Redwood Reachout
Transcription
Redwood Reachout
Redwood Reachout 2124 Brewster Avenue, Redwood City, CA 94062 www.uufrc.org ~~ (650) 365-6913 [email protected] Sunday Worship Services - 10:30 a.m. Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Redwood City Redwood Reachout February, 2012 Inside this issue: “Setting the Table,” by Rev. Julia Older 2 “Carol’s Corner,” by 3 Carol Thomas Cissel, our Intern Minister Feb 5: “James Luther Adams, Part III, Are We the Sons and Daughters of Koreh” — Rev. Julia Older. Do we agree that history is moving forward? Are we, in our own way, apocalyptic? What then is our responsibility? Feb. 12: “Birds Do It” — Rev. Julia Older and Carol Thomas Cissel, Ministerial Intern. ―Our Whole Lives‖ is our most extraordinary curricula for learning about and honoring our human sexuality. Feb. 19: “Sabbath” — Rev. Bill Kennedy. What is it? Why do we gather? Is it just another show to compete with soccer or the Sunday New York Times? What makes it different from any other Sunday morning activity? (This is a multigenerational service.) Feb. 26: “Anxiety and the Good Life” — Rev. Julia Older and “Message from Your President,” by John Cooney 4 “DRE,” by Derby Davidson 5 “Membership” 6 “Within Our Walls” 7 “Margaret Fuller Performance” 9 “Calendar of Events” 10 “Who’s Who and How to Contact Us” 11 Carol Thomas Cissel, Ministerial Intern. Letting go, playing it forward and celebrating life. Mission Statement: We weave a community of compassion and joy, giving us strength and hope. We support the spiritual journeys we take together and alone. We work to create a better world by reaching out, taking risks, and building relationships beyond our Fellowship. Setting the Table February, 2012 - Reverend Julia Older It is almost Labyrinth Week! This year we‘ll set it up on Thursday, February 9th, at 11:00 a.m. and leave it down in the sanctuary until Saturday at 8:00 p.m. (We will have to fold it up but the janitors are replacing the chairs.) You are welcome to walk absolutely anytime if you plan ahead and borrow a key. Ask me. Labyrinths are not mazes. There is no trick. There is no way to be lost. There is really no way to go off track unless you step over a line. Read that as a metaphor. In fact, walking a labyrinth is a meditational metaphor for life. Follow the path. All will be well. The path is curved. It moves along an arc and then doubles back and then moves forward and then sends you to the edge and then, right when you may think, ―Good Grief! How much further?,‖ there you are in the center. The only way out is the way you came in. Another metaphor. Most often, people walk it slowly and place each step with great care. Once in the center, you may choose to stand there for a while. Or sit there. Or leave something behind (something small, please). I will leave a basket of small stones for you to carry if you wish. Or, you can go as quickly as you can and simply notice what that feels like. Other people may be walking at the same time. When you meet each other, you will have to figure out what to do. This is not an interruption. It is part of the metaphor. Many people report that it is unexpectedly moving. Folks use it for centering and healing and grieving and meditating, for trying to let go or simply getting calm. Set up: Thursday, February at 11:00 a.m. If you are free at that time, please come help us. Thursday at 7:00 p.m.: A very short introduction for families and then we will walk. Children are especially welcome. all Saturday at 7:00 p.m.: EVERYBODY! An exquisite communal dance takes shape when many people walk at the same time. Love, Julia In honor of the centering meditation of labyrinth walking: A verse from ―Burnt Norton‖ by T. S. Eliot At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless; Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is, But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity, Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards, Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, 2 the still point, There would be no dance, and there is only the dance. Carol’s Corner February, 2012 by Carol Thomas Cissel, Intern Minister As I write this, I am sitting in the Taipei International Airport waiting to board a flight back to the U.S. The last 15 days were spent visiting seminaries, universities and churches; while meeting amazing people from the indigenous tribes of Taiwan. Our days were packed with theological lectures, temple tours, meals at small country churches and worship in big city sanctuaries. While I am bone tired, it is a meaningful weariness resulting from spiritual formation and the gentle stretching my personal religious context. I have seen and learned so much on this trip, but one thing in particular will stay with me: the passion and enthusiasm both pastors and congregants showed for their faith and their religious communities. but for our movement to grow, we need to embrace and then share our loving, affirming faith. It cannot continue being one of the best kept secrets on the planet. Ours is a religion open to all people; a religion that recognizes and celebrates our connections with the universe and with the Spirit of Life, the Divine, or whatever one may choose to name it. Our congregations and communities are loving and supportive. The religious education we have for adults and children is superb. But, we seem to be hiding in broad daylight. Simply put, not enough people know about us. Last summer at General Assembly, UU President Peter Morales chalIt was deeply inspiring to break bread lenged all of us to do three things: with folks that felt driven to joyously Get Religion. Grow Leaders. Cross share their beliefs, even though they Borders. The first of those three, were different than my own, because Get Religion, excites me the most. that same kind of excitement But, I‘d like to add three words to it, permeates my belief in Unitarian ―Get Religion and Tell Someone.‖ Universalism and my call into ministry. The future of Unitarian Universalism lies in our ability to intentionally take I think this is an exhilarating time to our message and movement directly be a UU, but like many UU‘s, that to others. Our churches and fellowexcitement is not something that I ships need to throw open their doors regularly share with others. I know and welcome new faces and old that historically ours is a religion that friends with radical hospitality. has not been evangelical in nature, Why? Cultivating and nurturing the intersection of people, intellect and spirit is vitally important to our movement. And, when old faces and new friends come together, we grow stronger and learn from each other. Coming together and growing stronger. Making new friends and affirming long-time companions. Getting Religion and Telling Someone. We have so much to offer…it‘s time we started telling folks. What excites you about our faith? Who can you share that with? I plan to start by bringing a couple of new folks to visit UUFRC… hope you will, too! See you in church!, Carol Passages George Walmar Lasko , a member of the UUFRC community, passed away on December 23, 2011 from complications arising from his recent heart surgery at Kaiser Hospital in Santa Clara. Rev. Julia, Joanne McMahon and George‘s son, Greg, were present at his passing. A celebration of his life will be held on February 18th at 2 p.m. in the sanctuary. Photographs of George‘s life and samples of his artwork will be displayed. Rev. Julia will officiate. Tom Cooney, father of John Cooney and a lifelong Unitarian Universalist, passed away in his sleep on Christmas morning. Tom was a man of good will and concern for others. A celebration of his life will be held on February 4th at 2 p.m. in the sanctuary. Rev. Julia will officiate. 3 Message from Your President I distinctly remember a time when Kaye and I thought personal cell phones were silly extravagances. I understood their utility for people who had to conduct business while on the road, the expense justified as the cost of doing business – you have to spend money to make money. But for personal use, bah! Could not see it – just wasteful. Surprise! Things change, you decide to have children and all of a sudden life gets more complicated. Simple thinks like ―Who is going to pick up Aaron at what time, at what place, and deliver him where?‖ suddenly became of critical importance in a family with both parents working and no grandparents to provide child taxi service. I think that is what did it to us, the need to coordinate on a shorter event horizon than ―tomorrow.‖ So we both bought Palm Pilots, synchronized our personal calendars and communicated instantly: ―OK, Aaron is going with Mike to his house to play and dinner. I will NOT pick him up at school at 3:00, but will pick him up at Mike‘s around 7:00. OK, I got it.‖ All of a sudden the cell phone is not an extravagance. It‘s a necessity. Amazing how a change in your circumstances changes your attitude. It seems to be a repeating theme in all of our lives. Now I have a smart phone. I carry it with me all the time. It is as important to me as the steel that holds my left leg together. I don‘t think about either, I just take them for granted as integral parts of my life. I developed new habits: keep leg warm, turn phone off in meetings and church, walk slowly up long grades, charge phone at night. It‘s all good. It seems right. It makes life better, not at all out of the ordinary. I feel the same kind of change happening again, but at church. We all loved the kids in the Mummer’s Play and the new Christmas Pageant and we want the hear what they are saying. This drives us to work on improving the sound system so that we can mic each performer. It will be a huge improvement. For years we have been recording the audio of our services so that friends and family who can‘t come to church can share in our community. Now we are thinking about extending that to include video recording, because the visual context, like the actors in the play and the new projection system, is becoming more and more a part of the service. I don‘t know when this change will happen. I know there will be some struggles. Just as we had to learn how speak using microphones, we will have to learn what it means to have a camera in the room, even if it‘s just sending a live image to the flat screen TV in the Social Hall. But I feel this change coming, and I expect that like my cell phone experience, it will be hard at first, then become second nature. Change happens, let‘s try to embrace it and use it to make our community better. In Faith, John M. Cooney President, UUFRC Board of Trustees 4 From Derby Davidson, Director of Religious Education Topics this month include OWL, Sunday school themes, and the annual spaghetti dinner. 7th-9th Grade OWL. For the first time, we are holding 7th-9th Grade OWL class without the San Mateo UU church, and we still have a record 25 attending! I‘m thrilled with the participation, as OWL is near and dear to my heart. For more information about the Our Whole Lives (OWL) comprehensive human sexuality curriculum, go to http://www.uua.org/re/owl/. Sunday School. The focus of our 2nd through 8th grade Sunday school classes this winter and spring is Christianity. The 2nd-4th grade and 5th-6th grade classes will be learning stories from the New Testament, following the Jesus and His Kingdom of Equals curriculum. The 7th-8th grade class will be learning about different Christian faith traditions, following the Neighboring Faiths curriculum. This class includes field trips to other churches. K-1 OWL. The kindergarten-1st grade class will continue with the UU Picture Book curriculum in the winter. In the spring, this group will be provided age-appropriate human sexuality information using the K-1 OWL curriculum. If you have a kindergartner or 1st grader, please be on the lookout for an email announcing an OWL parent orientation meeting. Spaghetti Dinner. Mark your calendars for our annual Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser on March 17th from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. Just like last year, the money raised will go toward supporting the two Nepali students we are sponsoring through the American-Nepali Students‘ and Women‘s Educational Relief (ANSWER). See the RE bulletin board for letters and pictures from the Nepali students. Go to http://answernepal.org/ for more information about ANSWER. Our middle school and high school youth groups provide most of the labor for this event. Our Spaghetti Dinner is a wonderful social opportunity to connect with others in our community. The Social Action Committee, which sponsors the Spaghetti Dinner jointly with the Children‘s Religious Education Committee, will have a forum in the latter half of the evening, which I believe will be an immigration-themed movie (possibly Grand Torino). We‘ll have child care for those 6 and under and activities for other children. Please come! See you in church. Derby Imbolc Service & Ritual Feb. 3rd The celebration of Imbolc will be held Friday, February 3rd at 8:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary. Imbolc heralds the first signs of new life, such as the shoots of bulbs blooming up from the earth, and the calving of ewes. An ancient Celtic cross-quarters celebration, it marks the center point of the dark half of the year. It is the festival of the Maiden, for from this day to March 21st, it is her season to prepare for growth and renewal. At UUFRC, we will honor this holiday with discussions of its meaning, chanting, ritual, and of course, food. Please join us for 5this moving and lovely holiday celebration. MEMBERSHIP Spring Luncheon and Pledge Drive Kick-off This year‘s Pledge Drive will begin with a luncheon following services on Sunday, March 4th. Hear members of our fellowship share the stories of their ―Wild and Precious Life,‖ and view many photos to remind us all why we love UUFRC. The lunch will be catered by The Faithful Fools and benefit their good work with the homeless community in San Francisco. Come and join the celebration of the wonderful community we share. Becoming a Member Finding a home here at UUFRC and making the decision to become a member is both powerful and exciting! We celebrate this decision with each and every person who signs the Membership Book. If you are considering membership, please plan to join us for our next ―Becoming a Member‖ discussion on Sunday, February 12th from 9 – 10 a.m. This one hour in- vestment of your time will provide you with a clear picture of the benefits and responsibilities of being a member. Plus there‘ll be donuts. You may register by contacting our Welcoming Coordinator, Cindy Johnson, at [email protected] or (650) 3644995. Childcare is available if requested by February 5th. ` An Invitation to Friends and Newcomers UUFRC offers each of us a spiritual home, a warm community, a chance to live our values as we care for each other and our planet, and the opportunity for self exploration and growth. Has it become an important place for you? One with meaningful connections, a place where you feel not only accepted and supported, but also challenged? Then we invite you to become a member. Whether you‘ve been coming for one month, one year, or somewhere between or beyond, if you feel that you‘ve found a home here, we invite you to deepen your commitment to this Fellowship by joining us. We‘ll be welcoming in and celebrating new members during the service on February 22nd, followed by more celebrations with cake after the service. If you would like to join, please contact Pat Dwyer, Connections Committee Chair at [email protected] or Cindy Johnson, Welcoming Coordinator at [email protected] 6 Within our walls Book Discussion and All-Fellowship Read Our February book is High Fidelity by Nick Hornsby. Join us Monday, January 23rd, at 7:30 p.m. in the front lounge to consider this unique male perspective. And on Sunday, February 26th, we will have a discussion of The Death of Josseline by Margaret Regan. Here is the schedule: 5:00 - 6:00: Potluck supper in the Social Hall 6:15 - 7:00: Q & A with Margaret Regan by Skype, so bring a good question or two. 7:00 - 8:00: Discussion of the book Movie Night On February 19th at 7 pm in the back lounge, we will be showing Crash, a 2005 film with a 89% audience approval rating. In Crash, issues of race and gender cause a group of strangers in Los Angeles to physically and emotionally collide. Should make an interesting discussion. Happy Trails Hiking Club February Hike: In the cooler months of winter I like to explore trails of the South Bay. February 11th we‘ll hike in the hills of Calero County Park and Rancho Canada del Oro Open Space Preserve. The preserve was opened to the public in 2004 with the dedication of the Bald Peaks and Longwall Canyon trails that we will take this opportunity to explore. The trails wind through native grasslands, oak woodlands, sage-chaparral scrub, and creek-side habitats and offer views of the Diablo Range and Mt. Hamilton. Our hike will start at the parking lot in Rancho Canada del Oro. Three loop options are available: 1. A four-mile loop along the Bald Peaks Trail and back down the Serpentine Trail. 2. A six-mile loop that continues along the Bald Peaks Trail to the Catamount Trail, then back down the Serpentine Trail. 3. A 7.5-mile loop that continues farther along the Bald Peaks Trail to the Longwall Canyon Trail, and then back down the Serpentine Trail. All three hikes start and end at the parking lot. Note that February 11th is the second Saturday of the month. As usual, we‘ll leave from UUFRC (2124 Brewster at Lowell in Redwood City) at 9::00 a.m. Try to arrive early so we can arrange carpooling depending upon which hike each participant wishes to do. The drive to the parking lot at the end of Casa Loma Road in Morgan Hill should take about one hour. I expect the group doing the longest hike will return to Redwood City by 4pm. Remember to bring lunch and water. 7 Within our walls . . . . . Continued March Hike: The March 3rd hike is by permit only - Fifield-Cahill Ridge Trail I have received a permit for a guided excursion Saturday, March 3rd, along the Fifield-Cahill Ridge Trail atop the hills west of Crystal Springs Reservoir. The trail is a dirt service road through stands of old-growth Douglas Fir, evergreens, and coastal scrub with ridge-top vistas of watershed lands, reservoirs, the Pacific Ocean, and San Francisco Bay. The hike starts at the base of Sweeney Ridge in San Bruno, climbs 800 feet to the top of the ridge, continues along the ridge top, and then gradually descends to a quarry on Highway 92. The total mileage is 13 miles one-way. We‘ll leave some cars at the quarry, carpool to Sweeney Ridge trailhead, and then hike back. The hike takes between 5-7 hours. For more details, see the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission website at http://www.sfwater.org/index.aspx?page=147 Are you interested? If so, send me an email. Kaye Bonney Second Sunday Sisters on Feb 12th For our February meeting, we'll be discussing dreams. Carolyn Chaney and Geri Kennedy will share a bit of what they learned from a class at Starr King with Jeremy Taylor, an expert in this area. If you want to share your dreams, it is recommended that you keep a dream journal right next to your bed and write the dream down with as many details as possible (even things like was it cloudy, what color were the walls, who/what was there) as soon as you wake up. There are rumors that taking a b-complex vitamin right before bed might help you dream and remember. We meet in the back lounge from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. All UUFRC women are welcome. Conversations shared during our gatherings are confidential. It‘s a lovely time to share the company of other women. Calling all Women Who Love to Sing! All women are invited to sing ‗Kore‘ in a special chorus for the Easter service. We have sung ‗Kore‘ many times, and it has become a tradition here at UUFRC. It is a ―hymn to the wheel of the year,‖ honoring Kore (Persephone) and the coming of Spring. It‘s a lovely song and the voices of many women bring meaning and power to the changing of the seasons. If you are interested, please contact Music Director Kay 8 Kleinerman for details. Geri K. OUR LARGER COMMUNITY Laurie James Performs the Life of Margaret Fuller at UUFRC UUFRC‘s Adult Education Committee is pleased to present an original solo drama entitled Men, Women, and Margaret Fuller, performed and written by actor/author Laurie James. Based on journals, letters, articles and books, the play brings to life our American foremother‘s bold character and words. of group), and will be in our sanctuary on February 25th at 7:00 p.m. There is an admission fee of $10. Born in 1810, Margaret Fuller's thoughts are as alive today as in the nineteenth century. A woman of brains and heart, she was labeled genius by some, was ridiculed by others. She was first to write a book for women‘s equality, thereby laying the groundwork for the women‘s rights movement in the United States. She was one of America‘s first literary critics, first editor of The Dial Magazine, first woman journalist on Horace Greeley‘s New York Daily Tribune, first American foreign and war correspondent serving under combat conditions and, predating Florence Nightingale and Clara Barton, she served as director of an Italian hospital that treated the war wounded. The drama traces Margaret Fuller‘s unusual childhood, her relationship with Ralph Waldo Emerson, her work with Horace Greeley, her travels, literary and Transcendentalist connections with Hawthorne, Thoreau, Poe and others, her reports of the Italian Revolution of 1848 and her friendship with Mazzini and Garibaldi as well as her marriage to an Italian nobleman, the birth of a son and her tragic drowning off the shores of Fire Island, New York in 1850. Laurie James has toured in theatres, colleges, chautauquas, libraries, conference sites throughout the United States and many parts of the world. Her major biography on Fuller won the non-fiction award from New York Foundation for the Arts. She is 2009 winner of the UU Women‘s Federation Margaret Fuller Award, and The Margaret Fuller 2010 Bicentennial Celebration Committee initiator/project director. Saint Patrick’s Day Dance at San Mateo UU San Mateo UU's Invite UUFRC to a Dinner/Dance on March 17th at 5:30 pm. John Anning and band will entertain as the rest of us mingle and mix, get to know one another and build a stronger local peninsula connection. Kids and people of all ages are encouraged to join, as are friends and neighbors! (The potluck dish delegating list is Coming.) Decoration by both churches will be done that afternoon just before the event; so you only drive up once to help me. $10 donation if you can, come anyway! Contact Lorie Esposito at 650-867-1853 . Cool Congregations Workshop at University Lutheran A Cool Congregations Workshop will held on Saturday, Feb. 11th, from1:00 pm to 4:00 pm at University Lutheran, 1611 Stanford Ave., Palo Alto. This workshop will show you how to measure and reduce the carbon footprint of your congregation and member households. By attending, you will become a trained leader and receive a tool kit for leading this unique stewardship program in your congregation. Leaders trained at this workshop facilitate small groups in their congregation that work together on reducing carbon footprints and responding to climate change.. For more information, call Rachel at 415-391-4214or email [email protected]. 9 You can RSVP online at: www.interfaithpower.org/coolcongregations F E B R UA R Y 2 012 Sun Mon Tue CONTACTS Social Action Committee: Marianna Tubman & Carolyn Chaney Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 5:00p: 7th-9th Grade OWL Sleepover 7:00p: Ethical Eating Class Choir: Kay Kleinerman, Choir Director 5 6 7 10:30 Worship Ser7:00p: Connections/ vice Membership Comm. (Pat Dwyer) 12:00p: Social Action Committee 12 9:00a—Becoming a Member Gathering 10:30 Worship Service 2:00p: Tom Cooney Celebration of Life 8 9 10 11 7:00p: Board of Trustees Mtg. Labyrinth Week Labyrinth Week Labyrinth Week 7:00p: Ethical Eating Class 6:00p: House Band Rehearsal 14 7:00p: Craft Night (Lorie 7:15p: Committee Longo( on Ministry 15 7:00p: Ethical Eating Class 16 5:30p: Intern Comm. 6:30: Music Comm. 7:15p: Choir Rehearsal, Sanctuary 10:45a—Newcomer Circle 19 8:00p: Imbolc Service & Ritual 7:00p Labyrinth Introduction 20 21 10:30 Worship Ser7:00p: Finance Comvice 7:00p: Worship mittee—Minister’s Study Committee 12:00p—Sermon for Lunch 12:00p—Challenge of Jesus 7:00p—Film on Immigration 26 27 10:30 Worship Service & Ingathering of New Members 7:00p: Resilience Circle 1 22 7:00p: Ethical Eating Class 23 12:00p: Newsletter Assembly 7:15p: Choir Rehearsal, Sanctuary 28 29 7:00p: Ambassador Training 7:00p: Ethical Eating Class 12:00p—Ambassador Training 5:00p—Book Discussion Group ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES February 5: Resilience Circle 2 (Session 7) February 12: Second Sunday Sisters at Seven 10 9:00a: Happy Trails Hiking Club 10:30a: PCD Nominating Comm. 7:15p: Choir Rehearsal, Sanctuary 13 9:00a: 7th-9th Grade OWL Sleepover 17 18 12:00p—Newsletter Deadline 2:00p—George Laakso’s Memorial Service 6:30p—New Member Dinner 24 25 6:00p: An Evening with Margare Fuller Who’s Who and How to Contact Us UUFRC Regular Events UUFRC Staff Reverend Julia Older, Minister [email protected] 363-2409 Every Sunday ~ Worship Service, 10:30 a.m. st 1 Sundays ~ Social Action Committee, 12 noon 2nd Sundays ~ Newcomer Circle, 11:45 a.m. 2nd Sundays ~ Second Sunday Sisters,, 7:00 p.m. 1st Mondays ~ Connections/Membership Committee, 7:00 p.m. Derby Davidson, Director of Religious Education Office hours: Mon., Tues., Fri. 9 a.m.–2:30 p.m. [email protected] 888-6067 Debra Schwab, Administrator Office hours: Mon., Tues., Thurs., 10 a.m.–12 and 1–3:00 p.m. or by appt. [email protected] Office: 365-6913 Fax: 368-1461 2nd Mondays ~ Craft Night (Sept.-June), 7:00 p.m. 3rd Mondays ~ Finance Committee, 6:45 p.m. nd 2 Tuesdays ~ Committee on Ministry, 7:15 p.m. 3rd Tuesdays ~ Worship Committee, 7:00 p.m. 2nd Wednesdays ~ Board of Trustees, 7:00 p.m. Every Thursday (Sept—June) ~ Choir Rehearsal, 7:15 p.m. Last Friday ~ Chant Night, 8:00 p.m. Carol Thomas Cissel, Intern Minister Office hours: Thurs. or by appt. [email protected] 301-787-7124 Rev. Bill Kennedy, Community Minister [email protected] 483-5345 To join our UUFRC e-mail group, send any e-mail message to: [email protected]. You can get some helpful info about the group (no subscription needed) by sending any message to: [email protected]. Once you have subscribed, you can post to the group by sending your message to [email protected]. Cindy Johnson, Welcoming Coordinator [email protected] 364-4995 Kay Kleinerman, Music Director [email protected] 759-2373 Newsletter Editor, Laura Zimmerman Newsletter Deadline: Noon, Friday before the last Thursday of the month. Email articles to: [email protected] Board of Trustees for 2011 - 2012 Contact a Board member if you have ideas to share regarding the organization and governance of the church. Kristin Caldwell (Recording Secretary) 594-5938 [email protected] John Cooney (President) 593-7759 [email protected] Jennifer Davidson 598-9849 [email protected] David George 568-3265 [email protected] David Karow 622-9848 [email protected] Veronica Palmer (Vice-president) 596-2914 [email protected] Bill Welch (Corresponding Secretary) 345-7049 [email protected] Committee on Ministry (CoM) for 2011-2012 Contact a CoM member if you have issues to discuss regarding the shared ministry of the church. Examples include worship, outreach, how we are treating each other, and how the settled minister is serving the congregation. Eric Gentry 208-5737 [email protected] Sara Morgan 364-0376 [email protected] Erika Pretell 368-2236 [email protected] Jack Stovel 207-9370 [email protected] Leslie Vallerga 367-0847 [email protected] “It doesn't matter how long we may have been stuck in a sense of our limitations. If we go into a darkened room and turn on the light, it doesn't matter if the room has been dark for a day, a 11 week, or ten thousand years -- we turn on the light and it is illuminated. Once we control our capacity for love and happiness, the light has been turned on.” Sharon Salzberg Hear, Hear! If you have ever been frustrated trying to hear people speak during meetings at the Fellowship, we can now offer help. Thanks to the generous donation of Peg Harrison and Judith Watkins, UUFRC now has two ―Pocket talker Pro‖ personal amplifiers. These consist of a headset connected to a small box with an external microphone. To use it, you simply direct the microphone toward the person speaking and the speaker‘s voice will be dramatically amplified. The important feature of these personal amplifiers is that they are not connected to our Sanctuary sound system. They function independently anywhere in the building. Their intention is to help people with hearing impairment participate in meetings without the frustration of missing much of what is being said. They are located in the office annex in a basket on one of the bookcase shelves, along with the instructions. Please treat them with love and care, and always return them promptly after use. Thank you, Peg and Judith!! Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Redwood City 2124 Brewster Avenue Redwood City, CA 94062 February, 2012 Submissions for next issue due at noon Friday, February 17, 2012. The Redwood Reachout is on the church website at www.uufrc.org/newsletter.php. If you are unable to access the church website, you may contact the office to request a printed copy. 12