The Week Ahead at UUCB

Bryan Baker & Friends on Oct. 8 @ 7 pm
Our brilliant Director of Music brings us a masterful concert and fundraiser for 2022!
Purchase Tickets Online or In Person

Saturday October 1, 2022

10 am Freestone Brainstorming/Problem Solving Session
In person (use Lawson entrance) – Please join us in person for this brainstorming session. Open to anyone who wants to attend regardless of previous participation. This event is part of the conversation and exploration for determining the future of UUCB’s Freestone retreat property. Please review the documents here, in particular the Table of Contents with recommendations on which to read first.

Sunday October 2, 2022

9:30 am Parents Discussion Group
In Person – This discussion group is open to people at any stage of parenting or grandparenting and provides a supportive space for intentional discussion of the joys and challenges of the parenting experience. The discussion each month will focus on a different topic, and childcare is available. Please let us know if you have questions or suggestions for topics.

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.

11 am Religious Education
In Person – Please email Heaven Walker, Director of Family Ministry for more information: family.ministry@uucb.org.

11 am Worship Service
In Person, Facebook Live and YouTube – Courage Isn’t the Opposite of Fear. Rev. Michelle Collins preaching, Worship Associate Don Klose. We grew up thinking that courage and bravery meant not being afraid. But instead, it’s the counter-intuitive truth that courage means acting even when we’re afraid. When have you been called to act with courage, and what fears try to get in the way? Today we’ll explore what courage might look like in our lives and in our world.

12 pm Coffee Hour
Terrace – Join us on the Terrace for light refreshments.

1 pm Literature, Film, Drama & Music Contingent
Zoom – Celebrate Filipino-American History Month with Evelie Delfino Sales Posch. A UUCB member, Evelie will take us on a delightful experience of history, music, and spirituality! Evelie has offered us her beautiful music during worship services and various events at UUCB. We are looking forward to a wonderful presentation!

1 pm Humanist Connections
Zoom – Status of Atheism in the West presented by Rosalind Gordon. 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 Marcia Bates.

1 pm K-1 OWL (Our Whole Lives)
In Person – is a comprehensive sexuality program age appropriate for kindergartners through 1st graders. This series of 8 sessions needs to be pre-registered for and the Parent/Child Orientation must be attended. A parent meeting will be held concurrently for the parents of children enrolled to explore their own journey.

The Week, October 3 – 8

Monday, October 3

9:30 am Women’s Insight Meditation Group
Zoom – This group practices “insight” or “loving kindness” meditation in the Southeast Asian Buddhist tradition. Drop in or contact Lucinda Young luyoung1313@gmail.com for additional details.

Tuesday, October 4
Yom Kippur begins

Wednesday, October 5
Yom Kippur ends

7 pm Board of Trustees Meeting
Zoom – Contact Selene Fabiano for more info: secretary@uucb.org.

Thursday, October 6

5:30 pm Learn Javanese music at UUCB! In Person – Enjoy learning to play Javanese gamelan music. All ages and levels of musical skill welcome. This opportunity is perhaps unique to our congregation, as we learn, play, discuss and collaborate while experiencing firsthand the meditative and transcendent beauty of Javanese gamelan. Call or email Daniel 510-334-1334 danielswinslowschmidt@gmail.com; or Tom trippthomas@yahoo.com, 510-495-4879 with any questions.

7:15 pm Choir Rehearsal
In Person – Luminescence, our choir of adults, joins to sing on Thursday nights at 7:15 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, October 7

7 pm Saving Songbirds: What You Can Do in Your Own Backyard
In Person – A Multi-Media Presentation by Kay Charter. Kay is an award-winning writer and speaker who, for 30 years, has fought to reverse the tragic decline of migrating bird species. She is a founder and the current Executive Director of Saving Birds Thru Habitat, whose mission is to educate people about ways to combat this alarming trend. At this event she will detail several ways that we Californians, as householders and local community members, can create a more livable world for our avian friends. Attendees who register on Eventbrite will receive a gift bag.

Saturday, October 8

7 pm Bryan Baker & Friends 
Sanctuary – Our brilliant Director of Music, Dr. Bryan Baker, is back again with Bryan Baker & Friends, a masterful concert and fundraiser for 2022! This year’s concert features baritone opera singer Bradley Kynard, flautist Leslie Chin, and our very own Bryan Baker on the piano. They will bring to life:

Mozart’s Sonata in F major, K 323
Alberto Ginastera’s Argentinian Dances,
Claude Bolling’s Suite for Flute and Jazz PIano
and music by Debussy, Grieg, Florence Price, and others

Purchase Tickets Online or In Person

7 pm Parents Night Out
Provides an evening of free childcare so parents can go out for a date once a month from September through May on second Saturdays. Before stepping out, we will do a quick parenting meditation activity.

Upcoming Events

8:30 – 11 am Pancake Breakfast
Our newest tenants, the Kensington Fire Protection District, invite you to attend this pancake breakfast! Meet the firefighters and the new Fire Chief. There will be fun activities for our littlest guests, too! Suggested donation $8 per person. Children under 5 eat free. No one turned away for lack of funds. Purchase tickets online or at the door.

Announcements & Resources

We are updating our practices regarding spacing in the Sanctuary. Some more pews will be available for sitting, which may lead to people sitting closer together. For this reason, we will start streaming Sunday services into the Fireside Room for anyone who will feel more comfortable keeping their distance during worship.
The survey has been extended to October 2! To date we have 110 participants; we are hoping for 150. We have scheduled focus groups for larger UUCB interest groups. Those not participating in focus groups are encouraged to sign up for a cottage meeting (zoom and in-person); just use the tabs at the bottom of the page to choose your date.
Our fall Chalice Circles still have space for additional participants! Find a list of scheduled Circles here (https://uucb.org/learning/adult-programs/chalice-circle/2022-23-chalice-circles/).

For more information about the Chalice Circle program, look here (https://uucb.org/learning/adult-programs/chalice-circle/).
The conversation and exploration for determining the future of UUCB’s Freestone retreat property is coming to an end this month. We still have two Town Hall Q&A sessions: Oct. 16 (in person and streamed) and Oct. 17 (on zoom). The special congregational meeting to vote is Oct. 23.  Please review the documents here, in particular the Table of Contents with recommendations on which to read first.

Good Neighbor for October

Greater Richmond Interfaith Program (GRIP) is a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic coalition of congregations from varied faiths working together as a diverse and inclusive coalition dedicated to helping those of our community in need to transition to self-sufficiency. https://gripcares.org/

UUCB Staff and Board Availability

  • October Board Listening Presence: Bill Brown call/text (831) 261-1522 or email bill@thepinolehouse.com
  • Click here for Rev. Michelle’s schedule.
  • Tess Snook O’Riva (Executive Director) works Monday-Friday. In office Tuesdays and Fridays.
  • Bryan Baker (Director of Music): in person Thursdays and Sunday mornings, and remotely Fridays.
  • Heaven Walker (Director of Family Ministry and Lifelong Learning): Mondays 10-1 (Zoom), Wednesdays 10-1 (office), Thursdays 1-4 (office).
  • Caitlyn Vincent (Office & Technology Administrator) works Monday-Friday. On maternity leave.
  • Antonio Toro (Facilities Coordinator) works Monday through Friday, .75 days.
  • Charis Domador (Connections Coordinator) works remotely Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
  • Diana Steinbach (Finance Administrator) works remotely Mondays and Thursdays.

Stay in Touch

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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