The View: PUC's weekly newsletter
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November 26, 2015
Please send View submissions  to newsletter@pacificunitarian.org 
by noon on Wednesday.
Sunday Service 10:30 a.m.
Child care is available starting at 10:00 a.m.
Join us for some radical hospitality after the service!

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Change in View Submissions Deadline
 
Articles and announcements schedule…
For the week of

 
  • Christmas – due at noon Tuesday December 22
  • New Year – due at noon Tuesday December 29

Thank you for turning in your announcements early!


 

 
Contents
Musical Notes
I lost a very good friend this week. Richard Rausch was a drummer, actually a drummer’s drummer. He was also an extraordinary teacher and the greatest liar, exaggerator, and story teller I’ve ever met.  He was definitely the person with the rawest talent I have ever known.

We grew up together in Richmond, Minnesota, population 930 at that time – yes, that’s 9 hundred.  We first played together in the 7th grade and continued for more than a dozen years to play every chance we could get.  I can safely say we were obsessed. In high school, after quickly finishing our lunch we would go into the band room and play completely ad lib until the next bell rang. We continued improvising as a duo in subsequent years until we were able to change tempo and time signatures intuitively, almost as though we had the same mind.

When we were 19 or so we vowed to practice our instruments for 8 to 10 hours a day for ten years. We called every day to check up on one another and then get together at night to play. But after a year we were so burned out that we could hardly see straight and we decided that we’d better get out on the road. We started playing in bands, playing small clubs in Kansas, Iowa, and even into Canada.  And we would return to a free bad in our parents’ homes.

I think I was 24 or 25 when I became restless and moved to the city of Minneapolis. We stayed in touch, but eventually drifted apart. I always harbored the hope that we would play together again, and it took a long time to realized that he was not going to leave our little town and I wasn’t going to go back there.  Although I’ve seen him only a few times in the last fifteen years, I’ve always considered him my best friend, the person who changed my life for the better, pushed me to do things I would never have done. And now he’s gone. Here’s to a truly one-of-a-kind and my dearest pal.
 
Keep Singing, Severin
 

This Week's Sermon

Reaching for Clothes of New Colors

Kim explores the life and words of poet Rainer Maria Rilke as a luminous lantern for our December days.


Kim Gosney

 

Next Week's Sermon
Festival of Lights
 
Join us for our traditional midwinter celebration! We will wander among the world's traditions through readings and music. 

Reverend James Ford and Kim Gosney
Who's That?

To contact people named in The View please see the PUC Directory which is available in the Members Section of the PUC website.  If you need the password for the Members Section, or if you do not have access to a computer, contact the PUC Office for help accessing it.  The phone number and office hours are listed each week at the very bottom of The View.
Important Message
 
 
The Views’ volunteer editor Lora Childers is taking some much needed time off. We thank her for her generous gift of time and for going the extra mile week after week. Going forward please direct any articles or flyers to Gaberiel Gaynair, the church office administrator, at newsletter@pacificunitarian.org.
 
 
 
Joys
&
Concerns

Craig Block is at City of Hope for his long-awaited stem cell transplant. Back in spring, he had donated his own stem cells, so he's good to go. He's expected to require a three-to six-week stay for the process.

Cards would be appreciated, addressed to him @ City of Hope, 1500 E. Duarte Road, Duarte, CA 91010 - 3000.
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Come join friends in the PUC Library on Sunday morning from 9:30 to 10:30 and join the Joys and Sorrows Circle.  The Circle gives a compassionate space for sharing and listening.  Organized by Sandy McNeil.  
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To have your joy or concern appear here, send it to
joysandconcerns@pacificunitarian.org 
or call the PUC office.  For information on how to do so, scroll down to the
end of The View.
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If you have a pastoral concern, or know of someone in need, please contact Kim Gosney, our Minister of Congregational Life at (310)504-4919 or email 
pastoralcare@pacificunitarian.org.
 

Sunday Hospitality
Volunteers

It takes many hands to
make a Sunday.  Special thanks
to all of our volunteers!


Greeters
Marvel Burke

Welcoming Trustee
Trish Botsko

Welcome Table
Janet Steinberg
Pam Harris

Top Chef
Naresh Deo

Usher
 
Plan to do any shopping this holiday season at Amazon.com? If so, use smile.amazon.com instead. 

You get the exact same amazon but Amazon makes a small donation to Pacific Unitarian Church when you shop. 

Happy shopping!  http://smile.amazon.com/ch/95-2250196  


Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the collections for Harbor Interfaith Services in San Pedro as part of PUC’s Social Justice Season of Service!  So far we’ve collected gallons of peanut butter, a carload of warm blankets and a sweet selection of cakes and frosting to provide Thanksgiving desserts to families in need.  We are quickly building to the height of the holiday season, with hopes that we each can find ways to focus more on service and less on consumerism.  Join us for these opportunities to give of ourselves:
 
Adopt-a-Family
 
PUC will be playing Santa Claus!  As a congregation, we will adopt two Harbor Interfaith families, fulfilling their needs and holiday wishes.  Look for the “Giving Tree” that will appear after Thanksgiving at the Social Justice table as you enter the patio.  You’ll have the opportunity to choose from a variety of gift requests in various price ranges to contribute toward our families’ Christmas wishes.  Then join us for a wonderful celebration of the season when we meet with our adopted families, deliver our gifts and share a holiday lunch at the HIS Block Party on Saturday, December 19.  Volunteers will also be needed that day to help serve food at the Block Party.  
 
One Voice
 
Keeping with tradition, PUC members again will volunteer with One Voice at its family-friendly packaging operation at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica on Thursday, December 17, beginning at 7:30 p.m.  Families with children are welcome! Stop by the Social Justice table to sign up or email Cindy Byrne at cindybyrnemb@yahoo.com.
 
Each year One Voice provides Christmas food baskets, toys and books to 2,500 families (12,500 people) living in poverty in the Los Angeles area. All of the families are referred through the Head Start Program and meet federal and state mandated poverty levels.  In the spirit of the holidays, each child receives books and toys given personally by Santa and every family takes home a basket overflowing with all the makings of a wonderful holiday meal.  Join us to participate in this valuable holiday service.
 
Keep the Service Coming
 
Join the Social Justice committee for our monthly meeting Wednesday, December 2 in the PUC library if you are interested in helping us plan and coordinate our Social Justice program.  

 

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Our colorful Guest at Your Table boxes are here! The boxes and Stories of Hope are key components to our annual fund raiser. The boxes are kept at your dinner table or other gathering space throughout the program.  While the box is there to to collect your loose change and bills, it also serves as an important physical reminder of the work UUSC and our partners are doing to defend human rights around the world.

Stories of Hope is a booklet where you will find inspiring stories about UUSC's partners and their amazing work. Keep a copy near your box.  Each time you gather near the box (for dinner, as an example) you might read through one of the stories, discuss it, and consider the profound ways a Guest at Your Table gift will help advance human rights.

Holiday cards have also arrived! Check them out this Sunday on the patio.

Sandy McNeil, UUSC Ministry

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RE News:  Holiday Happenings

Excitement is in the air as we move into the holiday season with many fun things to do.  Here are a few not to be missed.
 
Please look for sign-ups for our Tree Trimming Potluck on Saturday, December 5 from 5-8 p.m.  RE is hosting this fun social event for EVERYONE, so feel free to come and make merry, and to bring extended family or friends. Severin will be providing beautiful piano for us from 6:30 to 8 p.m.  We need you to sign up so we are sure to have enough tables, chairs, ornaments to make, and cookies to decorate.  Come one and all and help us have fun with our beloved community before the demands of holidays fill our calendars.  Bring a dish to share.
 
Keep an eye out at the Social Justice table for opportunities to be of service to our community.  The Season of Service needs all of you to be thinking of how YOU can participate.  We will be adopting families selected by Harbor Interfaith Services as having a special level of need.  You can adopt as many people as you feel you can buy gifts for, or you can get together with friends and chip in to adopt one person.  Harbor Interfaith will provide us with the people and their wish lists. You will have the opportunity to attend the Christmas Block Party which is sponsored by Harbor Interfaith yearly, and is a huge fun event.  There, you will be able to share a delicious meal with your sponsored person(s) and watch as they receive their gifts.  You will meet a lot of other people, who like yourselves, understand that the Season is all about the opportunity to give.  Go to the Social Justice Table to get involved.  We look for a strong PUC presence at this event.
 
Details are being worked out as I type, but a heads up to keep an eye out for a Mitten Tree in December.  It will be decorated with mittens, hats, scarves and socks that we bring.  These items will then be donated to help people stay warm and dry through the winter months here in Southern California. If El Niño comes, the need will be even greater than usual.  Thanks goes to new member Amy Fields who is bringing this lovely tradition from her prior UU church to PUC.
 
Have a joyful holiday season.  May you delight in the small connections with the sacred in each other that make the season worth all the hustle and bustle.

Love and Wonder,
Vicki
Director of Religious Education
veejaygavel@gamil.com

Religious Education Fall Calendar*  

 

November
Our post-service craft sessions continue through mid November.  This activity is staffed by your DRE and Child Care Providers and will meet from noon until 1:00 p.m.  Children must be signed in. Parents and others welcomed to participate.

November 29: Assembling gift baskets for PUC members who are unable to attend church.

December
December 6: “Solve It Sunday” led by Michele Bethune
December 13: RE Classes
December 20: Solstice Celebration with Vicki

*Adjustments are always a possibility.
Playing In the Sage

"The family. We are a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms. . . and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together."
                                                                                         ----Erma Bombeck
 

At this time of the year, we talk about the spirit of the holiday and not really the holiday itself to be more inclusive of the families we support.  Everyone has a family is some shape or form that we will be spending some time with…and everyone has something to be thankful for.
 
Young children in group care spend a lot of time together working, playing, eating and sometimes sleeping together (if we’re lucky…). When we talk together about what makes a family, I am happy and grateful when they recognize on their own…we are family.
 
So the Pacific Sage Preschool Family wishes everyone a wonderful and delicious time with the family they were born into, created or somehow stumbled upon…
 
Warmly,
Sylvia
Director
Pacific Sage Preschool
 
 

 
     UU Santa Monica (Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica) is pleased to welcome a special exhibit, “Working Women of Zimbabwe,” featuring artists from the Zimbabwe Artists Project

Artist Opening Reception: December 6th, 2015, 12pm to 1:30pm, Forbes Hall. The show will run through Sunday, December 27th and is open to the public on Sundays from 9am – 1pm and on weekdays by appointment.

 Contact Nancy at assistant@uusm.org, 310-829-5436 ext. 102 for info or appointments.
Contact Beverly at balison@aol.com, for further info about the artist or about exhibiting on the Art Wall at UU Santa Monica.
 
This December, we are very pleased to welcome the Zimbabwe Artists Project, (ZAP), as they present the exhibition “Working Women of Zimbabwe.” The Zimbabwe Artists Project is a nonprofit organization partnering with women in Zimbabwe, buying artwork and supporting self-enterprise. ZAP buys artwork directly, and finds a market for it in the US, providing a stable and consistent income for the artists.
 
 
Each colorful, unique piece of artwork shares a personal story from the artist in her own words - a folktale, local words/themes of wisdom and more. Embroideries, fabric paintings, and paintings on wooden boards offer a connection to a woman a world away. The artists featured in ZAP are subsistence farmers, mothers, and householders as well as artists. Most women live on their own, providing for families. Some are widowed,
others are single heads of households. Women’s income from agriculture is unpredictable and limited. Sales of
art help women afford food, clothing, school fees, medicines, transport, seeds and fertilizer.
 
 
Come out and support this important organization! The Zimbabwe Artists Project purchases more art locally than any other buyer, delivering cash at the time of purchase. ZAP also provides health care assistance to the artists, covering the immediate costs of urgent health care needs, and maintains an educational assistance program providing school fees for children in the area who are orphaned. ZAP celebrates the artistry and accomplishments of these talented women, and supports their efforts to become economically self-sufficient.
 
 
UU Santa Monica; 1260 18th Street (corner of 18th and Arizona); Santa Monica 90404 map.
On Sundays look for signs to free parking at 1311 16th Street, the UCLA Hospital structure just south Arizona. Handicapped parking is available behind the church.
 

Women Reading and Responding Book Club
Third Monday of Each Month
Next: December 21
11:00 a.m.
PUC Library

Hi Ladies -

Looking forward to your joining us to discuss the following books with you on the third Monday at 11 am in PUC library. Please remember to bring or forward your book suggestions so we can plan ahead for the coming months. Paperback titles please!
 
    December: The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
    January: The Girl in the Swing by Richard Adams
 
Looking forward to having you join us! Contact Robin Arehart if you have any questions.
Yours,
Robin
 

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Gentle Yoga Class for All
Wednesdays
11:30 a.m to 12:30 p.m.
Henriksen Hall

A class designed for all levels, shapes, and ages.  We will focus on a gentle practice through movement to help unblock your flow of energy and increase your mental and physical flexibility while releasing stress and enhancing body awareness.  Poses and exercises build strength, relieve pain and stress, and improve balance.  Questions: Debi@omhappy.com.

Suggested Donation: $15/class.  Taught by Debi Robinson.

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This Sunday's Flowers 

Deep in their roots,
all flowers keep the light.

~Theodore Roethke 


Please sign up for your turn to bring Sunday's Flowers on the Flower Calendar inside the door of the PUC Office.

This week's flowers are contributed by
Kim Gosney in gratitude for the community spirit
at Pacific Unitarian Church.


 
CALENDAR
 
PUC's calendar of events can be found here.

Congregational Meetings & Town Halls

 

Announcements & additional details on the specific topics
will be distributed prior to the meetings. 

 
December 6, 2015
Congregational Meeting
Fall Financial Review


January 31, 2016
Town Hall
Making PUC Work for You – Who’s Who in the Zoo – PUC’s Committees

 
April 3, 2016
Town Hall
Making PUC Work for You – PUC’s Organizational  Structure & Governance Part III

 
May 1, 2016
Town Hall
Annual Business Meeting Preview & Dialogue

 

June 5, 2016
Congregational Meeting
Annual Business Meeting
The PUC Board of Trustees

                     John Einhorn – President 
                     Bruce Lewis – Vice President
                     Randy Ripley – Treasurer
                     Trish Botsko - Secretary

              Mike Buttitta
              Ben Cowan
              Dee Masters
             James Ford – ex officio

Ways to Contact Your Trustees

board@pacificunitarian.org
This email is forwarded to the trustees, Lead Minister, Director of Congregational Advancement, Director of Religious Education, and Pacific Sage Preschool Director.

trustees@pacificunitarian.org
This email is forwarded to the trustees & Lead Minister (ex-officio.)

 

John Einhorn, President      johneinhornrhino@gmail.com

Randy Ripley, Treasurer     treasurer@pacificunitarian.org

Phone numbers and individual email addresses for all other Trustees can be found in the Member Directory.

 

For Sunday morning announcements contact Kim Gosney
 welcome@thecenteratpuc.org
 

We are located at
5621 Montemalaga Drive, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275

 

Office Hours

                Sunday             8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.                       

                Monday            Closed

                Tuesday           Phone messages are checked during the day.   

                Wednesday      10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

                Thursday          Closed for the Holiday

                Friday               Phone messages are checked during the day.    

                Saturday           Closed

 

Hours for Reverend James Ford, Interim Minister
Appointments are always recommended.

               Tuesday         11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

               Wednesday    11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

               Thursday        11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.


 

Click here for Directions

Contact Us:

Office: (310) 378-9449    Fax: (310) 378-1508

admin@PacificUnitarian.org     www.pacificunitarian.org 

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