News from the Districts - November 2

White text on PWR background says News from the Districts and then lists the four districts.

Mountain Desert News

Keynote and Workshop Notes from District Assembly

The Mountain Desert District recently held its annual gathering and meeting. The keynote address was given by Rev. Dr. Kendyl Gibbons titled On Becoming a Grown Up: Spiritual Maturity With and Without God. The full text of the keynote and notes from Rev. Dr. Gibbons workshop are now available on the MDD website.

"Teachers of reverence throughout the ages have pleaded that something wonderful happens when we stop running our familiar mind programs about fear and scarcity and protecting ourselves; this counsel is a kind of spiritual practice that is oblivious to the vocabularies of tradition. We might call it redemption; we might call it Tikkun Olam, the healing of the world; we might call it enlightenment, or as some Native American traditions would, the path of beauty. It doesn't matter. As author Geneen Roth says, 'I don't know what to call this turn of events, or the freshness that follows it, but I know what it feels like. It feels like relief, infinite goodness, the essence of tenderness, compassion, joy, peace.'"

Read the keynote and workshop notes

Pacific Northwest News

PNWD Chalice Lighter Call - Growth Technology Initiative Grants

The PNWD Fall 2017-18 Chalice Lighter Call supports the Growth Technology Initiative Grants. Please help your fellow PNWD congregations communicate more effectively, inclusively, and vibrantly! Previous calls devoted to tech grants led to 15 grants of up to $2500 in 2013 and 2015 and revealed that significant unmet need remains, particularly for slightly larger grants. Tech grants have funded microphones, speakers, web conferencing equipment, video screens, projectors, assisted listening devices, and more. Grants of up to $4000 will be funded by this call. In order to apply to receive a grant, please download the tech grant application.

Donations will be accepted for this call through December 4, 2017. Questions may be directed to pnwdchalicelighters@pwruua.org. Thank you for your generosity!

Make a Donation

Pacific Central News

Chalice Lighters: Help PCD UUs get to Regional Assembly

The fall PCD Chalice Lighter call is designed to bring more PCD Unitarian Universalists to the Regional Assembly in Portland, Oregon, April 27-29, 2018.

It is our goal to make Regional Assembly accessible to all congregations in the PCD. The Board voted unanimously to make a minimum of $500 available to each congregation within our District to send representatives to Regional Assembly. We want to eliminate financial ability as a factor in who gets to participate. Soon, each congregation will get information from the Board on how to access this resource.

All the funds raised in this Chalice Lighter call will be used for sending UUs from the PCD to Regional Assembly. Please support access to Regional Assembly with your gift today.

Can you afford to give $20? We are grateful for whatever you can contribute. Payments will be accepted towards this call through November 20. Ten percent of each call reimburses expenses to administer the program. You can make your payment online or mail a check, payable to PCD Chalice Lighters to: PCD Chalice Lighters, 7511 Greenwood Avenue North, #414, Seattle, WA 98103-4627. Please write PCD CL on both the memo line of your check and on the payment envelope. Questions may be directed to your volunteer PCD Chalice Lighter Coordinator, Karen Urbano at pcdchalicelighters@pwruua.org.

Thanks for your support!

Make a Donation

PWR Congregations in the News

Mexican Immigrant Takes Sanctuary in Western Colorado Church - US News and World Report
Sandra Lopez of Silt moved into Two Rivers Unitarian Universalist Church in Carbondale with her 2-year-old daughter last week after immigration officials denied her request to delay deportation. Lopez, who also has two older children, is the fifth immigrant living in the country illegally to seek sanctuary in a Colorado house of worship this year.

Sex ed: We're doing it wrong - Reno News Review
Reverend Karen Foster, Director of Religious Education at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Northern Nevada is one person who's comfortable talking about religion and sex—including LGBTQ sex—in the same sentence. Her church teaches a sex ed program for kids and teens that addresses, among other topics, anatomy, body image, consent, relationships, communication, domestic violence, pregnancy prevention and decision-making. It's called Our Whole Lives — or OWL for short. And that curriculum recently went through an update process, too. It now mentions how specific drugs relate to issues of consent.

Unitarian Universalists welcome new minister - The Columbian
The Rev. Kathryn Bert will be the Unitarian Universalist Church of Vancouver's next settled minister after a yearlong nationwide search. "I fell in love with the church because of the people," Bert said in a news release. "I could see from my interviews and visits that they are people of integrity and depth and that they embrace the philosophy that 'change begins with me' as the foundation of their work for broader social change."

Ashland group advocates for more winter shelter - Ashland Daily Tidings
In the quiet, windowed chapel of the Rogue Valley Universalist Unitarian Fellowship a group of 40 or so activists came together this week to plan for the inevitable — a cold winter that will swallow up those who find themselves without an indoor place to sleep.

Colorado woman denied pardon by governor re-enters sanctuary in Fort Collins church - The Denver Post
Congregations go through a discernment process before they decide to offer sanctuary. At Foothills Unitarian Church, 92 percent on Aug. 27 voted in favor of becoming a sanctuary congregation. Rev. Gretchen Haley said they are called to act based on the Unitarian belief in "courageous love."