Think UUCB Grocery Card program. This program offers King Soopers and Safeway reloadable cards for sale nearly every Sunday that return 5% on your grocery purchases. If your household purchases $500 per month in groceries, the return to UUCB is $300 per year. So easy to do. We also offer LiquorMart and Ozo’s Coffee cards that return 10%, and Vitamin Cottage and Alfalfa’s at 5%. Cards are on sale on Sundays after Service. Check or Cash accepted. The table is usually set up in the Sky Room during Coffee Hour. If not, you can stop by the Office.

UUCB Chancel Choir Rehearsal, Please join us for choir rehearsal on Thursday evenings from 7:00 pm to 8:45 pm in the Earth Room.  All levels of experience are welcome!  Youth 10 years and up are invited to join us as well.  The UUCB Chancel Choir will sing twice per month and offer two music Sundays during the 2015-2016 church year.  We have a lot of fun, but we also work hard so that we may bring the best quality of music to enhance our vital Sunday morning worship services.  Please speak to our Music Director, Deborah Berioli, if you have any questions, or simply join us on Thursday evenings.  Thank you!!!  music.uucb@gmail.com

This year’s General Assembly did not disappoint in terms of interest, stimulation, and challenges! As always it is so satisfying to pick up older acquaintances, and to meet new friends.  General Assembly is always likened to “…attempting to drink from a fire hose!”

Although the attendance was somewhat less than what was expected, the total of 4502 youth and adults, plus 157 children was enough to make this the 4th largest GA of all time.  593 congregations were represented by the 1769 Delegates present.  In addition there were 115 Delegates offsite representing 83 congregations.  The interaction with the offsite Delegates was much improved, pointing the way towards a higher level of “virtual” involvement in the future GAs.

If you wish to learn more, all of the events held in the General Sessions hall have been archived at uua.org/ga and are available for viewing.  This includes, not only the business sessions, but also each of the services, some incredible Choir music, and the Ware Lecture by Dr. Cornel West (highly recommended).  Rev. Marlin Lavahar’s (Tulsa, OK) reading of a poem by Langston Hughes, and his sermon, which follows, should not be missed.  Check it out!

Attending from UUCB were: Howell Lind, Diana McLean, Barbara Richards, Fred Cole (in the Volunteer Office), Whitney Wheeless (her 1st GA), Eliot and Miles Rowe, and Heather Ogren.  Everyone present has their own stories to tell — just ask them!  

The collection plate passed during the Service of Living Tradition added $72K for the Living Tradition Fund.  A special request (in the Exhibit area) for future GA Scholarship assistance raised nearly $19K.

At Sunday’s worship an unprecedented $67K was provided in support of the annual GA Service Project, benefiting The Reentry Transition Center, a local Portland charity.

The Delegates denied a proposed Bylaw amendment which would have made the Commission on Appraisal, a committee of the UUA Board.  Three Actions of Immediate Witness (AIWs) were passed concerning Reproductive Justice, support for the Black Lives Matter movement, and for keeping Immigrant Families together during the deportation process.  On the latter issue, Moderator, Jim Key accepted my verbal “second” from the floor (it’s on the tape).  

The Public Witness event was in support of Climate Justice — very well attended resulting in a major Portland thoroughfare being blocked, at “rush hour” for quite some time.  We were heard, and heard from!

My favorite quote comes from Miles Rowe: When asked about his participation in GA Day Camp, “…the best thing about it, is the food — which is still pretty awful!”

Fred M. Cole – UUCB Denominational Representative

The Annual Meeting for the Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder will be held Sunday, June 7 at Noon in the Earth Room. Members are invited to attend for information and to vote on candidates for various positions, as well as on the church budget for the 2015-16 church year.

Budget Forums, to discuss the proposed budget, are scheduled:

• Sun, May 31, 9 am – Sky Room
• Mon, June 1, 7 pm – Sky Room

UUCB T-shirts for the Pridefest Parade (or any time you want to share the love) are on sale again! Please send size requests to Suzy Belmont or sign up at church on Sunday. T-shirts are $15 each. Requests must be in by April 30th.

Contact Suzy Belmont at Suzy.Belmont@gmail.com or 339-788-1445

In the month of December, we focused on children and how we, as a religious community and as individuals, can help meet the needs of children in our community and beyond. One way we could do this locally is to become one of the churches that takes turns hosting the Foster Parent Night Out, in which churches provide childcare while foster parents get a much-deserve night off. Please talk to  Diana McLean, our Ministerial Intern, to learn more.

UUCB’s Climate Action Ministry found an interfaith partner last year to support one of our goals toward Green Sanctuary Certification.  Tuv Ha’Aretz is a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) project. 

Tuv Ha’Aretz gives people from Boulder County faith communities an opportunity to eat local, organic produce through partnerships with local farmers and to explore contemporary food issues from faith-based perspectives. The CSA works with Red Wagon organic farm in Boulder County to provide shares of locally grown produce. Eating local for a significant portion of your family’s meals minimizes carbon emissions in comparison to food transported across country or oceans. Organic farmers also work to preserve the quality of the land.

Membership in Tuv Ha’Aretz includes weekly or every other week pick-ups at convenient locations of a wide range of produce selected to provide variety and even some food adventures. It includes a weekly blog from Red Wagon Farm, cooking and preserving ideas from Tuv Ha’Aretz, and additional programming. This year the CSA sponsored a screening of the film “Fed Up” at UUCB.

Information for joining the CSA will be available at a table after the service on January 25, with a representative from Red Wagon Farm here to answer questions.

Local, organic produce…all with a spiritual connection

Tuv Ha‘Aretz Interfaith CSA partners include: Boulder Jewish Community Center, Congregation Bonai Shalom, Congregation Har HaShem, Congregation Nevei Kodesh, St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church, and Unitarian Universalist Church of Boulder

Hooray for marriage equality! We now have it in Colorado! But all states still do not have it. Some of our UUCB members and others in our community had to leave Colorado to get married in the past! October was GLBT History month and Oct. 11 was Coming Out Day. It’s still a good time to share the coming-out and wedding stories of our families, friends, neighbors, co-workers, or ourselves. The more stories we hear the more understanding and more welcoming we become.

More than ten years ago UUCB became officially a “Welcoming Congregation.” This title means that our congregation worked for more than a year to make our church particularly welcoming to lesbians, gays, and bisexual people (LGB). Over the years the program expanded to include transgendered people, queer, intersexed, and asexual people as well as straight people. The UUA has set requirements that we completed to receive official recognition. We revised our by-laws to use inclusive language. We reviewed the Religious Education program for inclusivity. Several sermons addressed LGB issues. We offered a class to learn about issues affecting LGB people. We offered the class during the year at three different times to accommodate as many of our schedules as possible. We asked all committees to see how they could be more welcoming.

Since that initial work, we have grown and the UUA has expanded the program. The UUA now asks people to learn about trans people and others who may call themselves queer or who may be intersexed or are asexual. The letters designating the varieties of sexuality have become an alphabet soup. The letters appear in different orders in different places and they are a mouthful—LGBTAIQ! We have decided it is easier to just say “Welcoming Congregation.” Many Protestant churches are also involved in becoming more welcoming; they have chosen the term “Open and Affirming,” which means they welcome LGBTAIQ people.

We have also worked in the past to be more welcoming to people of all races, economic status, abilities, ages, and backgrounds. The Welcoming Congregation program does not mean that we do not value the other diverse classifications into which we sometimes put people. We believe in the dignity and worth of all human beings.

Last year we began some more work to renew our Welcoming Congregation status. This year we will continue expanding our knowledge and offering opportunities for us all to become more welcoming and to renew our Welcoming Congregation status with the UUA.

Rise Up And Call Her Name, Part 1

A Woman-honoring Journey into 

Global Earth-based Spiritualities

An Invitation to all women and girls 13 years of age and older

6 Tuesdays:   October 14- November 18th

6:30-9:00 pm at UUCB, 5001 Pennsylvania, Boulder

$20 for materials (sliding scale)

Offered for women, age 13 and up

Sign up by October 7th by contacting Debbie Davies,

Rise Up and Call Her Name is a course that weaves together spiritual stories worldwide that honor female divinities.  Rise Up presents a textured spiritual inquiry missing from exclusively male imaged, monotheistic belief systems.  By focusing on artistic and intellectual tools which facilitate self-development and personal integration, these stories become relevant and inspiring to the individuals participating. 

Circles of participants undertake personally relevant activities that may include: experiencing visual images, chants, creative rituals, movement, storytelling, and hands-on art projects.  Participants have the opportunity to develop fresh perspectives on qualities such as fearlessness, compassion, nurturing, and the unfolding of personal spirituality. 

Ecological awareness is prominent on this journey. Cycles, interconnection and biodiversity are given form and substance through stories that portray both the power and process of Nature, advocating reverence for Her.  Group sharing is especially rich, often supporting community building that continues even after the course is completed.  Please join women from both UUCB and BVUUF to take part in this exciting journey.

Thank you, UUCB! I am still resonating with the joy and spirit of my ordination and celebration! Special thanks to the ordination committee chaired by Will Kropp, including Neil DiMuccio, Barbara Fusco, Jean LaDue, Barb Richards, and Fred Cole as marshall. And of course, many thanks to Deborah Berioli and the other Front Range music directors and all the many musicians and singers who filled the sanctuary with their gorgeous sound. The service and celebration were simply wonderful, and I could not be more grateful to you, the Boulder congregation, for the honor of being ordained by you.

Some new things will be happening this month. A Depression Support Group is forming, beginning on Tuesday evenings, starting in April and running for six weeks. The purpose of the group is to provide a confidential, safe place for people to be among peers and to be honest about their condition and its impact in their lives.  Rev. Amy Rowland, Assistant Minister, and Rosemary Lohndorf, certified Journal to the Self instructor, will facilitate the meetings, and journaling will be a part of the meeting time.  The group will meet Tuesdays from 6:30-8:00 p.m. from April 1 to May 6. If you are interested in learning more about the group, or would like to join the group, please call or leave a message for Amy Rowland, assistant minister at (303) 815-5181 or email  arowland.uucb@gmail.com.

I will join a small group from the congregation who will be headed to the Arizona/Mexico border at the end of the month. We will travel into Mexico with BorderLinks, and while in Tucson, we will attend a 10^th anniversary event for No More Deaths, and join the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson for Sunday service. We will lead a Sunday service in May to share our experiences and insights.

In gratitude,

Amy

(Rev. Amy Rowland)

It’s Spring! Time for the Ninth Grade Trip Cake Auction Fundraiser! UU 9th Graders from ten UU churches along the front range participate in this year-long coming-of-age journey, culminating in a 10 day trip to the Hopi and Navajo lands in the four-corners area of Colorado.  This year is the 50th Trip!   For many, many years, UUCB has held a Cake Auction to fundraise for this important event.  This year we are requesting members and friends of UUCB to bring a cake (or pie, cupcakes, plate of cookies, loaf of banana bread etc) to be auctioned off, and, if you are not a baker, to please attend the auction and BUY a cake. It is great fun! Last year we had carrot cupcakes, a ‘cat litter’cake, cheescakes, a cliff dweller cake, pies, pumpkin bread, chocolate cakes, baklava, flan, gluten free items, cookies, and a cake made to look like our new playground, as well as many others.  If you know any Alumni Trippers, please let me know so I can contact them for this 50th Trip auction!  Please sign up in the Sky Room during coffee hour in April to bring a cake; monetary donations to the Ninth Grade Trip are graciously accepted as well.   Questions? Contact Debbie Davies 303 666-8635

I’m very happy to be writing this article with a new title, as I am now the “Assistant Minister” at UUCB. The job description is the same, but my professional status has changed. In early December I met with the UUA Ministerial Fellowship Committee in Boston and was welcomed into fellowship as a Unitarian Universalist minister. It’s exciting news and I’m grateful to be in this community and share this with you!

In recent months I’ve been working with the Young Adults on the LGBTQIA*  All Church Social Change project. I look forward to seeing many of you in January as the Young Adults host an afternoon program “Transgender Identities,” Sunday, January 19th, 12:30-2PM. This promises to be engaging, informative, and spirited. It wasn’t so long ago that it was possible in this culture to comfortably ignore sexuality and gender expression. Today, in our Unitarian Universalist faith tradition, we are engaged in conversations about inclusion, visibility, and relationship. Now we ask ourselves and others, what does it mean to be *Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, or an Ally? All are welcome and encouraged to be part of this conversation on transgender identities. Registration details can be found in the Midweek Messenger and on Facebook.

In another programming note – the small group ministry for the winter will be starting in late January, early February. Look for notices in the Midweek Messenger for sign ups. There will also be a new small group offering, beginning in February. This new group will be a ‘mini’ group, meeting just 3 times. These mini groups are especially good for newcomers to the congregation or to Unitarian Universalism. The three sessions will focus on the ministries of our congregation, specifically “Living Well,” “Deepening Faith,” and “Enacting Justice.” Dates and sign ups will be listed in the Midweek Messenger.

See you in church!

Amy