Sunday, March 19, 2023 11am
Rev. Claudia Jimenez, Minister of Faith Development
Many years ago, a youth group I worked with added “oops/ouch” to the covenant they were writing. What a concept! Join us for a multigenerational service exploring the importance of covenanting in our UU faith as well as the gifts and challenges of embracing the oops! and ouches! in our relationships.
Since September, members of the 8th Principle Team have facilitated 7 learning circles for a total of 35 participants. Participants engaged in thoughtful, candid conversations about what the 8th principle means to them, explored the history of the 8th Principle, and shared their hopes, fears, and dreams for our congregation if it is adopted. The vote will occur at the June 4th congregational meeting. One participant reflected, “Instead of saying what we believe, it [the 8th Principle] says what we do: working to dismantle racism and other oppressions.” This work is a goal of our congregation as stated in the Racial Justice Advisory Council report to the board. It is an aspirational goal to implement over the coming years as we explore personal biases and work collectively to build a more inclusive, welcoming community.
You may be wondering: Racial Justice Advisory Council (RJAC) Report? What’s that? Great question! If UUAvl is to become the radically inclusive and welcoming congregation it is called to be, there is work to do. This work started with an internal assessment led by a board-appointed team of congregants in 2020. Their learnings and recommendations, the RJAC Report, were shared with the congregation and the board. One of the top recommendations was to engage the congregation in learning about the proposed 8th Principle and how it aligns with the work of liberation.
If you are not familiar with the 8th principle, please check out this basic information link. I encourage you to learn about the 8th principle and to consider what you imagine UUAvl will do differently if our congregation were to vote “yes.” Consider attending one of this month’s facilitated Reflection Circles: Sunday, March 19 at 9:30 AM (RE Commons) or 12:30 AM (Sanctuary). There is also a Zoom option on March 23 at 7 PM. Please RSVP to Rev. Claudia if you can participate in any of these circles.
And, please thank the 8th Principle Team that has been meeting monthly for almost a year and a half to organize materials for the circles, facilitate the circles, and offer a worship service focusing on the 8th Principle. Thank you, team, for your commitment and collaboration!
Nancy Bragg
Carol Buffum
Jeff Jones
Jensen Gelfond
Bernise Lynch
Ed Prestemon
Nancy Clark
Mary Alm, board liaison
With gratitude,
Rev. Claudia Jiménez
Minister of Faith Development
8th Principle Team, staff liaison
A THEATRE AND SONG BENEFIT FOR THE ASTON PARK DEFENDANTS
WHAT: JOIN US FOR JUSTICE
WHEN: Saturday, March 18, 2023, 3pm
WHERE: Land of Sky United Church of Christ,
15 Overbrook Place, Asheville NC 28805
Background information. Donation – no one turned away, but give if you can
FEATURING:
AN INVITATION FROM OUR FRIENDS AT CAROLINA JEWS FOR JUSTICE
According to Mazon, a Jewish response to hunger, 1 in 6 children in North Carolina go hungry every day. This is a disgrace. Our Jewish traditions compel us to honor the dignity of every person, especially those who are vulnerable.
North Carolina advocates and community leaders are urging the North Carolina legislature to expand school meals this year so that every student can access free, nutritious breakfast and lunch in North Carolina’s public schools. School Meals for All NC would promote academic achievement and developmental well-being, eliminate meal debt and lunch shaming, and ensure that every child can succeed. It is a necessary step towards ending hunger in North Carolina.
Interested in working with other CJJ members
to end hunger & food insecurity in NC?
Contact, Ray Russolillo, to learn more.
Sunday, March 12, 2023 11am
Rev. Cathy Harrington, Interim Lead Minister
Marina Cantaczino is the founder of the Forgiveness Project and has been gathering stories of people who have lived through trauma and injustice yet sought forgiveness rather than revenge. Drawing from her insights and my own personal experience, I will explore how by changing the stories we live by and tell ourselves we can create hope for a better future.
I am one of your Ministerial Search Committee members and I am not going to lie. It has been a lot of work! But it’s very satisfying to be doing something so important and I can really feel your heartfelt gratitude towards all of my colleagues on the committee and appreciation for the way we have been approaching this process. It’s been an honor to get to know my fellow committee members and to work together as a cohesive group. I have so much respect for this team and the work we have accomplished to date.
I felt like I was uniquely qualified to join the ministerial search committee even though I didn’t have much time as a member of UU Asheville and had joined during the Pandemic Times when it was so hard to meet people. I thought I was qualified because I had been a member of 3 different sized congregations including one that regularly had intern ministers fresh out of seminary that would typically stay with us over a full year. It would be fantastic to observe as their confidence in the pulpit grew over time! All this being said, I knew what I liked to see in UU ministers when it came to preaching.
Our first assignment was to prepare for “Beyond Categorical Thinking” workshop and we were asked to fill out a survey asking (1) how we would feel and (2) how would our congregation feel about various scenarios such as the minister candidate having physical or mental disabilities, identify as being LGBTQ+ or a member of the global majority, etc. Truthfully, I knew how I felt about these scenarios I was in a panic when I realized that I couldn’t confidently answer how the congregation would feel. I suddenly realized that I didn’t know the congregation very well and hadn’t considered this angle. Would this be a problem? Was it selfish for me to join the committee to pick a minister I would like?
Thankfully our next task was designing and creating the congregational survey and holding the focus groups and the cottage meetings. I took notes at a good number of the cottage meetings including our first one held during the Mountain Gathering and really enjoyed how everyone participated and brought their whole selves, their love for the community and their dreams for the future. I thoroughly enjoyed reading all the verbatim comments from the survey and compiling all the survey answers into categories so we could rank preferences and create charts. Your contributions by answering the survey and participating in our small group cottage meetings helped us create the congregational record and I am so proud of our final product. It was this record that attracted so many ministers to take an interest in us.
My involvement in this process was the best way to get to know my new religious home including meeting so many congregants, the board members, understanding our staffing and our committees, our history, our campus, the financial challenges and so much more. I am so proud to be part of this vibrant community and want to say thanks for giving me this opportunity to know you and represent you through this work. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for all of us and those we haven’t even met yet!
Joanne Fox, Ministerial Search Committee Member