November UU News

Where freedom, reason and tolerance create our sacred space.

November 2009

Worship Service Calendar
Nov. 1	Coming of Age	Presented by Marilyn Giese		A choir day.
Nov. 8	Sihkism	Presented by Sandy Beals or Guest		The Social Justice Team meets after potluck.
Nov. 15	"Annual Blessing of the Animals & The Inspirational Animal World of Joseph Krutch"	Presented by Harold Wood.	Bring your pet, a pet's photograph or collar to be blessed & Please bring only meatless dishes to the potluck.	A worship team meeting.
Nov. 22	"Life Feeds on Life"	Presented by Consulting Minister Sam Webster.		A Choir Day.
Nov. 29	UU101 (A sermon by Rev. Dawn Sangrey)	Presented by April Hill.
TheSocial Justice Teammeets after the potluck on the second Sunday of the month. The Worship Team meets after potluck on the third Sunday of the month. Please Note, Service topics are subject to change
The 5PM Worship Service is followed by a potluck supper at 6 PM to which all are welcome! Please do not hesitate to come to church and join us for dinner potluck. Even if you forget to bring a dish, we always have enoug hand your company is most welcome

Classes Offered for October, 2009

Film Festival The Big Bang, Life on Earth, and the Rise of Humanity: Presented by Dr. David Christian, San Diego State University, 8:00-9:00 in the Chapel.
Mindfulness Meditation with Rick Meyers - As well as meditation practice, these weekly sessions also frequently discuss current literature on mindfulness and meditation. 6:30-8:00 in the Chapel.
Southwestern Pottery Anasazi Design Learn to work with Clay under the guidance of Master Potter, Constance Tippet Materials Fee $15, 6:30-8:00 in the Sunroom.
Men's Discussion Group A discussion group around issues that affect men - health, expectations, work, emotions, roles, using the book Gatherings: Small Group Ministry for Men available from UUA bookstore. Leader: David Reid Cost $10.00, 6:30-8:00 in Classroom One.

Also offered for everyone:

Twilight Vespers Clear your mind and ready your spirit with a Vesper Service featuring candles,soft music, and selected readings. 6:00-6:30 in the Chapel
Supper in the Dining Room 5:30-6:00 pm Enjoy delicious soup, salad and homemade breadsticks for only $4.00 per person Reservations are requested by 5:00pm on Tuesday of each week. Call 687-1891 (Marilyn) to make reservations. You may make a monthly reservation by paying for the meals in advance.

Offered at the Friends Meeting House - 17208 Avenue 296, Visalia
Registration Fee: $25 per quarter (Scholarships are available) (Oct-Dec, 2009). Registration entitles you to Social Period & Vespers, followed by your choice of simultaneous classes.

To register, contact: ww@uuvisalia.org Or ask for registration form before or after sunday service

UUVisalia and Web 2.0 (Click on a Logo to visit)

Music: Harvest Jubilee An Evening of American Songs Tuesday, November 17, 7:30 PM Visalia Presbyterian Church, 215 N Locust St. Tickets: $8, available at the door (or from Sarah or Ken if you want to buy in advance -- 561-0610)

Please visit our online bookstore!
Anything you buy from Amazon.com after clicking on

will provide a percentage to help support our Fellowship.

Editors Suggestion: Living with Ambiguity: Religious Naturalism and the Menace of Evil

By Donald A. Crosby(Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Colorado State University)

Review: "Crosby argues that nature, rather than anything supernatural, deserves reverence and devotion.He sets forth a vision of life and the universe that is as hopeful as it is realistic." -- Nancy K. Frankenberry...

More at Amazon.com

Use GoodSearch
to support our Fellowship!

UU Visalia Quick Links:

HomePage:
uuvisalia.org
Newsletter Archive

About us

Want a fun and attractive reminder of our UU Principles for your wall?

You are sure to enjoy CLF's Principles and Purposes Poetry Poster. The Church of the Larger Fellowship offers a poster featuring the Seven Principles in limerick form! Bright, colorful, and clever 11" x 18" poster.

All plants, beasts and people belong
To a web that is silent but strong.
Every choice that you make
Leaves a trail in its wake,
So remember you're part of the throng

$8.00 plus postage, To purchase a poster or learn more about the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF), contact us: www.clfuu.org or call 617-948-6150.

UU Visalia Fellowship News October 2009

SHARES from Jan 09 to Sept 09 Total $660. Don't forget that SHARES cards are also good at FoodMaxx.

The Social Justice Team met and decided after much discussion to emphasize this church year the topic of "Ethical Eating." To learn more, see Ethical Eating: Food and Environmental Justice 2008-2010 Congregational Study/Action Issue adopted by the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations: http://www.uua.org/socialjustice/issuesprocess/currentissues/ethicaleating/

Finally, most of the congregation met to brainstorm on ideas for fundraising. We're going to consider everything from a possible art auction, to a "reverse" service auction, "gourmet dinners" put on my congregational members, and maybe even a prosaic garage sale. Discussions are underway to use some online networking tools to make these fundraising efforts easier and more successful.

Now is an exciting time for our congregation! We appreciate everyone who has gotten involved, and welcome anyone else who would like to get active in any of the activities mentioned.

Harold Wood

UU Events

Hope you can join us in making the first ever Kaweah Land & Arts Festival a huge success! Please come to any or all of the events, November 6-8, 2009. Read on for more information. And help us spread the word, Niki Woodard, Sequoia Riverlands Trust
Saturday November 14, 6:30 Film & Fellowship, Featured Film: "Food Inc. Hungry for Change" Contact Jolene Edwards The Simply Social Singles are inviting the entire congregation and their guests to a Film and Fellowship evening to view the film Food, Inc. Meet and Greet, 6:30at the home of Jolene Edwards. Light refreshments, tea, and coffee served. Bring your own beverage or favorite snack to share. YOU WILL NEVER LOOK AT DINNER THE SAME AGAIN! With the use of animation and compelling graphics, Food, Inc. exposes the highly mechanized, Orwellian underbelly thats been deliberately hidden from the American consumer. The film illustrates the dangers of a food system controlled by powerful corporations that don't want you to see, to think about or to criticize how our food is made. The film reveals how complicated and compromised the once simple process of growing crops and raising livestock to feed ourselves and our families has become. But, it also reminds us that despite what appears to be at times a hopeless situation, each of us still has the ability to vote on this issue every day, at breakfast, lunch and dinner! Preview at www.foodincmovie.com
Parents & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) meeting. Sunday, November 15, 2009, 3:00pm—5:00 pm, 305 E. Center St., Visalia (corner of Bridge). Program: April Silva, Hanford's 2008 Latina Educator of the Year,will talk about being an open lesbian teacher and about the challenges she faced trying to start a GSA on her campus. For more info call 559 579-1101, E-mail Info@PFLAG-Tulare-Kings.org or check out www.PFLAG-Tulare-Kings.org or www.MySpace.com/PFLAGTulareKingsCounties
NCUUCC SPRING THING AT ASILOMAR (April 23-April 25, 2010) Come to a weekend in the beautiful seaside setting of the Asilomar Conference Grounds on the tip of the Monterey Peninsula. It is a relatively unstructured gathering of about 40 UUs and friends. The days are free for your own activities, exploring the Monterey area, with conversation and games in a friendly atmosphere in the evenings. Cost is $230 per person, double occupancy in historic Scripps Hall, for 3 days / 2 nights, 6 meals, maid service, and use of all Asilomar amenities, including jitney service. Children 3-17 yrs. are $160 and children under 3 yrs. are free.. Registration deadline is January 17, 2010. For a registration form, contact the Registrars, Kathi and Murray Bullis, by telephone at (925) 829-4419, by mail at 9033 Craydon Circle, San Ramon, CA 94583 or by e-mail at mbkb2@comcast.net.
Women & Religion, Pacific Central District, Unitarian Universalist Association "Creating Peace in a Chaotic World". March 5-7, 2010 retreat at Enchanted Hills, Napa. Co-convenors: Geri Kennedy & Barbara Schonborn Join a caring circle in a time away from the everyday world. Two nights lodging, six delicious meals. The weekend includes: workshops for the mind, body and spirit, conversations with old and new friends, shopping at the annual book swap, boutique, and silent auction. Beautiful surroundings, delicious meals. Workshop coordinator: Jewel Whitaker @ 209-683-8072

Online UU Classes

As you travel to work or on your way to some wonderful summer vacation, wouldn't you like to take along some UU friends?Unitarian Universalist Podcasts, sermons, meditations, RE materials and more, are available from the Church of the Larger Fellowship anytime and any place for your ipod, MP3 player, or computer. Hear the voices of UU contributors to the CLF's worship publication via iTunes subscription, or listen a la carte. You can subscribe to our free podcasts at www.clfuu.org/podcasts, or listen to segments ala carte www.clfuu.org/quest. The CLF Quest podcast has nearly 1,000 subscribers worldwide: join our community of listeners today! Visit the Church of the LargerFellowship atwww.clfuu.org

Questions? Contact Beth Murray: bmurray@clfuu.org 617-948-6150

A Chosen Faith: Self-Study Guide: Still on-going. A guided examination of Unitarian Universalism, based on the book A Chosen Faith by John Buehrens and Forrest Church. Full participation in this course requires having the book A Chosen Faith, available from the UUA bookstore at www.uua.org/bookstore. Free

The Church of the Larger Fellowship is the UU congregation through mail and the Web. Our monthly worship publication, "Quest" (also available in print and on-line), gathers contributions from renowned UU ministers.

For information about these courses and more, contact: The Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF)
www.clfuu.org/learn 617-948-6150 re@clfuu.org

Out of the Box

It's strange that this seems "out of the box now". I don't know about you but I have far more trouble knowing what to do in odd social situations than navigating the fields of spirituality. I suspect that we value being "real" most of the time in this culture so much that we forget about how not to be needlessly offensive and have a normal social life without constant petty uproar. It is one thing to have the shiny realization that you are alive in the universe and another to have to cope with others being here too.

Emily Post

This is just fascinating to imagine how all of this evolved. The really tough areas of life seem to be the (at least try) to do no harm parts. I wonder how much ugliness it took to work out some of the finer in all of this?

A general outline of how to discuss issues involving lots of people without bloodshed:

Parliamentary proceedure

Of course it doesn't always go so well, knowing how to drive well doesn't stop all car wrecks either, yet now knowing practically insures them. This is all kind of a fascinating read as well. You can imagine how any particular part of this came about by someone's mistake somewhere that no-one wanted repeated everywhere.

Ongoing Fellowship Events

Invite Your Friends to the Fellowship! We have a convenient way for you to invite your friends and acquaintances to our Fellowship. Many people are turned off by "organized religion" but they have no clue that there is such a wonderful religious alternative like Unitarian Universalism that that is guided by a quest for truth and meaning, not by a set creed or dogma. So we've created handy "pocket coupons" to help you share the good news! The "coupon" entitles your friend to a FREE potluck dinner, "A Message to Celebrate Life," "Lively Discussion" and Free e-mail Newsletter. A brief summary of the seven principles and time and place with directions to our Sunday services are included. You can download our "Pocket coupon" from our website, and print your own with text back-to-back, then cut the page to provide yourself with four handy pocket coupons to carry with you. The pocket coupon is available on our website, on our "Welcome to Visitors: page, here: follow link or http://www.uuvisalia.org/visitors/ That's a good page to refer your friends to so they can learn more about our Fellowship, and learn the good news of the liberal religious alternative!
Ongoing Meditation Sessions, Each Wednesday, 6:30-8PM at Friends Meeting House. An opportunity to practice this universal spiritual discipline and discuss mindfulness.
Caring as a Fellowship, If you know of any Fellowship member or friend experiencing a life challenge (including yourself!), please tell a board member so we can offer support. E-mail your request to: info@uuvisalia.org or mention during "Joys and Concerns."
Please Use your S.H.A.R.E.S. Card at Save-Mart, Our Fellowship is participating in the Save-Mart S.H.A.R.E.S program. If you take one of our S.H.A.R.E.S. cards and give it to the clerk at the check-out counter, our Fellowship will receive 3% of your grocery purchases from Save-Mart, at no extra cost to you. Please get your own S.H.A.R.E.S. card from Jolene. And... bring your receipts for the Raffle!
JOIN US ON FACEBOOK, An increasing number of our members and friends are networking with each other and our Fellowship on the social networking website, Facebook.com. Please join our UU Visalia Facebook group and have some fun with online interaction and sharing! It's a good way to learn more about each other, and to keep in touch between Sundays!
Friday UU Visalia Social Lunch Group, Join us every Friday at 12:15 p.m.for lunch - we'll be visiting different locations each week! If you'd like to attend, contact Harold at 739-8527 or email harold@uuvisalia.org to be added to our weekly notification list.
Join Our Choir The Choir practices at 4 PM for rehearsal on several designated Sundays each month. If you are interested in joining the choir, contact Ken Elias at kelias@prodigy.net or phone: (559) 561-0610.
Carpooling Save money, gas, and the planet! Sign up to commute to Fellowship Worship Services from Hanford, Three Rivers, Tulare, or Visalia. Look for sign up sheets at the Meeting House or e-mail info@uuvisalia.org if you're interested.
Reminder to GoodSearch, Search the World Wide Web and support our Fellowship at the same time. GoodSearch: You Search...We Give. Use GoodSearch to support our Fellowship. Identify "Unitarian Visalia" as "who you search for" and earn monetary points for the Fellowship.
Bring Your Used Printer Cartridges, Recycle your cartridges and earn cash for the Visalia Fellowship. Please place in the Empties4Cash box in the entry.
Share Your UU Magazines, After you have read the UU World, Interconnections and/or CLF Quest publications, please contribute them to the library.

Contact Info: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Visaliainfo@uuvisalia.org(559) 477-4214 We're now listed on yellowpages.com http://www.yellowpages.com/info-22106135/Unitarian-Universalist-Fellowship-of-Visalia

If you're searching for a spiritual home that is guided by a quest for truth and meaning, not by a set creed or dogma, we invite you to discover Unitarian Universalism.We are an open-minded religious community that encourages you to seek your own spiritual path, offering you resources to help you make your own decisions. Unitarian Universalist congregations are places where people gather to nurture their spirits and put their faith into action by helping to make our communities and the world a better place.