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INSIDE THIS WEEKLY MISSIVE
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RE Corner
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Fellowship Engagement Opportunities
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Virtual Green Sheet
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From the UUA
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Community Bulletin Board
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RE -( Religious Exploration ) Corner
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Hello, sweet Families!
As we prepare to enter our 2021-22 RE year, in the midst of so much ongoing tumult and uncertainty: I want to invite you to pause, take a breath. Drink some water. Make a mental list of 5 things you’re grateful for (pssst… this rewires our neural pathways & releases dopamine and serotonin! Which we could probably all use a little more of right now!)
And also…
To lean back into this – your spiritual community, at this time.
Our RE Team has assembled once more and is delighted to begin to offer you rich, safe, & dynamic experiences for both Sundays and beyond.
We want to be able to uplift, gather with & fortify you at this time.
We want you to know we recognize the sacred work you are doing as parents & caregivers and find ways to en-courage you in your efforts here.
You may have noticed a couple of changes to our RE program.
For one, the title:
We’ve shifted from the word “Education” to that of “Exploration”.
Because, as you know, we believe that indoctrination is not the way to help a child’s faith unfold. Rather we seek to foster a “free and responsible search for truth and meaning”. And so, this year, we shift our focus to provide youth and families with the opportunity to explore what faith, the sacred, & our role within the numinous world means to them. We provide invitations to the field – what Rumi describes as “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” Not a prescriptive pathway on how to get there.
The other piece of this is the Lifespan bit in my title this year. This may seem like a small, nominal shift, but the intention goes much deeper than mere semantics. When I proposed this change to the job description of DRE, it was with a foundational truth in mind: The generational separation we have come to see as the norm within our current culture is, in fact, NOT NORMAL.
We used to live inside the village. Where young ones had access to elders and wisdom keepers. Where people of child-rearing age could be in relationship to the older generation, with access to their experience and care. Elders maintained a connection to the very young, a bond which ultimately enriched and invigorated them both. If one of the stated goals of our fellowship is to further the Beloved Community, then we must find new and generative ways to fortify and broaden that community. Ways for our children to be integrated into the fabric of what we do and what we believe. Ways for our elders to participate more directly in relationship with our families and young ones. Ways to weave together our experience and our faith into a more unified whole.
And so, my focus shall continue to preside on how to meet the spiritual needs of our youth and families, but with an outward-looking gaze. Creating opportunities – within our Sunday rituals, our small group ministries, and our social justice work – where ALL can be seated at the proverbial table together. |
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SAVE THE DATE!
Friday, September 10th via Zoom
* Our first RE Committee Meeting of the 2021-22 school year!
A great chance to find out what’s being planned forthe year ahead and have a voice in guiding our Religious Exploration program. Contact Amy if you’d like to join us
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Fellowship Engagement Opportunities
(Zoom and in-Person!)
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HUUF Hybrid Services
(in Person and on Zoom)
Sign ups are online for in-person HUUF Sundays.
Please, visit the links below to reserve a spot or plan to join us on Zoom
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Labor Day: A Bygone Day of Rest
(click to reserve an in person seat)
Join Us! –(in person) or via ZOOM
Sunday, September 5 at 11 a.m.
 During this past year and half of uncertainty, we have seen many alarming inequities and dichotomies within our culture concerning work and the workplace.
There is an expectation –even a requirement – to be constantly producing even though or because we are in the middle of a Global pandemic. Do we ever just stop to truly rest? Are we really living if work is the means and the end?
We will hear three perspectives from Scarlett Trippsmith, Amy Day, and Bonnie MacGregor of how work has changed in their lifetimes and how we, as a culture, might benefit from a change in perspective on rest.
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Choose to Bless the World
THIS IS REV. PETER FARRIDAY’S FIRST SERVICE
(click to reserve an in person seat)
Join Us! –(in person) or via ZOOM
Sunday, September 12 at 11 a.m.
Many of you already know that September’s Soul Matters topic is “Embracing Possibility.” I can’t imagine a more fitting theme as we begin our shared ministry
 On our first Sunday together, Rev. Farriday will reflect on aspects of this, including how we might embrace UU minister Rebecca Parker’s invitation to “Choose to Bless the World” in the most powerful
ways possible. This Ingathering Sunday customarily includes a “Gathering of the Waters” ritual. Because the pandemic is still with us, in lieu of individual water-sharing, the service leaders will instead blend local waters on everyone’s behalf – waters that flow together to nourish our lives and our Fellowship.
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 Meet Our New Minister!
Please join Reverend Peter Farriday for this “meet and greet” engagement opportunity. We have set up a selection of dates and times for the Fellowship community to join Rev. Farriday on Zoom for casual conversation, Q&A and sharing of hopes for the future.
* PRE-REGISTER by clicking the link of your chosen time and date below
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 Soul Matters Begins!
September’s Open Soul Matters Group Meeting will be held on Zoom: Wednesday evening, September 8, at 7PM. Amy Day will facilitate and Rev. Peter Farriday will be in attendance. If you are not familiar with the Soul Matters sharing circles, this is a wonderful way to check it out, commitment free! All sharing circle groups meet monthly to discuss the given theme. September’s theme is “Embracing Possibility”. To join the Open Group on the 8th, use this link: OPEN SHARING CIRCLE
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 Currently, there are two Soul Matters groups forming – one in-person at HUUF (for now) on the second Saturday of the month 2-4pm – September 11th will kick off this circle.
And another – via Zoom – set to meet the third Thursday of the month – September 16th 6-8 pm.
There is still room in both these groups if you would like to join. Again, please contact Director of Lifespan Religious Exploration (DLRE) Amy Day and let her know which time you’d prefer.
*Also – There is an orientation call if you are new to Soul Matters or would like to know more – on Saturday September 11th via Zoom at 9 am. Come to find out more about this powerful small group ministry and to see how you can get involved. The registration link is: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMrfuqgqDksHdHjS4KbG_8hLqx87CbCfFNq
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 Laura’s Phelan-Shahin’s online Creativity Circle has moved to the 3rd Friday of the month – The next one will be Fri, Sept 17th @ 7-8:30. You can join via the link on HUUF’s calendar page on the website or by going here. Laura is a trained and passionate Expressive Arts Therapist who understands the value of creativity and beauty-making as a way to help us move through these difficult times and make meaning and connection of it all. A chance to be held in a lovely and deeply therapeutic space by a skillful, caring guide. Don’t miss it! |
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~ Virtual Green Sheet ~
 - Please join us for fresh air, exercise and a Grounds Work Party on September 4:
- Can the summer be nearly over already?? With the approach of winter rains – fingers crossed – now is the time to seed, weed and mulch. Our ditches have to be weed whacked so they don’t flood our neighbors, so if you can help with that, we’d be so grateful! We also need some extra muscle to help organize the materials in the side parking area. We’ll convene Saturday Sept 4, from 10 am to 1 pm. Come for however long you can spare. And thanks to all the dedicated helpers that show up month after month to keep our grounds so beautiful! In gratitude, your Grounds Committee
- HUUF’s September Newsletter: Our monthly Newsletter is back after a short summer hiatus! For your convenience, it is posted to our website, www.huuf.org . Access it through the “News and Events” tab on the website, or by clicking this link September Newsletter
- COMING UP – Join Us: September 12 at 11:00 AM for Rev. Peter Farriday’s first Sunday’s Service: *(Hybrid! Both in-person and on Zoom) Choose to Bless the World — use this reservation link to reserve your seat. *We are offering a max seating capacity of 50 people, so sign up NOW, OR join each other on Zoom. Zoom links are accessible on our website or HERE
- Got Ink?: Through a series of unfortunate events, our beloved Jackie Wales has ended up with unopened Canon Printer ink cartridges that she cannot use– but maybe YOU can? — She’s giving away (free) a Canon 250 XL black ink cartridge as well as a 251 multi pack (4 colors plus black). These cartridges are compatible with many different Canon printer models. If you can use these items, call her to arrange pick up anytime AFTER 12 PM @ 707-725-3871.
 Women & Religion Virtual Retreat “NEW BEGINNINGS” Saturday, September 25, 10 AM – 4 PM on Zoom: Are you interested in making NEW BEGINNINGS with new friends and old? The Pacific Central District Women & Religion group is hosting a fall retreat. We’ll have learning sessions, affinity circles, and a keynote speech on the proposed 8th UU Principle by Paula Cole Jones. Regular registration is $25; for women 18-35 and first timers: $10. Scholarships are available. To register before the September 20th deadline, go to https://www.pcduuwr.org/ and click the link for the Google registration form.
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| A Message from Rev. susan Frederick-Gray, UUA President |
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 HOUSING WANTED FOR RESETTLEMENT OF AFGHANI FAMILIES The League of Women Voters in collaboration with Redwood community Action Agency (RCCA) is calling out for available host homes for Afghani Families. One in particular with an immediate need, a couple (male 30, female 27 who is a few months pregnant) fled Afghanistan without having family in the states to take them which is very unusual. They are needing help desperately. The host family cannot keep them there, and they have no place to go. They have been here for about 10 days. They are already searching for permanent housing but until they have their green card which is actually in the mail, the husband cannot start work. He is highly proficient in English and will likely have a job before his green card arrives. We are hoping to find a room or studio for them to stay in temporarily until they get permanent housing. We have money to help support them during this time.
If you are at all interested in providing temporary housing please contact me at (707) 498-9975 or lkeele@rcaa.org. Lorey Keele |
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