Sep 1, 2024 | Stewardship and Membership
For our church community, September is like early Spring in the desert. Even though our fiscal year officially begins in July, July and August are quiet months. September is when full-year Members and Friends begin to emerge from our air-conditioned homes and return from vacations away as the heat subsides. We begin to anticipate and plan for the surge in activity that begins in October. And our seasonal Members and Friends contemplate closing their summer homes and preparing for their season in the desert.
In September, our Board of Directors meets to determine our goals for the church year. Our various committees reconvene and make plans for the coming year in anticipation of our Church Council in October. Our church calendar will be bursting with activities, and we will celebrate the coming together of both full-time and returning seasonal Members and Friends with our In-Gathering luncheon on Sunday, October 13 following our service.
Is September a good time for each of us individually to determine our plans for the coming church year and identify how we can participate in and support our church community?
Our community is stronger than the sum of its individual parts and our contributions that support our community. Each of us, at some level, contributes to the well-being of our community and we rely upon our Members and Friends to be generous with their time, their talents, and their treasures.
What can you offer to support our community in the coming year?
Sep 1, 2024 | Minister's Message
Dear ones,
Our theme for the month of September is Nurturing Sustainable Relationships. As we live into our value of Interdependence we commit to create and nurture sustainable relationships of care and respect, mutuality and justice.
As this month goes along I’ll invite you to ponder and consider your closest relationships and your more casual relationships. How do you choose to nurture these relationships? Do you pay active attention to how they’re going? Do you check in with your partner, your friends, your acquaintances and figure out together how to make your relationship stronger, richer, and more sustaining?
Aug 1, 2024 | Stewardship and Membership
It is August now.
In the desert, it’s hot, our energy is low, and we tend to rest. It’s a time for rest and reflection.
Some of you may be in areas where the weather, friends, and families are keeping you very busy leaving little time to think about UUCOD. Perhaps allow yourself some moments to consider last year and the coming year both where you are now and, in the desert, when you return.
When we reflect on our Church experiences this past year, we think of all the people we call our friends.
When you think of last year in our UUCOD Beloved Community, what comes up for you? Smiles, laughter, joy at what events? Which people? Groups you are a part of? Friends you have made? Are you laughing as you consider these things?
We also reflect on the activities in which we engaged during the year. Some we want to continue; some new ones we want to try out and see how it fits for us.
Reflections include allowing memories to come to you in quiet spaces and times. Memories will also include emotions and feelings to which we consider how we want to respond.
Consider all these situations, events, memories, joys as you consider how you would like this coming year at UUCOD to be for you.
Do you want to make new friends? Consider Men’s Breakfast or Women’s Night Out. Join a Chalice Circle.
In our July article we spoke of Community of Communities. In this coming year, do you want to join a small community? Choir? Hospitality? AV team? Worship? There are so many more options available for you in small communities (Membership, Stewardship, Finance, Social Justice, Facilities).
Most importantly, make a decision to do something differently this next year that will bring you that “I belong here” feeling of community or as one of our new members said, “I found my people”.
UUCOD Stewardship and Membership Committees
Jul 31, 2024 | President's Message
From June 20–23, more than 3,400 Unitarian Universalists from around the country and world gathered and attended this year’s all-virtual UUA General Assembly, GA is the annual gathering of UUs, where, in addition to conducting official business of the UUA, they join in community, explore the faith’s theological underpinnings, and emphasize the UUA’s mission, values, and principles. GA 2024 had 2,757 credentialed delegates from 734 congregations in fifty states; Washington, D.C.; Canada; the U.S. Virgin Islands; Mexico, France, and the Philippines. Five UUCOD leaders represented the church: Rev. Riddell; Walter Gendell; Linda Savard; Jane Zaun; and me. This year’s theme was “Love Unites, Stories Ignite,” meant to celebrate the profound impact of love as a binding force that transcends boundaries and divisions.
Jul 31, 2024 | Minister's Message
Dear ones,
As we settle into the deep heat of the summer the life of the congregation quiets a little and gives us some brain space to ponder the year ahead.
2024-2025 is a double anniversary year for the congregation. In October we’ll be celebrating our congregation’s 65th anniversary. And in late March of 2025, we will have been in our own church building for 20 years. What a year! What joy it is to celebrate our past and envision what the future can be. In the early months of the fall, we’ll be engaging in conversation and discernment together as we seek to reimagine the vision and mission of our beloved community. Keep your ears and eyes out and I hope you’ll jump into those conversations with intention and commitment.
