We Are Unitarian Universalists

We are brave, curious, and compassionate thinkers and doers. We are diverse in faith, ethnicity, history and spirituality, but aligned in our desire to make a difference for the good. We have a track record of standing on the side of love, justice, and peace. We have radical roots and a history as self-motivated spiritual people: we think for ourselves and recognize that life experience influences our beliefs more than anything. We need not think alike to love alike. We are people of many beliefs and backgrounds: people with a religious background, people with none, people who believe in a God, people who don’t, and people who let the mystery be. We are Unitarian Universalist and BuddhistChristianHinduHumanistJewish, MuslimPaganatheist and agnosticbelievers in God, and more. On the forefront of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer inclusion for more than 40 years, we are people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. We seek to welcome you: your whole self, with all your truths and your doubts, your worries and your hopes. Join us on this extraordinary adventure of faith. Get involved!
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At All-Virtual GA, Unitarian Universalists Center Love and Pledge Bold Social and Climate Justice Action

More than 3,400 Unitarian Universalists came together to explore the faith’s underpinnings, take consequential votes, and be in community with one another.

In that spirit, delegates decisively adopted a new statement of shared UU values that places love at the center. With 80 percent of voting delegates choosing to adopt changes to Article II of the UUA bylaws (see page 8), the new stated values of the faith are Equity, Generosity, Interdependence, Justice, Pluralism, and Transformation, centered around Love. A two-thirds vote to change Article II was required under UUA bylaws; the new statement was approved by 80.2 percent of voting delegates (2,025 votes) to 19.8 percent (499 votes), with 21 delegates abstaining (0.8 percent). The vote came after a multi-year process of discernment that involved thousands of UUs around the country, including a majority vote at GA 2023 to continue the process to a final vote at GA 2024. Only one of four proposed amendments to the new statement of values passed, to amend the description of the shared value of Equity to read, “We declare that every person is inherently worthy and has the right to flourish with dignity, love, and compassion.” Two proposed amendments to incorporate additional values—Peace, and Reason and the Responsible Search for Truth and Meaning—and a proposal for an alternative description of Equity, did not pass.

UUs Make Space for Difficult Conversations on Gender-Expansive Rights, Middle East

One of GA’s most powerful and moving moments came during a charged discussion of a proposed Business Resolution, “Embracing Transgender, Nonbinary, Intersex and Gender Diverse People is a Fundamental Expression of UU Religious Values.” As the final speaker in favor of the resolution, the Rev. JeKaren Olaoya used her allotted 90 seconds to affirm repeatedly and emphatically to transgender, nonbinary, and gender diverse people: “I love you. I love you. I love you.” Her heartfelt expression was quickly circulated widely online, as a way of reiterating the centrality of love as a core value of the faith. The resolution passed overwhelmingly with a 91.8 percent vote in favor.
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THIS WEEK’S CHURCH CALENDAR

Monday – December 16

Tuesday – December 17

11am – Noon   Truly Mindful Meditation

Tina will be present. All are invited to try different forms of meditation together each week. You don’t have to have attended before to try this out!

12:30 – 2:30pm    Tina’s Office Hours

Please make an appointment so you won’t have to wait.

6pm    SIUUC Gardening Forum

Zoom:     https://zoom.us/j/94884266239 

Phone:    1 253 215 8782     ID: 94884266239

If you would like to be included in the Garden Forum weekly email synopsis and email discussions, please contact Edna at skyislandchurch@gmail.com.

6:30 – 8pm     Dharma Buddhists Meditation

Wednesday – December 18

8am     Meditation

Zoom Link:  https://zoom.us/j/97417456265

Phone:    1 669 900 9128     ID: 97417456265

6 – 7:30pm   Wondering Wednesdays

Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/99892265318 

Phone:    1 669 900 9128     ID: 99892265318

Come join us for Wondering Wednesday at 6pm on Zoom, where we are always wondering how everyone is doing, and catch up on the latest in the SIUUC Community. Feel free to pop in for some friendly conversation and maybe a chuckle or two.

Thursday – December 19

11:30am    Men’s Luncheon. Contact Pat Aronna if you plan to attend.

Friday – December 20

11am – 3pm    EAF

1pm – ??pm    Board Games

For all Zoom meetings, if you need to call in by phone you can call 1-253-215-8782.

The meeting ID is the last 11 digits of the corresponding link.

RECURRING MONTHLY ACTIVITIES

9am    First Friday – First Friday Hike

11am    Second Friday – Church Ladies Lunch at the Country House Restaurant.

11:30am    Third Thursday – Men’s Luncheon. Contact Pat Aronna if you plan to attend.

11am – 3pm    Third Friday – EAF

1pm – ??pm    Third Friday – Board Games

12pm    Third Sunday – Board of Directors meet at the church following Sunday Service.

https://zoom.us/j/98918280553

10:30am    Fourth Tuesday – Sunday Services Committee. All those interested are welcome to attend.

10:30am    Fourth Sunday 2nd Collection

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Do You Faithify?
Faithify.org is a UU specific crowd-funding platform. Have a project you need help funding? You can apply here! Want to support a UU project? This is the place to look! See what projects appear to you.
 

New Things To Do at Sky Island UU

SERVICE FOR DECEMBER 15

“Yule with a Druid”

This week’s entire service, not just the sermon, is best described as offering “Yule with a Druid.”  Our very own member, Keeta Bonfield, will describe the rituals she grew up with.  If you have questions for her, or a tradition that you have celebrated this time of year, which you’d like to describe for us, come prepared to talk at one point in the service. Keeta says, “Druids like to learn,” so we want to hear about your holiday observances as well.

In-Person and on Zoom:

https://zoom.us/j/98918280553

Phone:      1-253-215-8782

Meeting ID: 989 1828 0553

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REV. TINA’S WEEK

This past week was full of helpful meetings.  I went to Tucson last Friday with a group from church who learned how to use the AED (automated external defibrillator) donated to us by the Gootter-Jensen Foundation to respond quickly in case of sudden cardiac arrest. The equipment came with a DVD, which we will show after church early in 2025, so that more of us are comfortable using it in an emergency.  Last Saturday I attended a multi-faith meeting at Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson for clergy to explore ways churches can work with migrant-led groups.  The group Paisanos Unidos spoke to us about steps they are already taking to prepare themselves for deportations: having wills, powers of attorney prepared and accessible so that their children and cars have a place to go if the adults are taken.  Sunday I preached at Mountain Vista Unitarian Universalist Congregation, meeting new BAJA 4 folks and reconnecting with ones with whom I trained to teach Adult Our Whole Lives.

Thursday I made it to the “chaplain’s breakfast” to which all clergy in Cochise County are invited once a month.  We learned of a fund SSVEC pays to St. Vincent de Paul  to cover utility bills for indigent people and the working poor, a good supplement to what our Emergency Assistance Fund does.  We also learned about an evening with a holocaust survivor that will be held at Buena High School next week (see announcements below).  Later on Thursday, I met on Zoom with Sacred Earth: Common Ground, a group organizing a day of storytelling and sharing among three different churches in Sierra Vista, ours is one, in February of 2025.

Rev. Tina’s Office Hours will be on Tuesday this week from 12:30 to 2:30.  Please make an appointment so you won’t have to wait.

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Mindfulness Meditation

Come for mindfulness meditation each Tuesday from 11am – noon at the church.  We take turns leading it, but don’t feel that you have to.

Come and try it out, no experience necessary.

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Wondering Wednesdays

Come join us for Wondering Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. (local time) on Zoom, where we are always wondering how everyone is doing, and catch up on the latest in the SIUUC Community. Feel free to pop in on the rest of us for some friendly conversation and maybe a chuckle or two.

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Second Collection for December

 For December, the second collection will be for the Emergency Assistance Fund (EAF).  You can donate at the second collection on December 22, or by tapping the DONATE button below. When you get to the part that says, “Use this donation for…” type in “2nd collection” . You can also drop a check off at church and leave in the Treasurer’s file folder on the wall, or mail a check to the address at the bottom of this webpage. Be sure to put “2nd collection” for the notation or memo.

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Caring Corner

Joan Owen, whom you may not have seen often during worship but who frequently helped as an office volunteer – updating our calendar in the office, for example – just started on hospice last week.  She would love to have visitors but asks that you call first.  Her phone number is 360-316-6826.

If you have a joy you’d like to share or a sorrow you’d like people to hear, please send an email to skyislandchurch@gmail.com

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Local & Regional Activities

We are the Baja 4!

Representing Unitarian Universalists across southeastern Arizona, we love beyond belief and find inspiration from a wide array of spiritual, religious, and secular sources. We come together as a Baja 4 because we know we are stronger together.

Learn more about each congregation!

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Pacific Western Region News

Pacific Western Region Logo Pacific Western Region Newsletter for September 2024 ________________________________

Winter Solstice Worship

December 19, 2024
8-9pm ET | 7-8pm CT| 6-7pm MT| 5-6pm PT

The longest night of the year is a time we drop into stillness, honor the dark, release the pain and struggle of life. We also embrace the light of strength and courage. This year, UU Ministry for Earth (UUMFE) partners with the UU Service Committee (UUSC) and UU College of Social Justice (UUCSJ) to bring you worship and stories from partners in Kiribati where climate justice is culture justice and disability justice.

Our guest speaker is Rev. Manish Mishra-Marzetti, UUSC Board of Trustees Co-Chair and Senior Minister of the First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor, Michigan.

During the service, we will collect an offering which will be shared between UU Ministry for Earth and the people of Kiribati. You can donate then or now by noting “Winter Solstice” in the memo line.

Register for the worship service.

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Recurring ZOOM Links

For all Zoom meetings, if you need to call in by phone, you can call 1-253-215-8782.  The meeting ID is the last 11 digits of the corresponding link.
If you are a Zoom user, and it’s good to see some of you on Sunday mornings or on one of our various topical meetings, please check for updates. When you open Zoom, somewhere on your screen there should be a zoom.us entry. For me, it’s on the very very top of my screen on the left.  When you click on that, there should be a drop down menu with a number of options. One of them should say “Check for updates…..” and that’s what you want to click on. Since Zoom seems to have an update almost every week, you might be a bunch of weeks behind. Let’s all get current!
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Wednesday 8AM meditations and phone in information is:  HERE
or copy and paste:  https://zoom.us/j/97417456265 phone: 669 900 9128     #97417456265
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*Wondering Wednesday Zoom Meetings:  6:00 to 7:30 pm
Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 998 9226 5318 One tap mobile +13462487799,,99892265318#
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Sunday: @ 10:30am Church Service
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*Sunday Social Hour at 11:30AM is:
or copy and paste: https://zoom.us/j/97380861311
phone: 669 900 9128   #97380861311
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NOTE NEW TIME
Garden Forum Tuesdays at 6PM:
Join Tuesday Zoom Meeting:
 https://zoom.us/j/94884266239  Meeting ID: 948 8426 6239
One tap mobile +12532158782,,94884266239# US
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