The Week Ahead at UUCB

Do Not Begin Without a Blessing: The Ordination of Kathryn Jay

Sunday February 16 Worship Service 11 am

Our congregation is honored to have been asked by Kathryn Jay, UUCB’s Director of Religious Education and Family Ministry, to ordain her as a UU minister. Ordination is one of the most important traditions of our faith. A congregation’s decision to ordain someone represents the congregation’s faith in, and support for, the ordinand’s ministry, a recognition of their setting apart, functioning as “a rite of initiation, taking an ordinand from their status as layperson and initiating them into the community of clergy.”

In Person, Facebook Live and YouTube

Sunday February 16, 2024

9:30 am Parents’ Discussion Group 
Safir Room – Parent/Grandparent Discussion Group meets on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of each month at 9:30 am. We welcome parents and grandparents at all stages of the parenting journey. Drop-ins welcome!

10 am Youth and Children’s Choir Rehearsal
Meditation Room (below the Sanctuary) – Open to all children and youth, ages 5½ and up. Prior musical experience is not required. Email Teacher Katie for questions: ktlipka@gmail.com.

10:30 pm Coffee and Community 
Atrium – Starts at 10:30 am in the Atrium

11 am Worship Service and Kathryn Jay’s Ordination
In Person, Facebook Live and YouTube 

12:15 pm Light Lunch
Social Hall – Be our guest for a light lunch in the Social Hall after the service. Helpers to prepare food and clean up are always welcome!

1 pm Humanist Connections
In Person – Paul Ulbrich will discuss “Delusional politics and lies” followed by a group discussion. The Humanist Connections group meets weekly to discuss topics relating to our humanity, values, ideas. “A free and responsible search for truth and meaning.” (4th principle of Unitarian Universalism.) For more information, contact Ray Westergard.

2 pm Working to Oppose White Supremacy (WOWS)
Bring your MAUBs (Moments of Awareness of Unconscious Bias) and MOIs (Moments of Illumination) to share. For more information, contact Julia Rogers and Julie Winkelstein at wows@uucb.org or 510-520-8230 (Julia).

Click here to join on Zoom or dial 669-900-9128
Meeting ID 894 0793 2840

The Week

Monday, February 17
Presidents’ Day. Staff Holiday.

9 am Write for Your LifeZoom – “Write For Your Life” is a meditative sharing practice for people who like to write. Please email Kit Hewitt for Zoom link and details: khewitt@lmi.net.

9:30 am Women’s Meditation Group 
In Person – This group meets weekly to practice “Mettā” (pr. METTT-tttah) or “loving kindness” meditation in the Southeast Asian Buddhist philosophy tradition. On the 3rd Monday we  meet in person. So that a space can be prepared for you when we meet in person, RSVP to Evelie Delfino Såles Posch evelie511@gmail.com.

Tuesday, February 18

10 am Improving Your Balance Through Tai Chi 
In Person – Email Neil Clark at chansujing@gmail.com for more information.

12:15 pm Applied UU Buddhist SanghaZoom – A weekly discussion group with time for meditation. Contact Lynnette Delgado for more info: lynnettedelgado@comcast.net

Wednesday, February 19

10:30 am Aging with Grace
Zoom – A weekly gathering of people sharing ideas and encouragement as they age. Contact Anne Greenwood annegt1@sbcglobal.net (510) 734-3378 or Jane Ramsey: Jane.rms@gmail.com or (510) 499-5204.

7 pm Program Council 
Zoom – Monthly meeting for church programming reports and discussion.

Thursday, February 20

10 am Thank You Circle
Safir Room – The Board has launched a monthly gathering of folks writing words of thanks to the MANY volunteers at UUCB. Come join us for coffee, chatting and note-writing. We meet on the third Thursday of the month.

5:30 pm Learn Javanese music at UUCB! In Person – Experience firsthand the meditative Javanese gamelan. All ages and levels of musical skill welcome. Contact Daniel danielswinslowschmidt@gmail.com, 510-334-1334 or Tom trippthomas@yahoo.com, 510-495-4879.

7:15 pm Choir Rehearsal
In Person – Luminescence, our choir of adults, joins to sing on Thursday nights in the sanctuary.  New singers are most welcome! You don’t need choral experience, nor do you need to read music – though both help in learning the new music.

Friday, February 21

9:30 am Improving Your Balance Through Tai Chi 
In Person – Email Neil Clark at chansujing@gmail.com for more information.

Saturday, February 22

9:30 am DRUUMM Winter Virtual Retreat
Diverse and Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries Collective Solidarity for Peace and Justice in Our World. Please note: this event is BIPOC-only, a sacred space reserved for those who identify as Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color and UU or interested in Unitarian Universalism.

6:30 pm Youth Social Event
In Person – The Youth Group (middle & high school) meets on the third Saturday of the month to have fun and build community! Bring a friend! There will be food and games and good conversation. Please email Kathryn Jay, Director of Family Ministry for more information: kathryn@uucb.org.

Upcoming Events

Feb. 23 – Congregational Meeting
March – Stewardship Month
April 6 & 13 – Pathway to Connection

Announcements & Resources

Sunday Parking at UUCB
We kindly ask that if you are physically able, please park in the back or north parking lots. This will leave the spaces near the main entrance available for those with mobility challenges. Your thoughtfulness helps ensure everyone can easily access our community. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation!
 
Just a reminder to vote in our Board of Trustee Election before the February 23rd Congregational Meeting! Our Candidates Forum went smoothly on January 26. The Candidates gave insight into their vision for our future and the skill sets they wish to lend to our existing Board of Trustees members.
CLICK HERE to see the recording, read their personal statements, and vote.
So many Berkeley students, their families and their teachers need support – either weekly or one-time help. Come to the Social Hall this Sunday to check out the many ways we can lift up students in need: of food, and of classroom and after-school help. All ages: TK through adult school.
New year, new semester – Let’s go!

Good Neighbor for February

Through the Looking Glass
Their mission is: “To provide and encourage respectful and empowering services—guided by personal disability experience and disability culture—for families that have children, parents, or grandparents with disability or medical issues.”

UUCB Staff and Board Availability

  • Board Listening Presence: Michael Armstrong: (510) 219-3847 michaelarmstrong2494@comcast.net
  • Rev. Marcus Liefert (Minister) meetings by appointment on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Email: revmarcus@uucb.org
  • Kathryn Jay (Director of Family Minstry) open office hours Tuesday and Thursday. By appointment on Wednesday and Friday.
  • Bryan Baker (Director of Music): in person Thursdays and Sunday mornings, and remotely Fridays. Email: bryan.baker@uucb.org
  • Janae Heard (Office Administrator): in office Tuesdays and Thursdays 11-5. Works remotely M-W-F. Email: janae@uucb.org
  • Peter Barnholdt (Facilities Manager): Tuesday-Friday 11-7:30.
  • Charis Domador (Connections Coordinator) works remotely M-F. Email: connections@uucb.org
  • Diana Steinbach (Finance Administrator) works remotely Mondays and Thursdays.

Stay in Touch

  • Pastoral Care Need? If you or a UUCB congregant you know is sick, hospitalized, recovering, grieving or otherwise in need of attention and support, please email us at pastoralcare@uucb.org. In case of a pastoral emergency, you may call Rev. Marcus Liefert at (510) 525-0302 ext. 303  He is always available for pastoral needs, as phone messages will be forwarded to him.
  • Subscribe to our newsletters.
  • To subscribe to the UUCB general discussion list email connections@uucb.org.
  • Subscribe to the Families discuss list
  • Social Justice email list: Email sejones1950@gmail.com

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.

Our Board of Trustees Widening the Circle Vision Statement:
“We, the trustees of UUCB commit ourselves to championing racialjustice, embodying anti-racist practices, and confronting anddismantling white supremacy culture and all forms of oppression(including but not limited to racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia,transphobia, classism, ageism, xenophobia and religious oppression,including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia) in everything we do.”


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