Ministerial Discretionary Fund: On Christmas Eve, I invited you to donate directly to our newly created ministerial discretionary fund, which provides a vessel for me to care for members of our community in need in various ways, while holding their struggles with compassion and dignity. Sometimes in our times of need we find ourselves knocking at doors…
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From December 25-January 1 the VUU office will be closed and staff will be away. We look forward to catching up with all of you after that week. Rest and renewal are an important aspect of our work–we need time to attend to our own relationships and needs so that we have the capacity to return to this community. So much…
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We had a wonderful workshop with Hospice of the Valley last week on managing grief during the holidays, attended by about 20 people. If you want some of the handouts from this event, please check with a lay pastoral care associate. We have some follow up plans underway from this workshop, so watch for more…
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This week we will have had both a workshop on managing grief during the holidays and a “Longest Night” service (Thursday night) for those whose grief makes the holidays a challenging time. The workshop had 14 online participants and 8 in person, and we were glad to offer this opportunity for learning both for our pastoral care team…
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I’ve heard many stories about the Sunday after Thanksgiving when about 80 of you participated in person an a dozen online with our “Flip the Church: Improvising a Shared Future” experience (see photos above). You were invited to respond to a homily in small group conversations in these questions: Rev. Jonalu Johnstone says we come…
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Rev. Sarah’s Desert Notes column will return next week.
In my sermon last week I referenced the book “God Revised: How Religion Must Evolve in a Scientific Age” by Rev. Galen Guengerich, a UU minister and colleague of mine. One of the ideas I talked about was the importance of gratitude as a building block for interdependent, healthy communities and congregations. Guengerich says that the…
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Tuesday night I co-chaired a regional VIP action meeting that focused on our work with Chandler Unified School District on mental health supports for students and with Chandler City Council on affordable housing strategies. We had 92 VIP participants, largely members from VUU and St. Matthews Episcopal here in Chandler. Many other member organizations were represented as…
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The UU College of Social Justice, UUJAZ and several AZ UU congregations have been participating in a small planning delegation with Borderlinks this week, and I am happy to have been able to join them. We are learning together and thinking about what it would look like to lead a delegation of UU’s in February 2024 and…
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The news has been filled with harrowing violence. From the wars in Ukraine and in Gaza to more mass shooting events in our own country, we are being bombarded with the trauma of mass murder, hatred, and mass destruction. At this moment it is possible to take a stand against anti-semitism and the horror of terrorism…
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