This a link to a podcast from Heather McGhee’s work. It highlights some of the work around abortion and in particular the work of our one of sister congregations, First Unitarian in Dallas and their senior minister Rev. Daniel Kanter, in helping women in Texas get to New Mexico for abortion care. I recommend listening to it before our…
Read more
It’s been busy here at VUU since we’ve come back from the holidays! In addition to renovations which are looking great and moving along, we have a lot going on! Saturday I attended a Worship Associates mid-year retreat in which we reviewed our work since the retreat in July and did some administrative training needed to keep…
Read more
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…
Read more
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…
Read more
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…
Read more
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…
Read more
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…
Read more
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…
Read more
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…
Read more
