This Week on the Peak

This Week on the Peak – Wednesday, May 8, 2019
This Week on the Peak
Mission Peak UU – Fremont, CA
The Home of Liberal Religion in the Tri-Cities and Beyond!
May 8, 2019

Well, here we are, 80% through my year as President of Mission Peak Unitarian Universalist Congregation.  I have been greatly pleased with the efforts of all the Congregation’s members and friends, as well as our Interim Minister.  Thank you all very much.
 
But, there’s actually rather more than 20% of the effort left.  Your Stewardship Committee and your Board are wrestling with developing a budget proposal for next year.  And this leads up to one of our most important annual events, less than a month away, namely our annual Congregational meeting.  At that meeting, after our June 2nd Sunday service, we will elect new members to the Board and Leadership Development Committee, and adopt the budget.  Please be on the watch for the proposed budget and nominees for the Board and LDC, by May 19th.
 
Then, at the meeting, additional nominations may be made, and amendments to the budget proposal may be considered.  Only the Board is required to send you its proposals two weeks in advance, but, once you receive the Board’s budget proposal and the LDC’s nominations, if you have amendments or additional nominations, feel free to send them to me, so we can organize the agenda.
 
All this budget and nomination business may seem boring, but it is the backbone on which the functioning of our Congregation is built.  Thanks again to everyone.

— Paul K Davis
This Sunday’s Service:
Credit: vasara/Shutterstock

Imperfect Kindness 
                  
Each week, we light our chalice to remind ourselves to treat all people kindly. In these times of division, what does “kindly” look like? Ilze Duarte will share the lessons she has learned about kindness. Although-or perhaps because-these lessons come with contradictions and challenges, they underscore the importance of kindness as a spiritual practice.
      
 
Leading the service will be Ilze Duarte and assisting will be Worship Associate Kathy Wallcave. Mark Kahn will provide our music.   
Share the Plate:   
Let’s Free Black Mamas on Mothers Day!

This month’s Share the Plate Sunday will be on Mothers’ Day. What more appropriate way to celebrate moms than to make a donation to a group that is dedicated to reuniting Moms and their families. This Sunday our offering will go to Oakland based ESSIE Justice Group . In April, Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism (BLUU) called on UUs and UU-adjacent folks to get involved in the fight to end money bail. To that end, BLUU hosted a live panel discussion on their Facebook page on April 28. Allies for Racial Equity is working to raise awareness about the harm endured by black women, children, and caregivers at the hands of the money bail system in our country. Since we missed the live watch party we will set up a time to watch the recording in the future. They are also asking for donations for #Bailouts for Babies, a fundraiser aimed at reuniting moms with their children. To that end, we are making a donation to ESSIE Justice Group this Sunday to help support black women and caregivers who are experiencing the “relentless logic of the for-profit prison industrial complex.” Stay tuned for more information about the watch party! 
May Board Meeting

The MPUUC Board will meet this Thursday evening, May 9th, at 7:00 p.m.  For more information contact President Paul K Davis.
REVERSING GLOBAL WARMING:
  INTRODUCTION TO DRAWDOWN

I’d like to invite you to a workshop about a new way of engaging with global warming. Like me, you might feel confused about the best way to help, guilty that you aren’t doing more, or even wondering if it’s too late anyway. I’m excited to share with you an approach to the issue that has given me optimism and focus!

The approach is described in the book “Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming” which shows the results of 5 years of rigorous scientific research on the 100 most substantive, already existing solutions for addressing global warming. The solutions were identified and studied by a group of 200 researchers and other experts from 22 countries led by author, environmentalist, and entrepreneur Paul Hawken. The results reveal astounding news: it is possible not just to slow global warming, but to actually reverse it by 2050!

The workshop will occur Saturday May 11th 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in the Community Meeting Room at the Newark Public Library (6300 Civic Terrace Avenue, Newark CA). It will include an introduction to Project Drawdown and the Pachamama Alliance (the workshop organizer), an opportunity to reflect on how we’ve been relating to global warming, a video clip of Paul Hawken introducing and explaining the Project Drawdown plan, and a group discussion on what we as a group or individuals may want to do to participate. The workshop will also describe the 5-session follow-on course that is currently being piloted around the country.  Please click here for flyer.

Snacks will be served. I hope you can join us! Please RSVP .
 
Jeff Goby
You aren’t going to want to miss this! What it takes to do social justice
right!


Susan Bartlett Foote author of The Crusade for Forgotten Souls – Reforming Minnesota’s Mental Institutions 1946-1954, University of Minnesota Press, 2018, will be speaking at Mission Peak on Saturday, May 11, 2019 from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm.  You are warmly invited to attend.  The talk will be videotaped for those of you who can’t make it in person. 
 
Susan tells the story of how Unitarians in Minnesota helped to reform snake-pit conditions in state mental institutions, organizing many effective activities working with the Governor, other agencies of the government, the press and other religious institutions in principled activism.  This is how it is done when it is done right!   She also will tell about how many reforms were later overturned by tightfisted conservative politicians and bureaucrats.  But, as she explains, there are many important lessons that emerged and which apply to us today, the chief one of which is the necessity of being eternally vigilant.
 
Susan dedicates the book to her former father-in-law Rev. Arthur Foote the minister at Unity Unitarian in St. Paul, Minnesota who spearheaded the effort, and whose notes led her to research and write this book when she found them in a closet of her home.  You can read a UU World article about the book at https://www.uuworld.org/articles/history-book-reviews-spring-2019    
 
Contact me if you have any questions.
 
Rev.  Barbara F.  Meyers

The Social Question: Unitarian Social Ethics
in the Progressive Era

Lecture by Dr. Colin Bossen. Response by Dr. Anthony Pinn
Saturday, May 18, 6:30 PM, First UU Society of San Francisco (Reception to follow.)
 
“How Can Unitarian Universalists Respond to Populism? Right-wing populism is on the rise, threatening Unitarian Universalist values with its apocalyptic worldview and tendency to divide the world into a righteous people and a corrupt elite. But left-wing populism has also helped build democratic societies by pushing institutions to be more accountable. For the spring 2019 Minns Lecture series, Rev. Dr. Bossen will challenge us to ask how Unitarian Universalists can respond to populism and white supremacy in the age of Trump.”  Please see attached flyer for more information.
Talk and Book Signing by Author Betty Reid Soskin – May 19 (11:30-1 p.m.)  Cole Hall

Fremont’s Mission Peak UU Congregation looks forward to hosting 97 year-old activist, musician, and author Betty Reid Soskin for a talk and book signing on Sunday, May 19. Her book, “Sign My Name to Freedom: A Memoir of a Pioneering Life”, weaves both the wisdom of the ages and the fresh enthusiasm of an always youthful mind into her long journey through an American and African-American life, as well as America’s long struggle to both understand and cleanse its soul.  
 
Soskin is perhaps most famous for her association with the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park which she helped found in 2000 and continues to enjoy sharing with the public. Born in Louisiana but raised in the East Bay she worked in a segregated Union Hall as a young woman. Later she and her first husband founded Reid’s Records in Berkeley, one of the first in the area which was owned and focused on the music of African American, and which remains open until later this year. She is also a musician and songwriter herself. She went on to be a staffer to a Berkeley Council member and then for two East Bay Assembly Members. In 1995 she was named Woman of the Year in California and has received many other honors and tributes.   
Celebrating Mission Peak’s 25th Anniversary – Save These Dates!!

2019 marks 25 years of MPUUC’s existence as a congregation and we think that’s a milestone worth celebrating.  We will have many different celebrations throughout the year.  Please reserve the following dates on your calendar now.  You won’t want to miss them!


June 28-30 – MPUUC’s annual Campout!
  This year we’ll be back at Puma Point at Anthony Chabot Regional Park so that we are close enough for those of you who are not so excited about camping to join us during the day on Saturday, June 29.  We will have many fun activities planned and will end the day with a potluck BBQ and campfire.

September 8 – 25th Anniversary Picnic Celebration
– After the annual Water Ceremony at Cole Hall we will gather at one of the reserved picnic areas at Lake Elizabeth for a Picnic/BBQ celebration.  We will have games for the kids, a jam session & sing-a-long, and other fun activities.  Come join us and enjoy hanging out with friends & family and celebrating MPUUC.

[More details regarding these events will follow closer to the dates.  If you have questions or suggestions for additional events or you want to help with an event, please contact Jen King].
   
Turning Love Into Justice:
 
The Tri-City Interfaith Council (tcicouncil.weebly.com is a grass-roots organization bringing together people of diverse religious beliefs from Fremont, Newark, and Union City (California). Rev. Jo Green, Rev. Barbara Meyers and Paul K. Davis are members.  Join in!

 
                          
Call your Elected Officials!  
 
Calls can make a difference! Contact your representatives to alert them to your views!

Congressperson Eric Swalwell 510-247-1388 or go to house.gov 
Ro Khanna  (202) 225-2631 
Senator Kamala Harris   (202) 224 – 3553
Senator Diane Feinstein (202) 224-3841
 
 
STAY CONNECTED:
Mission Peak UU | 2950 Washington Blvd Fremont CA | 510.252.1477 | missionpeakuu.org