PWR Newsletter - July 31, 2020

by Rev. Carlton E. Smith

Hello, Members and Friends of the UUA Pacific Western Region!

This is my first time communicating with you on this platform as the new Lead for PWR. I’m six weeks in, and I continue to be inspired and grateful for all the work that has been done and is being done to make our Unitarian Universalist values real among us and in the wider world.

I thought I would take this opportunity to share with you some highlights that I presented to the members of the four PWR District Boards last week, just to let you know some of what’s going on...

New PWR Staff: I’m excited to announce our newest team members: Rev. Summer Albayati and Dr. Melissa James! You can see the full announcements below. We had a great hiring team put together already as I was starting June 15, consisting of Aria Curtis of the PNWD Board, Oakland-based lay leader Karen Eng, UUA Director of Congregational Life Jessica York, and me.

UUA Virtual Office Closing: July 27-31, the UUA will be closed. Your PWR staff has done extraordinary work under very challenging circumstances as we’ve navigated the COVID-19 pandemic, the justice uprisings and the first-ever all-virtual General Assembly. In acknowledgment of our needs for self-care, the Administration is closing offices so that many staff can take a much-needed break. I will continue to work through the closing and plan to take my week-off either before or after the UUA winter holiday break, December 25-January 1.

District/Regional UUA APF Disbursements: Last week, I was in a meeting with Connie Goodbread, Jessica York, Carey McDonald, Revs. Lauren Smith and Vail Weller (both of Stewardship and Development), Norrie Gall (also StewDev) and Andrew McGeorge (the UUA’s CFO). The topic of discussion: How to streamline and improve delivery of the UUA’s APF disbursements to your districts.

Currently, each district in the PWR receives a monthly disbursement from the UUA, calculated based on APF income from congregations in the previous month. Typically, the first disbursement of the fiscal year goes out in mid-/late August. In order to counter the negative impacts of pandemic-related volatility for districts and regions, and to streamline UUA internal processes, the UUA intends to make two changes this year: shift to quarterly disbursements and calculate FY21 disbursements based on FY20 giving.

Our proposal is that starting in mid-August, we would shift to quarterly disbursements, each being 25% of the total to be distributed in FY21. Additional disbursements would go out in November, February and May. We hope this proposed change will be of help to you as you plan for the coming year.

Commission on Institutional Change: I will get my hard-copy of their final report this week. I’m very interested to talk with District Board members about their ideas for supporting its life within congregations, the districts and the region.

Thank you all for you deep commitment to our faith. I look forward to working with you in these times that challenge us, yes, but that can also bring out the best in us.

Rev. Summer Albayati

Summer, whose last name is pronounced el-bay-EH-tee, is a UU Muslim of Iraqi descent who brings extensive experience in leadership development, strategic planning, multiculturalism, curriculum development/programming, outreach, organizational development, grant writing, interfaith dialogue, conflict resolution and mediation. She has worked within indigenous communities and communities of color, advocating for equity in education, increasing numbers of students of color who enter into universities, developing youth leaders, leading gifted and special education programs, and creating training/professional development for educators.

Summer’s current podcast, “The Bayat Beat,” a commentary on society and culture with an emphasis on social justice, has a global audience. She has served on the board of UU Mystics in Community, contributed to their quarterly newsletter, and written a chapter in the anthology Centering: Navigating Race, Authenticity and Power in Ministry, published by Skinner House.

Dr. Melissa James

Melissa brings nearly 20 years of experience in faith-based ministry to the UUA. She earned her Masters of Arts from the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago (LSTC) with a focus was on faith and justice. Melissa holds a Ph.D. in Ethics and Social Theory from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA. While working on her doctorate, she served at First Unitarian Universalist in Oakland, CA and got her first taste of the power and possibilities of religious education in a Unitarian Universalist context.

She went on to serve at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego as the Director of Family and Lifespan Ministry. In 2016, she was named as a Fahs Fellow through the Fahs Collaborative at Meadville Lombard Seminary focusing on helping congregations support Trans and non-binary children, youth, and their families. Having worked in campus ministry as well as continuing to teach at local universities in sociology, religion, philosophy, and gender studies, Melissa lifts up the work of young adults. Based in Southern California, Melissa is an ordained Deacon in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA).

You can read the full announcement on our website, and please join us in welcoming Melissa and Summer to our team!

by Rev. Sarah Schurr

I really enjoy being comfortable. I like wearing my favorite sneakers and eating comfort food, like Mac and Cheese. But sometimes we need to set aside what is comfortable for us, as individuals, in order to serve the greater good. It is like wearing a face mask when going to the store during a pandemic. It might not be comfortable, but we do it to protect the public health. It is just the right thing to do.

The UUA Commission on Institutional Change just published their report. It is called Widening the Circle of Concern. Each congregation is being sent a copy, and you can buy your own from the UUA bookstore. This extensive report examines the cultural and institutional change that redeems the essential promise and ideals of Unitarian Universalism. Much of the report focuses on our promises to be a more inclusive faith and to shed our white supremacy culture that pushes UUs of color to the margins, or right out the door.

Widening the Circle of Concern has a number of suggestions for how we can make things better. The one that really spoke to me was “Covenant and commitment, not comfort, should be the binding fabric of UU congregations and other communities.” This is a powerful statement and it may fly in the face of what many people like most about their congregation. For many, our UU congregations are comfortable safe havens for educated and like-minded liberals, especially those who are white. Leaders in our congregations will often work very hard to keep things comfortable, to not make waves, as a way to save the congregation from the loss of members or money. This is not a good long term plan for our faith.

Change can be uncomfortable, but change we must! We live in a changing world that is more multicultural than ever before. Many of the new people who seek us in 2020 have little patience for our old and comfortable ways that hold whiteness as normative. Some of our current practices are just hurtful, even when we mean well. Here are just two of the many recommendations of the Commission on Institutional Change:

Explore ways to train and credential religious professionals other than always requiring an expensive graduate education that can be inaccessible to people with lower incomes.
Help multicultural hospitality practices be foundational as we train greeters, ushers, and worship leaders to avoid microaggressions and other behaviors that make people of color feel unwelcome in our faith communities.

These changes may feel very uncomfortable to some, especially those of us who are white and well served by the old ways. But if we are bound by commitment to our faith and the covenants we share, then it is worth the discomfort. Like wearing a mask at the store, it will serve the health of our congregations, and help us heal the world. And it is just the right thing to do.

by Amanda Radak, PWR Events Coordinator

This time is terrifying and wonderful, simultaneously. We guess and forecast, and try to make it through each day. And come to focus on those things we value most: the people we can be with, or not be with, the places we cherish and things that we miss most and are planning to prioritize differently, knowing what we can no longer tolerate and the gratitude we can offer for things large and small.

I wrote that a month ago, and it still seems amazingly timely. It was followed by this quote (author unknown) which starts out sounding dated, reflections on yester-month:

“When you go out and see the empty streets, the empty stadiums, the empty train platforms, don't say to yourself, ‘It looks like the end of the world.’ What you're seeing is love in action. What you're seeing, in that negative space, is how much we do care for each other, for our grandparents, for the immuno-compromised brothers and sisters, for people we will never meet.”

Yet we still hold this love and if we could flip the script:

"If you go out and see the crowded streets, the full town squares, the bustling court yards, don't say to yourself, ‘It looks like the end of the world.’ What you're seeing is love in action. What you're seeing, in that packed space, is how much we do care for each other, for our ancestors, for the targeted brothers and sisters, for people we will never meet.”

What will life look like in another month, or six, or a year?

The UUA recommends not gathering in person for the next year, and I worked as your event “unplanner” this spring, not a job I ever would have wished for. I love making connections; this seems the opposite, but it prioritizes each of you, and without you there are no connections. PWR has shifted from encouraging you to gather in the fall in our often multi-city or multi-state events. We are dreaming up the possibilities that online gatherings allow; Suddenly, El Paso & Fairbanks aren’t so far apart. Honolulu & Missoula are an easy get together. Pondering how we can continue to care for you and your congregations from afar.

In this light, gathering 700 people early next year at Regional Assembly seems careless, in stark contrast to the protective measures we have taken thus far. So we have renegotiated and are planning to gather in person in southern California in early 2022. We hope to see everyone there, then.

In the meantime, I wonder, how does your love look in the world? What care do you take, of self? Of others? Of our world? How do we love through this pandemic? Through this cultural shift? Through this election cycle? Clear through our lives?

We invite you to:
Love Right Through
Feb 13-14, 2021
A Virtual Regional Gathering

We at Stewardship for Us are excited to let you know that we have created two offerings to help congregations move forward during the COVID-19 pandemic:

Virtual Next Steps Weekend (vNSW) to enable us to start our work with a congregation with a totally virtual process
By-the-hour Consulting to provide more limited short-term assistance

Please check out this link for more info, and pass on to any congregations who might benefit. Note also that we are able to provide all of our consulting services remotely including campaign support, taking full advantage of the features of Zoom much as our congregations have done.

Thank you for your generous commitment to growing our faith by helping other UU Churches in the Mountain Desert District (MDD). The first call for FY21 is to assist the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ogden, Utah with an accessibility building project.

The building campaign co-chair writes, “Lack of accessibility has long been a problem for us with some church members and many visitors unable to fully enjoy congregational life. Our plans include installing a wheelchair lift, remodeling one bathroom to be a fully accessible, unisex facility, to upgrade parking lot signage, and to improve handrail systems inside and outside the building.”

They launched a congregation campaign in December with a goal to reach $48,000. Before launching the campaign, they had already raised $18,000, and by May had raised $45,000. They are hoping to start the project within the next 60 days.

You can now have your gift automatically charged to your credit card or debited from your bank account each month. Automatic giving may be set up on the MDD automatic giving page. You can make a one-time donation online at our giving page. We are grateful for whatever you can contribute. Direct costs to administer the call are reimbursed from the donations before the grant is issued. More of your money will go toward the grant if you opt for emailed call letters and make your contribution online. Donations for this call will be accepted through October 31, 2020.

If you are mailing a check, make it payable to MDD Chalice Lighters and mail to the new address below. If you utilize a third party to issue checks, please give them the updated address:

MDD Chalice Lighters
P.O. Box 567
Brighton, CO 80601
If you have questions, please write to MDDChalicelighters@pwruua.org.

In faith,
Mary Nordhagen, MDD Board President
mddchalicelighters@pwruua.org

The Fall 2020 Pacific Central Chalice Lighter call is designed to help congregations further their virtual communications during this unprecedented time of social distancing when we cannot join together in person at our physical churches. Church is not a building even though that is where we meet, when we can. To quote the UUA website “The Church is open. It is the building that is closed.”

During this time of social distancing, many, if not most, UU congregations are keeping connections going using Zoom, YouTube or many other electronic media. Thus many congregations are also experiencing a need to keep those channels open and could use some help to upgrade their electronic systems. Furthermore, as congregations phase into re-opening they may find that restructuring their in-person activities to remain accessible to people who cannot physically return yet may require new infrastructure. These might be unexpected expenses.

You can help your fellow congregants by donating to this quarter’s Chalice Lighter call. A message will go out simultaneously to congregations to apply for the funds that come in at the end of the call period and the PCD board will determine how the funds get shared. Please be ready to let us know how your experiments with online technology could be enhanced with a small boost from a Chalice Lighter grant.

You can now have your gift automatically charged to your credit card or debited from your bank account each month. Automatic giving may be set up on the PCD automatic giving page. You can make a one-time donation online at our general giving page. If you have already set up automatic giving, or if you have already contributed to the call, we thank you. We do not expect you to make an additional contribution to this call. We are grateful for whatever you can contribute. Direct costs to administer the call are reimbursed from the donations before the grant is issued. More of your money will go toward the grant if you opt for emailed call letters and make your contribution online. Donations for this call will be accepted through October 31, 2020.

If you are sending a check, please make it payable to PCD Chalice Lighters and mail to our new address: PCD Chalice Lighters, P.O. Box 567, Brighton, CO 80601-0567.

Thank you for being a PCD Chalice Lighter!
Karen Urbano
PCD Volunteer Chalice Lighter Coordinator
pcdchalicelighters@pwruua.org

Thank you for your commitment to supporting the health of Pacific Northwest congregations through Chalice Lighters! The recipient of the most recent (Winter and Spring 2019-2020) Calls was the Anchorage UU Fellowship. $28,830 was provided to remodel the church chancel to make it safer and more accessible.

This is your Fall Call for the 2020-2021 church year. It will help support PNWD congregations who are struggling to stay afloat in the wake of the coronavirus tidal wave. On top of restrictions on meeting for worship and the challenges of pastoral care, many congregations are struggling to meet staff payrolls and mortgage payments. We PNWD Chalice Lighters can help alleviate this need. We want to ensure that our congregations retain key staff and emerge from “Stay Home, Stay Safe” restrictions able to continue the faith and justice work so sorely needed in our communities.

Your congregation may be one of those who need more help than its members are able to provide. If so, encourage your leaders to apply for a Chalice Lighter grant. A special short-form “Chalice Lighter Congregation Sustenance Application” is available here. The form contains further guidance on award criteria. We will accept applications until the call closes, October 31, 2020.

Extension of time to qualify: In order not to unduly restrict which congregations can receive help, as well as to incentivize Chalice Lighter participation, your congregation has until October 31 to register the required number of Chalice Lighters and establish FY 2020 Honor Congregation status.

Please be generous!

Make a one-time gift of $20, $50, or $100 online at the PNWD giving page.
Mail your check, payable to “PNWD Chalice Lighters” to PNWD Chalice Lighters, P.O. Box 567, Brighton CO 80601. Include the PNWD-CL designation on your check and identify your congregation.
Donate to all three of this year’s calls now to save time later.
Choose to have your gift deducted monthly from your credit card or bank account using the PNWD automatic giving page.
Consider becoming a Chalice Lighter “Angel” by contributing an amount in excess of $1000.

Questions? Please contact pnwdchalicelighters@pwruua.org. Thank you!

Sincerely yours,
David P. Cauffman, PNWD Chalice Lighter program coordinator
pnwdchalicelighters@pwruua.org

Dear UU Congregation Leadership Teams in San Diego, Orange, Riverside, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Ventura Counties,

In 2020 the Spirit Level Foundation has a special opportunity for congregations to boost their UU the Vote efforts with a 3 to 1 match funding grant.

Please see this PDF with the guidelines for this grant opportunity. Please note that we will be providing 75% of the funding for these grants, the minimum & maximum dollar amounts are different than our normal grants, as well as the application deadline, July 1st, 2020.

To read the grant guidelines visit our website at spiritlevel.org - Go to the "more..." tab and select "UU the Vote Grants"

If you have any questions, please let me know.

In solidarity,
Colleen Garrett,
Spirit Level Foundation Administrator
colleen@spiritlevel.org
619-865-3046

Thank you for supporting Chalice Lighters! Your commitment actively promotes the health of Pacific Southwest congregations. The Fall call for the 2020-2021 church year will benefit Unitarian Universalists San Luis Obispo in San Luis Obispo, California to help them hire a Congregational Life Coordinator.

Rev. Rod Richards says, “As a congregation of 200+ members, we are at a point where we would benefit greatly from having a staff position devoted to new member assimilation and integration, volunteer and leadership recruitment, and the organization of small groups and opportunities for deepening connections between members. While volunteers have worked wonderfully over the years at engaging pieces of this, the tasks have never been centralized in such a way that there is a single point person.

“We are seeking to hire a 1/4-time Congregational Life Coordinator…We are hoping the Chalice Lighters grant will fund a portion of the salary for the first two years with the rest of the funding coming from the congregation. We believe that we have what we need in terms of volunteer power if we but designate the responsibility regarding the communication of opportunities and appropriate contacts to a single staff person. We believe that we have untapped potential to connect individuals to the congregation and to deepen connections with one another if we designate the authority and responsibility to facilitate and organize such opportunities to a single staff person. We believe that we can be more inclusive and efficient at integrating new (and longtime) members into the life and activities of the congregation, if we make this the explicit duty of a single staff person.”

Please donate now. The amount we ask each person to pledge to give to each call is $20, but any amount you can contribute is received with gratitude. Donations through October 31, 2020 will be applied to this call.

You can now have your gift automatically charged to your credit card or debited from your bank account each month. Automatic giving may be set up on the PSWD automatic giving page. You can make a one-time donation online at our general giving page. If you have already set up automatic giving, or if you have already contributed to the call, we thank you. We do not expect you to make an additional contribution to this call. We are grateful for whatever you can contribute. Direct costs to administer the call are reimbursed from the donations before the grant is issued. More of your money will go toward the grant if you opt for emailed call letters and make your contribution online. Donations for this call will be accepted through October 31, 2020.

If you are sending a check, please make it payable to PSWD Chalice Lighters and mail to our new address: PSWD Chalice Lighters, P.O. Box 567, Brighton, CO 80601-0567

If you have questions, please write to PSWDChaliceLighters@pwruua.org.

In faith,

Your PSWD Board

Appointed by the Board of Trustees of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in 2017, the UUA Commission on Institutional Change served through June 2020. Widening the Circle of Concern: Report of the UUA Commission on Institutional Change represents the culmination of the Commission’s work analyzing structural and systemic racism and white supremacy culture within Unitarian Universalism and makes recommendations to advance long-term cultural and institutional change that redeems the essential promise and ideals of Unitarian Universalism. Members and staff of the UUA Commission on Institutional Change were:

Rev. Leslie Takahashi, Chair (2017-2020)
Mary Byron (2017-2020)
Cir L’Bert Jr. (2018-2020)
Rev. Dr. Natalie Fenimore (2017-2020)
Dr. Elías Ortega (2017-2020)
Caitlin Breedlove (2017-2018)
DeReau K. Farrar (2017-2018)
Rev. Marcus Fogliano, Project Manager

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Pacific Western Region - UUA
P.O. Box 567
Brighton, CO 80601
United States