Sky Island UU Church  

Weekly Connections

uucsea.admin@gmail.com 

 

Office and Service Location:   

4533A N. Commerce Dr. 

Sierra Vista, AZ  85635

  Sunday Services:  10:30AM

Office open:  Mon. & Fri. 11AM-3PM
ph. 520-378-0197

  

Minister: Rev. Christiane Heyde

Christiane can be reached by phone 520-393-9960   

or email  csheyde@msn.com  

  Sunday through Tuesday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. 
 

      

  
 Week starting 05/31/15


 
   
This Congregation affirms and promotes the full participation of persons in all our activities and endeavors without regard to race, color, gender, physical or mental challenge, affectional or sexual orientation, class or national origin.  
Click HERE for Important Links and Recurring Information for May.   

The Member/Friend Directory is on the WEB site
right hand side under "Sky Island UU Church Links"
March directory posted 03/04/15

Board minutes for March & April 20

Draft Minutes for Congregational Meeting Minutes 04/26/15

Policies & Procedures 2014-15 newly posted

Congregational Meeting Minutes 04/13/14

2015-2016 Adopted Budget
 
Church emails 
Please send any emails regarding the newsletter, calendar or the web site to the church email,  uucsea.admin@gmail.com 
Calendar

Every Sunday: Services @ 10:30AM    + Freethinkers of SV @ 2:30-4PM

Every Tuesday:  Dharma Buddhists @ 7PM
*******************************************
Saturday May 30 @ 4PM:  Kadampa Buddhist meditation class

Wednesday June 3 @ 6:30PM:  PFLAG

Saturday June 6 @ 10AM:  Coffee House

All events held at 4533A Commerce Drive unless otherwise noted.  Board and committee meetings are open to the congregation unless noted otherwise.

From Rev. Christiane

Our Minister's Hours:
Rev. Christiane will be out of the office this week until 6/7 when she will be at church and then in the office on 6/8.  She will then be out of the office until the following Sunday, 6/14 and will be in the office on 6/15.  She will be gone after that for study leave and GA but will return to tidy up her office on the 29th and/or 30th of June.  Please call or email her if you want to set up a time to connect one on one. 

 

Christiane's Contemplations
We have received a lot of support from the UU Western region, and for that I am grateful.  The focus group were helpful, as were the visits by Rev. Dr. Ken Brown.  Our church has a few things to work on, as it gets healthier and grows into the future.  
We will most likely have a short gap between my leaving and the next minister arriving.  Many of the congregants' needs will be met through the services planned by the Sunday services committee with our music director Jean MacKeen, and through the care teams, which have thrived under the leadership of Frena Gray-Davidson and Terry Zapotocky.  Some people need a pastoral listening ear at times when they are going through challenging times.  To meet this need, most churches have a pastoral care team.  We also have such a team, but it has not been active as of late.  We will reactivate it, and add new members to the team, so all of you know who is skilled in caring listening and can be called upon, in case you need support. 
The training for the pastoral care team will be held on Sunday, June 7th, from 2:30 to 4:30 in the sanctuary.  If you have a background in counseling, hospice care, nursing, or social work, or have skills in these areas, you may want to join this team.  Please call or email Rev. Christiane to discuss your possible involvement in this group, 520-393-9960, csheyde@msn.com.
In case a minister is needed to conduct a memorial service or deal with a major problem, the other Baja Four ministers are aware that we will have a gap in ministerial care, and they are ready to assist as needed in these emergencies.
There are many other ways all of you can contribute to making this a smooth transition.  Are you up for teaching a Religious Education class to our children every 6 to 8 weeks?  Or become one of the youth group leaders?  Or do you want to plan religious education programs for our adults?  Please sign up and become part of the RE team.  If you want to learn to assist with sound and sight during our services, please join the A/V team.  The more people are involved in the many aspects of the church, the smoother a transition of ministers goes for the whole community. 
I thank you in advance for taking good care of this congregation, while I am still here, and once I am gone.  I treasure this church and its members and believe in a bright future for Sky Island UU Church. 
With Much Love and Gratitude,
Rev. Christiane Heyde 
Can you pick out Rev Christiane and Rev. Lisa McDaniel-Hutchings?
New UUA Headquarters
in Boston
UUA, State and District News

Camp de Benneville Pines
Check out the information table for info on various camp events or go to their website CAMP

Walking the Walk @ Camp de Benneville Pines Aug. 8-10
Join with other UUs at the largest annual UU Justice Summit and gathering of justice-seeking UUs for dynamic worship, workshops, and practical skill-building networking and community building.

Deepen your understanding of Beloved Community.

Become more grounded in UU theologies and history to support action in the world.

Refresh your spirit with dynamic worship and the warmth of UU community.

Learn strategies to tackle climate justice, housing insecurity, immigrant justice, equality and economic justice.

Enjoy canoeing, hiking, spiritual practice.

 

Bring the whole family!  There will be youth and multigenerational programming.  Angelus Oaks, CA
To register and for more information go to WALK
Early Bird registration ends June 25th.

Standing on the Side of Love and Deported Veterans
VETERANS
Contacts:  Simplified instructions
For submitting announcements for "Connections", the deadline is Wednesday at 5PM.  For those without email, please place a typed copy in the folder in the wall file holder in the office marked "Terry Z".  For the above, for directory changes or calendar entries, or for issues with podcasts, the Sky Island UUC web site or the office computers, please contact

Sunday Service May 31 @ 10:30AM: Oneness
Kathryn Kirkdorfer is a long time resident of Hereford and a friend of our Sky Island UU congregation.  She is a psychotherapist with a counseling practice in Sierra Vista.  She has been active with our local PFLAG chapter as well as Sky Island's Global Chant programs.
Her sermon is titled "Oneness."  She will explore the interconnectedness and unity among us.

Message:  Kathryn Kirkdorfer
Facilitator: Merrie Longbottom

Sunday Service June 7 @ 10:30AM: Embracing Diversity

Sermon:  Rev. Christiane Heyde
Facilitator:  Jan Beale 

Sky Island UU Church Information

Children's Religious Education for May 31
Our UU Picture book curriculum is coming to a close as the children hear The Summer Solstice, by Ellen Jackson, as they look towards summer and explore the 7th principle, the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

Deadline this Sunday!
Creative Writers, you have until Sunday to submit work for the anthology. Deadline is 31 May.

Board Report 
At its May 27th meeting, your Board of Trustees took the following actions:

Approved a new policy and procedure for the use of the facility by members and nonmembers.

Discussed fundraising ideas to help our budget deficit. If you have any ideas for fundraisers, please talk to one of the board members.

Appointed 2 board members to complete the forms to apply for a line of credit with our bank (National Bank of Arizona).

Appointed a 3 member Minister Search Team composed of Patricia Burr, Mark Stonebraker and Tricia Gerrodette.

Approved the purchase of a cell phone and equipment needed to accept credit/debit card donations at the church.

Established a procedure for completing the minister's evaluation required by the UUA.

Selected the recipients for the second collection for the next 3 months.  They will be the Emergency Assistance Fund, Good Neighbor Alliance, and the Bisbee Coalition for the Homeless.

Approved revisions to the policy/procedures for the Safe Congregation Committee.

Scheduled future board meetings on June 8, July 6, and July 27, all at 9:00 a.m. at the Church.  All members are encouraged to join us when you can.

If you would like further information on any of these actions, please talk to any of the board members.  


Pastoral Care Team Training Sunday June 7 from 2:30-4:30PM
Call or email Rev. Christiane Heyde
for more info before attending.  

Bisbee Pride Weekend June 19-21
Come join us as members of our UU Church join with our local PFLAG chapter in showing support for our LGBTQ sisters and brothers.
We will have a table jointly sponsored by Sky Island UU Church and PFLAG-Sierra Vista that will be up in the Grassy Park (in front of the Mining Museum in Bisbee on Main Street) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 20.  If you would like to help staff the table, please consider signing up for a 2-hour increment beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday June 20.
If you're interested in helping, please contact Sharon Travis, 520 432-2210 or  rstravis1@msn.com.  A full schedule of events that weekend can be found at BISBEE.  
 
Matching money for us?
In your work life, did you (or do you) work for a big corporation? If so, you may be able to help Sky Island get a little more income. Many large corporations have a program where they will match your donations to a non-profit. It might be on their web page under community support or something like that. Lex Herron pursued this with his former employer and has gotten a matching amount donated to the church, which obviously helps us out. Could such a match be in your future? We hope so!

From the Stewardship Committee
The budget that the congregation adopted for the upcoming fiscal year figured almost $100K in pledged income to cover the proposed expenses. To date, we have received about $82K in pledges. The Stewardship Committee is encouraging members and friends who have not yet pledged to do so in the near future. The board will have to decide soon on how to deal with the budget and at this time, we could probably only afford a new minister at half-time or perhaps with fuller employment but only for part of the year.

Greeters, Welcomers, Lunch Hosts Needed 
We need more Greeters.
We need Welcomers. 
We need Sunday Lunch hosts. 
If you are interested in any of these positions, contact Rev. Christiane Heyde or Terry Z for more info and scheduling or sign up on the info table. 

Singers Awake! 
All you need is the desire to come together with some other UUs and have some fun singing.  Simply email the church at  uucsea.admin@gmail.com with "Want to sing" in the subject line. Please add any comments, ideas or suggestions. It's high time Sky Island UUC woke up the sleeping singers; carpe diem and send in your name now!  Don't even think about it.  Just do it. 
If you don't have email, please write a note with your name and contact info and put it in the offering basket on Sunday

Farewell Potluck for Jena & Christiane June 14 @ 11:30AM Sue Mitchell will have the sign up sheet and there will be another on the information table. 
Caring Corner
We raised $608 last Sunday for the UUA/UUSC Nepal Earthquake Relief Fund.
Thank you for caring and for sharing.
**DISCLAIMER - The Sky Island Unitarian Universalist Church is responsible for keeping the congregation informed with local issues and UUA emails.  If you have decided that you are receiving more emails than you want, please use SafeUnsubscribe below and your name will be removed.**