(published each week on Wednesday, available by email–send a note asking to receive our email newsletter to uupetaluma at gmail dot com)

The Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma

Live your Sacred. Transform through Love. Act with Courage.

Message from the Rev. Mary

A few months ago I shared a poem with you about saying YES and the discoveries that flow from saying YES to stepping more deeply into religious community.  The processes of building reliable community also require saying NO. No can be just as creative and life-giving as Yes.  It’s time to say No when adding one more thing to your list feels like it will tip you into complete confusion.  It’s time to say No when there appears to be not the least bit of enjoyment in the prospect of saying yes.  No can lead to quiet contemplation of what needs to be emptied out of our lives.  No can be prelude to a future Yes when a time of No has allowed Yes to germinate.  Yes and No are exercises in inter-dependence. Every No creates the opportunity for someone else to say Yes.  We depend on each other to mindfully consider invitations for deeper engagement and to discern which ones will allow us to contribute with full and joyful hearts.  We trust each other to navigate the differences between hanging back, perhaps out of fear of trying something new, and recognizing that the invitation isn’t a good fit for our unique talents and temperaments.  As we continue inviting each other into sharing opportunities for service, may we accept there will be times when those saying Yes and those saying No will not be in balance.  May we trust the balance will emerge as we patiently and lovingly discover the unique and valuable roles each one of us can play in building our courageous, loving and spirit-filled religious community.

In faith and love, Rev. Mary

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND UPCOMING EVENTS

The Worship Committee Needs You to Take This Survey By Friday Evening!

Thanks to all of you who joined us for the Worship Feedback Circle last Sunday.  It was a great group and so helpful for the Worship Committee to hear from you.  Make sure your experience of worship at UUP is represented by clicking on the link below and taking this brief survey.  We’d like to get as big a picture of worship as possible so please let us hear from you!  (So far we have 11 responses)

Click here to take the survey right now!

Our tenth anniversary year is a perfect time to examine worship (including the Meditative Service every second Sunday and the newly begun Dance Church on the third Sunday) and consider what best serves to move us toward deeper levels of discovery, challenge, transformation, connection and engagement.  Please help us more fully understand your worship experience by sharing your feedback.

-The Worship Committee: Jodi, Joyce, David, Berkley, Ellen, Rabia & Greg

February Meditative Service!

Join us Sunday, February  12th, 9:30 to 10:15, for our monthly meditative circle, upstairs in the Women’s Club before the regular service! Worship Leader Elisabeth Hathaway will lead UUP meditators—those who have already been and new-timers alike—in a 45 minute service of simple ritual, chanting and readings, with a 25 minute non-led meditation. Sitting together, we center ourselves, we center our world. UUP’s Monthly Meditative Services are the second Sunday of the month, 9:30 to 10:15.

UUP Women! Our Spring Women’s Retreat is Coming Up March 16-18!

Join us at our home away from home in Bodega Bay for a weekend of community on our 17th (16th?) women’s retreat. We get to be together over three days, come to be known and to know one another more deeply, sharing rooms, talking circles, meals and creative projects, as well as walks on the beach, hot tubs and quiet time. There is space for ten to twelve people; costs vary dependent on numbers attending, but about $120 (plus the cost of co-preparing one meal). For more information or to reserve you place, contact T Hathaway (elisabethhathaway at sbcglobal dot net).

2012 UUP Memorial Day Retreat! Our Tenth UUP all-congregation retreat is coming up May 25-28!

We will share a long and glorious holiday weekend in a beautiful Napa hills retreat center, enjoying time together, communal cooking and meals, recreation and conversation, hiking, swimming, haiku, general folderol and worship. Sign up now! We are nearing our first deadline for the planning of the retreat, and need to be gathering the list of those attending. We need ten people (adults) to pay their costs ($165 per adult, $90 per child) by February 10th so we can meet our deposit deadline. Contact T Hathaway to ask questions, sign up to attend and/or help with planning, and pay your fees by Feb 10th! elisabethhathaway at sbcglobal dot net.

UUP Time & Talent Auction donation form online now!

If you missed getting a donation form at church you can download one from the UUP website at http://www.uupetaluma.org/time-talent-auction-2012. Hmmm, what to donate? Tickets to a show, a bicycle tune-up, a weekend at a cabin, a festive dinner party, pet-sitting, a few hours of childcare, fresh baked bread…the possibilities are nearly endless. Donation forms are due Feb. 19 at church or via mail to the address on the form. Don’t forget to invite a friend  as we march forth to our March 4th auction. A delicious lunch, live music, a rollicking live auction–how better to spend a few hours of your Sunday?

THIS SUNDAY IN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

The focus of this Sunday’s classes will be ethical eating.  The youngest children will explore where food comes from.  They will hear a story about chocolate chip cookies and talk about where each ingredient comes from. The elementary age children will learn about Fair Trade, and why our purchasing choices do make a difference.  They will play a Cocoa Farmer Simulation Game, in which the children are cocoa farmers and receive either regular value for their beans or fair trade exchange value. Which farmers are able to provide for their families? Our youth will discuss the choices we make when we eat: local? vegetarian?  fair trade?

UPCOMING SUNDAY SERVICES (Social time with refreshments begins at 10:00 am, at the Petaluma Woman’s Club, 518 B Street. Worship service begins at 10:30 am.)
February 5

Acceptance and Encouragement: Probing the UU Principles

Worship Leader: Joyce Tischler
Principle # 3 of our seven Unitarian Universalist Principles reads as follows:
“Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations”
Is this so general as to be meaningless? Hardly. The Unitarian Universalist Principles are signposts pointing us toward a profound appreciation of what it means to be UU. The Principles demand much of us. Our inherent differences require us to practice acceptance of each other and to open our congregation to greater diversity. Yet, what do we mean by “acceptance” and “encouragement to spiritual growth?” Come. Delve deeply. Help each other to understand how this Principle plays out in our lives. (This is a participatory service)

February 12
Let’s Fall in Love
Minister: Rev. Mary Foran
Worship Associate: Jodi Boyle
What is this great big thing called Love?  We yearn for it and scorn it, celebrate it and are sadly disappointed by it.  We say it has the power to transform.  Are we ready for Love to be in charge?

February 19
Environmental Consciousness as a Spiritual Practice
Speaker: George Beeler
Worship Leader: Stacey Meinzen
Recent research in behavior and the workings of the brain has reinforced George’s “theory” (from the school of disappointments) that people will not be effectively motivated to live in an environmentally conscious way through guilt or obligation.  They will, however, be motivated by love for the earth’s glorious diversity of life forms. George’s love of the earth has grown though experiencing the wonders of nature. Early in life, his epiphanies occurred by lucky accident, and later, through mind-altering techniques. However, the most reliable and long-lasting results come through a practice of mindfulness and meditation.

REGULARLY SCHEDULED GATHERINGS

Larking About, the UUP choir, rehearses Wednesdays at 7:45 p.m. at the home of Nancy and Tony Blake. (Email antsy.blake at comcast dot net for directions.) All singers are warmly invited. Email David Dodd with questions or for more information (david.g.dodd at gmail dot com).

UUP Men’s Group. Join fellow UUP men–members and friends welcome–for fellowship and sharing. We meet on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month from 6 to 9 pm, rotating hosting duties and facilitation. A warm, safe, and confidential environment. For details on the location of the next Men’s Group meeting, please email Phil Boyle at <philboyle at earthlink dot net>.

FOLLOW UUP ON THE WEB, AND PARTICIPATE!
UUP’s website: www.uupetaluma.org
UUP’s Facebook Page–a way to share thoughts, photos, events, and general discussion with fellow friends and members of UUP
UUP on Yelp–you can help people find UUP by adding your review to our Yelp.com listing
UUP’s Flickr gallery–great pictures of UUP over the past few years