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District Assembly 2015
PCD Award Winners!
 Patti Lawrence Distinguished Service Award
For an individual Unitarian Universalist who has provided exceptional leadership at the District level, not only by valued contributions to our religious movement but also by exemplifying our common values through his/her very life.
Rev. Dr. Kay Jorgensen, Minister Emeritus, First UU Society of San Francisco and Faithful Fools Street Ministry
 Junella Hanson Memorial Award for Excellence in Religious Education
For a Unitarian Universalist who has demonstrated true excellence in teaching and faith development in the PCD. Kate Raymond, Director of Lifespan Learning, UU Church of Davis  Moral Beacon Award For a Unitarian Universalist who has demonstrated excellent work for social justice or community service in the PCD. Rev. Craig Scott  Moral Beacon Award For a Unitarian Universalist congregation that has demonstrated excellent work for social justice or community service in the PCD. First Unitarian Church of Oakland
 Community Service Award
For an individual who has provided exceptional leadership in his/her congregation, not only by valued contributions to the congregation but also by exemplifying our common values through his/her very life. Contributions to the wider community-beyond simply their congregation-are expected.
Philip Moore, UU Fellowship of Northern Nevada
 Small Congregation Award for Community Presence
For a congregation of less than 150 members that has made a difference in their community.
Mission Peak UU Congregation
Website Award 
For the congregation in the Pacific Central District with the most attractive and user-friendly Website.
Jonathon Silk, First UU Society of San Francisco
Growth Award 
Percent Growth:
Berkeley Fellowship of UU's (30% Growth)
 Growth Award
Number of New Members:
Mt. Diablo UU Church
(23 new members)
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 Good Works Award!
Congratulations to Carol Sue Cain for being the recipient of the first-ever PCD Good Works Award!
Carol is a member of the Mount Diablo UU Church, and she was honored for a wide variety of contributions to her congregation, from spearheading her congregation's "Winter Nights" program to help homeless families to her "MDUUC Coffee Urn Set Up" YouTube video, which has been seen (to date) more than 14,700 times!
The award will be presented to her on June 14 in her home congregation. Please join us in congratulating her!
The Good Works Award was founded by Dr. Tony and Laura Bushman, and we thank them for their generosity.
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 OWL - Jr. Sr. High OWL Facilitator Training Registration is Now Open!
Hurray and register your team - there are only 7 spaces left for this 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. |
Aloha Spirit Day!
Enjoy speakers and workshops on Nature (from oceans to volcanoes), Cultural Sensitivity,
How to Volunteer, Underwater Photography, and more. Share a Communal Dinner, Music & Fun. Details to follow!
For more information or to RSVP, please call Linda @ 530-368-0079 or email: [email protected].
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 Russell Lockwood
Leadership School 2015
You are invited to invest in yourself and your congregation by participating in an inspiring and intensive week this summer at the Russell Lockwood Leadership School (RLLS). More than 600 UUs have attended this prestigious leadership school over the years.
See what 2014 RLLS graduates have to say about their Russell Lockwood Leadership Experience in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=53&v=PTpAGiaoX1s
Pacific Northwest District will be hosting the Pacific Western Region RLLS at the beautiful Dumas Bay Centre, Federal Way, WA, on August 8-14, 2015. The retreat center is located near the southern end of Puget Sound, overlooking Vashon Island.
Please encourage your congregation to support sending candidates to RLLS. Thus, thoughtful development of congregational leadership is explicitly considered and supported. Graduates get a huge boost from the experience, and they bring home valuable resources and plenty of energy for long-term benefits to your congregation.
Please review all of the RLLS information on the Pacific Western Region website at www.pwruua.org/rlls. Download a tri-fold brochure to hand out or post. Enroll online by June 15, 2015.
For more information or questions, contact:
Mark Neiwirth, Administrative Dean, [email protected], (208) 251-8051
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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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Our Religious Lives
Joshua Searle-White, Ph.D.
Congregational Life Staff
As you know if you joined us in San Francisco for District Assembly, our Unitarian, Universalist, and UU history is rich and diverse - and it has left its mark on us. We can be proud of our history, but at the same time, we want to be as aware of it as possible so that we don't act simply out of habit and unconsciousness. Ultimately, awareness of where we come from frees us so that we can treat each other (meaning everyone, not just those in our congregations) with the respect and dignity that we all deserve. In these times of stress, both capricious (like earthquakes) and systematic (like racism), we need constantly to bring ourselves back to this moment and be conscious of what kinds of energy we are nurturing in ourselves. My wish for all of us is that we have the presence of mind to take a breath whenever we are about to have a reaction - to create that brief space in which our heart gets a chance to speak instead of just our habits.
If you would like see a transcript of the morning program, click here. In the meantime, we offer a huge thanks to the members and leaders of our San Francisco congregation for their gracious hosting of the event, and particularly to Rev. John Beuhrens; to all the workshop leaders; to our worship leaders, Rev. Theresa Novak, Rev. Russ Menk, and our Music Director, Shawn Reifschneider; and to the many volunteers who made the event so successful. Thank you for your love and caring for our faith!
Take care,
Josh
Joshua Searle-White, Ph.D.
Congregational Life Staff
[email protected]
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 Board Buzz
Steve Burns, PCD Board Vice-President
With our District Board President traveling in Vietnam for almost a month, it falls to me to write the President's column. And Judy's passion for travel has taken her all over the world, but not as a tourist. She works to truly engage with the people and culture wherever her path leads. In the same way I have watched her truly work to connect with people across the District and in other Districts. She strongly believes in the power of working together, and so do I.
District Assembly is still fresh in my mind, and I remember the beautiful music during worship and the interesting and challenging discussion around Walking the Faithful Path. Members from our church who attended are all trying to write a paragraph about the workshop they attended, which we intend to share in our bulletin. So many of us in our congregations do not venture out to the District or General Assemblies and thus miss out on the richness of those experiences, or the wonder of what we can do when we gather together as thousands.
What else has been on my mind this spring (sometimes feeling like summer) season has been change and growth. Mentioned prominently in the Faithful Path workshop was that one of our weaknesses is our love of comfort. Growth and change is always uncomfortable because it moves us out of our 'normal' routines and patterns; but without both of these we are in a pattern of decline-whether we can see it or not. I ponder sometimes how those congregations who routinely grow have moved into a mindset where they embrace the new and more easily shed the old. Our District is also in a period of change and our Board and Staff work continuously to best serve the needs of the congregations while adjusting and adapting to these new ways. Stay tuned as we discover this new path together, and think about embracing the discomfort that will allow you and your congregations to grow and change.
Blessings,
Steve
Steve Burns, Vice-President
PCD-UUA Board of Directors
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 Covenanted Community Life
Rev. Jeanelyse Doran Adams,
Congregational Life Staff
I am still in the after-glow of shared ministry and full of gratitude for all those people who made District Assembly possible. District Assembly is a true display of interdependence and the powerful impact we can have when we share ministry in innovative and collaborative ways.
The list would go on and on if I attempted to thank everyone individually. In the post-Assembly brain I know I would miss someone. However, as someone who has "front-row seats," for the preparation of District Assembly, I know that shared ministry is relational, full of surprises, and gifts abound. No gift is too small and together each contribution, big and small, seen and unseen, weaves a fabric of wholeness in intricate patterns of grace and synchronicity. It is enough to make me believe in miracles. Thank you, you, and you, and you too....
I have always had an affinity for shared ministry. I truly believe we are better together. I am profoundly humbled, over and over again, to see just how interdependent my life and ministry is. Ideas tumble from conversation to conversation until they assembly themselves in new ways. Plans expand when people get together to create and the weight of the work diminishes as we each work to strengths. I trust, and yet, I am always in awe when synergistic connections happen that take a project into new territory that I could not have imagined. Shared ministry, and its many possibilities, is a gift that I am grateful for every day.
I am especially grateful for shared ministry at this time. There is so much to attend to in the world. There is so much calling for our care and our attention. It is impossible to imagine doing ministry alone. Shared ministry, quality shared ministry, requires trust, discernment, accountability, and letting go. It requires letting go personal agendas and stepping into uncertainty to discern what the holiness of life is calling from us. It means being accountable to, and for, the gift of life. And, most of all, it requires trust.
Shared ministry requires trust in the mystery of life that binds us together in an interdependent web of existence. It requires that we connect and trust ourselves and other people. Sometimes shared ministry requires that we slow down, a bit, to feel the enormity of pain and suffering in the world. Often it means being uncomfortable and trying on new things. It requires patience, perseverance, and stretching beyond what we know is possible. Shared ministry requires that we each cultivate our vocational gifts and use them in service of the greater good that we are called to serve. And, most of all, it challenges our assumption that we are alone and have to do it all ourselves.
It is a privilege and an honor to share ministry with so many committed people who offer their gifts of service so generously. Thank you, you, you, and you too!
In faith, Jeanelyse
Rev. Jeanelyse Doran Adams
Congregational Life Staff
[email protected]
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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] |
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Congregational Highlights
UU Oakland seeks Office Assistant
The Office Assistant is the first point of contact for visitors and congregants and provides clerical and administrative support to the staff as well as to the lay leadership of the church.
Essential functions include: 1) writing, editing and creating documents, emails, online communications, and flyers, 2) managing FellowshipOne, the church's online database, and 3) financial data entry and financial/bookkeeping support. The Office Assistant supports the mission, vision and ends of First Unitarian Church of Oakland.
For more information, please see: http://www.uuoakland.org/pdfs/2015/job_office_asst.pdf
 Live Oak UU Fellowship (Alameda) seeks Choir Director
Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (Alameda, CA) invites applications for the position of Choir Director. This is a part time position: 10 hours per month, including two Sunday afternoon services.
THE FELLOWSHIP: We are a 40+ member, lay-led welcoming congregation whose choir sings twice a month on Sunday afternoons. We enjoy traditional and contemporary sacred, popular, folk, gospel and multicultural music, and emphasize an informal, collaborative style of worship.
Starting date is June 30, 2015. For more details: http://uuliveoak.org/jobs/
TO APPLY: Send resume and cover letter to [email protected] by May 10, 2015. Include your name in the subject line.
 Live Oak UU Fellowship (Alameda) Seeks Part-Time Pianist
Live Oak UU Fellowship of the East Bay (Alameda, CA) seeks a pianist for a part-time position: three Sunday services per month, 3-5 PM. Salary negotiable.
For more details: http://uuliveoak.org/jobs/
TO APPLY: Send resume and cover letter to [email protected] by May 10, 2015. Include your name in the subject line.
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