72425 Via Vail
Rancho Mirage, CA 92270
760-321-0694
Have you noticed the uptick in attendance? Wasn’t it nice catching up with everyone and celebrating our 65th birthday? Did you see all the prospective new Members taking their orientation classes? Are you looking forward to representing UUCOD at the 39th annual Greater Palm Springs LGTBQ Pride Parade and cutting loose at the annual service auction in the next couple weeks?
This time of year always seems to bring the hustle and bustle of church.
Dear ones,
As you read this we are heading toward Election Day on November 5. Though we know (and fear) that we won’t know for sure the results of the election on that day, it will certainly be a moment of great change in our political and social lives.
I know that many of you carry anxiety and fear and anger and disbelief at the state of our political and social lives. I do as well. And I am reminded strongly in times like these why we come together in community. To care for each other. To share our fears and anxieties so that we can feel heard and seen and so that we can see and hear those we care for. To share our joys and hopes so that we can strengthen and enliven our individual and collective possibilities.
It’s the end of September, snow birds are returning, church seats are filling up, groups are re-assembling, and the new church year begins. The new Board—constituted by two new Members and one re-elected Member—has now met twice and taken some actions of which to be aware.
Look at how full the church calendar already is! One occasion of which to take note is our 65th birthday on October 13. The first Church Council follows on October 19, and then November brings the Pride Parade on the 3rd and our annual service auction on November 8 and 9. New Members are celebrated on November 17
Over many years, we have likened stewardship to a shepherd watching over their flock; ensuring the flock is protected and has what it needs to flourish. Put in simpler terms, our community is blessed with many Members and Friends who contribute their time, their talent, and their treasures to ensure that our community has what it needs to flourish.
Thank goodness for our volunteers who make our community possible. With our limited amount of staffing, we rely heavily on our Members and Friends to help with both large and small tasks critical to ensuring a robust and fulfilling experience for all Members and Friends.
Did you know it can require up to 35 people to assemble a Sunday morning? And what about all the individuals who serve as committee and board members or the folks who maintain our building and our grounds. Or the many Members and Friends who help with Hospitality or the auction or packing food boxes during the holidays. The list goes on and on and all of us benefit from this abundance of giving of our time.
Many volunteer opportunities take only a few minutes, take little, if any, training, and can be done at your convenience. How about volunteering to be a greeter on a Sunday morning? Or helping prepare for or clean up Coffee Hour occasionally? Or sign up to bring flowers for a Sunday service?
How does one get more involved in serving our community? Talk to someone who is already doing something you would be interested in. They will point you in the right direction. When you volunteer – when you give back to our community – you experience the satisfaction of giving and the gratitude of the community you serve.
UUCOD Stewardship and Membership Committees
Dear ones,
An ad was placed in The Desert Sun in October of 1959 that asked readers “Are you a Unitarian and don’t know it?” It was placed by the Rev. Ray Manker, from Riverside. And then on the evening of Wednesday, October 19, 1959, a diverse collection of people—a few humanists, liberals, and at least one person who was already Unitarian—gathered for the first time at the Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce office.
Since then, this community has grown and thrived, through struggle and wandering in the desert, through ministers coming and going, through dreaming and hard work. And here we are, 65 years later, stronger than ever!