingathering"; a celebration of the end of summer travels and the start of regular programming for the UU Fellowship of Visalia. This is what is known in many churches as the "Water Service". You are asked to bring a small amount of water from an area visited on your travels to contribute to the common bowl.The presentation for Ingathering is entitled "The Warp of Faith and the Weft of Diversity" by Marilyn Giese. A very special guest will be Earle Canfield, our own UU human rights and education advocate in Nepal who Marilyn met at General Assembly. You can read about him on the following link: Earle Canfield The Choir will be singing for this service.
September the 19th is "Peace Sunday", a prelude to the International Day of Peace designated by the United Nations to occur on September 21st. Dorothy Osak and Marilyn Giese invite you to experience a day of peace for your self, your community and our world as a first step in a year of peacemaking as we strive to implement the UU Statement of Conscience adopted by the General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association in Minneapolis in June of 2010. You can read the Statement of Conscience by going to this link: Statement of Conscience
The choir will be singing for this service.
September 26th, "Putting Everything in Perspective" is the title chosen by Marilyn Giese for this day of exploring the concept of balance in our lives. You are invited to share how you maintain balance in your life between the demands of family, community, and the activities of daily living. If you haven't yet achieved that perspective, come and learn from others who are gaining a handle on it.
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
Spirit in Practice Course coming in September
On September 22nd, 2010, UU Fellowship of Visalia will begin a special evening series designed to help Unitarian Universalists develop regular disciplines, or practices, of the spirit-practices that help you connect with the sacred ground of your being, however you understand it. The course, Spirit in Practice, affirms religious diversity while seeking unity in our communal quest for meaning and wholeness. Participants may attend as many or as few of the individual workshops as they wish. Spirit in Practice weaves Unitarian Universalist values, principles, and sources with four "strands:" spiritual development, ethical development, and Unitarian Universalist identity development, and faith development. The course is one of the "Tapestry of Faith" series from the Unitarian Universalist Association. Spirit in Practice focuses on eight spheres of holistic and wholehearted spiritual practices. These eight spheres are: Personal spiritual practices Communal worship practices Spiritual partnerships Mind practices Body practices Soul practices (creativity) Life practices (everyday spirituality) Justice practices The ten workshops of Spirit in Practice provide avenues for deepening spirituality and affirming spiritual growth in the congregation. Participants are invited to reflect, share, and grow together, exploring ways to nurture their connections with the sacred in everyday life. The course will be led by Harold Wood, who would like to find a different person to help out with each one of the eight topics listed above. Location: Friends Meeting House, 17208 Ave. 296, Visalia, California. Schedule: 7 PM on second and fourth Wednesdays of each month, excluding 4th Wednesdays in November & December, and excluding 1st Wednesday in January. Schedule:
There are ten sessions in the course listed as follows:
Workshop 1: Toward a Rich and Meaningful Unitarian Universalist Spirituality Sept. 22nd
Workshop 2: Personal Spiritual Practices October 13th
Workshop 3: Communal Worship Practices October 27th
Workshop 4: Spiritual Partnerships November 10th
Workshop 5: Mind Practices December 8th
Workshop 6: Body Practices January 12th
Workshop 7: Soul Practices January 26th
Workshop 8: Life Practices February 9th
Workshop 9: Justice Practices February 23rd
Workshop 10: Looking Back and Moving Forward March 9th
To sign up for the course, or to discuss helping out with a particular session, contact Harold Wood at (559) 739-8527, harold@uuvisalia.org.
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.
Last Spring's garage sale netted over $1000 for the Ministerial Fund. There were numerous items left over, and they have been stored all summer. Marilyn Giese and David Reid have offered to host a fall sale with those items and additional things for which they and others no longer have use. If you have any items you would like to donate as a result of your fall cleaning, give Dave a call at 687-1891 and he will make arrangements to pick them up. Clothing will be accepted, provided it is clean and in good condition. All items need to be marked with a price. If you want to sell something and cannot donate all of the proceeds, that too can be accomplished. The fall extravaganza will take place on Saturday, September 25, 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" help would be appreciated. All items for the sale must be received by Monday, September 20th.
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.
SHARES 3rd quarter earnings are $184.75 and 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
ENVIRONMENTAL WEEKEND 2010
Mona Fox Selph
The Three Rivers Environmental Weekend is getting nearer as summer takes a turn to autumn. For the fourth year, the weekend event is packed with enjoyment and information opportunities. Held on October 2nd and 3rd, it combines a Saturday Green Faire day at the Three Rivers Arts Center with a Green Home Tour on Sunday.
The Green Faire, beginning at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, combines the California Native Plant Society's fall plant sale with speakers and booths sponsored by both the CNPS and the local group which calls itself the TREW CREW. The main theme for the day is food and farming and features several presentations. The first is by Dr. Donald Mosley on grass fed beef and other food animals, with additional information on organic gardening. Paul Buxman, organic farmer from Dinuba, will speak on his years of experiences, and follow up with some music on his viola. Some of his agriculturally themed very beautiful oil paintings will also be on exhibit.
In the afternoon, archaeologists Mary Gorden and Christina Roper Graber will discuss the fascinating subject of the local native people's use of the surrounding landscape's plants and animals before the arrival of European settlers, including examples of some artifacts and their applications.
The Arts Center and surrounding grounds will be full of other things to see, and things to know as well. In addition to the plant sale outside, a solar cooking demonstration will be featured, along with what's new in home solar panels, art from natural and recycled materials, and green home products and practices.
Inside, many books will be available for perusal and purchase. The CNPS and Sequoia Kings Natural History Association will have large displays. Local author Dr. Louise Jackson will be present to autograph her latest book, The Sierra Nevada Before History, Ancient Landscapes, Early Peoples. Also present will be author, painter, and poet Sylvia Ross with two children's books, Lion Singer and Blue Jay Girl.
Master Gardners will be there, and the Arts Alliance will be selling poppy seeds to support their scholarships for area youth. Spotted Owl researcher Lori Werner's Owl display will interest both children and adults. Family Farm Fresh will present some of their home delivery produce, and information on Flora Bella organic items and the local outlet will be on hand. TCCRG and a number of other information booths will fill the Arts Center for the day. At 4:30 p.m., a drawing for free door prizes will take place.
The Green Home Tour of 5 homes in Three Rivers is part of the American Solar Energy Society's annual national solar tour (www.nationalsolartour.org). All of the homes are either active or passive solar powered or assisted, and many incorporate recycled materials, earth forms and other natural materials, as well as green practices during construction and in use. Besides being innovative, they are quite beautiful. One of the homes this year, known locally as "the glass house" was Sunset Magazine's small space winner for 2009-2010. The cost for the afternoon tour is $15 per person or $25 per couple, with the proceeds going to the Sierra Club to fight for responsible growth rather than sprawl in our county. Call 561-4676 to reserve a place with either of the two tour groups.
Public Hearing-STOP THE BOX!
Monday Sept. 13, 7:00 pm, Visalia convention center sept 13, 7:00.
Stop
an out of town developer from bringing us one more "Big Box"
development. What this includes is: Another airplane hangar "grocery
warehouse" with it's big back-side towards an established neighborhood,
two 24/7 fast-food drive-thru's, a second gas station/mart, another ugly
fenced runoff basin, 600+ new parking spaces, yet another drive-thru
drug store, additional 32,000 feet of (likely empty) strip mall space,
all at the NW corner of Lovers Lane and Walnut ave.
What this
means: Extensive vacant space in town stays vacant. More air-noise-water
pollution, much more traffic, fewer decent jobs in the community, kills
local business + lower property values + more Fresno sprawl. Do we
really need more of this? Let's have real growth in Visalia.
For help with transportation call John Wells at 738-1129
for more info see www.stonebridgeinfo.com or email stonebridgecommunity@yahoo.com or contact Katherine Singh at church.
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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