News – The Week Ahead at UUCB

Good Neighbor for May

The Berkeley Food Pantry. The mission of the Berkeley Food Pantry is to provide families, especially those with children, with adequate sustenance and nutrition at times when bills for food, rent, health care and other items overwhelm them.

Sunday May 2, 2021

9:20 am Personal Theology
Zoom – Rematriate the Land/Shuumi Tax. Sogorea Te’ Land Trust with Corrina Gould. As our church begins the process of honoring the indigenous ancestors of our church site, we are pleased to host Corrina Gould. Corrina Gould (Lisjan Ohlone) is the chair and spokesperson for the Confederated Villages of Lisjan. Corrina is the Co-Founder and Lead Organizer for Indian People Organizing for Change, a small Native run organization that works on Indigenous people issues. Her life’s work has led to the creation of Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, a women-led organization, within the urban setting of her ancestral territory of the Bay Area. Sogorea Te’ Land Trust works to return Indigenous land to Indigenous people.

Click Here to Join on Zoom

11 am Worship Service
Facebook Live and YouTube – Music Sunday: Storied Music. Bryan Baker with Worship Associate Karen Elliott. We will look at the music that tells us stories, the stories behind certain songs and pieces, the stories that have become interwoven with the music.

11:45 am Coffee Hour
Zoom – Click here to join us. Password: 810131. Time subject to change depending on length of service.

12:15 pm Religious Education
Zoom – Please email Rev. Catherine for access: family.ministry@uucb.org.

12:30 pm The Literature, Film & Drama Contingent
Zoom – Celebrating Asian-American History Month with a discussion of Minor Feelings: An Asian American’s Reckoning, by Cathy Park Hong.

1 pm Humanist Connections
Zoom – Shall We Keep the Filibuster? Lee Lawrence. For more information, contact Marcia Bates.

The Week, May 3-8

Monday, May 3

9:25 am Women’s Insight Meditation Group
Zoom – Contact Lucinda Young luyoung1313@gmail.com for additional details.

Tuesday, May 4 (be with you)

4 pm Bay Area UU Meetup
Zoom – All UUs around the Bay Area are invited to join our ongoing, bi-weekly Bay Area UU Meetup. We’re starting a new practice of focusing on anti-racism efforts being conducted by the various congregations of the Bay Area. There will still be space for people to ask questions and get support for other matters.

Wednesday, May 5

6 pm Vespers
Zoom – Please join us for our mid-week online Social Time and Vespers Service, a time for renewal, connection and spiritual grounding. Social Time begins at 6:00 pm; the Vespers Service itself starts at 6:20 pm, concluding at 6:50 pm in order to give you time to proceed to any church meeting that may follow.

Click here to join us on Zoom
Meeting ID: 830 5378 2422
Passcode: chalice

7 pm Social Justice Committee Planning Meeting
Zoom – Social Justice Council Planning Meeting for the leadership team.
Contact Sheldon at socialjustice@uucb.org for more information.

7 pm Board of Trustees Meeting
Zoom – Contact Ann Harlow for additional information: annharlow@pacbell.net or (510) 559-3616.

Upcoming Events

3-5 pm RE Outdoor Education Class Pilot Sunday
UUCB Family Ministry will be hosting an outdoor education class in the field for all children and youth K-HS. The class will be masked, socially distant, and following the church’s COVID protocols. Registration is limited and required. Register here.
9 am-2 pm Pop up food drive in the RE parking lot. The beneficiary is Berkeley Food Pantry, our Good Neighbor for May. Click here for a list of preferred donations.
12:15 pm May Congregational Meeting. Next year’s budget, Nominating Committee members, and Schweitzer Award presentations to Lonnie Moseley and Larry Nagel are meeting highlights. Stay tuned for voting before the meeting on proposed bylaws changes. The agenda will be sent via email by May 13.
11 am Outdoor In-Person Worship Service
Mark your calendars for a special in-person outdoor Flower Communicion worship service in our main parking lot. Worship will also be streamed on our YouTube and Facebook pages at the same time. Please note that this is a special one-time service. 

Announcements & Resources

Have you seen this bus in the parking lot?
BORP, our April Good Neighbor, has parked their bus temporarily in our lot until they can start offering transportation again. It wasn’t safe where it was. Just another way we support our community!
We want to share our flowers! Please send in a photo or drawing of a special flower or flowers by May 23 to uucbflowers@gmail.com for a virtual flower communion that we can share.
Diverse Books for Richmond Schools—our final few weeks! UUCBers have generously donated over 180 books to Richmond elementary school libraries, particularly stories related to African Americans and some to Native Americans. In May, the books will focus on Latinx stories and lift up our AAPI neighbors as May is Asian-American and Pacific Islander month. Stay tuned for more details on how to donate.
Ariel Smith-Iyer is May’s Listening Presence. She may be reached by phone or text 415/722-7581 or email arielwest@yahoo.com. We encourage our members to be in touch with the Board. Your input and ideas—questions, concerns, comments, critical feedback and the sharing of information—are essential to the renewal and flourishing of our Beloved Community. All voices are precious in this UUCB community.

UUCB Staff and Board Availability

  • May Listening Board Presence: Ariel Smith-Iyer phone (415) 722-7581 or email arielwest@yahoo.com.
  • Click here for Rev. Michelle’s schedule.
  • Tess Snook O’Riva (Executive Director) works Monday-Friday. In office Tuesdays and Fridays.
  • Catherine Boyle (Director of Family Ministry) Office hours Tuesday 12:00pm-2:00pm, Thursday 6:00pm-8:00pm in This Zoom Room, or by appointment family.ministry@uucb.org.
  • Bryan Baker (Director of Music): works remotely Thursday afternoon, and Friday and Sunday mornings.
  • Alisa Gould Sugden (Office Administrator) works Monday-Friday. In office Monday afternoons and Thursday afternoons.
  • Antonio Toro (Facilities Manager) works Monday through Friday, 3/4 days.
  • Yao Chao (Custodian) works Monday-Friday.
  • Charis Domador (Connections Coordinator) works remotely Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
  • Diana Steinbach (Bookkeeper) works remotely Mondays and Thursdays.

Stay in Touch

To stay even better informed, or if you have questions about UUCB, please explore our website. You can also sign up for various email lists:

Submit items for The Week Ahead to weekahead@uucb.org by 8 am Wednesday. Please limit announcements to 325 characters (with spaces).

Submit items for the Beacon monthly newsletter to beacon@uucb.org by the 15th of the month.


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