Note: The website committee has decided not to publish phone numbers. Please call Terri Burton at the office or consult your UUCSC Newsletter or Directory for phone numbers.
Upcoming Sermons
This is the Sunday when we ask one another to join together to make our financial commitments to the church for the coming fiscal year. This is part of a larger covenant by which we weave together our hearts and hands into the interpersonal tapestry of religious community. Add your colors to the fabric of our congregational life!
Come and celebrate the myriad ways that mothers touch our lives—celebrate your mother, your motherhood, and/or the “mother” within each of us! Join our speakers: Oscar Garza, Luna Allen and Tami Kendra as they explore the vast reaches of this topic!
Events
Red, White, Blue & You Dinner Gala! Saturday Night June 7, 2008
This is our biggest fundraiser of the year featuring dinner and Live and Silent Auctions accompanied by fabulous entertainment. Event Chair Gil Hutchinson needs volunteers, so please step forward to help out! See him after church or call him at 818-785-8583.
FRED - Fellowship, Religious Exploration, and Dinner
Thursday evening, May 15
Come one, come all to this friends and family fellowship opportunity!!
Join us for a Family-style dinner (vegetarian dishes available) Conversation and card games in the Fireside Alcove. Impromptu activities in the Sanctuary and a discussion group upstairs in the Big Room. This very first FRED is what we make of it. Join us and let’s see what happens and make plans for the next one!
- Doors Open: 5:30pm
- Dinner: 6:00p - 6:45
- Program and Social Hour: 7:00p
- Dinner: $7.00 per adult – $3.00 per child
- Maximum $20.00 per family
Reservations super-helpful! to Wendy Hawker at whawker@aol.com by Monday, May 12
Memorial Day Party at the Balisoks
Please join us at the home of Dorothy and Russ Balisok for our annual Memorial Day Celebration, Monday, May 26th from 2 pm - 6 pm. Feel free to bring family and friends. The street parking can fill up quickly, so consider car pooling. Bring something to grill, beverage of your preference, something to share and plan to bring coolers for your cold food needs.
If your last name begins with:
- A - H - Bring fruit/dessert to share
- I - P - Bring appetizers/munchies to share
- Q - Z - Bring salad or a side dish to share
Volunteers are also needed to help with cleanup! Come ready to swim, picnic and/or just chat with friends old & new.
23 Toluca Estates Dr .,
Toluca Lake , CA 91602
For directions or more info, call
Russ or Dorothy.
Experience Niagara Falls With Other UUS
Join UUs from around the country at Niagara Falls, July 20-23, 2008. Come and experience the wonder of the Falls including some great educational opportunities, while being pampered like royalty. The UU Church of Niagara is conducting a UU Niagara Experience, and a lifetime opportunity to encounter the Falls up close from every perspective. Spend four days with us exploring the rich history and natural beauty around the Falls. For information visit our web site: http://www.uunex.net/. You don’t have to be a UU to join us.
UU Artwork on sale
New life has sprung up in our Sanctuary just in time for Easter! The nature-inspired acrylics done by Laura Janes, resident artist at Camp de Benneville Pines, will be up for 3 months. They are for sale and 25% of the proceeds will go right back to our own healthy coffers. I already have dibs on two of the paintings but the rest are available for you to squabble over.
I’m so proud to be part of a church community that supports the arts and artistic expression as our church does. We’ll all get a chance to meet Laura Janes at a reception in the next couple of months. In the meantime please feel free to contact Jane at Janesangl@aol.com
This is a traveling exhibit that has gone to 20 other UU churches, raising interest and awareness about Camp de Benneville Pines, which I wholeheartedly urge you to experience! Please send the kids!
Camp de Benneville Pines Summer Schedule
- July 6-12: Elementary Summer Camp (Grades 2-6)
- July 13-19: Middle School Summer Camp (Grades 6–9)
- July 17-20: YoUUth Backpacking Trip (for Sr High-aged campers–limited to 6 participants)
- July 20-26: YRUU Sr High Summer Camp (Grades 9-12)
- July 27-August 2: UU Family Camp 2008: Joy! As A Spiritual Practice
For info, contact the camp at caroline@uucamp.org.
Join The Boutique Workshop Meets every Friday!
The Boutique Workshop meets every Friday at 10:00 am in the church Conference Room for creativity, catchy conversation, crafting, quilting and florage. All are welcome. For more information contact Donna Mae Pitluck at 818-789-9418.
Upcoming Events
We have a number of really fun events coming up that you won’t want to miss. Please mark your calendars!
Sunday, May 4th is Super Camp Sunday! This is an early registration day for Camp de Benneville Pines, an opportunity for you to save $35 off the price of tuition! Please be sure to use the special yellow registration forms in the Narthex. If you have been to Camp de Benneville before please bring pictures!
A special sticker will be available for you to wear at church that day that marks you as someone who has been at camp and is willing to share your experience with an interested friend. Please check out the summer schedule at www.uucamp.org May 4th there will be Religion In Life meeting after church for participating children.
Also on May 4th there is a Family Festival benefitting wounded soldiers at St. Michaels Episcopal Church on Coldwater, south of Ventura. Our UU friends at the Onion are helping to host the event this year. Please come if you can!
Mark your calendar! May 15th is going to be our very first FRED. That’s Fellowship, Religious Exploration & Dinner! And dinner will be made by Wendy Hawker!
Trust me, we are all in for a delightful and delicious evening of fun and friends. Keep your eyes peeled for further details!
On Sunday, May 18th after church, Margery Pope will be leading a spring exploration of Franklin Canyon Park. All ages are welcome. We will be meeting at the picnic tables at 12:30. Bring a picnic lunch for your family and we will celebrate the interdependent web of life together. Maybe we will even see some baby animals! Wear comfortable walking shoes!
Social Action Committee: An ACAC Update
New ACAC Birthday Poster
The latest ACAC Birthday Poster has been posted in the Narthex. Please take a child’s name. Thank you again for your generosity.
Adult RE Forums in the “Big Room” (up the stairs and to the right)
Wednesday Evening, April 30, 7:30-9:00pm Topic: “Thinking And Talking About God”
Now and then in my sermons or newsletter writing, I have occasion to mention various progressive God-concepts that have emerged from modern theologians. The most recent example was my Passover sermon on “the God of Freedom”.
This week’s forum will offer an opportunity to explore and discuss some of these ideas in more depth.
Wednesday evening, May 7, 7:30-9:00pm Topic: “The Neglected Principles of Economics”
This topic emerged out of our earlier forum on sustainable living. In that discussion we spent a lot of time on the problems of unregulated capitalism. For this forum, a brief article by John Ikerd
http://www.kpbooks.com/pdf/Ikerd.pdf is suggested for reading in advance, though all are welcome with or without having looked at the article.
Please encourage one another to join in for either or both of these forums, and invite any friends who you think might be interested. I look forward to seeing you there!
Women’s Literature Group - Thursday, June 5th - 7:30 PM
The Women’s Literature Group will meet Thursday, June 5, 2008, 7:30PM, at the home of Sherrie Lucas. Please call Sherrie to let her know if you are coming. The group will discuss the book Breaking Clean by Judy Blunt. “This Memoir breaks new ground and brings a fresh perspective to the myth of rugged individualism. Her contributions to the literature of the West are enormous, but her contribution to the genre of memoir is even greater.”
Green Ideas
Grandma knew this: Vinegar sanitizes and baking soda is the scrubber. Our cleaning products are more likely
to be dangerous to us than to the germs. That fact might be harder to tolerate than the smell of vinegar and water. And washing a car with any product should not send chemicals to Long Beach by way of LA gutters that go into the storm drains.
But lots of business comes from providing sustainable products these days. Besides Simple Green, there is Seventh Generation, and the Sierra Club is promoting Green Works. Getting at peace with Mother Earth is cleaning up our act in so many ways.
Give your good green ideas to the Social Action Committee by e-mailing Bettesimons@att.net.
Second Sunday Collection
Our 2nd Sunday Collection will be taken on April 20th when we observe Earth Day. It will be given to the local chapter of the Sierra Club and earmarked for their ongoing restoration of Griffith Park after last year's devastating fire.
Recipients of the 2nd Sunday Collection are chosen by the Social Action Committee from suggestions given to us by the congregation. Please see the forms on the credenza in the Narthex for more information.
Date |
Recipient |
Total |
July 8, 2006 |
DCFS - Abused Children's Camp |
$251.00 |
August 13, 2006 |
Al Wooten Jr. Heritage Center |
$259.00 |
| September 10, 2006 | Women's Care Cottage of LA | $445.00 |
| October 8, 2006 | Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation | $620.00 |
| November 11, 2006 | Habitat for Humanity | $1001.00 |
| January 13, 2007 | LA Regional Food Bank | $416.00 |
| February 11, 2007 | UU Service Committee | $1315.00 |
| March 2, 2007 | Homeboy Industries | $400.00 |
April 07, 2007 |
LAMP Community | $614.00 |
| May 07, 2007 | Children's Nature Institute | $531.00 |
| June 07, 2007 | Jay Nolan Community Services | $696.00 |
| July 07, 2007 | Meals on Wheels | $535.00 |
| August 13,2007 | Ehren Watada Defense Fund | $419.00 |
| September 9, 2007 | ONEGeneration | $502.00 |
Singles Circle Suppers At Neighborhood Church
Looking to meet other single UUs in a nonthreatening environment? Come to Neighborhood UU Church in Pasadena for good food and good UU conversation on Saturday, May 17, 2008.
This Circle Supper is designed for single/unattached adults (age 21 years and over) only. There is no charge to participate, just bring a potluck contribution (serves 10 minimum). The dinner will be held in Neighborhood House on the church campus in Pasadena. Preregistration is requested.
If you aren’t already signed up for Neighborhood Circle Suppers, email Marsha Tomlinson at circlesuppers@yahoo.com to be added to our database and get further information about Circle Suppers at Neighborhood Church.
The Middle East – Another Viewpoint
On Saturday, May 10, at 7:30pm, Neighbors for Peace and Justice will host an evening with Anna Baltzer at the church that might just pique your interest.
Anna Baltzer, granddaughter of Holocaust refugees, will present LIFE IN OCCUPIED PALESTINE: EYEWITNESS STORIES AND PHOTOS. Anna has been documenting human rights violations in the West Bank and supporting Palestinian and Israeli nonviolent resistance against the Occupation.
She is currently touring the US with her acclaimed presentation and second book, Witness in Palestine: a Jewish American Woman in the Occupied Territories. Her talk covers nonviolent resistance, the checkpoints, the wall, Israeli activism, censorship, and other topics rarely covered in mainstream US media.
Suggested donation: $5, no one turned away. For more information, contact Gil Shorr at gshorr@daileyads.com.
Recycling News
INK CARTRIDGES
In reassessing our priorities for this year, the Social Action Committee has decided to discontinue collecting ink cartridges for recycling. We haven’t gotten that many in the past year or so and you can now recycle them in so many places—including office supply stores. We’ve decided to focus our attention on other environmental issues. Please continue to recycle your cartridges. If you have trouble finding a place to do so, check out http://earth911.org/recycling/ to locate places near you to recycle almost anything.
The Earth and the Social Action Committee thank you!
In other Recycling News: If you have bulky items such as an old couch, washing machine, dog house, etc., you can arrange for pick-up, by the Sanitation Dept. by calling the Service Request Call Center at 800-773-2489. They will ask you to have the items on the curb at 6 a.m. on your usual pick-up day, and voila, it will all disappear.
There is also a permanent recycling center that takes everything from paper to computers at the Burbank Recycle Center, 500 S. Flower Street in Burbank. There is more information at www.burbankrecycle.org.
Ongoing Events at Our church
UU
World Available Free on Tape
The
UU World is free on tape for people whose eyesight is not good enough
for them to read regular print materials. If you know anybody like this,
please let him or her know they qualify for a free UU World subscription
on audiotape. Write, phone, or email: Devorah Greenstein, 25 Beacon St.,
Boston, MA 02108. Phone 617-984-6451. Email dgreenstein@uua.org
Regular UUCSC Events
Board of Trustees: meets on the 3rd Tuesday of every month at 7:00 PM in the Fireside Room.
Boutique Workshop: meets every Friday at 10:00 AM in the Conference Room.
Choir: Rehearses Monday evenings at the church at 7:00 PM, and Sunday mornings at 9 AM.
Program Council Meeting (all committee chairs): 1st Tuesday of the month, 7:00 PM in the Fireside Room.
Committee Meetings: are held on the 2nd Tuesday of every month at 7:00 PM (see your committee chair for location).
Conversation
Circle: is scheduled on occasional Sunday mornings from 11:30 am
to 12:15 pm. These are discussion sessions open to anyone
interested and are moderated by one of our members. Usually no particular
topic of conversation is set or presumed in advance. If people
are interested in responding to the morning service or in
discussing the themes of the sermon, then that choice may guide the discussion.
If visitors or newcomers wish to ask questions about our
church, then conversation about the nature of our liberal religious
tradition is always appropriate. Or there may be some public
issue or event on everyone's mind that will determine the
topic of conversation.
In every case, we especially welcome newcomers to these conversation
circles. Join in for lively debate, mutual exploration of ideas and
issues, or just to get to know each other!
CUUPS MEETINGS
For more info contact Karen Schmidt at arteest@earthlink.net .
Early Bird Coffee: Sundays at 9:25 AM in the Narthex (before service).
Social & Fellowship Hour: Sundays at 11:00 AM (after service) Fellowship Hall or outside, depdending on the weather (see photo above).
Women's
Literature Group: The Women's Literary
Group meets once a month. The book being discussed
and meeting place are announced in the newsletter,
here on the Events page or may be obtained
by calling the church office.
Worship and Children's Service: Sundays at 10:00 AM in the Sanctuary.
Twelve
Step Group Meetings at UUCSC
A variety of 12-step groups use UUCSC
facilities for their meetings: Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) (regular "open" groups
and special groups for women, agnostics and gay people only); Overeaters
Anonymous (OA) and Codependents Anonymous (CODA). Schedule subject
to change. Contact the church office
for more information.