Dec 15, 2019 | Faith Development
Saturday, January 11, 2020, 10am-2pm
Are you/ Have you been/ Do you want to be… a Spirit Play volunteer? This workshop is for you! Spirit Play offers a foundation in religious education, introducing our young children to Unitarian Universalism through stories and activities. Our kids LOVE it! You are invited to join us for this volunteer learning and workday with some very special things planned:
- Come hear our Spirit Play origin story from two of our founding mothers, Anna Olsen and Ann McLellan, and the philosophy behind this enriching program!
- Spirit Play storyteller training with Will Jernigan!
- Share and hear the wisdom and experience of the whole group!
- Center leaders, be inspired and share ideas, resources, materials!
- Work with your center team to rejuvenate your space and story baskets!
There are many ways to be involved — we need all sorts of skills to run this special program: storytellers, center leaders (art, drama/movement, music, maker), those who like to organize and tidy spaces or make bulletin boards… there is a place for you. We will have breakout sessions for all roles.
Saturday, January 11, 2020
10:00am-2:00pm
Note: even if you cannot attend for the whole time, we would love to have you there.
Contact Jen Johnson with questions.
Dec 14, 2019 | Family Ministry
Welcome to our Family Ministry blog.
Staff and I will be sharing resources to support your role as primary religious educators of your children. We will also post future programs, multigenerational service dates and other events that might be of interest to UUCA families. We hope you like our new website and welcome your feedback on how we can make it more useful to you and your family.
Rev. Claudia
At the Table
Exploring Awe Through Discussions
At the Table questions explore the December monthly theme of awe through a discussion for all ages. They are designed for a family gathering – maybe during a Friday night meal, a quiet moment in the living room or before a board game night.
Introducing the Activity
Family members who are readers can alternate who reads the questions. Those who are not readers are invited to share their own impromptu questions. Discussion partners might answer as thoughts come to them or take turns in a circle.
- Who is somebody awesome that you look up to?
- Is awe something you can guarantee that someone else will feel?
- Do adults and kids experience awe differently?
- What is a movie or show that you think is awesome, but your friends find rather “meh”?
- Would you rather be at the top of a steep, snowy mountain, or at the bottom of a massive, towering tree?
- What are you awesome at? What are other members of your family awesome at?
- What’s the most awesome thing your family has done together?
- What’s the most awesome thing you’ve done by yourself?
- Does lying on the ground in the dark staring up at the stars sound awesome or awful to you? Are night skies stunning or scary to you?
- People sometimes know they are experiencing awe when they get goosebumps. When was the last time you got goosebumps?
- Sometimes things that are awesome can be scary and overwhelming, like seeing a shark up close or being really high up on a bridge or in a building. What is something that you find both wonderful and terrifying at the same time?
Ways to Return to the Discussion Throughout the Month
Thoughts develop with time. Find opportunities to bring up particularly compelling questions again during the month, maybe on walks, rides home, when tucking your child in to bed, etc. If thoughts grew or changed, notice that together, how we are all evolving beings, opening ourselves to new truths and understandings as we live our lives and connect with others.
SOURCE: Soul Home produced by the Soul Matters Team
Dec 14, 2019 | Vespers & Wednesday Program
LAST ONE OF THE YEAR!
Dinner–Vespers–Great Programs!
Be Sure to RSVP by 10am Tuesday Morning, December 17
December 18 Dinner is at 5:45pm
Suggested donation for dinner is $10 per person, $20 per family or pay as you are able. Vespers: Led by Blue ridge Spirits CUUPS celebrating Yule, begins at 6:30pm. Programs begin at 7pm: Pageant Rehearsal – no experience necessary! We still need people, wise or not! (S) Dinner is soup and salad from Loretta’s Cafe.
Mid-week multigenerational gathering for food, fellowship and fun; spiritual growth and community.
Get all the details on The Wednesday Thing Page.
Dec 14, 2019 | Faith Development
UU Journeys
Thursdays, Feb. 20, 27; March 5, 12,
23 Edwin Parlor,
Registration required,
Facilitators: Rev. Ward, Rev. Jiménez, Joy McConnell, Venny Zachritz.
Peacemaker’s Book Study:
An Indigenous People’s History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz the 2019-2020 UU Common Read (during Wednesday Thing)
February 12 Introduction- Chapter 3
March 11 Chapters 4-6
April 8 Chapters 7-9
May 13* Chapters 10- Conclusion
*Location TBA
Haunting Church
March 6, 6-8 PM23 Edwin, Parlor
March 7, 9am-3pm, RE Commons
Registration required
Facilitators: Rev. Jiménez, Rev. Sapp
Dec 12, 2019 | Weekly Message
It’s that time of year for many of us when, in addition to thinking about holiday festivities, we are also beginning to think of resolutions for the coming year. Well, the Board is no different and this past Tuesday night, we sat around the table and started a conversation around changes we wanted to make for our board and how we do our work. The idea of change had actually begun a few months prior as we were going through the 1st module of a board training series offered by the UUA. In it, Unitarian Universalist minister Dan Hotchkiss shared his vision of how UU Boards of Trustees might construct their agendas led by values rather than policy. After all, board work, he suggested, can and even should be something that at its core is spiritual work.
I bet that if I were to ask people in our congregation what they think of when they hear the words “Policy Governance,” many would quickly conjure up ideas centered around bylaws and procedures and checklists regarding less-than-spiritual topics such as facility repair and staff contracts. And while these things are crucial in keeping our UUCA boat afloat, these are not the work of the Board. Hotchkiss reminded us that policy governance is actually intended to make space for more lofty matters. “The purpose of good governance,” he says, “is to free the Board to spend more time on thinking about the future of the congregation itself in relation to a deeper and better understanding of the congregation’s mission.” Hotchkiss went on to describe his idea of how to do this, in what he called “An Annual Vision of Ministry” that would set three “Priorities” for the Board as well as an “Open Question.” The priorities guide the work of the year. The open question starts a conversation around the years to come. Though this would not limit the Board in regards to addressing other issues as they arise, it would establish a core focus for the Board’s annual work in a way that would allow for a more “values-driven” agenda. It would also provide for a common language which we could use to communicate the big picture of our work with the congregation. So this past Tuesday, we set out to decide which big priorities would guide our board work through the end of the church year.
The priorities chosen to guide our work for the current year are as follows:
Finding the Right Interim: This might seem like an obvious priority, but as you can imagine it will require everything from establishing a search committee that can navigate the paperwork and procedures required by the UUA to working within the Board as well as the greater congregational community to collect and communicate what people are feeling in regards to the interim process.
Widening Our Welcome: All members of our congregation’s leadership recently participated in a series of surveys, interviews, and training in a process called the IDI or Intercultural Development Inventory, which measures cross-cultural competency and suggests ways of broadening our goal of creating a more inclusive space for all. By setting these ideals into our agendas, we hope to explore ways as a Board to share some of our learning with the congregation as well as to make space for reflection on our practices and places that might lead a more welcoming environment and experience for all.
Building Board Visibility: As we enter in a time of transition/departure in leadership, we felt that greater Board visibility could help provide an aspect of stability during the change. In addition, as the Board is ultimately responsible for making the hire of the interim minister, it serves us all that the congregation better know who we are, what we are doing, and how to comfortably communicate with us their feelings around the transition.
In addition, we agreed on one Open Question:
How Will Transformation Be a Part of Our Coming Transition? Though this does not guide our action steps for the current year, this question will be a recurring theme regarding conversation and outreach with the congregation as we begin to think about the bigger picture of UUCA after Mark. Mark has led this community through many transformative changes over the last 15 years. The question for us now will be what transformations might we want to communicate and create in time when a new minister is called?
In the coming months, the Board will be using these priorities and questions to guide what we do both during our monthly meetings as well as outside of them. We will be communicating and reaching out to you as the congregation to help us in this work as well as for us to make sure that this work is helping you. Be on the lookout for information in the newsletter, on the Board of Trustees bulletin board in Sandburg Hall, on Facebook, in order of service inserts, and in conversations over coffee, just to name a few. And feel free to reach out to me or any member of the Board if you have questions or comments regarding this work ahead. (I have a new email address at board@uuasheville.org)
This coming New Year, I am making the usual resolutions to curb some of the bad habits and strengthen some of the good ones. But perhaps one of my biggest goals for the coming year is that I do my part to help our congregation move into 2020 celebrating what HAS BEEN while also building something NEW together! Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to you all!
Ryan Williams, President, Board of Trustees
