 District Assembly 2015Save the Date!
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Walking A Faithful Path
District Assembly 2015 will be held Saturday, April 25, 2015 at the First UU Society of San Francisco. We are very excited about the possibilities for this year's program, which will be on the theme "Walking a Faithful Path."
We have a wonderful day planned, including two vibrant services organized by our worship team, Rev. Theresa Novak, Rev. Russ Menk, and Music Director Shawn Reifschneider; an innovative all-generations morning program; an array of dynamic and interesting workshops; and opportunities to discuss some of the current challenges and opportunities facing the PCD today.
We will also be holding our PCD-UUA Annual Meeting - it's never to early to organize your congregation's delegates for this important meeting.
Join us for dynamic worship, workshops, connections, and celebration!
Watch the PCD Web Site and this newsletter for more information.
PS: Has your congregation elected your delegates to the PCD Annual Meeting? Would you like to be a volunteer for an hour or two, helping at the registration desk or providing a welcoming, hospitable presence for our participants? Do you have special skills in Audio-Visual technology that you would be willing to volunteer for the day? If so, then please contact District Administrator Chuck Rosene at (510) 530-1437 or [email protected].
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 Creating Beloved Community:
A Workshop for Congregational Teams
Saturday, March 21, 2015
9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Rev. Tera Little and Rev. Deborah Holder
As religious/spiritual people, we are called engage in social transformation in ways that restore community and build right relationships among us all. What attitudes and practices of this emerging new framework draw out what is best in others and ourselves?
Sponsored by Pacific Southwest District and Pacific Central District; Hosted by UU Fellowship of San Luis Obispo.
Congregation Fee: $75.00/Team
Bring a learning team! This will help you more effectively impact change in your congregation.
Congregation Fee includes: lunch and materials
Home hospitality will be available if requested by March 1, 2015.
First come, first served; Contact:
[email protected]
Register Your Team Online: http://tinyurl.com/m88nchc
Registration questions? [email protected] or (661) 425-2297
For a full-sized poster for your congregation, please download:
http://www.pcd-uua.org/currentsdocs/2015beloved.pdf
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 Available Fall 2015 Cluster Retreats: Congregational Staff Teams or Boards "Listening to oneself requires a place where one can hear one's self think... one needs a sanctuary to restore one's sense of purpose, put issues in perspective, and regain courage and heart..." Leadership Without Easy Answers by Ronald A. Heifetz Religious leadership requires vision, dedication, and the ability to inspire and mobilize people to address 21st Century religious challenges. Yet, we are too often susceptible to getting caught up in the challenges of ministry and mission to create time away for renewal, reflection, and recalibration. These one-day cluster retreats are intended to provide a space of sanctuary for congregational staff teams or congregational boards to restore a sense of purpose, put issues in perspective, and regain courage and heart to carry the congregation's ministry and mission forward. Both retreats will focus on spiritual practices for effective leadership and sustainable ministry and mission, cross-congregational connections, healthy adaptive systems, self and team care. There will be time for worship, spiritual practices, cross-congregational connections, and time for teams or boards to meet together. For information: [email protected] |
 OWL - Save the Date Jr. Sr. High OWL Facilitator Training Our Whole Lives curricula were developed by the Unitarian Universalist Association in partnership with the United Church of Christ, with the goal of providing comprehensive values-based sexuality education for every age group. This intensive weekend workshop provides the skills and training required to facilitate Our Whole Lives classes for grades 7-9 &10-12. Friday, June 19, 5:00 pm - Sunday, June 21, 3:00 pm, Hosted by: UU Church of Palo Alto. Facilitators, Karen Rayne, Ph. D. and Derby Davidson, Director of Religious Education at Redwood City. Registration will be open soon and will be limited to 18 participants. |
 Join Commit2Respond for Climate Justice Month! From World Water Day (March 22) to Earth Day (April 22), Unitarian Universalists and other people of faith and conscience will embark on a spiritual journey for climate justice. Individuals, families, groups, and congregations will get faith-filled resources, engage in powerful practices throughout the month, learn together, and discern how to most effectively shift to a low carbon future, advance human rights, and grow the climate justice movement. Get the details here and sign up for Climate Justice Month daily messages. Climate Justice Month is being organized by Commit2Respond, the new climate justice initiative led by UU groups across our faith movement. Congregational leaders are invited to sign up their congregations or congregational groups, and save the dates for Climate Justice Sunday and Earth Day observances. Be inspired, get connected with other people of faith and conscience committed to climate justice, and commit to long-term actions that will help save our world. This is your movement. You have the power to make a difference. How will you respond? www.commit2respond.org |
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 UU High School Youth Opportunities
Luminary Leaders (UU Youth Leaders) conversations with Rev. Peter Morales, UUA President and Jim Key, UUA Moderator:
http://blueboat.blogs.uua.org/2015/01/29/luminary-leaders-ask-peter-jim-tough-questions/
Here is the lint to the UUA website if people want more about Luminary Leaders:
http://www.uua.org/re/youth/leading/luminary/
UUA Summer Seminary
July 29, 2015 - August 3, 2915
Denver, CO
The purpose of Summer Seminary is to provide an opportunity for youth (must have completed grades 10-12 or the homeschool equivalent during the 2014-2015 school year) to explore what it means to be a religious professional in a Unitarian Universalist context.
Interested? Check out previous grads sharing about their experiences at: http://blueboat.blogs.uua.org/?s=Summer+Seminary
For more information:
http://www.uua.org/re/youth/events/summerseminary/
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 WELCOME, YRUUP! Northern California Unitarian Universalist Camps and Conferences (NCUUCC) is proud to welcome Young Religious Unitarian Universalists- Pacific (YRUUP) into our nonprofit organization. We are excited to bring our communities together. NCUUCC is a member of the Council of Unitarian Universalist Camps and Conferences, an affiliate of the Unitarian Universalist Association. We are an all-volunteer organization that oversees camps & conferences offered in Northern California & Nevada throughout the year. YRUUP (formerly PCD YRUU) is an independent youth-led and adult-advised organization that provides several weekend-long conferences and a weeklong camp throughout the year. These conferences are focused on providing a time and place for enriching spiritual experiences for people ages 14-20 in a respectful, open-minded, and safe environment. We, NCUUCC, are honored to support YRUUP and their vision for youth and young adult empowerment. At all of our camps and conferences, our mission is to: - enhance the growth of each individual, our religious societies, and our presence in the larger community;
- nurture the individual spiritually, intellectually, and creatively;
- provide positive interaction among people of all ages;
- provide experiences that reflect Unitarian Universalist values;
- encourage personal and collective responsibility regarding social and environmental issues;
- create environments that are genuinely caring and joyful
- celebrate life.
Both organizations work from well-established bylaws, policies and procedures, and safe-camp policies to ensure an enriching and safe experience for all. We look forward to growing our collaborative partnership and look forward to creating quality programming for people of all ages together. For more information about YRUUP, please visit www.yruup.org. Northern California Unitarian Universalist Camps and Conferences (NCUUCC) is proud to welcome Young Religious Unitarian Universalists- Pacific (YRUUP) into our nonprofit organization. We are excited to bring our communities together. |
Contact us:
PCD Board of Directors
Congregational Life Staff
Congregational Life Staff
PCD District Administrator
Katrina Leathers
PCD Youth Chaplain and
PCD Coming of Age Coordinator
Pacific Central District - UUA
4100 Redwood Road, #344
Oakland, CA 94619-2363
(510) 530-1437
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 Judy Young, PCD Board President
Regionalization & Youth Programming
Your PCD Board has had two major items of focus this year: District Youth programming and Regionalization. We continue to be in the middle of deep discussion and slow evolution to changes that should enhance the good work in our district.
At our January 17th Board meeting, we dedicated half of our meeting to listen to MUUGS Ministry leaders ( Middle school UU GatheringS). We began to resolve issues around communication, finances, and ways the PCD Board can support their fabulous work with our middle schoolers. At the previous November Board meeting, guests from YRUU Council met with us and announced their decision to separate themselves from the district and become an independent entity affiliated with the Northern California U.U. Camps and Conferences.
In order to continue to provide quality, safe district programming for our high schoolers and young adults, the PCD Board voted to implement the recommendations made in the report of
the Youth and Young Adult Ministries Advisory Team. This 12 person representative team recommended PCD to create two task forces to carry on their work.
1. A Young Adult Ministry Task Force to explore what young adult UU communities are doing both inside and outside the PCD, to identify desired programming for PCD, and to recommend ways for this programming to be supported.
2. A Youth Ministry Task Force to review their advisory team report summarizing existing youth programming, to explore other models of youth programming (e.g., in other districts), to recommend parameters for future programming (e.g., adult involvement and youth age range) and to suggest ways for programming to be supported.
Our regionalization focus is progressing at the staff level, but our four district boards in the west are just exploring how we might streamline administrative processes and collaborate more across our borders. We are not planning to combine into one region in the way that many districts in the east are doing.
Save the date of April 25th for our District Assembly in San Francisco where you will witness the talents of others outside your congregation. I am so proud to be part of perhaps the best UUA district in the country!
Best,
Judy
Judy Young, President
PCD-UUA Board of Directors
[email protected]
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 Covenanted Community Life
Rev. Jeanelyse Doran Adams,
Congregational Life Staff
"The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is to succumb to violence." Thomas Merton
Call me superstitious; however, when the same quote comes to my attention from three very different and completely, unrelated sources within in the space of a few hours I begin to pay attention. Merton's quote about the violence of the rush and pressure of modern life becomes even more relevant when congregational leaders ask about burnout in volunteers and how to recruit new volunteers. And, if to answer the questions this article arrived today, "*Seven Reasons Churches Are Too Busy."
Do any of these resonate with you?
1. Many church leaders fail to ask the "why" questions when starting a new ministry.
2. Churches often have no process or plans to eliminate ministries.
3. Some ministries are stated just to please people.
4. Some ministries have become sacred cows.
5. Ministries in many churches operate in a silo.
6. Some church leaders have a philosophy of always saying "yes" because they desire to see all people unleashed to do ministry.
7. Most churches have no process to evaluate the ministries each year. (**See resource below)
I hope these questions will spark thoughtful conversations that result in more time for deep meaning and sharing about what it means to allow our faith to shape our lives. Perhaps this is the year we begin again in love and stop the violence.
In faith, Jeanelyse
*http://thomrainer.com/2015/01/28/seven-reasons-churches-busy/
** Dave R. McMahill's book, Completing the Circle:Reviewing Ministries in the Congregation, offers a thoughtful process for reviewing congregational ministries. Rev. Jeanelyse Doran Adams Congregational Life Staff [email protected] |
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Our Religious Lives
Joshua Searle-White, Ph.D.
Congregational Life Staff
As you may know (or, as you certainly will hear over the next couple of months!), the theme of this year's District Assembly is "Walking a Faithful Path." As we've been planning the program, I've been thinking about what it means to be faithful. I think it can be tempting to think about faithfulness as 1) identifying a person or group or set of principles to be faithful to and then 2) monitoring or exhorting ourselves to stay the course and be true to them. I've had lots of practice doing this in my life - finding standards or values that I think are important, making commitments to them, and then finding, more often than not, that my efforts just don't measure up. So what does that mean? Does it mean that I'm not a faithful person?
I don't think so. Because for me, being faithful is not about toeing a line. Instead, it is about listening internally to what is calling to me and then trusting the pull that I feel to move in that direction. It's about looking inward and finding what is most true. Now, it may seem like I am advocating some kind of "it's-all-about-me-and-my-own-values-and-vision" individualism. But it's exactly the opposite. My experience is that the deeper I listen to what is true inside me, the more I find my common connection with all humanity. Yes, I often have to be very patient and sort through layers and layers of thoughts, habits, internalized voices of others, and just plain fear to get there. But when I do listen to what is most deeply true, I find myself being pulled towards more compassion and more generosity because there is essentially no difference between me and everyone else. I don't have to push myself or try to measure up to a standard because that connection is simply a part of who I am. Plus, nurturing that connection makes me feel alive. It makes me feel in love with everything. It makes me want to join my energy with others to bring more wholeness to the world. And what else is there, really, to the religious life than that?
To me, that is what being faithful is. What is it to you?
You'll have a chance to explore that question in depth at District Assembly, in our San Francisco congregation on April 25. Stay tuned for more details about registration and the program later this month.
In the meantime, may your faith bring ease, depth, and generosity to your life and to everyone around you.
Take care,
Josh
Joshua Searle-White, Ph.D.
Congregational Life Staff
[email protected]
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 PCD Chalice Lighter Program
The Chalice Lighter program is an exciting opportunity to promote and strengthen Unitarian and Universalism in the Pacific Central District-UUA. Donors help spread the light of liberal religious values through the District by making a donation to growth initiatives in our member congregations. Some of those initiatives have included funding a congregation's first minister or religious education professional, new buildings and building improvements, seeding a spin-off congregation, and developing outreach ministries. You can be a contributor to our current Chalice Lighter effort in support of the Create Meaning Northern Nevada outreach program of the UU Fellowship of Northern Nevada. You may donate to this program via PayPal by visiting the PCD-UUA Chalice Lighter webpage. |
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Pacific Western Region Webinars
The Pacific Western Region staff is committed to providing learning opportunities and connecting congregations across the region. One way to do that is through webinars.
Webinars are inexpensive learning opportunities that you can take advantage of in the comfort of your home, or for the same small fee, you can gather a group, project your computer screen, and learn together.
Register online for $15 per connection. If a group is viewing the webinar via one connection, this is still only $15. Check out all the offerings on the Pacific Western Region Webinar page and contact Lori Ragona, Training and Communications Specialist, with any questions at [email protected]. See you at the webinars!
 Good News in Youth Ministry:Engaging Youth Discussions
Wednesday, February 11, 2015, from 6:30pm to 7:45pm Pacific Time, with Jeff Philip
Discover ways to engage your youth in discussions that are fun, challenging and empowering. How do get your youth talking? What is the right balance of adult input and youth discussion? How to manage different personality types to ensure everyone has an opportunity to participate?
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 Russell Lockwood
Leadership School
ENROLLMENT OPENS IN LATE FEBRUARY 2015!
Big Faith - No Borders is not simply a tag line in the Pacific Western Region. Big Faith - No Borders is a practice. When the Mountain Desert District gifted Russell Lockwood Leadership School to the Region it meant releasing it to grow and change to meet the needs of leaders across the region. It meant releasing the school to travel around the region. The decision was filled with some loss and with great excitement. The decision was a risk. We could not assure that people from across the Region would attend.
Russell Lockwood Leadership had always been an evolving learning lab. Last year's school was open to people through the Region. A couple of brave souls crossed borders to attend in Alta. This year leaders from all four Districts crossed borders to arrive in Portland. Now it is truly an evolving Regional learning lab.
Russell Lockwood Leadership School will be in Seattle, August 8-14, 2015.
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 Women & Religion Retreat February 27 to March 1, 2015
The Women of Unitarian Universalist Association Pacific Central District invite you to
The Women and Religion Annual Women's Retreat.
Thursday arrivals may arrive on the 26th.
On going since 1977 this is the 38th Annual Gathering
Enchanted Hills Camp in the hills above Napa, California.
The weekend includes two nights lodging 7 meals, workshops for mind, body and Spirit, conversations with new and old friends, rituals, a boutique, silent auction, book swap and, for the adventurous, a ropes course! There is also an option for early arrival on Thursday evening which would include breakfast Friday (additional fee) or Saturday only with all three meals, but no overnight stay (for a reduced fee).
This year's optional book group discussion: Amy Tan's, " Joy Luck Club"
Join a wonderful group of women for a time away from the everyday world, with beautiful surroundings and delicious meals in a nurturing community.
Register online:
http://www.womenandreligionpcd.org/
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Chalice Camp East Bay
August 10 to 14, Chalice Camp East Bay, 9:00 to 5:00 (extended care 8:30-5:30), Lake Temescal in Oakland -- It's not too early to start planning for summer. This years theme: Identity and Justice. We explore the history of institutionalized oppression, especially racism, in our country and how we as UUs create possibilities for a more just world. Chalice Camp is a fun filled week-long summer day camp for children entering 1st through 6th grades. Chalice Camp deepens children's and youth's connection to one another, their understanding of themselves as Unitarian Universalists and expands their knowledge of Unitarian Universalism and their capacity to be articulate about our faith. The activities during the week include daily worship, group building exercises, games, drama, art, study, and a service project. |
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