Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church

Let us meet the challenge of dismantling white supremacy culture! Several OCUUC members recently started understanding racism more deeply. We have come to understand that racism is not only a justice issue, but also a public health issue. Let's join forces and see what we can do! Everyone is invited to join a Congregational Conversation on Racism on June 5th, 10 am to 12:30 pm, to share our feelings, opinions and hopes for the future of OCUUC on this topic. Rev. Sian will facilitate this workshop and breakout rooms to ensure time for all voices to be heard. To register, or for questions, please email contact Phyllis Daniel (contact information is in the Blast!)

Our first adventure in onsite services in over a year was so exciting! A little more than 1/3 of those who attended were onsite and the rest were on Zoom. Truly hybrid! Those on site particularly enjoyed a longer time to chat afterwards, seeing the improvements in Daniels Hall and the Victoria Room, and greeting the Quakers, who were also on site and brought snacks for everyone. It was really good to be back. We are using the same registration system this week, an increa...sing the capacity of Daniels Hall to 35. The Victoria Room and Suite 4 will stay at a capacity of 14, and Religious Education classes will be in the park. This week, we will add coffee, name tags, screens for presenters and umbrellas in the courtyard. Committee tables will be back on June 20th. Save your seat here: https://ocuuc.org/save-a-seat-registration/ And read our reopening FAQ here: https://ocuuc.org/wp-content/uploads/FAQ-Reopening.pdf

Rev. Judy recommends: The Other Way to Listen by Byrd Baylor When you know the other way to listen, you can hear the wild-flower seed bursting open. You hear rocks murmuring and hills singing, and it seems like the most natural thing in the world. Of course, it takes a lot of practice, and you can’t be in a hurry. Most people never hear these things at all.

Is today a day to try believing in happy endings again?

Tapestry Unitarian Universalist Congregation has invited OCUUC to participate in a workshop series regarding the history of Unitarian Universalism. It is being hosted on Zoom. Join the Zoom meeting at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2925414573 or by phone at 669-900-9128 meeting id 2925414573# All workshops are at 6:30pm 8:00pm. There are workshops scheduled into August. Here is the list of topics through May are: ... Mon. May 10: Rise in the Sea: Universalism Mon. May 24: As Tranquil Streams that Meet and Merge: Consolidation

Come join our sibling churches in Orange County and beyond as we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of our faith tradition! Various ministers, including Rev. Sian, speaking.

Many of us had thought that myth meant not true, when in fact the older meaning of myth is precisely always true! Richard Rohr

If you would like to express a profound Joy or Sorrow to be read during the service on Sunday, please email [email protected] by 9am on Sunday morning. You will also have an opportunity to type a response in the Zoom chat. Please note that we will not be able to send Joys and Sorrows in the Blast each week at this time.

We are VERY excited! Music Under the Stars is THIS Saturday night!

Sunday Sermon: We talk a lot about racism, sexism and all kinds of other isms and phobias. But we haven’t talked much about classism. How might our world be different if we were in a different class? Rev. Sian

The Orange County Health Care Agency has identified those persons who are able to register to receive the COVID-19 vaccine as it continues to be available. You need to register at https://othena.com/individuals.php . This will identify you as a person eligible for a vaccine but does not give you an appointment at this time. You will be notified through Othena when you are able to set up an appointment. I would urge everyone to do this if you haven't already done so. For continued updated information go to the Orange County Health Care Agency website.

Despite not being able to meet in person since mid-March of 2020, we will be welcoming new members to OCUUC during a new member ceremony as part of the January 31 church service. Thank you to Karen Kennedy and Rev. Sian for their resourceful outreach to visitors during this difficult time to help them find a spiritual home at OCUUC.

Our final installment of our Transgender Inclusion in Congregations course will be on January 24 at 12:15pm. We will view our 6th of 6 videos: Creating Culture Shift. In this session we’ll learn tools and practices for congregational culture shift, brainstorm next steps for creating trans-affirming culture shift at OCUUC and find out about additional resources that can support us in our next steps.

Will you be joining us in the UUA Common Read? Our member Nina Smith shared this with us: The 2020-21 UUA Common Read is Breathe: A Letter to My Sons by Imani Perry. Breathe reflects on race, racism, and the hope that one’s child will be wholly known and valued by society. It is an unforgettable lesson in Black resistance and resilience. The New York Times calls Breathe an elixir of history, ancestry and compassion, which, together, become instruction a parent’s unflinching demand, born of inherited trauma and love, for her children’s right simply to be possible.

Thank you to all who so generously donated to the Adopt a Family project. We were able to raise $1,100 for two families, which we spent on gift cards through our scrip program, so it also helped the finances of the church. One family consisted of a single mother and her two young children. The other family is a 22 year-old woman, who had left the family home to live on her own, along with her 20 year old sister. They were notified that their 9 and 15 year-old sisters were pla...ced into the foster care system. They decided that they would assume guardianship so they left school to work and support their sisters. Both of these families are struggling to make ends meet with loss of work due to Covid-19, as well as added stress from having to navigate distance learning. They will be able to withstand the trauma of the past year and be more hopeful about the future because you showed you care enough to provide them with Christmas gifts. In addition to our two SOS families, late donations netted us another $575, which we gave to StandUp for Kids - Orange County. They will be able to help support more teens and young adults in their transition to stability from a life on the streets. Thank you all for your generosity! You continue to show your concern for our neighbors in ways that reflect our shared UU values.

This Friday night, the LA area UU church music directors will be participating in an online concert honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Beth sang in the UU octet.) The speakers and other vocal groups who are listed (in teeny white letters on the right side of the flyer) are top-notch. And the event supports justice projects. A win-win for everyone.

We are preparing a fun show for you on January 30. Keep your eyes and ears open for more announcements about Music Under the Stars that night at 7pm on Zoom (of course). This time around we’re going to perform comedies and parodies to lighten everyone’s mood. This is an auction item, but anyone can opt in even if you didn’t purchase it at the fall auction. Beth Syverson

Happy New Year to you all! Despite the hardships we experienced in 2020 due to the pandemic and likely more hardships to come for at least part of 2021, I believe we all have much to look forward to in this coming year. Because of the brilliant work of many scientists around the world, we are already seeing the most vulnerable among us and the most essential medical personnel receive the Covid 19 vaccine. Thank you to our Unitarian ancestors who recognized that science is essential to humankind’s well-being, a truth which has been born out once again by the science and scientists who are literally rescuing humankind with the Covid 19 vaccine. OCUUC Board President Debra Quam

This month will be a busy one for members of the Board and Property Use Group who will be preparing for and conducting a Town Hall on Sunday, January 31 to review and discuss progress to date on the new Sanctuary building. The Town Hall will be held immediately after the Sunday morning church service so please mark your calendars to attend this important meeting.

The Unitarian Universalist Men's Fellowship (UUMF) will be holding its 2021 Virtual Spring Renewal on Zoom, April 23-24. All men in our Congregation are invited and encouraged to attend. The gathering will be free to participants. The theme for this renewal is "Everyday Heroes; Embracing the New Normal." As of the writing of this brief notification, COVID-19 is preventing many from enjoying fellowship at @Camp de Benneville Pines in Angeles Oaks, CA. You can join us from th...e comfort of your own home, though the beauty of the Camp is always welcome and certainly desired by many who have been up the mountain. The mission of the UUMF is to support men in the quest for lives of compassion, integrity, responsibility, and balance. We are a caring, intentionally diverse brotherhood, offering opportunities and forums which promote intimate sharing, personal growth, and spiritual deepening with the hope that we may come to know and better understand ourselves as men, sons and brothers. See more

Welcome All You Saints! By Susan Brown A close-up of framed photographs. In the foreground, a blurry color photo of two people. In the background, vintage-looking black-and-white photos of couples. Welcome all you saints! Yes! You are saints, all of you are saints, for it is not by perfection that we are sainted, rather it is by our actions.... It is not by perfection that we are sainted; rather it is by our presence. It is not by perfection that we are sainted; rather it is by our giving. It is not by perfection that we are sainted; rather it is by our living. It is not by perfection that we are sainted; rather it is by our gathering together in love, with love, to become a nurturing, welcoming, healing and faithful worshiping community. Welcome all you saints! (more at the link!)

Happy Halloween, OCUUC! United by Story and Bound by Love By Andrea Hawkins-Kamper... In front of stone walls, two round trays hold an array of slim, lit candles Gather we now into this space, this time when the Wheel turns and the Veil shatters. Gather we now to remember, to grieve, to prophesy, to complete our harvests before the Long Dark comes. Gather we now to tell the Old Stories and sing the Old Songs, to be as we have always been the Voice of our people eternal. Gather we now to celebrate that which was, that which is, and that which will be. Gather we now, as we have always done, united by Story and bound by Love.

Here's a fun story to read tonight or tomorrow night about the darkness. Who Loves the Dark? By Sheri Phillabaum... There once was a child who got lost in the woods. As night began to descend, the child became more and more frightened. I’m sure any of us would be frightened too, in that situation, but what made this child even more frightened, was that he had always been afraid of the dark. He was more afraid of the dark than any of his friends, or his siblings. He didn’t know why he was more afraid than his friends or his siblings; he only knew that when the sun went down, he was always very glad to be inside his brightly lit house. Read the rest of the story at the link below!

Our faith asks us to practice compassion. It’s part of our Second UU Principle, Justice, equity, and compassion in human relations. So what’s one of the ways our faith guides us into becoming a people of deep listening? It tells us to Listen to your heart’s call to be compassionate! It seems to me that we could all use a little compassion and compassionate listening right now. A good friend just did that for me and I felt so much better after our call. I find that isolation mixed with toxic politics is a soul injuring combination. But love and compassion are powerful healing antidotes. Rev. Judy Tomlinson

"Unitarian Universalism is for those who have seen the arc bend toward justices and those who doubt it will ever bend but know we must organize as if our lives depend on it anyway." The Rev. Elizabeth Nguyen

Sermon Discussion Groups are here! Sermon Discussion groups meet twice a month during the week, to discuss the topic of the sermon the previous week(s). It's a great way to get to know people and to go more deeply into the topic. Please note that even if you've been in one recently, you still need to sign up. We've added a 4th group this year, due to popularity, so sign up soon - we will try to accommodate everyone's first choice, but it is on first-come-first-served basis. To sign up, go here: https://forms.gle/SeHz9JD4nfcHKrKv7

The Unitarian Universalist Association is the embodiment of the covenant that all of our congregations make to each other. In other words, we only exist because of the promises of mutual care and support that congregations make to each other. We are here, both nationally and regionally, to do our best to support you in the vital, life-saving ministries you are offering in this time when our values are so needed and so much is on the line. Thank you for all the ways you are living our values every day in your communities. UUA

Autumnal Welcoming By Sarah Gettie McNeill red leaves resting on a carpe of dead leaves Come in, from the crisp morning air outside,... come in, wearing the autumn sunlight on your face, come, carrying the turning of the seasons in your heart. Whatever and however the greatness of life is speaking to you now, you are welcome here in our circle of friends. See more

This is your chance to listen carefully. Your whole life might depend on what you hear. Joyce Sutphen

The first duty of love is to listen. Paul Tillich

We have nearly fifty items in the catalog for the OCUUC Fall Auction Pandemic Pandemonium!!! You can view the Catalog and register for the auction at www.auctria.com/auction/OCUUCAuction. We have great items including crafts, foods, arts, books, and much, much more. Take a look and see what you may want to offer and what you may want to bid on. Bidding will start on November 7th and ends on November 21st with a Zoom party at 6:30 pm to see the closing bids.

Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am. Parker Palmer